c. 1340.—"The munj (Moong) is boiled with rice, and then buttered and eaten. This is what they call Kishrī, and on this dish they breakfast every day."—Ibn Batuta, iii. 131.
c. 1443.—"The elephants of the palace are fed upon Kitchri."—Abdurrazzāk, in India in XVth Cent. 27.
c. 1475.—"Horses are fed on pease; also on Kichiris, boiled with sugar and oil; and early in the morning they get shishenivo" (?).—Athan. Nikitin, in do., p. 10.
The following recipe for Kedgeree is by Abu'l Faẓl:—
c. 1590.—"Khichri, Rice, split dál, and ghí, 5 ser of each; ⅓ ser salt; this gives 7 dishes."—Āīn, i. 59.
1648.—"Their daily gains are very small, ... and with these they fill their hungry bellies with a certain food called Kitserye."—Van Twist, 57.
1653.—"Kicheri est vne sorte de legume dont les Indiens se nourissent ordinairement."—De la Boullaye-le-Gouz, ed. 1657, p. 545.
1672.—Baldaeus has Kitzery, Tavernier Quicheri [ed. Ball, i. 282, 391].
1673.—"The Diet of this Sort of People admits not of great Variety or Cost, their delightfullest Food being only Cutcherry a sort of Pulse and Rice mixed together, and boiled in Butter, with which they grow fat."—Fryer, 81.
Again, speaking of pearls in the Persian Gulf, he says: "Whatever is of any Value is very dear. Here is a great Plenty of what they call Ketchery, a mixture of all together, or Refuse of Rough, Yellow, and Unequal, which they sell by Bushels to the Russians."—Ibid. 320.
1727.—"Some Doll and Rice, being mingled together and boiled make Kitcheree, the common Food of the Country. They eat it with Butter and Atchar (see ACHAR)."—A. Hamilton, i. 161; [ed. 1744, i. 162].
1750-60.—"Kitcharee is only rice stewed, with a certain pulse they call Dholl, and is generally eaten with salt-fish, butter, and pickles of various sorts, to which they give the general name of Atchar."—Grose, i. 150.
[1813.—"He was always a welcome guest ... and ate as much of their rice and Cutcheree as he chose."—Forbes, Or. Mem. 2nd ed. i. 502.]
1880.—"A correspondent of the Indian Mirror, writing of the annual religious fair at Ajmere, thus describes a feature in the proceedings: "There are two tremendous copper pots, one of which is said to contain about eighty maunds of rice and the other forty maunds. To fill these pots with rice, sugar, and dried fruits requires a round sum of money, and it is only the rich who can afford to do so. This year His Highness the Nawab of Tonk paid Rs. 3,000 to fill up the pots.... After the pots filled with khichri had been inspected by the Nawab, who was accompanied by the Commissioner of Ajmere and several Civil Officers, the distribution, or more properly the plunder, of khichri commenced, and men well wrapped up with clothes, stuffed with cotton, were seen leaping down into the boiling pot to secure their share of the booty."—Pioneer Mail, July 8. [See the reference to this custom in Sir T. Roe, Hak. Soc. ii. 314, and a full account in Rajputana Gazetteer, ii. 63.]
KEDGEREE, n.p. Khijirī or Kijarī, a village and police station on the low lands near the mouth of the Hoogly, on the west bank, and 68 miles below Calcutta. It was formerly well known as a usual anchorage of the larger Indiamen.
1683.—"This morning early we weighed anchor with the tide of Ebb, but having little wind, got no further than the Point of Kegaria Island."—Hedges, Diary, Jan. 26; [Hak. Soc. i. 64].
1684.—"Signr Nicolo Pareres, a Portugall Merchant, assured me their whole community had wrott ye Vice King of Goa ... to send them 2 or 3 Frigates with ... Soldiers to possess themselves of ye Islands of Kegeria and Ingellee."—Ibid. Dec. 17; [Hak. Soc. i. 172].
1727.—"It is now inhabited by Fishers, as are also Ingellie and Kidgerie, two neighbouring Islands on the West Side of the Mouth of the Ganges."—A. Hamilton, ii. 2; [ed. 1744]. (See HIDGELEE.)
1753.—"De l'autre côté de l'entré, les rivières de Cajori et de l'Ingeli (see HIDGELEE), puis plus au large la rivière de Pipli et celle de Balasor (see BALASORE), sont avec Tombali (see TUMLOOK), rivière mentionné plus haut, et qu'on peut ajouter ici, des dérivations d'un grand fleuve, dont le nom de Ganga lui est commun avec le Gange.... Une carte du Golfe de Bengale inserée dans Blaeu, fera même distinguer les rivières d'Ingeli et de Cajori (si on prend la peine de l'examiner) comme des bras du Ganga."—D'Anville, p. 66.
