c. 362.—"Unde nationibus Indicis certatim cum donis optimates mittentibus ante tempus, ab usque Divis et Serendivis."—Ammianus Marcellinus, XXI. vii.
c. 430.—"The island of Lanka was called Sihala after the Lion; listen ye to the narration of the island which I (am going to) tell: 'The daughter of the Vanga King cohabited in the forest with a lion.'"—Dipavanso, IX. i. 2.
c. 545.—"This is the great island in the ocean, lying in the Indian Sea. By the Indians it is called Sielediba, but by the Greeks Taprobane."—Cosmas, Bk. xi.
851.—"Near Sarandīb is the pearl-fishery. Sarandīb is entirely surrounded by the sea."—Relation des Voyages, i. p. 5.
c. 940.—"Mas'ūdi proceeds: In the Island Sarandīb, I myself witnessed that when the King was dead, he was placed on a chariot with low wheels so that his hair dragged upon the ground."—In Gildemeister, 154.
c. 1020.—"There you enter the country of Lárán, where is Jaimúr, then Malia, then Kánji, then Darúd, where there is a great gulf in which is Sinkaldíp (Sinhala dvīpa), or the island of Sarandíp."—Al Birūnī, as given by Rashíduddín, in Elliot, i. 66.
1275.—"The island Sailan is a vast island between China and India, 80 parasangs in circuit.... It produces wonderful things, sandal-wood, spikenard, cinnamon, cloves, brazil, and various spices...."—Kazvīnī, in Gildemeister, 203.
1298.—"You come to the island of Seilan, which is in good sooth the best island of its size in the world."—Marco Polo, Bk. iii. ch. 14.
c. 1300.—"There are two courses ... from this place (Ma'bar); one leads by sea to Chín and Máchín, passing by the island of Sílán."—Rashíduddín, in Elliot, i. 70.
1330.—"There is another island called Sillan.... In this ... there is an exceeding great mountain, of which the folk relate that it was upon it that Adam mourned for his son one hundred years."—Fr. Odoric, in Cathay, i. 98.
c. 1337.—"I met in this city (Brussa) the pious sheikh 'Abd-Allah-al-Miṣrī, the Traveller. He was a worthy man. He made the circuit of the earth, except he never entered China, nor the island of Sarandīb, nor Andalusia, nor the Sūdān. I have excelled him, for I have visited those regions."—Ibn Batuta, ii. 321.
c. 1350.—"... I proceeded to sea by Seyllan, a glorious mountain opposite to Paradise.... 'Tis said the sound of the waters falling from the fountain of Paradise is heard there."—Marignolli, in Cathay, ii. 346.
c. 1420.—"In the middle of the Gulf there is a very noble island called Zeilam, which is 3000 miles in circumference, and on which they find by digging, rubies, saffires, garnets, and those stones which are called cats'-eyes."—N. Conti, in India in the XVth Century, 7.
1498.—"... much ginger, and pepper, and cinnamon, but this is not so fine as that which comes from an island which is called Cillam, and which is 8 days distant from Calicut."—Roteiro de V. da Gama, 88.
1514.—"Passando avanti intra la terra e il mare si truova l'isola di Zolan dove nasce la cannella...."—Giov. da Empoli, in Archiv. Stor. Ital., Append. 79.
1516.—"Leaving these islands of Mahaldiva ... there is a very large and beautiful island which the Moors, Arabs, and Persians call Ceylam, and the Indians call it Ylinarim."—Barbosa, 166.
1586.—"This Ceylon is a brave Iland, very fruitful and fair."—Hakl. ii. 397.
[1605.—"Heare you shall buie theis Comodities followinge of the Inhabitants of Selland."—Birdwood, First Letter Book, 84.
[1615.—"40 tons of cinnamon of Celand."—Foster, Letters, iii. 277.
[ " "Here is arrived a ship out of Holland ... at present turning under Silon."—Ibid. iv. 34.]
1682.—"... having run 35 miles North without seeing Zeilon."—Hedges, Diary, July 7; [Hak. Soc. i. 28].
1727.—A. Hamilton writes Zeloan (i. 340, &c.), and as late as 1780, in Dunn's Naval Directory, we find Zeloan throughout.
1781.—"We explored the whole coast of Zelone, from Pt. Pedro to the Little Basses, looked into every port and spoke to every vessel we saw, without hearing of French vessels."—Price's Letter to Ph. Francis, in Tracts, i. 9.
1830.—
"For dearer to him are the shells that sleep
By his own sweet native stream,
Than all the pearls of Serendeep,
Or the Ava ruby's gleam!
