c. A.D. 250.—"The tails of the sheep (of India) reach to their feet.... The shepherds ... cut open the tails and take out the tallow, and then sew it up Ìgain...."—Aelian, De Nat. Animal. iv. 32.
1298.—"Then there are sheep here as big as asses; and their tails are so large and fat, that one tail shall weigh some 30 lbs. They are fine fat beasts, and afford capital mutton."—Marco Polo, Bk. i. ch. 18.
1436.—"Their iiijth kinde of beasts are sheepe, which be unreasonable great, longe legged, longe woll, and great tayles, that waie about xijl. a piece. And some such I have seene as have drawen a wheele aftre them, their tailes being holden vp."—Jos. Barbaro, Hak. Soc. 21.
c. 1520.—"These sheep are not different from others, except as regards the tail, which is very large, and the fatter the sheep is the bigger is his tail. Some of them have tails weighing 10 and 20 pounds, and that will happen when they get fat of their own accord. But in Egypt many persons make a business of fattening sheep, and feed them on bran and wheat, and then the tail gets so big that the sheep can't stir. But those who keep them tie the tail on a kind of little cart, and in this way they move about. I saw one sheep's tail of this kind at Asiot, a city of Egypt 150 miles from Cairo, on the Nile, which weighed 80 lbs., and many people asserted that they have seen such tails that weighed 150 lbs."—Leo Africanus, in Ramusio, i. f. 92v.
[c. 1610.—"The tails of rams and ewes are wondrous big and heavy; one we weighed (in the Island of St. Lawrence) turned 28 pounds."—Pyrard de Laval, i. 36.
[1612.—"Goodly Barbary sheep with great rumps."—Danvers, Letters, i. 178.]
1828.—"We had a Doomba ram at Prag. The Doomba sheep are difficult to keep alive in this climate."—Wanderings of a Pilgrim, i. 28.
1846.—"I was informed by a person who possessed large flocks, and who had no reason to deceive me, that sometimes the tail of the Tymunnee doombas increased to such a size, that a cart or small truck on wheels was necessary to support the weight, and that without it the animal could not wander about; he declared also that he had produced tails in his flock which weighed 12 Tabreezi munds, or 48 seers puckah, equal to about 96 lbs."—Captain Hutton, in Jour. As. Soc. Beng. xv. 160.
DOOPUTTY, s. Hind. do-paṭṭah, dupaṭṭā, &c. A piece of stuff of 'two breadths,' a sheet. "The principal or only garment of women of the lower orders" (in Bengal—Wilson). ["Formerly these pieces were woven narrow, and joined alongside of one another to produce the proper width; now, however, the dupatta is all woven in one piece. This is a piece of cloth worn entire as it comes from the loom. It is worn either round the head or over the shoulders, and is used by both men and women, Hindu and Muhammadan" (Yusuf Ali, Mon. on Silk, 71).] Applied in S. India by native servants, when speaking their own language, to European bed-sheets.
[1615.—"... dubeties gouzerams."—Foster, Letters, iii. 156.]
DOORGA POOJA, s. Skt. Durgā-pūjā, 'Worship of Durga.' The chief Hindu festival in Bengal, lasting for 10 days in September-October, and forming the principal holiday-time of all the Calcutta offices. (See DUSSERA.) [The common term for these holidays nowadays is 'the Poojahs.']
c. 1835.—
"And every Doorga Pooja would good Mr. Simms explore
The famous river Hoogly up as high as Barrackpore."
Lines in honour of the late Mr. Simms,
Bole Ponjis, 1857, ii. 220.
[1900.—"Calcutta has been in the throes of the Pujahs since yesterday."—Pioneer Mail, Oct. 5.]
DOORSUMMUND, n.p. Dūrsamand; a corrupt form of Dvāra-Samudra (Gate of the Sea), the name of the capital of the Balālās, a medieval dynasty in S. India, who ruled a country generally corresponding with Mysore. [See Rice, Mysore, ii. 353.] The city itself is identified with the fine ruins at Halabīdu [Haḷe-bīḍu, 'old capital'], in the Hassan district of Mysore.
c. 1300.—"There is another country called Deogir. Its capital is called Dúrú Samundúr."—Rashīduddīn, in Elliot, i. 73. (There is confusion in this.)
1309.—"The royal army marched from this place towards the country of Dúr Samun."—Wassāf, in Elliot, iii. 49.
1310.—"On Sunday, the 23rd ... he took a select body of cavalry with him, and on the 5th Shawwúl reached the fort of Dhúr Samund, after a difficult march of 12 days."—Amīr Khusrū, ibid. 88. See also Notices et Extraits, xiii. 171.
