c. 1567.—"Va etiandio ogn'anno per l'istesso Capitano (di Malacca) vn nauilio in Asion, a caricare di Verzino" (Brazilwood).—Ces. Federici, in Ramusio, iii. 396.
" "Fu già Sion vna grandissima Città e sedia d'Imperio, ma l'anno MDLXVII fu pressa dal Re del Pegu, qual caminando per terra quattro mesi di viaggio, con vn esercito d'vn million, e quattro cento mila uomini da guerra, la venne ad assediare ... e lo so io percioche mi ritrouai in Pegù sei mesi dopo la sua partita."—Ibid.
1598.—"... The King of Sian at this time is become tributarie to the king of Pegu. The cause of this most bloodie battaile was, that the king of Sian had a white Elephant."—Linschoten, p. 30; [Hak. Soc. i. 102. In ii. 1 Sion].
[1611.—"We have news that the Hollanders were in Shian."—Danvers, Letters, i. 149.]
1688.—"The Name of Siam is unknown to the Siamese. 'Tis one of those words which the Portugues of the Indies do use, and of which it is very difficult to discover the Original. They use it as the Name of the Nation and not of the Kingdom: And the Names of Pegu, Lao, Mogul, and most of the Names which we give to the Indian Kingdoms, are likewise National Names."—De la Loubère, E.T. p. 6.
SICCA, s. As will be seen by reference to the article [RUPEE], up to 1835 a variety of rupees had been coined in the Company's territories. The term sicca (sikkā, from Ar. sikka, 'a coining die,'—and 'coined money,'—whence Pers. sikka zadan, 'to coin') had been applied to newly coined rupees, which were at a [batta] or premium over those worn, or assumed to be worn, by use. In 1793 the Government of Bengal, with a view to terminating, as far as that Presidency was concerned, the confusion and abuses engendered by this system, ordered that all rupees coined for the future should bear the impress of the 19th year of Shāh 'Alam (the "Great Mogul" then reigning), and this rupee, "19 San Sikkah," 'struck in the 19th year,' was to be the legal tender in "Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa. This rupee, which is the Sicca of more recent monetary history, weighed 192 grs. troy, and then contained 176.13 grs. of pure silver. The "Company's Rupee," which introduced uniformity of coinage over British India in 1835, contained only 165 grs. silver. Hence the Sicca bore to the Company's Rupee (which was based on the old Farrukhābād rupee) the proportion of 16:15 nearly. The Sicca was allowed by Act VII. of 1833 to survive as an exceptional coin in Bengal, but was abolished as such in 1836. It continued, however, a ghostly existence for many years longer in the form of certain Government Book-debts in that currency. (See also [CHICK].)
1537.—"... Sua senhoria avia d'aver por bem que as siquas das moedas corressem em seu nome per todo o Reino do Guzerate, asy em Dio como nos otros luguares que forem del Rey de Portuguall."—Treaty of Nuno da Cunha with Nizamamede Zamom (Mahommed Zamam) concerning Cambaya, in Botelho, Tombo, 225.
1537.—"... e quoanto á moeda ser chapada de sua sita (read sica) pois já lhe concedia."—Ibid. 226.
[1615.—"... cecaus of Amadavrs which goeth for eighty-six pisas (see [PICE])...."—Foster, Letters, iii. 87.]
1683.—"Having received 25,000 Rupees Siccas for Rajamaul."—Hedges, Diary, April 4; [Hak. Soc. i. 75].