As to the origin of this singular error, about a river Ganga flowing across India from W. to E., see some extracts under GODAVERY. The Rupnarain River, which joins the Hoogly from the W. just above Diamond Harbour, is the grand fleuve here spoken of. The name Gunga or Old Gunga is applied to this in charts late in the 18th century. It is thus mentioned by A. Hamilton, 1727: "About five leagues farther up on the West Side of the River of Hughly, is another Branch of the Ganges, called Ganga, it is broader than that of the Hughly, but much shallower."—ii. 3; [ed. 1744].
KEDGEREE-POT, s. A vulgar expression for a round pipkin such as is in common Indian use, both for holding water and for cooking purposes. (See CHATTY, GHURRA.)
1811.—"As a memorial of such misfortunes, they plant in the earth an oar bearing a cudgeri, or earthen pot."—Solvyns, Les Hindous, iii.
1830.—"Some natives were in readiness with a small raft of Kedgeree-pots, on which the palkee was to be ferried over."—Mem. of Col. Mountain, 110.
KENNERY, n.p. The site of a famous and very extensive group of cave-temples on the Island of Salsette, near Bombay, properly Kāṇherī.
1602.—"Holding some conversation with certain very aged Christians, who had been among the first converts there of Padre Fr. Antonio do Porto, ... one of them, who alleged himself to be more than 120 years old, and who spoke Portuguese very well, and read and wrote it, and was continually reading the Flos Sanctorum, and the Lives of the Saints, assured me that without doubt the work of the Pagoda of Canari was made under the orders of the father of Saint Josafat the Prince, whom Barlaam converted to the Faith of Christ...."—Couto, VII. iii. cap. 10.
1673.—"Next Morn before Break of Day we directed our steps to the anciently fam'd, but now ruin'd City of Canorein ... all cut out of a Rock," &c.—Fryer, 71-72.
1825.—"The principal curiosities of Salsette ... are the cave temples of Kennery. These are certainly in every way remarkable, from their number, their beautiful situation, their elaborate carving, and their marked connection with Buddh and his religion."—Heber, ii. 130.
KERSEYMERE, s. This is an English draper's term, and not Anglo-Indian. But it is through forms like cassimere (also in English use), a corruption of cashmere, though the corruption has been shaped by the previously existing English word kersey for a kind of woollen cloth, as if kersey were one kind and kerseymere another, of similar goods. Kersey is given by Minsheu (2nd ed. 1627), without definition, thus: "Kersie cloth, G. (i.e. French) carizé." The only word like the last given by Littré is "Carisil, sorte de canevas."... This does not apply to kersey, which appears to be represented by "Creseau—Terme de Commerce; étoffe de laine croissée à deux envers; etym. croiser." Both words are probably connected with croiser or with carré. Planché indeed (whose etymologies are generally worthless) says: "made originally at Kersey, in Suffolk, whence its name." And he adds, equal to the occasion, "Kerseymere, so named from the position of the original factory on the mere, or water which runs through the village of Kersey" (!) Mr. Skeat, however, we see, thinks that Kersey, in Suffolk, is perhaps the origin of the word Kersey: [and this he repeats in the new ed. (1901) of his Concise Etym. Dict., adding, "Not from Jersey, which is also used as the name of a material." Kerseymere, he says, is "a corruption of Cashmere or Cassimere, by confusion with kersey"].
1495.—"Item the xv day of Februar, bocht fra Jhonne Andersoun x ellis of quhit Caresay, to be tua coitis, ane to the King, and ane to the Lard of Balgony; price of ellne vjs.; summa ... iij. li."—Accts. of the Ld. H. Treasurer of Scotland, 1877, p. 225.
1583.—"I think cloth, Kerseys and tinne have never bene here at so lowe prices as they are now."—Mr. John Newton, from Babylon (i.e. Bagdad) July 20, in Hakl. 378.
1603.—"I had as lief be a list of an English kersey, as be pil'd as thou art pil'd, for a French velvet."—Measure for Measure, i. 2.
1625.—"Ordanet the thesaurer to tak aff to ilk ane of the officeris and to the drummer and pyper, ilk ane of thame, fyve elne of reid Kairsie claithe."—Exts. from Recds. of Glasgow, 1876, p. 347.
