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SEPTEMBER, 1883.]
MISCELLANEA.
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sible, and my remarks must not be taken as in any way implying that he is to blame. All this occurred before he assumed charge of the Museum. There are two portions of erystal caskets in the Museum alleged to have eome from Amaravati, and placed under a glass case with portions of a marble outer-casket from the same place. Is it possible that the crystal caskets really came from Pittapuram P They look much like those marked ld and 4c, in Sir Walter Elliot's plate.
R. SEWELL.
hands of mális, gardeners, and even gavalis, milk. men and women, things that they deal in, such as fruit, vegetables, plantain-leaves, flowers, and milk. This circumstance is to be noted because in other parts people are seen to refuse to receive the same things from the hands of Christians. It thus appears that these people are more or less naturalised, and are looked upon more as natives than Christians. There is another class seen in this part, who are known by the name of Nave Mardthe. When an explanation of this word was sought, it was said that such and such a man is so called because his grandfather was a Kiristánva (a convert Christian), but he and his father have become Hindus, and have been looked upon as such.
N. B. GODABOLE, Sanskrit Teacher, Elphinstone High School, Bombay, 16th June 1883.
PROPER NAMES IN THÅNÅ DISTRICT. SIR, --The following I am sure will interest some of your readers.
The Agris, Kolis, Mális, and other castes at Waski (Bassein) and adjoining places, who, it is said, are natives converted to Christianity, and some of whom have even the same surnames as Konkanastha Brahmans, are named and married by the Padre. There is nothing peculiar in this. But many of them have names given them from the days on which they are born. The name Somd, for instance, is given to one born on a Monday. He who is born on Tuesday is frequently named Mangalyd. One born on Wednesday is called Budhu or Budhya(?). Bestara, Bistara, or Bistura is given to one born on Thursday, and Sukara or Sukaryd to one born on Friday. One was named Sinwar, which word I first thought was a corruption of the word Sigñor, but afterwards conjectured must be a corruption of Sanavdra or Sanivdra, Saturday. One man strengthened this conjecture by his testimony. I did not hear of a name corresponding to Sunday. But I heard there were persons bearing the name of dditvára.
Sothe derive their names from those of animals, such as Undira, a mouse, Kolhd or Kola, a jackal, Kávalya, a crow, and so on.
Another peculiarity with these people is, that when asked their names they give the father's name first and then their own, and will not allow others even to call them, ak people do in other parts of the Thani Collectorate-viz., the personal namo first, and then the father's. They thus interrogate the person who insists on the latter being the proper mode, "Who comes first, or rather who is born first, the father or the son P" If they at all allow the latter mode, they still persist in saying Sinvar Zavarchâ or Valaji Krishnachê, thus adding the suffix chá to denote that Sinvar or Valaji, as the case may be, is the son of Závar or Krishna.
Another thing that I marked was, that people of this part have no objection to receive from the
NOTES. DURBÂNT-a derivation. In the J. 4. S. B. vol. XLIX, p. 95, in an article on the Route of the Tal-Chotiali Field Force, I wrote as follows:"The old name of the Duranis was Abd&li, till Ahmad Shah, an Abdali of the Sadozai family or sub-section of the Popalzai section of the Abliklis, the hero of Panipat in 1747, took the title of Durr-i-Durrdn, the Pearl of Pearls, and named his tribe after himself Durinis." However, lately a dweller in those parts has assured me that this was wrong, although my statement merely followed the usually accepted derivation. He says that the original name of the Abdalis or Durranis was Muhammadzai, and that they had about 500 years ago a great saint, now known as Shảh Makhsûd Abdål, who is buried at Shakr Darrå (the Sugar Pass), about 50 miles N.W. of Kandahar. The tribe, as a body, became followers of this saint, whence their name Abdåli. This Shah Makhsud had a habit of wearing a pearl in each ear as earrings, and so obtained the soubri. quet of Durrani, the pearl-wearer. His followers so far adopted his custom as to wear small por. tions of gold wire clipped on to the lobe of the ear and this many do still, whence the tribe became called Durranis. My informant says that Ahmad Shah's title was not Durr-i-Durran but Durr-i-Durrani, the Pearl of the Durranis. As is well-known the modern Durranis are divided into Ziraks and Panjpãos, and the Ziraks further divided into Popalzais, Alakòzais, Barakzais and Achakzais. The Sadozai family of Popalzais ruled in Afghanistån from about 1716 to 1818 A.D., when the present ruling family came into power. They are the Muhammadzai family of
