1725.—"This great train is usually closed by the Priests or Talapois and Musicians."—Valentijn, v. 142.
1727.—"The other Sects are taught by the Talapoins, who ... preach up Morality to be the best Guide to human Life, and affirm that a good Life in this World can only recommend us in the next to have our Souls transmigrated into the Body of some innocent Beast."—A. Hamilton, i. 151; [ed. 1744, i. 152].
" "The great God, whose Adoration is left to their Tallapoies or Priests."—Ibid. ii.; [ed. 1744, ii. 54].
1759.—"When asked if they believed the existence of any Superior Being, they (the Carianners ([Carens])) replied that the Bûraghmahs and Pegu Tallopins told them so."—Letter in Dalrymple, Or. Rep. i. 100.
1766.—"André Des Couches. Combien avez-vous de soldats? Croutef. Quatre-vingt-mille, fort médiocrement payés. A. des C. Et de talapoins? Cr. Cent vingt mille, tous faineans et très riches. Il est vrai que dans la dernière guerre nous avons été bien battus; mais, en récompense, nos talapoins ont fait très grande chère," &c.—Voltaire, Dial. xxii. André Des Couches à Siam.
c. 1818.—"A certain priest or Talapoin conceived an inordinate affection for a garment of an elegant shape, which he possessed, and which he diligently preserved to prevent its wearing out. He died without correcting his irregular affection, and immediately becoming a louse, took up his abode in his favourite garment."—Sangermano, p. 20.
1880.—"The Phongyies ([Poongee]), or Buddhist Monks, sometimes called Talapoins, a name given to them, and introduced into Europe by the Portuguese, from their carrying a fan formed of tála-pat, or palm-leaves."—Saty. Rev., Feb. 21, p. 266, quoting Bp. Bigandet.
TALEE, s. Tam. tāli. A small trinket of gold which is fastened by a string round the neck of a married woman in S. India. It may be a curious question whether the word may not be an adaptation from the Ar. tahlīl, "qui signifie proprement: prononcer la formule lâ ilâha illâ 'llâh.... Cette formule, écrite sur un morceau de papier, servait d'amulette ... le tout était renfermé dans un étui auquel on donnait le nom de tahlīl" (Dozy & Engelmann, 346). These Mahommedan tahlīls were worn by a band, and were the origin of the Span. word tali, 'a baldrick.' [But the talee is a Hindu, not a Mahommedan ornament, and there seems no doubt that it takes its name from Skt. tāla, 'the palmyra' (see [TALIPOT]), it being the original practice for women to wear this leaf dipped in saffron-water (Mad. Gloss. s.v. Logan, Malabar, i. 134).] The Indian word appears to occur first in Abraham Rogerius, but the custom is alluded to by early writers, e.g. Gouvea, Synodo, f. 43v.
1651.—"So the Bridegroom takes this Tali, and ties it round the neck of his bride."—Rogerius, 45.
1672.—"Among some of the Christians there is also an evil custom, that they for the greater tightening and fast-making of the marriage bond, allow the Bridegroom to tie a Tali or little band round the Bride's neck; although in my time this was as much as possible denounced, seeing that it is a custom derived from Heathenism."—Baldaeus, Zeylon (German), 408.