Chapter ELEPHANT-CREEPER to EYSHAM of E by The Hobson Jobson Dictionary

ELEPHANT-CREEPER to EYSHAM

ELEPHANT-CREEPER, s. Argyreia speciosa, Sweet. (N. O. Convolvulaceae). The leaves are used in native medicine as poultices, &c.

ELK, s. The name given by sportsmen in S. India, with singular impropriety, to the great stag Rusa Aristotelis, the sambar (see SAMBRE) of Upper and W. India.

[1813.—“In a narrow defile … a male elk (cervus alces, Lin.) of noble appearance, followed by twenty- two females, passed majestically under their platform, each as large as a common-sized horse.”—Forbes, Or. Mem. 2nd ed. i. 506.]

ELL’ORA, (though very commonly called Ellóra), n.p. Properly Elura, [Tel. elu, ‘rule,’ uru, ‘village,’] otherwise Verule, a village in the Nizam’s terri tory, 7 m. from Daulatabad, which gives its name to the famous and wonderful rock-caves and temples in its vicinity, excavated in the crescent-shaped scarp of a plateau, about 1½ m. in length. These works are Buddhist (ranging from A.D. 450 to 700), Brahminical (c. 650 to 700), and Jain (c. 800-1000). c. 1665.—“On m’avoit fait a Sourat grande estime des Pagodes d’Elora … (and after describing them) … Quoiqu’il en soit, si l’on considère cette quantité de Temples spacieux, remplis de pilastres et de colonnes, et tant de milliers de figures, et le tout taillé dans le roc vif, on peut dire avec verité que ces ouvrages surpassent la force humaine; et qu’au moins les gens du siècle dans lequel ils ont été faits, n’étoient pas tout-à-fait barbares.”—Thevenot, v. p. 222.

1684.—“Muhammad Shah Malik Júná, son of Tughlik, selected the fort of Deogir as a central point whereat to establish the seat of government, and gave it the name of Daulatábád. He removed the inhabitants of Delhi thither. … Ellora is only a short distance from this place. At some very remote period a race of men, as if by magic, excavated caves high up among the defiles of the mountains. These rooms extended over a breadth of one kos. Carvings of various designs and of correct execution adorned all the walls and ceilings; but the outside of the mountain is perfectly level, and there is no sign of any dwelling. From the long period of time these Pagans remained masters of this territory, it is reasonable to conclude, although historians differ, that to them is to be attributed the construction of these places.”—Saki Must a’idd Khan, Ma-asir-i-’ Alamgiri, in Elliot, vii. 189 seq.

1760.—“Je descendis ensuite par un sentier frayé dans le roc, et après m’être muni de deux Brahmes que l’on me donna pour fort instruits je commencai la visite de ce que j’appelle les Pagodes d’Eloura.”— Anquetil du Perron, I. ccxxxiii.

1794.—“Description of the Caves … on the Mountain, about a Mile to the Eastward of the town of Ellora, or as called on the spot, Verrool.” (By Sir. C. W. Malet.) In As. Researches, vi. 38 seqq.

1803.—“Hindoo Excavations in the Mountain of … Ellora in Twenty-four Views. … Engraved from the Drawings of James Wales, by and under the direction of Thomas Daniell.”

ELU, HELU, n.p. This is the name by which is known an ancient form of the Singhalese language from which the modern vernacular of Ceylon is immediately derived, “and to which” the latter “bears something of the same relation that the English of today bears to Anglo-Saxon. Fundamentally Elu and Singhalese are identical, and the difference of form which they present is due partly to the large number of new grammatical forms evolved by the modern language, and partly to an immense influx into it of Sanskrit nouns, borrowed, often without alteration, at a comparatively recent period. … The name Elu is no other than Sinhala much corrupted, standing for an older form, Hela or Helu, which occurs in some ancient works, and this again for a still older, Sela, which brings us back to the Pali Sîhala.” (Mr. R. C. Childers, in J.R.A.S., N.S., vii. 36.) The loss of the initial sibilant has other examples in Singhalese. (See also under CEYLON.)

EMBLIC Myrobalans. See under MYROBALANS.

ENGLISH-BAZAR, n.p. This is a corruption of the name (Angrezabad = ‘English-town’) given by the natives in the 17th century to the purlieus of the factory at Malda in Bengal. Now the Head-quarters Station of Malda District.

1683.—“I departed from Cassumbazar with designe (God willing) to visit ye factory at Englesavad.”—Hedges, Diary, May 9; [Hak. Soc. i. 86; also see i. 71].

1878.—“These ruins (Gaur) are situated about