[A lady having asked the late Lord Robertson, a Judge of the Court of Session, "What sort of animal is the bull-bull?" he replied, "I suppose, Ma'am, it must be the mate of the coo-coo."—3rd ser., N. & Q. v. 81.]
1784.—"We are literally lulled to sleep by Persian nightingales, and cease to wonder that the Bulbul, with a thousand tales, makes such a figure in Persian poetry."—Sir W. Jones, in Memoirs, &c., ii. 37.
1813.—"The bulbul or Persian nightingale.... I never heard one that possessed the charming variety of the English nightingale ... whether the Indian bulbul and that of Iran entirely correspond I have some doubts."—Forbes, Oriental Memoirs, i. 50; [2nd ed. i. 34].
1848.—"'It is one's nature to sing and the other's to hoot,' he said, laughing, 'and with such a sweet voice as you have yourself, you must belong to the Bulbul faction.'"—Vanity Fair, ii. ch. xxvii.
BULGAR, BOLGAR, s. P. bulghār. The general Asiatic name for what we call 'Russia leather,' from the fact that the region of manufacture and export was originally Bolghār on the Volga, a kingdom which stood for many centuries, and gave place to Kazan in the beginning of the 15th century. The word was usual also among Anglo-Indians till the beginning of last century, and is still in native Hindustani use. A native (mythical) account of the manufacture is given in Baden-Powell's Punjab Handbook, 1872, and this fanciful etymology: "as the scent is derived from soaking in the pits (ghār), the leather is called Balghār" (p. 124).
1298.—"He bestows on each of those 12,000 Barons ... likewise a pair of boots of Borgal, curiously wrought with silver thread."—Marco Polo, 2nd ed. i. 381. See also the note on this passage.
c. 1333.—"I wore on my feet boots (or stockings) of wool; over these a pair of linen lined, and over all a thin pair of Borghāli, i.e. of horse-leather lined with wolf skin."—Ibn Batuta, ii. 445.
[1614.—"Of your Bullgaryan hides there are brought hither some 150."—Foster, Letters, iii. 67.]
1623.—Offer of Sheriff Freeman and Mr. Coxe to furnish the Company with "Bulgary red hides."—Court Minutes, in Sainsbury, iii. 184.
1624.—"Purefy and Hayward, Factors at Ispahan to the E. I. Co., have bartered morse-teeth and 'bulgars' for carpets."—Ibid. p. 268.
1673.—"They carry also Bulgar-Hides, which they form into Tanks to bathe themselves."—Fryer, 398.
c. 1680.—"Putting on a certain dress made of Bulgar-leather, stuffed with cotton."—Seir Mutaqherin, iii. 387.
1759.—Among expenses on account of the Nabob of Bengal's visit to Calcutta we find:
"To 50 pair of Bulger Hides at 13 per pair, Rs. 702 : 0 : 0."—Long, 193.
1786.—Among "a very capital and choice assortment of Europe goods" we find "Bulgar Hides."—Cal. Gazette, June 8, in Seton-Karr, i. 177.
1811.—"Most of us furnished at least one of our servants with a kind of bottle, holding nearly three quarts, made of bulghár ... or Russia-leather."—W. Ousely's Travels, i. 247.
In Tibetan the word is bulhari.
BULKUT, s. A large decked ferry-boat; from Telug. balla, a board. (C. P. Brown).
BULLUMTEER, s. Anglo-Sepoy dialect for 'Volunteer.' This distinctive title was applied to certain regiments of the old Bengal Army, whose terms of enlistment embraced service beyond sea; and in the days of that army various ludicrous stories were current in connection with the name.
BUMBA, s. H. bamba, from Port. bomba, 'a pump.' Haex (1631) gives: "Bomba, organum pneumaticum quo aqua hauritur," as a Malay word. This is incorrect, of course, as to the origin of the word, but it shows its early adoption into an Eastern language. The word is applied at Ahmedabad to the water-towers, but this is modern; [and so is the general application of the word in N. India to a canal distributary].
1572.—
"'Alija, disse o mestre rijamente,
Alija tudo ao mar, não falte acordo
Vão outros dar á bomba, não cessando;
Á bomba que nos imos alagando.'"
Camões, vi. 72.
By Burton:
"'Heave!' roared the Master with a mighty roar,
'Heave overboard your all, together's the word!
Others go work the pumps, and with a will:
The pumps! and sharp, look sharp, before she fill!'"
