G
Reading edition
GALEE, s. H. gālī, abuse; bad language.
[1813.—"... the grossest galee, or abuse, resounded throughout the camp."—Broughton, Letters from a Mahr. Camp, ed. 1892, p. 205.
[1877.—"You provoke me to give you gali (abuse), and then you cry out like a neglected wife."—Allardyce, The City of Sunshine, ii. 2.]
GALLEECE, s. Domestic Hindustani gālīs, 'a pair of braces,' from the old-fashioned gallows, now obsolete, except in Scotland, [S. Ireland and U.S.,] where the form is gallowses.
GALLE, POINT DE, n.p. A rocky cape, covering a small harbour and a town with old fortifications, in the S.W. of Ceylon, familiar to all Anglo-Indians for many years as a coaling-place of mail-steamers. The Portuguese gave the town for crest a cock (Gallo), a legitimate pun. The serious derivations of the name are numerous. Pridham says that it is Galla, 'a Rock,' which is probable. But Chitty says it means 'a Pound,' and was so called according to the Malabars (i.e. Tamil people) from "... this part of the country having been anciently set aside by Ravana for the breeding of his cattle" (Ceylon Gazetteer, 1832, p. 92). Tennent again says it was called after a tribe, the Gallas, inhabiting the neighbouring district (see ii. 105, &c.). [Prof. Childers (5 ser. Notes & Queries, iii. 155) writes: "In Sinhalese it is Gālla, the etymology of which is unknown; but in any case it can have nothing to do with 'rock,' the Sinhalese for which is gala with a short a and a single l."] Tennent has been entirely misled by Reinaud in supposing that Galle could be the Kala of the old Arab voyages to China, a port which certainly lay in the Malay seas. (See CALAY.)
1518.—"He tried to make the port of Columbo, before which he arrived in 3 days, but he could not make it because the wind was contrary, so he tacked about for 4 days till he made the port of Galle, which is in the south part of the island, and entered it with his whole squadron; and then our people went ashore killing cows and plundering whatever they could find."—Correa, ii. 540.
1553.—"In which Island they (the Chinese), as the natives say, left a language which they call Chingálla, and the people themselves Chingállas, particularly those who dwell from Ponta de Gálle onwards, facing the south and east. For adjoining that point they founded a City called Tanabaré (see DONDERA HEAD), of which a large part still stands; and from being hard by that Cape of Gálle, the rest of the people, who dwelt from the middle of the Island upwards, called the inhabitants of this part Chingálla, and their language the same, as if they would say language or people of the Chins of Gálle."—Barros, III. ii. cap. 1. (This is, of course, all fanciful.)
[1554.—"He went to the port of Gabaliquama, which our people now call Porto de Gale."—Castanheda, ii. ch. 23.]
c. 1568.—"Il piotta s'ingannò per ciochè il Capo di Galli dell'Isola di Seilan butta assai in mare."—Cesare de' Federici, in Ramusio, iii. 396v.
1585.—"Dopo haver nauigato tre giorni senza veder terra, al primo di Maggio fummo in vista di Punta di Gallo, laquale è assai pericolosa da costeggiare."—G. Balbi, f. 19.
1661.—"Die Stadt Punto-Gale ist im Jahr 1640 vermittelst Gottes gnadigem Seegen durch die Tapferkeit des Commandanten Jacob Koster den Neiderländen zu teil geworden."—W. Schulze, 190.
1691.—"We passed by Cape Comoryn, and came to Puntogale."—Valentijn, ii. 540.
GALLEGALLE, s. A mixture of lime and linseed oil, forming a kind of mortar impenetrable to water (Shakespear), Hind. galgal.
1621.—"Also the justis, Taccomon Done, sent us word to geve ouer making gallegalle in our howse we hired of China Capt., because the white lyme did trowble the player or singing man, next neighbour...."—Cocks's Diary, ii. 190.
GALLEVAT, s. The name applied to a kind of galley, or war-boat with oars, of small draught of water, which continued to be employed on the west coast of India down to the latter half of the 18th century. The work quoted below under 1717 explains the galleywatts to be "large boats like Gravesend Tilt-boats; they carry about 6 Carvel-Guns and 60 men at small arms, and Oars; They sail with a Peak Sail like the Mizen of a Man-of-War, and row with 30 or 40 Oars.... They are principally used for landing Troops for a Descent...." (p. 22). The word is highly interesting from its genealogical tree; it is a descendant of the great historical and numerous family of the Galley (galley, galiot, galleon, galeass, galleida, galeoncino, &c.), and it is almost certainly the immediate parent of the hardly less historical Jolly-boat, which plays so important a part in British naval annals. [Prof. Skeat takes jolly-boat to be an English adaptation of Danish jolle, 'a yawl'; Mr. Foster remarks that jollyvatt as an English word, is at least as old as 1495-97 (Oppenheim, Naval Accounts and Inventories, Navy Rec. Soc. viii. 193) (Letters, iii. 296).] If this be true, which we can hardly doubt, we shall have three of the boats of the British man-of-war owing their names (quod minime reris!) to Indian originals, viz. the Cutter, the Dingy, and the Jolly-boat to catur, dingy and gallevat. This last derivation we take from Sir J. Campbell's Bombay Gazetteer (xiii. 417), a work that one can hardly mention without admiration. This writer, who states that a form of the same word, galbat, is now generally used by the natives in Bombay waters for large foreign vessels, such as English ships and steamers, is inclined to refer it to jalba, a word for a small boat used on the shores of the Red Sea (see Dozy and Eng., p. 276), which appears below in a quotation from Ibn Batuta, and which vessels were called by the early Portuguese geluas. Whether this word is the parent of galley and its derivatives, as Sir J. Campbell thinks, must be very doubtful, for galley is much older in European use than he seems to think, as the quotation from Asser shows. The word also occurs in Byzantine writers of the 9th century, such as the Continuator of Theophanes quoted below, and the Emperor Leo. We shall find below the occurrence of galley as an Oriental word in the form jalia, which looks like an Arabized adoption from a Mediterranean tongue. The Turkish, too, still has ḳālyūn for a ship of the line, which is certainly an adoption from galeone. The origin of galley is a very obscure question. Amongst other suggestions mentioned by Diez (Etym. Worterb., 2nd ed. i. 198-199) is one from γαλεός, a shark, or from γαλεώτης, a sword-fish—the latter very suggestive of a galley with its aggressive beak; another is from γάλη, a word in Hesychius, which is the apparent origin of 'gallery.' It is possible that galeota, galiote, may have been taken directly from the shark or sword-fish, though in imitation of the galea already in use. For we shall see below that galiot was used for a pirate. [The N.E.D. gives the European synonymous words, and regards the ultimate etymology of galley as unknown.]
The word gallevat seems to come directly from the galeota of the Portuguese and other S. European nations, a kind of inferior galley with only one bank of oars, which appears under the form galion in Joinville, infra (not to be confounded with the galleons of a later period, which were larger vessels), and often in the 13th and 14th centuries as galeota, galiotes, &c. It is constantly mentioned as forming part of the Portuguese fleets in India. Bluteau defines galeota as "a small galley with one mast, and with 15 or 20 benches a side, and one oar to each bench."
a. Galley.
c. 865.—"And then the incursion of the Russians (τῶν Ῥὼς) afflicted the Roman territory (these are a Scythian nation of rude and savage character), devastating Pontus ... and investing the City itself when Michael was away engaged in war with the Ishmaelites.... So this incursion of these people afflicted the empire on the one hand, and on the other the advance of the fleet on Crete, which with some 20 cymbaria, and 7 galleys (γαλέας), and taking with it cargo-vessels also, went about, descending sometimes on the Cyclades Islands, and sometimes on the whole coast (of the main) right up to Proconnesus."—Theophanis Continuatio, Lib. iv. 33-34.
A.D. 877.—"Crescebat insuper diebus singulis perversorum numerus; adeo quidem, ut si triginta ex eis millia una die necarentur, alii succedebant numero duplicato. Tunc rex Aelfredus jussit cymbas et galeas, id est longas naves, fabricari per regnum, ut navali proelio hostibus adventantibus obviaret."—Asser, Annales Rer. Gest. Aelfredi Magni, ed. West, 1722, p. 29.
c. 1232.—"En cele navie de Genevois avoit soissante et dis galeis, mout bien armées; cheuetaine en estoient dui grant home de Gene...."—Guillaume de Tyr, Texte Français, ed. Paulin Paris, i. 393.
1243.—Under this year Matthew Paris puts into the mouth of the Archbishop of York a punning couplet which shows the difference of accent with which galea in its two senses was pronounced:
"In terris galeas, in aquis formido galeias: Inter eas et eas consulo cautus eas."
1249.—"Lors s'esmut notre galie, et alames bien une grant lieue avant que li uns ne parlast à l'autre.... Lors vint messires Phelippes de Monfort en un galion,[135] et escria au roy: 'Sires, sires, parlés à vostre frere le conte de Poitiers, qui est en cel autre vessel.' Lors escria li roys: 'Alume, alume!'"—Joinville, ed. de Wailly, p. 212.
1517.—"At the Archinale ther (at Venice) we saw in makyng iiiixx (i.e. 80) new galyes and galye Bastards, and galye Sotyltes, besyd they that be in viage in the haven."—Torkington's Pilgrimage, p. 8.
1542.—"They said that the Turk had sent orders to certain lords at Alexandria to make him up galleys (galés) in wrought timber, to be sent on camels to Suez; and this they did with great diligence ... insomuch that every day a galley was put together at Suez ... where they were making up 50 galleys, and 12 galeons, and also small rowing-vessels, such as caturs, much swifter than ours."—Correa, iv. 237.
b. Jalia.
1612.—"... and coming to Malaca and consulting with the General they made the best arrangements that they could for the enterprise, adding a flotilla ... sufficient for any need, for it consisted of seven Galeots, a calamute (?), a sanguicel, five bantins,[136] and one jalia."—Bocarro, 101.
1615.—"You must know that in 1605 there had come from the Reino (i.e. Portugal) one Sebastian Gonçalves Tibau ... of humble parentage, who betook himself to Bengal and commenced life as a soldier; and afterwards became a factor in cargoes of salt (which forms the chief traffic in those parts), and acquiring some capital in this business, with that he bought a jalia, a kind of vessel that is there used for fighting and trading at once."—Ibid. 431.
1634.—"Many others (of the Firingis) who were on board the ghrábs, set fire to their vessels, and turned their faces towards hell. Out of the 64 large dingas, 57 ghrábs, and 200 jaliyas, one ghráb and two jaliyas escaped."—Capture of Hoogly in 1634, Bādshāh Nāma, in Elliot, vii. 34.
c. Jalba, Jeloa, &c.
c. 1330.—"We embarked at this town (Jedda) on a vessel called jalba which belonged to Rashīd-eddīn al-alfī al-Yamanī, a native of Ḥabsh."—Ibn Batuta, ii. 158. The Translators comment: "A large boat or gondola made of planks stitched together with coco-nut fibre."
1518.—"And Merocem, Captain of the fleet of the Grand Sultan, who was in Cambaya ... no sooner learned that Goa was taken ... than he gave up all hopes of bringing his mission to a fortunate termination, and obtained permission from the King of Cambaya to go to Judá ... and from that port set out for Suez in a shallop" (gelua).—Alboquerque, Hak. Soc. iii. 19.
1538.—"... before we arrived at the Island of Rocks, we discerned three vessels on the other side, that seemed to us to be Geloas, or Terradas, which are the names of the vessels of that country."—Pinto, in Cogan, p. 7.
[1611.—"Messengers will be sent along the coast to give warning of any jelba or ship approaching."—Danvers, Letters, i. 94.]
1690.—"In this is a Creek very convenient for building Grabbs or Geloas."—Ovington, 467.
d. Galliot.
In the first quotation we have galiot in the sense of "pirate."
c. 1232.—"L'en leur demanda de quel terre; il respondirent de Flandres, de Hollande et de Frise; et ce estoit voirs que il avoient esté galiot et ulague de mer, bien huit anz; or s'estoient repenti et pour penitence venoient en pelerinage en Jerusalem."—Guill. de Tyr, as above, p. 117.
