c. 1800.—"Maitre." See under BUNOW.
1810.—"The mater, or sweeper, is considered the lowest menial in every family."—Williamson, V. M. i. 276-7.
1828.—"... besides many mehtars or stable-boys."—Hajji Baba in England, i. 60.
[In the honorific sense:
[1824.—"In each of the towns of Central India, there is ... a mehtur, or head of every other class of the inhabitants down to the lowest."—Malcolm, Central India, 2nd ed. i. 555.
[1880.—"On the right bank is the fort in which the Mihter or Bādshāh, for he is known by both titles, resides."—Biddulph, Tribes of the Hindoo Kush, 61.]
MELINDE, MELINDA, n.p. The name (Malinda or Malindī) of an Arab town and State on the east coast of Africa, in S. lat. 3° 9′; the only one at which the expedition of Vasco da Gama had amicable relations with the people, and that at which they obtained the pilot who guided the squadron to the coast of India.
c. 1150.—"Melinde, a town of the Zendj, ... is situated on the sea-shore at the mouth of a river of fresh water.... It is a large town, the people of which ... draw from the sea different kinds of fish, which they dry and trade in. They also possess and work mines of iron."—Edrisi (Jaubert), i. 56.
c. 1320.—See also Abulfeda, by Reinaud, ii. 207.
1498.—"And that same day at sundown we cast anchor right opposite a place which is called Milinde, which is 30 leagues from Mombaça.... On Easter Day those Moors whom we held prisoners, told us that in the said town of Milinde were stopping four ships of Christians who were Indians, and that if we desired to take them these would give us, instead of themselves, Christian Pilots."—Roteiro of Vasco da Gama, 42-3.
1554.—"As the King of Melinde pays no tribute, nor is there any reason why he should, considering the many tokens of friendship we have received from him, both on the first discovery of these countries, and to this day, and which in my opinion we repay very badly, by the ill treatment which he has from the Captains who go on service to this Coast."—Simão Botelho, Tombo, 17.
c. 1570.—"Di Chiaul si negotia anco per la costa de' Melindi in Ethiopia."—Cesare de Federici in Ramusio, iii. 396v.
1572.—
"Quando chegava a frota áquella parte
Onde o reino Melinde já se via,
De toldos adornada, e leda de arte:
Que bem mostra estimar a sancta dia
Treme a bandeira, voa o estandarte,
A cor purpurea ao longe apparecia,
Soam os atambores, e pandeiros:
E assi entravam ledos e guerreiros."
Camões, ii. 73.
By Burton:
"At such a time the Squadron neared the part
where first Melinde's goodly shore unseen,
in awnings drest and prankt with gallant art,
to show that none the Holy Day misween:
Flutter the flags, the streaming Estandart
gleams from afar with gorgeous purple sheen,
tom-toms and timbrels mingle martial jar:
thus past they forwards with the pomp of war."
1610.—P. Texeira tells us that among the "Moors" at Ormuz, Alboquerque was known only by the name of Malandy, and that with some difficulty he obtained the explanation that he was so called because he came thither from the direction of Melinde, which they call Maland.—Relacion de los Reyes de Harmuz, 45.
[1823.—Owen calls the place Maleenda and gives an account of it.—Narrative, i. 399 seqq.]
1859.—"As regards the immigration of the Wagemu (Ajemi, or Persians), from whom the ruling tribe of the Wasawahili derives its name, they relate that several Shaykhs, or elders, from Shiraz emigrated to Shangaya, a district near the Ozi River, and founded the town of Malindi (Melinda)."—Burton, in J.R.G.S. xxix. 51.
MELIQUE VERIDO, n.p. The Portuguese form of the style of the princes of the dynasty established at Bīdar in the end of the 15th century, on the decay of the Bāhmani kingdom. The name represents 'Malik Barīd.' It was apparently only the third of the dynasty, 'Ali, who first took the title of ('Ali) Barīd Shāh.
1533.—"And as the folosomia (?) of Badur was very great, as well as his presumption, he sent word to Yzam Maluco (Nizamaluco) and to Verido (who were great Lords, as it were Kings, in the Decanim, that lies between the Balgat and Cambaya) ... that they must pay him homage, or he would hold them for enemies, and would direct war against them, and take away their dominions."—Correa, iii. 514.