DORADO, s. Port. A kind of fish; apparently a dolphin (not the cetaceous animal so called). The Coryphaena hippurus of Day's Fishes is called by Cuvier and Valenciennes C. dorado. See also quotation from Drake. One might doubt, because of the praise of its flavour in Bontius, whilst Day only says of the C. hippurus that "these dolphins are eaten by natives." Fryer, however, uses an expression like that of Bontius:—"The Dolphin is extolled beyond these,"—i.e. Bonito and Albicore (p. 12).
1578.—"When he is chased of the Bonito, or great mackrel (whom the Aurata or Dolphin also pursueth)."—Drake, World Encompassed, Hak. Soc. 32.
1631.—"Pisces Dorados dicti a Portugalensibus, ab aureo quem ferunt in cute colore ... hic piscis est longe optimi saporis, Bonitas bonitate excellens."—Jac. Bontii, Lib. V. cap. xix. 73.
DORAY, DURAI, s. This is a South Indian equivalent of Ṣāhib (q.v.); Tel. dora, Tam. turai, 'Master.' Sinna-turai, 'small gentleman' is the equivalent of Chhoṭa Sāhib, a junior officer; and Tel. dorasāni, Tam. turaisāni (corruptly doresáni) of 'Lady' or 'Madam.'
1680.—"The delivery of three Iron guns to the Deura of Ramacole at the rate of 15 Pagodas per candy is ordered ... which is much more than what they cost."—Fort St. Geo. Cons., Aug. 5. In Notes and Extracts, No. iii. p. 31.
1837.—"The Vakeels stand behind their masters during all the visit, and discuss with them all that A— says. Sometimes they tell him some barefaced lie, and when they find he does not believe it, they turn to me grinning, and say, 'Ma'am, the Doory plenty cunning gentlyman.'"—Letters from Madras, 86.
1882.—"The appellation by which Sir T. Munro was most commonly known in the Ceded Districts was that of 'Colonel Dora.' And to this day it is considered a sufficient answer to inquiries regarding the reason for any Revenue Rule, that it was laid down by the Colonel Dora."—Arbuthnot's Memoir of Sir T. M., p. xcviii.
"A village up the Godavery, on the left bank, is inhabited by a race of people known as Doraylu, or 'gentlemen.' That this is the understood meaning is shown by the fact that their women are called Doresandlu, i.e. 'ladies.' These people rifle their arrow feathers, i.e. give them a spiral." (Reference lost.) [These are perhaps the Kois, who are called by the Telingas Koidhoras, "the word dhora meaning 'gentleman' or Sahib."—(Central Prov. Gaz. 500; also see Ind. Ant. viii. 34)].
DORIA, s. H. ḍoriyā, from ḍor, ḍorī, 'a cord or leash'; a dog-keeper.
1781.—"Stolen.... The Dog was taken out of Capt. Law's Baggage Boat ... by the Durreer that brought him to Calcutta."—India Gazette, March 17.
[Doriya is also used for a kind of cloth. "As the characteristic pattern of the chārkhāna is a check, so that of the doriya is stripes running along the length of the thān, i.e. in warp threads. The doriya was originally a cotton fabric, but it is now manufactured in silk, silk-and-cotton, tasar, and other combinations" (Yusuf Ali, Mon. on Silk, 94).
[c. 1590.—In a list of cotton cloths, we have "Doriyah, per piece, 6R. to 2M."—Āīn, i. 95.
[1683.—"... 3 pieces Dooreas."—Hedges, Diary, Hak. Soc. i. 94.]
DOSOOTY, s. H. do-sūtī, do-sūtā, 'double thread,' a kind of cheap cotton stuff woven with threads doubled.
[1843.—"The other pair (of travelling baskets) is simply covered with dosootee (a coarse double-threaded cotton)."—Davidson, Diary in Upper India, i. 10.]
DOUBLE-GRILL, s. Domestic H. of the kitchen for 'a devil' in the culinary sense.
DOUR, s. A foray, or a hasty expedition of any kind. H. dauṛ, 'a run.' Also to dour, 'to run,' or 'to make such an expedition.'
1853.—"'Halloa! Oakfield,' cried Perkins, as he entered the mess tent ... 'don't look down in the mouth, man; Attok taken, Chutter Sing dauring down like the devil—march to-morrow....'"—Oakfield, ii. 67.
DOW, s. H. dāo, [Skt. dātra, dā, 'to cut']. A name much used on the Eastern frontier of Bengal as well as by Europeans in Burma, for the hewing knife or bill, of various forms, carried by the races of those regions, and used both for cutting jungle and as a sword. Dhā is the true Burmese name for their weapon of this kind, but we do not know if there is any relation but an accidental one with the Hind. word. [See drawing in Egerton, Handbook of Indian Arms, p. 84.]
[1870.—"The Dao is the hill knife.... It is a blade about 18 inches long, narrow at the haft, and square and broad at the tip; pointless, and sharpened on one side only. The blade is set in a handle of wood; a bamboo root is considered the best. The fighting dao is differently shaped; this is a long pointless sword, set in a wooden or ebony handle; it is very heavy, and a blow of almost incredible power can be given by one of these weapons.... The weapon is identical with the 'parang latok' of the Malays...."—Lewin, Wild Races of S.E. India, 35 seq.
