[PAMBRE, s. An article of dress which seems to have been used for various purposes, as a scarf, and perhaps as a turban. Mr. Yusuf Ali (Monograph on Silk Fabrics, 81) classes it among 'fabrics which are simply wrapped over the head and shoulders by men and women'; and he adds: "The Pamri is used by women and children, generally amongst Hindus." His specimens are some 3 yards long by 1 broad, and are made of pure silk or silk and cotton, with an ornamental border. The word does not appear in the Hind. dictionaries, but Molesworth has Mahr. pāmarī, 'a sort of silk cloth.'

[1616.—"He covered my head with his Pambre."—Foster, Letters, iv. 344.]

For some of the following quotations and notes I am indebted to Mr. W. Foster.

[1617.—"Antelopes and ramshelles,[[203]] which bear the finest wool in the world, with which they make very delicate mantles, called Pawmmerys."—Joseph Salbank to the E. India Co., Agra, Nov. 22, 1617; India Office Records, O. C., No. 568.

[1627.—"L'on y [Kashmír] travaille aussi plusieurs Vomeris [misprint for Pomeris, which he elsewhere mentions as a stuff from Kashmir and Lahore], qui sont des pieces d'estoffes longues de trois aulnes, et largers de deux, faite de laine de moutons, qui croit au derriere de ces bestes, et qui est aussi fine que de la soye: on tient ces estoffes exposées au froid pendant l'hyver: elles ont un beau lustre, semblables aux tabis de nos cartiers."—François Pelsart, in Thevenot's Rélations de divers Voyages, vol. i. pt. 2.

[1634.—A letter in the India Office of Dec. 29 mentions that the Governor of Surat presented to the two chief Factors a horse and "a coat and pamorine" apiece.

[ " O. C., No. 1543A (I. O. Records) mentions the presentation to the President of Surat of a "coat and pamorine."

[1673.—"A couple of pamerins, which are fine mantles."—Fryer's New Account, p. 79; also see 177; in 112 ramerin.

[1766.—"... a lungee (see [LOONGHEE]) or clout, barely to cover their nakedness, and a pamree or loose mantle to throw over their shoulders, or to lye on upon the ground."—Grose, 2nd ed. ii. 81.]

PANCHĀÑGAM, s. Skt. = 'quinque-partite.' A native almanac in S. India is called so, because it contains information on five subjects, viz. Solar Days, Lunar Days, Asterisms, Yogas, and karaṇas (certain astrological divisions of the days of a month). Panchanga is used also, at least by Buchanan below, for the Brahman who keeps and interprets the almanac for the villagers. [This should be Skt. pañchāngī.]