c. 1020.—"From Dhár southwards to the river Nerbudda, nine; thence to Mahratdes ... eighteen; thence to Konkan, of which the capital is Tana, on the sea-shore, twenty-five parasangs."—Al-Birūnī, in Elliot, i. 60.
[c. 1150.—"Tanah," miswritten Banah. See under [TABASHEER].]
1298.—"Tana is a great Kingdom lying towards the West.... There is much traffic here, and many ships and merchants frequent the place."—Marco Polo, Bk. III. ch. 27.
1321.—"After their blessed martyrdom, which occurred on the Thursday before Palm Sunday in Thana of India, I baptised about 90 persons in a certain city called Parocco, ten days' journey distant therefrom, and I have since baptised more than twenty, besides thirty-five who were baptised between Thana and Supera ([Supara])."—Letter of Friar Jordanus, in Cathay, &c., 226.
c. 1323.—"And having thus embarked I passed over in 28 days to Tana, where for the faith of Christ four of our Minor Friars had suffered martyrdom.... The land is under the dominion of the Saracens...."—Fr. Odoric, Ibid. i. 57-58.
1516.—"25 leagues further on the coast is a fortress of the before-named king, called Tana-Mayambu" (this is perhaps rather [Bombay]).—Barbosa, 68.
1529.—"And because the norwest winds blew strong, winds contrary to his course, after going a little way he turned and anchored in sight of the island, where were stationed the foists with their captain-in-chief Alixa, who seeing our fleet in motion put on his oars and assembled at the River of Tana, and when the wind came round our fleet made sail, and anchored at the mouth of the River of Tana, for the wind would not allow of its entering."—Correa, iii. 290.
1673.—"The Chief City of this Island is called Tanaw; in which are Seven Churches and Colleges, the chiefest one of the Paulistines (see [PAULIST]).... Here are made good Stuffs of Silk and Cotton."—Fryer, 73.
TANA, THANA, s. A Police station. Hind. thāna, thānā, [Skt. sthāna, 'a place of standing, a post']. From the quotation following it would seem that the term originally meant a fortified post, with its garrison, for the military occupation of the country; a meaning however closely allied to the present use.
c. 1640-50.—"Thánah means a corps of cavalry, matchlockmen, and archers, stationed within an enclosure. Their duty is to guard the roads, to hold the places surrounding the Thánah, and to despatch provisions (rasad, see [RUSSUD]) to the next Thánah."—Pádisháh námah, quoted by Blochmann, in Āīn, i. 345.