1563.—"And these regents ... concerted among themselves ... that they should seize the King of Daquem in Bedar, which is the chief city and capital of the Decan; so they took him and committed him to one of their number, by name Verido; and then he and the rest, either in person or by their representatives, make him a salaam (çalema) at certain days of the year.... The Verido who died in the year 1510 was a Hungarian by birth, and originally a Christian, as I have heard on sure authority."—Garcia, f. 35 and 35v.
c. 1601.—"About this time a letter arrived from the Prince Sultán Dániyál, reporting that (Malik) Ambar had collected his troops in Bidar, and had gained a victory over a party which had been sent to oppose him by Malik Barīd."—Ináyat Ullah, in Elliot, vi. 104.
MEM-SAHIB, s. This singular example of a hybrid term is the usual respectful designation of a European married lady in the Bengal Presidency; the first portion representing ma'am. Madam Sahib is used at Bombay; Doresani (see DORAY) in Madras. (See also BURRA BEEBEE.)
MENDY, s. Hind. mehndī, [meṅhdī, Skt. mendhikā;] the plant Lawsonia alba, Lam., of the N. O. Lythraceae, strongly resembling the English privet in appearance, and common in gardens. It is the plant whose leaves afford the henna, used so much in Mahommedan countries for dyeing the hands, &c., and also in the process of dyeing the hair. Mehndī is, according to Royle, the Cyprus of the ancients (see Pliny, xii. 24). It is also the camphire of Canticles i. 14, where the margin of A.V. has erroneously cypress for cyprus.
[1813.—"After the girls are betrothed, the ends of the fingers and nails are dyed red, with a preparation from the Mendey, or hinna shrub."—Forbes, Or. Mem. 2nd ed. i. 55; also see i. 22.]
c. 1817.—"... his house and garden might be known from a thousand others by their extraordinary neatness. His garden was full of trees, and was well fenced round with a ditch and mindey hedge."—Mrs. Sherwood's Stories, ed. 1873, p. 71.
MERCÁLL, MARCÁL, s. Tam. marakkāl, a grain measure in use in the Madras Presidency, and formerly varying much in different localities, though the most usual was = 12 sers of grain. [Also known as toom.] Its standard is fixed since 1846 at 800 cubic inches, and = 1⁄400 of a garce (q.v.).
1554.—(Negapatam) "Of ghee (mamteiga) and oil, one mercar is = 2½ canadas" (a Portuguese measure of about 3 pints).—A. Nunez, 36.
1803.—"... take care to put on each bullock full six mercalls or 72 seers."—Wellington Desp., ed. 1837, ii. 85.
MERGUI, n.p. The name by which we know the most southern district of Lower Burma with its town; annexed with the rest of what used to be called the "Tenasserim Provinces" after the war of 1824-26. The name is probably of Siamese origin; the town is called by the Burmese Beit (Sir A. Phayre).
1568.—"Tenasari la quale è Città delle regioni del regno di Sion, posta infra terra due o tre maree sopra vn gran fiume ... ed oue il fiume entra in mare e vna villa chiamata Mergi, nel porto della quale ogn' anno si caricano alcune navi di verzino (see BRAZIL-wood and SAPPAN-wood), di nipa (q.v.), di belzuin (see BENJAMIN), e qualche poco di garofalo, macis, noci...."—Ces. Federici, in Ramusio, iii. 327v.
[1684-5.—"A Country Vessel belonging to Mr. Thomas Lucas arriv'd in this Road from Merge."—Pringle, Diary, Ft. St. Geo., 1st ser. iv. 19.
[1727.—"Merjee." See under TENASSERIM.]
MILK-BUSH, MILK-HEDGE, s. Euphorbia Tirucalli, L., often used for hedges on the Coromandel coast. It abounds in acrid milky juices.
c. 1590.—"They enclose their fields and gardens with hedges of the zekoom (zaḳḳum) tree, which is a strong defence against cattle, and makes the country almost impenetrable by an army."—Ayeen, ed. Gladwin, ii. 68; [ed. Jarrett, ii. 239].
[1773.—"Milky Hedge. This is rather a shrub, which they plant for hedges on the coast of Coromandel...."—Ives, 462.]
1780.—"Thorn hedges are sometimes placed in gardens, but in the fields the milk bush is most commonly used ... when squeezed emitting a whitish juice like milk, that is deemed a deadly poison.... A horse will have his head and eyes prodigiously swelled from standing for some time under the shade of a milk hedge."—Munro's Narr. 80.
1879.—
"So saying, Buddh
Silently laid aside sandals and staff,
His sacred thread, turban, and cloth, and came
Forth from behind the milk-bush on the sand...."
Sir E. Arnold, Light of Asia, Bk. v.
c. 1886.—"The milk-hedge forms a very distinctive feature in the landscape of many parts of Guzerat. Twigs of the plant thrown into running water kill the fish, and are extensively used for that purpose. Also charcoal from the stems is considered the best for making gunpowder."—M.-Gen. R. H. Keatinge.