BUMMELO, s. A small fish, abounding on all the coasts of India and the Archipelago; Harpodon nehereus of Buch. Hamilton; the specific name being taken from the Bengali name nehare. The fish is a great delicacy when fresh caught and fried. When dried it becomes the famous Bombay Duck (see DUCKS, BOMBAY), which is now imported into England.
The origin of either name is obscure. Molesworth gives the word as Mahratti with the spelling bombīl, or bombīla (p. 595 a). Bummelo occurs in the Supp. (1727) to Bluteau's Dict. in the Portuguese form bambulim, as "the name of a very savoury fish in India." The same word bambulim is also explained to mean 'humas pregas na saya a moda,' 'certain plaits in the fashionable ruff,' but we know not if there is any connection between the two. The form Bombay Duck has an analogy to Digby Chicks which are sold in the London shops, also a kind of dried fish, pilchards we believe, and the name may have originated in imitation of this or some similar English name. [The Digby Chick is said to be a small herring cured in a peculiar manner at Digby, in Lincolnshire: but the Americans derive them from Digby in Nova Scotia; see 8 ser. N. & Q. vii. 247.]
In an old chart of Chittagong River (by B. Plaisted, 1764, published by A. Dalrymple, 1785) we find a point called Bumbello Point.
1673.—"Up the Bay a Mile lies Massigoung, a great Fishing-Town, peculiarly notable for a Fish called Bumbelow, the Sustenance of the Poorer sort."—Fryer, 67.
1785.—"My friend General Campbell, Governor of Madras, tells me that they make Speldings in the East Indies, particularly at Bombay, where they call them Bumbaloes."—Note by Boswell in his Tour to the Hebrides, under August 18th, 1773.
1810.—"The bumbelo is like a large sand-eel; it is dried in the sun, and is usually eaten at breakfast with kedgeree."—Maria Graham, 25.
1813.—Forbes has bumbalo; Or. Mem., i. 53; [2nd ed., i. 36].
1877.—"Bummalow or Bobil, the dried fish still called 'Bombay Duck.'"—Burton, Sind Revisited, i. 68.
BUNCUS, BUNCO, s. An old word for cheroot. Apparently from the Malay bungkus, 'a wrapper, bundle, thing wrapped.'
1711.—"Tobacco ... for want of Pipes they smoke in Buncos, as on the Coromándel Coast. A Bunco is a little Tobacco wrapt up in the Leaf of a Tree, about the Bigness of one's little Finger, they light one End, and draw the Smoke thro' the other ... these are curiously made up, and sold 20 or 30 in a bundle."—Lockyer, 61.
1726.—"After a meal, and on other occasions it is one of their greatest delights, both men and women, old and young, to eat Pinang (areca), and to smoke tobacco, which the women do with a Bongkos, or dry leaf rolled up, and the men with a Gorregorri (a little can or flower pot) whereby they both manage to pass most of their time."—Valentijn, v. Chorom., 55. [Gorregorri is Malay guri-guri, 'a small earthenware pot, also used for holding provisions' (Klinkert).]
" (In the retinue of Grandees in Java):
"One with a coconut shell mounted in gold or silver to hold their tobacco or bongkooses (i.e. tobacco in rolled leaves)."—Valentijn, iv. 61.
c. 1760.—"The tobacco leaf, simply rolled up, in about a finger's length, which they call a buncus, and is, I fancy, of the same make as what the West Indians term a segar; and of this the Gentoos chiefly make use."—Grose, i. 146.
BUND, s. Any artificial embankment, a dam, dyke, or causeway. H. band. The root is both Skt. (bandh) and P., but the common word, used as it is without aspirate, seems to have come from the latter. The word is common in Persia (e.g. see BENDAMEER). It is also naturalised in the Anglo-Chinese ports. It is there applied especially to the embanked quay along the shore of the settlements. In Hong Kong alone this is called (not bund, but) praia (Port. 'shore' [see PRAYA]), probably adopted from Macao.
1810.—"The great bund or dyke."—Williamson, V. M. ii. 279.
1860.—"The natives have a tradition that the destruction of the bund was effected by a foreign enemy."—Tennent's Ceylon, ii. 504.
1875.—"... it is pleasant to see the Chinese ... being propelled along the bund in their hand carts."—Thomson's Malacca, &c., 408.
1876.—"... so I took a stroll on Tien-Tsin bund."—Gill, River of Golden Sand, i. 28.
