S (continued 3)

[1598.—"Cheyla," in Linschoten, i. 91.

[1800.—"Shillas, or thin white muslins.... They are very coarse, and are sometimes striped, and then called Dupattas (see DOOPUTTY)."—Buchanan, Mysore, ii. 240.]

1809.—"The shalie, a long piece of coloured silk or cotton, is wrapped round the waist in the form of a petticoat, which leaves part of one leg bare, whilst the other is covered to the ancle with long and graceful folds, gathered up in front, so as to leave one end of the shalie to cross the breast, and form a drapery, which is sometimes thrown over the head as a veil."—Maria Graham, 3. [But, as Sir H. Yule suggested, in this form the word may represent Saree.]

1813.—"Red Shellas or Salloes...."—Milburne, i. 124.

[ " "His shela, of fine cloth, with a silk or gold thread border...."—Trans. Lit. Soc. Bo. iii. 219 seq.

[1900.—"Sela Dupatta—worn by men over shoulders, tucked round waist, ends hanging in front ... plain body and borders richly ornamented with gold thread; white, yellow, and green; worn in full dress, sometimes merely thrown over shoulders, with the ends hanging in front from either shoulder."—Yusuf Ali, Mon. on Silk, 72.

The following may represent the same word, or be perhaps connected with P.—H. chilla, 'a selvage, gold threads in the border of a turban, &c.'

[1610.—"Tsyle, the corge, Rs. 70."—Danvers, Letters, i. 72.]

1615.—"320 pieces red zelas."—Foster, Letters, iv. 129. The same word is used by Cocks, Diary, Hak. Soc. i. 4.

SHAMA, s. Hind. shāmā [Skt. syāma, 'black, dark-coloured.'] A favourite song-bird and cage-bird, Kitta cincla macrura, Gmel. "In confinement it imitates the notes of other birds, and of various animals, with ease and accuracy" (Jerdon). The long tail seems to indicate the identity of this bird rather than the mainā (see MYNA) with that described by Aelian. [Mr. M‘Crindle (Invasion of India, 186) favours the identification of the bird with the Mainā.]

c. A.D. 250.—"There is another bird found among the Indians, which is of the size of a starling. It is particoloured; and in imitating the voice of man it is more loquacious and clever than a parrot. But it does not readily bear confinement, and yearning for liberty, and longing for intercourse with its kind, it prefers hunger to bondage with fat living. The Macedonians who dwell among the Indians, in the city of Bucephala and thereabouts ... call the bird κερκίων ('Taily'); and the name arose from the fact that the bird twitches his tail just like a wagtail."—Aelian, de Nat. Anim. xvi. 3.

SHAMAN, SHAMANISM, s. These terms are applied in modern times to superstitions of the kind that connects itself with exorcism and "devil-dancing" as their most prominent characteristic, and which are found to prevail with wonderful identity of circumstance among non-Caucasian races over parts of the earth most remote from one another; not only among the vast variety of Indo-Chinese tribes, but among the Dravidian tribes of India, the Veddahs of Ceylon, the races of Siberia, and the red nations of N. and S. America. "Hinduism has assimilated these 'prior superstitions of the sons of Tur,' as Mr. Hodgson calls them, in the form of Tantrika mysteries, whilst, in the wild performance of the Dancing Dervishes at Constantinople, we see, perhaps, again, the infection of Turanian blood breaking out from the very heart of Mussulman orthodoxy" (see Notes to Marco Polo, Bk. II. ch. 50). The characteristics of Shamanism is the existence of certain sooth-sayers or medicine-men, who profess a special art of dealing with the mischievous spirits who are supposed to produce illness and other calamities, and who invoke these spirits and ascertain the means of appeasing them, in trance produced by fantastic ceremonies and convulsive dancings.

The immediate origin of the term is the title of the spirit-conjuror in the Tunguz language, which is shaman, in that of the Manchus becoming saman, pl. samasa. But then in Chinese Sha-măn or Shi-măn is used for a Buddhist ascetic, and this would seem to be taken from the Skt. śramana, Pali samana. Whether the Tanguz word is in any way connected with this or adopted from it, is a doubtful question. W. Schott, who has treated the matter elaborately (Über den Doppelsinn des Wortes Schamane und über den tungusichen Schamanen-Cultus am Hofe der Mandju Kaisern, Berlin Akad. 1842), finds it difficult to suppose any connection. We, however, give a few quotations relating to the two words in one series. In the first two the reference is undoubtedly to Buddhist ascetics.

c. B.C. 320.—"Τοὺς δὲ Σαρμάνας, τοὺς μὲν ἐντιμοτάτους Ὑλοβίους φησὶν ὀνομάζεσθαι, ζῶντας ἐν ταῖς ὕλαις ἀπὸ φύλλων καὶ καρπῶν ἀγρίων, ἐσθῆτας δ' ἔχειν ἀπὸ φλοῖων δενδρέιων, ἀφροδισίων χωρὶς καὶ οἴνου."—From Megasthenes, in Strabo, xv.

c. 712.—"All the Samanís assembled and sent a message to Bajhrá, saying, "We are násik devotees. Our religion is one of peace and quiet, and fighting and slaying is prohibited, as well as all kinds of shedding of blood."—Chach Náma, in Elliot, i. 158.

1829.—"Kami is the Mongol name of the spirit-conjuror or sorcerer, who before the introduction of Buddhism exercised among the Mongols the office of Sacrificer and Priest, as he still does among the Tunguzes, Manjus, and other Asiatic tribes.... In Europe they are known by the Tunguz name schaman; among the Manjus as saman, and among the Tibetans as Hlaba. The Mongols now call them with contempt and abhorrence Böh or Böghe, i.e. 'Sorcerer,' 'Wizard,' and the women who give themselves to the like fooleries Udugun."—I. J. Schmidt, Notes to Sanang Setzen, p. 416.

1871.—"Among Siberian tribes, the shamans select children liable to convulsions as suitable to be brought up to the profession, which is apt to become hereditary with the epileptic tendencies it belongs to."—Tylor, Primitive Culture, ii. 121.

SHAMBOGUE, s. Canar. shāna- or sāna-bhoga; shanāya, 'allowance of grain paid to the village accountant,' Skt. bhoga, 'enjoyment.' A village clerk or accountant.

[c. 1766.—"... this order to be enforced in the accounts by the shanbague."—Logan, Malabar, iii. 120.

[1800.—"Shanaboga, called Shanbogue by corruption, and Curnum by the Musulmans, is the village accountant."—Buchanan's Mysore, i. 268.]

1801.—"When the whole kist is collected, the shanbogue and potail (see PATEL) carry it to the teshildar's cutcherry."—T. Munro, in Life, i. 316.

SHAMEEANA, SEMIANNA, s. Pers. shamiyāna or shāmiyāna [very doubtfully derived from Pers. shāh, 'king,' miyāna, 'centre'], an awning or flat tent-roof, sometimes without sides, but often in the present day with canauts; sometimes pitched like a porch before a large tent; often used by civil officers, when on tour, to hold their court or office proceedings coram populo, and in a manner generally accessible. [In the early records the word is used for a kind of striped calico.]

c. 1590.—"The Shāmyānah-awning is made of various sizes, but never more than of 12 yards square."—Āīn, i. 54.

[1609.—"A sort of Calico here called semijanes are also in abundance, it is broader than the Calico."—Danvers, Letters, i. 29.]

[1613.—"The Hector having certain chueckeros (chucker) of fine Semian chowters."—Ibid. i. 217. In Foster, iv. 239, semanes.]

1616.—"... there is erected a throne foure foote from the ground in the Durbar Court from the backe whereof, to the place where the King comes out, a square of 56 paces long, and 43 broad was rayled in, and covered with fair Semiaenes or Canopies of Cloth of Gold, Silke, or Velvet ioyned together, and sustained with Canes so covered."—Sir T. Roe, in Purchas, i.; Hak. Soc. i. 142.

[1676.—"We desire you to furnish him with all things necessary for his voyage, ... with bridle and sadle, Semeanoes, canatts (Canaut)...."—Forrest, Bombay Letters, i. 89.]

1814.—"I had seldom occasion to look out for gardens or pleasure grounds to pitch my tent or erect my Summiniana or Shamyana, the whole country being generally a garden."—Forbes, Or. Mem. ii. 455; 2nd ed. ii. 64. In ii. 294 he writes Shumeeana].

1857.—"At an early hour we retired to rest. Our beds were arranged under large canopies, open on all sides, and which are termed by the natives 'Shameanahs.'"—M. Thornhill, Personal Adventures, 14.

SHAMPOO, v. To knead and press the muscles with the view of relieving fatigue, &c. The word has now long been familiarly used in England. The Hind. verb is chāmpnā, from the imperative of which, chāmpō, this is most probably a corruption, as in the case of Bunow, Puckerow, &c. The process is described, though not named, by Terry, in 1616: "Taking thus their ease, they often call their Barbers, who tenderly gripe and smite their Armes and other parts of their bodies instead of exercise, to stirre the bloud. It is a pleasing wantonnesse, and much valued in these hot climes." (In Purchas, ii. 1475). The process was familiar to the Romans under the Empire, whose slaves employed in this way were styled tractator and tractatrix. [Perhaps the earliest reference to the practice is in Strabo (McCrindle, Ancient India, 72).] But with the ancients it seems to have been allied to vice, for which there is no ground that we know in the Indian custom.

1748.—"Shampooing is an operation not known in Europe, and is peculiar to the Chinese, which I had once the curiosity to go through, and for which I paid but a trifle. However, had I not seen several China merchants shampooed before me, I should have been apprehensive of danger, even at the sight of all the different instruments...." (The account is good, but too long for extract.)—A Voyage to the E. Indies in 1747 and 1748. London, 1762, p. 226.

1750-60.—"The practice of champing, which by the best intelligence I could gather is derived from the Chinese, may not be unworthy particularizing, as it is little known to the modern Europeans...."—Grose, i. 113. This writer quotes Martial, iii. Ep. 82, and Seneca, Epist. 66, to show that the practice was known in ancient Rome.

1800.—"The Sultan generally rose at break of day: after being champoed, and rubbed, he washed himself, and read the Koran for an hour."—Beatson, War with Tippoo, p. 159.

[1810.—"Shampoeing may be compared to a gentle kneading of the whole person, and is the same operation described by the voyagers to the Southern and Pacific ocean."—Wilks, Hist. Sketches, Madras reprint, i. 276.]

" "Then whilst they fanned the children, or champooed them if they were restless, they used to tell stories, some of which dealt of marvels as great as those recorded in the 1001 Nights."—Mrs. Sherwood, Autobiog. 410.

" "That considerable relief is obtained from shampoing, cannot be doubted; I have repeatedly been restored surprisingly from severe fatigue...."—Williamson, V. M. ii. 198.

1813.—"There is sometimes a voluptuousness in the climate of India, a stillness in nature, an indescribable softness, which soothes the mind, and gives it up to the most delightful sensations: independent of the effects of opium, champoing, and other luxuries indulged in by oriental sensualists."—Forbes, Or. Mem. i. 35; [2nd ed. i. 25.]

SHAN, n.p. The name which we have learned from the Burmese to apply to the people who call themselves the great T'ai, kindred to the Siamese, and occupying extensive tracts in Indo-China, intermediate between Burma, Siam, and China. They are the same people that have been known, after the Portuguese, and some of the early R. C. Missionaries, as Laos (q.v.); but we now give the name an extensive signification covering the whole race. The Siamese, who have been for centuries politically the most important branch of this race, call (or did call themselves—see De la Loubère, who is very accurate) T'ai-Noe or 'Little T'ai,' whilst they applied the term T'ai-Yai, or 'Great T'ai,' to their northern kindred or some part of these;^[244] sometimes also calling the latter T'ai-güt, or the 'Ta'i left behind.' The T'ai or Shan are certainly the most numerous and widely spread race in Indo-China, and innumerable petty Shan States exist on the borders of Burma, Siam, and China, more or less dependent on, or tributary to, their powerful neighbours. They are found from the extreme north of the Irawadi Valley, in the vicinity of Assam, to the borders of Camboja; and in nearly all we find, to a degree unusual in the case of populations politically so segregated, a certain homogeneity in language, civilisation, and religion (Buddhist), which seems to point to their former union in considerable States.

