Chapter XERAFINE to XERCANSOR of X by The Hobson Jobson Dictionary

weights of Bombaim. 3 Larees is 1 Zeraphin. 80 Daies (Reas) 1 Laree. 1 Pice is 10 Raies. The Raies are imaginary.

“Coins and weights in Goa. … The Cruzado of gold, 12 Zeraphins. The Zeraphin, 5 Tangoes. The Tango (Tanga), 5 Vinteens. The Vinteen, 15 Basrooks (Budgrook), whereof 75 make a Tango. And 60 Rees make a Tango.”—Fryer, 206.

1690.—

	dw.	gr.
“The Gold St. Thoma	2	5½
The Silv. Sherephene	7	4.”

Table of Coins, in Ovington.

1727.—“Their Soldiers Pay (at Goa) is very small and ill paid. They have but six Xerapheens per Month, and two Suits of Calico, stript or checquered, in a Year … and a Xerapheen is worth about sixteen Pence half Peny Ster.”—A. Hamilton, i. 249; [ed. 1744, i. 252].

1760.—“You shall coin Gold and silver of equal weight and fineness with the Ashrefees (Ashrafee) and Rupees of Moorshedabad, in the name of Calcutta.”—Nawab’s Perwannah for Estabt. of a Mint in Calcutta, in Long, 227.

c. 1844.—“Sahibs now are very different from what they once were. When I was a young man with an officer in the camp of Lat Lik Sahib (Lord Lake) the sahibs would give an ashrafi (Ashrafee), when now they think twice before taking out a rupee.”—Personal Reminiscences of an old Khansama’s Conversation. Here the gold mohur is meant.

XERCANSOR, n.p. This is a curious example of the manner in which the Portuguese historians represent Mahommedan names. Xercansor does really very fairly represent phonetically the name of She r Khan Sur, the famous rival and displacer of Humayun, under the title of Sher Shah.

c. 1538.—“But the King of Bengal, seeing himself very powerful in the kingdom of the Patans, seized the king and took his kingdom from him … and made Governor of the kingdom a great lord, a vassal of his, called Cotoxa, and then leaving everything in good order, returned to Bengal. The administrator Cotoxa took the field with a great array, having with him a Patan Captain called Xercansor, a valiant cavalier, much esteemed by all.”—Correa, ii. 719.

The kingdom of the Patans appears to be Behar, where various Afghan chiefs tried to establish themselves after the conquest of Delhi by Baber. It would take more search than it is worth to elucidate the story as told by Correa, but see Elliot, iv. 333.

Cotoxa (Koto sha) appears to be Kutb Khan of the Mahommedan historian there.

Another curious example of Portuguese nomenclature is that given to the first Mahommedan king of Malacca by Barros, Xaquem Darxá (II. vi. 1), by Alboquerque Xaquendarxa (Comm. Pt. III. ch. 17). This name is rendered by Lassen’s ponderous lore into Skt. Sakanadhara, “d. h. Besitzer kräftiger Besinnungen” (or “Possessor, of strong recollections.”—Ind. Alt. iv. 546), whereas it is simply the Portuguese way of writing Sikandar Shah! [So Linschoten (Hak. Soc. ii. 183) writes Xatamas for Shah Tamasp.]. For other examples, see Codovascam, Idalcan.