1337.—"... que elles doivent partir pour uenir au seruice du roy le jer J. de may l'an 337 au plus tart e doiuent couster les d. 40 galées pour quatre mois 144000 florins d'or, payez en partie par la compagnie des Bardes ... et 2000 autres florins pour viretons et 2 galiotes."—Contract with Genoese for Service of Philip of Valois, quoted by Jal, ii. 337.
1518.—"The Governor put on great pressure to embark the force, and started from Cochin the 20th September, 1518, with 17 sail, besides the Goa foists, taking 3 galleys (galés) and one galeota, two brigantines (bargantys), four caravels, and the rest round ships of small size."—Correa, ii. 539.
1548.—"... pera a gualveta em que ha d'andar o alcaide do maar."—S. Botelho, Tombo, 239.
1552.—"As soon as this news reached the Sublime Porte the Sandjak of Katif was ordered to send Murad-Beg to take command of the fleet, enjoining him to leave in the port of Bassora one or two ships, five galleys, and a galiot."—Sidi 'Ali, p. 48.
" "They (the Portuguese) had 4 ships as big as carracks, 3 ghurābs or great (rowing) vessels, 6 Portuguese caravels and 12 smaller ghurabs, i.e. galiots with oars."—Ibid. 67-68. Unfortunately the translator does not give the original Turkish word for galiot.
c. 1610.—"Es grandes Galeres il y peut deux et trois cens hommes de guerre, et en d'autres grandes Galiotes, qu'ils nomment Fregates, il y en peut cent...."—Pyrard de Laval, ii. 72; [Hak. Soc. ii. 118].
[1665.—"He gave a sufficient number of galiotes to escort them to sea."—Tavernier, ed. Ball, i. 193.]
1689.—"He embarked about the middle of October in the year 1542, in a galiot, which carried the new Captain of Comorin."—Dryden, Life of Xavier. (In Works, ed. 1821, xvi, 87.)
e. Gallevat.
1613.—"Assoone as I anchored I sent Master Molineux in his Pinnasse, and Master Spooner, and Samuell Squire in my Gellywatte to sound the depths within the sands."—Capt. N. Downton, in Purchas, i. 501. This illustrates the origin of Jolly-boat.
[1679.—"I know not how many Galwets."—In Hedges, Diary, Hak. Soc. ii. clxxxiv.]
1717.—"Besides the Salamander Fire-ship, Terrible Bomb, six Galleywatts of 8 guns, and 60 men each, and 4 of 6 guns and 50 men each."—Authentic and Faithful History of that Arch-Pyrate Tulajee Angria (1756), p. 47.
c. 1760.—"Of these armed boats called Gallevats, the Company maintains also a competent number, for the service of their marine."—Grose, ii. 62.
1763.—"The Gallevats are large row-boats, built like the grab, but of smaller dimensions, the largest rarely exceeding 70 tons; they have two masts ... they have 40 or 50 stout oars, and may be rowed four miles an hour."—Orme, i. 409.
[1813.—"... here they build vessels of all sizes, from a ship of the line to the smallest grabs and gallivats, employed in the Company's services."—Forbes, Or. Mem. 2nd ed. i. 94-5.]
GAMBIER, s. The extract of a climbing shrub (Uncaria Gambier, Roxb.? Nauclea Gambier, Hunter; N.O. Rubiaceae) which is a native of the regions about the Straits of Malacca, and is much grown in plantations in Singapore and the neighbouring islands. The substance in chemical composition and qualities strongly resembles cutch (q.v.), and the names Catechu and Terra Japonica are applied to both. The plant is mentioned in Debry, 1601 (iii. 99), and by Rumphius, c. 1690 (v. 63), who describes its use in mastication with betel-nut; but there is no account of the catechu made from it, known to the authors of the Pharmacographia, before 1780. Crawfurd gives the name as Javanese, but Hanbury and Flückiger point out the resemblance to the Tamil name for catechu, Katta Kāmbu (Pharmacographia, 298 seqq.). [Mr. Skeat points out that the standard Malay name is gambir, of which the origin is uncertain, but that the English word is clearly derived from it.]
GANDA, s. This is the H. name for a rhinoceros, gainḍa, genḍa from Skt. gaṇḍa (giving also gaṇḍaka, gaṇḍānga, gajendra). The note on the passage in Barbosa by his Hak. Soc. editor is a marvel in the way of error. The following is from a story of Correa about a battle between "Bober Mirza" (i.e. Sultan Baber) and a certain King "Cacandar" (Sikandar?), in which I have been unable to trace even what events it misrepresents. But it keeps Fernan Mendez Pinto in countenance, as regards the latter's statement about the advance of the King of the Tartars against Peking with four score thousand rhinoceroses!
"The King Cacandar divided his army into five battles well arrayed, consisting of 140,000 horse and 280,000 foot, and in front of them a battle of 800 elephants, which fought with swords upon their tusks, and on their backs castles with archers and musketeers. And in front of the elephants 80 rhinoceroses (gandas), like that which went to Portugal, and which they call bichá (?); these on the horn which they have over the snout carried three-pronged iron weapons with which they fought very stoutly ... and the Mogors with their arrows made a great discharge, wounding many of the elephants and the gandas, which as they felt the arrows, turned and fled, breaking up the battles...."—Correa, iii. 573-574.
1516.—"The King (of Guzerat) sent a Ganda to the King of Portugal, because they told him that he would be pleased to see her."—Barbosa, 58.
1553.—"And in return for many rich presents which this Diogo Fernandez carried to the King, and besides others which the King sent to Affonso Alboquerque, there was an animal, the biggest which Nature has created after the elephant, and the great enemy of the latter ... which the natives of the land of Cambaya, whence this one came, call Ganda, and the Greeks and Latins Rhinoceros. And Affonso d'Alboquerque sent this to the King Don Manuel, and it came to this Kingdom, and it was afterwards lost on its way to Rome, when the King sent it as a present to the Pope."—Barros, Dec. II. liv. x. cap. 1. [Also see d'Alboquerque, Hak. Soc. iv. 104 seq.].
GANTON, s. This is mentioned by some old voyagers as a weight or measure by which pepper was sold in the Malay Archipelago. It is presumably Malay gantang, defined by Crawfurd as "a dry measure, equal to about a gallon." [Klinkert has: "gantang, a measure of capacity 5 katis among the Malays; also a gold weight, formerly 6 suku, but later 1 bongkal, or 8 suku." Gantang-gantang is 'cartridge-case.']
1554.—"Also a candy of Goa, answers to 140 gamtas, equivalent to 15 paraas, 30 medidas at 42 medidas to the paraa."—A. Nunes, 39.
[1615.—"... 1000 gantans of pepper."—Foster, Letters, iii. 168.]
" "I sent to borow 4 or five gantas of oyle of Yasemon Dono.... But he returned answer he had non, when I know, to the contrary, he bought a parcell out of my handes the other day."—Cocks's Diary, i. 6.
GANZA, s. The name given by old travellers to the metal which in former days constituted the inferior currency of Pegu. According to some it was lead; others call it a mixt metal. Lead in rude lumps is still used in the bazars of Burma for small purchases. (Yule, Mission to Ava, 259.) The word is evidently Skt. kaṉsa, 'bell-metal,' whence Malay gangsa, which last is probably the word which travellers picked up.
1554.—"In this Kingdom of Pegu there is no coined money, and what they use commonly consists of dishes, pans, and other utensils of service, made of a metal like frosyleyra (?), broken in pieces; and this is called gamça...."—A. Nunes, 38.
" "... vn altra statua cosi fatta di Ganza; che è vn metallo di che fanno le lor monete, fatte di rame e di piombo mescolati insieme."—Cesare Federici, in Ramusio, iii. 394v.
c. 1567.—"The current money that is in this Citie, and throughout all this kingdom, is called Gansa or Ganza, which is made of copper and lead. It is not the money of the king, but every man may stampe it that will...."—Caesar Frederick, E.T., in Purchas, iii. 1717-18.
1726.—"Rough Peguan Gans (a brass mixt with lead)...."—Valentijn, Chor. 34.
1727.—"Plenty of Ganse or Lead, which passeth all over the Pegu Dominions, for Money."—A. Hamilton, ii. 41; [ed. 1744, ii. 40].
GARCE, s. A cubic measure for rice, &c., in use on the Madras coast, as usual varying much in value. Buchanan (infra) treats it as a weight. The word is Tel. gārisa, gārise, Can. garasi, Tam. karisai. [In Chingleput salt is weighed by the Garce of 124 maunds, or nearly 5.152 tons (Crole, Man. 58); in Salem, 400 Markals (see MERCALL) are 185.2 cubic feet, or 18 quarters English (Le Fanu, Man. ii. 329); in Malabar, 120 Paras of 25 Macleod seers, or 10,800 lbs. (Logan, Man. ii. clxxix.). As a superficial measure in the N. Circars, it is the area which will produce one Garce of grain.]
[1684-5.—"A Generall to Conimeer of this day date enordring them to provide 200 gars of salt...."—Pringle, Diary Ft. St. Geo. 1st ser. iv. 40, who notes that a still earlier use of the word will be found in Notes and Exts. i. 97.]
1752.—"Grain Measures.
1 Measure weighs about 26 lb. 1 oz. avd. 8 Do. is 1 Mercal 21 " " 3200 Do. is 400 do., or 1 Garse 8400 " " " Brooks, Weights and Measures, &c., p. 6.
1759.—"... a garce of rice...."—In Dalrymple, Or. Rep. i. 120.
1784.—"The day that advice was received ... (of peace with Tippoo) at Madras, the price of rice fell there from 115 to 80 pagodas the garce."—In Seton-Karr, i. 13.
1807.—"The proper native weights used in the Company's Jaghire are as follows: 10 Vara hun (Pagodas) = 1 Polam, 40 Polams = 1 Visay, 8 Visay (Vees) = 1 Manungu, 20 Manungus (Maunds) = 1 Baruays, 20 Baruays (Candies) = 1 Gursay, called by the English Garse. The Vara hun or Star Pagoda weighs 52¾ grains, therefore the Visay is nearly three pounds avoirdupois (see VISS); and the Garse is nearly 1265 lbs."—F. Buchanan, Mysore, &c., i. 6.
By this calculation, the Garse should be 9600 lbs. instead of 1265 as printed.
GARDEE, s. A name sometimes given, in 18th century, to native soldiers disciplined in European fashion, i.e. sepoys (q.v.). The Indian Vocabulary (1788) gives: "Gardee—a tribe inhabiting the provinces of Bijapore, &c., esteemed good foot soldiers." The word may be only a corruption of 'guard,' but probably the origin assigned in the second quotation may be well founded; 'Guard' may have shaped the corruption of Gharbi. The old Bengal sepoys were commonly known in the N.W. as Purbias or Easterns (see POORUB). [Women in the Amazon corps at Hyderabad (Deccan), known as the Ẓafar Paltan, or 'Victorious Battalion,' were called gardunee (Gārdanī), the feminine form of Gārad or Guard.]
1762.—"A coffre who commanded the Telingas and Gardees ... asked the horseman whom the horse belonged to?"—Native Letter, in Van Sittart, i. 141.
1786.—"... originally they (Sipahis) were commanded by Arabians, or those of their descendants born in the Canara and Concan or Western parts of India, where those foreigners style themselves Gharbies or Western. Moreover these corps were composed mostly of Arabs, Negroes, and Habissinians, all of which bear upon that coast the same name of Gharbi.... In time the word Gharbi was corrupted by both the French and Indians into that of Gardi, which is now the general name of Sipahies all over India save Bengal ... where they are stiled Talingas."—Note by Transl. of Seir Mutaqherin, ii. 93.
[1815.—"The women composing them are called Gardunees, a corruption of our word Guard."—Blacker, Mem. of the Operations in India in 1817-19, p. 213 note.]
