Chapter CORPORAL FORBES to COSPETIR of C by The Hobson Jobson Dictionary

order to send it with a cargo of rice to Malaca, and so make a great profit. But on reaching the coast he could not make the port of Martaban, and had to make the mouth of the River of Pegu.…Twenty leagues from the bar there is another city called Cosmim, in which merchants buy and sell and do business.…”—Correa, ii. 474.

1545.—“…and 17 persons only out of 83 who were on board, being saved in the boat, made their way for 5 days along the coast; intending to put into the river of Cosmim, in the kingdom of Pegu, there to embark for India (i.e. Goa) in the king’s lacker ship.…”—F. M. Pinto, ch. cxlvii.

1554.—“Cosmym…the currency is the same in this port that is used in Peguu, for this is a seaport by which one goes to Peguu.”—A. Nunez, 38.

1566.—“In a few days they put into Cosmi, a port of Pegu, where presently they gave out the news, and then all the Talapoins came in haste, and the people who were dwelling there.”—Couto, Dec. viii. cap. 13.

c. 1570.—“They go it vp the riuer in foure daies…with the flood, to a City called Cosmin…whither the Customer of Pegu comes to take the note or markes of euery man.…Nowe from Cosmin to the citie Pegu…it is all plaine and a goodly Country, and in 8 dayes you may make your voyage.”—Cæsar Frederike, in Hakl. ii. 366-7.

1585.—“So the 5th October we came to Cosmi, the territory of which, from side to side is full of woods, frequented by parrots, tigers, boars, apes, and other like creatures.”—G. Balbi, f. 94.

1587.—“We entered the barre of Negrais, which is a braue barre, and hath 4 fadomes water where it hath least. Three dayes after we came to Cosmin, which is a very pretie towne, and standeth very pleasantly, very well furnished with all things…the houses are all high built, set vpon great high postes…for feare of the Tygers, which be very many.”—R. Fitch, in Hakl. ii. 390.

1613.—“The Portuguese proceeded without putting down their arms to attack the Banha Dela’s (position), and destroyed it entirely, burning his factory and compelling him to flee to the kingdom of Prom, so that there now remained in the whole realm of Pegu only the Banho of Cosmim (a place adjoining Negrais) calling himself vassal of the King of Arracan.”—Bocarro, 132.

COSPETIR, n.p. This is a name which used greatly to perplex us on the 16th and 17th century maps of India, e.g. in Blaeu’s Atlas (c. 1650), appearing generally to the west of the Ganges Delta. Considering how the geographical names of different ages and different regions sometimes get mixed up in old maps, we at one time tried to trace it to the [Greek Text] KaspaturoV of Herodotus, which was certainly going far afield! The difficulty was solved by the sagacity of the deeply-lamented Prof. Blochmann, who has pointed out (J. As. Soc. Beng., xlii. pt. i. 224) that Cospetir represents the Bengali genitive of Gajpati, ‘Lord of Elephants,’ the traditional title of the Kings of Orissa. The title Gajpati was that one of the Four Great Kings who, according to Buddhist legend, divided the earth among them in times when there was no Chakravartti, or Universal Monarch (see CHUCKERBUTTY). Gajapati rules the South; Asvapati (Lord of Horses) the North; Chhatrapati (Lord of the Umbrella) the West; Narapati (Lord of Men) the East. In later days these titles were variously appropriated (see Lassen, ii. 27 seq.). And Akbar, as will be seen below, adopted these names, with others of his own devising, for the suits of his pack of cards. There is a Raja Gajpati, a chief Zamindar of the country north of Patna, who is often mentioned in the wars of Akbar (see Elliot, v. 399 and passim, vi. 55, &c.) who is of course not to be confounded with the Orissa Prince.

c. 700 (?).—“In times when there was no. Chakravartti King…Chen-pu (Sambadvipa) was divided among four lords. The southern was the Lord of Elephants (Gajapati), &c.…”—Introd. to Si-yu-ki (in Pèlerins Bouddh.), ii. lxxv.

1553.—“On the other or western side, over against the Kingdom of Orixa, the Bengalis (os Bengalos) hold the Kingdom of Cospetir, whose plains at the time of the risings of the Ganges are flooded after the fashion of those of the River Nile.”—Barros, Dec. IV. ix. cap. I.

This and the next passage compared show that Barros was not aware that Cospetir and Gajpati were the same.

„ “Of this realm of Bengala, and of other four realms its neighbours, the Gentoos and Moors of those parts say that God has given to each its peculiar gift: to Bengala infantry numberless; to the Kingdom of Orixa elephants; to that of Bisnaga men most skilful in the use of sword and shield; to the Kingdom of Dely multitudes of cities and towns; and to Cou a vast number of horses. And so naming them in this order they give them these other names, viz.: Espaty, Gaspaty, Noropaty, Buapaty, and Coapaty.”—Barros, ibid. [These titles appear to be Asvapati, “Lord of Horses”; Gajapati; Narapati, “Lord of Men”; Bhupati, “Lord of Earth”; Gopati, “Lord of Cattle.”]

c. 1590.—“His Majesty (Akbar) plays with the following suits of cards. 1st. Ashwapati, the lord of horses. The highest card represents a King on horseback, resembling the King of Dihli.…2nd. Gajpati, the King whose power lies in the number of his elephants, as the ruler