Indian Antiquary Vol 58

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Charles E A W Oldham, S Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarka
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 154

144
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
[ AUGUST, 1929
[1621.] "I fynd the packs soo heavy that they are nott portable either on oxen nor by Caharr, though offer double the freight accustomed between this and Mobuleepore." [Mahabalipur]. Ibid. p. 283.
The word appears to have been adopted into Indian Persian so early as the fourteenth century and occurs in Barni, Tarikh-i-Firi-shahi, Bibl. Ind., Text, 86, 1, 2; 400, 1.5.
Canara. Perhaps the carliest reference to Canara by a foreign writer is in Mas'ûdi. Unfortunately, it has not been recognised by the translators or commentators and has escaped even Yule on account of the imperfections of the Semitic script and the blundering of copyists. He writes :
fc. 941.) "Let us now resumo our short account of the kings of Sind and India. The languace of Sind is different from that of India. ... The inhabitants of Mankir fi.e., Manyakheta i.c., Malkhed, now in the Nizâm's dominions] which is the capital of the Balhára [the Rashtrakūtas) speak the Kiriya language which has this name from Kira, the place where it is spoken. On the coast, as in Saimûr, Subara, Tâna and other towns, a language called Láriya is spoken." Elliot and Dowson, I, 24. Here Lâriya 'stands for the language of Lata or Gujarat, but it has not been recognised that Kiriya and Kira are really Kanariya and Kanara, and that the copyists have read an 'ya,' where the author wrote a niin. If there was any doubt on the subject it must be dispelled by the following passage from Alberûni, who in enumerating the various Indian alphabets, the Malwârî, Saindhava, Andhri, Lari, and Gauri, says of the Karnata, that it is used in Karnațadesa, whence those troops come which in the army are known as Kannara.” India, Sachau's Trans., I, 173.
Carcana. -- [1620.) "I have increased my Cor Conna to almost a hundred workmen ; but here I will stop untill I hear further from Surat." Foster, English Factories in India (1618-1621), p. 198.
Chawbuck. --The earliest example cited from an English author is from Fryer's Letters [1673). The following is much earlier :
[1618.) “The Duche at Mesulepatnam bave roccaved a great affront by the Governor of that plaee, whoo did first Chabucke, or beat with a wand, one of the princepalls of the Duche Merchants." Foster, English Factories in India (1618-21), p. 48. See also pp. 111 and 343.
Cherry Fouj.---The authors are in doubt as regards the derivation of the first part of this curious word, and suggest it is from chari,' movable.' Mr. Crooke tries to connect it with charhi for chashni, preparation for battle.' I venture to say that it is from cheery-cheedi, 'sparrow.' The cheery fouj was a squadrone volante, a light detachment whose object was to fly about and levy contributions in the most distant parts of the country, and nothing could be more appropriate than the comparison with those chartered libertines,' the sparrows. Cf. the use of Fly' for a quick travelling carriage (Hobson-Jobson, p. 355) and the word 'Fly palanquin.' Bad &oni uses the curious phrase Chauzah-i-hardwal, chickens of the van 'in some such sense as the French enfants perdus and our 'forlorn hope.'
Chhota Hazree.-Mr. Crooke suggests that the" earlier sonse of this word was religious." because the ShiAs prepare naziri in the name of Abbâs, the brother of the martyred Husain. There is no ground for supposing any such connection, and the rationale of the secondary sense is quite clear. Må hazar means, in Arabic, that which is ready,' or as Richardson puts it in his Dictionary, “whatever is ready or prepared in haste as victuals, etc.," and the phrase is frequently used for "such food as is available for being placed before a guest." Khafi Khan. Muntakhabu 'l-lubab, Bibl. Ind., Text, I, 652; Ma'dgiru 'l-umard. Ibid., I. 570. Tabaqdi-j-Akbari, Lucknow Text. I. 300, 1. 6=Elliot and Dowson. V. 362; Báburndma. TT. A S. Beveridge, 407.
Chillumahoo.This is one of the few words in regard to which the authors confess that they onnot trave it toits source," though the form of the word seems Turkish." I venture to say that it is derived from the Turkish chalma," a water vessel carried on the saddle-bow, a water bottle