BUNDER, s. P. bandar, a landing-place or quay; a seaport; a harbour; (and sometimes also a custom-house). The old Ital. scala, mod. scalo, is the nearest equivalent in most of the senses that occurs to us. We have (c. 1565) the Mīr-bandar, or Port Master, in Sind (Elliot, i. 277) [cf. Shabunder]. The Portuguese often wrote the word bandel. Bunder is in S. India the popular native name of Masulipatam, or Machli-bandar.
c. 1344.—"The profit of the treasury, which they call bandar, consists in the right of buying a certain portion of all sorts of cargo at a fixed price, whether the goods be only worth that or more; and this is called the Law of the Bandar."—Ibn Batuta, iv. 120.
c. 1346.—"So we landed at the bandar, which is a large collection of houses on the sea-shore."—Ibid. 228.
1552.—"Coga-atar sent word to Affonzo d'Alboquerque that on the coast of the main land opposite, at a port which is called Bandar Angon ... were arrived two ambassadors of the King of Shiraz."—Barros, II. ii. 4.
[1616.—"Besides the danger in intercepting our boats to and from the shore, &c., their firing from the Banda would be with much difficulty."—Foster, Letters, iv. 328.]
1673.—"We fortify our Houses, have Bunders or Docks for our Vessels, to which belong Yards for Seamen, Soldiers, and Stores."—Fryer, 115.
1809.—"On the new bunder or pier."—Maria Graham, 11.
[1847, 1860.—See quotations under APOLLO BUNDER.]
BUNDER-BOAT, s. A boat in use on the Bombay and Madras coast for communicating with ships at anchor, and also much employed by officers of the civil departments (Salt, &c.) in going up and down the coast. It is rigged as Bp. Heber describes, with a cabin amidships.
1825.—"We crossed over ... in a stout boat called here a bundur boat. I suppose from 'bundur' a harbour, with two masts, and two lateen sails...."—Heber, ii. 121, ed. 1844.
BUNDOBUST, s. P.—H.—band-o-bast, lit. 'tying and binding.' Any system or mode of regulation; discipline; a revenue settlement.
[1768.—"Mr. Rumbold advises us ... he proposes making a tour through that province ... and to settle the Bandobust for the ensuing year."—Letter to the Court of Directors, in Verelst, View of Bengal, App. 77.]
c. 1843.—"There must be bahut achch'hā bandobast (i.e. very good order or discipline) in your country," said an aged Khānsamā (in Hindustani) to one of the present writers. "When I have gone to the Sandheads to meet a young gentleman from Bilāyat, if I gave him a cup of tea, 'tānki tānki,' said he. Three months afterwards this was all changed; bad language, violence, no more tānki."
1880.—"There is not a more fearful wild-fowl than your travelling M.P. This unhappy creature, whose mind is a perfect blank regarding Faujdari and Bandobast...."—Ali Baba, 181.
BUNDOOK, s. H. bandūḳ, from Ar. bunduḳ. The common H. term for a musket or matchlock. The history of the word is very curious. Bunduḳ, pl. banādiḳ, was a name applied by the Arabs to filberts (as some allege) because they came from Venice (Banadiḳ, comp. German Venedig). The name was transferred to the nut-like pellets shot from cross-bows, and thence the cross-bows or arblasts were called bunduḳ, elliptically for kaus al-b., 'pellet-bow.' From cross-bows the name was transferred again to firearms, as in the parallel case of arquebus. [Al-Banduḳāni, 'the man of the pellet-bow,' was one of the names by which the Caliph Hārūn-al-Rashīd was known, and Al Zahir Baybars al-Banduḳdāri, the fourth Baharite Soldan (A.D. 1260-77) was so entitled because he had been slave to a Bandukdār, or Master of Artillery (Burton, Ar. Nights, xii. 38).]
[1875.—"Bandūqis, or orderlies of the Maharaja, carrying long guns in a loose red cloth cover."—Drew, Jummoo and Kashmir, 74.]
BUNGALOW, s. H. and Mahr. banglā. The most usual class of house occupied by Europeans in the interior of India; being on one story, and covered by a pyramidal roof, which in the normal bungalow is of thatch, but may be of tiles without impairing its title to be called a bungalow. Most of the houses of officers in Indian cantonments are of this character. In reference to the style of the house, bungalow is sometimes employed in contradistinction to the (usually more pretentious) pucka house; by which latter term is implied a masonry house with a terraced roof. A bungalow may also be a small building of the type which we have described, but of temporary material, in a garden, on a terraced roof for sleeping in, &c., &c. The word has also been adopted by the French in the East, and by Europeans generally in Ceylon, China, Japan, and the coast of Africa.
