People folded them in four folds, and wore them for a very long time. … His Majesty encourages in every
possible way the (shal-bafi) manufacture of shawls in Kashmír. In Lahór also there are more than 1000
workshops.”—Ain i. 92. [Also see edition Jarrett, ii. 349, 355.]
c. 1665.—“Ils mettent sur eux a toute
saison, lorsqu’ils sortent, une Chal, qui est une maniere de toilette d’une laine très-fine qui se fait a Cachmìr.
Ces Chals ont environ deux aunes (the old French aune, nearly 47 inches English) de long sur une
de large. On les achete vingt-cinq ou trente écus si elles sont fines. Il y en a même qui coûtent cinquante écus,
mais ce sont les trés-fines.”—Thevenot, v. 110.
c. 1666.—“Ces chales sont certaines pièces d’étoffe
d’une aulne et demie de long, et d’une de large ou environ, qui sont brodées aux deux bouts d’une espèce
de broderie, faite au métier, d’un pied ou environ de large. … J’en ai vu de ceux que les Omrahs font
faire exprès, qui coutoient jusqu’à cent cinquante Roupies; des autres qui sont de cette laine du pays, je
n’en ai pas vu qui passaient 50 Roupies.”—Bernier, ii. 280–281; [ed. Constable, 402].
1717.—“… Con tutto
ciò preziosissime nobilissime e senza comparazione magnifiche sono le tele che si chiamano Scial,
si nella lingua Hindustana, come ancora nella lingua Persiana. Tali Scial altro non sono, che alcuni
manti, che si posano sulla testa, e facendo da man destra, e da man sinistra scendere le due metà, con
queste si cinge.…”—MS. Narrative of Padre Ip. Desideri.
[1662.—“Another rich Skarf, which they call schal,
made of a very fine stuff.”—J. Davies, Ambassador’s Trav., Bk. vi. 235, Stanf. Dict.]
1727.—“When they
go abroad they wear a Shawl folded up, or a piece of White Cotton Cloth lying loose on the Top of
their Heads.”—A. Hamilton, ii. 50; [Shaul in edition 1744, ii. 49].
c. 1760.—“Some Shawls are manufactured
there. … Those coming from the province of Cachemire on the borders of Tartary, being made of a peculiar
kind of silky hair, that produces from the loom a cloth beautifully bordered at both ends, with a narrow
flowered selvage, about two yards and a half long, and a yard and a half wide … and according to the
price, which is from ten pounds and upwards to fifteen shillings, join, to exquisite fineness, a substance
that renders them extremely warm, and so pliant that the fine ones are easily drawn through a common
ring on the finger.”—Grose, i. 118.
1781.—Sonnerat writes challes. He says: “Ces étoffes (faites avec la
laine des moutons de Tibet) surpassent nos plus belles soieries en finesse.”—Voyage, i. 52.
SHEEAH, SHIA, s. Arab. shi’a, i.e. ‘sect.’ A follower (more properly the followers collectively) of the Mahommedan ‘sect,’ or sects rather, which specially venerate ’Ali, and regard the Imams (see IMAUM), his descendants, as the true successors to the Caliphate. The Persians (since the accession of the ‘Sophy’ dynasty, (q.v.)) are Shi’as, and a good many of the Moslems in India. The sects which have followed more or less secret doctrines, and the veneration of hereditary quasi-divine heads, such as the Karmathites and Ismaelites of Musulman history, and the modern Bohras (see BORA) and “Mulahis,” may generally be regarded as Shi’a. [See the elaborate article on the sect in Hughes, Dict. of Islam, 572 seqq.]
c. 1309.—“… dont encore il est ainsi, que tuit cil qui croient en la loy Haali dient que cil qui croient en la loy Mahommet sont mescréant; et aussi tuit cil qui croient en la loy Mahommet dient que tuit cil qui croient en la loy Haali sont mescréant.”—Joinville, 252.
1553.—“Among the Moors have always been controversies … which of the four first Caliphs was the most legitimate successor to the Caliphate. The Arabians favoured Bubac, Homar, and Otthoman, the Persians (Parseos) favoured Alle, and held the others for usurpers, and as holding it against the testament of Mahamed … to the last this schism has endured between the Arabians aud the Persians. The latter took the appellation Xiá, as much as to say ‘Union of one Body,’ and the Arabs called them in reproach Raffady [Rafidi, a heretic (lit. ‘deserter’)], as much as to say ‘People astray from the Path,’ whilst they call themselves Çuny (see SUNNEE), which is the contrary.”—Barros, II. x. 6.
1620.—“The Sonnite adherents of tradition, like the Arabs, the Turks, and an infinite number of others, accept the primacy of those who actually possess it. The Persians and their adherents who are called Shias (Sciai), i.e. ‘Sectaries,’ and are not ashamed of the name, believe in the primacy of those who have only claimed it (without possessing it), and obstinately contend that it belongs to the family of Alì only.”—P. della Valle, ii. 75; [conf. Hak. Soc. i. 152].
1626.—“He is by Religion a Mahumetan, descended from Persian Ancestors, and retaineth their opinions, which differing in many