DOWLE, s. H. ḍaul, ḍaulā. The ridge of clay marking the boundary between two rice fields, and retaining the water; called commonly in S. India a bund. It is worth noting that in Sussex doole is "a small conical heap of earth, to mark the bounds of farms and parishes in the downs" (Wright, Dict. of Obs. and Prov. English). [The same comparison was made by Sir H. Elliot (Supp. Gloss. s.v. Doula); the resemblance is merely accidental; see N.E.D. s.v. Dool.]
1851.—"In the N.W. corner of Suffolk, where the country is almost entirely open, the boundaries of the different parishes are marked by earthen mounds from 3 to 6 feet high, which are known in the neighbourhood as dools."—Notes and Queries, 1st Series, vol. iv. p. 161.
DOWRA, s. A guide. H. dauṛāhā, dauṛahā, dauṛā, 'a village runner, a guide,' from dauṛnā, 'to run,' Skt. drava, 'running.'
1827.—"The vidette, on his part, kept a watchful eye on the Dowrah, a guide supplied at the last village."—Sir W. Scott, The Surgeon's Daughter, ch. xiii.
[DRABI, DRABY, s. The Indian camp-followers' corruption of the English 'driver.'
[1900.—"The mule race for Drabis and grass-cutters was entertaining."—Pioneer Mail, March 16.]
DRAVIDIAN, adj. The Skt. term Drāviḍa seems to have been originally the name of the Conjevaram Kingdom (4th to 11th cent. A.D.), but in recent times it has been used as equivalent to 'Tamil.' About A.D. 700 Kumārila Bhaṭṭa calls the language of the South Andhradrāviḍa-bhāshā, meaning probably, as Bishop Caldwell suggests, what we should now describe as 'Telegu-Tamil-language.' Indeed he has shown reason for believing that Tamil and Drāviḍa, of which Dramiḍa (written Tiramiḍa), and Dramila are old forms, are really the same word. [Also see Oppert, Orig. Inhab. 25 seq., and Dravira, in a quotation from Al-biruni under MALABAR.] It may be suggested as posssible that the Tropina of Pliny is also the same (see below). Dr. Caldwell proposed Dravidian as a convenient name for the S. Indian languages which belong to the Tamil family, and the cultivated members of which are Tamil, Malayālam, Canarese, Tulu, Kuḍagu (or Coorg), and Telegu; the uncultivated Tuḍa, Kōta, Gōṇḍ, Khonḍ, Orāon, Rājmahāli. [It has also been adopted as an enthnological term to designate the non-Aryan races of India (see Risley, Tribes and Castes of Bengal, i. Intro. xxxi.).]
c. A.D. 70.—"From the mouth of Ganges where he entereth into the sea unto the cape Calingon, and the town Dandagula, are counted 725 miles; from thence to Tropina where standeth the chiefe mart or towne of merchandise in all India, 1225 miles. Then to the promontorie of Perimula they reckon 750 miles, from which to the towne abovesaid Patale ... 620."—Pliny, by Phil. Holland, vi. chap. xx.
A.D. 404.—In a south-western direction are the following tracts ... Surashtrians, Bâdaras, and Drâviḍas.—Varâha-mihira, in J.R.A.S., 2nd ser. v. 84.
" "The eastern half of the Narbadda district ... the Pulindas, the eastern half of the Drâviḍas ... of all these the Sun is the Lord."—Ibid. p. 231.
c. 1045.—"Moreover, chief of the sons of Bharata, there are, the nations of the South, the Dráviḍas ... the Karnátakas, Máhishakas...."—Vishnu Purána, by H. H. Wilson, 1865, ii. 177 seq.
1856.—"The idioms which are included in this work under the general term 'Dravidian' constitute the vernacular speech of the great majority of the inhabitants of S. India."—Caldwell, Comp. Grammar of the Dravidian Languages, 1st ed.
1869.—"The people themselves arrange their countrymen under two heads; five termed Panch-gaura, belonging to the Hindi, or as it is now generally called, the Aryan group, and the remaining five, or Panch-Dravida, to the Tamil type."—Sir W. Elliot, in J. Ethn. Soc. N.S. i. 94.
DRAWERS, LONG, s. An old-fashioned term, probably obsolete except in Madras, equivalent to pyjāmas (q.v.).
1794.—"The contractor shall engage to supply ... every patient ... with ... a clean gown, cap, shirt, and long drawers."—In Seton-Karr, ii. 115.
DRESSING-BOY, DRESS-BOY, s. Madras term for the servant who acts as valet, corresponding to the bearer (q.v.) of N. India.
1837.—See Letters from Madras, 106.