Wilson writes the word bānglā, giving it as a Bengālī word, and as probably derived from Banga, Bengal. This is fundamentally the etymology mentioned by Bp. Heber in his Journal (see below), and that etymology is corroborated by our first quotation, from a native historian, as well as by that from F. Buchanan. It is to be remembered that in Hindustan proper the adjective 'of or belonging to Bengal' is constantly pronounced as bangălā or banglā. Thus one of the eras used in E. India is distinguished as the Banglā era. The probability is that, when Europeans began to build houses of this character in Behar and Upper India, these were called Banglā or 'Bengal-fashion' houses; that the name was adopted by the Europeans themselves and their followers, and so was brought back to Bengal itself, as well as carried to other parts of India. ["In Bengal, and notably in the districts near Calcutta, native houses to this day are divided into ath-chala, chau-chala, and Bangala, or eight-roofed, four-roofed, and Bengali, or common huts. The first term does not imply that the house has eight coverings, but that the roof has four distinct sides with four more projections, so as to cover a verandah all round the house, which is square. The Bangala, or Bengali house, or bungalow has a sloping roof on two sides and two gable ends. Doubtless the term was taken up by the first settlers in Bengal from the native style of edifice, was materially improved, and was thence carried to other parts of India. It is not necessary to assume that the first bungalows were erected in Behar." (Saturday Rev., 17th April 1886, in a review of the first ed. of this book).]
A.H. 1041 = A.D. 1633.—"Under the rule of the Bengalis (darahd-i-Bangālīyān) a party of Frank merchants, who are inhabitants of Sundíp, came trading to Sátgánw. One kos above that place they occupied some ground on the banks of the estuary. Under the pretence that a building was necessary for their transactions in buying and selling, they erected several houses in the Bengálí style."—Bādshāhnāma, in Elliot, vii. 31.
c. 1680.—In the tracing of an old Dutch chart in the India Office, which may be assigned to about this date, as it has no indication of Calcutta, we find at Hoogly: "Ougli ... Hollantze Logie ... Bangelaer of Speelhuys," i.e. "Hoogly ... Dutch Factory ... Bungalow, or Pleasure-house."
1711.—"Mr. Herring, the Pilot's, Directions for bringing of Ships down the River of Hughley.
"From Gull Gat all along the Hughley Shore until below the New Chaney almost as far as the Dutch Bungelow lies a Sand...."—Thornton, The English Pilot, Pt. III. p. 54.
1711.—"Natty Bungelo or Nedds Bangalla River lies in this Reach (Tanna) on the Larboard side...."—Ibid. 56. The place in the chart is Nedds Bengalla, and seems to have been near the present Akra on the Hoogly.
1747.—"Nabob's Camp near the Hedge of the Bounds, building a Bangallaa, raising Mudd Walls round the Camp, making Gun Carriages, &c. ... (Pagodas) 55:10:73."—Acct. of Extraordinary Charges ... January, at Fort St. David, MS. Records in India Office.
1758.—"I was talking with my friends in Dr. Fullerton's bangla when news came of Ram Narain's being defeated."—Seir Mutaqherin, ii. 103.
1780.—"To be Sold or Let, A Commodious Bungalo and out Houses ... situated on the Road leading from the Hospital to the Burying Ground, and directly opposite to the Avenue in front of Sir Elijah Impey's House...."—The India Gazette, Dec. 23.
1781-83.—"Bungelows are buildings in India, generally raised on a base of brick, one, two, or three feet from the ground, and consist of only one story: the plan of them usually is a large room in the center for an eating and sitting room, and rooms at each corner for sleeping; the whole is covered with one general thatch, which comes low to each side; the spaces between the angle rooms are viranders or open porticoes ... sometimes the center viranders at each end are converted into rooms."—Hodges, Travels, 146.
1784.—"To be let at Chinsurah.... That large and commodious House.... The out-buildings are—a warehouse and two large bottle-connahs, 6 store-rooms, a cook-room, and a garden, with a bungalow near the house."—Cal. Gazette, in Seton-Karr, i. 40.
1787.—"At Barrackpore many of the Bungalows much damaged, though none entirely destroyed."—Ibid. p. 213.