MINCOPIE, n.p. This term is attributed in books to the Andaman islanders as their distinctive name for their own race. It originated with a vocabulary given by Lieut. Colebrooke in vol. iv. of the Asiatic Researches, and was certainly founded on some misconception. Nor has the possible origin of the mistake been ascertained. [Mr. Man (Proc. Anthrop. Institute, xii. 71) suggests that it may have been a corruption of the words min kaich! 'Come here!']
MINICOY, n.p. Minikai; [Logan (Malabar, i. 2) gives the name as Menakāyat, which the Madras Gloss. derives from Mal. min, 'fish,' kayam, 'deep pool.' The natives call it Maliku (note by Mr. Gray on the passage from Pyrard quoted below).] An island intermediate between the Maldive and the Laccadive group. Politically it belongs to the latter, being the property of the Ali Raja of Cannanore, but the people and their language are Maldivian. The population in 1871 was 2800. One-sixth of the adults had perished in a cyclone in 1867. A lighthouse was in 1883 erected on the island. This is probably the island intended for Mulkee in that ill-edited book the E.T. of Tuhfat al-Mujāhidīn. [Mr. Logan identifies it with the "female island" of Marco Polo. (Malabar, i. 287.)]
[c. 1610.—"... a little island named Malicut."—Pyrard de Laval, Hak. Soc. i. 322.]
MISCALL, s. Ar. mis̤ḳāl (mithḳāl, properly). An Arabian weight, originally that of the Roman aureus and the gold dīnār; about 73 grs.
c. 1340.—"The prince, violently enraged, caused this officer to be put in prison, and confiscated his goods, which amounted to 437,000,000 mithkals of gold. This anecdote serves to attest at once the severity of the sovereign and the extreme wealth of the country."—Shihābuddīn, in Not. et Ext., xiii. 192.
1502.—"Upon which the King (of Sofala) showed himself much pleased ... and gave them as a present for the Captain-Major a mass of strings of small golden beads which they call pingo, weighing 1000 maticals, every matical being worth 500 reis, and gave for the King another that weighed 3000 maticals...."—Correa, i. 274.
MISREE, s. Sugar candy. Miṣrī, 'Egyptian,' from Miṣr, Egypt, the Mizraim of the Hebrews, showing the original source of supply. [We find the Miṣrī or 'sugar of Egypt' in the Arabian Nights (Burton, xi. 396).] (See under SUGAR.)
1810.—"The sugar-candy made in India, where it is known by the name of miscery, bears a price suited to its quality.... It is usually made in small conical pots, whence it concretes into masses, weighing from 3 to 6 lbs. each."—Williamson, V. M. ii. 134.
MISSAL, s. Hind. from Ar. mis̤l, meaning 'similitude.' The body of documents in a particular case before a court. [The word is also used in its original sense of a 'clan.']
[1861.—"The martial spirit of the Sikhs thus aroused ... formed itself into clans or confederacies called Misls...."—Cave-Brown, Punjab and Delhi, i. 368.]
MOBED, s. P. mūbid, a title of Parsee Priests. It is a corruption of the Pehlevi magô-pat, 'Lord Magus.'
[1815.—"The rites ordained by the chief Mobuds are still observed."—Malcolm, H. of Persia, ed. 1829, i. 499.]
MOCUDDUM, s. Hind. from Ar. muḳaddam, 'praepositus,' a head-man. The technical applications are many; e.g. to the headman of a village, responsible for the realisation of the revenue (see LUMBERDAR); to the local head of a caste (see CHOWDRY); to the head man of a body of peons or of a gang of labourers (see MATE), &c. &c. (See further detail in Wilson). Cobarruvias (Tesoro de la Lengua Castellana, 1611) gives Almocaden, "Capitan de Infanteria."
c. 1347.—"... The princess invited ... the tandail (see TINDAL) or mukaddam of the crew, and the sipāhsālār or mukaddam of the archers."—Ibn Batuta, iv. 250.[164]
1538.—"O Mocadão da mazmorra q̃ era o carcereiro d'aquella prisão, tanto q̃ os vio mortos, deu logo rebate disso ao Guazil da justiça...."—Pinto, cap. vi.
" "The Jaylor, which in their language is called Mocadan, repairing in the morning to us, and finding our two companions dead, goes away in all haste therewith to acquaint the Gauzil, which is as the Judg with us."—Cogan's Transl., p. 8.
1554.—"E a hum naique, com seys piães (peons) e hum mocadão, com seys tochas, hum bóy de sombreiro, dous mainatos," &c.—Botelho, Tombo, 57.
