Chapter SIND to SINGALESE of S by The Hobson Jobson Dictionary

that now they hurt nobody.”—Livre des Merveilles de l’Inde. V. der Lith et Devic, 157–158.

c. 1150.—“From the city of Baruh (Baruch, i.e. Broach) following the coast, to Sindabur 4 days.

“Sindabur is on a great inlet where ships anchor. It is a place of trade, where one sees fine buildings and rich bazars.”—Edrisi, i. 179. And see Elliot, i. 89.

c. 1300.—“Beyond Guzerat are Konkan and Tána; beyond them the country of Malibár. … The people are all Samanís (Buddhists), and worship idols. Of the cities on the shore the first is Sindabur, then Faknur, then the country of Manjarur, then the country of Hílí. …”—Rashiduddin, in Elliot, i. 68.

c. 1330.—“A traveller states that the country from Sindapur to H anawar towards its eastern extremity joins with Malabar. …”—Abulfeda, Fr. tr., II. ii. 115. Further on in his Tables he jumbles up (as Edrisi has done) Sindapur with Sindan (see ST. JOHN).

„ “The heat i s great at Aden. This is the port frequented by the people of India; great ships arrive there from Cambay, Tana, Kaulam, Calicut, Fandaraina, Shaliyat, Manjarur, Fakanur, Hanaur, Sandabur, et cetera.”—Ibn Batuta, ii. 177.

c. 1343–4.—“Three days after setting sail we arrived at the Island of Sandabur, within which there are 36 villages. It is surrounded by an inlet, and at the time of ebb the water of this is fresh and pleasant, whilst at flow it is salt and bitter. There are in the island two cities, one ancient, built by the pagans; the second built by the Musulmans when they conquered the island the first time. … We left this island behind us and anchored at a small island near the mainland, where we found a temple, a grove, and a tank of water. …”—Ibid. iv. 61–62.

1350, 1375.—“In the Medicean and the Catalan maps of those dates we find on the coast of India Cintabor and Chintabor respectively, on the west coast of India.

c. 1554.—“24th Voyage: from Guvah-Sindabur to Aden. If you start from Guvah-Sindabur at the end of the season, take care not to fall on Cape Fal,” &c.—Mohit, in J.A.S.B. v. 564.

The last quotation s hows that Goa was known even in the middle of the 16th century to Oriental seamen as Goa-Sindabur, whatever Indian name the last part represented; probably, from the use of the swad by the earlier Arab writers, and from the

Chintabor of the European maps, Chandapur rather than Sundapur. No Indian name like this has yet been recovered from inscriptions as attaching to Goa; but the Turkish author of the Mohit supplies the connection, and Ibn Batuta’s description even without this would be sufficient for the identification. His description, it will be seen, is that of a delta-island, and Goa is the only one partaking of that character upon the coast. He says it contained 36 villages; and Barros tells us that Goa Island was known to the natives as Tisvadi, a name signifying “Thirty villages.” (See SALSETTE.) Its vicinity to the island where Ibn Batuta proceeded to anchor, which we have shown to be Anchediva (q.v.), is another proof. Turning to Rashiduddin, the order in which he places Sindabur, Faknur (Baccanore), Manjarur (Mangalore), Hili (Mt. D’Ely), is perfectly correct, if for Sindabur we substitute Goa. The passage from Edrisi and one indicated from Abulfeda only show a confusion which has misled many readers since.

SINGALESE, CINGHALESE, n.p. Native of Ceylon; pertaining to Ceylon. The word is formed from Sinhala, ‘Dwelling of Lions,’ the word used by the natives for the Island, and which is the origin of most of the names given to it (see CEYLON). The explanation given by De Barros and Couto is altogether fanciful, though it leads them to notice the curious and obscure fact of the introduction of Chinese influence in Ceylon during the 15th century.

1552.—“That the Chinese (Chijs) were masters of the Choromandel Coast, of part of Malabar, and of this Island of Ceylon, we have not only the assertion of the Natives of the latter, but also evidence in the buildings, names, and language that they left in it … and because they were in the vicinity of this Cape Galle, the other people who lived from the middle of the Island upwards called those dwelling about there Chingálla, and their language the same, as much as to say the language, or the people of the Chins of Galle.”—Barros, III. ii. 1.

1583.—(The Cauchin Chineans) “are of the race of the Chingalays, which they say are the best kinde of all the Malabars.”—Fitch, in Hakl. ii. 397.

1598.—“… inhabited with people called Cingalas. …”—Linschoten, 24; [Hak. Soc. i. 77; in i. 81, Chingalas].

c. 1610.—“Ils tiennent donc que … les premiers qui y allerent, et qui les peuplerent (les Maldives) furent … les Cingalles de l’Isle de Ceylan.”—Pyrard de Laval, i. 185; [Hak. Soc. i. 105, and see i. 266].

1612.—Couto, after giving the same explanation of the word as Barros, says: “And as they spring from the Chins, who are the falsest heathen of the East … so are they of this island the weakest, falsest, and most tricky people in all India, insomuch that, to this day, you never find faith or truth in a Chingalla.”—V. i. 5.

1681.—“The Chinguleys are naturally a people given to sloth and laziness: if they can but anyways live, they abhor to work.”. …—Knox, 32.