DRUGGERMAN, s. Neither this word for an 'interpreter,' nor the Levantine dragoman, of which it was a quaint old English corruption, is used in Anglo-Indian colloquial; nor is the Arab tarjumān, which is the correct form, a word usual in Hindustāni. But the character of the two former words seems to entitle them not to be passed over in this Glossary. The Arabic is a loan-word from Aramaic targĕmān, metargĕmān, 'an interpreter'; the Jewish Targums, or Chaldee paraphrases of the Scriptures, being named from the same root. The original force of the Aramaic root is seen in the Assyrian ragāmu, 'to speak,' rigmu, 'the word.' See Proc. Soc. Bibl. Arch., 1883, p. 73, and Delitsch, The Hebrew Lang. viewed in the Light of Assyrian Research, p. 50. In old Italian we find a form somewhat nearer to the Arabic. (See quotation from Pegolotti below.)
c. 1150?—"Quorum lingua cum praenominato Iohanni, Indorum patriarchae, nimis esset obscura, quod neque ipse quod Romani dicerent, neque Romani quod ipse diceret intelligerent, interprete interposito, quem Achivi drogomanum vocant, de mutuo statu Romanorum et Indicae regionis ad invicem querere coeperunt."—De Adventu Patriarchae Indorum, printed in Zarncke, Der Priester Johannes, i. 12. Leipzig, 1879.
[1252.—"Quia meus Turgemanus non erat sufficiens."—W. de Rubruk, p. 154.]
c. 1270.—"After this my address to the assembly, I sent my message to Elx by a dragoman (trujaman) of mine."—Chron. of James of Aragon, tr. by Foster, ii. 538.
Villehardouin, early in the 13th century, uses drughement, [and for other early forms see N.E.D. s.v. Dragoman.]
c. 1309.—"Il avoit gens illec qui savoient le Sarrazinnois et le françois que l'on apelle drugemens, qui enromancoient le Sarrazinnois au Conte Perron."—Joinville, ed. de Wailly, 182.
c. 1343.—"And at Tana you should furnish yourself with dragomans (turcimanni)."—Pegolotti's Handbook, in Cathay, &c., ii. 291, and App. iii.
1404.—"... el maestro en Theologia dixo por su Truximan que dixesse al Señor q̃ aquella carta que su fijo el rey le embiara non la sabia otro leer, salvo el...."—Clavijo, 446.
1585.—"... e dopo m'esservi prouisto di vn buonissimo dragomano, et interprete, fu inteso il suono delle trombette le quali annuntiauano l'udienza del Rè" (di Pegù).—Gasparo Balbi, f. 102v.
1613.—"To the Trojan Shoare, where I landed Feb. 22 with fourteene English men more, and a Iew or Druggerman."—T. Coryat, in Purchas, ii. 1813.
1615.—"E Dietro, a cavallo, i dragomanni, cioè interpreti della repubblica e con loro tutti i dragomanni degli altri ambasciatori ai loro luoghi."—P. della Valle, i. 89.
1738.—
"Till I cried out, you prove yourself so able,
Pity! you was not Druggerman at Babel!
For had they found a linguist half so good,
I make no question that the Tower had stood."—Pope, after Donne, Sat. iv. 81.
Other forms of the word are (from Span. trujaman) the old French truchement, Low Latin drocmandus, turchimannus, Low Greek δραγούμανος, &c.
DRUMSTICK, s. The colloquial name in the Madras Presideny for the long slender pods of the Moringa pterygosperma, Gaertner, the Horse-Radish Tree (q.v.) of Bengal.
c. 1790.—"Mon domestique étoit occupé à me préparer un plat de morungas, qui sont une espèce de fèves longues, auxquelles les Européens ont donné, à cause de leur forme, le nom de baguettes à tambour...."—Haafner, ii. 25.
DUB, s. Telugu dabbu, Tam. idappu; a small copper coin, the same as the doody (see CASH), value 20 cash; whence it comes to stand for money in general. It is curious that we have also an English provincial word, "Dubs = money, E. Sussex" (Holloway, Gen. Dict. of Provincialisms, Lewes, 1838). And the slang 'to dub up,' for to pay up, is common (see Slang Dict.).
1781.—"In "Table of Prison Expenses and articles of luxury only to be attained by the opulent, after a length of saving" (i.e. in captivity in Mysore), we have—
"Eight cheroots . . . 0 1 0.
"The prices are in fanams, dubs, and cash. The fanam changes for 11 dubs and 4 cash."—In Lives of the Lindsays, iii.
c. 1790.—"J'eus pour quatre dabous, qui font environ cinq sous de France, d'excellent poisson pour notre souper."—Haafner, ii. 75.