GARDENS, GARDEN-HOUSE, s. In the 18th century suburban villas at Madras and Calcutta were so called. 'Garden Reach' below Fort William took its name from these.
1682.—"Early in the morning I was met by Mr. Littleton and most of the Factory, near Hugly, and about 9 or 10 o'clock by Mr. Vincent near the Dutch Garden, who came attended by severall Boats and Budgerows guarded by 35 Firelocks, and about 50 Rashpoots and Peons well armed."—Hedges, Diary, July 24; [Hak. Soc. i. 32].
1685.—"The whole Council ... came to attend the President at the garden-house...."—Pringle, Diary, Fort St. Geo. 1st ser. iv. 115; in Wheeler, i. 139.
1747.—"In case of an Attack at the Garden House, if by a superior Force they should be oblig'd to retire, according to the orders and send a Horseman before them to advise of the Approach...."—Report of Council of War at Fort St. David, in India Office MS. Records.
1758.—"The guard of the redoubt retreated before them to the garden-house."—Orme, ii. 303.
" "Mahomed Isoof ... rode with a party of horse as far as Maskelyne's garden."—Ibid. iii. 425.
1772.—"The place of my residence at present is a garden-house of the Nabob, about 4 miles distant from Moorshedabad."—Teignmouth, Mem. i. 34.
1782.—"A body of Hyder's horse were at St. Thomas's Mount on the 29th ult. and Gen. Munro and Mr. Brodie with great difficulty escaped from the General's Gardens. They were pursued by Hyder's horse within a mile of the Black Town."—India Gazette, May 11.
1809.—"The gentlemen of the settlement live entirely in their garden-houses, as they very properly call them."—Ld. Valentia, i. 389.
1810.—"... Rural retreats called Garden-houses."—Williamson, V. M. i. 137.
1873.—"To let, or for sale, Serle's Gardens at Adyar.—For particulars apply," &c.—Madras Mail, July 3.
GARRY, GHARRY, s. H. gāṛī, a cart or carriage. The word is used by Anglo-Indians, at least on the Bengal side, in both senses. Frequently the species is discriminated by a distinctive prefix, as palkee-garry (palankin carriage), sej-garry (chaise), rel-garry (railway carriage), &c. [The modern dawk-garry was in its original form called the "Equirotal Carriage," from the four wheels being of equal dimensions. The design is said to have been suggested by Lord Ellenborough. (See the account and drawing in Grant, Rural Life in Bengal, 3 seq.).]
1810.—"The common g'horry ... is rarely, if ever, kept by any European, but may be seen plying for hire in various parts of Calcutta."—Williamson, V. M. i. 329.
1811.—The Gary is represented in Solvyns's engravings as a two-wheeled rath [see RUT] (i.e. the primitive native carriage, built like a light hackery) with two ponies.
1866.—"My husband was to have met us with a two-horse gharee."—Trevelyan, Dawk Bungalow, 384.
[1892.—"The brūm gārī, brougham; the fitton gārī, phaeton or barouche; the vāgnīt, waggonette, are now built in most large towns.... The vāgnīt seems likely to be the carriage of the future, because of its capacity."—R. Kipling, Beast and Man in India, 193.]
GAUM, GONG, s. A village, H. gāon, from Skt. grāma.
1519.—"In every one of the said villages, which they call guãoos."—Goa Proclam. in Arch. Port. Orient., fasc. 5, 38.
Gāonwār occurs in the same vol. (p. 75), under the forms gancare and guancare, for the village heads in Port. India.
GAURIAN, adj. This is a convenient name which has been adopted of late years as a generic name for the existing Aryan languages of India, i.e. those which are radically sprung from, or cognate to, the Sanskrit. The name (according to Mr. E. L. Brandreth) was given by Prof. Hoernle; but it is in fact an adoption and adaptation of a term used by the Pundits of Northern India. They divide the colloquial languages of (civilised) India into the 5 Gauṛas and 5 Drāviras [see DRAVIDIAN]. The Gauṛas of the Pundits appear to be (1) Bengalee (Bangālī) which is the proper language of Gauḍa, or Northern Bengal, from which the name is taken (see GOUR c.), (2) Oṛiya, the language of Orissa, (3) Hindī, (4) Panjābī, (5) Sindhī; their Drāvira languages are (1) Telinga, (2) Karṇāṭaka (Canarese), (3) Marāṭhī, (4) Gurjara (Gujarātī), (5) Drāvira (Tamil). But of these last (3) and (4) are really to be classed with the Gauṛian group, so that the latter is to be considered as embracing 7 principal languages. Kashmīrī, Singhalese, and the languages or dialects of Assam, of Nepaul, and some others, have also been added to the list of this class.
The extraordinary analogies between the changes in grammar and phonology from Sanskrit in passing into those Gaurian languages, and the changes of Latin in passing into the Romance languages, analogies extending into minute details, have been treated by several scholars; and a very interesting view of the subject is given by Mr. Brandreth in vols. xi. and xii. of the J.R.A.S., N.S.
GAUTAMA, n.p. The surname, according to Buddhist legend, of the Sakya tribe from which the Buddha Sakya Muni sprang. It is a derivative from Gotama, a name of "one of the ancient Vedic bard-families" (Oldenberg). It is one of the most common names for Buddha among the Indo-Chinese nations. The Sommona-codom of many old narratives represents the Pali form of S'ramaṇa Gautama, "The Ascetic Gautama."
1545.—"I will pass by them of the sect of Godomem, who spend their whole life in crying day and night on those mountains, Godomem, Godomem, and desist not from it until they fall down stark dead to the ground."—F. M. Pinto, in Cogan, p. 222.
c. 1590.—See under Godavery passage from Āīn, where Gotam occurs.
1686.—"J'ai cru devoir expliquer toutes ces choses avant que de parler de Sommono-khodom (c'est ainsi que les Siamois appellent le Dieu qu'ils adorent à present)."—Voy. de Siam, Des Pères Jesuites, Paris, 1686, p. 397.
1687-88.—"Now tho' they say that several have attained to this Felicity (Nireupan, i.e. Nirvana) ... yet they honour only one alone, whom they esteem to have surpassed all the rest in Vertue. They call him Sommona-Codom; and they say that Codom was his Name, and that Sommona signifies in the Balie Tongue a Talapoin of the Woods."—Hist. Rel. of Siam, by De La Loubere, E.T. i. 130.
[1727.—"... inferior Gods, such as Somma Cuddom...."—A. Hamilton, ed. 1744, ii. 54.]
1782.—"Les Pegouins et les Bahmans.... Quant à leurs Dieux, ils en comptent sept principaux.... Cependant ils n'en adorent qu'un seul, qu'ils appellent Godeman...."—Sonnerat, ii. 299.
1800.—"Gotma, or Goutum, according to the Hindoos of India, or Gaudma among the inhabitants of the more eastern parts, is said to have been a philosopher ... he taught in the Indian schools, the heterodox religion and philosophy of Boodh. The image that represents Boodh is called Gautama, or Goutum...."—Symes, Embassy, 299.
1828.—"The titles or synonymes of Buddha, as they were given to me, are as follow: "Kotamo (Gautama) ... Somana-kotamo, agreeably to the interpretation given me, means in the Pali language, the priest Gautama."—Crawfurd, Emb. to Siam, p. 367.
GAVEE, s. Topsail. Nautical jargon from Port. gavea, the top. (Roebuck).
GAVIAL, s. This is a name adopted by zoologists for one of the alligators of the Ganges and other Indian rivers, Gavialis gangeticus, &c. It is the less dangerous of the Gangetic saurians, with long, slender, sub-cylindrical jaws expanding into a protuberance at the muzzle. The name must have originated in some error, probably a clerical one, for the true word is Hind. ghaṛiyāl, and gavial is nothing. The term (gariyālī) is used by Baber (p. 410), where the translator's note says: "The geriali is the round-mouthed crocodile," words which seem to indicate the magar (see MUGGUR) (Crocodilus biporcatus) not the ghaṛiyāl.
c. 1809.—"In the Brohmoputro as well as in the Ganges there are two kinds of crocodile, which at Goyalpara are both called Kumir; but each has a specific name. The Crocodilus Gangeticus is called Ghoriyal, and the other is called Bongcha."—Buchanan's Rungpoor, in Eastern India, iii. 581-2.
GAZAT, s. This is domestic Hind. for 'dessert.' (Panjab N. & Q. ii. 184).
GECKO, s. A kind of house lizard. The word is not now in Anglo-Indian use; it is a naturalist's word; and also is French. It was no doubt originally an onomatopoeia from the creature's reiterated utterance. Marcel Devic says the word is adopted from Malay gekok [gēkoq]. This we do not find in Crawfurd, who has tăké, tăkék, and goké, all evidently attempts to represent the utterance. In Burma the same, or a kindred lizard, is called tokté, in like imitation.
1631.—Bontius seems to identify this lizard with the Guana (q.v.), and says its bite is so venomous as to be fatal unless the part be immediately cut out, or cauterized. This is no doubt a fable. "Nostratis ipsum animal apposito vocabulo gecco vocant; quippe non secus ac Coccyx apud nos suum cantum iterat, etiam gecko assiduo sonat, prius edito stridore qualem Picus emittit."—Lib. V. cap. 5, p. 57.
1711.—"Chaccos, as Cuckoos receive their Names from the Noise they make.... They are much like lizards, but larger. 'Tis said their Dung is so venomous," &c.—Lockyer, 84.
1727.—"They have one dangerous little Animal called a Jackoa, in shape almost like a Lizard. It is very malicious ... and wherever the Liquor lights on an Animal Body, it presently cankers the Flesh."—A. Hamilton, ii. 131; [ed. 1744, ii. 136].
This is still a common belief. (See BISCOBRA).
1883.—"This was one of those little house lizards called geckos, which have pellets at the ends of their toes. They are not repulsive brutes like the garden lizard, and I am always on good terms with them. They have full liberty to make use of my house, for which they seem grateful, and say chuck, chuck, chuck."—Tribes on My Frontier, 38.
GENTOO, s. and adj. This word is a corruption of the Portuguese Gentio, 'a gentile' or heathen, which they applied to the Hindus in contradistinction to the Moros or 'Moors,' i.e. Mahommedans. [See MOOR.] Both terms are now obsolete among English people, except perhaps that Gentoo still lingers at Madras in the sense b; for the terms Gentio and Gentoo were applied in two senses:
a. To the Hindūs generally. b. To the Telugu-speaking Hindūs of the Peninsula specially, and to their language.
The reason why the term became thus specifically applied to the Telugu people is probably because, when the Portuguese arrived, the Telugu monarchy of Vijayanagara, or Bijanagar (see BISNAGAR, NARSINGA) was dominant over great part of the Peninsula. The officials were chiefly of Telugu race, and thus the people of this race, as the most important section of the Hindūs, were par excellence the Gentiles, and their language the Gentile language. Besides these two specific senses, Gentio was sometimes used for heathen in general. Thus in F. M. Pinto: "A very famous Corsair who was called Hinimilau, a Chinese by nation, and who from a Gentio as he was, had a little time since turned Moor...."—Ch. L.
a.—
1548.—"The Religiosos of this territory spend so largely, and give such great alms at the cost of your Highness's administration that it disposes of a good part of the funds.... I believe indeed they do all this in real zeal and sincerity ... but I think it might be reduced a half, and all for the better; for there are some of them who often try to make Christians by force, and worry the Gentoos (jentios) to such a degree that it drives the population away."—Simao Botelho, Cartas, 35.
1563.—"... Among the Gentiles (Gentios) Rão is as much as to say 'King.'"—Garcia, f. 35b.
" "This ambergris is not so highly valued among the Moors, but it is highly prized among the Gentiles."—Ibid. f. 14.
1582.—"A gentile ... whose name was Canaca."—Castañeda, trans. by N. L., f. 31.
