Chapter SURPOOSE to SUTTEE of S by The Hobson Jobson Dictionary

SURPOOSE to SUTTEE

SURPOOSE, s. Pers. sar-posh, ‘head-cover,’ [which again becomes corrupted into our Tarboosh (tarbush), and ‘Tarbrush’ of the wandering Briton]. A cover, as of a basin, dish, hooka-bowl, &c.

1829.—“Tugging away at your hookah, find no smoke; a thief having purloined your silver chelam (see CHILLUM) and surpoose.”—Mem. of John Shipp, ii. 159.

SURRAPURDA, s. Pers. saraparda. A canvas screen surrounding royal tents or the like (see CANAUT). 1404.—“And round this pavilion stood an enclosure, as it were, of a town or castle made of silk of many colours, inlaid in many ways, with battlements at the top, and with cords to strain it outside and inside, and with poles inside to hold it up.…And there was a gateway of great height forming an arch, with doors within and without made in the same fashion as the wall…and above the gateway a square tower with battlements: however fine the said wall was with its many devices and artifices, the said gateway, arch and tower, was of much more exquisite work still. And this enclosure they call Zalaparda.”—Clavijo, s. cxvi.

c. 1590.—“The Sarápardah was made in former times of coarse canvass, but his Majesty has now caused it to be made of carpeting, and thereby improved its appearance and usefulness.”—Ain, i. 54.

[1839.—“The camp contained numerous enclosures of serrapurdahs or canvass skreens.…”—Elphinstone, Caubul, 2nd edition i. 101.]

SURRINJAUM, s. Pers. saranjam, lit. ‘beginning-ending.’ Used in India, for ‘apparatus,’ ‘goods and chattels,’ and the like. But in the Mahratta provinces it has a special application to grants of land, or rather assignments of revenue, for special objects, such as keeping up a contingent of troops for service; to civil officers for the maintenance of their state; or for charitable purposes.

[1823.—“It was by accident I discovered the deed for this tenure (for the support of troops), which is termed serinjam. The Pundit of Dhar shewed some alarm; at which I smiled, and told him that his master had now the best tenure in India.…” Malcolm, Central India, 2nd edition i. 103.]

[1877.—“Government…did not accede to the recommendation of the political agent immediately to confiscate his saringam, or territories.”—Mrs. Guthrie, My Year in an Indian Fort, i. 166.]

SURRINJAUMEE, GRAM, s. Hind. gram-saranjami; Skt. grama, ‘a village,’ and saranjam (see SURRINJAUM); explained in the quotation.

1767.—“Gram-serenjammee, or peons and pykes stationed in every village of the province to assist the farmers in the collections, and to watch the villages and the crops on the ground, who are also responsible for all thefts within the village they belong to…(Rs.) 1,54,521: 14.”—Revenue Accounts of Burdwan. In Long, 507.

SURROW, SEROW, &c., s. Hind. sarao. A big, odd, awkw ard-looking antelope in the Himalaya, ‘something in appearance between a jackass and a Tahir’ (Tehr or Him. wild goat).—Col. Markham in Jerdon. It is Nemorhoedus bubalina, Jerdon; [N. bubalinus, Blanford (Mammalia, 513)].

SURWAUN, s. Hind. from Pers. sarwan, sarban, from sar in the sense of camel, a camel-man.

[1828.—“…camels roaring and blubbering, and resisting every effort, soothing or forcible, of their serwans to induce them to embark.”—Mundy, Pen and Pencil Sketches, edition 1858, page 185.]

1844.—“…armed Surwans, or camel-drivers.”—G. O. of Sir C. Napier, 93.

SUTLEDGE, n.p. The most easterly of the Five Rivers of the Punjab, the great tributaries of the Indus. Hind. Satlaj, with certain variations in spelling and pronunciation. It is in Skt. Satadru, ‘flowing in a hundred channels,’ Sutudru, Sutudri, Sitadru, &c., and is the [Greek Text] SaradroV, [Greek Text] ZaradroV or [Greek Text] SadadrhV of Ptolemy, the Sydrus (or Hesudrus) of Pliny (vi. 21).

c. 1020.—“The Sultán…crossed in safety the Síhún (Indus), Jelam, Chandráha, Ubrá (Ráví), Bah (Bíyáh), and Sataldur.…”—Al- ’Utbí, in Elliot, ii. 41.

c. 1030.—“They all combine with the Satlader below Múltán, at a place called Panjnad, or ‘the junction of the five rivers.’ ”—Al-Biruni, in Elliot, i. 48. the same writer says: “(The name)