DUBASH, DOBASH, DEBASH, s. H. dubhāshiyā, dobāshī (lit. 'man of two languages'), Tam. tupāshi. An interpreter; obsolete except at Madras, and perhaps there also now, at least in its original sense; [now it is applied to a dressing-boy or other servant with a European.] The Dubash was at Madras formerly a usual servant in every household; and there is still one attached to each mercantile house, as the broker transacting business with natives, and corresponding to the Calcutta banyan (q.v.). According to Drummond the word has a peculiar meaning in Guzerat: "A Doobasheeo in Guzerat is viewed as an evil spirit, who by telling lies, sets people by the ears." This illustrates the original meaning of dubash, which might be rendered in Bunyan's fashion as Mr. Two-Tongues.
[1566.—"Bring toopaz and interpreter, Antonio Fernandes."—India Office MSS. Gaveta's agreement with the jangadas of the fort of Quilon, Aug. 13.
[1664.—"Per nossa conta a ambos por manilha 400 fanoim e ao tupay 50 fanoim."—Letter of Zamorin, in Logan, Malabar, iii. 1.]
1673.—"The Moors are very grave and haughty in their Demeanor, not vouchsafing to return an Answer by a slave, but by a Deubash."—Fryer, 30.
[1679.—"The Dubass of this Factory having to regaine his freedom."—S. Master, in Man. of Kistna Dist. 133.]
1693.—"The chief Dubash was ordered to treat ... for putting a stop to their proceedings."—Wheeler, i. 279.
1780.—"He ordered his Dubash to give the messenger two pagodas (sixteen shillings);—it was poor reward for having received two wounds, and risked his life in bringing him intelligence."—Letter of Sir T. Munro, in Life, i. 26.
1800.—"The Dubash there ought to be hanged for having made difficulties in collecting the rice."—Letter of Sir A. Wellesley, in do. 259.
c. 1804.—"I could neither understand them nor they me; but they would not give me up until a Debash, whom Mrs. Sherwood had hired ... came to my relief with a palanquin."—Autobiog. of Mrs. Sherwood, 272.
1809.—"He (Mr. North) drove at once from the coast the tribe of Aumils and Debashes."—Ld. Valentia, i. 315.
1810.—"In this first boat a number of debashes are sure to arrive."—Williamson, V. M. i. 133.
" "The Dubashes, then all powerful at Madras, threatened loss of caste, and absolute destruction to any Bramin who should dare to unveil the mysteries of their sacred language."—Morton's Life of Leyden, 30.
1860.—"The moodliars and native officers ... were superseded by Malabar Dubashes, men aptly described as enemies to the religion of the Singhalese, strangers to their habits, and animated by no impulse but extortion."—Tennent's Ceylon, ii. 72.
DUBBEER, s. P.—H. dabīr, 'a writer or secretary.' It occurs in Pehlevi as debīr, connected with the old Pers. dipi, 'writing.' The word is quite obsolete in Indian use.
1760.—"The King ... referred the adjustment to his Dubbeer, or minister, which, amongst the Indians, is equivalent to the Duan of the Mahomedan Princes."—Orme, ii. § ii. 601.
DUBBER, s. Hind. (from Pers.) dabbah; also, according to Wilson, Guzerāti dabaro; Mahr. dabara. A large oval vessel, made of green buffalo-hide, which, after drying and stiffening, is used for holding and transporting ghee or oil. The word is used in North and South alike.
1554.—"Butter (á mámteiga, i.e. ghee) sells by the maund, and comes hither (to Ormuz) from Bacoraa and from Reyxel (see RESHIRE); the most (however) that comes to Ormuz is from Diul and from Mamgalor, and comes in certain great jars of hide, dabaas."—A. Nunes, 23.
1673.—"Did they not boil their Butter it would be rank, but after it has passed the Fire they keep it in Duppers the year round."—Fryer, 118.
1727.—(From the Indus Delta.) "They export great quantities of Butter, which they gently melt and put up in Jars called Duppas, made of the Hides of Cattle, almost in the Figure of a Glob, with a Neck and Mouth on one side."—A. Hamilton, i. 126; [ed. 1744, i. 127].
1808.—"Purbhoodas Shet of Broach, in whose books a certain Mahratta Sirdar is said to stand debtor for a Crore of Rupees ... in early life brought ... ghee in dubbers upon his own head hither from Baroda, and retailed it ... in open Bazar."—R. Drummond, Illustrations, &c.
1810.—"... dubbahs or bottles made of green hide."—Williamson, V. M. ii. 139.
1845.—"I find no account made out by the prisoner of what became of these dubbas of ghee."—G. O. by Sir C. Napier, in Sind, 35.
DUCKS, s. The slang distinctive name for gentlemen belonging to the Bombay service; the correlative of the Mulls of Madras and of the Qui-His of Bengal. It seems to have been taken from the term next following.
1803.—"I think they manage it here famously. They have neither the comforts of a Bengal army, nor do they rough it, like the Ducks."—Elphinstone, in Life, i. 53.