Home! Home! Friends—health—repose,
What are Golconda's gems to those?"
Bengal Annual.
CHABEE, s. H. chābī, chābhī, 'a key,' from Port. chave. In Bengali it becomes sābī, and in Tam. sāvī. In Sea-H. 'a fid.'
CHABOOTRA, s. H. chabūtrā and chābūtara, a paved or plastered platform, often attached to a house, or in a garden.
c. 1810.—"It was a burning evening in June, when, after sunset, I accompanied Mr. Sherwood to Mr. Martin's bungalow.... We were conducted to the Cherbuter ... this Cherbuter was many feet square, and chairs were set for the guests."—Autobiog. of Mrs. Sherwood, 345.
1811.—"... the Chabootah or Terrace."—Williamson, V. M. ii. 114.
1827.—"The splendid procession, having entered the royal gardens, approached through a long avenue of lofty trees, a chabootra or platform of white marble canopied by arches of the same material."—Sir W. Scott, The Surgeon's Daughter, ch. xiv.
1834.—"We rode up to the Chabootra, which has a large enclosed court before it, and the Darogha received us with the respect which my showy escort claimed."—Mem. of Col. Mountain, 133.
CHACKUR, s. P.—H. chākar, 'a servant.' The word is hardly ever now used in Anglo-Indian households except as a sort of rhyming amplification to Naukar (see NOKUR): "Naukar-chākar," the whole following. But in a past generation there was a distinction made between naukar, the superior servant, such as a munshī, a gomāshta, a chobdār, a khānsama, &c., and chākar, a menial servant. Williamson gives a curious list of both classes, showing what a large Calcutta household embraced at the beginning of last century (V. M. i. 185-187).
1810.—"Such is the superiority claimed by the nokers, that to ask one of them 'whose chauker he is?' would be considered a gross insult."—Williamson, i. 187.
CHALIA, CHALÉ, n.p. Chālyam, Chāliyam, or Chālayam; an old port of Malabar, on the south side of the Beypur [see BEYPOOR] R., and opposite Beypur. The terminal station of the Madras Railway is in fact where Chālyam was. A plate is given in the Lendas of Correa, which makes this plain. The place is incorrectly alluded to as Kalyān in Imp. Gazetteer, ii. 49; more correctly on next page as Chalium. [See Logan, Malabar, i. 75.]
c. 1330.—See in Abulfeda, "Shāliyāt, a city of Malabar."—Gildemeister, 185.
c. 1344.—"I went then to Shālyāt, a very pretty town, where they make the stuffs that bear its name [see SHALEE].... Thence I returned to Kalikut."—Ibn Batuta, iv. 109.
1516.—"Beyond this city (Calicut) towards the south there is another city called Chalyani, where there are numerous Moors, natives of the country, and much shipping."—Barbosa, 153.
c. 1570.—"And it was during the reign of this prince that the Franks erected their fort at Shaleeat ... it thus commanded the trade between Arabia and Calicut, since between the last city and Shaleeat the distance was scarcely 2 parasangs."—Tohfut-ul-Mujahideen, p. 129.
1572.—
"A Sampaio feroz succederá
Cunha, que longo tempe tem o leme:
De Chale as torres altas erguerá
Em quanto Dio illustre delle treme."
Camões, x. 61.
By Burton:
"Then shall succeed to fierce Sampaio's powers
Cunha, and hold the helm for many a year,
building of Chale-town the lofty towers,
while quakes illustrious Diu his name to hear."
[c. 1610.—"... crossed the river which separates the Calecut kingdom from that of a king named Chaly."—Pyrard de Laval, Hak. Soc. i. 368.]
1672.—"Passammo Cinacotta situata alla bocca del fiume Ciali, doue li Portughesi hebbero altre volte Fortezza."—P. Vincenzo Maria, 129.
CHAMPA, n.p. The name of a kingdom at one time of great power and importance in Indo-China, occupying the extreme S.E. of that region. A limited portion of its soil is still known by that name, but otherwise as the Binh-Thuān province of Cochin China. The race inhabiting this portion, Chams or Tsiams, are traditionally said to have occupied the whole breadth of that peninsula to the Gulf of Siam, before the arrival of the Khmer or Kambojan people. It is not clear whether the people in question took their name from Champa, or Champa from the people; but in any case the form of Champa is Sanskrit, and probably it was adopted from India like Kamboja itself and so many other Indo-Chinese names. The original Champā was a city and kingdom on the Ganges, near the modern Bhāgalpur. And we find the Indo-Chinese Champa in the 7th century called Mahā-champā, as if to distinguish it. It is probable that the Ζάβα or Ζάβαι of Ptolemy represents the name of this ancient kingdom; and it is certainly the Ṣanf or Chanf of the Arab navigators 600 years later; this form representing Champ as nearly as is possible to the Arabic alphabet.
c. A.D. 640.—"... plus loin à l'est, le royaume de Mo-ho-tchen-po" (Mahāchampā).—Hiouen Thsang, in Pèlerins Bouddh. iii. 83.
