Chapter CHALIA to CHANK of C by The Hobson Jobson Dictionary

Camões, x. 129.

By Burton :

“Here courseth, see, the callèd Champa shore,
with woods of odorous wood ‘tis deckt and dight.”

1608.—“…thence (from Assam) eastward on the side of the northern mountains are the Nangata [i.e. Naga] lands, the Land of Pukham lying on the ocean, Balgu [Baigu ? i.e. Pegu], the land Rakhang, Hamsavati, and the rest of the realm of Munyang ; beyond these Champa, Kamboja, etc. All these are in general named Koki.”—Taranatha (Tibetan) Hist. of Buddhism, by Schiefner, p. 262. The preceding passage is of great interest as showing a fair general knowledge of the kingdoms of Indo-China on the part of a Tibetan priest. and also as showing that Indo-China was recognised under a general name, viz. Koki.

1696.—“Mr. Bowyear says the Prince of Champa whom he met at the Cochin Chinese Court was very polite to him, and strenuously exhorted him to introduce the English to the dominions of Champa.”—In Dalrymple’s Or. Repert. i. 67.

CHAMPANA, s. A kind of small vessel. (See SAMPAN.)

CHANDAUL, s. H. Chandal, an outcaste, ‘used generally for a man of the lowest and most despised of the mixt tribes’ (Williams) ; ‘properly one sprung from a Sudra father and Brahman mother’ (Wilson. [The last is the definition of the Ain (ed. Jarrett, iii. 116). Dr. Wilson identifies them with the Kandali or Gondali of Ptolemy (Ind. Caste, i. 57).]

712.—“You have joined those Chandáls and coweaters, and have become one of them.”—Chach-Namah, in Elliot, i. 193.

[1810.—“Chandela,” see quotation under HALALCORE.]

CHANDERNAGORE, n.p. The name of the French settlement on the Hoogly, 24 miles by river above Calcutta, originally occupied in 1673. The name is alleged by Hunter to be properly Chandan(a)-nagara, ‘Sandalwood City,’ but the usual form points rather to Chandra-nagara, ‘Moon City.’ [Natives prefer to call it Farash-danga, or ‘The gathering together of Frenchmen.’]

1727.—“He forced the Ostenders to quit their Factory, and seek protection from the French at Charnagur.…They have a few private Families dwelling near the Factory, and a pretty little Church to hear Mass in, which is the chief Business of the French in Bengal.”—A. Hamilton, ii. 18.

[1753.—“Shandernagor.” See quotation under CALCUTTA.]

CHANK, CHUNK, s. H. sankh, Skt. sankha, a large kind of shell (Turbinella rapa) prized by the Hindus, and used by them for offering libations, as a horn to blow at the temples, and for cutting into armlets and other ornaments. It is found especially in the Gulf of Manaar, and the Chank fishery was formerly, like that of the pearl-oysters, a Government monopoly (see Tennent’s Ceylon, ii. 556, and the reference). The abnormal chank, with its spiral opening to the right, is of exceptional value, and has been sometimes priced, it is said, at a lakh of rupees !

c. 545.—“Then there is Sielediba, i.e. Taprobane…and then again on the continent, and further back is Marallo, which exports conch-shells ( [Greek Text] kocliouz).”— Cosmas, in Cathay, I. clxxviii.

851.—“They find on its shores (of Ceylon) the pearl, and the shank, a name by which they designate the great shell which serves for a trumpet, and which is much sought after.”—Reinaud, Relations, i. 6.

1563.—“…And this chanco is a ware for the Bengal trade, and formerly it produced more profit than now.…And there was formerly a custom in Bengal that no virgin in honour and esteem could be corrupted unless it were by placing bracelets of chanco on her arms ; but since the Patans came in this usage has more or less ceased ; and so the chance is rated lower now.…” —Garcia, f. 141.

1644.—“What they chiefly bring (from Tuticorin) are cloths called cachas¹ …a large quantity of Chanquo ; these are large shells which they fish in that sea, and which supply Bengal, where the blacks make of them bracelets for the arm ; also the biggest and best fowls in all these Eastern parts.”—Bocarro, MS. 316.

1672.—“Garroude flew in all haste to Brahma, and brought to Kisna the chianko, or kinkhorn, twisted to the right.”—Baldaeus, Germ. ed. 521.

1673.—“There are others they call chanquo ; the shells of which are the Mother of Pearl.”—Fryer, 322.

1727.—“It admits of some Trade, and produces Cotton, Corn, coars Cloth,