Indian Antiquary Vol 60

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

Page 241

NOVEMBRE, 1931)
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NOTES ON HOBSON-JOBSON
213
Dordûr (p ), Durdur-i-musaddam) and by the sailors, the father of hell; it !! ( a ); at these parts of the sea rise enormous black rocks high overhanging the water, neither plants nor animal can live on them, and under them the sea is very deep and stormy, hence everybody who sails there is filled with fear; they are between Omân and Siráf, and vessels cannot help sailing through the midst of them. There is a constant current of the water which makes it foam."-El Mas'ûdi's Historical Encyclopædia, trans. Sprenger, p. 268; see also Prairies d'Or, text and trans, by B. de Meynard, I, 240, who reads pavimento [Mogendam) and has tourbillon' instead of 'terrible.'
Mussoola. -Yule's earliest English example is of 1673.
[1654.] "The Muowaes' [boatmen) received formerly three fanams for each Mas. soola turne; now they are allowed but two."-English Factories in India, ed. Foster (1651-4), p. 264.
Mutlub.--Yule says:
"Illiterate natives by a common form of corruption turn the word into matbal. In the Punjab, this occurs in printed books; and an adjective is formed, matbali, opinionated' and the like."
I am afraid these animadversions are founded in error and due to a misapprehension on the part of the writer. Matbal is an entirely different word, of Prakritic origin, from the Hindi mat (Sanskrit, mati), 'opinion, belief,' creed,' religion '-and bala, strength, power.' Mutlub' (matlab) is a purely Arabio vocable from the root talab ( Yub).
Neelgye.-The proper Hindi name of this animal may be rojh, but nilgão (s occurs in Barani's history, which was written about 1358 A.D.-Tarilch-1-Firizshahi, text (541, 1. 3, and 600, 1. 5), as well as that by Shams-i-Siraj. The latter describes the habits of the animal, and says that "the chase of deer, [ 1], nil-gdos, etc., was carried on principally in the neighbourhood of BadQan and Anwala."--Elliot and Dowson, H. of I., III, 353; Bibl. Ind., text, 321, 1. 6.
The earliest reference by a European author that I can call to mind is in Barbosa, who gpeaks of them "as certain ash-coloured animals, like camels, so swift that no man can kill them."--The Book of Duarte Barbosa, ed. Dames, I, 199. This painted antelope' is described by Mundy also, who uses both names, Rose,' and 'Nilgaue.'The Travels of Peter Mundy, ed. Sir R. C. Temple, II, 182, 230, 307.
Navait, Naltea, etc.-Below will be found a reference to these people by an English writer, which is both earlier and less uncomplimentary than the one in Yule (1626).
[1608-11). "A little lower on the right hand over the river (the Tapti at Surat) is a little pleasant towne, Ranele, inhabited by a people called Naites, speaking another language, and for the most part sea-men."-Finch's Journal, in Early Travels in India, ed. Foster, 135.
Nokar. This is, as Yule says, a Mongol word introduced into Persia by the hosts of Chingiz, and his earliest quotation is from 'Abdu' r-razzaq, who wrote about 1445 A.D. But there is an older example in the Zafarnama of Sharfu' d-dîn 'Ali Yazdi :
[c. 1399.) “On the last day of Rabi'u'l-awwal [801 A.1.-1399 A.D.] he [Timûr issued his orders and the servants of Mallû Khan and other inhabitants of that fortress [Scil. Loni, near Delhi) who were adorned by the ornaments of Islam were separated from the rest, and the irreligious infidels were all put to death by the sword."--Bibl. Ind. edn., II, 87, 1. 6.
Here the words for servants of Mallà Khân' are naukaran-i-Maua Khan.weglo ulus
The passage is translated in Elliot and Dowson, but the relevant phrase is there erroneously rendered as 'Servants of Nankar Khân,' on account probably of the word glo (Malla) having been inadvertently left out by the copyist of the manuscript used by Dowson. (H. of 1., III, 495.)
Nuncaties. The derivation from Khatái,' of Cathay or China is correct. Chinese porcelain is called Chint Khatái and silba m il occurs in the Tabaqat-s-Akbari. Text, p. 290.