1626.—In a contract between the Factor of the King of Persia and a Dutch "Opper Koopman" for goods we find: "2000 Persian ells of Carsay at 1 eocri (?) the ell."—Valentijn, v. 295.
1784.—"For sale—superfine cambrics and edgings ... scarlet and blue Kassimeres."—In Seton-Karr, i. 47.
c. 1880.—(no date given) "Kerseymere. Cassimere. A finer description of kersey ... (then follows the absurd etymology as given by Planché).... It is principally a manufacture of the west of England, and except in being tweeled (sic) and of narrow width it in no respect differs from superfine cloth."—Draper's Dict. s.v.
KHADIR, s. H. khādar; the recent alluvial bordering a large river. (See under BANGUR).
[1828.—"The river ... meanders fantastically ... through a Khader, or valley between two ranges of hills."—Mundy, Pen and Pencil Sketches, ed. 1858, p. 130.
[The Khadir Cup is one of the chief racing trophies open to pig-stickers in upper India.]
KHAKEE, vulgarly KHARKI, KHARKEE, s. or adj. Hind. khākī, 'dusty or dust-coloured,' from Pers. khāk, 'earth,' or 'dust'; applied to a light drab or chocolate-coloured cloth. This was the colour of the uniform worn by some of the Punjab regiments at the siege of Delhi, and became very popular in the army generally during the campaigns of 1857-58, being adopted as a convenient material by many other corps. [Gubbins (Mutinies in Oudh, 296) describes how the soldiers at Lucknow dyed their uniforms a light brown or dust colour with a mixture of black and red office inks, and Cave Brown (Punjab and Delhi, ii. 211) speaks of its introduction in place of the red uniform which gave the British soldier the name of "Lal Coortee Wallahs."]
[1858.—A book appeared called "Service and Adventures with the Khakee Ressalah, or Meerut Volunteer Horse during the Mutinies in 1857-8," by R. H. W. Dunlop.
[1859.—"It has been decided that the full dress will be of dark blue cloth, made up, not like the tunic, but as the native ungreekah (angarkha), and set off with red piping. The undress clothing will be entirely of Khakee."—Madras Govt. Order, Feb. 18, quoted in Calcutta Rev. ciii. 407.
[1862.—"Kharkee does not catch in brambles so much as other stuffs."—Brinckman, Rifle in Cashmere, 136.]
1878.—"The Amir, we may mention, wore a khaki suit, edged with gold, and the well-known Herati cap."—Sat. Review, Nov. 30, 683.
[1899.—"The batteries to be painted with the Kirkee colour, which being similar to the roads of the country, will render the vehicles invisible."—Times, July 12.
[1890-91.—The newspapers have constant references to a khaki election, that is an election started on a war policy, and the War Loan for the Transvaal Campaign has been known as "khakis."]
Recent military operations have led to the general introduction of khaki as the service uniform. Something like this has been used in the East for clothing from a very early time:—
[1611.—"See if you can get me a piece of very fine brown calico to make me clothes."—Danvers, Letters, i. 109.]
KHALSA, s. and adj. Hind. from Ar. khālṣa (properly khāliṣa) 'pure, genuine.' It has various technical meanings, but, as we introduce the word, it is applied by the Sikhs to their community and church (so to call it) collectively.
1783.—"The Sicques salute each other by the expression Wah Gooroo, without any inclination of the body, or motion of the hand. The Government at large, and their armies, are denominated Khalsa, and Khalsajee."—Forster's Journey, ed. 1808, i. 307.
1881.—
"And all the Punjab knows me, for my father's name was known
In the days of the conquering Khalsa, when I was a boy half-grown."
Attar Singh loquitur, by Sowar, in an
Indian paper; name and date lost.
KHAN, s. a. Turki through Pers. Khān. Originally this was a title, equivalent to Lord or Prince, used among the Mongol and Turk nomad hordes. Besides this sense, and an application to various other chiefs and nobles, it has still become in Persia, and still more in Afghanistan, a sort of vague title like "Esq.," whilst in India it has become a common affix to, or in fact part of, the name of Hindustānis out of every rank, properly, however of those claiming a Pathān descent. The tendency of swelling titles is always thus to degenerate, and when the value of Khān had sunk, a new form, Khān-Khānān (Khān of Khāns) was devised at the Court of Delhi, and applied to one of the high officers of State.
[c. 1610.—The "Assant Caounas" of Pyrard de Laval, which Mr. Gray fails to identify, is probably Hasan-Khan, Hak. Soc. i. 69.
