[1665.—"As it (the idol) was too deformed, they made hands for it of the small pearls which we call 'pearls by the ounce.'"—Tavernier, ed. Ball, ii. 228.]
ALLAHABAD, n.p. This name, which was given in the time of Akbar to the old Hindu Prayāg or Prāg ([PRAAG]) has been subjected to a variety of corrupt pronunciations, both European and native. Illahābāz is a not uncommon native form, converted by Europeans into Halabas, and further by English soldiers formerly into Isle o' bats. And the Illiabad, which we find in the Hastings charges, survives in the Elleeabad still heard occasionally.
c. 1666.—"La Province de Halabas s'appelloit autrefois Purop ([Poorub])."—Thevenot, v. 197.
[ " "Elabas (where the Gemna ([Jumna]) falls into the Ganges.)"—Bernier (ed. Constable), p. 36.]
1726.—"This exceptionally great river (Ganges) ... comes so far from the N. to the S. ... and so further to the city Halabas."—Valentijn.
1753.—"Mais ce qui interesse davantage dans la position de Helabas, c'est d'y retrouver celle de l'ancienne Palibothra. Aucune ville de l'Inde ne paroit égaler Palibothra ou Palimbothra, dans l'Antiquité.... C'est satisfaire une curiosité géographique bien placée, que de retrouver l'emplacement d'une ville de cette considération: mais j'ai lieu de croire qu'il faut employer quelque critique, dans l'examen des circonstances que l'Antiquité a fourni sur ce point.... Je suis donc persuadé, qu'il ne faut point chercher d'autre emplacement à Palibothra que celui de la ville d'Helabas...."—D'Anville, Eclaircissemens, pp. 53-55.
(Here D'Anville is in error. But see Rennell's Memoir, pp. 50-54, which clearly identifies Palibothra with [Patna.])
1786.—"... an attack and invasion of the Rohillas ... which nevertheless the said Warren Hastings undertook at the very time when, under the pretence of the difficulty of defending Corah and Illiabad, he sold these provinces to Sujah Dowla."—Articles of Charge, &c., in Burke, vi. 577.
" "You will see in the letters from the Board ... a plan for obtaining Illabad from the Vizier, to which he had spirit enough to make a successful resistance."—Cornwallis, i. 238.
ALLEJA, s. This appears to be a stuff from Turkestan called (Turki) alchah, alajah, or alāchah. It is thus described: "a silk cloth 5 yards long, which has a sort of wavy line pattern running in the length on either side." (Baden-Powell's Punjab Handbook, 66). [Platts in his Hind. Dict. gives ilācha, "a kind of cloth woven of silk and thread so as to present the appearance of cardamoms (ilāchī)." But this is evidently a folk etymology. Yusuf Ali (Mon. on Silk Fabrics, 95) accepts the derivation from Alcha or Alācha, and says it was probably introduced by the Moguls, and has historical associations with Agra, where alone in the N.W.P. it is manufactured. "This fabric differs from the Doriya in having a substantial texture, whereas the Doriya is generally flimsy. The colours are generally red, or bluish-red, with white stripes." In some of the western Districts of the Panjab various kinds of fancy cotton goods are described as Lacha. (Francis, Mon. on Cotton, p. 8). It appears in one of the trade lists (see [PIECE-GOODS]) as Elatches.]