1793.—"... the bungalo, or Summer-house...."—Dirom, 211.
" "For Sale, a Bungalo situated between the two Tombstones, in the Island of Coulaba."—Bombay Courier, Jan. 12.
1794.—"The candid critic will not however expect the parched plains of India, or bungaloes in the land-winds, will hardly tempt the Aonian maids wont to disport on the banks of Tiber and Thames...."—Hugh Boyd, 170.
1809.—"We came to a small bungalo or garden-house, at the point of the hill, from which there is, I think, the finest view I ever saw."—Maria Graham, 10.
c. 1810.—"The style of private edifices that is proper and peculiar to Bengal consists of a hut with a pent roof constructed of two sloping sides which meet in a ridge forming the segment of a circle.... This kind of hut, it is said, from being peculiar to Bengal, is called by the natives Banggolo, a name which has been somewhat altered by Europeans, and applied by them to all their buildings in the cottage style, although none of them have the proper shape, and many of them are excellent brick houses."—Buchanan's Dinagepore (in Eastern India, ii. 922).
1817.—"The Yorŭ-bangala is made like two thatched houses or bangalas, placed side by side.... These temples are dedicated to different gods, but are not now frequently seen in Bengal."—Ward's Hindoos, Bk. II. ch. i.
c. 1818.—"As soon as the sun is down we will go over to the Captain's bungalow."—Mrs Sherwood, Stories, &c., ed. 1873, p. 1. The original editions of this book contain an engraving of "The Captain's Bungalow at Cawnpore" (c. 1811-12), which shows that no material change has occurred in the character of such dwellings down to the present time.
1824.—"The house itself of Barrackpore ... barely accommodates Lord Amherst's own family; and his aides-de-camp and visitors sleep in bungalows built at some little distance from it in the Park. Bungalow, a corruption of Bengalee, is the general name in this country for any structure in the cottage style, and only of one floor. Some of these are spacious and comfortable dwellings...."—Heber, ed. 1844, i. 33.
1872.—"L'emplacement du bungalou avait été choisi avec un soin tout particulier."—Rev. des Deux Mondes, tom. xcviii. 930.
1875.—"The little groups of officers dispersed to their respective bungalows to dress and breakfast."—The Dilemma, ch. i.
[In Oudh the name was specially applied to Fyzabad.
[1858.—"Fyzabad ... was founded by the first rulers of the reigning family, and called for some time Bungalow, from a bungalow which they built on the verge of the stream."—Sleeman, Journey through the Kingdom of Oudh, i. 137.]
BUNGALOW, DAWK-, s. A rest-house for the accommodation of travellers, formerly maintained (and still to a reduced extent) by the paternal care of the Government of India. The matériel of the accommodation was humble enough, but comprised the things essential for the weary traveller—shelter, a bed and table, a bathroom, and a servant furnishing food at a very moderate cost. On principal lines of thoroughfare these bungalows were at a distance of 10 to 15 miles apart, so that it was possible for a traveller to make his journey by marches without carrying a tent. On some less frequented roads they were 40 or 50 miles apart, adapted to a night's run in a palankin.
1853.—"Dâk-bungalows have been described by some Oriental travellers as the 'Inns of India.' Playful satirists!"—Oakfield, ii. 17.
1866.—"The Dawk Bungalow; or, Is his Appointment Pucka?"—By G. O. Trevelyan, in Fraser's Magazine, vol. 73, p. 215.
1878.—"I am inclined to think the value of life to a dak bungalow fowl must be very trifling."—In my Indian Garden, 11.
BUNGY, s. H. bhangī. The name of a low caste, habitually employed as sweepers, and in the lowest menial offices, the man being a house sweeper and dog-boy, [his wife an Ayah]. Its members are found throughout Northern and Western India, and every European household has a servant of this class. The colloquial application of the term bungy to such servants is however peculiar to Bombay, [but the word is commonly used in the N.W.P. but always with a contemptuous significance]. In the Bengal Pry. he is generally called Mehtar (q.v.), and by politer natives Halālkhor (see HALALCORE), &c. In Madras totī (see TOTY) is the usual word; [in W. India Dheṛ or Dheḍ]. Wilson suggests that the caste name may be derived from bhang (see BANG), and this is possible enough, as the class is generally given to strong drink and intoxicating drugs.
1826.—"The Kalpa or Skinner, and the Bunghee, or Sweeper, are yet one step below the Dher."—Tr. Lit. Soc. Bombay, iii. 362.
