LUNGOOTY, s. Hind. langoṭī. The original application of this word seems to be the scantiest modicum of covering worn for decency by some of the lower classes when at work, and tied before and behind by a string round the waist; but it is sometimes applied to the more ample dhotī (see DHOTY). According to R. Drummond, in Guzerat the "Langoth or Lungota" (as he writes) is "a pretty broad piece of cotton cloth, tied round the breech by men and boys bathing.... The diminutive is Langotee, a long slip of cloth, stitched to a loin band of the same stuff, and forming exactly the T bandage of English Surgeons...." This distinction is probably originally correct, and the use of langūta by Abdurrazzāk would agree with it. The use of the word has spread to some of the Indo-Chinese countries. In the quotation from Mocquet it is applied in speaking of an American Indian near the R. Amazon. But the writer had been in India.
c. 1422.—"The blacks of this country have the body nearly naked; they wear only bandages round the middle called lankoutah, which descend from the navel to above the knee."—Abdurrazzāk, in India in XV. Cent. 17.
1526.—"Their peasants and the lower classes all go about naked. They tie on a thing which they call a langoti, which is a piece of clout that hangs down two spans from the navel, as a cover to their nakedness. Below this pendant modesty-clout is another slip of cloth, one end of which they fasten before to a string that ties on the langoti, and then passing the slip of cloth between the two legs, bring it up and fix it to the string of the langoti behind."—Baber, 333.
c. 1609.—"Leur capitaine auoit fort bonne façon, encore qu'il fust tout nud et luy seul auoit vn langoutin, qui est vne petite pièce de coton peinte."—Mocquet, 77.
1653.—"Langouti est une pièce de linge dont les Indou se seruent à cacher les parties naturelles."—De la Boullaye-le-Gouz, ed. 1657, p. 547.
[1822.—"The boatmen go nearly naked, seldom wearing more than a langutty...."—Wallace, Fifteen Years in India, 410.]
1869.—"Son costume se compose, comme celui de tous les Cambodgiens, d'une veste courte et d'un langouti."—Rev. des Deux Mondes, lxxix. 854.
"They wear nothing but the langoty, which is a string round the loins, and a piece of cloth about a hand's breadth fastened to it in front."—(Ref. lost), p. 26.
LUNKA, n.p. Skt. Lañka. The oldest name of Ceylon in the literature both of Buddhism and Brahmanism. Also 'an island' in general.
——, s. A kind of strong cheroot much prized in the Madras Presidency, and so called from being made of tobacco grown in the 'islands' (the local term for which is lañka) of the Godavery Delta.
MĀ-BĀP, s. 'Āp mā-bāp hai khudāwand!' 'You, my Lord, are my mother and father!' This is an address from a native, seeking assistance, or begging release from a penalty, or reluctant to obey an order, which the young ṣāhib hears at first with astonishment, but soon as a matter of course.
MABAR, n.p. The name given in the Middle Ages by the Arabs to that coast of India which we call Coromandel. The word is Ar. ma'bar, 'the ferry or crossing-place.' It is not clear how the name came to be applied, whether because the Arab vessels habitually touched at its ports, or because it was the place of crossing to Ceylon, or lastly whether it was not an attempt to give meaning to some native name. [The Madras Gloss. says it was so called because it was the place of crossing from Madura to Ceylon; also see Logan, Malabar, i. 280.] We know no occurrence of the term earlier than that which we give from Abdallatīf.
c. 1203.—"I saw in the hands of an Indian trader very beautiful mats, finely woven and painted on both sides with most pleasing colours.... The merchant told me ... that these mats were woven of the Indian plantain ... and that they sold in Mabar for two dinars apiece."—Abd-Allatīf, Relation de l'Egypte, p. 31.
1279-86.—In M. Pauthier's notes on Marco Polo very curious notices are extracted from Chinese official annals regarding the communications, in the time of Kublai Kaan, between that Emperor and Indian States, including Ma-pa-'rh.—(See pp. 600-605).
c. 1292.—"When you leave the Island of Seilan and sail westward about 60 miles, you come to the great province of Maabar, which is styled India the Greater: it is the best of all the Indies, and is on the mainland."—Marco Polo, Bk. iii. ch. 16.
c. 1300.—"The merchants export from Ma'bar silken stuffs, aromatic roots; large pearls are brought from the sea. The productions of this country are carried to 'Irák, Khorásán, Syria, Russia and Europe."—Rashīduddīn, in Elliot, i. 69.