One branch of the race entered and conquered Assam in the 13th century, and from the name by which they were known, Ahom or Aham, was derived, by the frequent exchange of aspirant and sibilant, the name, just used, of the province itself. The most extensive and central Shan State, which occupied a position between Ava and Yunnan, is known in the Shan traditions as Mung-Mau, and in Burma by the Buddhisto-classical name of Kauśāmbi (from a famous city of that name in ancient India) corrupted by a usual process into Ko-Shan-pyi and interpreted to mean 'Nine-Shan-States.' Further south were those T'ai States which have usually been called Laos, and which formed several considerable kingdoms, going through many vicissitudes of power. Several of their capitals were visited and their ruins described by the late Francis Garnier, and the cities of these and many smaller States of the same race, all built on the same general quadrangular plan, are spread broadcast over that part of Indo-China which extends from Siam north of Yunnan.

Mr. Cushing, in the Introduction to his Shan Dictionary (Rangoon, 1881), divides the Shan family by dialectic indications into the Ahoms, whose language is now extinct, the Chinese Shan (occupying the central territory of what was Mau or Kauśāmbi), the Shan (Proper, or Burmese Shan), Laos (or Siamese Shan), and Siamese.

The term Shan is borrowed from the Burmese, in whose peculiar orthography the name, though pronounced Shān, is written rham. We have not met with its use in English prior to the Mission of Col. Symes in 1795. It appears in the map illustrating his narrative, and once or twice in the narrative itself, and it was frequently used by his companion, F. Buchanan, whose papers were only published many years afterwards in various periodicals difficult to meet with. It was not until the Burmese war of 1824-1826, and the active investigation of our Eastern frontier which followed, that the name became popularly known in British India. The best notice of the Shans that we are acquainted with is a scarce pamphlet by Mr. Ney Elias, printed by the Foreign Dept. of Calcutta in 1876 (Introd. Sketch of the Hist. of the Shans, &c.). [The ethnology of the race is discussed by J. G. Scott, Upper Burma Gazetteer, i. pt. i. 187 seqq. Also see Prince Henri d'Orleans, Du Tonkin aux Indes, 1898; H. S. Hallett, Among the Shans, 1885, and A Thousand Miles on an Elephant, 1890.]

Though the name as we have taken it is a Burmese oral form, it seems to be essentially a genuine ethnic name for the race. It is applied in the form Sam by the Assamese, and the Kakhyens; the Siamese themselves have an obsolete Siẽm (written Sieyam) for themselves, and Sieng (Sieyang) for the Laos. The former word is evidently the Sien, which the Chinese used in the compound Sien-lo (for Siam,—see Marco Polo, 2nd ed. Bk. iii. ch. 7, note 3), and from which we got, probably through a Malay medium, our Siam (q.v.). The Burmese distinguish the Siamese Shans as Yudia (see JUDEA) Shans, a term perhaps sometimes including Siam itself. Symes gives this (through Arakanese corruption) as 'Yoodra-Shaan,' and he also (no doubt improperly) calls the Manipūr people 'Cassay Shaan' (see CASSAY).

1795.—"These events did not deter Shanbuan from pursuing his favourite scheme of conquest to the westward. The fertile plains and populous towns of Munnipoora and the Cassay Shaan, attracted his ambition."—Symes, p. 77.

" "Zemee (see JANGOMAY), Sandapoora, and many districts of the Yoodra Shaan to the eastward, were tributary, and governed by Chobwas, who annually paid homage to the Birman king."—Ibid. 102.

" "Shaan, or Shan, is a very comprehensive term given to different nations, some independent, others the subjects of the greater states."—Ibid. 274.

c. 1818.—"... They were assisted by many of the Zaboà (see CHOBWA) or petty princes of the Sciam, subject to the Burmese, who, wearied by the oppressions and exactions of the Burmese Mandarins and generals, had revolted, and made common cause with the enemies of their cruel masters.... The war which the Burmese had to support with these enemies was long and disastrous ... instead of overcoming the Sciam (they) only lost day by day the territories ... and saw their princes range themselves ... under the protection of the King of Siam."—Sangermano, p. 57.

1861.—

Bhamo and Esmok were names constantly recurring in the late Capt. Spry's railway projects.

SHANBAFF, SINABAFF, &c., s. Pers. shānbāft. A stuff often mentioned in the early narratives as an export from Bengal and other parts of India. Perhaps indeed these names indicate two different stuffs, as we do not know what they were, except that (as mentioned below) the sinabaff was a fine white stuff. Sīnabāff is not in Vuller's Lexicon. Shānabāf is, and is explained as genus panni grossioris, sic descripta (E. T.): "A very coarse and cheap stuff which they make for the sleeves of ḳabās (see CABAYA) for sale."—Bahār-i-'Ajam. But this cannot have been the character of the stuffs sent by Sultan Mahommed Tughlak (as in the first quotation) to the Emperor of China. [Badger (quoted by Birdwood, Report on Old Records, 153) identifies the word with sīna-bāfta, 'China-woven' cloths.]

1343.—"When the aforesaid present came to the Sultan of India (from the Emp. of China) ... in return for this present he sent another of greater value ... 100 pieces of shīrīnbāf, and 500 pieces of shānbāf."—Ibn Batuta, iv. 3.

1498.—"The overseer of the Treasury came next day to the Captain-Major, and brought him 20 pieces of white stuff, very fine, with gold embroidery which they call beyramies (beiramee), and other 20 large white stuffs, very fine, which were named sinabafos...."—Correa, E.T. by Ld. Stanley, 197.

[1508.—See under ALJOFAR.]

1510.—"One of the Persians said: 'Let us go to our house, that is, to Calicut.' I answered, 'Do not go, for you will lose these fine sinabaph' (which were pieces of cloth we carried)."—Varthema, 269.

1516.—"The quintal of this sugar was worth two ducats and a half in Malabar, and a good Sinabáffo was worth two ducats."—Barbosa, 179.

[ " "Also they make other stuffs which they call Mamonas (Maḥmūdīs?), others duguazas (dogazīs?), others chautares (see chowtars, under PIECE-GOODS), others sinabafas, which last are the best, and which the Moors hold in most esteem to make shirts of."—Ibid., Lisbon ed. 362.]

SHASTER, s. The Law books or Sacred Writings of the Hindus. From Skt. śāstra, 'a rule,' a religious code, a scientific treatise.

1612.—"... They have many books in their Latin.... Six of these they call Xastra, which are the bodies; eighteen which they call Purána (Poorana), which are the limbs."—Couto, V. vi. 3.

1630.—"... The Banians deliver that this book, by them called the Shaster, or the Book of their written word, consisted of these three tracts."—Lord's Display, ch. viii.

1651.—In Rogerius, the word is everywhere misprinted Iastra.

1717.—"The six Sastrangól contain all the Points and different Ceremonies in Worship...."—Phillips's Account, 40.

1765.—"... at the capture of Calcutta, A.D. 1756, I lost many curious Gentoo manuscripts, and among them two very correct and valuable copies of the Gentoo Shastah."—J. Z. Holwell, Interesting Hist. Events, &c., 2d ed., 1766, i. 3.

1770.—"The Shastah is looked upon by some as a commentary on the vedam, and by others as an original work."—Raynal (tr. 1777), i. 50.

1776.—"The occupation of the Bramin should be to read the Beids, and other Shasters."—Halhed, Gentoo Code, 39.

[SHASTREE, s. Hind. śāstrī (see SHASTER). A man of learning, one who teaches any branch of Hindu learning, such as law.

[1824.—"Gungadhur Shastree, the minister of the Baroda state, ... was murdered by Trimbuckjee under circumstances which left no doubt that the deed was perpetrated with the knowledge of Bajerow."—Malcolm, Central India, 2nd ed. i. 307.]

SHAWL, s. Pers. and Hind. shāl, also doshāla, 'a pair of shawls.' The Persian word is perhaps of Indian origin, from Skt. śavala, 'variegated.' Sir George Birdwood tells us that he has found among the old India records "Carmania shells" and "Carmania shawools," meaning apparently Kermān shawls. He gives no dates unfortunately. [In a book of 1685 he finds "Shawles Carmania" and "Carmania Wooll"; in one of 1704, "Chawools" (Report on Old Records, 27, 40). Carmania goats are mentioned in a letter in Forrest, Bombay Letters, i. 140.] In Meninski (published in 1680) shāl is defined in a way that shows the humble sense of the word originally:

"Panni viliores qui partim albi, partim cineritii, partim nigri esse solent ex lana et pillis caprinis; hujusmodi pannum seu telam injiciunt humeris Dervisii ... instar stolae aut pallii." To this he adds, "Datur etiam sericea ejusmodi tela, fere instar nostri multitii, sive simplicis sive duplicati." For this the 2nd edition a century later substitutes: "Shāl-i-Hindī" (Indian shawl). "Tela sericea subtilissima ex India adferri solita."

c. 1590.—"In former times shawls were often brought from Kashmír. People folded them in four folds, and wore them for a very long time.... His Majesty encourages in every possible way the (shāl-bāfī) manufacture of shawls in Kashmír. In Lahór also there are more than 1000 workshops."—Āīn i. 92. [Also see ed. Jarrett, ii. 349, 355.]

c. 1665.—"Ils mettent sur eux a toute saison, lorsqu'ils sortent, une Chal, qui est une maniere de toilette d'une laine très-fine qui se fait a Cachmìr. Ces Chals ont environ deux aunes (the old French aune, nearly 47 inches English) de long sur une de large. On les achete vingt-cinq ou trente écus si elles sont fines. Il y en a même qui coûtent cinquante écus, mais ce sont les très-fines."—Thevenot, v. 110.

c. 1666.—"Ces chales sont certaines pièces d'étoffe d'une aulne et demie de long, et d'une de large ou environ, qui sont brodées aux deux bouts d'une espèce de broderie, faite au métier, d'un pied ou environ de large.... J'en ai vu de ceux que les Omrahs font faire exprès, qui coutoient jusqu'à cent cinquante Roupies; des autres qui sont de cette laine du pays, je n'en ai pas vu qui passaient 50 Roupies."—Bernier, ii. 280-281; [ed. Constable, 402].

1717.—"... Con tutto ciò preziosissime nobilissime e senza comparazione magnifiche sono le tele che si chiamano Scial, si nella lingua Hindustana, come ancora nella lingua Persiana. Tali Scial altro non sono, che alcuni manti, che si posano sulla testa, e facendo da man destra, e da man sinistra scendere le due metà, con queste si cinge...."—MS. Narrative of Padre Ip. Desideri.

[1662.—"Another rich Skarf, which they call schal, made of a very fine stuff."—J. Davies, Ambassador's Trav., Bk. vi. 235, Stanf. Dict.]

1727.—"When they go abroad they wear a Shawl folded up, or a piece of White Cotton Cloth lying loose on the Top of their Heads."—A. Hamilton, ii. 50; [Shaul in ed. 1744, ii. 49].

c. 1760.—"Some Shawls are manufactured there.... Those coming from the province of Cachemire on the borders of Tartary, being made of a peculiar kind of silky hair, that produces from the loom a cloth beautifully bordered at both ends, with a narrow flowered selvage, about two yards and a half long, and a yard and a half wide ... and according to the price, which is from ten pounds and upwards to fifteen shillings, join, to exquisite fineness, a substance that renders them extremely warm, and so pliant that the fine ones are easily drawn through a common ring on the finger."—Grose, i. 118.

1781.—Sonnerat writes challes. He says: "Ces étoffes (faites avec la laine des moutons de Tibet) surpassent nos plus belles soieries en finesse."—Voyage, i. 52.

It seems from these extracts that the large and costly shawl, woven in figures over its whole surface, is a modern article. The old shawl, we see, was from 6 to 8 feet long, by about half that breadth; and it was most commonly white, with only a border of figured weaving at each end. In fact what is now called a Rampoor Chudder when made with figured ends is probably the best representation of the old shawl.

