1786.—"... The Zemindars in 4 pergunnahs are so refractory as to have forfeited (read fortified) themselves in their gurries, and to refuse all payments of revenue."—Articles against W. Hastings, in Burke, vii. 59.
[1835.—"A shot was at once fired upon them from a high Ghurree."—Forbes, Rās Mālā, ed. 1878, p. 521.]
GUTTA PERCHA, s. This is the Malay name Gatah Pertja, i.e. 'Sap of the Percha,' Dichopsis Gutta, Benth. (Isonandra Gutta, Hooker; N.O. Sapotaceae). Dr. Oxley writes (J. Ind. Archip. i. 22) that percha is properly the name of a tree which produces a spurious article; the real gutta p. is produced by the túbau. [Mr. Maxwell (Ind. Ant. xvii. 358) points out that the proper reading is taban.] The product was first brought to notice in 1843 by Dr. Montgomery. It is collected by first ringing the tree and then felling it, and no doubt by this process the article will speedily become extinct. The history of G. P. is, however, far from well known. Several trees are known to contribute to the exported article; their juices being mixed together. [Mr. Scott (Malay Words, 55 seqq.) writes the word getah percha, or getah perchah, 'gum of percha,' and remarks that it has been otherwise explained as meaning 'gum of Sumatra,' "there being another word percha, a name of Sumatra, as well as a third word percha, 'a rag, a remnant.'" Mr. Maxwell (loc. cit.) writes: "It is still uncertain whether there is a gutta-producing tree called Percha by the Malays. My experience is that they give the name of Perchah to that kind of getah taban which hardens into strips in boiling. These are stuck together and made into balls for export.">[
[1847.—"Gutta Percha is a remarkable example of the rapidity with which a really useful invention becomes of importance to the English public. A year ago it was almost unknown, but now its peculiar properties are daily being made more available in some new branch of the useful or ornamental arts."—Mundy, Journal, in Narrative of Events in Borneo and Celebes, ii. 342 seq. (quoted by Scott, loc. cit.).]
1868.—"The late Mr. d'Almeida was the first to call the attention of the public to the substance now so well known as gutta-percha. At that time the Isonandra Gutta was an abundant tree in the forests of Singapore, and was first known to the Malays, who made use of the juice which they obtained by cutting down the trees.... Mr. d'Almeida ... acting under the advice of a friend, forwarded some of the substance to the Society of Arts. There it met with no immediate attention, and was put away uncared for. A year or two afterwards Dr. Montgomery sent specimens to England, and bringing it under the notice of competent persons, its value was at once acknowledged.... The sudden and great demand for it soon resulted in the disappearance of all the gutta-percha trees on Singapore Island."—Collingwood, Rambles of a Naturalist, pp. 268-9.
GUZZY, s. Pers. and Hind. gazī; perhaps from its having been woven of a gaz (see [GUDGE]) in breadth. A very poor kind of cotton cloth.
1701.—In a price list for Persia we find: "Gesjes Bengaals."—Valentijn, v. 303.
1784.—"It is suggested that the following articles may be proper to compose the first adventure (to Tibet): ... Guzzie, or coarse Cotton Cloths, and Otterskins...."—In Seton-Karr, i. 4.
[1866.—"... common unbleached fabrics ... used for packing goods, and as a covering for the dead.... These fabrics in Bengal pass under the names of Garrha and Guzee."—Forbes Watson, Textile Manufactures, 83.]
GWALIOR, n.p. Hind. Gwālīār. A very famous rock-fortress of Upper India, rising suddenly and picturesquely out of a plain (or shallow valley rather) to a height of 300 feet, 65 m. south of Agra, in lat. 26° 13′. Gwalior may be traced back, in Gen. Cunningham's opinion, to the 3rd century of our era. It was the seat of several ancient Hindu dynasties, and from the time of the early Mahommedan sovereigns of Delhi down to the reign of Aurangzīb it was used as a state-prison. Early in the 18th century it fell into the possession of the Mahratta family of Sindhia, whose residence was established to the south of the fortress, in what was originally a camp, but has long been a city known by the original title of Lashkar (camp). The older city lies below the northern foot of the rock. Gwalior has been three times taken by British arms: (1) escaladed by a force under the command of Major Popham in 1780, a very daring feat;[[141]] (2) by a regular attack under Gen. White in 1805; (3) most gallantly in June 1858, by a party of the 25th Bombay N. I. under Lieutenants Rose and Waller, in which the former officer fell. After the two first captures the fortress was restored to the Sindhia family. From 1858 it was retained in our hands, but in December 1885 it was formally restored to the Mahārājā Sindhia.