1588.—In a letter of this year to the Viceroy, the King (Philip II.) says he "understands the Gentios are much the best persons to whom to farm the alfandegas (customs, &c.), paying well and regularly, and it does not seem contrary to canon-law to farm to them, but on this he will consult the learned."—In Arch. Port. Orient. fasc. 3, 135.
c. 1610.—"Ils (les Portugais) exercent ordinairement de semblables cruautez lors qu'ils sortent en trouppe le long des costes, bruslans et saccageans ces pauures Gentils qui ne desirent que leur bonne grace, et leur amitié mais ils n'en ont pas plus de pitié pour cela."—Mocquet, 349.
1630.—"... which Gentiles are of two sorts ... first the purer Gentiles ... or else the impure or vncleane Gentiles ... such are the husbandmen or inferior sort of people called the Coulees."—H. Lord, Display, &c., 85.
1673.—"The finest Dames of the Gentues disdained not to carry Water on their Heads."—Fryer, 116.
" "Gentues, the Portuguese idiom for Gentiles, are the Aborigines."—Ibid. 27.
1679.—In Fort St. Geo. Cons. of 29th January, the Black Town of Madras is called "the Gentue Town."—Notes and Exts., No. ii. 3.
1682.—"This morning a Gentoo sent by Bulchund, Governour of Hugly and Cassumbazar, made complaint to me that Mr. Charnock did shamefully—to ye great scandal of our Nation—keep a Gentoo woman of his kindred, which he has had these 19 years."—Hedges, Diary, Dec. 1.; [Hak. Soc. i. 52].
1683.—"The ceremony used by these Gentu's in their sicknesse is very strange; they bring ye sick person ... to ye brinke of ye River Ganges, on a Cott...."—Ibid. May 10; [Hak. Soc. i. 86].
In Stevens's Trans. of Faria y Sousa (1695) the Hindus are still called Gentiles. And it would seem that the English form Gentoo did not come into general use till late in the 17th century.
1767.—"In order to transact Business of any kind in this Countrey you must at least have a Smattering of the Language.... The original Language of this Countrey (or at least the earliest we know of) is the Bengala or Gentoo; this is commonly spoken in all parts of the Countrey. But the politest Language is the Moors or Mussulmans, and Persian."—MS. Letter of James Rennell.
1772.—"It is customary with the Gentoos, as soon as they have acquired a moderate fortune, to dig a pond."—Teignmouth, Mem. i. 36.
1774.—"When I landed (on Island of Bali) the natives, who are Gentoos, came on board in little canoes, with outriggers on each side."—Forrest, V. to N. Guinea, 169.
1776.—"A Code of Gentoo Laws or Ordinations of the Pundits. From a Persian Translation, made from the original written in the Shanskrit Language. London, Printed in the Year 1776."—(Title of Work by Nathaniel Brassey Halhed.)
1778.—"The peculiar patience of the Gentoos in Bengal, their affection to business, and the peculiar cheapness of all productions either of commerce or of necessity, had concurred to render the details of the revenue the most minute, voluminous, and complicated system of accounts which exist in the universe."—Orme, ii. 7 (Reprint).
1781.—"They (Syrian Christians of Travancore) acknowledged a Gentoo Sovereign, but they were governed even in temporal concerns by the bishop of Angamala."—Gibbon, ch. xlvii.
1784.—"Captain Francis Swain Ward, of the Madras Establishment, whose paintings and drawings of Gentoo Architecture, &c., are well known."—In Seton-Karr, i. 31.
1785.—"I found this large concourse (at Chandernagore) of people were gathered to see a Gentoo woman burn herself with her husband."—Ibid. i. 90.
" "The original inhabitants of India are called Gentoos."—Carraccioli's Life of Clive, i. 122.
1803.—"Peregrine. O mine is an accommodating palate, hostess. I have swallowed burgundy with the French, hollands with the Dutch, sherbet with a Turk, sloe-juice with an Englishman, and water with a simple Gentoo."—Colman's John Bull, i. sc. 1.
1807.—"I was not prepared for the entire nakedness of the Gentoo inhabitants."—Lord Minto in India, 17.
b.—
1648.—"The Heathen who inhabit the kingdom of Golconda, and are spread all over India, are called Jentives."—Van Twist, 59.
1673.—"Their Language they call generally Gentu ... the peculiar Name of their Speech is Telinga."—Fryer, 33.
1674.—"50 Pagodas gratuity to John Thomas ordered for good progress in the Gentu tongue, both speaking and writing."—Fort St. Geo. Cons., in Notes and Exts. No. i. 32.
[1681.—"He hath the Gentue language."—In Yule, Hedges' Diary, Hak. Soc. ii. cclxxxiv.]
1683.—"Thursday, 21st June.... The Hon. Company having sent us a Law with reference to the Natives ... it is ordered that the first be translated into Portuguese, Gentoo, Malabar, and Moors, and proclaimed solemnly by beat of drum."—Madras Consultation, in Wheeler, i. 314.
1719.—"Bills of sale wrote in Gentoo on Cajan leaves, which are entered in the Register kept by the Town Conicoply for that purpose."—Ibid. ii. 314.
1726.—"The proper vernacular here (Golconda) is the Gentoos (Jentiefs) or Telingaas."—Valentijn, Chor. 37.
1801.—"The Gentoo translation of the Regulations will answer for the Ceded Districts, for even ... the most Canarine part of them understand Gentoo."—Munro, in Life, i. 321.
1807.—"A Grammar of the Gentoo language, as it is understood and spoken by the Gentoo People, residing north and north-westward of Madras. By a Civil Servant under the Presidency of Fort St. George, many years resident in the Northern Circars. Madras. 1807."
1817.—The third grammar of the Telugu language, published in this year, is called a 'Gentoo Grammar.'
1837.—"I mean to amuse myself with learning Gentoo, and have brought a Moonshee with me. Gentoo is the language of this part of the country [Godavery delta], and one of the prettiest of all the dialects."—Letters from Madras, 189.
GHAUT, s. Hind. ghāt.
a. A landing-place; a path of descent to a river; the place of a ferry, &c. Also a quay or the like.
b. A path of descent from a mountain; a mountain pass; and hence
c., n.p. The mountain ranges parallel to the western and eastern coasts of the Peninsula, through which the ghāts or passes lead from the table-lands above down to the coast and lowlands. It is probable that foreigners hearing these tracts spoken of respectively as the country above and the country below the Ghāts (see BALAGHAUT) were led to regard the word Ghāts as a proper name of the mountain range itself, or (like De Barros below) as a word signifying range. And this is in analogy with many other cases of mountain nomenclature, where the name of a pass has been transferred to a mountain chain, or where the word for 'a pass' has been mistaken for a word for 'mountain range.' The proper sense of the word is well illusstrated from Sir A. Wellesley, under b.
a.—
1809.—"The dandys there took to their paddles, and keeping the beam to the current the whole way, contrived to land us at the destined gaut."—Ld. Valentia, i. 185.
1824.—"It is really a very large place, and rises from the river in an amphitheatral form ... with many very fine ghâts descending to the water's edge."—Heber, i. 167.
b.—
c. 1315.—"In 17 more days they arrived at Gurganw. During these 17 days the Gháts were passed, and great heights and depths were seen amongst the hills, where even the elephants became nearly invisible."—Amīr Khusrū, in Elliot, iii. 86.
This passage illustrates how the transition from b to c occurred. The Ghāts here meant are not a range of mountains so called, but, as the context shows, the passes among the Vindhya and Sātpūra hills. Compare the two following, in which 'down the ghauts' and 'down the passes' mean exactly the same thing, though to many people the former expression will suggest 'down through a range of mountains called the Ghauts.'
1803.—"The enemy are down the ghauts in great consternation."—Wellington, ii. 333.
" "The enemy have fled northward, and are getting down the passes as fast as they can."—M. Elphinstone, in Life by Colebrooke, i. 71.
1826.—"Though it was still raining, I walked up the Bohr Ghât, four miles and a half, to Candaulah."—Heber, ii. 136, ed. 1844. That is, up one of the Passes, from which Europeans called the mountains themselves "the Ghauts."
The following passage indicates that the great Sir Walter, with his usual sagacity, saw the true sense of the word in its geographical use, though misled by books to attribute to the (so-called) 'Eastern Ghauts' the character that belongs to the Western only.
1827.—"... they approached the Ghauts, those tremendous mountain passes which descend from the table-land of Mysore, and through which the mighty streams that arise in the centre of the Indian Peninsula find their way to the ocean."—The Surgeon's Daughter, ch. xiii.
c.—
1553.—"The most notable division which Nature hath planted in this land is a chain of mountains, which the natives, by a generic appellation, because it has no proper name, call Gate, which is as much as to say Serra."—De Barros, Dec. I. liv. iv. cap. vii.
1561.—"This Serra is called Gate."—Correa, Lendas, ii. 2, 56.
1563.—"The Cuncam, which is the land skirting the sea, up to a lofty range which they call Guate."—Garcia, f. 34b.
1572.—
"Da terra os Naturaes lhe chamam Gate, Do pe do qual pequena quantidade Se estende hũa fralda estreita, que combate Do mar a natural ferocidade...." Camões, vii. 22.
Englished by Burton:
"The country-people call this range the Ghaut, and from its foot-hills scanty breadth there be, whose seaward-sloping coast-plain long hath fought 'gainst Ocean's natural ferocity...."
1623.—"We commenced then to ascend the mountain-(range) which the people of the country call Gat, and which traverses in the middle the whole length of that part of India which projects into the sea, bathed on the east side by the Gulf of Bengal, and on the west by the Ocean, or Sea of Goa."—P. della Valle, ii. 32; [Hak. Soc. ii. 222].
1673.—"The Mountains here are one continued ridge ... and are all along called Gaot."—Fryer, 187.
1685.—"On les appelle, montagnes de Gatte, c'est comme qui diroit montagnes de montagnes, Gatte en langue du pays ne signifiant autre chose que montagne" (quite wrong).—Ribeyro, Ceylan, (Fr. Transl.), p. 4.
1727.—"The great Rains and Dews that fall from the Mountains of Gatti, which ly 25 or 30 leagues up in the Country."—A. Hamilton, i. 282; [ed. 1744, ii. 285].
1762.—"All the South part of India save the Mountains of Gate (a string of Hills in ye country) is level Land the Mould scarce so deep as in England.... As you make use of every expedient to drain the water from your tilled ground, so the Indians take care to keep it in theirs, and for this reason sow only in the level grounds."—MS. Letter of James Rennell, March 21.
1826.—"The mountains are nearly the same height ... with the average of Welsh mountains.... In one respect, and only one, the Ghâts have the advantage,—their precipices are higher, and the outlines of the hills consequently bolder."—Heber, ed. 1844, ii. 136.
GHEE, s. Boiled butter; the universal medium of cookery throughout India, supplying the place occupied by oil in Southern Europe, and more; [the samn of Arabia, the raughan of Persia]. The word is Hind. ghī, Skt. ghṛita. A short but explicit account of the mode of preparation will be found in the English Cyclopaedia (Arts and Sciences), s.v.; [and in fuller detail in Watt, Econ. Dict. iii. 491 seqq.].
c. 1590.—"Most of them (Akbar's elephants) get 5 s. (ers) of sugar, 4 s. of ghí, and half a man of rice mixed with chillies, cloves, &c."—Āīn-i-Akbarī, i. 130.
1673.—"They will drink milk, and boil'd butter, which they call Ghe."—Fryer, 33.
1783.—"In most of the prisons [of Hyder 'Ali] it was the custom to celebrate particular days, when the funds admitted, with the luxury of plantain fritters, a draught of sherbet, and a convivial song. On one occasion the old Scotch ballad, 'My wife has ta'en the gee,' was admirably sung, and loudly encored.... It was reported to the Kelledar (see KILLADAR) that the prisoners said and sung throughout the night of nothing but ghee.... The Kelledar, certain that discoveries had been made regarding his malversations in that article of garrison store, determined to conciliate their secrecy by causing an abundant supply of this unaccustomed luxury to be thenceforth placed within the reach of their farthing purchases."—Wilks, Hist. Sketches, ii. 154.
