1793.—"At my durbar yesterday I had proof of the affection entertained by the natives for Sir William Jones. The Professors of the Hindu Law, who were in the habit of attendance upon him, burst into unrestrained tears when they spoke to me."—Teignmouth, Mem. i. 289.
1809.—"It was the durbar of the native Gentoo Princes."—Ld. Valentia, i. 362.
[1826.—"... a Durbar, or police-officer, should have men in waiting...."—Pandurang Hari, ed. 1873, i. 126.]
1875.—"Sitting there in the centre of the durbar, we assisted at our first nautch."—Sir M. E. Grant Duff, in Contemp. Rev., July.
[1881.—"Near the centre (at Amritsar) lies the sacred tank, from whose midst rises the Darbar Sahib, or great temple of the Sikh faith."—Imperial Gazetteer, i. 186.]
DURGAH, s. P. dargāh. Properly a royal court. But the habitual use of the word in India is for the shrine of a (Mahommedan) Saint, a place of religious resort and prayer.
1782.—"Adjoining is a durgaw or burial place, with a view of the river."—Hodges, 102.
1807.—"The dhurgaw may invariably be seen to occupy those scites pre-eminent for comfort and beauty."—Williamson, Oriental Field Sports, 24.
1828.—"... he was a relation of the ... superior of the Durgah, and this is now a sufficient protection."—The Kuzzilbash, ii. 273.
DURIAN, DORIAN, s. Malay duren, Molucca form duriyān, from durī, 'a thorn or prickle, [and ān, the common substantival ending; Mr. Skeat gives the standard Malay as duriyan or durian]; the great fruit of the tree (N. O. Bombaceae) called by botanists Durio zibethinus, D. C. The tree appears to be a native of the Malay Peninsula, and the nearest islands; from which it has been carried to Tenasserim on one side and to Mindanao on the other.