1585.—"Euerie morning and euening they do offer vnto their idolles frankensence, benjamin, wood of aguila, and cayolaque, the which is maruelous sweete...."—Mendoza's China, i. 58.

CAZEE, KAJEE, &c., s. Arab. ḳāḍi, 'a judge,' the letter ẓwād with which it is spelt being always pronounced in India like a z. The form Cadi, familiar from its use in the old version of the Arabian Nights, comes to us from the Levant. The word with the article, al-ḳāḍi, becomes in Spanish alcalde;[[58]] not alcaide, which is from ḳā'īd, 'a chief'; nor alguacil, which is from wazīr. So Dozy and Engelmann, no doubt correctly. But in Pinto, cap. 8, we find "ao guazil da justica q̃ em elles he como corregedor entre nos"; where guazil seems to stand for ḳāẓī.

It is not easy to give an accurate account of the position of the Ḳāẓī in British India, which has gone through variations of which a distinct record cannot be found. But the following outline is believed to be substantially correct.

Under [Adawlut] I have given a brief sketch of the history of the judiciary under the Company in the Bengal Presidency. Down to 1790 the greater part of the administration of criminal justice was still in the hands of native judges, and other native officials of various kinds, though under European supervision in varying forms. But the native judiciary, except in positions of a quite subordinate character, then ceased. It was, however, still in substance Mahommedan law that was administered in criminal cases, and also in civil cases between Mahommedans as affecting succession, &c. And a Ḳāẓī and a Muftī were retained in the Provincial Courts of Appeal and Circuit as the exponents of Mahommedan law, and the deliverers of a formal [Futwa]. There was also a Ḳāẓī-al-Ḳoẓāt, or chief Ḳāẓī of Bengal, Behar and Orissa, attached to the Sudder Courts of Dewanny and Nizamut, assisted by two Muftis, and these also gave written futwas on references from the District Courts.

The style of Ḳāẓī and Muftī presumably continued in formal existence in connection with the Sudder Courts till the abolition of these in 1862; but with the earlier abolition of the Provincial Courts in 1829-31 it had quite ceased, in this sense, to be familiar. In the District Courts the corresponding exponents were in English officially designated Law-officers, and, I believe, in official vernacular, as well as commonly among Anglo-Indians, [Moolvees] (q.v.).

Under the article [LAW-OFFICER], it will be seen that certain trivial cases were, at the discretion of the magistrate, referred for disposal by the Law-officer of the district. And the latter, from this fact, as well as, perhaps, from the tradition of the elders, was in some parts of Bengal popularly known as 'the Ḳāẓī.' "In the Magistrate's office," writes my friend Mr. Seton-Karr, "it was quite common to speak of this case as referred to the joint magistrate, and that to the Chhoṭā Ṣāḥib (the Assistant), and that again to the Ḳāẓī."

But the duties of the Ḳāẓī popularly so styled and officially recognised, had, almost from the beginning of the century, become limited to certain notarial functions, to the performance and registration of Mahommedan marriages, and some other matters connected with the social life of their co-religionists. To these functions must also be added as regards the 18th century and the earlier years of the 19th, duties in connection with distraint for rent on behalf of Zemindars. There were such Ḳāẓīs nominated by Government in towns and pergunnas, with great variation in the area of the localities over which they officiated. The Act XI. of 1864, which repealed the laws relating to law-officers, put an end also to the appointment by Government of Kāẓīs. But this seems to have led to inconveniences which were complained of by Mahommedans in some parts of India, and it was enacted in 1880 (Act XII., styled "The Ḳāẓīs Act") that with reference to any particular locality, and after consultation with the chief Musulman residents therein, the Local Government might select and nominate a Ḳāẓī or Ḳāẓīs for that local area (see [FUTWA], [LAW-OFFICER], [MUFTY]).

1338.—"They treated me civilly and set me in front of their mosque during their Easter; at which mosque, on account of its being their Easter, there were assembled from divers quarters a number of their Cadini, i.e. of their bishops."—Letter of Friar Pascal, in Cathay, &c., 235.

c. 1461.—

"Au tems que Alexandre regna