[1672.—"Salloos, made at Gulcundah, and brought from thence to Surat, and go to England."—In Birdwood, Report on Old Records, 62.
[1896.—"Salu is another fabric of a red colour prepared by dyeing English cloth named mārkīn ('American') in the āl dye, and was formerly extensively used for turbans, curtains, borders of female coats and female dress."—Muhammad Hadi, Mon. on Dyes, 34.
Next we have shelah, which may be identical with Hind. selā, which Platts connects with Skt. chela, chaila, 'a piece of cloth,' and defines as "a kind of scarf or mantle (of silk, or lawn, or muslin; usually composed of four breadths depending from the shoulders loosely over the body: it is much worn and given as a present, in the Dakkhan); silk turban." In the Deccan it seems to be worn by men (Herklots, Qanoon-e-Islam, Madras reprint, 18). The Madras Gloss. gives sheelay, Mal. shīla, said to be from Skt. chīra, 'a strip of cloth,' in the sense of clothes; and sullah, Hind. sela, 'gauze for turbans.'
[c. 1590.—"Shelah, from the Dek'han, per piece, ½ to 2 M."—Āīn, i. 95.
[1598.—"Cheyla," in Linschoten, i. 91.
[1800.—"Shillas, or thin white muslins.... They are very coarse, and are sometimes striped, and then called Dupattas (see [DOOPUTTY])."—Buchanan, Mysore, ii. 240.]
1809.—"The shalie, a long piece of coloured silk or cotton, is wrapped round the waist in the form of a petticoat, which leaves part of one leg bare, whilst the other is covered to the ancle with long and graceful folds, gathered up in front, so as to leave one end of the shalie to cross the breast, and form a drapery, which is sometimes thrown over the head as a veil."—Maria Graham, 3. [But, as Sir H. Yule suggested, in this form the word may represent Saree.]
1813.—"Red Shellas or Salloes...."—Milburne, i. 124.
[ " "His shela, of fine cloth, with a silk or gold thread border...."—Trans. Lit. Soc. Bo. iii. 219 seq.
[1900.—"Sela Dupatta—worn by men over shoulders, tucked round waist, ends hanging in front ... plain body and borders richly ornamented with gold thread; white, yellow, and green; worn in full dress, sometimes merely thrown over shoulders, with the ends hanging in front from either shoulder."—Yusuf Ali, Mon. on Silk, 72.