1785.—"The revenues of the city of Decca ... amount annually to two kherore (see CRORE), proceeding from the customs and duties levied on ghee."—Carraccioli, L. of Clive, i. 172.
1817.—"The great luxury of the Hindu is butter, prepared in a manner peculiar to himself, and called by him ghee."—Mill, Hist. i. 410.
GHILZAI, n.p. One of the most famous of the tribes of Afghanistan, and probably the strongest, occupying the high plateau north of Kandahar, and extending (roundly speaking) eastward to the Sulimānī mountains, and north to the Kābul River. They were supreme in Afghanistan at the beginning of the 18th century, and for a time possessed the throne of Ispahan. The following paragraph occurs in the article Afghanistan, in the 9th ed. of the Encyc. Britan., 1874 (i. 235), written by one of the authors of this book:—
"It is remarkable that the old Arab geographers of the 10th and 11th centuries place in the Ghilzai country" (i.e. the country now occupied by the Ghilzais, or nearly so) "a people called Khilijis, whom they call a tribe of Turks, to whom belonged a famous family of Delhi Kings. The probability of the identity of the Khilijis and Ghilzais is obvious, and the question touches others regarding the origin of the Afghans; but it does not seem to have been gone into."
Nor has the writer since ever been able to go into it. But whilst he has never regarded the suggestion as more than a probable one, he has seen no reason to reject it. He may add that on starting the idea to Sir Henry Rawlinson (to whom it seemed new), a high authority on such a question, though he would not accept it, he made a candid remark to the effect that the Ghilzais had undoubtedly a very Turk-like aspect. A belief in this identity was, as we have recently noticed, entertained by the traveller Charles Masson, as is shown in a passage quoted below. And it has also been maintained by Surgeon-Major Bellew, in his Races of Afghanistan (1880), [who (p. 100) refers the name to Khilichī, a swordsman. The folk etymology of De Guignes and D'Herbelot is Kall, 'repose,' atz, 'hungry,' given to an officer by Ogouz Khān, who delayed on the road to kill game for his sick wife].
All the accounts of the Ghilzais indicate great differences between them and the other tribes of Afghanistan; whilst there seems nothing impossible, or even unlikely, in the partial assimilation of a Turki tribe in the course of centuries to the Afghans who surround them, and the consequent assumption of a quasi-Afghan genealogy. We do not find that Mr. Elphinstone makes any explicit reference to the question now before us. But two of the notes to his History (5th ed. p. 322 and 384) seem to indicate that it was in his mind. In the latter of these he says: "The Khiljis ... though Turks by descent ... had been so long settled among the Afghans that they had almost become identified with that people; but they probably mixed more with other nations, or at least with their Turki brethren, and would be more civilized than the generality of Afghan mountaineers." The learned and eminently judicious William Erskine was also inclined to accept the identity of the two tribes, doubting (but perhaps needlessly) whether the Khiliji had been really of Turki race. We have not been able to meet with any translated author who mentions both Khiliji and Ghilzai. In the following quotations all the earlier refer to Khiliji, and the later to Ghilzai. Attention may be called to the expressions in the quotation from Zīauddīn Barnī, as indicating some great difference between the Turk proper and the Khiliji even then. The language of Baber, again, so far as it goes, seems to indicate that by his time the Ghilzais were regarded as an Afghan clan.
c. 940.—"Hajjāj had delegated 'Abdar-rahmān ibn Mahommed ibn al-Ash'ath to Sijistān, Bost and Rukhāj (Arachosia) to make war on the Turk tribes diffused in those regions, and who are known as Ghūz and Khulj...."—Maṣ'ūdī, v. 302.
c. 950.—"The Khalaj is a Turkī tribe, which in ancient times migrated into the country that lies between India and the parts of Sijistān beyond the Ghūr. They are a pastoral people and resemble the Turks in their natural characteristics, their dress and their language."—Istakhri, from De Goeje's text, p. 245.
c. 1030.—"The Afgháns and Khiljís having submitted to him (Sabaktigín), he admitted thousands of them ... into the ranks of his armies."—Al-'Utbi, in Elliot, ii. 24.
c. 1150.—"The Khilkhs (read Khilij) are people of Turk race, who, from an early date invaded this country (Dāwar, on the banks of the Helmand), and whose dwellings are spread abroad to the north of India and on the borders of Ghaur and of Western Sijistān. They possess cattle, wealth, and the various products of husbandry; they all have the aspect of Turks, whether as regards features, dress, and customs, or as regards their arms and manner of making war. They are pacific people, doing and thinking no evil."—Edrisi, i. 457.
1289.—"At the same time Jalálu-d dín (Khilji), who was 'Ariz-i-mamálik (Muster-master-general), had gone to Bahárpúr, attended by a body of his relations and friends. Here he held a muster and inspection of the forces. He came of a race different from that of the Turks, so he had no confidence in them, nor would the Turks own him as belonging to the number of their friends.... The people high and low ... were all troubled by the ambition of the Khiljis, and were strongly opposed to Jalálu-d dín's obtaining the crown.... Sultán Jalálu-d dín Fíroz Khilji ascended the throne in the ... year 688 A.H.... The people of the city (of Delhi) had for 80 years been governed by sovereigns of Turk extraction, and were averse to the succession of the Khiljis ... they were struck with admiration and amazement at seeing the Khiljis occupying the throne of the Turks, and wondered how the throne had passed from the one to the other."—Ziáu-d-dín Barní, in Elliot, iii. 134-136.
14th cent.—The continuator of Rashíduddín enumerates among the tribes occupying the country which we now call Afghanistan, Ghūris, Herawis, Nigudaris, Sejzis, Khilij, Balūch and Afghāns. See Notices et Extraits, xiv. 494.
c. 1507.—"I set out from Kábul for the purpose of plundering and beating up the quarters of the Ghiljis ... a good farsang from the Ghilji camp, we observed a blackness, which was either owing to the Ghiljis being in motion, or to smoke. The young and inexperienced men of the army all set forward full speed; I followed them for two kos, shooting arrows at their horses, and at length checked their speed. When five or six thousand men set out on a pillaging party, it is extremely difficult to maintain discipline.... A minaret of skulls was erected of the heads of these Afghans."—Baber, pp. 220-221; see also p. 225.
[1753.—"The Cligis knowing that his troops must pass thro' their mountains, waited for them in the defiles, and successively defeated several bodies of Mahommed's army."—Hanway, Hist. Acc. iii. 24.]
1842.—"The Ghilji tribes occupy the principal portion of the country between Kándahár and Ghazní. They are, moreover, the most numerous of the Afghân tribes, and if united under a capable chief might ... become the most powerful.... They are brave and warlike, but have a sternness of disposition amounting to ferocity.... Some of the inferior Ghiljís are so violent in their intercourse with strangers that they can scarcely be considered in the light of human beings, while no language can describe the terrors of a transit through their country, or the indignities which have to be endured.... The Ghiljis, although considered, and calling themselves, Afghâns, and moreover employing the Pashto, or Afghân dialect, are undoubtedly a mixed race.
"The name is evidently a modification or corruption of Khaljí or Khilají, that of a great Turkí tribe mentioned by Sherífudín in his history of Taimúr...."—Ch. Masson, Narr. of various Journeys, &c., ii. 204, 206, 207.
1854.—"The Ghúri was succeeded by the Khilji dynasty; also said to be of Turki extraction, but which seems rather to have been of Afghán race; and it may be doubted if they are not of the Ghiljí Afgháns."—Erskine, Báber and Humáyun, i. 404.
1880.—"As a race the Ghilji mix little with their neighbours, and indeed differ in many respects, both as to internal government and domestic customs, from the other races of Afghanistan ... the great majority of the tribe are pastoral in their habits of life, and migrate with the seasons from the lowlands to the highlands with their families and flocks, and easily portable black hair tents. They never settle in the cities, nor do they engage in the ordinary handicraft trades, but they manufacture carpets, felts, &c., for domestic use, from the wool and hair of their cattle.... Physically they are a remarkably fine race ... but they are a very barbarous people, the pastoral class especially, and in their wars excessively savage and vindictive.
"Several of the Ghilji or Ghilzai-clans are almost wholly engaged in the carrying trade between India and Afghanistan, and the Northern States of Central Asia, and have been so for many centuries."—Races of Afghanistan, by Bellew, p. 103.
GHOUL, s. Ar. ghūl, P. ghōl. A goblin, ἔμπουσα, or man-devouring demon, especially haunting wildernesses.
c. 70.—"In the deserts of Affricke yee shall meet oftentimes with fairies,[137] appearing in the shape of men and women; but they vanish soone away, like fantasticall illusions."—Pliny, by Ph. Holland, vii. 2.
c. 940.—"The Arabs relate many strange stories about the Ghūl and their transformations.... The Arabs allege that the two feet of the Ghūl are ass's feet.... These Ghūl appeared to travellers in the night, and at hours when one meets with no one on the road; the traveller taking them for some of their companions followed them, but the Ghūl led them astray, and caused them to lose their way."—Maṣ'ūdī, iii. 314 seqq. (There is much more after the copious and higgledy-piggledy Plinian fashion of this writer.)
c. 1420.—"In exitu deserti ... rem mirandam dicit contigisse. Nam cum circiter mediam noctem quiescentes magno murmure strepituque audito suspicarentur omnes, Arabes praedones ad se spoliandos venire ... viderunt plurimas equitum turmas transeuntium.... Plures qui id antea viderant, daemones (ghūls, no doubt) esse per desertum vagantes asseruere."—Nic. Conti, in Poggio, iv.
1814.—"The Afghauns believe each of the numerous solitudes in the mountains and desarts of their country to be inhabited by a lonely daemon, whom they call Ghoolee Beeabaun (the Goule or Spirit of the Waste); they represent him as a gigantic and frightful spectre, who devours any passenger whom chance may bring within his haunts."—Elphinstone's Caubul, ed. 1839, i. 291.
[GHURRA, s. Hind. ghaṛa, Skt. ghaṭa. A water-pot made of clay, of a spheroidal shape, known in S. India as the chatty.
[1827.—"... the Rajah sent ... 60 Gurrahs (earthen vessels holding a gallon) of sugar-candy and sweetmeats."—Mundy, Pen and Pencil Sketches, 66.]
GHURRY, GURREE, s. Hind. ghaṛī. A clepsydra or water-instrument for measuring time, consisting of a floating cup with a small hole in it, adjusted so that it fills and sinks in a fixed time; also the gong by which the time so indicated is struck. This latter is properly ghaṛiyāl. Hence also a clock or watch; also the 60th part of a day and night, equal therefore to 24 minutes, was in old Hindu custom the space of time indicated by the clepsydra just mentioned, and was called a ghaṛī. But in Anglo-Indian usage, the word is employed for 'an hour,' [or some indefinite period of time]. The water-instrument is sometimes called Pun-Ghurry (panghaṛī quasi pānī-ghaṛī); also the Sun-dial, Dhoop-Ghurry (dhūp, 'sunshine'); the hour-glass, Ret-Ghurry (ret, retā, 'sand').
(Ancient).—"The magistrate, having employed the first four Ghurries of the day in bathing and praying, ... shall sit upon the Judgment Seat."—Code of the Gentoo Laws (Halhed, 1776), 104.
[1526.—"Gheri." See under PUHUR.
[c. 1590.—An elaborate account of this method of measuring time will be found in Āīn, ed. Jarrett, iii. 15 seq.
[1616.—"About a guary after, the rest of my company arrived with the money."—Foster, Letters, iv. 343.]
1633.—"First they take a great Pot of Water ... and putting therein a little Pot (this lesser pot having a small hole in the bottome of it), the water issuing into it having filled it, then they strike on a great plate of brasse, or very fine metal, which stroak maketh a very great sound; this stroak or parcell of time they call a Goome, the small Pot being full they call a Gree, 8 grees make a Par, which Par (see PUHUR) is three hours by our accompt."—W. Bruton, in Hakl. v. 51.
1709.—"Or un gari est une de leurs heures, mais qui est bien petite en comparaison des nôtres; car elle n'est que de vingt-neuf minutes et environ quarante-trois secondes."(?)—Lettres Edif. xi. 233.