851.—"Ships then proceed to the place called Ṣanf (or Chanf) ... there fresh water is procured; from this place is exported the aloes-wood called Chanfi. This is a kingdom."—Relation des Voyages, &c., i. 18.
1298.—"You come to a country called Chamba, a very rich region, having a King of its own. The people are idolaters, and pay a yearly tribute to the Great Kaan ... there are a very great number of Elephants in this Kingdom, and they have lign-aloes in great abundance."—Marco Polo, Bk. iii. ch. 5.
c. 1300.—"Passing on from this, you come to a continent called Jampa, also subject to the Kaan...."—Rashīduddīn, in Elliot, i. 71.
c. 1328.—"There is also a certain part of India called Champa. There, in place of horses, mules, asses, and camels, they make use of elephants for all their work."—Friar Jordanus, 37.
1516.—"Having passed this island (Borney) ... towards the country of Ansiam and China, there is another great island of Gentiles called Champa; which has a King and language of its own, and many elephants.... There also grows in it aloes-wood."—Barbosa, 204.
1552.—"Concorriam todolos navegantes dos mares Occidentaes da India, e dos Orientaes a ella, que são as regiões di Sião, China, Choampa, Cambòja...."—Barros, ii. vi. 1.
1572.—
"Ves, corre a costa, que Champa se chama
Cuja mata he do pao cheiroso ornada."
Camões, x. 129.
By Burton:
"Here courseth, see, the callèd Champa shore,
with woods of odorous wood 'tis deckt and dight."
1608.—"... thence (from Assam) eastward on the side of the northern mountains are the Nangata [i.e. Nāga] lands, the Land of Pukham lying on the ocean, Balgu [Baigu? i.e. Pegu], the land Rakhang, Hamsavati, and the rest of the realm of Munyang; beyond these Champa, Kamboja, etc. All these are in general named Koki."—Taranatha (Tibetan) Hist. of Buddhism, by Schiefner, p. 262. The preceding passage is of great interest as showing a fair general knowledge of the kingdoms of Indo-China on the part of a Tibetan priest, and also as showing that Indo-China was recognised under a general name, viz. Koki.
1696.—"Mr. Bowyear says the Prince of Champa whom he met at the Cochin Chinese Court was very polite to him, and strenuously exhorted him to introduce the English to the dominions of Champa."—In Dalrymple's Or. Repert. i. 67.
CHAMPANA, s. A kind of small vessel. (See SAMPAN.)
CHANDAUL, s. H. Chaṇḍāl, an outcaste, 'used generally for a man of the lowest and most despised of the mixt tribes' (Williams); 'properly one sprung from a Sudra father and Brahman mother' (Wilson). [The last is the definition of the Āīn (ed. Jarrett, iii. 116). Dr. Wilson identifies them with the Kandali or Gondali of Ptolemy (Ind. Caste, i. 57).]
712.—"You have joined those Chandáls and coweaters, and have become one of them."—Chach-Nāmah, in Elliot, i. 193.
[1810.—"Chandela," see quotation under HALALCORE.]
CHANDERNAGORE, n.p. The name of the French settlement on the Hoogly, 24 miles by river above Calcutta, originally occupied in 1673. The name is alleged by Hunter to be properly Chandan(a)-nagara, 'Sandalwood City,' but the usual form points rather to Chandra-nagara, 'Moon City.' [Natives prefer to call it Farash-danga, or 'The gathering together of Frenchmen.']
1727.—"He forced the Ostenders to quit their Factory, and seek protection from the French at Charnagur.... They have a few private Families dwelling near the Factory, and a pretty little Church to hear Mass in, which is the chief Business of the French in Bengal."—A. Hamilton, ii. 18.
[1753.—"Shandernagor." See quotation under CALCUTTA.]
CHANK, CHUNK, s. H. sankh, Skt. sankha, a large kind of shell (Turbinella rapa) prized by the Hindus, and used by them for offering libations, as a horn to blow at the temples, and for cutting into armlets and other ornaments. It is found especially in the Gulf of Manaar, and the Chank fishery was formerly, like that of the pearl-oysters, a Government monopoly (see Tennent's Ceylon, ii. 556, and the references). The abnormal chank, with its spiral opening to the right, is of exceptional value, and has been sometimes priced, it is said, at a lakh of rupees!
c. 545.—"Then there is Sielediba, i.e. Taprobane ... and then again on the continent, and further back is Marallo, which exports conch-shells (κοχλίους)."—Cosmas, in Cathay, I. clxxviii.