BUNOW, s. and v. H. banāo, used in the sense of 'preparation, fabrication,' &c., but properly the imperative of banānā, 'to make, prepare, fabricate.' The Anglo-Indian word is applied to anything fictitious or factitious, 'a cram, a shave, a sham'; or, as a verb, to the manufacture of the like. The following lines have been found among old papers belonging to an officer who was at the Court of the Nawāb Sa'ādat 'Ali at Lucknow, at the beginning of the last century:—
"Young Grant and Ford the other day
Would fain have had some Sport,
But Hound nor Beagle none had they,
Nor aught of Canine sort.
A luckless Parry[46] came most pat
When Ford—'we've Dogs enow!
Here Maitre—Kawn aur Doom ko Kaut
Juld! Terrier bunnow!'[47]
"So Saadut with the like design
(I mean, to form a Pack)
To * * * * * t gave a Feather fine
And Red Coat to his Back;
A Persian Sword to clog his side,
And Boots Hussar sub-nyah,[48]
Then eyed his Handiwork with Pride,
Crying Meejir myn bunnayah!!!"[49]
"Appointed to be said or sung in all Mosques, Mutts, Tuckeahs, or Eedgahs within the Reserved Dominions."[50]
1853.—"You will see within a week if this is anything more than a banau."—Oakfield, ii. 58.
[1870.—"We shall be satisfied with choosing for illustration, out of many, one kind of benowed or prepared evidence."—Chevers, Med. Jurisprud., 86.]
BURDWÁN, n.p. A town 67 m. N.W. of Calcutta—Bardwān, but in its original Skt. form Vardhamāna, 'thriving, prosperous,' a name which we find in Ptolemy (Bardamana), though in another part of India. Some closer approximation to the ancient form must have been current till the middle of 18th century, for Holwell, writing in 1765, speaks of "Burdwan, the principal town of Burdomaan" (Hist. Events, &c., 1. 112; see also 122, 125).
BURGHER. This word has three distinct applications.
a. s. This is only used in Ceylon. It is the Dutch word burger, 'citizen.' The Dutch admitted people of mixt descent to a kind of citizenship, and these people were distinguished by this name from pure natives. The word now indicates any persons who claim to be of partly European descent, and is used in the same sense as 'half-caste' and 'Eurasian' in India Proper. [In its higher sense it is still used by the Boers of the Transvaal.]
1807.—"The greater part of them were admitted by the Dutch to all the privileges of citizens under the denomination of Burghers."—Cordiner, Desc. of Ceylon.
1877.—"About 60 years ago the Burghers of Ceylon occupied a position similar to that of the Eurasians of India at the present moment."—Calcutta Review, cxvii. 180-1.
b. n.p. People of the Nilgherry Hills, properly Baḍagas, or Northerners.'—See under BADEGA.
c. s. A rafter, H. bargā.
BURKUNDAUZE, s. An armed retainer; an armed policeman, or other armed unmounted employé of a civil department; from Ar.-P. barḳandāz, 'lightning-darter,' a word of the same class as jān-bāz, &c. [Also see BUXERRY.]
1726.—"2000 men on foot, called Bircandes, and 2000 pioneers to make the road, called Bieldars (see BILDAR)."—Valentijn, iv. Suratte, 276.
1793.—"Capt. Welsh has succeeded in driving the Bengal Berkendosses out of Assam."—Cornwallis, ii. 207.
1794.—"Notice is hereby given that persons desirous of sending escorts of burkundazes or other armed men, with merchandise, are to apply for passports."—In Seton-Karr, ii. 139.
[1832.—"The whole line of march is guarded in each procession by burkhandhars (matchlock men), who fire singly, at intervals, on the way."—Mrs Meer Hassan Ali, i. 87.]
BURMA, BURMAH (with BURMESE, &c.) n.p. The name by which we designate the ancient kingdom and nation occupying the central basin of the Irawadi River. "British Burma" is constituted of the provinces conquered from that kingdom in the two wars of 1824-26 and 1852-53, viz. (in the first) Arakan, Martaban, Tenasserim, and (in the second) Pegu. [Upper Burma and the Shan States were annexed after the third war of 1885.]