1567.—"... furthermore that no infidel shall serve as scrivener, shroff (xarrafo) mocadam (mocadão), naique (see NAIK), peon (pião), parpatrim (see PARBUTTY), collector of dues, corregidor, interpreter, procurator or solicitor in court, nor in any other office or charge in which he can in any way hold authority over Christians."—Decree of the Sacred Council of Goa, Dec. 27. In Arch. Port. Orient. fascic. 4.
[1598.—"... a chief Boteson ... which they call Mocadon."—Linschoten, Hak. Soc. i. 267.
[c. 1610.—"They call these Lascarys and their captain Moncadon."—Pyrard de Laval, Hak. Soc. ii. 117.
[1615.—"The Generall dwelt with the Makadow of Swally."—Sir T. Roe, Hak. Soc. i. 45; comp. Danvers, Letters, i. 234.]
1644.—"Each vessel carries forty mariners and two mocadons."—Bocarro, MS.
1672.—"Il Mucadamo, cosi chiamano li Padroni di queste barche."—P. Vincenz. Maria, 3rd ed. 459.
1680.—"For the better keeping the Boatmen in order, resolved to appoint Black Tom Muckadum or Master of the Boatmen, being Christian as he is, his wages being paid at 70 fanams per mensem."—Fort St. Geo. Consn., Dec. 23, in Notes and Exts. No. iii. p. 42.
1870.—"This headman was called the Mokaddam in the more Northern and Eastern provinces."—Systems of Land Tenure (Cobden Club), 163.
MOCCUDDAMA, s. Hind. from Ar. muḳaddama, 'a piece of business,' but especially 'a suit at law.'
MODELLIAR, MODLIAR, s. Used in the Tamil districts of Ceylon (and formerly on the Continent) for a native head-man. It is also a caste title, assumed by certain Tamil people who styled themselves Śudras (an honourable assumption in the South). Tam. mudaliyār, muthaliyār, an honorific pl. from mudali, muthali, 'a chief.'
c. 1350.—"When I was staying at Columbum (see QUILON) with those Christian chiefs who are called Modilial, and are the owners of the pepper, one morning there came to me ..."—John de Marignolli, in Cathay, &c., ii. 381.
1522.—"And in opening this foundation they found about a cubit below a grave made of brickwork, white-washed within, as if newly made, in which they found part of the bones of the King who was converted by the holy Apostle, who the natives said they heard was called Tani (Tami) mudolyar, meaning in their tongue 'Thomas Servant of God.'"—Correa, ii. 726.
1544.—"... apud Praefectum locis illis quem Mudeliarem vulgo nuncupant."—S. Fr. Xaverii Epistolae, 129.
1607.—"On the part of Dom Fernando Modeliar, a native of Ceylon, I have received a petition stating his services."—Letter of K. Philip III. in L. das Monções, 135.
1616.—"These entered the Kingdom of Candy ... and had an encounter with the enemy at Matalé, where they cut off five-and-thirty heads of their people and took certain araches and modiliares who are chiefs among them, and who had ... deserted and gone over to the enemy as is the way of the Chingalas."—Bocarro, 495.
1648.—"The 5 August followed from Candy the Modeliar, or Great Captain ... in order to inspect the ships."—Van Spilbergen's Voyage, 33.
1685.—"The Modeliares ... and other great men among them put on a shirt and doublet, which those of low caste may not wear."—Ribeiro, f. 46.
1708.—"Mon Révérend Père. Vous êtes tellement accoûtumé à vous mêler des affaires de la Compagnie, que non obstant la prière que je vous ai réitérée plusieurs fois de nous laisser en repos, je ne suis pas étonné si vous prenez parti dans l'affaire de Lazaro ci-devant courtier et Modeliar de la Compagnie."—Norbert, Mémoires, i. 274.
1726.—"Modelyaar. This is the same as Captain."—Valentijn (Ceylon), Names of Officers, &c., 9.
1810.—"We ... arrived at Barbareen about two o'clock, where we found that the provident Modeliar had erected a beautiful rest-house for us, and prepared an excellent collation."—Maria Graham, 98.
MOFUSSIL, s., also used adjectively, "The provinces,"—the country stations and districts, as contra-distinguished from 'the Presidency'; or, relatively, the rural localities of a district as contra-distinguished from the sudder or chief station, which is the residence of the district authorities. Thus if, in Calcutta, one talks of the Mofussil, he means anywhere in Bengal out of Calcutta; if one at Benares talks of going into the Mofussil, he means going anywhere in the Benares division or district (as the case might be) out of the city and station of Benares. And so over India. The word (Hind. from Ar.) mufaṣṣal means properly 'separate, detailed, particular,' and hence 'provincial,' as mufaṣṣal 'adālat, a 'provincial court of justice.' This indicates the way in which the word came to have the meaning attached to it.