1860.—"Then came Sire Jhone by Waye of Baldagh and Hormuz to yẽ Costys of Ynde.... And atte what Place yẽ Knyghte came to Londe, theyre yẽ ffolke clepen Duckys (quasi DUCES INDIAE)."—Extract from a MS. of the Travels of Sir John Maundevill in the E. Indies, lately discovered (Calcutta).
[In the following the word is a corruption of the Tam. tūkku, a weight equal to 1¼ viss, about 3 lbs. 13 oz.
[1787.—"We have fixed the produce of each vine at 4 ducks of wet pepper."—Purwannah of Tippoo Sultan, in Logan, Malabar, iii. 125.]
DUCKS, BOMBAY. See BUMMELO.
1860.—"A fish nearly related to the salmon is dried and exported in large quantities from Bombay, and has acquired the name of Bombay Ducks."—Mason, Burmah, 273.
DUFFADAR, s. Hind. (from Arabo-Pers.) daf'adār, the exact rationale of which name it is not easy to explain, [daf'a, 'a small body, a section,' daf'adār, 'a person in charge of a small body of troops']. A petty officer of native police (v. burkundauze, v.); and in regiments of Irregular Cavalry, a non-commissioned officer corresponding in rank to a corporal or naik.
1803.—"The pay ... for the duffadars ought not to exceed 35 rupees."—Wellington, ii. 242.
DUFTER, s. Ar.—H. daftar. Colloquially 'the office,' and interchangeable with cutcherry, except that the latter generally implies an office of the nature of a Court. Daftar-khāna is more accurate, [but this usually means rather a record-room where documents are stored]. The original Arab. daftar is from the Greek διφθέρα = membranum, 'a parchment,' and thin 'paper' (whence also diphtheria), and was applied to loose sheets filed on a string, which formed the record of accounts; hence daftar becomes 'a register,' a public record. In Arab. any account-book is still a daftar, and in S. India daftar means a bundle of connected papers tied up in a cloth, [the basta of Upper India].
c. 1590.—"Honest experienced officers upon whose forehead the stamp of correctness shines, write the agreement upon loose pages and sheets, so that the transaction cannot be forgotten. These loose sheets, into which all sanads are entered, are called the daftar."—Āīn, i. 260, and see Blochmann's note there.
[1757.—"... that after the expiration of the year they take a discharge according to custom, and that they deliver the accounts of their Zemindarry agreeable to the stated forms every year into the Dufter Cana of the Sircar...."—Sunnud for the Company's Zemindarry, in Verelst, View of Bengal, App. 147.]
DUFTERDAR, s. Ar.—P.—H. daftardār, is or was "the head native revenue officer on the Collector's and Sub-Collector's establishment of the Bombay Presidency" (Wilson). In the provinces of the Turkish Empire the Daftardār was often a minister of great power and importance, as in the case of Mahommed Bey Daftardār, in Egypt in the time of Mahommed 'Ali Pasha (see Lane's Mod. Egyptns., ed. 1860, pp. 127-128). The account of the constitution of the office of Daftardār in the time of the Mongol conqueror of Persia, Hulāgū, will be found in a document translated by Hammer-Purgstall in his Gesch. der Goldenen Horde, 497-501.
DUFTERY, s. Hind. daftarī. A servant in an Indian office (Bengal), whose business it is to look after the condition of the records, dusting and binding them; also to pen-mending, paper-ruling, making of envelopes, &c. In Madras these offices are done by a Moochy. [For the military sense of the word in Afghanistan, see quotation from Ferrier below.]
1810.—"The Duftoree or office-keeper attends solely to those general matters in an office which do not come within the notice of the crannies, or clerks."—Williamson, V. M. i. 275.
[1858.—"The whole Afghan army consists of the three divisions of Kabul, Kandahar, and Herat; of these, the troops called Defteris (which receive pay), present the following effective force."—Ferrier, H. of the Afghans, 315 seq.]
DUGGIE, s. A word used in the Pegu teak trade, for a long squared timber. Milburn (1813) says: "Duggies are timbers of teak from 27 to 30 feet long, and from 17 to 24 inches square." Sir A. Phayre believes the word to be a corruption of the Burmese htāp-gy̆ī. The first syllable means the 'cross-beam of a house,' the second, 'big'; hence 'big-beam.'
DUGONG, s. The cetaceous mammal, Halicore dugong. The word is Malay dūyung, also Javan. duyung; Macassar, ruyung. The etymology we do not know. [The word came to us from the name Dugung, used in the Philippine island of Leyte, and was popularised in its present form by Buffon in 1765. See N.E.D.]
DUMBCOW, v., and DUMBCOWED, participle. To brow-beat, to cow; and cowed, brow-beaten, set-down. This is a capital specimen of Anglo-Indian dialect. Dam khānā, 'to eat one's breath,' is a Hind. idiom for 'to be silent.' Hobson-Jobson converts this into a transitive verb, to damkhāo, and both spelling and meaning being affected by English suggestions of sound, this comes in Anglo-Indian use to imply cowing and silencing. [A more probable derivation is from Hind. dhamkānā, 'to chide, scold, threaten, to repress by threats or reproof' (Platts, H. Dict.).]