1785.—"We have fixed the Coss at 6,000 Guz, which distance must be travelled by the postmen in a Ghurry and a half.... If the letters are not delivered according to this rate ... you must flog the Hurkârehs belonging to you."—Tippoo's Letters, 215.
[1869.—Wallace describes an instrument of this kind in use on board a native vessel. "I tested it with my watch and found that it hardly varied a minute from one hour to another, nor did the motion of the vessel have any effect upon it, as the water in the bucket of course kept level."—Wallace, Malay Archip., ed. 1890, p. 314.]
GINDY, s. The original of this word belongs to the Dravidian tongues; Malayāl. kiṇḍi; Tel. giṇḍi; Tam. kiṇṇi, from v. kiṇu, 'to be hollow'; and the original meaning is a basin or pot, as opposed to a flat dish. In Malabar the word is applied to a vessel resembling a coffee-pot without a handle, used to drink from. But in the Bombay dialect of H., and in Anglo-Indian usage, giṇḍi means a wash-hand basin of tinned copper, such as is in common use there (see under CHILLUMCHEE).
1561.—"... guindis of gold...."—Correa, Lendas, II. i. 218.
1582.—"After this the Capitaine Generall commanded to discharge theyr Shippes, which were taken, in the whiche was bound store of rich Merchaundize, and amongst the same these peeces following:
"Foure great Guyndes of silver...."—Castañeda, by N. L., f. 106.
1813.—"At the English tables two servants attend after dinner, with a gindey and ewer, of silver or white copper."—Forbes, Or. Mem. ii. 397; [2nd ed. ii. 30; also i. 333].
1851.—"... a tinned bason, called a gendee...."—Burton, Scinde, or the Unhappy Valley, i. 6.
GINGALL, JINJALL, s. H. janjāl, 'a swivel or wall-piece'; a word of uncertain origin. [It is a corruption of the Ar. jazā'il (see JUZAIL).] It is in use with Europeans in China also.
1818.—"There is but one gun in the fort, but there is much and good sniping from matchlocks and gingals, and four Europeans have been wounded."—Elphinstone, Life, ii. 31.
1829.—"The moment the picket heard them, they fired their long ginjalls, which kill a mile off."—Shipp's Mem. iii. 40.
[1900.—"Gingals, or Jingals, are long tapering guns, six to fourteen feet in length, borne on the shoulders of two men and fired by a third. They have a stand, or tripod, reminding one of a telescope...."—Ball, Things Chinese, 38.]
GINGELI, GINGELLY, &c. s. The common trade name for the seed and oil of Sesamum indicum, v. orientale. There is a H. [not in Platts' Dict.] and Mahr. form jinjalī, but most probably this also is a trade name introduced by the Portuguese. The word appears to be Arabic al-juljulān, which was pronounced in Spain al-jonjolīn (Dozy and Engelmann, 146-7), whence Spanish aljonjoli, Italian giuggiolino, zerzelino, &c., Port. girgelim, zirzelim, &c., Fr. jugeoline, &c., in the Philippine Islands ajonjoli. The proper H. name is til. It is the σήσαμον of Dioscorides (ii. 121), and of Theophrastus (Hist. Plant. i. 11). [See Watt, Econ. Dict. VI. ii. 510 seqq.]
1510.—"Much grain grows here (at Zeila) ... oil in great quantity, made not from olives, but from zerzalino."—Varthema, 86.
1552.—"There is a great amount of gergelim."—Castanheda, 24.
[1554.—"... oil of Jergelim and quoquo (Coco)."—Botelho, Tombo, 54.]
1599.—"... Oyle of Zezeline, which they make of a Seed, and it is very good to eate, or to fry fish withal."—C. Fredericke, ii. 358.
1606.—"They performed certain anointings of the whole body, when they baptized, with oil of coco-nut, or of gergelim."—Gouvea, f. 39.
c. 1610.—"I'achetay de ce poisson frit en l'huile de gerselin (petite semence comme nauete dont ils font huile) qui est de tres-mauvais goust."—Mocquet, 232.
[1638.—Mr. Whiteway notes that "in a letter of Amra Rodriguez to the King, of Nov. 30 (India Office MSS. Book of the Monssons, vol. iv.), he says: 'From Masulipatam to the furthest point of the Bay of Bengal runs the coast which we call that of Gergilim.' They got Gingeli thence, I suppose."]
c. 1661.—"La gente più bassa adopra un'altro olio di certo seme detto Telselin, che è una spezie del di setamo, ed è alquanto amarognolo."—Viag. del P. Gio. Grueber, in Thevenot, Voyages Divers.
1673.—"Dragmes de Soussamo ou graine de Georgeline."—App. to Journal d'Ant. Galland, ii. 206.
1675.—"Also much Oil of Sesamos or Jujoline is there expressed, and exported thence."—T. Heiden, Vervaerlyke Schipbreuk, 81.
1726.—"From Orixa are imported hither (Pulecat), with much profit, Paddy, also ... Gingeli-seed Oil...."—Valentijn, Chor. 14.
" "An evil people, gold, a drum, a wild horse, an ill conditioned woman, sugar-cane, Gergelim, a Bellale (or cultivator) without foresight—all these must be wrought sorely to make them of any good."—Native Apophthegms translated in Valentijn, v. (Ceylon) 390.
1727.—"The Men are bedaubed all over with red Earth, or Vermilion, and are continually squirting gingerly Oyl at one another."—A. Hamilton, i. 128; [ed. 1744, i. 130].
1807.—"The oil chiefly used here, both for food and unguent, is that of Sesamum, by the English called Gingeli, or sweet oil."—F. Buchanan, Mysore, &c. i. 8.
1874.—"We know not the origin of the word Gingeli, which Roxburgh remarks was (as it is now) in common use among Europeans."—Hanbury & Flückiger, 426.
1875.—"Oils, Jinjili or Til...."—Table of Customs Duties, imposed on Imports into B. India, up to 1875.
1876.—"There is good reason for believing that a considerable portion of the olive oil of commerce is but the Jinjili, or the ground-nut, oil of India, for besides large exports, of both oils to Europe, several thousand tons of the sesamum seed, and ground-nuts in smaller quantities, are exported annually from the south of India to France, where their oil is expressed, and finds its way into the market, as olive oil."—Suppl. Report on Supply of Drugs to India, by Dr. Paul, India Office, March, 1876.
GINGER, s. The root of Zingiber officinale, Roxb. We get this word from the Arabic zānjabīl, Sp. agengibre (al-zānjabīl), Port. gingibre, Latin zingiber, Ital. zenzero, gengiovo, and many other old forms.
The Skt. name is sṛiñgavera, professedly connected with sṛiñga, 'a horn,' from the antler-like form of the root. But this is probably an introduced word shaped by this imaginary etymology. Though ginger is cultivated all over India, from the Himālaya to the extreme south,[138] the best is grown in Malabar, and in the language of that province (Malayālam) green ginger is called inchi and inchi-ver, from inchi, 'root.' Inchi was probably in an earlier form of the language siñchi or chiñchi, as we find it in Canarese still sūnti, which is perhaps the true origin of the H. sonth for 'dry ginger,' [more usually connected with Skt. suṇṭhi, suṇṭh, 'to dry'].
It would appear that the Arabs, misled by the form of the name, attributed zānjabīl or zinjabīl, or ginger, to the coast of Zinj or Zanzibar; for it would seem to be ginger which some Arabic writers speak of as 'the plant of Zinj.' Thus a poet quoted by Kazwīnī enumerates among the products of India the shajr al-Zānij or Arbor Zingitana, along with shisham-wood, pepper, steel, &c. (see Gildemeister, 218). And Abulfeda says also: "At Melinda is found the plant of Zinj" (Geog. by Reinaud, i. 257). In Marino Sanudo's map of the world also (c. 1320) we find a rubric connecting Zinziber with Zinj. We do not indeed find ginger spoken of as a product of eastern continental Africa, though Barbosa says a large quantity was produced in Madagascar, and Varthema says the like of the Comoro Islands.
c. A.D. 65.—"Ginger (Ζιγγίβερις) is a special kind of plant produced for the most part in Troglodytic Arabia, where they use the green plant in many ways, as we do rue (πήγανον), boiling it and mixing it with drinks and stews. The roots are small, like those of cyperus, whitish, and peppery to the taste and smell...."—Dioscorides, ii. cap. 189.
c. A.D. 70.—"This pepper of all kinds is most biting and sharpe.... The blacke is more kindly and pleasant.... Many have taken Ginger (which some call Zimbiperi and others Zingiberi) for the root of that tree; but it is not so, although in tast it somewhat resembleth pepper.... A pound of Ginger is commonly sold at Rome for 6 deniers...."—Pliny, by Ph. Holland, xii. 7.
c. 620-30.—"And therein shall they be given to drink a cup of wine, mixed with the water of Zenjebil...."—The Koran, ch. lxxvi. (by Sale).
c. 940.—"Andalusia possesses considerable silver and quicksilver mines.... They export from it also saffron, and roots of ginger (? 'arūḳ al-zanjabīl)."—Maṣ'ūdi, i. 367.
1298.—"Good ginger (gengibre) also grows here (at Coilum—see QUILON), and it is known by the same name of Coilumin, after the country."—Marco Polo, Bk. III. ch. 22.
c. 1343.—"Giengiovo si è di piu maniere, cioe belledi (see COUNTRY), e colombino, e micchino, e detti nomi portano per le contrade, onde sono nati ispezialmente il colombino e il micchino, che primieramente il belledi nasce in molte contrade dell'India, e il colombino nasce nel Isola del Colombo d'India, ed ha la scorza sua piana, e delicata, e cenerognola; e il micchino viene dalle contrade del Mecca ... e ragiona che il buono giengiovo dura buono 10 anni," &c.—Pegolotti, in Della Decima, iii. 361.
c. 1420.—"His in regionibus (Malabar) gingiber oritur, quod belledi (see COUNTRY), gebeli et neli[139] vulgo appellatur. Radices sunt arborum duorum cubitorum altitudine, foliis magnis instar enulae (elecampane), duro cortice, veluti arundinum radices, quae fructum tegunt; ex eis extrahitur gingiber, quod immistum cineri, ad solemque expositum, triduo exsiccatur."—N. Conti, in Poggio.
1580.—In a list of drugs sold at Ormuz we find
Zenzeri da buli (presumably from Dabul.) Zen"eri mordaci Zen"eri Mecchini Zen"eri beledi Zenzero condito in giaga (preserved in Jaggery?) —Gasparo Balbi, f. 54.
GINGERLY, s. A coin mentioned as passing in Arabian ports by Milburn (i. 87, 91). Its country and proper name are doubtful. [The following quotations show that Gingerlee or Gergelin was a name for part of the E. coast of India, and Mr. Whiteway (see GINGELI) conjectures that it was so called because the oil was produced there.] But this throws no light on the gold coin of Milburn.
1680-81.—"The form of the pass given to ships and vessels, and Register of Passes given (18 in all), bound to Jafnapatam, Manilla, Mocha, Gingerlee, Tenasserim, &c."—Fort St. Geo. Cons. Notes and Exts., App. No. iii. p. 47.
1701.—The Carte Marine depuis Suratte jusqu'au Detroit de Malaca, par le R. Père P. P. Tachard, shows the coast tract between Vesegapatam and Iagrenate as Gergelin.
1753.—"Some authors give the Coast between the points of Devi and Gaudewari, the name of the Coast of Gergelin. The Portuguese give the name of Gergelim to the plant which the Indians call Ellu, from which they extract a kind of oil."—D'Anville, 134.
[Mr. Pringle (Diary Fort St. Geo. 1st ser. iii. 170) identifies the Gingerly Factory with Vizagapatam. See also i. 109; ii. 99.]