About 1845 a clever, free-and-easy newspaper, under the name of The Mofussilite, was started at Meerut, by Mr. John Lang, author of Too Clever by Half, &c., and endured for many years.
1781.—"... a gentleman lately arrived from the Moussel" (plainly a misprint).—Hicky's Bengal Gazette, March 31.
" "A gentleman in the Mofussil, Mr. P., fell out of his chaise and broke his leg...."—Ibid., June 30.
1810.—"Either in the Presidency or in the Mofussil...."—Williamson, V. M. ii. 499.
1836.—"... the Mofussil newspapers which I have seen, though generally disposed to cavil at all the acts of the Government, have often spoken favourably of the measure."—T. B. Macaulay, in Life, &c. i. 399.
MOGUL, n.p. This name should properly mean a person of the great nomad race of Mongols, called in Persia, &c., Mughals; but in India it has come, in connection with the nominally Mongol, though essentially rather Turk, family of Baber, to be applied to all foreign Mahommedans from the countries on the W. and N.W. of India, except the Pathāns. In fact these people themselves make a sharp distinction between the Mughal Irānī, of Pers. origin (who is a Shīah), and the M. Tūrānī of Turk origin (who is a Sunni). Beg is the characteristic affix of the Mughal's name, as Khān is of the Pathān's. Among the Mahommedans of S. India the Moguls or Mughals constitute a strongly marked caste. [They are also clearly distinguished in the Punjab and N.W.P.] In the quotation from Baber below, the name still retains its original application. The passage illustrates the tone in which Baber always speaks of his kindred of the Steppe, much as Lord Clyde used sometimes to speak of "confounded Scotchmen."
In Port. writers Mogol or Mogor is often used for "Hindostān," or the territory of the Great Mogul.
1247.—"Terra quaedam est in partibus orientis ... quae Mongal nominatur. Haec terra quondam populos quatuor habuit: unus Yeka Mongal, id est magni Mongali...."—Joannis de Plano Carpini, Hist. Mongalorum, 645.
1253.—"Dicit nobis supradictus Coiac.... 'Nolite dicere quod dominus noster sit christianus. Non est christianus, sed Moal'; quia enim nomen christianitatis videtur eis nomen cujusdem gentis ... volentes nomen suum, hoc est Moal, exaltare super omne nomen, nec volunt vocari Tartari."—Itin. Willielmi de Rubruk, 259.
1298.—"... Mungul, a name sometimes applied to the Tartars."—Marco Polo, i. 276 (2nd ed.).
c. 1300.—"Ipsi verò dicunt se descendisse de Gog et Magog. Vnde ipsi dicuntur Mogoli, quasi corrupto vocabulo Magogoli."—Ricoldus de Monte Crucis, in Per. Quatuor, p. 118.
c. 1308.—"Ὁ δὲ Νογᾶς ... ὃς ἅμα πλείσταις δυνάμεσιν ἐξ ὁμογενῶν Τοχάρων, οὕς αὐτοι Μουγουλίους λέγουσι, ἔξαποσταλεις ἐκ τῶν κατὰ τὰς Κασπίας ἀρχόντων τοῦ γένους οὕς Κάνιδας στομάζουσιν."—Georg. Pachymeres, de Mich. Palaeol., lib. v.
c. 1340.—"In the first place from Tana to Gintarchan may be 25 days with an ox-waggon, and from 10 to 12 days with a horse-waggon. On the road you will find plenty of Moccols, that is to say of armed troopers."—Pegolotti, on the Land Route to Cathay, in Cathay, &c., ii. 287.
1404.—"And the territory of this empire of Samarkand is called the territory of Mogalia, and the language thereof is called Mugalia, and they don't understand this language on this side of the River (the Oxus) ... for the character which is used by those of Samarkand beyond the river is not understood or read by those on this side the river; and they call that character Mongali, and the Emperor keeps by him certain scribes who can read and write this Mogali character."—Clavijo, § ciii. (Comp. Markham, 119-120.)
c. 1500.—"The Moghul troops, which had come to my assistance, did not attempt to fight, but instead of fighting, betook themselves to dismounting and plundering my own people. Nor is this a solitary instance; such is the uniform practice of these wretches the Moghuls; if they defeat the enemy they instantly seize the booty; if they are defeated, they plunder and dismount their own allies, and betide what may, carry off the spoil."—Baber, 93.
