Chapter DEANER to DELHI of D by The Hobson Jobson Dictionary

DEANER to DELHI

DEANER, s. This is not Anglo-Indian, but it is a curious word of English Thieves’ cant, signifying ‘a shilling.’ It seems doubtful whether it comes from the Italian danaro or the Arabic dinar (q.v.); both eventually derived from the Latin denarius.

DEBAL, n.p. See DIUL-SIND.

DECCAN, n.p. and adj. Hind. Dakhin, Dakkhin, Dakhan, Dakkhan; dakkhina, the Prakr. form of Skt. dakshina, ‘the South’; originally ‘on the right hand’; compare dexter, [Greek Text] dexioV. The Southern part of India, the Peninsula, and especially the Tableland between the Eastern and Western Ghauts. It has been often applied also, politically, to specific States in that part of India, e.g. by the Portuguese in the 16th century to the Ma hommedan Kingdom of Bijapur, and in more recent times by ourselves to the State of Hyderabad. In Western India the Deccan stands opposed to the Concan (q.v.), i.e. the table-land of the interior to the maritime plain; in Upper India the Deccan stands opposed to Hindustan, i.e. roundly speaking, the country south of the Nerbudda to that north of it. The term frequently occurs in the Skt. books in the form dakshinapatha (‘Southern region,’ whence the Greek form in our first quotation), and dakshinatya (‘Southern’—qualifying some word for ‘country’). So, in the Panchatantra: “There is in the Southern region (dakshinatya janapada) a town called Mihilaropya.”

c. A.D. 80–90.—“But immediately after Barygaza the adjoining continent extends from the North to the South, wherefore the region is called Dachinabades ( [Greek Text] DacinabadhV), for the South is called in their tongue Dachanos ( [Greek Text] DacanoV).”—Periplus M.E., Geog. Gr. Min. i. 254.

1510.—“In the said city of Decan there reigns a King, who is a Mahommedan.”—Varthema, 117. (Here the term is applied to the city and kingdom of Bijapur).

1517.—“On coming out of this Kingdom of Guzarat and Cambay towards the South, and the inner parts of India, is the Kingdom of Dacani, which the Indians call Decan.”—Barbosa, 69.

1552.—“Of Decani or Daque as we now call it.”—Castanheda, ii. 50.

„ “He (Mahmud Shah) was so powerful that he now presumed to style himself King of Canara, giving it the name of Decan. And the name is said to have been given to it from the combination of different nations contained in it, because Decanij in their language signifies ‘mongrel.’ ”—De Barros, Dec. II. liv. v. cap. 2. (It is difficult to discover what has led astray here the usually well-informed De Barros).

1608.—“For the Portugals of Daman had wrought with an ancient friend of theirs a Raga, who was absolute Lord of a Prouince (betweene Daman, Guzerat, and Decan) called Cruly, to be readie with 200 Horsemen to stay my passage.”—Capt. W. Hawkins, in Purchas, i. 209.

[1612.—“The Desanins, a people bordering on them (Portuguese) have besieged six of their port towns.”—Danvers, Letters, i. 258.]

1616.—“… his son Sultan Coron, who he designed, should command in Deccan.”—Sir T. Roe.

[“There is a resolution taken that Sultan Caronne shall go to the Decan Warres.”—Ibid. Hak. Soc. i. 192.

[1623.—“A Moor of Dacàn.”—P. della Valle, Hak. Soc. ii. 225.]

1667.—

“But such as at this day, to Indians known,
In Malabar or Decan spreads her arms.”

Paradise Lost, ix. [1102–3].

1726.—“Decan [as a division] includes Decan, Cunkam, and Balagatta.”—Valentijn, v. 1.

c. 1750.—“… alors le Nababe d’Arcate, tout petit Seigneur qu’il étoit, comparé au Souba du Dekam dont il n’étoit que le Fermier traiter (sic) avec nous comme un Souverain avec ses sujets.”—Letter of M. Bussy, in Cambridge’s War in India, p. xxix.

1870.—“In the Deccan and in Ceylon trees and bushes near springs, may often be seen covered with votive flowers.”—Lubbock, Origin of Civilization, 200. N.B.—This is a questionable statement as regards the Deccan.

DECCANY, adj., also used as subst. Properly dakhini, dakkhini, dakhni. Coming from the Deccan. A (Mahommedan) inhabitant of the Deccan. Also the very peculiar dialect of Hindustani spoken by such people.

1516.—“The Decani language, which is the natural language of the country.”—Barbosa, 77.

1572.—

Decanys, Orias, que e esperança
Tem de sua salvação nas resonantes
guas do Gange.…”