[1616.—"All the Captayens, as Channa Chana (Khān-Khānān), Mahobet Chan, Chan John (Khān Jahān)."—Sir T. Roe, Hak. Soc. i. 192.
[1675.—"Cawn." See under GINGI.]
b. Pers. khān. A public building for the accommodation of travellers, a caravanserai. [The word appears in English as early as about 1400; see Stanf. Dict. s.v.]
1653.—"Han est vn Serrail ou enclos que les Arabes appellent fondoux où se retirent les Carauanes, ou les Marchands Estrangers, ... ce mot de Han est Turq, et est le mesme que Kiarauansarai ou Karbasara (see CARAVANSERAY) dont parle Belon...."—De la Boullaye-le-Gouz, ed. 1657, p. 540.
1827.—"He lost all hope, being informed by his late fellow-traveller, whom he found at the Khan, that the Nuwaub was absent on a secret expedition."—W. Scott, The Surgeon's Daughter, ch. xiii.
KHANNA, CONNAH, &c. s. This term (Pers. khāna, 'a house, a compartment, apartment, department, receptacle,' &c.) is used almost ad libitum in India in composition, sometimes with most incongruous words, as bobachee (for bāwarchī) connah, 'cook-house,' buggy-connah, 'buggy, or coach-house,' bottle-khanna, tosha-khana (q.v.), &c. &c.
1784.—"The house, cook-room, bottle-connah, godown, &c., are all pucka built."—In Seton-Karr, i. 41.
KHANSAMA. See CONSUMAH.
KHANUM, s. Turki, through Pers. khānum and khānim, a lady of rank; the feminine of the title Khān, a (q.v.)
1404.—"... la mayor delles avia nõbre Cañon, que quiere dezir Reyna, o Señora grande."—Clavijo, f. 52v.
" "The great wall and tents were for the use of the chief wife of the Lord, who was called Caño, and the other was for the second wife, called Quinchi Caño, which means 'the little lady.'"—Markham's Clavijo, 145.
1505.—"The greatest of the Begs of the Sagharichi was then Shîr Haji Beg, whose daughter, Ais-doulet Begum, Yunīs Khan married.... The Khan had three daughters by Ais-doulet Begum.... The second daughter, Kullûk Nigar Khânum, was my mother.... Five months after the taking of Kabul she departed to God's mercy, in the year 911" (1505).—Baber, p. 12.
1619.—"The King's ladies, when they are not married to him ... and not near relations of his house, but only concubines or girls of the Palace, are not called begum, which is a title of queens and princesses, but only canum, a title given in Persia to all noble ladies."—P. della Valle, ii. 13.
KHASS, KAUSS, &c., adj. Hind. from Ar. khāṣṣ, 'special, particular, Royal.' It has many particular applications, one of the most common being to estates retained in the hands of Goyernment, which are said to be held khāṣṣ. The khāṣṣ-maḥal again, in a native house, is the women's apartment. Many years ago a white-bearded khānsamān (see CONSUMAH), in the service of one of the present writers, indulging in reminiscences of the days when he had been attached to Lord Lake's camp, in the beginning of the last century, extolled the sāhibs of those times above their successors, observing (in his native Hindustani): "In those days I think the Sahibs all came from London khāṣṣ; now a great lot of Liverpoolwālās come to the country!"
There were in the Palaces of the Great Mogul and other Mahommedan Princes of India always two Halls of Audience, or Durbar, the Dewān-i-'Ām, or Hall of the Public, and the Dewān-i-Khāṣṣ, the Special or Royal Hall, for those who had the entrée, as we say.
In the Indian Vocabulary, 1788, the word is written Coss.
KHĀSYA, n.p. A name applied to the oldest existing race in the cis-Tibetan Himālaya, between Nepal and the Ganges, i.e. in the British Districts of Kumāun and Garhwāl. The Khāsyas are Hindu in religion and customs, and probably are substantially Hindu also in blood; though in their aspect there is some slight suggestion of that of their Tibetan neighbours. There can be no ground for supposing them to be connected with the Mongoloïd nation of Kasias (see COSSYA) in the mountains south of Assam.
[1526.—"About these hills are other tribes of men. With all the investigation and enquiry I could make.... All that I could learn was that the men of these hills were called Kas. It struck me that as the Hindustanis frequently confound shīn and sīn and as Kashmīr is the chief ... city in those hills, it may have taken its name from that circumstance."—Leyden's Baber, 313.]
