Chapter TOWLEEA to TRICHINOPOLY of T by The Hobson Jobson Dictionary

TOWLEEA to TRICHINOPOLY

TOWLEEA, s. Hind. tauliya, ‘a towel.’ This is a corruption, however, not of the English form, but rather of the Port. toallia (Panjab N. & Q., 1885, ii. 117).

TRAGA, s. [Molesworth gives “S. traga, Guz. tragu”; traga does not appear in Monier-Williams’s Skt. Dict., and Wilson queries the word as doubtful. Dr. Grierson writes: “I cannot trace its origin back to Skt. One is tempted to connect it with the Skt. root trai, or tra, ‘to protect,’ but the termination ga presents difficulties which I cannot get over. One would expect it to be derived from some Skt. word like traka, but no such word exists.”] The extreme form of dhurna (q.v.) among the Rajputs and connected tribes, in which the complainant puts himself, or some member of his family, to torture or death, as a mode for bringing vengeance on the oppressor. The tone adopted by some persons and papers at the time of the death of the great Charles Gordon, tended to imply their view that his death was a kind of traga intended to bring vengeance on those who had sacrificed him. [For a case in Greece, see Pausanias, X. i. 6. Another name for this self-sacrifice is Chandi, which is perhaps Skt. canda, ‘passionate’ (see Malcolm, Cent. India, 2nd ed. ii. 137). Also compare the juhar of the Rajputs (Tod, Annals, Calcutta reprint, i. 74). And for Kur, see As. Res. iv. 357 seqq.]

1803.—A case of traga is recorded in Sir Jasper Nicoll’s Journal, at the capture of Gawilgarh, by Sir A. Wellesley. See note to Wellington, ed. 1837, ii. 387.

1813.—“Every attempt to levy an assessment is succeeded by the Tarakaw, a most horrid mode of murdering themselves and each other.”—Forbes, Or. Mem. ii. 91; [2nd ed. i. 378; and see i. 244].

1819.—For an affecting story of Traga, see Macmurdo, in Bo. Lit. Soc. Trans. i. 281.

[TRANKEY, s. A kind of boat used in the Persian Gulf and adjoining seas. All attempts to connect it with any Indian or Persian word have been unsuccessful. It has been supposed to be connected with the Port. trincador, a sort of flat-bottomed coasting vessel with a high stern, and with trinquart, a herring- boat used in the English Channel. Smyth (Sailor’s Word-book, s.v.) has: “Trankeh or Trankies, a large boat of the Gulf of Persia.” See N. & Q. 8 ser. vii. 167, 376.

[1554.—“He sent certain spies who went in Terranquims dressed as fishermen who caught fish inside the straits.”—Couto, Dec. VI. Bk. x. ch. 20.

[c. 1750.—“…he remained some years in obscurity, till an Arab tranky being driven in there by stress of weather, he made himself known to his countrymen.…”—Grose, 1st ed. 25.

[1753.—“Taghi Khan…soon after embarked a great number of men in small vessels.” In the note tarranquins.—Hanway, iv. 181.

[1773.—“Accordingly we resolved to hire one of the common, but uncomfortable vessels of the Gulph, called a Trankey.…”—Ives, 203.]

TRANQUEBAR, n.p. A seaport of S. India, which was in the possession of the Danes till 1807, when it was taken by England. It was restored to the Danes in 1814, and purchased from them, along with Serampore, in 1845. The true name is said to be Tarangambadi, ‘Sea-Town’ or ‘Wave-Town’; [so the Madras Gloss.; but in the Man. (ii. 216) it is interpreted ‘Street of the Telegu people.’]

1610.—“The members of the Company have petitioned me, that inasmuch as they do much service to God in their establishment at Negapatam, both among Portuguese and natives, and that there is a settlement of newly converted Christians who are looked after by the catechumens of the parish (freguezia) of Trangabar.…”—King’s Letter, in Livros das Monções, p. 285.

[1683–4.—“This Morning the Portuguez ship that came from Vizagapatam Sailed hence for Trangambar.”—Pringle, Diary, Ft. St. Geo. 1st ser. iii. 16.]

TRAVANCORE, n.p. The name of a village south of Trevandrum, from which the ruling dynasty of the kingdom which is known by the name has been called. The true name is said to be Tiru-vidan-kodu, shortened to Tiruvankodu. [The Madras Gloss. gives Tiruvitankur, tiru, Skt. sri, ‘the goddess of prosperity,’ vazhu, ‘to reside,’ kur, ‘part.’]

[1514.—“As to the money due from the Raja of Travamcor.…”—Albuquerque, Cartas, p. 270.]

1553.—“And at the place called Travancor, where this Kingdom of Coulam terminates, there begins another Kingdom, taking its name from this very Travancor, the king of which our people call the Rey Grande,