Chapter SITTRINGY to SIWALIK of S by The Hobson Jobson Dictionary

hen the Sultan of Islam, Nasir-ud Dunya-wa-ud-Din, ascended the throne of sovereignty … after Malik Balban had come [to Court?] he, on several occasions made a request for Uchchah together with Multan. This was acquiesced in, under the understanding that the Siwalikh [territory] and Nag-awr should be relinquished by him to other Maliks. …”—Ibid. 781.

1253.—“When the new year came round, on Tuesday, the 1st of the month of Muharram, 651 H., command was given to Ulugh Khan-i-A’zam … to proceed to his fiefs, the territory of Siwalikh and Hansi.”—Ibid. 693.

1257.—“Malik Balban … withdrew (from Dehli), and by way of the Siwalikh [country], and with a slight retinue, less than 200 or 300 in number, returned to Uchchah again.”—Ibid. 786.

1255.—“When the royal tent was pitched at Talh-pat, the [contingent] forces of the Siwalikh [districts], which were the fiefs o f Ulugh Khan-i-A’zam, had been delayed … (he) set out for Hansi … (and there) issued his mandate, so that, in the space of 14 days, the troops of the Siwalikh, Hansi, Sursuti, Jind [Jhind], and Barwalah … assembled. …”—Ibid. 837.

1260. —“Ulugh Khan-i-A’zam resolved upon making a raid upon the Koh-payah [hill tracts of Mewat] round about the capi tal, because in this … there was a community of obdurate rebels, who, unceasingly, committed highway robbery, and plundered the property of Musalmans … and destruction of the villages in the districts of Harianah, the Siwalikh, and Bhianah, necessarily followed their outbreaks.”—Ibid. 850.

1300–10.—“The Mughals having wasted the Siwálik, had moved some distance off. When they and their horses returned weary and thirsty to the river, the army of Islám, which had been waiting for them some days, caught them as they expected. …”—Zia-uddin Barni, in Elliot, iii. 199.

b.—

c. 1300.—“Of the cities on the shore the first is Sandabúr, then Faknúr, then the country of Manjarúr, then the country of (Fandarainá), then Jangli (Jinkali), then Kúlam. … After these comes the country of Sawálak, which comprises 125,000 cities and villages. After that comes Málwála” (but in some MSS. Málwá).—Rashiduddin, in Elliot, i. 68. Rashiduddin has got appare ntly much astray here, for he brings in the Siwalik territory at the far end of Malabar. But the mention of Malwa as adjoining is a probable indication of the true position. (Elliot imagines here some allusion to the Maldives and Laccadives. All in that way that seems possible is that Rashiduddin may have heard of the Maldives and made some jumble between them and Malwa). And this is in a manner confirmed by the next quotation from a Portuguese writer who places the region inland from Guzerat.

1644.—“It confines … on the east with certain kingdoms of heathen, which are called Saualacca prabatta (Skt. parvata), as much as to say 120,000 mountains.”—Bocarro, MS.

c.—

1399.—“Le Détroit de Coupelé est situe au pied d’une montagne par où passe le Gange, et à quinze milles plus haut que ce Détroit il y a une pierre en forme de Vache, de laquelle sort la source de ce grand Fleuve; c’est la cause pour laquelle les Indous adorent cette pierre, et dans tous les pays circonvoisins jusques à une année de chemin, ils se tournent pour prier du côté de ce Détroit et de cette Vache de pierre. … Cependant on eut avis que dans la montagne de Soualec, qui est une des plus considerables de l’Inde, et qui s’étend dans le deux tiers de ce grand Empire, il s’étoit assemblé un grand nombre d’Indiens qui cherchoient à nous faire insulte.”—H. de Timur-Bec, par Chereffedin Ali d’Yezd (Fr. Tr. by Petis de la Croix), Delf, 1723, iii. ch. xxv.-xxvi.

1528.—“The northern range of hills has been mentioned … after leaving Kashmîr, these hills contain innumerable tribes and states, pergannahs and countries, and extend all the way to Bengal and the shores of the Great Ocean. … The chief trade of the inhabitants of these hills is in muskbags, the tails of the mountain cow, saffron, lead, and copper. The natives of Hind call these hills Sewâlik-Parbat. In the language of Hind Sawalâk means a lak and a quarter (or 125,000), and Parbat means a hill, that is, the 125,000 hills. On these hills the snow never melts, and from some parts of Hindustán, such as Lahore, Sehrend, and Sambal, it is seen white on them all the year round.”—Baber, p. 313.

c. 1545.—“Sher Sháh’s dying regrets.

“On being remonstrated with for giving way to low spirits, when he had done so much for the good of the people during his short reign, after earnest solicitation, he said, ‘I have had three or four desires on my heart, which still remain without accomplishment. … One is, I wished to have depopulated the country of Roh, and to have transferred its inhabitants to the tract between the Niláb and Lahore, including the hills below Ninduna as far as the Siwálik.’ ”—Tárikh-Khán Jahán Lodí, in Elliot, v. 107–8. Ninduna was on Balnath, a hill over the Jelam (compare Elliot, ii. 450–1).

c. 1547–8.—“After their defeat the Niázís took refuge with the Ghakkars, in the hill-country bordering on Kashmír. Islám Sháh … during the space of two years was engaged in constant conflicts with the Ghakkars, whom he desired to subdue. … Skirting the hills he went thence to Múrín (?), and all the Rájás of the Siwálik presented themselves. … Parsurám, the Rájá of Gwálior, became a staunch servant of the King … Gwálior is a hill, which is