1799.—"The Vakeel of the rajāh of Comanh (i.e. Kumāun) of Almora, who is a learned Pandit, informs me that the greater part of the zemindars of that country are C'hasas.... They are certainly a very ancient tribe, for they are mentioned as such in the Institutes of Menu; and their great ancestor C'hasa or C'hasya is mentioned by Sanchoniathon, under the name of Cassius. He is supposed to have lived before the Flood, and to have given his name to the mountains he seized upon."—Wilford (Wilfordizing!), in As. Res. vi. 456.
1824.—"The Khasya nation pretend to be all Rajpoots of the highest caste ... they will not even sell one of their little mountain cows to a stranger.... They are a modest, gentle, respectful people, honest in their dealings."—Heber, i. 264.
KHELÁT, n.p. The capital of the Bilūch State upon the western frontier of Sind, which gives its name to the State itself. The name is in fact the Ar. ḳal'a, 'a fort.' (See under KILLADAR.) The terminal t of the Ar. word (written ḳal'at) has for many centuries been pronounced only when the word is the first half of a compound name meaning 'Castle of ——.' No doubt this was the case with the Bilūch capital, though in its case the second part has been completely dropt out of use. Khelát (Ḳal'at)-i-Ghiljī is an example where the second part remains, though sometimes dropt.
KHIRÁJ, s. Ar. kharāj (usually pron. in India khirāj), is properly a tribute levied by a Musulman lord upon conquered unbelievers, also land-tax; in India it is almost always used for the land-revenue paid to Government; whence a common expression (also Ar.) lā khirāj, treated as one word, lākhirāj, 'rent-free.'
[c. 1590.—"In ancient times a capitation tax was imposed, called khiráj."—Āīn, ed. Jarrett, ii. 55. "Some call the whole produce of the revenue khiráj."—Ibid. ii. 57.]
1653.—"Le Sultan souffre les Chrétiens, les Iuifs, et les Indou sur ses terres, auec toute liberté de leur Loy, en payant cinq Reales d'Espagne ou plus par an, et ce tribut s'appelle Karache...."—De la Boullaye-le-Gouz, ed. 1657, p. 48.
1784.—"... 136 beegahs, 18 of which are Lackherage land, or land paying no rent."—In Seton-Karr, i. 49.
KHOA, s. Hind. and Beng. khoā, a kind of concrete, of broken brick, lime, &c., used for floors and terrace-roofs.
KHOT, s. This is a Mahrātī word, khot, in use in some parts of the Bombay Presidency as the designation of persons holding or farming villages on a peculiar tenure called khotī, and coming under the class legally defined as 'superior holders.'
The position and claims of the khots have been the subject of much debate and difficulty, especially with regard to the rights and duties of the tenants under them, whose position takes various forms; but to go into these questions would carry us much more deeply into local technicalities than would be consistent with the scope of this work, or the knowledge of the editor. Practically it would seem that the khot is, in the midst of provinces where ryotwarry is the ruling system, an exceptional person, holding much the position of a petty zemindar in Bengal (apart from any question of permanent settlement); and that most of the difficult questions touching khotī have arisen from this its exceptional character in Western India.
The khot occurs especially in the Konkan, and was found in existence when, in the early part of the last century, we occupied territory that had been subject to the Mahratta power. It is apparently traceable back at least to the time of the 'Adil Shāhī (see IDALCAN) dynasty of the Deccan. There are, however, various denominations of khot. In the Southern Konkan the khoti has long been a hereditary zemindar, with proprietary rights, and also has in many cases replaced the ancient patel as headman of the village; a circumstance that has caused the khoti to be sometimes regarded and defined as the holder of an office, rather than of a property. In the Northern Konkan, again, the Khotis were originally mere revenue-farmers, without proprietary or hereditary rights, but had been able to usurp both.
As has been said above, administrative difficulties as to the Khotis have been chiefly connected with their rights over, or claims from, the ryots, which have been often exorbitant and oppressive. At the same time it is in evidence that in the former distracted state of the country, a Khoti was sometimes established in compliance with a petition of the cultivators. The Khoti "acted as a buffer between them and the extortionate demands of the revenue officers under the native Government. And this is easily comprehended, when it is remembered that formerly districts used to be farmed to the native officials, whose sole object was to squeeze as much revenue as possible out of each village. The Khot bore the brunt of this struggle. In many cases he prevented a new survey of his village, by consenting to the imposition of some new patti.[149] This no doubt he recovered from the ryots, but he gave them their own time to pay, advanced them money for their cultivation, and was a milder master than a rapacious revenue officer would have been" (Candy, pp. 20-21). See Selections from Records of Bombay Government, No. cxxxiv., N.S., viz., Selections with Notes, regarding the Khoti Tenure, compiled by E. T. Candy, Bo. C. S. 1873; also Abstract of Proceedings of the Govt. of Bombay in the Revenue Dept., April 24, 1876, No. 2474.