1534.—"And whilst Badur was there in the hills engaged with his pleasures and luxury, there came to him a messenger from the King of the Mogores of the kingdom of Dely, called Bobor Mirza."—Correa, iii. 571.
1536.—"Dicti Mogores vel à populis Persarum Mogoribus, vel quod nunc Turkae à Persis Mogores appellantur."—Letter from K. John III. to Pope Paul III.
1555.—"Tartaria, otherwyse called Mongal, As Vincentius wryteth, is in that parte of the earthe, where the Easte and the northe joine together."—W. Watreman, Fardle of Faciouns.
1563.—"This Kingdom of Dely is very far inland, for the northern part of it marches with the territory of Coraçone (Khorasan).... The Mogores, whom we call Tartars, conquered it more than 30 years ago...."—Garcia, f. 34.
[c. 1590.—"In his time (Naṣiru'ddīn Maḥmūd) the Mughals entered the Panjab ..."—Āīn. ed. Jarrett, ii. 304.
[c. 1610.—"The greatest ships come from the coast of Persia, Arabia, Mogor."—Pyrard de Laval, Hak. Soc. i. 258.
[1636.—India "containeth many Provinces and Realmes, as Cambaiar, Delli, Decan, Bishagar, Malabar, Narsingar, Orixa, Bengala, Sanga, Mogores, Tipura, Gourous, Ava, Pegua, Aurea Chersonesus, Sina, Camboia, and Campaa."—T. Blundevil, Description and use of Plancius his Mappe, in Eight Treatises, ed. 1626, p. 547.]
c. 1650.—"Now shall I tell how the royal house arose in the land of the Monghol.... And the Ruler (Chingiz Khan) said, ... 'I will that this people Bèdè, resembling a precious crystal, which even to the completion of my enterprise hath shown the greatest fidelity in every peril, shall take the name of Köke (Blue) Monghol...."—Sanang Setzen, by Schmidt, pp. 57 and 71.
1741.—"Ao mesmo tempo que a paz se ajusterou entre os referidos generaes Mogor e Marata."—Bosquejo das Possessões Portug. na Oriente—Documentos Comprovativos, iii. 21 (Lisbon 1853).
1764.—"Whatever Moguls, whether Oranies or Tooranies, come to offer their services should be received on the aforesaid terms."—Paper of Articles sent to Major Munro by the Nawab, in Long, 360.
c. 1773.—"... the news-writers of Rai Droog frequently wrote to the Nawaub ... that the besieged Naik ... had attacked the batteries of the besiegers, and had killed a great number of the Moghuls."—H. of Hydur, 317.
1781.—"Wanted an European or Mogul Coachman that can drive four Horses in hand."—India Gazette, June 30.
1800.—"I pushed forward the whole of the Mahratta and Mogul cavalry in one body...."—Sir A. Wellesley to Munro, Munro's Life, i. 268.
1803.—"The Mogul horse do not appear very active; otherwise they ought certainly to keep the pindarries at a greater distance."—Wellington, ii. 281.
In these last two quotations the term is applied distinctively to Hyderabad troops.
1855.—"The Moguls and others, who at the present day settle in the country, intermarrying with these people (Burmese Mahommedans) speedily sink into the same practical heterodoxies."—Yule, Mission to Ava, 151.
MOGUL, THE GREAT, n.p. Sometimes 'The Mogul' simply. The name by which the Kings of Delhi of the House of Timur were popularly styled, first by the Portuguese (o grão Mogor) and after them by Europeans generally. It was analogous to the Sophy (q.v.), as applied to the Kings of Persia, or to the 'Great Turk' applied to the Sultan of Turkey. Indeed the latter phrase was probably the model of the present one. As noticed under the preceding article, MOGOL, MOGOR, and also Mogolistan are applied among old writers to the dominions of the Great Mogul. We have found no native idiom precisely suggesting the latter title; but Mughal is thus used in the Araish-i-Mahfil below, and Mogolistan must have been in some native use, for it is a form that Europeans would not have invented. (See quotations from Thevenot here and under MOHWA.)
c. 1563.—"Ma già dodici anni il gran Magol Re Moro d'Agra et del Deli ... si è impatronito di tutto il Regno de Cambaia."—V. di Messer Cesare Federici, in Ramusio, iii.
1572.—
"A este o Rei Cambayco soberbissimo
Fortaleza darà na rica Dio;
Porque contra o Mogor poderosissimo
Lhe ajude a defender o senhorio...."
Camões, x. 64.