SHEEAH, SHIA, s. Arab. shī'a, i.e. 'sect.' A follower (more properly the followers collectively) of the Mahommedan 'sect,' or sects rather, which specially venerate 'Ali, and regard the Imāms (see IMAUM), his descendants, as the true successors to the Caliphate. The Persians (since the accession of the 'Sophy' dynasty, (q.v.)) are Shī'as, and a good many of the Moslems in India. The sects which have followed more or less secret doctrines, and the veneration of hereditary quasi-divine heads, such as the Karmathites and Ismaelites of Musulman history, and the modern Bohras (see BORA) and "Mulāḥis," may generally be regarded as Shī'a. [See the elaborate article on the sect in Hughes, Dict. of Islām, 572 seqq.]

c. 1309.—"... dont encore il est ainsi, que tuit cil qui croient en la loy Haali dient que cil qui croient en la loy Mahommet sont mescréant; et aussi tuit cil qui croient en la loy Mahommet dient que tuit cil qui croient en la loy Haali sont mescréant."—Joinville, 252.

1553.—"Among the Moors have always been controversies ... which of the four first Caliphs was the most legitimate successor to the Caliphate. The Arabians favoured Bubac, Homar, and Otthoman, the Persians (Parseos) favoured Alle, and held the others for usurpers, and as holding it against the testament of Mahamed ... to the last this schism has endured between the Arabians and the Persians. The latter took the appellation Xiá, as much as to say 'Union of one Body,' and the Arabs called them in reproach Raffady [Rāfiḍī, a heretic (lit. 'deserter')], as much as to say 'People astray from the Path,' whilst they call themselves Çuny (see SUNNEE), which is the contrary."—Barros, II. x. 6.

1620.—"The Sonnite adherents of tradition, like the Arabs, the Turks, and an infinite number of others, accept the primacy of those who actually possess it. The Persians and their adherents who are called Shias (Sciai), i.e. 'Sectaries,' and are not ashamed of the name, believe in the primacy of those who have only claimed it (without possessing it), and obstinately contend that it belongs to the family of Alì only."—P. della Valle, ii. 75; [conf. Hak. Soc. i. 152].

1626.—"He is by Religion a Mahumetan, descended from Persian Ancestors, and retaineth their opinions, which differing in many points from the Turkes, are distinguished in their Sectes by tearmes of Seaw and Sunnee."—Purchas, Pilgrimage, 995.

1653.—"Les Persans et Keselbaches (Kuzzilbash) se disent Schaì ... si les Ottomans estoient Schaìs, ou de la Secte de Haly, les Persans se feroient Sonnis qui est la Secte des Ottomans."—De la Boullaye-le-Gouz, ed. 1657, 106.

1673.—"His Substitute here is a Chias Moor."—Fryer, 29.

1798.—"In contradistinction to the Soonis, who in their prayers cross their hands on the lower part of the breast, the Schiahs drop their arms in straight lines."—G. Forster, Travels, ii. 129.

1805.—"The word Sh'eeah, or Sheeut, properly signifies a troop or sect ... but has become the distinctive appellation of the followers of Aly, or all those who maintain that he was the first legitimate Khuleefah, or successor to Moohummad."—Baillie, Digest of Mah. Law, II. xii.

1869.—"La tolerance indienne est venue diminuer dans l'Inde le fanatisme Musulman. Là Sunnites et Schiites n'ont point entre eux cette animosité qui divise les Turcs et les Persans ... ces deux sectes divisent les musulmans de l'Inde; mais comme je viens de dire, elles n'excitent généralement entre eux aucune animosité."—Garcin de Tassy, Rel. Mus., p. 12.

SHEERMAUL, s. Pers.—Hind. shīrmāl, a cake made with flour, milk and leaven; a sort of brioche. [The word comes from Pers. shīr, 'milk,' māl, 'crushing.' Riddell (Domest. Econ. 461) gives a receipt for what he calls "Nauna Sheer Mhal," nān being Pers., 'bread.']

[1832.—"The dishes of meetah (miṭhā, 'sweet') are accompanied with the many varieties of bread common to Hindoostaun, without leaven, as Sheah-maul, bacherkaunie (bakir-khani), chapaatie (chupatty), &c.; the first two have milk and ghee mixed with the flour, and nearly resemble our pie-crust."—Mrs. Meer Hassan Ali, Observations, i. 101.

[SHEIKH, s. Ar. shaikh; an old man, elder, chief, head of an Arab tribe. The word should properly mean one of the descendants of tribes of genuine Arab descent, but at the present day, in India, it is often applied to converts to Islam from the lower Hindu tribes. For the use of the word in the sense of a saint, see under PEER.

[1598.—"Lieftenant (which the Arabians called zequen)."—Linschoten, Hak. Soc. i. 24.

[1625.—"They will not haue them iudged by any Custome, and they are content that their Xeque doe determine them as he list."—Purchas, Pilgrimage, ii. 1146.

1727.—"... but if it was so, that he (Abraham) was their Sheek, as they alledge, they neither follow him in Morals or Religion."—A. Hamilton, ed. 1744, i. 37.

[1835.—"Some parents employ a sheykh or fikee to teach their boys at home."—Lane, Mod. Egypt., ed. 1871, i. 77.]

SHERBET, s. Though this word is used in India by natives in its native (Arab. and Pers.) form sharbat,^[245] 'draught,' it is not a word now specially in Anglo-Indian use. The Arabic seems to have entered Europe by several different doors. Thus in Italian and French we have sorbetto and sorbet, which probably came direct from the Levantine or Turkish form shurbat or shorbat; in Sp. and Port. we have xarabe, axarabe (ash-sharāb, the standard Ar. sharāb, 'wine or any beverage'), and xarope, and from these forms probably Ital. sciroppo, siroppo, with old French ysserop and mod. French sirop; also English syrup, and more directly from the Spanish, shrub. Mod. Span. again gets, by reflection from French or Italian, sorbete and sîrop (see Dozy, 17, and Marcel Devic, s.v. sirop). Our sherbet looks as if it had been imported direct from the Levant. The form shrāb is applied in India to all wines and spirits and prepared drinks, e.g. Port-shraub, Sherry-shraub, Lall-shraub, Brandy-shraub, Beer-shraub.

c. 1334.—"... They bring cups of gold, silver, and glass, filled with sugar-candy-water; i.e. syrup diluted with water. They call this beverage sherbet" (ash-shurbat).—Ibn Batuta, iii. 124.

1554.—"... potio est gratissima praesertim ubi multa nive, quae Constantinopoli nullo tempore deficit, fuerit refirgerata, Arab Sorbet vocant, hoc est, potionem Arabicam."—Busbeq. Ep. i. p. 92.

1578.—"The physicians of the same country use this xarave (of tamarinds) in bilious and ardent fevers."—Acosta, 67.

c. 1580.—"Et saccharo potum jucundissimum parant quem Sarbet vocant."—Prosper Alpinus, Pt. i. p. 70.

1611.—"In Persia there is much good wine of grapes which is called Xaràb in the language of the country."—Teixeira, i. 16.

c. 1630.—"Their liquor may perhaps better delight you; 'tis faire water, sugar, rose-water, and juyce of Lemons mixt, call'd Sherbets or Zerbets, wholsome and potable."—Sir T. Herbert, ed. 1638, p. 241.

1682.—"The Moores ... dranke a little milk and water, but not a drop of wine; they also dranke a little sorbet, and jacolatt (see JOCOLE)."—Evelyn's Diary, Jan 24.

1827.—"On one occasion, before Barak-el-Hadgi left Madras, he visited the Doctor, and partook of his sherbet, which he preferred to his own, perhaps because a few glasses of rum or brandy were usually added to enrich the compound."—Sir W. Scott, The Surgeon's Daughter, ch. x.

1837.—"The Egyptians have various kinds of sherbets.... The most common kind (called simply shurbát or shurbát sook'har ...) is merely sugar and water ... lemonade (ley'moónáteh, or sharáb el-leymoón) is another."—Lane, Mod. Egypt., ed. 1837, i. 206.

1863.—"The Estate overseer usually gave a dance to the people, when the most dissolute of both sexes were sure to be present, and to indulge too freely in the shrub made for the occasion."—Waddell, 29 Years in the W. Indies, 17.

SHEREEF, s. Ar. sharīf, 'noble.' A dignitary descended from Mahommed.

1498.—"The ambassador was a white man who was Xarife, as much as to say a creligo" (i.e. clerigo).—Roteiro, 2nd ed. 30.

[1672.—"Schierifi." See under CASIS.

[c. 1666.—"The first (embassage) was from the Cherif of Meca...."—Bernier, ed. Constable, 133.

1701.—"... y^e Shreif of Judda...."—Forrest, Bombay Letters, i. 232.]

SHERISTADAR, s. The head ministerial officer of a Court, whose duty it is to receive plaints, and see that they are in proper form and duly stamped, and generally to attend to routine business. Properly H.—P. from sar-rishtā-dār or sarishta-dār, 'register-keeper.' Sar-rishtā, an office of registry, literally means 'head of the string.' C. P. Brown interprets Sarrishtadār as "he who holds the end of the string (on which puppets dance)"—satirically, it may be presumed. Perhaps 'keeper of the clue,' or 'of the file' would approximately express the idea.

1786.—(With the object of establishing) "the officers of the Canongoe's Department upon its ancient footing, altogether independent of the Zemindars ... and to prevent confusion in the time to come.... For these purposes, and to avail ourselves as much as possible of the knowledge and services of Mr. James Grant, we have determined on the institution of an office well-known in this country under the designation of Chief Serrishtadar, with which we have invested Mr. Grant, to act in that capacity under your Board, and also to attend as such at your deliberations, as well as at our meetings in the Revenue Department."—Letter from G. G. in C. to Board of Revenue, July 19 (Bengal Rev. Regulation xix.).

1878.—"Nowadays, however, the Serishtadar's signature is allowed to authenticate copies of documents, and the Assistant is thus spared so much drudgery."—Life in the Mofussil, i. 117.

[SHEVAROY HILLS, n.p. The name applied to a range of hills in the Salem district of Madras. The origin of the name has given rise to much difference of opinion. Mr. Lefanu (Man. of Salem, ii. 19 seq.) thinks that the original name was possibly Sivarayan, whence the German name Shivarai and the English Shevaroys; or that Sivarayan may by confusion have become Sherarayan, named after the Raja of Sera; lastly, he suggests that it comes from sharpu or sharvu, 'the slope or declivity of a hill,' and vay, 'a mouth, passage, way.' This he is inclined to accept, regarding Shervarayan or Sharvayrayan, as 'the cliff which dominates (rayan) the way (vay) which leads through or under the declivity (sharvu).' The Madras Gloss. gives the Tam. form of the name as Shervarayanmalai, from Sheran, 'the Chera race,' irayan, 'king,' and malai, 'mountain.'

[1823.—"Mr. Cockburn ... had the kindness to offer me the use of a bungalow on the Shervaraya hills...."—Hoole, Missions in Madras, 282.

[SHIBAR, SHIBBAR, s. A kind of coasting vessel, sometimes described as a great pattamar. Molesworth (Mahr. Dict. s.v.) gives shibāṛ which, in the usual dictionary way, he defines as 'a ship or large vessel of a particular description.' The Bombay Gazetteer (x. 171) speaks of the 'shibādi, a large vessel, from 100 to 300 tons, generally found in the Ratnagiri sub-division ports'; and in another place (xiii. Pt. ii. 720) says that it is a large vessel chiefly used in the Malabar trade, deriving the name from Pers. shāhī-bār, 'royal-carrier.'

[1684.—"The Mucaddam (MOCUDDUM) of this shibar bound for Goa."—Yule, in Hedges' Diary, Hak. Soc. II. clxv.; also see clxxxiv.

[1727.—"... the other four were Grabs or Gallies, and Sheybars, or half Gallies."—A. Hamilton, ed. 1744, i. 134.

[1758.—"... then we cast off a boat called a large seebar, bound to Muscat...."—Ives, 196.]

SHIGRAM, s. A Bombay and Madras name for a kind of hack palankin carriage. The camel-shigram is often seen on roads in N. India. The name is from Mahr. śīghr, Skt. śīghra, 'quick or quickly.' A similar carriage is the Jutkah, which takes its name from Hind. jhaṭkā, 'swift.'