KHOTI, s. The holder of the peculiar khot tenure in the Bombay Presidency.
KHUDD, KUDD, s. This is a term chiefly employed in the Himālaya, khadd, meaning a precipitous hill-side, also a deep valley. It is not in the dictionaries, but is probably allied to the Hind. khāt, 'a pit,' Dakh.—Hind. khaḍḍā. [Platts gives Hind. khaḍ. This is from Skt. khaṇḍa, 'a gap, a chasm,' while khāt comes from Skt. khāta, 'an excavation.'] The word is in constant Anglo-Indian colloquial use at Simla and other Himālayan stations.
1837.—"The steeps about Mussoori are so very perpendicular in many places, that a person of the strongest nerve would scarcely be able to look over the edge of the narrow footpath into the Khud, without a shudder."—Bacon, First Impressions, ii. 146.
1838.—"On my arrival I found one of the ponies at the estate had been killed by a fall over the precipice, when bringing up water from the khud."—Wanderings of a Pilgrim, ii. 240.
1866.—"When the men of the 43d Regt. refused to carry the guns any longer, the Eurasian gunners, about 20 in number, accompanying them, made an attempt to bring them on, but were unequal to doing so, and under the direction of this officer (Capt. Cockburn, R.A.) threw them down a Khud, as the ravines in the Himalaya are called...."—Bhotan and the H. of the Dooar War, by Surgeon Rennie, M.D. p. 199.
1879.—"The commander-in-chief ... is perhaps alive now because his horse so judiciously chose the spot on which suddenly to swerve round that its hind hoofs were only half over the chud" (sic).—Times Letter, from Simla, Aug. 15.
KHURREEF, s. Ar. kharīf, 'autumn'; and in India the crop, or harvest of the crop, which is sown at the beginning of the rainy season (April and May) and gathered in after it, including rice, the tall millets, maize, cotton, rape, sesamum, &c. The obverse crop is rubbee (q.v.).
[1809.—"Three weeks have not elapsed since the Kureef crop, which consists of Bajru (see BAJRA), Jooar (see JOWAUR), several smaller kinds of grain, and cotton, was cleared from off the fields, and the same ground is already ploughed ... and sown for the great Rubbee crop of wheat, barley and chunu (see GRAM)."—Broughton, Letters from a Mahratta Camp, ed. 1892, p. 215.]
KHUTPUT, s. This is a native slang term in Western India for a prevalent system of intrigue and corruption. The general meaning of khaṭpaṭ in Hind. and Mahr. is rather 'wrangling' and 'worry,' but it is in the former sense that the word became famous (1850-54) in consequence of Sir James Outram's struggles with the rascality, during his tenure of the Residency of Baroda.
[1881.—"Khutput, or court intrigue, rules more or less in every native State, to an extent incredible among the more civilised nations of Europe."—Frazer, Records of Sport, 204.]
KHUTTRY, KHETTRY, CUTTRY, s. Hind. Khattrī, Khatrī, Skt. Kshatriya. The second, or military caste, in the theoretical or fourfold division of the Hindus. [But the word is more commonly applied to a mercantile caste, which has its origin in the Punjab, but is found in considerable numbers in other parts of India. Whether they are really of Kshatriya descent is a matter on which there is much difference of opinion. See Crooke, Tribes and Castes of N.W.P., iii. 264 seqq.] The Χατριαῖοι whom Ptolemy locates apparently towards Rājputānā are probably Kshatriyas.
[1623.—"They told me Ciautru was a title of honour."—P. della Valle, Hak. Soc. ii. 312.]
1630.—"And because Cuttery was of a martiall temper God gave him power to sway Kingdomes with the scepter."—Lord, Banians, 5.
1638.—"Les habitans ... sont la pluspart Benyans et Ketteris, tisserans, teinturiers, et autres ouuriers en coton."—Mandelslo, ed. 1659, 130.
[1671.—"There are also Cuttarees, another Sect Principally about Agra and those parts up the Country, who are as the Banian Gentoos here."—In Yule, Hedges' Diary, Hak. Soc. ii. cccxi.]
