[1614.—"Kerseys, Agam colours."—Foster, Letters, ii. 237.
1614.—"Persia will vent five hundred cloths and one thousand kerseys, Agam colours, per annum."—Ibid. ii. 237.]
AGAR-AGAR, s. The Malay name of a kind of sea-weed (Spherococcus lichenoïdes). It is succulent when boiled to a jelly; and is used by the Chinese with [birdsnest] (q.v.) in soup. They also employ it as a glue, and apply it to silk and paper intended to be transparent. It grows on the shores of the Malay Islands, and is much exported to China.—(See Crawfurd, Dict. Ind. Arch., and Milburn, ii. 304).
AGDAUN, s. A hybrid H. word from H. āg and P. dān, made in imitation of pīk-dān, ḳalam-dān, shama-dān ('spittoon, pencase, candlestick'). It means a small vessel for holding fire to light a cheroot.
ĀG-GĀRI, s. H. 'Fire carriage.' In native use for a railway train.
AGUN-BOAT, s. A hybrid word for a steamer, from H. agan, 'fire,' and Eng. boat. In Bombay Ag-bōt is used.
1853.—"... Agin boat."—Oakfield, i. 84.
[AJNĀS, s. Ar. plur. of jins, 'goods, merchandise, crops,' etc. Among the Moguls it was used in the special sense of pay in kind, not in cash.]
[c. 1665.—"It (their pay) is, however, of a different kind, and not thought so honourable, but the Rouzindars are not subject, like the Mansebdars ([Munsubdar]) to the Agenas; that is to say, are not bound to take, at a valuation, carpets, and other pieces of furniture, that have been used in the King's palace, and on which an unreasonable value is sometimes set."—Bernier (ed. Constable), 215-6.]
AK, s. H. āk and ark, in Sindi ăk: the prevalent name of the madār ([MUDDAR]) in Central and Western India. It is said to be a popular belief (of course erroneous) in Sind, that Akbar was so called after the āk, from his birth in the desert. [Ives (488) calls it Ogg.] The word appears in the following popular rhyme quoted by Tod (Rajasthan, i. 669):—