851.—"They find on its shores (of Ceylon) the pearl, and the shank, a name by which they designate the great shell which serves for a trumpet, and which is much sought after."—Reinaud, Relations, i. 6.
1563.—"... And this chanco is a ware for the Bengal trade, and formerly it produced more profit than now.... And there was formerly a custom in Bengal that no virgin in honour and esteem could be corrupted unless it were by placing bracelets of chanco on her arms; but since the Patans came in this usage has more or less ceased; and so the chanco is rated lower now...."—Garcia, f. 141.
1644.—"What they chiefly bring (from Tuticorin) are cloths called cachas[59] ... a large quantity of Chanquo; these are large shells which they fish in that sea, and which supply Bengal, where the blacks make of them bracelets for the arm; also the biggest and best fowls in all these Eastern parts."—Bocarro, MS. 316.
1672.—"Garroude flew in all haste to Brahma, and brought to Kisna the chianko, or kinkhorn, twisted to the right."—Baldaeus, Germ. ed. 521.
1673.—"There are others they call chanquo; the shells of which are the Mother of Pearl."—Fryer, 322.
1727.—"It admits of some Trade, and produces Cotton, Corn, coars Cloth, and Chonk, a Shell-fish in shape of a Periwinkle, but as large as a Man's Arm above the Elbow. In Bengal they are saw'd into Rings for Ornaments to Women's Arms."—A. Hamilton, i. 131.
1734.—"Expended towards digging a foundation, where chanks were buried with accustomed ceremonies."—In Wheeler, iii. 147.
1770.—"Upon the same coast is found a shell-fish called xanxus, of which the Indians at Bengal make bracelets."—Raynal (tr. 1777) i. 216.
1813.—"A chank opening to the right hand is highly valued ... always sells for its weight in gold."—Milburn, i. 357.
[1871.—"The conch or chunk shell."—Mateer, Land of Charity, 92.]
1875.—
| Valuation | |||||
| "Chanks. | Large for Cameos. | per | 100 | 10 | Rs. |
| White, live | " | " | 6 | " | |
| Wh"te, dead | " | " | 3 | " | |
| Table of Customs Duties on Imports into British India up to 1875." |
|||||
CHARPOY, s. H. chārpāī, from P. chihār-pāī (i.e. four-feet), the common Indian bedstead, sometimes of very rude materials, but in other cases handsomely wrought and painted. It is correctly described in the quotation from Ibn Batuta.
c. 1350.—"The beds in India are very light. A single man can carry one, and every traveller should have his own bed, which his slave carries about on his head. The bed consists of four conical legs, on which four staves are laid; between they plait a sort of ribbon of silk or cotton. When you lie on it you need nothing else to render the bed sufficiently elastic."—iii. 380.
c. 1540.—"Husain Khan Tashtdár was sent on some business from Bengal. He went on travelling night and day. Whenever sleep came over him he placed himself on a bed (chahār-pāī) and the villagers carried him along on their shoulders."—MS. quoted in Elliot, iv. 418.
1662.—"Turbans, long coats, trowsers, shoes, and sleeping on chárpáis, are quite unusual."—H. of Mir Jumla's Invasion of Assam, transl. by Blochmann, J.A.S.B. xli. pt. i. 80.
1876.—"A syce at Mozuffernuggar, lying asleep on a charpoy ... was killed by a tame buck goring him in the side ... it was supposed in play."—Baldwin, Large and Small Game of Bengal, 195.
1883.—"After a gallop across country, he would rest on a charpoy, or country bed, and hold an impromptu levee of all the village folk."—C. Raikes, in L. of L. Lawrence, i. 57.
CHATTA, s. An umbrella; H. chhātā, chhatr; Skt. chhatra.
c. 900.—"He is clothed in a waist-cloth, and holds in his hand a thing called a Jatra; this is an umbrella made of peacock's feathers."—Reinaud, Relations, &c. 154.
c. 1340.—"They hoist upon these elephants as many chatrās, or umbrellas of silk, mounted with many precious stones, and with handles of pure gold."—Ibn Batuta, iii. 228.
c. 1354.—"But as all the Indians commonly go naked, they are in the habit of carrying a thing like a little tent-roof on a cane handle, which they open out at will as a protection against sun and rain. This they call a chatyr. I brought one home to Florence with me...."—John Marignolli, in Cathay, &c. p. 381.