1673.—"Opium is frequently eaten in great quantities by the Rashpoots, Queteries, and Patans."—Fryer, 193.
1726.—"The second generation in rank among these heathen is that of the Settre'as."—Valentijn, Chorom. 87.
1782.—"The Chittery occasionally betakes himself to traffic, and the Sooder has become the inheritor of principalities."—G. Forster's Journey, ed. 1808, i. 64.
1836.—"The Banians are the mercantile caste of the original Hindoos.... They call themselves Shudderies, which signifies innocent or harmless (!)"—Sir R. Phillips, Million of Facts, 322.
KHYBER PASS, n.p. The famous gorge which forms the chief gate of Afghanistan from Peshawar, properly Khaibar. [The place of the same name near Al-Madinah is mentioned in the Āīn (iii. 57), and Sir R. Burton writes: "Khaybar in Hebrew is supposed to mean a castle. D'Herbelot makes it to mean a pact or association of the Jews against the Moslems." (Pilgrimage, ed. 1893, i. 346, note).]
1519.—"Early next morning we set out on our march, and crossing the Kheiber Pass, halted at the foot of it. The Khizer-Khail had been extremely licentious in their conduct. Both on the coming and going of our army they had shot upon the stragglers, and such of our people as lagged behind, or separated from the rest, and carried off their horses. It was clearly expedient that they should meet with a suitable chastisement."—Baber, p. 277.
1603.—"On Thursday Jamrúd was our encamping ground.
"On Friday we went through the Khaibar Pass, and encamped at 'Alí Musjid."—Jahángír, in Elliot, vi. 314.
1783.—"The stage from Timrood (read Jimrood) to Dickah, usually called the Hyber-pass, being the only one in which much danger is to be apprehended from banditti, the officer of the escort gave orders to his party to ... march early on the next morning.... Timur Shah, who used to pass the winter at Peshour ... never passed through the territory of the Hybers, without their attacking his advanced or rear guard."—Forster's Travels, ed. 1808, ii. 65-66.
1856.—
"... See the booted Moguls, like a pack
Of hungry wolves, burst from their desert lair,
And crowding through the Khyber's rocky strait,
Sweep like a bloody harrow o'er the land."
The Banyan Tree, p. 6.
KIDDERPORE, n.p. This is the name of a suburb of Calcutta, on the left bank of the Hoogly, a little way south of Fort William, and is the seat of the Government Dockyard. This establishment was formed in the 18th century by Gen. Kyd, "after whom," says the Imperial Gazetteer, "the village is named." This is the general belief, and was mine [H.Y.] till recently, when I found from the chart and directions in the English Pilot of 1711 that the village of Kidderpore (called in the same chart Kitherepore) then occupied the same position, i.e. immediately below "Gobarnapore" and that immediately below "Chittanutte" (i.e. Govindpūr and Chatānatī (see CHUTTANUTTY)).
1711.—"... then keep Rounding Chitti Poe (Chitpore) Bite down to Chitty Nutty Point (see CHUTTANUTTY).... The Bite below Gover Napore (Govindpūr) is Shoal, and below the Shoal is an Eddy; therefore from Gover Napore, you must stand over to the Starboard-Shore, and keep it aboard till you come up almost with the Point opposite to Kiddery-pore, but no longer...."—The English Pilot, p. 65.
KIL, s. Pitch or bitumen. Tam. and Mal. kīl, Ar. ḳīr, Pers. ḳīr and ḳīl.
c. 1330.—"In Persia are some springs, from which flows a kind of pitch which is called kic (read kir) (pix dico seu pegua), with which they smear the skins in which wine is carried and stored."—Friar Jordanus, p. 10.
c. 1560.—"These are pitched with a bitumen which they call quil, which is like pitch."—Correa, Hak. Soc. 240.
KILLADAR, s. P.—H. ḳil'adār, from Ar. ḳal'a, 'a fort.' The commandant of a fort, castle, or garrison. The Ar. ḳal'a is always in India pronounced ḳil'a. And it is possible that in the first quotation Ibn Batuta has misinterpreted an Indian title; taking it as from Pers. kilīd, 'a key.' It may be noted with reference to ḳal'a that this Ar. word is generally represented in Spanish names by Alcala, a name borne by nine Spanish towns entered in K. Johnstone's Index Geographicus; and in Sicilian ones by Calata, e.g. Calatafimi, Caltanissetta, Caltagirone.
c. 1340.—"... Kādhi Khān, Sadr-al-Jihān, who became the chief of the Amīrs, and had the title of Kalīt-dār, i.e. Keeper of the keys of the Palace. This officer was accustomed to pass every night at the Sultan's door, with the bodyguard."—Ibn Batuta, iii. 196.
