Chapter GOONT to GORAWALLAH of G by The Hobson Jobson Dictionary

GOONT to GORAWALLAH

GOONT, s. H. gunth, guth. A kind of pony of the N. Himalayas, strong but clumsy.

c. 1590.—“In the northern mountainous districts of Hindustan a kind of small but strong horses is bred, which is called gut; and in the confines of Bengal, near Kúch, another kind of horses occurs, which rank between the gut and Turkish horses, and are called tánghan (see TANGUN); they are strong and powerful.”—Ain, i. 183; [also see ii. 280].

1609.—“On the further side of Ganges lyeth a very mighty Prince, called Raiaw Rodorow, holding a mountainous Countrey…thence commeth much Muske, and heere is a great breed of a small kind of Horse, called Gunts, a true travelling scalecliffe beast.”—W. Finch, in Purchas, i. 438.

1831.—“In Cashmere I shall buy, without regard to price, the best ghounte in Tibet.”—Jacquemont’s Letters, E.T. i. 238.

1838.—“Give your gunth his head and he will carry you safely…any horse would have struggled, and been killed; these gunths appear to understand that they must be quiet, and their master will help them.”—Fanny Parkes, Wanderings of a Pilgrim, ii. 226.

GOORKA, GOORKALLY, n.p. H. Gurkha, Gurkhali. Th e name of the race now dominant in Nepal, and taking their name from a town so called 53 miles W. of Khatmandu. [The name is usually derived from the Skt. go-raksha, ‘cow-keeper.’ For the early history see Wright, H. of Nepal, 147]. They are probably the best soldiers of modern India, and several regiments of the Anglo-Indian army are recruited from the tribe.

1767.—“I believe, Sir, you have before been acquainted with the situation of Nipal, which has long been besieged by the Goorcully Rajah.”—Letter from Chief at Patna, in Long, 526.

[“The Rajah being now dispossessed of his country, and shut up in his capital by the Rajah of Goercullah, the usual channel of commerce has been obstructed.”—Letter from Council to E.1. Co., in Verelst, View of Bengal, App. 36.]

GOOROO, s. H. guru, Skt. guru; a spiritual teacher, a (Hindu) priest.

(Ancient).—“That brahman is called guru who performs according to rule the rites on conception and the like, and feeds (the child) with rice (for the first time).”—Manu, ii. 142.

c. 1550.—“You should do as you are told by your parents and your Guru.”—Ramayana of Tulsi Das, by Growse (1878), 43.

[1567.—“Grous.” See quotation under CASIS.]

1626.—“There was a famous Prophet of the Ethnikes, named Goru.”—Purchas, Pilgrimage, 520.

1700.—“…je suis fort surpris de voir à la porte…le Pénitent au colier, qui demandoit à parler au Gourou.”—Letters Edif., x. 95.

1810.—“Persons of this class often keep little schools…and then are designated gooroos; a term implying that kind of respect we entertain for pastors in general.”—Williamson, V. M. ii. 317.

1822.—“The Adventures of the Gooroo Paramartan; a tale in the Tamul Language” (translated by B. Babington from the original of Padre Beschi, written about 1720–1730), London.

1867.—“Except the guru of Bombay, no priest on earth has so large a power of acting on every weakness of the female heart as a Mormon bishop at Salt Lake.”—Dixon’s New America, 330.

GOORUL, s. H. gural, goral; the Himalayan chamois; Nemorhoedus Goral of Jerdon. [Cemas Goral of Blanford (Mammalia, 516).]

[1821.—“The flesh was good and tasted like that of the ghorul, so abundant in the hilly belt towards India.”—Lloyd & Gerard’s Narr., ii. 112.

[1886.—“On Tuesday we went to a new part of the hill to shoot ‘gurel,’ a kind of deer, which across a khud, looks remarkably small and more like a hare than a deer.”—Lady Dufferin, Viceregal Life, 235.]

[GOORZEBURDAR, s. P. gurzbardar, ‘a mace-bearer.’

[1663.—“Among the Kours and the Mansebdars are mixed many Gourze-berdars, or mace-bearers chosen for their tall and handsome persons, and whose business it is to preserve order in assemblies, to carry the King’s orders, and execute his commands with the utmost speed.”—Bernier, edition Constable, 267.

[1717.—“Everything being prepared for the Goorzeburdar’s reception.”—In Yule, Hedges’ Diary, Hak. Soc. ii. ccclix.

[1727.—“Goosberdar. See under HOSBOLHOOKUM.]