[1830.—At Bombay, "In heavy coaches, lighter landaulets, or singular-looking shigrampoes, might be seen bevies of British fair ..."—Mrs. Elwood, Narr. ii. 376.

[1875.—"As it is, we have to go ... 124 miles in a dak gharri, bullock shigram, or mail-cart...."—Wilson, Abode of Snow, 18.]

SHIKAR, s. Hind. from Pers. shikār, 'la chasse'; sport (in the sense of shooting and hunting); game.

c. 1590.—"Āīn, 27. Of Hunting (orig. Āīn-i-Shikār). Superficial worldly observers see in killing an animal a sort of pleasure, and in their ignorance stride about, as if senseless, on the field of their passions. But deep enquirers see in hunting a means of acquisition of knowledge.... This is the case with His Majesty."—Āīn, i. 282.

1609-10.—"Sykary, which signifieth, seeking, or hunting."—W. Finch, in Purchas, i. 428.

1800.—"250 or 300 horsemen ... divided into two or three small parties, supported by our infantry, would give a proper shekar; and I strongly advise not to let the Mahratta boundary stop you in the pursuit of your game."—Sir A. Wellesley to T. Munro, in Life of Munro, iii. 117.

1847.—"Yet there is a charm in this place for the lovers of Shikar."—Dry Leaves from Young Egypt, 3.

[1859.—"Although the jungles literally swarm with tigers, a shickar, in the Indian sense of the term, is unknown."—Oliphant, Narr. of Mission, i. 25.]

1866.—"May I ask what has brought you out to India, Mr. Cholmondeley? Did you come out for shikar, eh?"—Trevelyan, The Dawk Bungalow, in Fraser, lxxiii. 222.

In the following the word is wrongly used in the sense of Shikaree.

[1900.—"That so experienced a shikar should have met his death emphasises the necessity of caution."—Field, Sept. 1.]

SHIKAREE, SHEKARRY, s. Hind. shikārī, a sportsman. The word is used in three ways:

a. As applied to a native expert, who either brings in game on his own account, or accompanies European sportsmen as guide and aid.

[1822.—"Shecarries are generally Hindoos of low cast, who gain their livelihood entirely by catching birds, hares, and all sorts of animals."—Johnson, Sketches of Field Sports, 25.]

1879.—"Although the province (Pegu) abounds in large game, it is very difficult to discover, because there are no regular shikarees in the Indian acceptation of the word. Every village has its local shikaree, who lives by trapping and killing game. Taking life as he does, contrary to the principles of his religion, he is looked upon as damned by his neighbours, but that does not prevent their buying from him the spoils of the chase."—Pollok, Sport in Br. Burmah, &c., i. 13.

b. As applied to the European sportsman himself: e.g. "Jones is well known as a great Shikaree." There are several books of sporting adventure written circa 1860-75 by Mr. H. A. Leveson under the name of 'The Old Shekarry.'

[c. A shooting-boat used in the Cashmere lakes.

[1875.—"A shikārī is a sort of boat, that is in daily use with the English visitors; a light boat manned, as it commonly is, by six men, it goes at a fast pace, and, if well fitted with cushions, makes a comfortable conveyance. A bandūqī (see BUNDOOK) shikāri is the smallest boat of all; a shooting punt, used in going after wild fowl on the lakes."—Drew, Jummoo, &c., 181.]

SHIKAR-GĀH, s. Pers. A hunting ground, or enclosed preserve. The word has also a technical application to patterns which exhibit a variety of figures and groups of animals, such as are still woven in brocade at Benares, and in shawl-work in Kashmir and elsewhere (see Marco Polo, Bk. I. ch. 17, and notes). [The great areas of jungle maintained by the Amīrs of Sind and called Shikārgāhs are well known.

[1831.—"Once or twice a month when they (the Ameers) are all in good health, they pay visits to their different shikargahs or preserves for game."—J. Burnes, Visit to the Court of Sinde, 103.]

SHIKHÓ, n. and v. Burmese word. The posture of a Burmese in presence of a superior, i.e. kneeling with joined hands and bowed head in an attitude of worship. Some correspondence took place in 1883, in consequence of the use of this word by the then Chief Commissioner of British Burma, in an official report, to describe the attitude used by British envoys at the Court of Ava. The statement (which was grossly incorrect) led to remonstrance by Sir Arthur Phayre. The fact was that the envoy and his party sat on a carpet, but the attitude had no analogy whatever to that of shikho, though the endeavour of the Burmese officials was persistent to involve them in some such degrading attitude. (See KOWTOW.)

1855.—"Our conductors took off their shoes at the gate, and the Woondouk made an ineffectual attempt to induce the Envoy to do likewise. They also at four different places, as we advanced to the inner gate, dropt on their knees and shikhoed towards the palace."—Yule, Mission to Ava, 82.

1882.—"Another ceremony is that of shekhoing to the spire, the external emblem of the throne. All Burmans must do this at each of the gates, at the foot of the steps, and at intervals in between...."—The Burman, His Life and Notions, ii. 206.

SHINBIN, SHINBEAM, &c., s. A term in the Burmese teak-trade; apparently a corruption from Burm. shīn-byīn. The first monosyllable (shīn) means 'to put together side by side,' and byīn, 'plank,' the compound word being used in Burmese for 'a thick plank used in constructing the side of a ship.' The shinbin is a thick plank, about 15″ wide by 4″ thick, and running up to 25 feet in length (see Milburn, i. 47). It is not sawn, but split from green trees.

1791.—"Teak Timber for sale, consisting of

SHINKALI, SHIGALA, n.p. A name by which the City and Port of Cranganore (q.v.) seems to have been known in the early Middle Ages. The name was probably formed from Tiruvan-jiculam, mentioned by Dr. Gundert below. It is perhaps the Gingaleh of Rabbi Benjamin in our first quotation; but the data are too vague to determine this, though the position of that place seems to be in the vicinity of Malabar.

c. 1167.—"Gingaleh is but three days distant by land, whereas it requires a journey of fifteen days to reach it by the sea; this place contains about 1,000 Israelites."—Benjamin of Tudela, in Wright's Early Travels, p. 117.

c. 1300.—"Of the cities on the shore (of Malībār) the first is Sindábúr (Goa), then Faknúr (see BACANORE), then the country of Manjarúr (see MANGALORE) ... then Chinkalī (or Jinkalī), then Kúlam (see QUILON)."—Rashīduddīn, see J. R. As. Soc., N.S., iv. pp. 342, 345.

c. 1320.—"Le pays de Manîbâr, appelè pays du Poivre, comprend les villes suivantes.

* * * * *

"La ville de Shinkli, dont la majeure partie de la population est composée de Juifs.

"Kaulam est la dernière ville de la côte de Poivre."—Shemseddin Dimishqui, by Mehren (Cosmographie du Moyen Age), p. 234.

c. 1328.—"... there is one very powerful King in the country where the pepper grows, and his kingdom is called Molebar. There is also the King of Singuyli...."—Fr. Jordanus, p. 40.

1330.—"And the forest in which the pepper groweth extendeth for a good 18 days' journey, and in that forest there be two cities, the one whereof is called Flandrina (see PANDARANI), and the other Cyngilin...."—Fr. Odoric, in Cathay, &c., 75-76.

c. 1330.—"Etiam Shâliyât (see CHALIA) et Shinkala urbes Malabaricae sunt, quarum alteram Judaei incolunt...."—Abulfeda, in Gildemeister, 185.

c. 1349.—"And in the second India, which is called Mynibar, there is Cynkali, which signifieth Little India" (Little China) "for Kali is 'little.'"—John Marignolli, in Cathay, &c., 373.

1510.—"Scigla alias et Chrongalor vocatur, ea quam Cranganorium dicimus Malabariae urbem, ut testatur idem Jacobus Indiarum episcopus ad calcem Testamenti Novi ab ipso exarati anno Graecorum 1821, Christi 1510, et in fine Epistolarum Pauli, Cod. Syr. Vat. 9 et 12."—In Assemani, Diss. de Syr. Nest., pp. 440, 732.

1844.—"The place (Codungalur) is identified with Tiruvan-jiculam river-harbour, which Cheraman Perumal is said to have declared the best of the existing 18 harbours of Kerala...."—Dr. Gundert, in Madras Journal, xiii. 120.

" "One Kerala Ulpatti (i.e. legendary history of Malabar) of the Nasrani, says that their forefathers ... built Codangalur, as may be learned from the granite inscription at the northern entrance of the Tiruvan-jiculam temple...."—Ibid. 122.

SHINTOO, SINTOO, s. Japanese Shintau, 'the Way of the Gods.' The primitive relation of Japan. It is described by Faria y Sousa and other old writers, but the name does not apparently occur in those older accounts, unless it be in the Seuto of Couto. According to Kaempfer the philosophic or Confucian sect is called in Japan Siuto. But that hardly seems to fit what is said by Couto, and his Seuto seems more likely to be a mistake for Sento. [See Lowell's articles on Esoteric Shintoo, in Proc. As. Soc. Japan, 1893.]

1612.—"But above all these idols they adore one Seutó, of which they say that it is the substance and principle of All, and that its abode is in the Heavens."—Couto, V. viii. 12.

1727.—"Le Sinto qu'on appelle aussi Sinsju et Kamimitsi, est le Culte des Idoles, établi anciennement dans le pays. Sin et Kami sont les noms des Idoles qui font l'object de ce Culte. Siu (sic) signifie la Foi, ou la Religion. Sinsja et au pluriel Sinsju, ce sont les personnes qui professent cette Religion."—Kaempfer, Hist. de Japon, i. 176; [E.T. 204].

1770.—"Far from encouraging that gloomy fanaticism and fear of the gods, which is inspired by almost all other religions, the Xinto sect had applied itself to prevent, or at least to moderate that disorder of the imagination."—Raynal (E.T. 1777), i. 137.

1878.—"The indigenous religion of the Japanese people, called in later times by the name of Shintau or Way of the Gods, in order to distinguish it from the way of the Chinese moral philosophers, and the way of Buddha, had, at the time when Confucianism and Buddhism were introduced, passed through the earliest stages of development."—Westminster Rev., N.S., No. cvii. 29.

[SHIRAZ, n.p. The wine of Shiraz was much imported and used by Europeans in India in the 17th century, and even later.

[1627.—"Sheraz then probably derives it self either from sherab which in the Persian Tongue signifies a Grape here abounding ... or else from sheer which in the Persian signifies Milk."—Sir T. Herbert, ed. 1677, p. 127.

[1685.—"... three Chests of Sirash wine...."—Pringle, Diary Ft. St. Geo., 1st ser. iv. 109, and see ii. 148.

[1690.—"Each Day there is prepar'd (at Surrat) a Publick Table for the Use of the President and the rest of the Factory.... The Table is spread with the choicest Meat Surrat affords ... and equal plenty of generous Sherash and Arak Punch...."—Ovington, 394.

[1727.—"Shyrash is a large City on the Road, about 550 Miles from Gombroon."—A. Hamilton, ed. 1744, i. 99.

[1813.—"I have never tasted this (pomegranate wine), nor any other Persian wine, except that of Schiraz, which, although much extolled by poets, I think inferior to many wines in Europe."—Forbes, Or. Mem. 2nd ed. i. 468.]

SHIREENBAF, s. Pers. Shīrīnbāf, 'sweet-woof.' A kind of fine cotton stuff, but we cannot say more precisely what.

c. 1343.—"... one hundred pieces of shīrīnbāf...."—Ibn Batuta, iv. 3.

[1609.—"Serribaff, a fine light stuff or cotton whereof the Moors make their cabayes or clothing."—Danvers, Letters, i. 29.]

1673.—"... siring chintz, Broad Baftas...."—Fryer, 88.

SHISHAM. See under SISSOO.

SHISHMUHULL, s. Pers. shīsha-maḥal, lit. 'glass apartment' or palace. This is or was a common appendage of native palaces, viz. a hall or suite of rooms lined with mirror and other glittering surfaces, usually of a gimcrack aspect. There is a place of exactly the same description, now gone to hideous decay, in the absurd Villa Palagonia at Bagheria near Palermo.