1673.—"Thus the chief Naik with his loud Musick ... an Ensign of Red, Swallow-tailed, several Chitories, little but rich Kitsolls (which are the Names of several Countries for Umbrelloes)...."—Fryer, 160.
[1694.—"3 chatters."—Hedges, Diary, Hak. Soc. ii. cclxv.
[1826.—"Another as my chitree-burdar or umbrella-carrier."—Pandurang Hari, ed. 1873, i. 28.]
CHATTY, s. An earthen pot, spheroidal in shape. It is a S. Indian word, but is tolerably familiar in the Anglo-Indian parlance of N. India also, though the H. Ghurra (ghaṛā) is more commonly used there. The word is Tam. shāṭi, shaṭṭi, Tel. chatti, which appears in Pali as chāḍi.
1781.—"In honour of His Majesty's birthday we had for dinner fowl cutlets and a flour pudding, and drank his health in a chatty of sherbet."—Narr. of an Officer of Baillie's Detachment, quoted in Lives of the Lindsays, iii. 285.
1829.—"The chatties in which the women carry water are globular earthen vessels, with a bell-mouth at top."—Mem. of Col. Mountain, 97.
CHAW, s. For chā, i.e. Tea (q.v.).
1616.—"I sent ... a silver chaw pot and a fan to Capt. China wife."—Cock's Diary, i. 215.
CHAWBUCK, s. and v. A whip; to whip. An obsolete vulgarism from P. chābuk, 'alert'; in H. 'a horse-whip.' It seems to be the same as the sjambok in use at the Cape, and apparently carried from India (see the quotation from Van Twist). [Mr. Skeat points out that Klinkert gives chambok or sambok, as Javanese forms, the standard Malay being chabok or chabuk; and this perhaps suggests that the word may have been introduced by Malay grooms once largely employed at the Cape.]
1648.—"... Poor and little thieves are flogged with a great whip (called Siamback) several days in succession."—Van Twist, 29.
1673.—"Upon any suspicion of default he has a Black Guard that by a Chawbuck, a great Whip, extorts Confession."—Fryer, 98.
1673.—"The one was of an Armenian, Chawbucked through the City for selling of Wine."—Ibid. 97.
1682.—"... Ramgivan, our Vekeel there (at Hugly) was sent for by Permesuradass, Bulchund's servant, who immediately clapt him in prison. Ye same day was brought forth and slippered; the next day he was beat on ye soles of his feet, ye third day Chawbuckt, and ye 4th drub'd till he could not speak, and all to force a writing in our names to pay Rupees 50,000 for custome of ye Silver brought out this year."—Hedges, Diary, Nov. 2; [Hak. Soc. i. 45].
[1684-5.—"Notwithstanding his being a great person was soon stripped and chawbuckt."—Pringle, Madras Consns. iv. 4.]
1688.—"Small offenders are only whipt on the Back, which sort of Punishment they call Chawbuck."—Dampier, ii. 138.
1699.—"The Governor of Surrat ordered the cloth Broker to be tyed up and chawbucked."—Letter from General and Council at Bombay to E. I. C. (in Record Office), 23rd March, 1698-9.
1726.—"Another Pariah he chawbucked 25 blows, put him in the Stocks, and kept him there an hour."—Wheeler, ii. 410.
1756.—"... a letter from Mr. Hastings ... says that the Nabob to engage the Dutch and French to purchase also, had put peons upon their Factories and threatened their Vaquills with the Chaubac."—In Long, 79.
1760.—"Mr. Barton, laying in wait, seized Benautrom Chattogee opposite to the door of the Council, and with the assistance of his bearer and his peons tied his hands and his feet, swung him upon a bamboo like a hog, carried him to his own house, there with his own hand chawbooked him in the most cruel manner, almost to the deprivation of life; endeavoured to force beef into his mouth, to the irreparable loss of his Bramin's caste, and all this without giving ear to, or suffering the man to speak in his own defence...."—Fort Wm. Consn., in Long, 214-215.
1784.—
"The sentinels placed at the door
Are for our security bail;
With Muskets and Chaubucks secure,
They guard us in Bangalore Jail."
Song, by a Gentleman of the Navy
(prisoner with Hyder) in Seton-Karr, i. 18.
1817.—"... ready to prescribe his favourite regimen of the Chabuk for every man, woman, or child who dared to think otherwise."—Lalla Rookh.
CHAWBUCKSWAR, s. H. from P. chābuk-suwār, a rough-rider.