1303.—"In the beginning of this year (703 H.), the Maliki-'Azam, Takiú-d-dín ... departed from the country of Hind to the passage (ma'bar) of corruption. The King of Ma'bar was anxious to obtain his property and wealth, but Malik Mu'azzam Siráju-d-dín, son of the deceased, having secured his goodwill, by the payment of 200,000 dínárs, not only obtained the wealth, but rank also of his father."—Wassáf, in Elliot, iii. 45.
1310.—"The country of Ma'bar, which is so distant from Dehli that a man travelling with all expedition could only reach it after a journey of 12 months, there the arrow of any holy warrior had not yet reached."—Amír Khusrú, in Elliot, iii. 85.
c. 1330.—"The third part (of India) is Ma'bar, which begins some three or four days journey to the eastward of Kaulam; this territory lies to the east of Malabar.... It is stated that the territory Ma'bar begins at the Cape Kumhari, a name which applies both to a mountain and a city.... Biyyardāwal is the residence of the Prince of Ma'bar, for whom horses are imported from foreign countries."—Abulfeda, in Gildemeister, p. 185. We regret to see that M. Guyard, in his welcome completion of Reinaud's translation of Abulfeda, absolutely, in some places, substitutes "Coromandel" for "Ma'bar." It is French fashion, but a bad one.
c. 1498.—"Zo deser stat Kangera anlenden alle Kouffschyff die in den landen zo doyn hauen, ind lijcht in eyner provincie Moabar genant."—Pilgerfahrt des Ritters Arnold von Harff (a fiction-monger), p. 140.
1753.—"Selon cet autorité le pays du continent qui fait face à l'île de Ceilan est Maabar, ou le grande Inde: et cette interpretation de Marc-Pol est autant plus juste, que maha est un terme Indien, et propre même à quelques langues Scythiques ou Tartares, pour signifier grand. Ainsi, Maabar signifie la grande region."—D'Anville, p. 105. The great Geographer is wrong!
a. The name applied by the Portuguese to the small peninsula and the city built on it, near the mouth of Canton River, which they have occupied since 1557. The place is called by the Chinese Ngao-măn (Ngao, 'bay or inlet,' Măn, 'gate'). The Portuguese name is alleged to be taken from A-mā-ngao, 'the Bay of Ama,' i.e. of the Mother, the so-called 'Queen of Heaven,' a patroness of seamen. And indeed Amacao is an old form often met with.
c. 1567.—"Hanno i Portoghesi fatta vna picciola cittáde in vna Isola vicina a' i liti della China chiamato Machao ... ma i datii sono del Rè della China, e vanno a pagarli a Canton, bellissima cittáde, e di grande importanza, distante da Machao due giorni e mezzo."—Cesare de' Federici, in Ramusio, iii. 391.
c. 1570.—"On the fifth day of our voyage it pleased God that we arrived at ... Lampacau, where at that time the Portugals exercised their commerce with the Chineses, which continued till the year 1557, when the Mandarins of Canton, at the request of the Merchants of that Country, gave us the port of Macao, where the trade now is; of which place (that was but a desart Iland before) our countrymen made a very goodly plantation, wherein there were houses worth three or four thousand Duckats, together with a Cathedral Church...."—Pinto, in Cogan, p. 315.
1584.—"There was in Machao a religious man of the order of the barefoote friars of S. Francis, who vnderstanding the great and good desire of this king, did sende him by certaine Portugal merchants ... a cloth whereon was painted the day of iudgement and hell, and that by an excellent workman."—Mendoza, ii. 394.
1585.—"They came to Amacao, in Iuly, 1585. At the same time it seasonably hapned that Linsilan was commanded from the court to procure of the Strangers at Amacao, certaine goodly feathers for the King."—From the Jesuit Accounts, in Purchas, iii. 330.
1599 ... —"Amacao." See under MONSOON.
1602.—"Being come, as heretofore I wrote your Worship, to Macao a city of the Portugals, adjoyning to the firme Land of China, where there is a Colledge of our Company."—Letter from Diego de Pantoia, in Purchas, iii. 350.
[1611.—"There came a Jesuit from a place called Langasack (see LANGASAQUE), which place the Carrack of Amakau yearly was wont to come."—Danvers, Letters, i. 146.]
1615.—"He adviseth me that 4 juncks are arrived at Langasaque from Chanchew, which with this ship from Amacau, will cause all matters to be sould chepe."—Cocks's Diary, i. 35.
[ " "... carried them prisoners aboard the great ship of Amacan."—Foster, Letters, iv. 46.]
1625.—"That course continued divers yeeres till the Chinois growing lesse fearefull, granted them in the greater Iland a little Peninsula to dwell in. In that place was an Idoll, which still remained to be seene, called Ama, whence the Peninsula was called Amacao, that is Amas Bay."—Purchas, iii. 319.
b. MACAO, MACCAO, was also the name of a place on the Pegu River which was the port of the city so called in the day of its greatness. A village of the name still exists at the spot.