1835.—"The Shīsha-mahal, or house of glass, is both curious and elegant, although the material is principally pounded talc and looking-glass. It consists of two rooms, of which the walls in the interior are divided into a thousand different panels, each of which is filled up with raised flowers in silver, gold, and colours, on a ground-work of tiny convex mirrors."—Wanderings of a Pilgrim, i. 365.

SHOE OF GOLD (or of Silver). The name for certain ingots of precious metal, somewhat in the form of a Chinese shoe, but more like a boat, which were formerly current in the trade of the Far East. Indeed of silver they are still current in China, for Giles says: "The common name among foreigners for the Chinese silver ingot, which bears some resemblance to a native shoe. May be of any weight from 1 oz. and even less, to 50 and sometimes 100 oz., and is always stamped by the assayer and banker, in evidence of purity" (Gloss. of Reference, 128). [In Hissar the Chinese silver is called sillī from the slabs (sil) in which it is sold (Maclagan, Mon. on Gold and Silver Work in Punjab, p. 5).] The same form of ingot was probably the bālish (or yāstok) of the Middle Ages, respecting which see Cathay, &c., 115, 481, &c. Both of these latter words mean also 'a cushion,' which is perhaps as good a comparison as either 'shoe' or 'boat.' The word now used in C. Asia is yambū. There are cuts of the gold and silver ingots in Tavernier, whose words suggest what is probably the true origin of the popular English name, viz. a corruption of the Dutch Goldschuyt.

1566.—"... valuable goods exported from this country (China) ... are first, a quantity of gold, which is carried to India, in loaves in the shape of boats...."—C. Federici, in Ramusio, iii. 391b.

1611.—"Then, I tell you, from China I could load ships with cakes of gold fashioned like boats, containing, each of them, roundly speaking, 2 marks weight, and so each cake will be worth 280 pardaos."—Couto, Dialogo do Soldado Pratico, p. 155.

1676.—"The Pieces of Gold mark'd Fig. 1, and 2, are by the Hollanders called Goltschut, that is to say, a Boat of Gold, because they are in the form of a Boat. Other Nations call them Loaves of Gold.... The Great Pieces come to 12 hundred Gilders of Holland Money, and thirteen hundred and fifty Livres of our Money."—Tavernier, E.T. ii. 8.

1702.—"Sent the Moolah to be delivered the Nabob, Dewan, and Buxie 48 China Oranges ... but the Dewan bid the Moolah write the Governor for a hundred more that he might send them to Court; which is understood to be One Hundred shoes of gold, or so many thousand pagodas or rupees."—In Wheeler, i. 397.

1704.—"Price Currant, July, 1704, (at Malacca) ... Gold, China, in Shoos 94 Touch."—Lockyer, 70.

1862.—"A silver ingot 'Yambu' weighs about 2 (Indian) seers ... = 4 lbs., and is worth 165 Co.'s rupees. Koomoosh, also called 'Yambucha,' or small silver ingot, is worth 33 Rs. ... 5 yambuchas, being equal to 1 yambu. There are two descriptions of 'yambucha'; one is a square piece of silver, having a Chinese stamp on it; the other ... in the form of a boat, has no stamp. The Yambu is in the form of a boat, and has a Chinese stamp on it."—Punjab Trade Report, App. ccxxvi.-xxviii. 1.

1875.—"The yámbú or kúrs is a silver ingot something the shape of a deep boat with projecting bow and stern. The upper surface is lightly hollowed, and stamped with a Chinese inscription. It is said to be pure silver, and to weigh 50 (Cashghar) ser = 30,000 grains English."—Report of Forsyth's Mission to Kashghar, 494.

[1876.—"... he received his pay in Chinese yambs (gold coins), at the rate of 128 rubles each, while the real commercial value was only 115 rubles."—Schuyler, Turkistan, ii. 322.

[1901.—A piece of Chinese shoe money, value 10 taels, was exhibited before the Numismatic Society.—Athenaeum, Jan. 26, p. 118. Perhaps the largest specimen known of Chinese "boat-money" was exhibited. It weighed 89½ ounces troy, and represented 50 taels, or £8, 8s. 0d. English.—Ibid. Jan. 25, 1902, p. 120].

SHOE-FLOWER, s. A name given in Madras Presidency to the flower of the Hibiscus Rosa-sinensis, L. It is a literal translation of the Tam. shapāttupu, Singh. sappattumala, a name given because the flowers are used at Madras to blacken shoes. The Malay name Kempang sapatu means the same. Voigt gives shoe-flower as the English name, and adds: "Petals astringent, used by the Chinese to blacken their shoes (?) and eyebrows" (Hortus Suburbanus Calcuttensis, 116-7); see also Drury, s.v. The notion of the Chinese blackening their shoes is surely an error, but perhaps they use it to blacken leather for European use.

[1773.—"The flower (Trepalta, or Morroock) (which commonly by us is called Shoe-flower, because used to black our shoes) is very large, of a deep but beautiful crimson colour."—Ives, 475.]

1791.—"La nuit suivante ... je joignis aux pavots ... une fleur de foule sapatte, qui sert aux cordonniers à teindre leurs cuirs en noir."—B. de St. Pierre, Chaumière Indienne. This foule-sapatte is apparently some quasi Hindustani form of the name (phul-sabāt?) used by the Portuguese.

SHOE-GOOSE, s. This ludicrous corruption of the Pers. siyāh-gosh, lit. 'black-ear,' i.e. lynx (Felis Caracal) occurs in the passage below from A. Hamilton. [The corruption of the same word by the Times, below, is equally amusing.]

[c. 1330.—"... ounces, and another kind something like a greyhound, having only the ears black, and the whole body perfectly white, which among these people is called Siagois."—Friar Jordanus, 18.]

1727.—"Antelopes, Hares and Foxes, are their wild game, which they hunt with Dogs, Leopards, and a small fierce creature called by them a Shoe-goose."—A. Hamilton, i. 124; [ed. 1744, i. 125].

1802.—"... between the cat and the lion, are the ... syagush, the lynx, the tiger-cat...."—Ritson, Essay on Abstinence from Animal Food, 12.

1813.—"The Moguls train another beast for antelope-hunting called the Syah-gush, or black-ears, which appears to be the same as the caracal, or Russian lynx."—Forbes, Or. Mem. i. 277; [2nd ed. i. 175 and 169].

[1886.—"In 1760 a Moor named Abdallah arrived in India with a 'Shah Goest' (so spelt, evidently a Shawl Goat) as a present for Mr. Secretary Pitt."—Account of I. O. Records, in Times, Aug. 3.]

SHOKE, s. A hobby, a favourite pursuit or whim. Ar.—shauḳ.

1796.—"This increased my shouq ... for soldiering, and I made it my study to become a proficient in all the Hindostanee modes of warfare."—Mily. Mem. of Lt.-Col. J. Skinner, i. 109.

[1866.—"One Hakim has a shoukh for turning everything ooltapoolta."—Confessions of an Orderly, 94.]

SHOLA, s. In S. India, a wooded ravine; a thicket. Tam. sholāi.

1862.—"At daylight ... we left the Sisipara bungalow, and rode for several miles through a valley interspersed with sholas of rhododendron trees."—Markham, Peru and India, 356.

1876.—"Here and there in the hollows were little jungles; sholas, as they are called."—Sir M. E. Grant-Duff, Notes of Indian Journey, 202.

SHOOCKA, s. Ar.—H. shuḳḳa (properly 'an oblong strip'), a letter from a king to a subject.

1787.—"I have received several melancholy Shukhas from the King (of Dehli) calling on me in the most pressing terms for assistance and support."—Letter of Lord Cornwallis, in Corresp. i. 307.

SHOOLDARRY, s. A small tent with steep sloping roof, two poles and a ridge-piece, and with very low side walls. The word is in familiar use, and is habitually pronounced as we have indicated. But the first dictionary in which we have found it is that of Platts. This author spells the word chholdārī, identifying the first syllable with jhol, signifying 'puckering or bagging.' In this light, however, it seems possible that it is from jhūl in the sense of a bag or wallet, viz. a tent that is crammed into a bag when carried. [The word is in Fallon, with the rather doubtful suggestion that it is a corruption of the English 'soldier's' tent. See PAWL.]

1808.—"I have now a shoaldarree for myself, and a long paul (see PAWL) for my people."—Elphinstone, in Life, i. 183.

[1869.—"... the men in their suldaris, or small single-roofed tents, had a bad time of it...."—Ball, Jungle Life, 156.]

SHRAUB, SHROBB, s. Ar. sharāb; Hind. sharāb, shrāb, 'wine.' See under SHERBET.

SHROFF, s. A money-changer, a banker. Ar. ṣarrāf, ṣairafi, ṣairaf. The word is used by Europeans in China as well as in India, and is there applied to the experts who are employed by banks and mercantile firms to check the quality of the dollars that pass into the houses (see Giles under next word). Also shroffage, for money-dealer's commission. From the same root comes the Heb. sōrēf, 'a goldsmith.' Compare the figure in Malachi, iii. 3: "He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; and he shall purify the sons of Levi." Only in Hebrew the goldsmith tests metal, while the ṣairaf tests coins. The Arab poet says of his mare: "Her forefeet scatter the gravel every midday, as the dirhams are scattered at their testing by the ṣairaf" (W. R. S.)

1554.—"Salaries of the officers of the Custom Houses, and other charges for these which the Treasurers have to pay.... Also to the Xarrafo, whose charge it is to see to the money, two pardaos a month, which make for a year seven thousand and two hundred reis."—Botelho, Tombo, in Subsidios, 238.

1560.—"There are in the city many and very wealthy çarafos who change money."—Tenreiro, ch. i.

1584.—"5 tangas make a seraphin (see XERAFINE) of gold; but if one would change them into basaruchies (see BUDGROOK) he may have 5 tangas and 16 basaruchies, which ouerplus they call cerafagio...."—Barret, in Hakl. ii. 410.

1585.—"This present year, because only two ships came to Goa, (the reals) have sold at 12 per cent. of Xarafaggio (shroffage), as this commission is called, from the word Xaraffo, which is the title of the banker."—Sassetti, in De Gubernatis, Storia, p. 203.

1598.—"There is in every place of the street exchangers of money, by them called Xaraffos, which are all christian Jewes."—Linschoten, 66; [Hak. Soc. i. 231, and see 244.]

c. 1610.—"Dans ce Marché ... aussi sont les changeurs qu'ils nomment Cherafes, dont il y en a en plusieurs autres endroits; leurs boutiques sont aux bouts des ruës et carrefours, toutes couuertes de monnoye, dont ils payent tribut au Roy."—Pyrard de Laval, ii. 39; [Hak. Soc. ii. 67].

[1614.—"... having been borne in hand by our Sarafes to pay money there."—Foster, Letters, iii. 282. The "Sheriff of Bantam" (ibid. iv. 7) may perhaps be a shroff, but compare Shereef.]

1673.—"It could not be improved till the Governor had released the Shroffs or Bankers."—Fryer, 413.

1697-8.—"In addition to the cash and property which they had got by plunder, the enemy fixed two lacs of rupees as the price of the ransom of the prisoners.... To make up the balance, the Sarráfs and merchants of Nandurbár were importuned to raise a sum, small or great, by way of loan. But they would not consent."—Kháfí Khán, in Elliot, vii. 362.

1750.—"... the Irruption of the Morattoes into Carnatica, was another event that brought several eminent Shroffs and wealthy Merchants into our Town; insomuch, that I may say, there was hardly a Shroff of any Note, in the Mogul empire but had a House in it; in a word, Madrass was become the Admiration of all the Country People, and the Envy of all our European Neighbours."—Letter to a Proprietor of the E. I. Co. 53-54.

1809.—"I had the satisfaction of hearing the Court order them (i.e. Gen. Martin's executors) to pay two lacs and a half to the plaintiff, a shroff of Lucknow."—Ld. Valentia, i. 243.

[1891.—"The banker in Persia is looked on simply as a small tradesman—in fact the business of the Serof is despised."—Wills, in the Land of the Lion and the Sun, 192].