By Burton:
"To him Cambaya's King, that haughtiest Moor,
shall yield in wealthy Diu the famous fort
that he may gain against the Grand Mogor
'spite his stupendous power, your firm support...."
[1609.—"When you shall repair to the Greate Magull."—Birdwood, First Letter Book, 325.
[1612.—"Hecchabar (Akbar) the last deceased Emperor of Hindustan, the father of the present Great Mogul."—Danvers, Letters, i. 163.]
1615.—"Nam praeter Magnum Mogor cui hodie potissima illius pars subjecta est; qui tum quidem Mahometicae religioni deditus erat, quamuis eam modo cane et angue peius detestetur, vix scio an illius alius rex Mahometana sacra coleret."—Jarric, i. 58.
" "... prosecuting my travaile by land, I entered the confines of the great Mogor...."—De Monfart, 15.
1616.—"It (Chitor) is in the country of one Rama, a Prince newly subdued by the Mogul."—Sir T. Roe. [In Hak. Soc. (i. 102) for "the Mogul" the reading is "this King."]
" "The Seuerall Kingdomes and Prouinces subject to the Great Mogoll Sha Selin Gehangier."—Idem. in Purchas, i. 578.
" "... the base cowardice of which people hath made The Great Mogul sometimes use this proverb, that one Portuguese would beat three of his people ... and he would further add that one Englishman would beat three Portuguese. The truth is that those Portuguese, especially those born in those Indian colonies, ... are a very low poor-spirited people...."—Terry, ed. 1777, 153.
[ " "... a copy of the articles granted by the Great Mogoll may partly serve for precedent."—Foster, Letters, iv. 222.]
1623.—"The people are partly Gentile and partly Mahometan, but they live mingled together, and in harmony, because the Great Mogul, to whom Guzerat is now subject ... although he is a Mahometan (yet not altogether that, as they say) makes no difference in his states between one kind of people and the other."—P. della Valle, ii. 510; [Hak. Soc. i. 30, where Mr. Grey reads "Gran Moghel"].
1644.—"The King of the inland country, on the confines of this island and fortress of Dlu, is the Mogor, the greatest Prince in all the East."—Bocarro, MS.
1653.—"Mogol est vn terme des Indes qui signifie blanc, et quand nous disons le grand Mogol, que les Indiens appellent Schah Geanne Roy du monde, c'est qu'il est effectiuement blanc ... nous l'appellons grand Blanc ou grand Mogol, comme nous appellons le Roy des Ottomans grand Turq."—De la Boullaye-le-Gouz, ed. 1657, pp. 549-550.
" "This Prince, having taken them all, made fourscore and two of them abjure their faith, who served him in his wars against the Great Mogor, and were every one of them miserably slain in that expedition."—Cogan's Pinto, p. 25. The expression is not in Pinto's original, where it is Rey dos Mogores (cap. xx.).
c. 1663.—"Since it is the custom of Asia never to approach Great Persons with Empty Hands, when I had the Honour to kiss the Vest of the Great Mogol Aureng Zebe, I presented him with Eight Roupees ..."—Bernier, E.T. p. 62; [ed. Constable, 200].
1665.—
"... Samarchand by Oxus, Temir's throne,
To Paquin of Sinaean Kings; and thence
To Agra and Lahor of Great Mogul...."
Paradise Lost, xi. 389-91.
c. 1665.—"L'Empire du Grand-Mogol, qu'on nomme particulierement le Mogolistan, est le plus étendu et le plus puissant des Roiaumes des Indes.... Le Grand-Mogol vient en ligne directe de Tamerlan, dont les descendants qui se sont établis aux Indes, se sont fait appeller Mogols...."—Thevenot, v. 9.
1672.—"In these beasts the Great Mogul takes his pleasure, and on a stately Elephant he rides in person to the arena where they fight."—Baldaeus (Germ. ed.), 21.
1673.—"It is the Flower of their Emperor's Titles to be called the Great Mogul, Burrore (read Burrow, see Fryer's Index) Mogul Podeshar, who ... is at present Auren Zeeb."—Fryer, 195.
1716.—"Gram Mogol. Is as much as to say 'Head and king of the Circumcised,' for Mogol in the language of that country signifies circumcised" (!)—Bluteau, s.v.
1727.—"Having made what observations I could, of the Empire of Persia, I'll travel along the Seacoast towards Industan, or the Great Mogul's Empire."—A. Hamilton, i. 115, [ed. 1744].
1780.—"There are now six or seven fellows in the tent, gravely disputing whether Hyder is, or is not, the person commonly called in Europe the Great Mogul."—Letter of T. Munro, in Life, i. 27.