GINGHAM, s. A kind of stuff, defined in the Draper's Dictionary as made from cotton yarn dyed before being woven. The Indian ginghams were apparently sometimes of cotton mixt with some other material. The origin of this word is obscure, and has been the subject of many suggestions. Though it has long passed into the English language, it is on the whole most probable that, like chintz and calico, the term was one originating in the Indian trade.
We find it hardly possible to accept the derivation, given by Littré, from "Guingamp, ville de Bretagne, où il y a des fabriques de tissus." This is also alleged, indeed, in the Encycl. Britannica, 8th ed., which states, under the name of Guingamp, that there are in that town manufactures of ginghams, to which the town gives its name. [So also in 9th ed.] We may observe that the productions of Guingamp, and of the Côtes-du-Nord generally, are of linen, a manufacture dating from the 15th century. If it could be shown that gingham was either originally applied to linen fabrics, or that the word occurs before the Indian trade began, we should be more willing to admit the French etymology as possible.
The Penny Cyclopaedia suggests a derivation from guingois, 'awry.' "The variegated, striped, and crossed patterns may have suggested the name."
'Civilis,' a correspondent of Notes and Queries (5 ser. ii. 366, iii. 30) assigns the word to an Indian term, ginghām, a stuff which he alleges to be in universal use by Hindu women, and a name which he constantly found, when in judicial employment in Upper India, to be used in inventories of stolen property and the like. He mentions also that in Sir G. Wilkinson's Egypt, the word is assigned to an Egyptian origin. The alleged Hind. word is unknown to us and to the dictionaries; if used as 'Civilis' believes, it was almost certainly borrowed from the English term.
It is likely enough that the word came from the Archipelago. Jansz's Javanese Dict. gives "ginggang, a sort of striped or chequered East Indian lijnwand," the last word being applied to cotton as well as linen stuffs, equivalent to French toile. The verb ginggang in Javanese is given as meaning 'to separate, to go away,' but this seems to throw no light on the matter; nor can we connect the name with that of a place on the northern coast of Sumatra, a little E. of Acheen, which we have seen written Gingham (see Bennett's Wanderings, ii. 5, 6; also Elmore, Directory to India and China Seas, 1802, pp. 63-64). This place appears prominently as Gingion in a chart by W. Herbert, 1752. Finally, Bluteau gives the following:—"Guingam. So in some parts of the kingdom (Portugal) they call the excrement of the Silkworm, Bombicis excrementum. Guingão. A certain stuff which is made in the territories of the Mogul. Beirames, guingoens, Canequis, &c. (Godinho, Viagam da India, 44)." Wilson gives kinḍan as the Tamil equivalent of gingham, and perhaps intends to suggest that it is the original of this word. The Tamil Dict. gives "kinḍan, a kind of coarse cotton cloth, striped or chequered." [The Madras Gloss. gives Can. ginta, Tel. gintena, Tam. kinḍan, with the meaning of "double-thread texture." The N.E.D., following Scott, Malayan Words in English, 142 seq., accepts the Javanese derivation as given above: "Malay ginggang ... a striped or checkered cotton fabric known to Europeans in the East as 'gingham.' As an adjective, the word means, both in Malay and Javanese, where it seems to be original, 'striped.' The full expression is kāin ginggang, 'striped cloth' (Grashuis). The Tamil 'kinḍan, a kind of coarse cotton cloth, striped or chequered' (quoted in Yule), cannot be the source of the European forms, nor, I think, of the Malayan forms. It must be an independent word, or a perversion of the Malayan term." On the other hand, Prof. Skeat rejects the Eastern derivation on the ground that "no one explains the spelling. The right explanation is simply that gingham is an old English spelling of Guingamp. See the account of the 'towne of Gyngham' in the Paston Letters, ed. Gairdner, iii. 357." (8th ser. Notes and Queries, iv. 386.)]
c. 1567.—Cesare Federici says there were at Tana many weavers who made "ormesini e gingani di lana e di bombaso"—ginghams of wool and cotton.—Ramusio, iii. 387v.
1602.—"With these toils they got to Arakan, and took possession of two islets which stood at the entrance, where they immediately found on the beach two sacks of mouldy biscuit, and a box with some ginghams (guingões) in it."—De Couto, Dec. IV. liv. iv. cap. 10.
1615.—"Captain Cock is of opinion that the ginghams, both white and browne, which yow sent will prove a good commodity in the Kinge of Shashmahis cuntry, who is a Kinge of certaine of the most westermost ilandes of Japon ... and hath conquered the ilandes called The Leques."—Letter appd. to Cocks's Diary, ii. 272.
1648.—"The principal names (of the stuffs) are these: Gamiguins, Baftas, Chelas (see PIECE-GOODS), Assamanis (asmānīs? sky-blues), Madafoene, Beronis (see BEIRAMEE), Tricandias, Chittes (see CHINTZ), Langans (see LUNGOOTY?), Toffochillen (Tafṣīla, a gold stuff from Mecca; see ADATI, ALLEJA), Dotias (see DHOTY)."—Van Twist, 63.
1726.—In a list of cloths at Pulicat:
"Gekeperde Ginggangs (Twilled ginghams) Ditto Chialones (shaloons?)"—Valentijn, Chor. 14.
Also
"Bore (?) Gingganes driedraad."—v. 128.
1770.—"Une centaine de balles de mouchoirs, de pagnes, et de guingans, d'un très beau rouge, que les Malabares fabriquent à Gaffanapatam, où ils sont établis depuis très longtemps."—Raynal, Hist. Philos., ii. 15, quoted by Littré.
1781.—"The trade of Fort St. David's consists in longcloths of different colours, sallamporees, morees, dimities, Ginghams, and succatoons."—Carraccioli's L. of Clive, i. 5. [Mr. Whiteway points out that this is taken word for word from Hamilton, New Account (i. 355), who wrote 40 years before.]
" "Sadras est renommé par ses guingans, ses toiles peintes; et Paliacate par ses mouchoirs."—Sonnerat, i. 41.
1793.—"Even the gingham waistcoats, which striped or plain have so long stood their ground, must, I hear, ultimately give way to the stronger kerseymere (q.v.)."—Hugh Boyd, Indian Observer, 77.
1796.—"Guingani are cotton stuffs of Bengal and the Coromandel coast, in which the cotton is interwoven with thread made from certain barks of trees."—Fra Paolino, Viaggio, p. 35.
GINGI, JINJEE, &c., n.p. Properly Chenji, [Shenji; and this from Tam. shingi, Skt. sṛingi, 'a hill']. A once celebrated hill-fortress in S. Arcot, 50 [44] m. N.E. of Cuddalore, 35 m. N.W. from Pondicherry, and at one time the seat of a Mahratta principality. It played an important part in the wars of the first three-quarters of the 18th century, and was held by the French from 1750 to 1761. The place is now entirely deserted.
c. 1616.—"And then they were to publish a proclamation in Negapatam, that no one was to trade at Tevenapatam, at Porto Novo, or at any other port of the Naik of Ginja, or of the King of Massulapatam, because these were declared enemies of the state, and all possible war should be made on them for having received among them the Hollanders...."—Bocarro, p. 619.
1675.—"Approve the treaty with the Cawn [see KHAN] of Chengie."—Letter from Court to Fort St. Geo. In Notes and Exts., No. i. 5.
1680.—"Advice received ... that Santogee, a younger brother of Sevagee's, had seized upon Rougnaut Pundit, the Soobidar of Chengy Country, and put him in irons."—Ibid. No. iii. 44.
1752.—"It consists of two towns, called the Great and Little Gingee.... They are both surrounded by one wall, 3 miles in circumference, which incloses the two towns, and five mountains of ragged rock, on the summits of which are built 5 strong forts.... The place is inaccessible, except from the east and south-east.... The place was well supplied with all manner of stores, and garrisoned by 150 Europeans, and sepoys and black people in great numbers...."—Cambridge, Account of the War, &c., 32-33.
GINSENG, s. A medical root which has an extraordinary reputation in China as a restorative, and sells there at prices ranging from 6 to 400 dollars an ounce. The plant is Aralia Ginseng, Benth. (N.O. Araliaceae). The second word represents the Chinese name Jên-Shên. In the literary style the drug is called simply Shên. And possibly Jên, or 'Man,' has been prefixed on account of the forked radish, man-like aspect of the root. European practitioners do not recognise its alleged virtues. That which is most valued comes from Corea, but it grows also in Mongolia and Manchuria. A kind much less esteemed, the root of Panax quinquefolium, L., is imported into China from America. A very closely-allied plant occurs in the Himālaya, A. Pseudo-Ginseng, Benth. Ginseng is first mentioned by Alv. Semedo (Madrid, 1642). [See Ball, Things Chinese, 268 seq., where Dr. P. Smith seems to believe that it has some medicinal value.]
GIRAFFE, s. English, not Anglo-Indian. Fr. girafe, It. giraffa, Sp. and Port. girafa, old Sp. azorafa, and these from Ar. al-zarāfa, a cameleopard. The Pers. surnāpa, zurnāpa, seems to be a form curiously divergent of the same word, perhaps nearer the original. The older Italians sometimes make giraffa into seraph. It is not impossible that the latter word, in its biblical use, may be radically connected with giraffe.
The oldest mention of the animal is in the Septuagint version of Deut. xiv. 5, where the word zămăr, rendered in the English Bible 'chamois,' is translated καμηλοπαρδάλις; and so also in the Vulgate camelopardalus, [probably the 'wild goat' of the Targums, not the giraffe (Encycl. Bibl. i. 722)]. We quote some other ancient notices of the animal, before the introduction of the word before us:
c. B.C. 20.—"The animals called camelopards (καμηλοπαρδάλεις) present a mixture of both the animals comprehended in this appellation. In size they are smaller than camels, and shorter in the neck; but in the distinctive form of the head and eyes. In the curvature of the back again they have some resemblance to a camel, but in colour and hair, and in the length of tail, they are like panthers."—Diodorus, ii. 51.
c. A.D. 20.—"Camelleopards (καμηλοπαρδάλεις) are bred in these parts, but they do not in any respect resemble leopards, for their variegated skin is more like the streaked and spotted skin of fallow deer. The hinder quarters are so very much lower than the fore quarters, that it seems as if the animal sat upon its rump.... It is not, however, a wild animal, but rather like a domesticated beast; for it shows no sign of a savage disposition."—Strabo, Bk. XVI. iv. § 18, E.T. by Hamilton and Falconer.
c. A.D. 210.—Athenaeus, in the description which he quotes of the wonderful procession of Ptolemy Philadelphus at Alexandria, besides many other strange creatures, details 130 Ethiopic sheep, 20 of Eubœa, 12 white koloi, 26 Indian oxen, 8 Aethiopic, a huge white bear, 14 pardales and 16 panthers, 4 lynxes, 3 arkēloi, one camēlopardalis, 1 Ethiopic Rhinoceros.—Bk. V. cap. xxxii.
c. A.D. 520.—
"Ἔννεπέ μοι κἀκεῖνα, πολύθρος Μοῦσα λιγεῖα, μικτὰ φύσιν θηρῶν, διχόθεν κεκερασμένα, φῦλα, πάρδαλιν αἰολόνωτον ὁμοῦ ξυνήν τε κάμηλον. * * * * * * * * Δειρή οἱ ταναὴ, στικτὸν δέμας, οὖατα βαιὰ, ψιλὸν ὕπερθε κάρη, δολιχοὶ πόδες εὐρέα ταρσὰ, κώλων δ' οὐκ ἴσα μέτρα, πόδες τ' οὐ πάμπαν ὁμοῖοι, ἀλλ' οἱ πρόσθεν ἔασιν ἀρείονες, ὑστάτιοι δὲ πολλὸν ὀλιζότεροι."—κ. τ. λ. Oppiani Cynegetica, iii. 461 seqq.
c. 380.—"These also presented gifts, among which besides other things a certain species of animal, of nature both extraordinary and wonderful. In size it was equal to a camel, but the surface of its skin marked with flower-like spots. Its hinder parts and the flanks were low, and like those of a lion, but the shoulders and forelegs and chest were much higher in proportion than the other limbs. The neck was slender, and in regard to the bulk of the rest of the body was like a swan's throat in its elongation. The head was in form like that of a camel, but in size more than twice that of a Libyan ostrich.... Its legs were not moved alternately, but by pairs, those on the right side being moved together, and those on the left together, first one side and then the other.... When this creature appeared the whole multitude was struck with astonishment, and its form suggesting a name, it got from the populace, from the most prominent features of its body, the improvised name of camelopardalis."—Heliodorus, Aethiopica, x. 27.
c. 940.—"The most common animal in those countries is the giraffe (Zarāfa) ... some consider its origin to be a variety of the camel; others say it is owing to a union of the camel with the panther: others in short that it is a particular and distinct species, like the horse, the ass, or the ox, and not the result of any cross-breed.... In Persian the giraffe is called Ushturgāo ('camel-cow'). It used to be sent as a present from Nubia to the kings of Persia, as in later days it was sent to the Arab princes, to the first khālifs of the house of 'Abbās, and to the Wālis of Misr.... The origin of the giraffe has given rise to numerous discussions. It has been noticed that the panther of Nubia attains a great size, whilst the camel of that country is of low stature, with short legs," &c., &c.—Maṣ'ūdī, iii. 3-5.
c. 1253.—"Entre les autres joiaus que il (le Vieil de la Montagne) envoia au Roy, li envoia un oliphant de cristal mout bien fait, et une beste que l'on appelle orafle, de cristal aussi."—Joinville, ed. de Wailly, 250.