The name is taken from Mran-mā, the national name of the Burmese people, which they themselves generally pronounce Bam-mā, unless when speaking formally and emphatically. Sir Arthur Phayre considers that this name was in all probability adopted by the Mongoloid tribes of the Upper Irawadi, on their conversion to Buddhism by missionaries from Gangetic India, and is identical with that (Brām-mā) by which the first and holy inhabitants of the world are styled in the (Pali) Buddhist Scriptures. Brahma-desa was the term applied to the country by a Singhalese monk returning thence to Ceylon, in conversation with one of the present writers. It is however the view of Bp. Bigandet and of Prof. Forchhammer, supported by considerable arguments, that Mran, Myan, or Myen was the original name of the Burmese people, and is traceable in the names given to them by their neighbours; e.g. by Chinese Mien (and in Marco Polo); by Kakhyens, Myen or Mren; by Shans, Mān; by Sgaw Karens, Payo; by Pgaw Karens, Payān; by Paloungs, Parān, &c.[51] Prof. F. considers that Mran-mā (with this honorific suffix) does not date beyond the 14th century. [In J. R. A. Soc. (1894, p. 152 seqq.), Mr. St John suggests that the word Myamma is derived from myan, 'swift,' and ma, 'strong,' and was taken as a soubriquet by the people at some early date, perhaps in the time of Anawrahta, A.D. 1150.]
1516.—"Having passed the Kingdom of Bengale, along the coast which turns to the South, there is another Kingdom of Gentiles, called Berma.... They frequently are at war with the King of Peigu. We have no further information respecting this country, because it has no shipping."—Barbosa, 181.
[ " "Verma." See quotation under ARAKAN.
[1538.—"But the war lasted on and the Bramãs took all the kingdom."—Correa, iii. 851.]
1543.—"And folk coming to know of the secrecy with which the force was being despatched, a great desire took possession of all to know whither the Governor intended to send so large an armament, there being no Rumis to go after, and nothing being known of any other cause why ships should be despatched in secret at such a time. So some gentlemen spoke of it to the Governor, and much importuned him to tell them whither they were going, and the Governor, all the more bent on concealment of his intentions, told them that the expedition was going to Pegu to fight with the Bramas who had taken that Kingdom."—Ibid. iv. 298.
c. 1545.—"How the King of Bramâ undertook the conquest of this kingdom of Sião (Siam), and of what happened till his arrival at the City of Odiâ."—F. M. Pinto (orig.) cap. 185.
[1553.—"Bremá." See quotation under JANGOMAY.]
1606.—"Although one's whole life were wasted in describing the superstitions of these Gentiles—the Pegus and the Bramas—one could not have done with the half, therefore I only treat of some, in passing, as I am now about to do."—Couto, viii. cap. xii.
[1639.—"His (King of Pegu's) Guard consists of a great number of Souldiers, with them called Brahmans, is kept at the second Port."—Mandelslo, Travels, E. T. ii. 118.]
1680.—"Articles of Commerce to be proposed to the King of Barma and Pegu, in behalfe of the English Nation for the settling of a Trade in those countrys."—Ft. St. Geo. Cons., in Notes and Exts., iii. 7.
1727.—"The Dominions of Barma are at present very large, reaching from Moravi near Tanacerin, to the Province of Yunan in China."—A. Hamilton, ii. 41.
1759.—"The Bûraghmahs are much more numerous than the Peguese and more addicted to commerce; even in Pegu their numbers are 100 to 1."—Letter in Dalrymple, O. R., i. 99. The writer appears desirous to convey by his unusual spelling some accurate reproduction of the name as he had heard it. His testimony as to the predominance of Burmese in Pegu, at that date even, is remarkable.
[1763.—"Burmah." See quotation under MUNNEEPORE.
[1767.—"Buraghmagh." See quotation under SONAPARANTA.
[1782.—"Bahmans." See quotation under GAUTAMA.]
1793.—"Burmah borders on Pegu to the north, and occupies both banks of the river as far as the frontiers of China."—Rennell's Memoir, 297.
[1795.—"Birman." See quotation under SHAN.
[c. 1819.—"In fact in their own language, their name is not Burmese, which we have borrowed from the Portuguese, but Biamma."—Sangermano, 36.]
BURRA-BEEBEE, s. H. baṛī bībī, 'Grande dame.' This is a kind of slang word applied in Anglo-Indian society to the lady who claims precedence at a party. [Nowadays Baṛī Mem is the term applied to the chief lady in a Station.]
1807.—"At table I have hitherto been allowed but one dish, namely the Burro Bebee, or lady of the highest rank."—Lord Minto in India, 29.