DUMDUM, n.p. The name of a military cantonment 4½ miles N.W. of Calcutta, which was for seventy years (1783-1853) the head-quarters of that famous corps the Bengal Artillery. The name, which occurs at intervals in Bengal, is no doubt P.—H. dam-dama, 'a mound or elevated battery.' At Dumdum was signed the treaty which restored the British settlements after the re-capture of Calcutta in 1757. [It has recently given a name to the dumdum or expanding bullet, made in the arsenal there.]
[1830.—Prospectus of the "Dumdum Golfing Club."—"We congratulate them on the prospect of seeing that noble and gentleman-like game established in Bengal."—Or. Sport. Mag., reprint 1873, i. 407.
1848.—"'Pooh! nonsense,' said Joe, highly flattered. 'I recollect, sir, there was a girl at Dumdum, a daughter of Cutler of the Artillery ... who made a dead set at me in the year '4.'"—Vanity Fair, i. 25, ed. 1867.
[1886.—"The Kiranchi (see CRANCHEE) has been replaced by the ordinary Dumdummer, or Pálki carriage ever since the year 1856."—Sat. Review, Jan. 23.
[1900.—"A modern murderer came forward proudly with the dumdum."—Ibid. Aug. 4.]
DUMPOKE, s. A name given in the Anglo-Indian kitchen to a baked dish, consisting usually of a duck, boned and stuffed. The word is Pers. dampukht, 'air-cooked,' i.e. baked. A recipe for a dish so called, as used in Akbar's kitchen, is in the first quotation:
c. 1590.—"Dampukht. 10 sers meat; 2 s. ghi; 1 s. onions; 11 m. fresh ginger; 10 m. pepper; 2 d. cardamoms."—Āīn, i. 61.
1673.—"These eat highly of all Flesh Dumpoked, which is baked with Spice in Butter."—Fryer, 93.
" "Baked Meat they call Dumpoke which is dressed with sweet Herbs and Butter, with whose Gravy they swallow Rice dry Boiled."—Ibid. 404.
1689.—"... and a dumpoked Fowl, that is boil'd with Butter in any small Vessel, and stuft with Raisins and Almonds is another (Dish)."—Ovington, 397.
DUMREE, s. Hind. damṛī, a copper coin of very low value, not now existing. (See under DAM).
1823.—In Malwa "there are 4 cowries to a gunda; 3 gundas to a dumrie; 2 dumries to a chedaum; 3 dumries to a tundumrie; and 4 dumries to an adillah or half pice."—Malcolm, Central India, 2nd ed. ii. 194; [86 note].
DUNGAREE, s. A kind of coarse and inferior cotton cloth; the word is not in any dictionary that we know. [Platts gives H. dungrī, 'a coarse kind of cloth.' The Madras Gloss. gives Tel. dangidi, which is derived from Dāngidi, a village near Bombay. Molesworth in his Mahr. Dict. gives: "Doṅgarī Kāpaṛ, a term originally for the common country cloth sold in the quarter contiguous to the Ḍongarī Ḳilla (Fort George, Bombay), applied now to poor and low-priced cotton cloth. Hence in the corruption Dungarie." He traces the word to ḍongarī, "a little hill." Dungaree is woven with two or more threads together in the web and woof. The finer kinds are used for clothing by poor people; the coarser for sails for native boats and tents. The same word seems to be used of silk (see below).]
1613.—"We traded with the Naturalls for Cloves ... by bartering and exchanging cotton cloth of Cambay and Coromandell for Cloves. The sorts requested, and prices that they yeelded. Candakeens of Barochie, 6 Cattees of Cloves.... Dongerijns, the finest, twelve."—Capt. Saris, in Purchas, i. 363.
1673.—"Along the Coasts are Bombaim ... Carwar for Dungarees and the weightiest pepper."—Fryer, 86.
[1812.—"The Prince's Messenger ... told him, 'Come, now is the time to open your purse-strings; you are no longer a merchant or in prison; you are no longer to sell Dungaree' (a species of coarse linen)."—Morier, Journey through Persia, 26.]
1813.—"Dungarees (pieces to a ton) 400."—Milburn, ii. 221.
[1859.—"In addition to those which were real ... were long lines of sham batteries, known to sailors as Dungaree forts, and which were made simply of coarse cloth or canvas, stretched and painted so as to resemble batteries."—L. Oliphant, Narr. of Ld. Elgin's Mission, ii. 6.]
1868.—"Such dungeree as you now pay half a rupee a yard for, you could then buy from 20 to 40 yards per rupee."—Miss Frere's Old Deccan Days, p. xxiv.