[1820.—"As I turned him short, he threw up his head, which came in contact with mine and made my chabookswar exclaim, Ali mudat, 'the help of Ali.'"—Tod, Personal Narr. Calcutta rep. ii. 723.
[1892.—"A sort of high-stepping caper is taught, the chabuksowar (whip-rider), or breaker, holding, in addition to the bridle, cords tied to the fore fetlocks."—Kipling, Beast and Man in India, 171.]
CHEBULI. The denomination of one of the kinds of Myrobolans (q.v.) exported from India. The true etymology is probably Kābulī, as stated by Thevenot, i.e. 'from Cabul.'
c. 1343.—"Chebuli mirabolani."—List of Spices, &c., in Pegolotti (Della Decima, iii. 303).
c. 1665.—"De la Province de Caboul ... les Mirabolans croissent dans les Montagnes et c'est la cause pourquoi les Orientaux les appelent Cabuly."—Thevenot, v. 172.
CHEECHEE, adj. A disparaging term applied to half-castes or Eurasians (q.v.) (corresponding to the Lip-lap of the Dutch in Java) and also to their manner of speech. The word is said to be taken from chī (Fie!), a common native (S. Indian) interjection of remonstrance or reproof, supposed to be much used by the class in question. The term is, however, perhaps also a kind of onomatopœia, indicating the mincing pronunciation which often characterises them (see below). It should, however, be added that there are many well-educated East Indians who are quite free from this mincing accent.
1781.—
"Pretty little Looking-Glasses,
Good and cheap for Chee-chee Misses."
Hicky's Bengal Gazette, March 17.
1873.—"He is no favourite with the pure native, whose language he speaks as his own in addition to the hybrid minced English (known as chee-chee), which he also employs."—Fraser's Magazine, Oct., 437.
1880.—"The Eurasian girl is often pretty and graceful.... 'What though upon her lips there hung The accents of her tchi-tchi tongue.'"—Sir Ali Baba, 122.
1881.—"There is no doubt that the 'Chee Chee twang,' which becomes so objectionable to every Englishman before he has been long in the East, was originally learned in the convent and the Brothers' school, and will be clung to as firmly as the queer turns of speech learned in the same place."—St. James's Gazette, Aug. 26.
CHEENAR, s. P. chīnār, the Oriental Plane (Platanus orientalis) and platanus of the ancients; native from Greece to Persia. It is often by English travellers in Persia miscalled sycamore from confusion with the common British tree (Acer pseudoplatanus), which English people also habitually miscall sycamore, and Scotch people miscall plane-tree! Our quotations show how old the confusion is. The tree is not a native of India, though there are fine chīnārs in Kashmere, and a few in old native gardens in the Punjab, introduced in the days of the Moghul emperors. The tree is the Arbre Sec of Marco Polo (see 2nd ed. vol. i. 131, 132). Chīnārs of especial vastness and beauty are described by Herodotus and Pliny, by Chardin and others. At Buyukdereh near Constantinople, is still shown the Plane under which Godfrey of Boulogne is said to have encamped. At Tejrīsh, N. of Teheran, Sir H. Rawlinson tells us that he measured a great chīnār which has a girth of 108 feet at 5 feet from the ground.
c. 1628.—"The gardens here are many ... abounding in lofty pyramidall cypresses, broad-spreading Chenawrs...."—Sir T. Herbert, 136.
1677.—"We had a fair Prospect of the City (Ispahan) filling the one half of an ample Plain, few Buildings ... shewing themselves by reason of the high Chinors, or Sicamores shading the choicest of them...."—Fryer, 259.
" "We in our Return cannot but take notice of the famous Walk between the two Cities of Jelfa and Ispahaun; it is planted with two rows of Sycamores (which is the tall Maple, not the Sycamore of Alkair)."—Ibid. 286.
1682.—"At the elegant villa and garden at Mr. Bohun's at Lee. He shewed me the Zinnar tree or platanus, and told me that since they had planted this kind of tree about the Citty of Ispahan ... the plague ... had exceedingly abated of its mortal effects."—Evelyn's Diary, Sept. 16.
1726.—"... the finest road that you can imagine ... planted in the middle with 135 Sennaar trees on one side and 132 on the other."—Valentijn, v. 208.
1783.—"This tree, which in most parts of Asia is called the Chinaur, grows to the size of an oak, and has a taper straight trunk, with a silver-coloured bark, and its leaf, not unlike an expanded hand, is of a pale green."—G. Forster's Journey, ii. 17.
1817.—
"... they seem
Like the Chenar-tree grove, where winter throws
O'er all its tufted heads its feathery snows."