1783.—"The first potentate sold by the Company for money, was the Great Mogul—the descendant of Tamerlane."—Burke, Speech on Fox's E.I. Bill, iii. 458.
1786.—"That Shah Allum, the prince commonly called the Great Mogul, or, by eminence, the King, is or lately was in possession of the ancient capital of Hindostan...."—Art. of Charge against Hastings, in Burke, vii. 189.
1807.—"L'Hindoustan est depuis quelque temps dominé par une multitude de petits souverains, qui s'arrachent l'un l'autre leurs possessions. Aucun d'eux ne reconnait comme il faut l'autorité légitime du Mogol, si ce n'est cependant Messieurs les Anglais, lesquels n'ont pas cessé d'être soumis à son obéissance; en sort qu'actuellement, c'est à dire en 1222 (1807) ils reconnaissent l'autorité suprême d'Akbar Schah, fils de Schah Alam."—Afsos, Araish-i-Mahfil, quoted by Garcin de Tassy, Rel. Mus. 90.
MOGUL BREECHES, s. Apparently an early name for what we call long-drawers or pyjamas (qq.v.).
1625.—"... let him have his shirt on and his Mogul breeches; here are women in the house."—Beaumont & Fletcher, The Fair Maid of the Inn, iv. 2.
In a picture by Vandyke of William 1st Earl of Denbigh, belonging to the Duke of Hamilton, and exhibited at Edinburgh in July 1883, the subject is represented as out shooting, in a red striped shirt and pyjamas, no doubt the "Mogul breeches" of the period.
MOHUR, GOLD, s. The official name of the chief gold coin of British India, Hind. from Pers. muhr, a (metallic) seal, and thence a gold coin. It seems possible that the word is taken from mihr, 'the sun,' as one of the secondary meanings of that word is 'a golden circlet on the top of an umbrella, or the like' (Vullers). [Platts, on the contrary, identifies it with Skt. mudrā, 'a seal.']
The term muhr, as applied to a coin, appears to have been popular only and quasi-generic, not precise. But that to which it has been most usually applied, at least in recent centuries, is a coin which has always been in use since the foundation of the Mahommedan Empire in Hindustan by the Ghūrī Kings of Ghazni and their freedmen, circa A.D. 1200, tending to a standard weight of 100 ratis (see RUTTEE) of pure gold, or about 175 grains, thus equalling in weight, and probably intended then to equal ten times in value, the silver coin which has for more than three centuries been called Rupee.
There is good ground for regarding this as the theory of the system.[165] But the gold coins, especially, have deviated from the theory considerably; a deviation which seems to have commenced with the violent innovations of Sultan Mahommed Tughlak (1325-1351), who raised the gold coin to 200 grains, and diminished the silver coin to 140 grains, a change which may have been connected with the enormous influx of gold into Upper India, from the plunder of the immemorial accumulations of the Peninsula in the first quarter of the 14th century. After this the coin again settled down in approximation to the old weight, insomuch that, on taking the weight of 46 different mohurs from the lists given in Prinsep's Tables, the average of pure gold is 167.22 grains.[166]
The first gold mohur struck by the Company's Government was issued in 1766, and declared to be a legal tender for 14 sicca rupees. The full weight of this coin was 179.66 grs., containing 149.72 grs. of gold. But it was impossible to render it current at the rate fixed; it was called in, and in 1769 a new mohur was issued to pass as legal tender for 16 sicca rupees. The weight of this was 190.773 grs. (according to Regn. of 1793, 190.894), and it contained 190.086 grs. of gold. Regulation xxxv. of 1793 declared these gold mohurs to be a legal tender in all public and private transactions. Regn. xiv. of 1818 declared, among other things, that "it has been thought advisable to make a slight deduction in the intrinsic value of the gold mohur to be coined at this Presidency (Fort William), in order to raise the value of fine gold to fine silver, from the present rates of 1 to 14.861 to that of 1 to 15. The gold mohur will still continue to pass current at the rate of 16 rupees." The new gold mohur was to weigh 204.710 grs., containing fine gold 187.651 grs. Once more Act xvii. of 1835 declared that the only gold coin to be coined at Indian mints should be (with proportionate subdivisions) a gold mohur or "15 rupee piece" of the weight of 180 grs. troy, containing 165 grs. of pure gold; and declared also that no gold coin should thenceforward be a legal tender of payment in any of the territories of the E.I. Company. There has been since then no substantive change.
A friend (W. Simpson, the accomplished artist) was told in India that gold mohur was a corruption of gol, ('round') mohr, indicating a distinction from the square mohurs of some of the Delhi Kings. But this we take to be purely fanciful.