SHROFF, TO, v. This verb is applied properly to the sorting of different rupees or other coins, so as to discard refuse, and to fix the various amounts of discount or agio upon the rest, establishing the value in standard coin. Hence figuratively 'to sift,' choosing the good (men, horses, facts, or what not) and rejecting the inferior.

[1554.—(See under BATTA, b.)]

1878.—"Shroffing schools are common in Canton, where teachers of the art keep bad dollars for the purpose of exercising their pupils; and several works on the subject have been published there, with numerous illustrations of dollars and other foreign coins, the methods of scooping out silver and filling up with copper or lead, comparisons between genuine and counterfeit dollars, the difference between native and foreign milling, etc., etc."—Giles, Glossary of Reference, 129.

1882.—(The Compradore) "derived a profit from the process of shroffing which (the money received) underwent before being deposited in the Treasury."—The Fankwae at Canton, 55.

SHRUB, s. See under SHERBET.

SHULWAURS, s. Trousers, or drawers rather, of the Oriental kind, the same as pyjammas, long-drawers, or mogul-breeches (qq.v.). The Persian is shalwār, which according to Prof. Max Müller is more correctly shulvār, from shul, 'the thigh,' related to Latin crus, cruris, and to Skt. kshura or khura, 'hoof' (see Pusey on Daniel, 570). Be this as it may, the Ar. form is sirwāl (vulg. sharwāl), pl. sarāwīl, [which Burton (Arab. Nights, i. 205) translates 'bag-trousers' and 'petticoat-trousers,' "the latter being the divided skirt of the future."] This appears in the ordinary editions of the Book of Daniel in Greek, as σαράβαρα, and also in the Vulgate, as follows: "Et capillus capitis eorum non esset adustus, et sarabala eorum non fuissent immutata, et odor ignis non transisset per eos" (iii. 27). The original word is sarbālīn, pl. of sarbāla. Luther, however, renders this Mantel; as the A.V. also does by coats; [the R.V. hosen]. On this Prof. Robertson-Smith writes:

"It is not certain but that Luther and the A.V. are right. The word sarbālīn means 'cloak' in the Gemara; and in Arabic sirbāl is 'a garment, a coat of mail.' Perhaps quite an equal weight of scholarship would now lean (though with hesitation) towards the cloak or coat, and against the breeches theory.

"The Arabic word occurs in the Traditions of the Prophet (Bokhāri, vii. 36).

"Of course it is certain that σαράβαρα comes from the Persian, but not through Arabic. The Bedouins did not wear trowsers in the time of Ammianus, and don't do so now.

"The ordinary so-called LXX. editions of Daniel contain what is really the post-Christian version of Theodotion. The true LXX. text has ὑποδήματα.

"It may be added that Jerome says that both Aquila and Symmachus wrote saraballa." [The Encycl. Biblica also prefers the rendering of the A.V. (i. 607), and see iii. 2934.]

The word is widely spread as well as old; it is found among the Tartars of W. Asia as jālbār, among the Siberians and Bashkirds as sālbār, among the Kalmaks as shālbūr, whilst it reached Russia as sharawari, Spain as zaraguelles, and Portugal as zarelos. A great many Low Latin variations of the word will be found in Ducange, serabula, serabulla, sarabella, sarabola, sarabura, and more! [And Crawfurd (Desc. Dict. 124) writes of Malay dress: "Trowsers are occasionally used under the sarung by the richer classes, and this portion of dress, like the imitation of the turban, seems to have been borrowed from the Arabs, as is implied by its Arabic name, sarual, corrupted saluwar."]

In the second quotation from Isidore of Seville below it will be seen that the word had in some cases been interpreted as 'turbans.'

A.D. (?).—"Καὶ ἐθεώρουν τοῦς ἄνδρας ὅτι οὐκ ἐκυρίευσε τὸ πῦρ τοῦ σώματος αὐτῶν καὶ ἡ θρὶξ τῆς κεφαλῆς αὐτῶν οὐκ ἐφλογίσθη καὶ τα σαράβαρα αὐτῶν οὐκ ἠλλοιώθη, καὶ ὀσμὴ πυρὸς οὐκ ἦν ἐν αὐτοῖς."—Gr. Tr. of Dan. iii. 27.

c. A.D. 200.—"Ἐν δὲ τοῖς Σκύθαις Ἀντιφάνης ἔφη Σαράβαρα καὶ χιτῶνας πάντας ἐνδεδυκότας."—Julius Pollux, Onomast. vii. 13, sec. 59.

c. A.D. 500.—"Σαράβαρα, τὰ περὶ τὰς κνῆμιδας (sic) ἐνδύματα."—Hesychius, s.v.

c. 636.—"Sarabara sunt fluxa ac sinuosa vestimenta de quibus legitur in Daniele.... Et Publius: Vt quid ergo in ventre tuo Parthi Sarabara suspenderunt? Apud quosdam autem Sarabarae quaedã capitum tegmina nuncupantur qualia videmus in capite Magorum picta."—Isidorus Hispalensis, Orig. et Etym., lib. xix., ed. 1601, pp. 263-4.

c. 1000?—"Σαράβαρα,—ἐσθὴς Περσική ἔνιοι δὲ λέγουσι βρακία."—Suidas, s.v.

which may be roughly rendered:

c. 900.—"The deceased was unchanged, except in colour. They dressed him then with sarāwīl, overhose, boots, a ḳurṭak and khaftān of gold-cloth, with golden buttons, and put on him a golden cap garnished with sable."—Ibn Foszlān, in Fraehn, 15.

c. 1300.—"Disconsecratur altare eorum, et oportet reconciliari per episcopum ... si intraret ad ipsum aliquis qui non esset Nestorius; si intraret eciam ad ipsum quicumque sine sorrabulis vel capite cooperto."—Ricoldo of Monte Croce, in Peregrinatores Quatuor, 122.

1330.—"Haec autem mulieres vadunt discalceatae portantes sarabulas usque ad terram."—Friar Odoric, in Cathay, &c., App. iv.

c. 1495.—"The first who wore sarāwīl was Solomon. But in another tradition it is alleged that Abraham was the first."—The 'Beginnings,' by Soyuti, quoted by Fraehn, 113.

1567.—"Portauano braghesse quasi alla turchesca, et anche saluarī."—C. Federici, in Ramusio, iii. f. 389.

1824.—"... tell me how much he will be contented with? Can I offer him five Tomauns, and a pair of crimson Shulwaurs?"—Hajji Baba, ed. 1835, p. 179.

1881.—"I used to wear a red shirt and velveteen sharovary, and lie on the sofa like a gentleman, and drink like a Swede."—Ten Years of Penal Servitude in Siberia, by Fedor Dostoyeffski, E.T. by Maria v. Thilo, 191.

SIAM, n.p. This name of the Indo-Chinese Kingdom appears to come to us through the Malays, who call it Siyăm. From them we presume the Portuguese took their Reyno de Sião as Barros and Couto write it, though we have in Correa Siam precisely as we write it. Camões also writes Syão for the kingdom; and the statement of De la Loubère quoted below that the Portuguese used Siam as a national, not a geographical, expression cannot be accepted in its generality, accurate as that French writer usually is. It is true that both Barros and F. M. Pinto use os Siames for the nation, and the latter also uses the adjective form o reyno Siame. But he also constantly says rey de Sião. The origin of the name would seem to be a term Sien, or Siam, identical with Shan (q.v.). "The kingdom of Siam is known to the Chinese by the name Sien-lo.... The supplement to Matwanlin's Encyclopædia describes Sien-lo as on the seaboard, to the extreme south of Chen-ching (or Cochin China). 'It originally consisted of two kingdoms, Sien and Lo-hoh. The Sien people are the remains of a tribe which in the year (A.D. 1341) began to come down upon the Lo-hoh and united with the latter into one nation.'" See Marco Polo, 2nd ed., Bk. iii. ch. 7, note 3. The considerations there adduced indicate that the Lo who occupied the coast of the Gulf before the descent of the Sien, belonged to the Laotian Shans, Thainyai, or Great T'ai, whilst the Sien or Siamese Proper were the T'ai Noi, or Little T'ai. (See also SARNAU.) ["The name Siam ... whether it is 'a barbarous Anglicism derived from the Portuguese or Italian word Sciam,' or is derived from the Malay Sayam, which means 'brown.'"—J. G. Scott, Upper Burma Gazetteer, i. pt. i. 205.]

1516.—"Proceeding further, quitting the kingdom of Peeguu, along the coast over against Malaca there is a very great kingdom of pagans which they call Danseam (of Anseam); the king of which is a pagan also, and a very great lord."—Barbosa (Lisbon, Acad.), 369. It is difficult to interpret this Anseam, which we find also in C. Federici below in the form Asion. But the An is probably a Malay prefix of some kind. [Also see ansyane in quotation from the same writer under MALACCA.]

c. 1522.—"The king (of Zzuba) answered him that he was welcome, but that the custom was that all ships which arrived at his country or port paid tribute, and it was only 4 days since that a ship called the Junk of Ciama, laden with gold and slaves, had paid him his tribute, and to verify what he said, he showed them a merchant of the said Ciama, who had remained there to trade with the gold and slaves."—Pigafetta, Hak. Soc. 85.

" "All these cities are constructed like ours, and are subject to the king of Siam, who is named Siri Zacebedera, and who inhabits Iudia (see JUDEA)."—Ibid. 156.

1525.—"In this same Port of Pam (Pahang), which is in the kingdom of Syam, there was another junk of Malaqua, the captain whereof was Alvaro da Costaa, and it had aboard 15 Portuguese, at the same time that in Joatane (Patane) they seized the ship of Andre de Bryto, and the junk of Gaspar Soarez, and as soon as this news was known they laid hands on the junk and the crew and the cargo; it is presumed that the people were killed, but it is not known for certain."—Lembrança das Cousas da India, 6.

1572.—

By Burton:

c. 1567.—"Va etiandio ogn'anno per l'istesso Capitano (di Malacca) vn nauilio in Asion, a caricare di Verzino" (Brazilwood).—Ces. Federici, in Ramusio, iii. 396.

" "Fu già Sion vna grandissima Città e sedia d'Imperio, ma l'anno MDLXVII fu pressa dal Re del Pegu, qual caminando per terra quattro mesi di viaggio, con vn esercito d'vn million, e quattro cento mila uomini da guerra, la venne ad assediare ... e lo so io percioche mi ritrouai in Pegù sei mesi dopo la sua partita."—Ibid.

1598.—"... The King of Sian at this time is become tributarie to the king of Pegu. The cause of this most bloodie battaile was, that the king of Sian had a white Elephant."—Linschoten, p. 30; [Hak. Soc. i. 102. In ii. 1 Sion].

[1611.—"We have news that the Hollanders were in Shian."—Danvers, Letters, i. 149.]

1688.—"The Name of Siam is unknown to the Siamese. 'Tis one of those words which the Portugues of the Indies do use, and of which it is very difficult to discover the Original. They use it as the Name of the Nation and not of the Kingdom: And the Names of Pegu, Lao, Mogul, and most of the Names which we give to the Indian Kingdoms, are likewise National Names."—De la Loubère, E.T. p. 6.

SICCA, s. As will be seen by reference to the article RUPEE, up to 1835 a variety of rupees had been coined in the Company's territories. The term sicca (sikkā, from Ar. sikka, 'a coining die,'—and 'coined money,'—whence Pers. sikka zadan, 'to coin') had been applied to newly coined rupees, which were at a batta or premium over those worn, or assumed to be worn, by use. In 1793 the Government of Bengal, with a view to terminating, as far as that Presidency was concerned, the confusion and abuses engendered by this system, ordered that all rupees coined for the future should bear the impress of the 19th year of Shāh 'Alam (the "Great Mogul" then reigning), and this rupee, "19 San Sikkah," 'struck in the 19th year,' was to be the legal tender in "Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa. This rupee, which is the Sicca of more recent monetary history, weighed 192 grs. troy, and then contained 176.13 grs. of pure silver. The "Company's Rupee," which introduced uniformity of coinage over British India in 1835, contained only 165 grs. silver. Hence the Sicca bore to the Company's Rupee (which was based on the old Farrukhābād rupee) the proportion of 16:15 nearly. The Sicca was allowed by Act VII. of 1833 to survive as an exceptional coin in Bengal, but was abolished as such in 1836. It continued, however, a ghostly existence for many years longer in the form of certain Government Book-debts in that currency. (See also CHICK.)