Mokanna.
[1835.—"... the island Char chúnar ... a skilful monument of the Moghul Emperor, who named it from the four plane trees he planted on the spot."—Hügel, Travels in Kashmir, 112.
[1872.—"I ... encamped under some enormous chunar or oriental plane trees."—Wilson, Abode of Snow, 370.]
Chīnār is alleged to be in Badakhshān applied to a species of poplar.
CHEENY, s. See under SUGAR.
1810.—"The superior kind (of raw sugar) which may often be had nearly white ... and sharp-grained, under the name of cheeny."—Williamson, V. M. ii. 134.
CHEESE, s. This word is well known to be used in modern English slang for "anything good, first-rate in quality, genuine, pleasant, or advantageous" (Slang Dict.). And the most probable source of the term is P. and H. chīz, 'thing.' For the expression used to be common among Anglo-Indians, e.g., "My new Arab is the real chīz"; "These cheroots are the real chīz," i.e. the real thing. The word may have been an Anglo-Indian importation, and it is difficult otherwise to account for it. [This view is accepted by the N.E.D.; for other explanations see 1 ser. N. & Q. viii. 89; 3 ser. vii. 465, 505.]
CHEETA, s. H. chītā, the Felis jubata, Schreber, [Cynaelurus jubatus, Blanford], or 'Hunting Leopard,' so called from its being commonly trained to use in the chase. From Skt. chitraka, or chitrakāya, lit. 'having a speckled body.'
1563.—"... and when they wish to pay him much honour they call him Ráo; as for example Chita-Ráo, whom I am acquainted with; and this is a proud name, for Chita signifies 'Ounce' (or panther) and this Chita-Rao means 'King as strong as a Panther.'"—Garcia, f. 36.
c. 1596.—"Once a leopard (chīta) had been caught, and without previous training, on a mere hint by His Majesty, it brought in the prey, like trained leopards."—Āīn-i-Akbarī, ed. Blochmann, i. 286.
1610.—Hawkins calls the Cheetas at Akbar's Court 'ounces for game.'—In Purchas, i. 218.
[1785.—"The Cheetah-connah, the place where the Nabob's panthers and other animals for hunting are kept."—Forbes, Or. Mem. 2nd ed. ii. 450.]
1862.—"The true Cheetah, the Hunting Leopard of India, does not exist in Ceylon."—Tennent, i. 140.
1879.—"Two young cheetahs had just come in from Bombay; one of these was as tame as a house-cat, and like the puma, purred beautifully when stroked."—"Jamrach's," in Sat. Review, May 17, p. 612.
It has been ingeniously suggested by Mr. Aldis Wright that the word cheater, as used by Shakspere, in the following passage, refers to this animal:—
Falstaff: "He's no swaggerer, Hostess; a tame cheater i' faith; you may stroke him gently as a puppy greyhound; he'll not swagger."—2nd Part King Henry IV. ii. 4.
Compare this with the passage just quoted from the Saturday Review! And the interpretation would rather derive confirmation from a parallel passage from Beaumont & Fletcher:
"... if you give any credit to the juggling rascal, you are worse than simple widgeons, and will be drawn into the net by this decoy-duck, this tame cheater."—The Fair Maid of the Inn, iv. 2.
But we have not been able to trace any possible source from which Shakspere could have derived the name of the animal at all, to say nothing of the familiar use of it. [The N.E.D. gives no support to the suggestion.]
CHELING, CHELI, s. The word is applied by some Portuguese writers to the traders of Indian origin who were settled at Malacca. It is not found in the Malay dictionaries, and it is just possible that it originated in some confusion of Quelin (see KLING) and Chuli (see CHOOLIA), or rather of Quelin and Chetin (see CHETTY).
1567.—"From the cohabitation of the Chelins of Malaqua with the Christians in the same street (even although in divers houses) spring great offences against God our Lord."—Decrees of the Sacred Council of Goa, in Archiv. Port. Orient., Dec. 23.
1613.—"E depois daquelle porto aberto e franqueado aportarão mercadores de Choromandel; mormente aquelles chelis com roupas...."—Godinho de Eredia, 4v.
" "This settlement is divided into two parishes, S. Thome and S. Estevão, and that part of S. Thome called Campon Chelim extends from the shore of the Jaos Bazar to the N.W. and terminates at the Stone Bastion; in this part dwell the Chelis of Choromandel."—Godinho de Eredia, 5v. See also f. 22, [and under CAMPOO].