1271.—"In the month of Jumada II. a female giraffe in the Castle of the Hill (at Cairo) gave birth to a young one, which was nursed by a cow."—Makrizi (by Quatremère), i. pt. 2, 106.
1298.—"Mais bien ont giraffes assez qui naissent en leur pays."—Marco Polo, Pauthier's ed., p. 701.
1336.—"Vidi in Kadro (Cairo) animal geraffan nomine, in anteriori parte multum elevatum, longissimum collum habens, ita ut de tecto domus communis altitudinis comedere possit. Retro ita demissum est ut dorsum ejus manu hominis tangi possit. Non est ferox animal, sed ad modum jumenti pacificum, colore albo et rubeo pellem habens ordinatissime decoratam."—Gul. de Boldensele, 248-249.
1384.—"Ora racconteremo della giraffa che bestia ella è. La giraffa è fatta quasi come lo struzzolo, salvo che l'imbusto suo non ha penne ('just like an ostrich, except that it has no feathers on its body'!) anzi ha lana branchissima ... ella è veramente a vedere una cosa molto contraffatta."—Simone Sigoli, V. al Monte Sinai, 182.
1404.—"When the ambassadors arrived in the city of Khoi, they found in it an ambassador, whom the Sultan of Babylon had sent to Timour Bey.... He had also with him 6 rare birds and a beast called jornufa ..." (then follows a very good description).—Clavijo, by Markham, pp. 86-87.
c. 1430.—"Item, I have also been in Lesser India, which is a fine Kingdom. The capital is called Dily. In this country are many elephants, and animals called surnasa (for surnafa), which is like a stag, but is a tall animal and has a long neck, 4 fathoms in length or longer."—Schiltberger, Hak. Soc. 47.
1471.—"After this was brought foorthe a giraffa, which they call Girnaffa, a beaste as long legged as a great horse, or rather more; but the hinder legges are halfe a foote shorter than the former," &c. (The Italian in Ramusio, ii. f. 102, has "vna Zirapha, la quale essi chiamano Zirnapha ouer Giraffa.")—Josafa Barbaro, in Venetians in Persia, Hak. Soc. 54.
1554.—"Il ne fut onc que les grands seigneurs quelques barbares qu'ilz aient esté, n'aimassent qu'on leurs presentast les bestes d'estranges pais. Aussi en auons veu plusieurs au chasteau du Caire ... entre lesquelles est celle qu'ilz nomment vulgairement Zurnapa."—P. Belon, f. 118. It is remarkable to find Belon adopting this Persian form in Egypt.
GIRJA, s. This is a word for a Christian church, commonly used on the Bengal side of India, from Port. igreja, itself a corruption of ecclesia. Khāfī Khān (c. 1720) speaking of the Portuguese at Hoogly, says they called their places of worship Kalīsā (Elliot, vii. 211). No doubt Kalīsā, as well as igreja, is a form of ecclesia, but the superficial resemblance is small, so it may be suspected that the Musulman writer was speaking from book-knowledge only.
1885.—"It is related that a certain Maulví, celebrated for the power of his curses, was called upon by his fellow religionists to curse a certain church built by the English in close proximity to a Masjid. Anxious to stand well with them, and at the same time not to offend his English rulers, he got out of the difficulty by cursing the building thus:
'Gir jā ghar! Gir jā ghar! Gir jā!'
(i.e.) 'Fall down, house! Fall down, house! Fall down!' or simply
'Church-house! Church-house! Church!'"—W. J. D'Gruyther, in Panjab Notes and Queries, ii. 125.
The word is also in use in the Indian Archipelago:
1885.—"The village (of Wai in the Moluccas) is laid out in rectangular plots.... One of its chief edifices is the Gredja, whose grandeur quite overwhelmed us; for it is far more elaborately decorated than many a rural parish church at home."—H. O. Forbes, A Naturalist's Wanderings, p. 294.
GOA, n.p. Properly Gowa, Gova, Mahr. Goven, [which the Madras Gloss. connects with Skt. go, 'a cow,' in the sense of the 'cowherd country']. The famous capital of the Portuguese dominions in India since its capture by Albuquerque in 1510. In earlier history and geography the place appears under the name of Sindābūr or Sandābūr (Sundāpūr?) (q.v.). Govā or Kuva was an ancient name of the southern Konkan (see in H. H. Wilson's Works, Vishnu Purana, ii. 164, note 20). We find the place called by the Turkish admiral Sidi 'Ali Gowai-Sandābūr, which may mean "Sandābūr of Gova."
1391.—In a copper grant of this date (S. 1313) we have mention of a chief city of Kankan (see CONCAN) called Gowa and Gowāpūra. See the grant as published by Major Legrand Jacob in J. Bo. Br. B. As. Soc. iv. 107. The translation is too loose to make it worth while to transcribe a quotation; but it is interesting as mentioning the reconquest of Goa from the Turushkas, i.e. Turks or foreign Mahommedans. We know from Ibn Batuta that Mahommedan settlers at Hunāwar had taken the place about 1344.
1510 (but referring to some years earlier). "I departed from the city of Dabuli aforesaid, and went to another island which is about a mile distant from the mainland and is called Goga.... In this island there is a fortress near the sea, walled round after our manner, in which there is sometimes a captain who is called Savaiu, who has 400 mamelukes, he himself being also a mameluke."—Varthema, 115-116.
c. 1520.—"In the Island of Tissoury, in which is situated the city of Goa, there are 31 aldeas, and these are as follows...."—In Archiv. Port. Orient., fasc. 5.
c. 1554.—"At these words (addressed by the Vizir of Guzerat to a Portuguese Envoy) my wrath broke out, and I said: 'Malediction! You have found me with my fleet gone to wreck, but please God in his mercy, before long, under favour of the Pādshāh, you shall be driven not only from Hormuz, but from Diu and Gowa too!'"—Sidi 'Ali Kapudān, in J. Asiat. Ser. I. tom. ix. 70.
1602.—"The island of Goa is so old a place that one finds nothing in the writings of the Canaras (to whom it always belonged) about the beginning of its population. But we find that it was always so frequented by strangers that they used to have a proverbial saying: 'Let us go and take our ease among the cool shades of Goe moat,' which in the old language of the country means 'the cool fertile land.'"—Couto, IV. x. cap. 4.
1648.—"All those that have seen Europe and Asia agree with me that the Port of Goa, the Port of Constantinople, and the Port of Toulon, are three of the fairest Ports of all our vast continent."—Tavernier, E.T. ii. 74; [ed. Ball, i. 186].
GOA PLUM. The fruit of Parinarium excelsum, introduced at Goa from Mozambique, called by the Portuguese Matomba. "The fruit is almost pure brown sugar in a paste" (Birdwood, MS.).
GOA POTATO. Dioscorea aculeata (Birdwood, MS.).
GOA POWDER. This medicine, which in India is procured from Goa only, is invaluable in the virulent eczema of Bombay, and other skin diseases. In eczema it sometimes acts like magic, but smarts like the cutting of a knife. It is obtained from Andira Araroba (N.O. Leguminosae), a native (we believe) of S. America. The active principle is Chrysophanic acid (Commn. from Sir G. Birdwood).
GOA STONE. A factitious article which was in great repute for medical virtues in the 17th century. See quotation below from Mr. King. Sir G. Birdwood tells us it is still sold in the Bombay Bazar.
1673.—"The Paulistines enjoy the biggest of all the Monasteries at St. Roch; in it is a Library, an Hospital, and an Apothecary's Shop well furnished with Medicines, where Gasper Antonio, a Florentine, a Lay-Brother of the Order, the Author of the Goa-Stones, brings them in 50,000 Xerephins, by that invention Annually; he is an Old Man, and almost Blind."—Fryer, 149-150.
1690.—"The double excellence of this Stone (snake-stone) recommends its worth very highly ... and much excels the deservedly famed Gaspar Antoni, or Goa Stone."—Ovington, 262.
1711.—"Goa Stones or Pedra de Gasper Antonio, are made by the Jesuits here: They are from ¼ to 8 Ounces each; but the Sise makes no Difference in the Price: We bought 11 Ounces for 20 Rupees. They are often counterfeited, but 'tis an easie Matter for one who has seen the right Sort, to discover it.... Manooch's Stones at Fort St. George come the nearest to them ... both Sorts are deservedly cried up for their Vertues."—Lockyer, 268.
1768-71.—"Their medicines are mostly such as are produced in the country. Amongst others, they make use of a kind of little artificial stone, that is manufactured at Goa, and possesses a strong aromatic scent. They give scrapings of this, in a little water mixed with sugar, to their patients."—Stavorinus, E.T. i. 454.
1867.—"The Goa-Stone was in the 16th (?) and 17th centuries as much in repute as the Bezoar, and for similar virtues ... It is of the shape and size of a duck's egg, has a greyish metallic lustre, and though hard, is friable. The mode of employing it was to take a minute dose of the powder scraped from it in one's drink every morning ... So precious was it esteemed that the great usually carried it about with them in a casket of gold filigree."—Nat. Hist. of Gems, by C. W. King, M.A., p. 256.
GOBANG, s. The game introduced some years ago from Japan. The name is a corr. of Chinese K'i-p'an, 'checker-board.'
[1898.—"Go, properly gomoku narabe, often with little appropriateness termed 'checkers' by European writers, is the most popular of the indoor pastimes of the Japanese,—a very different affair from the simple game known to Europeans as Goban or Gobang, properly the name of the board on which go is played."—Chamberlain, Things Japanese, 3rd ed., 190 seq., where a full account of the game will be found.]
GODAVERY, n.p. Skt. Godāvarī, 'giving kine.' Whether this name of northern etymology was a corruption of some indigenous name we know not. [The Dravidian name of the river is Goday (Tel. gode, 'limit'), of which the present name is possibly a corruption.] It is remarkable how the Godavery is ignored by writers and map-makers till a comparatively late period, with the notable exception of D. João de Castro, in a work, however, not published till 1843. Barros, in his trace of the coasts of the Indies (Dec. I. ix. cap. 1), mentions Gudavarij as a place adjoining a cape of the same name (which appears in some much later charts as C. Gordewar), but takes no notice of the great river, so far as we are aware, in any part of his history. Linschoten also speaks of the Punto de Guadovaryn, but not of the river. Nor does his map show the latter, though showing the Kistna distinctly. The small general map of India in "Cambridge's Acc. of the War in India," 1761, confounds the sources of the Godavery with those of the Mahanadi (of Orissa) and carries the latter on to combine with the western rivers of the Ganges Delta. This was evidently the prevailing view until Rennell published the first edition of his Memoir (1783), in which he writes: