1813.—"Safflower (Cussom, Hind., Asfour, Arab.) is the flower of an annual plant, the Carthamus tinctorius, growing in Bengal and other parts of India, which when well-cured is not easily distinguishable from saffron by the eye, though it has nothing of its smell or taste."—Milburn, ii. 238.
SAFFRON, s. Arab. za'farān. The true saffron (Crocus sativus, L.) in India is cultivated in Kashmīr only. In South India this name is given to turmeric, which the Portuguese called açafrão da terra ('country saffron.') The Hind. name is haldī, or in the Deccan halad, [Skt. haridra, hari, 'green, yellow']. Garcia de Orta calls it croco Indiaco, 'Indian saffron.' Indeed, Dozy shows that the Arab. kurkum for turmeric (whence the bot. Lat. curcuma) is probably taken from the Greek κρόκος or obl. κρόκον. Moodeen Sherif says that kurkum is applied to saffron in many Persian and other writers.
c. 1200.—"The Persians call this root al-Hard, and the inhabitants of Basra call it al-Kurkum, and al-Kurkum is Saffron. They call these plants Saffron because they dye yellow in the same way as Saffron does."—Ibn Baithar, ii. 370.
1563.—"R. Since there is nothing else to be said on this subject, let us speak of what we call 'country saffron.'
"O. This is a medicine that should be spoken of, since it is in use by the Indian physicians; it is a medicine and article of trade much exported to Arabia and Persia. In this city (Goa) there is little of it, but much in Malabar, i.e. in Cananor and Calecut. The Canarins call the root alad; and the Malabars sometimes give it the same name, but more properly call it mangale, and the Malays cunhet; the Persians, darzard, which is as much as to say 'yellow-wood.' The Arabs call it habet; and all of them, each in turn, say that this saffron does not exist in Persia, nor in Arabia, nor in Turkey, except what comes from India."—Garcia, f. 78v. Further on he identifies it with curcuma.
1726.—"Curcuma, or Indian Saffron."—Valentijn, Chor. 42.
SAGAR-PESHA, s. Camp-followers, or the body of servants in a private establishment. The word, though usually pronounced in vulgar Hind. as written above, is Pers. shāgird-pesha (lit. shāgird, 'a disciple, a servant,' and pesha, 'business').
[1767.—"Saggur Depessah-pay...."—In Long, 513.]
SAGO, s. From Malay sāgū. The farinaceous pith taken out of the stem of several species of a particular genus of palm, especially Metroxylon laeve, Mart., and M. Rumphii, Willd., found in every part of the Indian Archipelago, including the Philippines, wherever there is proper soil. They are most abundant in the eastern part of the region indicated, including the Moluccas and N. Guinea, which probably formed the original habitat; and in these they supply the sole bread of the natives. In the remaining parts of the Archipelago, sago is the food only of certain wild tribes, or consumed (as in Mindanao) by the poor only, or prepared (as at Singapore, &c.) for export. There are supposed to be five species producing the article.
1298.—"They have a kind of trees that produce flour, and excellent flour it is for food. These trees are very tall and thick, but have a very thin bark, and inside the bark they are crammed with flour."—Marco Polo, Bk. iii. ch. xi.