1537.—"... Sua senhoria avia d'aver por bem que as siquas das moedas corressem em seu nome per todo o Reino do Guzerate, asy em Dio como nos otros luguares que forem del Rey de Portuguall."—Treaty of Nuno da Cunha with Nizamamede Zamom (Mahommed Zamam) concerning Cambaya, in Botelho, Tombo, 225.

1537.—"... e quoanto á moeda ser chapada de sua sita (read sica) pois já lhe concedia."—Ibid. 226.

[1615.—"... cecaus of Amadavrs which goeth for eighty-six pisas (see PICE)...."—Foster, Letters, iii. 87.]

1683.—"Having received 25,000 Rupees Siccas for Rajamaul."—Hedges, Diary, April 4; [Hak. Soc. i. 75].

1705.—"Les roupies Sicca valent à Bengale 39 sols."—Luillier, 255.

1779.—"In the 2nd Term, 1779, on Saturday, March 6th: Judgment was pronounced for the plaintiff. Damages fifty thousand sicca rupees."

" "... 50,000 Sicca Rupees are equal to five thousand one hundred and nine pounds, two shillings and elevenpence sterling, reckoning according to the weight and fineness of the silver."—Notes of Mr. Justice Hyde on the case Grand v. Francis, in Echoes of Old Calcutta, 243. [To this Mr. Busteed adds: "Nor does there seem to be any foundation for the other time-honoured story (also repeated by Kaye) in connection with this judgment, viz., the alleged interruption of the Chief Justice, while he was delivering judgment, by Mr. Justice Hyde, with the eager suggestion or reminder of 'Siccas, Siccas, Brother Impey,' with the view of making the damages as high at the awarded figure as possible. Mr. Merivale says that he could find no confirmation of the old joke.... The story seems to have been first promulgated in a book of 'Personal Recollections' by John Nicholls, M.P., published in 1822."—Ibid. 3rd ed. 229].

1833.— * * *

"III.—The weight and standard of the Calcutta sicca rupee and its sub-divisions, and of the Furruckabad rupee, shall be as follows:—

"IV.—The use of the sicca weight of 179.666 grains, hitherto employed for the receipt of bullion at the Mint, being in fact the weight of the Moorshedabad rupee of the old standard ... shall be discontinued, and in its place the following unit to be called the Tola (q.v.) shall be introduced."—India Regulation VII. of 1833.

[SICKMAN, s. adj. The English sick man has been adopted into Hind. sepoy patois as meaning 'one who has to go to hospital,' and generally sikmān ho jānā means 'to be disabled.'

[1665.—"That sickman Chaseman."—In Yule, Hedges' Diary, Hak. Soc. II. cclxxx.

[1843.—"... my hired cart was broken—(or, in the more poetical garb of the sepahee, 'seek mān hogya,' i.e. become a sick man)."—Davidson, Travels, i. 251.]

SICLEEGUR, s. Hind. ṣaiḳalgar, from Ar. ṣaiḳal, 'polish.' A furbisher of arms, a sword-armourer, a sword- or knife-grinder. [This, in Madras, is turned into Chickledar, Tel. chikili-darudu.]

[1826.—"My father was a shiekul-ghur, or sword-grinder."—Pandurang Hari, ed. 1873, i. 216.]

SIKH, SEIKH, n.p. Panjābi-Hind. Sikh, 'a disciple,' from Skt. Śishya; the distinctive name of the disciples of Nānak Shāh who in the 16th century established that sect, which eventually rose to warlike predominance in the Punjab, and from which sprang Ranjīt Singh, the founder of the brief Kingdom of Lahore.

c. 1650-60.—"The Nanac-Panthians, who are known as composing the nation of the Sikhs, have neither idols, nor temples of idols...." (Much follows.)—Dabistān, ii. 246.

1708-9.—"There is a sect of infidels called Gurú (see GOOROO), more commonly known as Sikhs. Their chief, who dresses as a fakír, has a fixed residence at Láhore.... This sect consists principally of Játs and Khatrís of the Panjáb and of other tribes of infidels. When Aurangzeb got knowledge of these matters, he ordered these deputy Gurús to be removed and the temples to be pulled down."—Khāfī Khān, in Elliot, vii. 413.

1756.—"April of 1716, when the Emperor took the field and marched towards Lahore, against the Sykes, a nation of Indians lately reared to power, and bearing mortal enmity to the Mahomedans."—Orme, ii. 22. He also writes Sikes.

1781.—"Before I left Calcutta, a gentleman with whom I chanced to be discoursing of that sect who are distinguished from the worshippers of Brăhm, and the followers of Mahommed by the appellation Seek, informed me that there was a considerable number of them settled in the city of Patna, where they had a College for teaching the tenets of their philosophy."—Wilkins, in As. Res. i. 288.

1781-2.—"In the year 1128 of the Hedjra" (1716) "a bloody action happened in the plains of the Pendjab, between the Sycs and the Imperialists, in which the latter, commanded by Abdol-semed-Khan, a famous Viceroy of that province, gave these inhuman freebooters a great defeat, in which their General, Benda, fell into the victors' hands.... He was a Syc by profession, that is one of those men attached to the tenets of Guru-Govind, and who from their birth or from the moment of their admission never cut or shave either their beard or whiskers or any hair whatever of their body. They form a particular Society as well as a sect, which distinguishes itself by wearing almost always blue cloaths, and going armed at all times...." &c.—Seir Mutaqherin, i. 87.

1782.—"News was received that the Seiks had crossed the Jumna."—India Gazette, May 11.

1783.—"Unhurt by the Sicques, tigers, and thieves, I am safely lodged at Nourpour."—Forster, Journey, ed. 1808, i. 247.

1784.—"The Seekhs are encamped at the distance of 12 cose from the Pass of Dirderry, and have plundered all that quarter."—In Seton-Karr, i. 13.

1790.—"Particulars relating to the seizure of Colonel Robert Stewart by the Sicques."—Calc. Monthly Register, &c., i. 152.

1810.—Williamson (V.M.) writes Seeks.

The following extract indicates the prevalence of a very notable error:—

1840.—"Runjeet possesses great personal courage, a quality in which the Sihks (sic) are supposed to be generally deficient."—Osborne, Court and Camp of Runjeet Singh, 83.

We occasionally about 1845-6 saw the word written by people in Calcutta, who ought to have known better, Sheiks.

SILBOOT, SILPET, SLIPPET, s. Domestic Hind. corruptions of 'slipper.' The first is an instance of "striving after meaning" by connecting it in some way with 'boot.' [The Railway 'sleeper' is in the same way corrupted into silīpat.]

SILLADAR, adj. and s. Hind. from Pers. silaḥ-dār, 'bearing or having arms,' from Ar. silaḥ, 'arms.' [In the Arabian Nights (Burton, ii. 114) it has the primary sense of an 'armour-bearer.'] Its Anglo-Indian application is to a soldier, in a regiment of irregular cavalry, who provides his own arms and horse; and sometimes to regiments composed of such men—"a corps of Silladar Horse." [See Irvine, The Army of the Indian Moghuls, (J. R. As. Soc., July 1896, p. 549).]

1766.—"When this intelligence reached the Nawaub, he leaving the whole of his troops and baggage in the same place, with only 6000 stable horse, 9000 Sillahdārs, 4000 regular infantry, and 6 guns ... fell bravely on the Mahrattas...."—Mir Hussein Ali, H. of Hydur Naik, 173.

1804.—"It is my opinion, that the arrangement with the Soubah of the Deccan should be, that the whole of the force ... should be silladar horse."—Wellington, iii. 671.

1813.—"Bhàou ... in the prosecution of his plan, selected Malhar Row Holcar, a Silledar or soldier of fortune."—Forbes, Or. Mem. iii. 349.

[SILLAPOSH, s. An armour-clad warrior; from Pers. silaḥ, 'body armour,' posh, Pers. poshīdan, 'to wear.'

[1799.—"The Sillah posh or body-guard of the Rajah (of Jaipur)."—W. Francklin, Mil. Mem. of Mr. George Thomas, ed. 1805, p. 165.

[1829.—"... he stood two assaults, in one of which he slew thirty Sillehposh, or men in armour, the body-guard of the prince."—Tod, Annals, Calcutta reprint, ii. 462.]

SILMAGOOR, s. Ship Hind. for 'sail-maker' (Roebuck).

SIMKIN, s. Domestic Hind. for champagne, of which it is a corruption; sometimes samkīn.

1853.—"'The dinner was good, and the iced simkin, Sir, delicious.'"—Oakfield, ii. 127.

SIND, SCINDE, &c., n.p. The territory on the Indus below the Punjab. [In the early inscriptions the two words Sindhu-Sauvīra are often found conjoined, the latter probably part of Upper Sind (see Bombay Gazetteer, i. pt. i. 36).] The earlier Mahommedans hardly regarded Sind as part of India, but distinguished sharply between Sind and Hind, and denoted the whole region that we call India by the copula 'Hind and Sind.' We know that originally these were in fact but diverging forms of one word; the aspirant and sibilant tending in several parts of India (including the extreme east—compare ASSAM, Ahom—and the extreme west), as in some other regions, to exchange places.

c. 545.—"Σινδοῦ, Ὄρροθα, Καλλιάνα, Σιβὼρ καὶ Μαλὲ πέντε ἐμπόρια ἔχουσα."—Cosmas, lib. xi.

770.—"Per idem tempus quingenti circiter ex Mauris, Sindis, et Chazaris servi in urbe Haran rebellarunt, et facto agmine regium thesaurum diripere tentarunt."—Dionysii Patriarchae Chronicon, in Assemani, ii. 114. But from the association with the Khazars, and in a passage on the preceding page with Alans and Khazars, we may be almost certain that these Sindi are not Indian, but a Sarmatic people mentioned by Ammianus (xxii. 8), Valerius Flaccus (vi. 86), and other writers.

c. 1030.—"Sind and her sister (i.e. Hind) trembled at his power and vengeance."—Al 'Utbi, in Elliot, ii. 32.

c. 1340.—"Mohammed-ben-Iousouf Thakafi trouva dans la province de Sind quarante behar (see BAHAR) d'or, et chaque behar comprend 333 mann."—Shihābuddīn Dimishḳī, in Not. et Ext. xiii. 173.

1525.—"Expenses of Melyquyaz (i.e. Malik Āyāz of Diu):—1,000 foot soldiers (lasquarys), viz., 300 Arabs, at 40 and 50 fedeas each; also 200 Coraçones (Khorāsānīs) at the wage of the Arabs; also 200 Guzarates and Cymdes at 25 to 30 fedeas each; also 30 Rumes at 100 fedeas each; 120 Fartaquys at 50 fedeas each. Horse soldiers (Lasquarys a quaualo), whom he supplies with horses, 300 at 70 fedeas a month...."—Lembrança, p. 37. The preceding extract is curious as showing the comparative value put upon Arabs, Khorāsānīs (qu. Afghāns?), Sindīs, Rūmīs (i.e. Turks), Fartakīs (Arabs of Hadramaut?), &c.

1548.—"And the rent of the shops (buticas) of the Guzaratis of Cindy, who prepare and sell parched rice (avel), paying 6 bazarucos (see BUDGROOK) a month."—Botelho, Tombo, 156.

1554.—"Towards the Gulf of Chakad, in the vicinity of Sind."—Sidi' Ali, in J. As. Ser. I. tom. ix. 77.

1583.—"The first citie of India ... after we had passed the coast of Zindi is called Diu."—Fitch, in Hakl. p. 385.

1584.—"Spicknard from Zindi and Lahor."—W. Barret, in Hakl. ii. 412.

1598.—"I have written to the said Antonio d'Azevedo on the ill treatment experienced by the Portuguese in the kingdom of Cimde."—King's Letter to Goa, in Archiv. Port. Orient. Fascic. iii. 877.

[1610.—"Tzinde, are silk cloths with red stripes."—Danvers, Letters, i. 72.]

1611.—"Cuts-nagore, a place not far from the River of Zinde."—N. Downton, in Purchas, i. 307.