1757.—"The fugitive garrison ... returned with 500 more, sent by the Kellidar of Vandiwash."—Orme, ed. 1803, ii. 217.
1817.—"The following were the terms ... that Arni should be restored to its former governor or Killedar."—Mill, iii. 340.
1829.—"Among the prisoners captured in the Fort of Hattrass, search was made by us for the Keeledar."—Mem. of John Shipp, ii. 210.
KILLA-KOTE, s. pl. A combination of Ar.—P. and Hind. words for a fort (ḳil'a for ḳal'a, and kōṭ), used in Western India to imply the whole fortifications of a territory (R. Drummond).
KILLUT, KILLAUT, &c., s. Ar.—H. khil'at. A dress of honour presented by a superior on ceremonial occasions; but the meaning is often extended to the whole of a ceremonial present of that nature, of whatever it may consist. [The Ar. khil-a'h properly means 'what a man strips from his person.' "There were (among the later Moguls) five degrees of khila't, those of three, five, six, or seven pieces; or they might as a special mark of favour consist of clothes that the emperor had actually worn." (See for further details Mr. Irvine in J.R.A.S., N.S., July 1896, p. 533).] The word has in Russian been degraded to mean the long loose gown which forms the most common dress in Turkistan, called generally by Schuyler 'a dressing-gown' (Germ. Schlafrock). See Fraehn, Wolga Bulgaren, p. 43.
1411.—"Several days passed in sumptuous feasts. Khil'ats and girdles of royal magnificence were distributed."—Abdurazzāk, in Not. et Exts. xiv. 209.
1673.—"Sir George Oxenden held it.... He defended himself and the Merchants so bravely, that he had a Collat or Seerpaw, (q.v.) a Robe of Honour from Head to Foot, offered him from the Great Mogul."—Fryer, 87.
1676.—"This is the Wardrobe, where the Royal Garments are kept; and from whence the King sends for the Calaat, or a whole Habit for a Man, when he would honour any Stranger...."—Tavernier, E.T. ii. 46; [ed. Ball, ii. 98].
1774.—"A flowered satin gown was brought me, and I was dressed in it as a khilat."—Bogle, in Markham's Tibet, 25.
1786.—"And he the said Warren Hastings did send kellauts, or robes of honour (the most public and distinguished mode of acknowledging merit known in India) to the said ministers in testimony of his approbation of their services."—Articles of Charge against Hastings, in Burke's Works, vii. 25.
1809.—"On paying a visit to any Asiatic Prince, an inferior receives from him a complete dress of honour, consisting of a khelaut, a robe, a turban, a shield and sword, with a string of pearls to go round the neck."—Ld. Valentia, i. 99.
1813.—"On examining the khelauts ... from the great Maharajah Madajee Sindia, the serpeych (see SIRPECH) ... presented to Sir Charles Malet, was found to be composed of false stones."—Forbes, Or. Mem. iii. 50; [2nd ed. ii. 418].
KINCOB, s. Gold brocade. P.—H. kamkhāb, ḳamkhwāb, vulgarly kimkhwāb. The English is perhaps from the Gujarātī, as in that language the last syllable is short.
This word has been twice imported from the East. For it is only another form of the medieval name of an Eastern damask or brocade, cammocca. This was taken from the medieval Persian and Arabic forms kamkhā or kīmkhwā, 'damasked silk,' and seems to have come to Europe in the 13th century. F. Johnson's Dict. distinguishes between kamkhā, 'damask silk of one colour,' and kimkhā, 'damask silk of different colours.' And this again, according to Dozy, quoting Hoffmann, is originally a Chinese word kin-kha; in which doubtless kin, 'gold,' is the first element. Kim is the Fuhkien form of the word; qu. kim-hoa, 'gold-flower'? We have seen kimkhwāb derived from Pers. kam-khwāb, 'less sleep,' because such cloth is rough and prevents sleep! This is a type of many etymologies. ["The ordinary derivation of the word supposes that a man could not even dream of it who had not seen it (kam, 'little,' khwāb, 'dream')" (Yusuf Ali, Mono. on Silk, 86). Platts and the Madras Gloss. take it from kam, 'little,' khwāb, 'nap.'] Ducange appears to think the word survived in the French mocade (or moquette); but if so the application of the term must have degenerated in England. (See in Draper's Dict. mockado, the form of which has suggested a sham stuff.)