1717.—"... Con tutto ciò preziosissime nobilissime e senza comparazione magnifiche sono le tele che si chiamano Scial, si nella lingua Hindustana, come ancora nella lingua Persiana. Tali Scial altro non sono, che alcuni manti, che si posano sulla testa, e facendo da man destra, e da man sinistra scendere le due metà, con queste si cinge...."—MS. Narrative of Padre Ip. Desideri.
[1662.—"Another rich Skarf, which they call schal, made of a very fine stuff."—J. Davies, Ambassador's Trav., Bk. vi. 235, Stanf. Dict.]
1727.—"When they go abroad they wear a Shawl folded up, or a piece of White Cotton Cloth lying loose on the Top of their Heads."—A. Hamilton, ii. 50; [Shaul in ed. 1744, ii. 49].
c. 1760.—"Some Shawls are manufactured there.... Those coming from the province of Cachemire on the borders of Tartary, being made of a peculiar kind of silky hair, that produces from the loom a cloth beautifully bordered at both ends, with a narrow flowered selvage, about two yards and a half long, and a yard and a half wide ... and according to the price, which is from ten pounds and upwards to fifteen shillings, join, to exquisite fineness, a substance that renders them extremely warm, and so pliant that the fine ones are easily drawn through a common ring on the finger."—Grose, i. 118.
1781.—Sonnerat writes challes. He says: "Ces étoffes (faites avec la laine des moutons de Tibet) surpassent nos plus belles soieries en finesse."—Voyage, i. 52.
It seems from these extracts that the large and costly shawl, woven in figures over its whole surface, is a modern article. The old shawl, we see, was from 6 to 8 feet long, by about half that breadth; and it was most commonly white, with only a border of figured weaving at each end. In fact what is now called a Rampoor Chudder when made with figured ends is probably the best representation of the old shawl.
SHEEAH, SHIA, s. Arab. shī'a, i.e. 'sect.' A follower (more properly the followers collectively) of the Mahommedan 'sect,' or sects rather, which specially venerate 'Ali, and regard the Imāms (see [IMAUM]), his descendants, as the true successors to the Caliphate. The Persians (since the accession of the '[Sophy]' dynasty, (q.v.)) are Shī'as, and a good many of the Moslems in India. The sects which have followed more or less secret doctrines, and the veneration of hereditary quasi-divine heads, such as the Karmathites and Ismaelites of Musulman history, and the modern Bohras (see [BORA]) and "Mulāḥis," may generally be regarded as Shī'a. [See the elaborate article on the sect in Hughes, Dict. of Islām, 572 seqq.]
c. 1309.—"... dont encore il est ainsi, que tuit cil qui croient en la loy Haali dient que cil qui croient en la loy Mahommet sont mescréant; et aussi tuit cil qui croient en la loy Mahommet dient que tuit cil qui croient en la loy Haali sont mescréant."—Joinville, 252.
1553.—"Among the Moors have always been controversies ... which of the four first Caliphs was the most legitimate successor to the Caliphate. The Arabians favoured Bubac, Homar, and Otthoman, the Persians (Parseos) favoured Alle, and held the others for usurpers, and as holding it against the testament of Mahamed ... to the last this schism has endured between the Arabians and the Persians. The latter took the appellation Xiá, as much as to say 'Union of one Body,' and the Arabs called them in reproach Raffady [Rāfiḍī, a heretic (lit. 'deserter')], as much as to say 'People astray from the Path,' whilst they call themselves Çuny (see [SUNNEE]), which is the contrary."—Barros, II. x. 6.
1620.—"The Sonnite adherents of tradition, like the Arabs, the Turks, and an infinite number of others, accept the primacy of those who actually possess it. The Persians and their adherents who are called Shias (Sciai), i.e. 'Sectaries,' and are not ashamed of the name, believe in the primacy of those who have only claimed it (without possessing it), and obstinately contend that it belongs to the family of Alì only."—P. della Valle, ii. 75; [conf. Hak. Soc. i. 152].