1848.—"The ladies carry their burrah-bibiship into the steamers when they go to England.... My friend endeavoured in vain to persuade them that whatever their social importance in the 'City of Palaces,' they would be but small folk in London."—Chow Chow, by Viscountess Falkland, i. 92.
[BURRA-DIN, s. H. baṛā-din. A 'great day,' the term applied by natives to a great festival of Europeans, particularly to Christmas Day.
[1880.—"This being the Burra Din, or great day, the fact of an animal being shot was interpreted by the men as a favourable augury."—Ball, Jungle Life, 279.]
BURRA-KHANA, s. H. baṛā khāna, 'big dinner'; a term of the same character as the two last, applied to a vast and solemn entertainment.
[1880.—"To go out to a burra khana, or big dinner, which is succeeded in the same or some other house by a larger evening party."—Wilson, Abode of Snow, 51.]
BURRA SAHIB. H. baṛā, 'great'; 'the great Ṣāḥib (or Master),' a term constantly occurring, whether in a family to distinguish the father or the elder brother, in a station to indicate the Collector, Commissioner, or whatever officer may be the recognised head of the society, or in a department to designate the head of that department, local or remote.
[1889.—"At any rate a few of the great lords and ladies (Burra Sahib and Burra Mem Sahib) did speak to me without being driven to it."—Lady Dufferin, 34.]
BURRAMPOOTER, n.p. Properly (Skt.) Brahmaputra ('the son of Brahmā'), the great river Brahmputr of which Assam is the valley. Rising within 100 miles of the source of the Ganges, these rivers, after being separated by 17 degrees of longitude, join before entering the sea. There is no distinct recognition of this great river by the ancients, but the Diardanes or Oidanes, of Curtius and Strabo, described as a large river in the remoter parts of India, abounding in dolphins and crocodiles, probably represents this river under one of its Skt. names, Hlādini.
1552.—Barros does not mention the name before us, but the Brahmaputra seems to be the river of Caor, which traversing the kingdom so called (Gour) and that of Comotay, and that of Cirote (see SILHET), issues above Chatigão (see CHITTAGONG), in that notable arm of the Ganges which passes through the island of Sornagam.
c. 1590.—"There is another very large river called Berhumputter, which runs from Khatai to Coach (see COOCH BEHAR) and from thence through Bazoohah to the sea."—Ayeen Akberry (Gladwin) ed. 1800, ii. 6; [ed. Jarrett, ii. 121].
1726.—"Out of the same mountains we see ... a great river flowing which ... divides into two branches, whereof the easterly one on account of its size is called the Great Barrempooter."—Valentijn, v. 154.
1753.—"Un peu au-dessous de Daka, le Gange est joint par une grosse rivière, qui sort de la frontière du Tibet. Le nom de Bramanpoutre qu'on lui trouve dans quelques cartes est une corruption de celui de Brahmaputren, qui dans le langage du pays signifie tirant son origine de Brahma."—D'Anville, Éclaircissemens, 62.
1767.—"Just before the Ganges falls into ye Bay of Bengall, it receives the Baramputrey or Assam River. The Assam River is larger than the Ganges ... it is a perfect Sea of fresh Water after the Junction of the two Rivers...."—MS. Letter of James Rennell, d. 10th March.
1793.—"... till the year 1765, the Burrampooter, as a capital river, was unknown in Europe. On tracing this river in 1765, I was no less surprised at finding it rather larger than the Ganges, than at its course previous to its entering Bengal.... I could no longer doubt that the Burrampooter and Sanpoo were one and the same river."—Rennell, Memoir, 3rd ed. 356.
BURREL, s. H. bharal; Ovis nahura, Hodgson. The blue wild sheep of the Himālaya. [Blanford, Mamm. 499, with illustration.]
BURSAUTEE, s. H. barsātī, from barsāt, 'the Rains.'
a. The word properly is applied to a disease to which horses are liable in the rains, pustular eruptions breaking out on the head and fore parts of the body.
[1828.—"That very extraordinary disease, the bursattee."—Or. Sport. Mag., reprint, 1873, i. 125.
[1832.—"Horses are subject to an infectious disease, which generally makes its appearance in the rainy season, and therefore called burrhsaatie."—Mrs Meer Hassan Ali, ii. 27.]
b. But the word is also applied to a waterproof cloak, or the like. (See BRANDY COORTEE.)