1613.—"... considering the state of destitution in which the fortress of Ormuz had need be,—since it had no other resources but the revenue of the custom-house, and there could now be returning nothing, from the fact that the ports of Cambaia and Sinde were closed, and that no ship had arrived from Goa in the current monsoon of January and February, owing to the news of the English ships having collected at Suratte...."—Bocarro, Decada, 379.

[c. 1665.—"... he (Dara) proceeded towards Scimdy, and sought refuge in the fortress of Tatabakar...."—Bernier, ed. Constable, 71.]

1666.—"De la Province du Sinde ou Sindy ... que quelques-uns nomment le Tatta."—Thevenot, v. 158.

1673.—"... Retiring with their ill got Booty to the Coasts of Sindu."—Fryer, 218.

1727.—"Sindy is the westmost Province of the Mogul's Dominions on the Sea-coast, and has Larribunder (see LARRY-BUNDER) to its Mart."—A. Hamilton, i. 114; [ed. 1744, i. 115].

c. 1760.—"Scindy, or Tatta."—Grose, i. 286.

SINDĀBŪR, SANDĀBŪR, n.p. This is the name by which Goa was known to the old Arab writers. The identity was clearly established in Cathay and the Way Thither, pp. 444 and ccli. We will give the quotations first, and then point out the grounds of identification.

A.D. 943.—"Crocodiles abound, it is true, in the ajwān or bays formed by the Sea of India, such as that of Ṣindābūra in the Indian Kingdom of Bāghira, or in the bay of Zābaj (see JAVA) in the dominion of the Maharāj."—Maṣ'ūdī, i. 207.

1013.—"I have it from Ābū Yūsaf bin Muslim, who had it from Ābū Bakr of Fasā at Ṣaimūr, that the latter heard told by Mūsa the Ṣindābūrī: 'I was one day conversing with the Ṣaḥib of Ṣindābūr, when suddenly he burst out laughing.... It was, said he, because there is a lizard on the wall, and it said, 'There is a guest coming to-day.... Don't you go till you see what comes of it.' So we remained talking till one of his servants came in and said 'There is a ship of Oman come in.' Shortly after, people arrived, carrying hampers with various things, such as cloths, and rose-water. As they opened one, out came a long lizard, which instantly clung to the wall and went to join the other one. It was the same person, they say, who enchanted the crocodiles in the estuary of Ṣindābūr, so that now they hurt nobody."—Livre des Merveilles de l'Inde. V. der Lith et Devic, 157-158.

c. 1150.—"From the city of Barūh (Barūch, i.e. Broach) following the coast, to Sindābūr 4 days.

"Sindābūr is on a great inlet where ships anchor. It is a place of trade, where one sees fine buildings and rich bazars."—Edrisi, i. 179. And see Elliot, i. 89.

c. 1300.—"Beyond Guzerat are Konkan and Tána; beyond them the country of Malibár.... The people are all Samanís (Buddhists), and worship idols. Of the cities on the shore the first is Sindabūr, then Faknūr, then the country of Manjarūr, then the country of Hílí...."—Rashīduddīn, in Elliot, i. 68.

c. 1330.—"A traveller states that the country from Sindāpūr to Hanāwar towards its eastern extremity joins with Malabar...."—Abulfeda, Fr. tr., II. ii. 115. Further on in his Tables he jumbles up (as Edrisi has done) Sindāpūr with Sindān (see ST. JOHN).

" "The heat is great at Aden. This is the port frequented by the people of India; great ships arrive there from Cambay, Tāna, Kaulam, Calicut, Fandarāina, Shāliyāt, Manjarūr, Fākanūr, Hanaur, Sandābūr, et cetera."—Ibn Batuta, ii. 177.

c. 1343-4.—"Three days after setting sail we arrived at the Island of Sandābūr, within which there are 36 villages. It is surrounded by an inlet, and at the time of ebb the water of this is fresh and pleasant, whilst at flow it is salt and bitter. There are in the island two cities, one ancient, built by the pagans; the second built by the Musulmans when they conquered the island the first time.... We left this island behind us and anchored at a small island near the mainland, where we found a temple, a grove, and a tank of water...."—Ibid. iv. 61-62.

1350, 1375.—In the Medicean and the Catalan maps of those dates we find on the coast of India Cintabor and Chintabor respectively, on the west coast of India.

c. 1554.—"24th Voyage: from Guvah-Sindābūr to Aden. If you start from Guvah-Sindābūr at the end of the season, take care not to fall on Cape Fāl," &c.—Mohit, in J.A.S.B. v. 564.

The last quotation shows that Goa was known even in the middle of the 16th century to Oriental seamen as Goa-Sindābūr, whatever Indian name the last part represented; probably, from the use of the ṣwād by the earlier Arab writers, and from the Chintabor of the European maps, Chandāpur rather than Sundāpur. No Indian name like this has yet been recovered from inscriptions as attaching to Goa; but the Turkish author of the Mohit supplies the connection, and Ibn Batuta's description even without this would be sufficient for the identification. His description, it will be seen, is that of a delta-island, and Goa is the only one partaking of that character upon the coast. He says it contained 36 villages; and Barros tells us that Goa Island was known to the natives as Tīsvāḍī, a name signifying "Thirty villages." (See SALSETTE.) Its vicinity to the island where Ibn Batuta proceeded to anchor, which we have shown to be Anchediva (q.v.), is another proof. Turning to Rashīduddīn, the order in which he places Sindābūr, Faknūr (Baccanore), Manjarūr (Mangalore), Hīlī (Mt. D'Ely), is perfectly correct, if for Sindābūr we substitute Goa. The passage from Edrisi and one indicated from Abulfeda only show a confusion which has misled many readers since.

SINGALESE, CINGHALESE, n.p. Native of Ceylon; pertaining to Ceylon. The word is formed from Siṉhala, 'Dwelling of Lions,' the word used by the natives for the Island, and which is the origin of most of the names given to it (see CEYLON). The explanation given by De Barros and Couto is altogether fanciful, though it leads them to notice the curious and obscure fact of the introduction of Chinese influence in Ceylon during the 15th century.

1552.—"That the Chinese (Chijs) were masters of the Choromandel Coast, of part of Malabar, and of this Island of Ceylon, we have not only the assertion of the Natives of the latter, but also evidence in the buildings, names, and language that they left in it ... and because they were in the vicinity of this Cape Galle, the other people who lived from the middle of the Island upwards called those dwelling about there Chingálla, and their language the same, as much as to say the language, or the people of the Chins of Galle."—Barros, III. ii. 1.

1583.—(The Cauchin Chineans) "are of the race of the Chingalays, which they say are the best kinde of all the Malabars."—Fitch, in Hakl. ii. 397.

1598.—"... inhabited with people called Cingalas...."—Linschoten, 24; [Hak. Soc. i. 77; in i. 81, Chingalas].

c. 1610.—"Ils tiennent donc que ... les premiers qui y allerent, et qui les peuplerent (les Maldives) furent ... les Cingalles de l'Isle de Ceylan."—Pyrard de Laval, i. 185; [Hak. Soc. i. 105, and see i. 266].

1612.—Couto, after giving the same explanation of the word as Barros, says: "And as they spring from the Chins, who are the falsest heathen of the East ... so are they of this island the weakest, falsest, and most tricky people in all India, insomuch that, to this day, you never find faith or truth in a Chingalla."—V. i. 5.

1681.—"The Chingūleys are naturally a people given to sloth and laziness: if they can but anyways live, they abhor to work."...—Knox, 32.

SINGAPORE, SINCAPORE, n.p. This name was adopted by Sir Stamford Raffles in favour of the city which he founded, February 23, 1819, on the island which had always retained the name since the Middle Ages. This it derived from Siṉhapura, Skt. 'Lion-city,' the name of a town founded by Malay or Javanese settlers from Sumatra, probably in the 14th century, and to which Barros ascribes great commercial importance. The Indian origin of the name, as of many other names and phrases which survive from the old Indian civilisation of the Archipelago, had been forgotten, and the origin which Barros was taught to ascribe to it is on a par with his etymology of Singalese quoted in the preceding article. The words on which his etymology is founded are no doubt Malay: singah, 'to tarry, halt, or lodge,' and pora-pora, 'to pretend'; and these were probably supposed to refer to the temporary occupation of Sinhapura, before the chiefs who founded it passed on to Malacca. [It may be noted that Dennys (Desc. Dict. s.v.) derives the word from singha, 'a place of call,' and pura, 'a city.' In Dalboquerque's Comm. Hak. Soc. iii. 73, we are told: "Singapura, whence the city takes its name, is a channel through which all the shipping of those parts passes, and signifies in his Malay language, 'treacherous delay.'" See quotation from Barros below.]

The settlement of Hinduized people on the site, if not the name, is probably as old as the 4th century, A.D., for inscriptions have been found there in a very old character. One of these, on a rock at the mouth of the little river on which the town stands, was destroyed some 40 or 50 years ago for the accommodation of some wretched bungalow.

The modern Singapore and its prosperity form a monument to the patriotism, sagacity, and fervid spirit of the founder. According to an article in the Geogr. Magazine (i. 107) derived from Mr. Archibald Ritchie, who was present with the expedition which founded the colony, Raffles, after consultation with Lord Hastings, was about to establish a settlement for the protection and encouragement of our Eastern trade, in the Nicobar Islands, when his attention was drawn to the superior advantages of Singapore by Captains Ross and Crawford of the Bombay Marine, who had been engaged in the survey of those seas. Its great adaptation for a mercantile settlement had been discerned by the shrewd, if somewhat vulgar, Scot, Alexander Hamilton, 120 years earlier. It seems hardly possible, we must however observe, to reconcile the details in the article cited, with the letters and facts contained in the Life of Raffles; though probably the latter had, at some time or other, received information from the officers named by Mr. Ritchie.

1512.—"And as the enterprise was one to make good booty, everybody was delighted to go on it, so that they were more than 1200 men, the soundest and best armed of the garrison, and so they were ready incontinently, and started for the Strait of Cincapura, where they were to wait for the junks."—Correa, ii. 284-5.

1551.—"Sed hactenus Deus nobis adsit omnibus. Amen. Anno post Christum natum, MDLI. Ex Freto Syncapurano."—Scti. Franc. Xaverii Epistt. Pragae, 1667, Lib. III. viii.

1553.—"Anciently the most celebrated settlement in this region of Malaca was one called Cingapura, a name which in their tongue means 'pretended halt' (falsa dimora); and this stood upon a point of that country which is the most southerly of all Asia, and lies, according to our graduation, in half a degree of North Latitude ... before the foundation of Malaca, at this same Cingapura ... flocked together all the navigators of the Seas of India from West and East...."—Barros, II. vi. 1. [The same derivation is given in the Comm. of Dalboquerque, Hak. Soc. iii. 73.]

1572.—

By Burton:

1598.—"... by water the coast stretcheth to the Cape of Singapura, and from thence it runneth upwards [inwards] againe...."—Linschoten, 30; [Hak. Soc. i. 101].

1599.—"In this voyage nothing occurred worth relating, except that, after passing the Strait of Sincapura, situated in one degree and a half, between the main land and a variety of islands ... with so narrow a channel that from the ship you could jump ashore, or touch the branches of the trees on either side, our vessel struck on a shoal."—Viaggi di Carletti, ii. 208-9.

1606.—"The 5th May came there 2 Prows from the King of Johore, with the Shahbander (Shabunder) of Singapoera, called Siri Raja Nagara...."—Valentijn, v. 331.

1616.—"Found a Dutch man-of-war, one of a fleet appointed for the siege of Malaca, with the aid of the King of Acheen, at the entrance of the Straits of Singapore."—Sainsbury, i. 458.

1727.—"In anno 1703 I called at Johore on my Way to China, and he treated me very kindly, and made me a Present of the Island of Sincapure, but I told him it could be of no use to a private Person, tho' a proper Place for a Company to settle a Colony in, lying in the Center of Trade, and being accommodated with good Rivers and safe Harbours, so conveniently situated that all Winds served Shipping, both to go out and come in."—A. Hamilton, ii. 98; [ed. 1744, ii. 97].