1554.—"The baar (see BAHAR) of Macao contains 120 biças, each biça 100 ticals (q.v.) ..."—A. Nunes, p. 39.
1568.—"Si fa commodamente il viaggio sino a Maccao distante da Pegu dodeci miglia, e qui si sbarca."—Ces. Federici, in Ramusio, iii. 395.
1587.—"From Cirion we went to Macao, &c."—R. Fitch, in Hakl. ii. 391. (See DELING).
1599.—"The King of Arracan is now ending his business at the Town of Macao, carrying thence the Silver which the King of Tangu had left, exceeding three millions."—N. Pimenta, in Purchas, iii. 1748.
MACAREO, s. A term applied by old voyagers to the phenomenon of the bore, or great tidal wave as seen especially in the Gulf of Cambay, and in the Sitang Estuary in Pegu. The word is used by them as if it were an Oriental word. At one time we were disposed to think it might be the Skt. word makara, which is applied to a mythological sea-monster, and to the Zodiacal sign Capricorn. This might easily have had a mythological association with the furious phenomenon in question, and several of the names given to it in various parts of the world seem due to associations of a similar kind. Thus the old English word Oegir or Eagre for the bore on the Severn, which occurs in Drayton, "seems to be a reminiscence of the old Scandinavian deity Oegir, the god of the stormy sea."[153] [This theory is rejected by N.E.D. s.v. Eagre.] One of the Hindi names for the phenomenon is Menḍhā, 'The Ram'; whilst in modern Guzerat, according to R. Drummond, the natives call it ghoṛā, "likening it to the war horse, or a squadron of them."[154] But nothing could illustrate the naturalness of such a figure as makara, applied to the bore, better than the following paragraph in the review-article just quoted (p. 401), which was evidently penned without any allusion to or suggestion of such an origin of the name, and which indeed makes no reference to the Indian name, but only to the French names of which we shall presently speak:
"Compared with what it used to be, if old descriptions may be trusted, the Mascaret is now stripped of its terrors. It resembles the great nature-force which used to ravage the valley of the Seine, like one of the mythical dragons which, as legends tell, laid whole districts waste, about as much as a lion confined in a cage resembles the free monarch of the African wilderness."
Take also the following:
1885.—"Here at his mouth Father Meghna is 20 miles broad, with islands on his breast as large as English counties, and a great tidal bore which made a daily and ever-varying excitement.... In deep water, it passed merely as a large rolling billow; but in the shallows it rushed along, roaring like a crested and devouring monster, before which no small craft could live."—Lt.-Col. T. Lewin, A Fly on the Wheel, 161-162.
But unfortunately we can find no evidence of the designation of the phenomenon in India by the name of makara or the like; whilst both mascaret (as indicated in the quotation just made) and macrée are found in French as terms for the bore. Both terms appear to belong properly to the Garonne, though mascaret has of late began on the Seine to supplant the old term barre, which is evidently the same as our bore. [The N.E.D. suggests O. N. bára, 'wave.'] Littré can suggest no etymology for mascaret; he mentions a whimsical one which connects the word with a place on the Garrone called St. Macaire, but only to reject it. There would be no impossibility in the transfer of an Indian word of this kind to France, any more than in the other alternative of the transfer of a French term to India in such a way that in the 16th century visitors to that country should have regarded it as an indigenous word, if we had but evidence of its Indian existence. The date of Littré's earliest quotation, which we borrow below, is also unfavourable to the probability of transplantation from India. There remains the possibility that the word is Basque. The Saturday Reviewer already quoted says that he could find nothing approaching to Mascaret in a Basque French Dict., but this hardly seems final.
The vast rapidity of the flood-tide in the Gulf of Cambay is mentioned by Maṣ'ūdī, who witnessed it in the year H. 303 (A.D. 915) i. 255; also less precisely by Ibn Batuta (iv. 60). There is a paper on it in the Bo. Govt. Selections, N.S. No. xxvi., from which it appears that the bore wave reaches a velocity of 10½ knots. [See also Forbes, Or. Mem. 2nd. ed. i. 313.]
1553.—"In which time there came hither (to Diu) a concourse of many vessels from the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, and all the coast of Arabia and India, so that the places within the Gulf of Cambaya, which had become rich and noble by trade, were by this port undone. And this because it stood outside of the Macareos of the Gulf of Cambaya, which were the cause of the loss of many ships."—Barros, II. ii. cap. 9.
1568.—"These Sholds (G. of Cambay) are an hundred and foure-score miles about in a straight or gulfe, which they call Macareo (Maccareo in orig.) which is as much as to say a race of a Tide."—Master C. Frederick, Hakl. ii. 342; [and comp. ii. 362].
1583.—"And having sailed until the 23d of the said month, we found ourselves in the neighbourhood of the Macareo (of Martaban) which is the most marvellous thing that ever was heard of in the way of tides, and high waters.... The water in the channel rises to the height of a high tree, and then the boat is set to face it, waiting for the fury of the tide, which comes on with such violence that the noise is that of a great earthquake, insomuch that the boat is soused from stem to stern, and carried by that impulse swiftly up the channel."—Gasparo Balbi, ff. 91v, 92.
1613.—"The Macareo of waves is a disturbance of the sea, like water boiling, in which the sea casts up its waves in foam. For the space of an Italian mile, and within that distance only, this boiling and foaming occurs, whilst all the rest of the sea is smooth and waveless as a pond.... And the stories of the Malays assert that it is caused by souls that are passing the Ocean from one region to another, or going in cafilas from the Golden Chersonesus ... to the river Ganges."—Godinho de Eredia, f. 41v. [See Skeat, Malay Magic, 10 seq.]
1644.—"... thence to the Gulf of Cambaya with the impetuosity of the currents which are called Macareo, of whose fury strange things are told, insomuch that a stone thrown with force from the hand even in the first speed of its projection does not move more swiftly than those waters run."—Bocarro, MS.
1727.—"A Body of Waters comes rolling in on the Sand, whose Front is above two Fathoms high, and whatever Body lies in its Way it overturns, and no Ship can evade its Force, but in a Moment is overturned, this violent Boer the Natives called a Mackrea."—A. Hamilton, ii. 33; [ed. 1744, ii. 32].
1811.—Solvyns uses the word Macrée as French for 'Bore,' and in English describes his print as "... the representation of a phenomenon of Nature, the Macrée or tide, at the mouth of the river Ougly."—Les Hindous, iii.
MACASSAR, n.p. In Malay Mangkasar, properly the name of a people of Celebes (q.v.), but now the name of a Dutch seaport and seat of Government on the W. coast of the S.W. peninsula of that spider-like island. The last quotation refers to a time when we occupied the place, an episode of Anglo-Indian history almost forgotten.
[1605-6.—"A description of the Iland Selebes or Makasser."—Birdwood, Letter Book, 77.
[1610.—"Selebes or Makassar, wherein are spent and uttered these wares following."—Danvers, Letters, i. 71.
[1664-5.—"... and anon to Gresham College, where, among other good discourse, there was tried the great poyson of Maccassa upon a dogg, but it had no effect all the time we sat there."—Pepys, Diary, March 15; ed. Wheatley, iv. 372.]
1816.—"Letters from Macassar of the 20th and 27th of June (1815), communicate the melancholy intelligence of the death of Lieut. T. C. Jackson, of the 1st Regt. of Native Bengal Infantry, and Assistant Resident of Macassar, during an attack on a fortified village, dependent on the dethroned Raja of Boni."—As. Journal, i. 297.
MACE, s.
a. The crimson net-like mantle, which envelops the hard outer shell of the nutmeg, when separated and dried constitutes the mace of commerce. Hanbury and Flückiger are satisfied that the attempt to identify the Macir, Macer, &c., of Pliny and other ancients with mace is a mistake, as indeed the sagacious Garcia also pointed out, and Chr. Acosta still more precisely. The name does not seem to be mentioned by Maṣ'ūdī; it is not in the list of aromatics, 25 in number, which he details (i. 367). It is mentioned by Edrisi, who wrote c. 1150, and whose information generally was of much older date, though we do not know what word he uses. The fact that nutmeg and mace are the product of one plant seems to have led to the fiction that clove and cinnamon also came from that same plant. It is, however, true that a kind of aromatic bark was known in the Arab pharmacopœia of the Middle Ages under the name of ḳirfat-al-ḳaranful or 'bark of clove,' which may have been either a cause of the mistake or a part of it. The mistake in question, in one form or another, prevailed for centuries. One of the authors of this book was asked many years ago by a respectable Mahommedan of Delhi if it were not the case that cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg were the produce of one tree. The prevalence of the mistake in Europe is shown by the fact that it is contradicted in a work of the 16th century (Bodaei, Comment. in Theophrastum, 992); and by the quotation from Funnel.
The name mace may have come from the Ar. basbāsa, possibly in some confusion with the ancient macir. [See Skeat, Concise Dict. who gives F. macis, which was confused with M. F. macer, probably Lat. macer, macir, doubtless of Eastern origin.]
c. 1150.—"On its shores (i.e. of the sea of Ṣanf or Champa), are the dominions of a King called Mihrāj, who possesses a great number of populous and fertile islands, covered with fields and pastures, and producing ivory, camphor, nutmeg, mace, clove, aloeswood, cardamom, cubeb, &c."—Edrisi, i. 89; see also 51.
c. 1347.—"The fruit of the clove is the nutmeg, which we know as the scented nut. The flower which grows upon it is the mace (basbāsa). And this is what I have seen with my own eyes."—Ibn Batuta, iv. 243.
c. 1370.—"A gret Yle and great Contree, that men clepen Java.... There growen alle manere of Spicerie more plentyfous liche than in any other contree, as of Gyngevere, Clowegylofres, Canelle, Zedewalle, Notemuges, and Maces. And wytethe wel, that the Notemuge bereth the Maces. For righte as the Note of the Haselle hath an Husk withouten, that the Note is closed in, til it be ripe, and after falleth out; righte so it is of the Notemuge and of the Maces."—Sir John Maundeville, ed. 1866, p. 187-188. This is a remarkable passage for it is interpolated by Maundeville, from superior information, in what he is borrowing from Odoric. The comparison to the hazel-nut husk is just that used by Hanbury & Flückiger (Pharmacographia, 1st ed. 456).
c. 1430.—"Has (insulas Java) ultra xv dierum cursu duae reperiuntur insulae, orientem versus. Altera Sandai appellata, in quâ nuces muscatae et maces, altera Bandam nomine, in quâ solâ gariofali producuntur."—Conti, in Poggius, De Var. Fortunae.
1514.—"The tree that produces the nut (meg) and macis is all one. By this ship I send you a sample of them in the green state."—Letter of Giov. da Empoli, in Archiv. Stor. Ital. 81.
1563.—"It is a very beautiful fruit, and pleasant to the taste; and you must know that when the nut is ripe it swells, and the first cover bursts as do the husks of our chestnuts, and shows the maça, of a bright vermilion like fine grain (i.e. coccus); it is the most beautiful sight in the world when the trees are loaded with it, and sometimes the mace splits off, and that is why the nutmegs often come without the mace."—Garcia, f. 129v-130.
[1602-3.—"In yor Provision you shall make in Nutmeggs and Mace haue you a greate care to receiue such as be good."—Birdwood, First Letter Book, 36; also see 67.]
1705.—"It is the commonly received opinion that Cloves, Nutmegs, Mace, and Cinnamon all grow upon one tree; but it is a great mistake."—Funnel, in Dampier, iv. 179.
b. Jav. and Malay mās. [Mr. Skeat writes: "Mās is really short for amās or emās, one of those curious forms with prefixed a, as in the case of abada, which are probably native, but may have been influenced by Portuguese."] A weight used in Sumatra, being, according to Crawfurd, 1-16th of a Malay tael (q.v.), or about 40 grains (but see below). Mace is also the name of a small gold coin of Achīn, weighing 9 grs. and worth about 1s. 1d. And mace was adopted in the language of European traders in China to denominate the tenth part of the Chinese liang or tael of silver; the 100th part of the same value being denominated in like manner candareen (q.v.). The word is originally Skt. māsha, 'a bean,' and then 'a particular weight of gold' (comp. CARAT, RUTTEE).
1539.—"... by intervention of this thirdsman whom the Moor employed as broker they agreed on my price with the merchant at seven mazes of gold, which in our money makes a 1400 reys, at the rate of a half cruzado the maz."—Pinto, cap. xxv. Cogan has, "the fishermen sold me to the merchant for seven mazes of gold, which amounts in our money to seventeen shillings and sixpence."—p. 31.
1554.—"The weight with which they weigh (at Malaca) gold, musk, seed-pearl, coral, calambuco ... consists of cates which contain 20 tael, each tael 16 mazes, each maz 20 cumduryns. Also one paual 4 mazes, one maz 4 cupões (see KOBANG), one cupão 5 cumduryns (see CANDAREEN)."—A. Nunez, 39.
1598.—"Likewise a Tael of Malacca is 16 Mases."—Linschoten, 44; [Hak. Soc. i. 149].
1599.—"Bezar sive Bazar (i.e. Bezoar, q.v.) per Masas venditur."—De Bry, ii. 64.
1625.—"I have also sent by Master Tomkins of their coine (Achin) ... that is of gold named a Mas, and is ninepence halfpenie neerest."—Capt. T. Davis, in Purchas, i. 117.
1813.—"Milburn gives the following table of weights used at Achin, but it is quite inconsistent with the statements of Crawfurd and Linschoten above.
| 4 | copangs | = 1 mace |
| 5 | mace | = 1 mayam |
| 16 | mayam | = 1 tale |
| 5 | tales | = 1 bancal |
| 20 | bancals | = 1 catty |
| 200 | catties | = 1 bahar." |
Milburn, ii. 329. [Mr. Skeat notes that here "copang" is Malay kupang; tale, tali; bancal, bongkal.]
MACHEEN, MAHACHEEN, n.p. This name, Mahā-chīna, "Great China," is one by which China was known in India in the early centuries of our era, and the term is still to be heard in India in the same sense in which Al-Birūnī uses it, saying that all beyond the great mountains (Himālaya) is Mahā-chīn. But "in later times the majority, not knowing the meaning of the expression, seem to have used it pleonastically coupled with Chīn, to denote the same thing, Chīn and Māchīn, a phrase having some analogy to the way Sind and Hind was used to express all India, but a stronger one to Gog and Magog, as applied to the northern nations of Asia." And eventually Chīn was discovered to be the eldest son of Japhet, and Māchīn his grandson; which is much the same as saying that Britain was the eldest son of Brut the Trojan, and Great Britain his grandson! (Cathay and the Way Thither, p. cxix.).
In the days of the Mongol supremacy in China, when Chinese affairs were for a time more distinctly conceived in Western Asia, and the name of Manzi as denoting Southern China, unconquered by the Mongols till 1275, was current in the West, it would appear that this name was confounded with Māchīn, and the latter thus acquired a specific but erroneous application. One author of the 16th century also (quoted by Klaproth, J. As. Soc. ser. 2, tom. i. 115) distinguishes Chīn and Māchīn as N. and S. China, but this distinction seems never to have been entertained by the Hindus. Ibn Batuta sometimes distinguishes Ṣīn (i.e. Chīn) as South China from Khitāi (see CATHAY) as North China. In times when intimacy with China had again ceased, the double name seems to have recovered its old vagueness as a rotund way of saying China, and had no more plurality of sense than in modern parlance Sodor and Man. But then comes an occasional new application of Māchīn to Indo-China, as in Conti (followed by Fra Mauro). An exceptional application, arising from the Arab habit of applying the name of a country to the capital or the chief port frequented by them, arose in the Middle Ages, through which Canton became known in the West as the city of Māchīn, or in Persian translation Chīnkalān, i.e. Great Chīn.
Mahāchīna as applied to China:
636.—"'In what country exists the kingdom of the Great Thang?' asked the king (Sīlāditya of Kanauj), 'how far is it from this?'
"'It is situated,' replied he (Hwen T'sang), 'to the N.E. of this kingdom, and is distant several ten-thousands of li. It is the country which the Indian people call Mahāchīna.'"—Pèl. Bouddh. ii. 254-255.
c. 641.—"Mohochintan." See quotation under CHINA.
c. 1030.—"Some other mountains are called Harmakút, in which the Ganges has its source. These are impassable from the side of the cold regions, and beyond them lies Māchīn."—Al-Birūnī, in Elliot, i. 46.
1501.—In the Letter of Amerigo Vespucci on the Portuguese discoveries, written from C. Verde, 4th June, we find mention among other new regions of Marchin. Published in Baldelli Boni's Il Milione, p. ciii.
c. 1590.—"Adjoining to Asham is Tibet, bordering upon Khatai, which is properly Mahacheen, vulgarly called Macheen. The capital of Khatai is Khan Baleegh, 4 days' journey from the sea."—Ayeen, by Gladwin, ed. 1800, ii. 4; [ed. Jarrett, ii. 118].
[c. 1665.—"... you told me ... that Persia, Usbec, Kachguer, Tartary, and Catay, Pegu, Siam, China and Matchine (in orig. Tchine et Matchine) trembled at the name of the Kings of the Indies."—Bernier, ed. Constable, 155 seq.]
Applied to Southern China.
c. 1300.—"Khatāi is bounded on one side by the country of Māchīn, which the Chinese call Manzi.... In the Indian language S. China is called Mahā-chīn, i.e. 'Great China,' and hence we derive the word Manzi."—Rashīd-uddīn, in H. des Mongols (Quatremère), xci.-xciii.
c. 1348.—"It was the Kaam's orders that we should proceed through Manzi, which was formerly known as India Maxima" (by which he indicates Mahā-Chīnā, see below, in last quotation).—John Marignolli, in Cathay, p. 354.
Applied to Indo-China:
c. 1430.—"Ea provincia (Ava)—Macinum incolae dicunt— ... referta est elephantis."—Conti, in Poggius, De Var. Fortunae.
Chin and Machin:
c. 1320.—"The curiosities of Chín and Machín, and the beautiful products of Hind and Sind."—Wassāf, in Elliot, iii. 32.
c. 1440.—"Poi si retrova in quella istessa provincia di Zagatai Sanmarcant città grandissima e ben popolata, por la qual vanno e vengono tutti quelli di Cini e Macini e del Cataio, o mercanti o viandanti che siano."—Barbaro, in Ramusio, ii. f. 106v.
c. 1442.—"The merchants of the 7 climates from Egypt ... from the whole of the realms of Chīn and Māchīn, and from the city of Khānbālik, steer their course to this port."--Abdurrazāk, in Notices et Extraits, xiv. 429.
[1503.—"Sin and Masin." See under JAVA.]
Mahāchīn or Chīn Kalān, for Canton.
c. 1030.—In Sprenger's extracts from Al-Birūnī we have "Sharghūd, in Chinese Sanfū. This is Great China (Māhāṣīn)."—Post und Reise-routen des Orients, 90.
c. 1300.—"This canal extends for a distance of 40 days' navigation from Khānbāligh to Khingsaī and Zaitūn, the ports frequented by the ships that come from India, and from the city of Māchīn."—Rashīd-uddin, in Cathay, &c., 259-260.
c. 1332.—"... after I had sailed eastward over the Ocean Sea for many days I came to that noble province Manzi.... The first city to which I came in this country was called Cens-Kalan, and 'tis a city as big as three Venices."—Odoric, in Cathay, &c., 103-105.
c. 1347.—"In the evening we stopped at another village, and so on till we arrived at Sīn-Kalān, which is the city of Ṣīn-ul-Ṣīn ... one of the greatest of cities, and one of those that has the finest of bazaars. One of the largest of these is the porcelain bazaar, and from it china-ware is exported to the other cities of China, to India, and to Yemen."—Ibn Batuta, iv. 272.
c. 1349.—"The first of these is called Manzi, the greatest and noblest province in the world, having no paragon in beauty, pleasantness, and extent. In it is that noble city of Campsay, besides Zayton, Cynkalan, and many other cities."—John Marignolli, in Cathay, &c., 373.
MĀCHIS, s. This is recent Hind. for 'lucifer matches.' An older and purer phrase for sulphur-matches is dīwā-, dīyā-salāī.
MADAPOLLAM, n.p. This term, applying to a particular kind of cotton cloth, and which often occurs in prices current, is taken from the name of a place on the Southern Delta-branch of the Godavery, properly Mādhavapalam, [Tel. Mādhavayya-pālemu, 'fortified village of Mādhava']. This was till 1833 [according to the Madras Gloss. 1827] the seat of one of the Company's Commercial Agencies, which was the chief of three in that Delta; the other two being Bunder Malunka and Injeram. Madapollam is now a staple export from England to India; it is a finer kind of white piece-goods, intermediate between calico and muslin.
[1610.—"Madafunum is chequered, somewhat fine and well requested in Pryaman."—Danvers, Letters, i. 74.]
1673.—"The English for that cause (the unhealthiness of Masulipatam), only at the time of shipping, remove to Medopollon, where they have a wholesome Seat Forty Miles more North."—Fryer, 35.
[1684-85.—"Mr. Benja Northey having brought up Musters of the Madapollm Cloth, Itt is thought convenient that the same be taken of him...."—Pringle, Diary Ft. St. Geo. 1st ser. iv. 49.]
c. 1840.—"Pierrette eût de jolies chemises en Madapolam."—Balzac, Pierrette.
1879.—"... liveliness seems to be the unfailing characteristic of autographs, fans, Cremona fiddles, Louis Quatorze snuff-boxes, and the like, however sluggish pig-iron and Madapollams may be."—Sat. Review, Jan. 11, p. 45.
MADRAFAXAO, s. This appears in old Portuguese works as the name of a gold coin of Guzerat; perhaps representing Muẓaffar-shāhī. There were several kings of Guzerat of this name. The one in question was probably Muẓaffar-Shah II. (1511-1525), of whose coinage Thomas mentions a gold piece of 185 grs. (Pathán Kings, 353).
1554.—"There also come to this city Madrafaxaos, which are a money of Cambaya, which vary greatly in price; some are of 24 tangas of 60 reis the tanga, others of 23, 22, 21, and other prices according to time and value."—A. Nunez, 32.
MADRAS, n.p. This alternative name of the place, officially called by its founders Fort St. George, first appears about the middle of the 17th century. Its origin has been much debated, but with little result. One derivation, backed by a fictitious legend, derives the name from an imaginary Christian fisherman called Madarasen; but this may be pronounced philologically impossible, as well as otherwise unworthy of serious regard.[155] Lassen makes the name to be a corruption of Manda-rājya, 'Realm of the Stupid!' No one will suspect the illustrious author of the Indische Alterthumskunde to be guilty of a joke; but it does look as if some malign Bengalee had suggested to him this gibe against the "Benighted"! It is indeed curious and true that, in Bengal, sepoys and the like always speak of the Southern Presidency as Mandrāj. In fact, however, all the earlier mentions of the name are in the form of Madraspatanam, 'the city of the Madras,' whatever the Madras may have been. The earliest maps show Madraspatanam as the Mahommedan settlement corresponding to the present Triplicane and Royapettah. The word is therefore probably of Mahommedan origin; and having got so far we need not hesitate to identify it with Madrasa, 'a college.' The Portuguese wrote this Madaraza (see Faria y Sousa, Africa Portuguesa, 1681, p. 6); and the European name probably came from them, close neighbours as they were to Fort St. George, at Mylapore or San Thomé. That there was such a Madrasa in existence is established by the quotation from Hamilton, who was there about the end of the 17th century.[156] Fryer's Map (1698, but illustrating 1672-73) represents the Governor's House as a building of Mahommedan architecture, with a dome. This may have been the Madrasa itself. Lockyer also (1711) speaks of a "College," of which the building was "very ancient"; formerly a hospital, and then used apparently as a residence for young writers. But it is not clear whether the name "College" was not given on this last account. [The Madras Admin. Man. says: "The origin of this name has been much discussed. Madrissa, a Mahommedan school, has been suggested, which considering the date at which the name is first found seems fanciful. Manda is in Sanscrit 'slow.' Mandarāz was a king of the lunar race. The place was probably called after this king" (ii. 91). The Madras Gloss. again writes: "Hind. Madrās, Can. Madarāsu, from Tel. Mandaradzu, name of a local Telegu Royer," or ruler. The whole question has been discussed by Mr. Pringle (Diary Ft. St. Geo., 1st ser. i. 106 seqq.). He points out that while the earliest quotation given below is dated 1653, the name, in the form Madrazpatam, is used by the President and Council of Surat in a letter dated 29th December, 1640 (I. O. Records, O. C. No. 1764); "and the context makes it pretty certain that Francis Day or some other of the factors at the new Settlement must have previously made use of it in reference to the place, or 'rather,' as the Surat letter says, 'plot of ground' offered to him. It is no doubt just possible that in the course of the negotiations Day heard or caught up the name from the Portuguese, who were at the time in friendly relations with the English; but the probabilities are certainly in the opposite direction. The nayak from whom the plot was obtained must almost certainly have supplied the name, or what Francis Day conceived to be the name. Again, as regards Hamilton's mention of a 'college,' Sir H. Yule's remark certainly goes too far. Hamilton writes, 'There is a very Good Hospital in the Town, and the Company's Horse-stables are neat, but the old College where a good many Gentlemen Factors are obliged to lodge, is ill-kept in repair.' This remark taken together with that made by Lockyer ... affords proof, indeed, that there was a building known to the English as the 'College.' But it does not follow that this, or any, building was distinctively known to Musulmans as the 'madrasa.' The 'old College' of Hamilton may have been the successor of a Musulman 'madrasa' of some size and consequence, and if this was so the argument for the derivation would be strengthened. It is however equally possible that some old buildings within the plot of territory acquired by Day, which had never been a 'madrasa,' was turned to use as a College or place where the young writers should live and receive instruction; and in this case the argument, so far as it rests on a mention of 'a College' by Hamilton and Lockyer, is entirely destroyed. Next as regards the probability that the first part of 'Madraspatanam' is 'of Mahommedan origin.' Sir H. Yule does not mention that date of the maps in which Madraspatanam is shown 'as the Mahommedan settlement corresponding to the present Triplicane and Royapettah'; but in Fryer's map, which represents the fort as he saw it in 1672, the name 'Madirass'—to which is added 'the Indian Town with flat houses'—is entered as the designation of the collection of houses on the north side of the English town, and the next makes it evident that in the year in question the name of Madras was applied chiefly to the crowded collection of houses styled in turn the 'Heathen,' the 'Malabar,' and the 'Black' town. This consideration does not necessarily disprove the supposed Musulman origin of 'Madras,' but it undoubtedly weakens the chain of Sir H. Yule's argument." Mr. Pringle ends by saying: "On the whole it is not unfair to say that the chief argument in favour of the derivation adopted by Sir H. Yule is of a negative kind. There are fatal objections to whatever other derivations have been suggested, but if the mongrel character of the compound 'Madrasa-patanam' is disregarded, there is no fatal objection to the derivation from 'madrasa.'... If however that derivation is to stand, it must not rest upon such accidental coincidences as the use of the word 'College' by writers whose knowledge of Madras was derived from visits made from 30 to 50 years after the foundation of the colony."]