CHELINGO, s. Arab. shalandī, [whence Malayāl. chalanti, Tam. shalangu;] "djalanga, qui va sur l'eau; chalangue, barque, bateau dont les planches sont clouées" (Dict. Tam. Franc., Pondichéry, 1855). This seems an unusual word, and is perhaps connected through the Arabic with the medieval vessel chelandia, chelandria, chelindras, chelande, &c., used in carrying troops and horses. [But in its present form the word is S. Indian.]
1726.—"... as already a Chialeng (a sort of small native row-boat, which is used for discharging and loading cargo)...."—Valentijn, V. Chor. 20.
1746.—
"Chillinga hire . . . . . . . 0 22 0"
Account charges at Fort St. David,
Decr. 31, MS. in India Office.
1761.—"It appears there is no more than one frigate that has escaped; therefore don't lose an instant to send us chelingoes upon chelingoes loaded with rice...."—Lally to Raymond at Pulicat. In Comp. H. of the War in India (Tract), 1761, p. 85.
" "No more than one frigate has escaped; lose not an instant in sending chelingoes upon chelingoes loaded with rice."—Carraccioli's Life of Clive, i. 58.
CHEROOT, s. A cigar; but the term has been appropriated specially to cigars truncated at both ends, as the Indian and Manilla cigars always were in former days. The word is Tam. shuruṭṭu, [Mal. churuṭṭu,] 'a roll (of tobacco).' In the South cheroots are chiefly made at Trichinopoly and in the Godavery Delta, the produce being known respectively as Trichies and Lunkas. The earliest occurrence of the word that we know is in Father Beschi's Tamil story of Parmartta Guru (c. 1725). On p. 1 one of the characters is described as carrying a firebrand to light his pugaiyailai shshuruṭṭu, 'roll (cheroot) of tobacco.' [The N.E.D. quotes cheroota in 1669.] Grose (1750-60), speaking of Bombay, whilst describing the cheroot does not use that word, but another which is, as far as we know, entirely obsolete in British India, viz. Buncus (q.v.).
1759.—In the expenses of the Nabob's entertainment at Calcutta in this year we find:
"60 lbs. of Masulipatam cheroots, Rs. 500."—In Long, 194.
1781.—"... am tormented every day by a parcel of gentlemen coming to the end of my berth to talk politics and smoke cheroots—advise them rather to think of mending the holes in their old shirts, like me."—Hon. J. Lindsay (in Lives of the Lindsays), iii. 297.
" "Our evening amusements instead of your stupid Harmonics, was playing Cards and Backgammon, chewing Beetle and smoking Cherutes."—Old Country Captain, in India Gazette, Feby. 24.
1782.—"Le tabac y réussit très bien; les chiroutes de Manille sont renommées dans toute l'Inde par leur goût agréable; aussi les Dames dans ce pays fument-elles toute la journée."—Sonnerat, Voyage, iii. 43.
1792.—"At that time (c. 1757) I have seen the officers mount guard many's the time and oft ... neither did they at that time carry your fusees, but had a long Pole with an iron head to it.... With this in one Hand and a Chiroot in the other you saw them saluting away at the Main Guard."—Madras Courier, April 3.
1810.—"The lowest classes of Europeans, as also of the natives ... frequently smoke cheroots, exactly corresponding with the Spanish segar, though usually made rather more bulky."—Williamson, V. M. i. 499.
1811.—"Dire que le T'cherout est la cigarre, c'est me dispenser d'en faire la description."—Solvyns, iii.
[1823.—"He amused himself by smoking several carrotes."—Owen, Narr. ii. 50.]
1875.—"The meal despatched, all who were not on duty lay down ... almost too tired to smoke their cheroots before falling asleep."—The Dilemma, ch. xxxvii.
CHERRY FOUJ, s. H. charī-fauj? This curious phrase occurs in the quotations, the second of which explains its meaning. I am not certain what the first part is, but it is most probably charī, in the sense of 'movable,' 'locomotive,' so that the phrase was equivalent to 'flying brigade.' [It may possibly be chaṛhī, for chaṛhnī, in the sense of 'preparation for battle.'] It was evidently a technicality of the Mahratta armies.
1803.—"The object of a cherry fouj, without guns, with two armies after it, must be to fly about and plunder the richest country it can find, not to march through exhausted countries, to make revolutions in cities."—Elphinstone, in Life, i. 59.
1809.—"Two detachments under ... Mahratta chiefs of some consequence, are now employed in levying contributions in different parts of the Jypoor country. Such detachments are called churee fuoj; they are generally equipped very lightly, with but little artillery; and are equally formidable in their progress to friend and foe."—Broughton, Letters from a Mahratta Camp, 128; [ed. 1892, p. 96].