[1900.—"From this thread the Dongari Tasar is prepared, which may be compared to the organzine of silk, being both twisted and doubled."—Yusuf Ali, Mem. on Silk, 35.]
DURBAR, s. A Court or Levee. Pers. darbār. Also the Executive Government of a Native State (Carnegie). "In Kattywar, by a curious idiom, the chief himself is so addressed: 'Yes, Durbar'; 'no, Durbar,' being common replies to him."—(M.-Gen. Keatinge).
1609.—"On the left hand, thorow another gate you enter into an inner court where the King keepes his Darbar."—Hawkins, in Purchas, i. 432.
1616.—"The tenth of Ianuary, I went to Court at foure in the euening to the Durbar, which is the place where the Mogoll sits out daily, to entertaine strangers, to receiue Petitions and Presents, to giue commands, to see and to be seene."—Sir T. Roe, in Purchas, i. 541; [with some slight differences of reading, in Hak. Soc. i. 106].
1633.—"This place they call the Derba (or place of Councill) where Law and Justice was administered according to the Custome of the Countrey."—W. Bruton, in Hakl. v. 51.
c. 1750.—"... il faut se rappeller ces tems d'humiliations où le Francois étoient forcés pour le bien de leur commerce, d'aller timidement porter leurs presens et leurs hommages à de petis chefs de Bourgades que nous n'admetons aujourd'hui à nos Dorbards que lorsque nos intérêts l'exigent."—Letter of M. de Bussy, in Cambridge's Account, p. xxix.
1793.—"At my durbar yesterday I had proof of the affection entertained by the natives for Sir William Jones. The Professors of the Hindu Law, who were in the habit of attendance upon him, burst into unrestrained tears when they spoke to me."—Teignmouth, Mem. i. 289.
1809.—"It was the durbar of the native Gentoo Princes."—Ld. Valentia, i. 362.
[1826.—"... a Durbar, or police-officer, should have men in waiting...."—Pandurang Hari, ed. 1873, i. 126.]
1875.—"Sitting there in the centre of the durbar, we assisted at our first nautch."—Sir M. E. Grant Duff, in Contemp. Rev., July.
[1881.—"Near the centre (at Amritsar) lies the sacred tank, from whose midst rises the Darbar Sahib, or great temple of the Sikh faith."—Imperial Gazetteer, i. 186.]
DURGAH, s. P. dargāh. Properly a royal court. But the habitual use of the word in India is for the shrine of a (Mahommedan) Saint, a place of religious resort and prayer.
1782.—"Adjoining is a durgaw or burial place, with a view of the river."—Hodges, 102.
1807.—"The dhurgaw may invariably be seen to occupy those scites pre-eminent for comfort and beauty."—Williamson, Oriental Field Sports, 24.
1828.—"... he was a relation of the ... superior of the Durgah, and this is now a sufficient protection."—The Kuzzilbash, ii. 273.
DURIAN, DORIAN, s. Malay duren, Molucca form duriyān, from durī, 'a thorn or prickle, [and ān, the common substantival ending; Mr. Skeat gives the standard Malay as duriyan or durian]; the great fruit of the tree (N. O. Bombaceae) called by botanists Durio zibethinus, D. C. The tree appears to be a native of the Malay Peninsula, and the nearest islands; from which it has been carried to Tenasserim on one side and to Mindanao on the other.
The earliest European mention of this fruit is that by Nicolo Conti. The passage is thus rendered by Winter Jones: "In this island (Sumatra) there also grows a green fruit which they call duriano, of the size of a cucumber. When opened five fruits are found within, resembling oblong oranges. The taste varies like that of cheese." (In India in the XVth Cent., p. 9.) We give the original Latin of Poggio below, which must be more correctly rendered thus: "They have a green fruit which they call durian, as big as a water-melon. Inside there are five things like elongated oranges, and resembling thick butter, with a combination of flavours." (See Carletti, below).
The dorian in Sumatra often forms a staple article of food, as the jack (q.v.) does in Malabar. By natives and old European residents in the Malay regions in which it is produced the dorian is regarded as incomparable, but novices have a difficulty in getting over the peculiar, strong, and offensive odour of the fruit, on account of which it is usual to open it away from the house, and which procured for it the inelegant Dutch nickname of stancker. "When that aversion, however, is conquered, many fall into the taste of the natives, and become passionately fond of it." (Crawfurd, H. of Ind. Arch. i. 419.) [Wallace (Malay Arch. 57) says that he could not bear the smell when he "first tried it in Malacca, but in Borneo I found a ripe fruit on the ground, and, eating it out of doors, I at once became a confirmed Durian eater ... the more you eat of it the less you feel inclined to stop. In fact to eat Durians is a new sensation, worth a voyage to the East to experience."] Our forefathers had not such delicate noses, as may be gathered from some of the older notices. A Governor of the Straits, some forty-five years ago, used to compare the Dorian to 'carrion in custard.'