[1846.—"The above muster was referred to a party who has lately arrived from ... England...."—J. Agri. Hort. Soc., in Watt, Econ. Dict. vi. pt. ii. 601.]
MUTLUB, s. Hind. from Ar. maṭlab. The Ar. from ṭalab, 'he asked,' properly means a question, hence intention, wish, object, &c. In Anglo-Indian use it always means 'purpose, gist,' and the like. Illiterate natives by a common form of corruption turn the word into matbal. In the Punjab this occurs in printed books; and an adjective is formed, matbalī, 'opinionated,' and the like.
MUTT, MUTH, s. Skt. maṭha; a sort of convent where a celibate priest (or one making such profession) lives with disciples making the same profession, one of whom becomes his successor. Buildings of this kind are very common all over India, and some are endowed with large estates.
[1856.—"... a Gosaeen's Mut in the neighbourhood ..."—Rās Mālā, ed. 1878, p. 527.]
1874.—"The monastic Order is celibate, and in a great degree erratic and mendicant, but has anchorage places and head-quarters in the maths."—Calc. Review, cxvii. 212.
MUTTONGOSHT, s. (i.e. 'Mutton-flesh.') Anglo-Indian domestic Hind. for 'Mutton.'
MUTTONGYE, s. Sea-Hind. matangai, a (nautical) martingale; a corruption of the Eng. word.
MUTTRA, n.p. A very ancient and holy Hindu city on the Jumna, 30 miles above Agra. The name is Mathura, and it appears in Ptolemy as Μόδουρα ἡ τῶν Θεῶν. The sanctity of the name has caused it to be applied in numerous new localities; see under [MADURA]. [Tavernier (ed. Ball, ii. 240) calls it Matura, and Bernier (ed. Constable, 66), Maturas.]
MUXADABAD, n.p. Ar.—P. Maḳṣūdābād, a name that often occurs in books of the 18th century. It pertains to the same city that has latterly been called Murshidābād, the capital of the Nawābs of Bengal since the beginning of the 18th century. The town Maḳṣūdābād is stated by Tiefenthaler to have been founded by Akbar. The Governor of Bengal, Murshid Ḳulī Khān (also called in English histories Jafier Khan), moved the seat of Government hither in 1704, and gave the place his own name. It is written Muxudavad in the early English records down to 1760 (Sir W. W. Hunter).
[c. 1670.—"Madesou Bazarki," in Tavernier, ed. Ball, i. 132.]