[c. 1810.—"... even in the measurements made by order of the collectors, I am assured, that the only standards used were the different Kazis' arms, which leaves great room for fraud.... All persons measuring cloth know how to apply their arm, so as to measure a cubit of 18 inches with wonderful exactness."—Buchanan, Eastern India, ii. 576.]
b. Hind. hāṭ, Skt. haṭṭa, 'a market held on certain days.'
[1800.—"In this Carnatic ... there are no fairs like the hauts of Bengal."—Buchanan, Mysore, i. 19.
[1818.—"The Hindoos have also market days (hătŭs), when the buyers and sellers assemble, sometimes in an open plain, but in general in market places."—Ward, Hindoos, i. 151.]
HAVILDAR, s. Hind. ḥavildār. A sepoy non-commissioned officer, corresponding to a sergeant, and wearing the chevrons of a sergeant. This dating from about the middle of the 18th century is the only modern use of the term in that form. It is a corruption of Pers. ḥawāladār, or ḥawāldār, 'one holding an office of trust'; and in this form it had, in other times, a variety of applications to different charges and subordinate officers. Thus among the Mahrattas the commandant of a fort was so styled; whilst in Eastern Bengal the term was, and perhaps still is, applied to the holder of a ḥawāla, an intermediate tenure between those of zemindar and ryot.
1672.—Regarding the [Cowle] obtained from the Nabob of Golcondah for the Fort and Town of Chinapatnam. 11,000 Pagodas to be paid in full of all demands for the past, and in future Pagodas 1200 per annum rent, "and so to hold the Fort and Town free from any Avildar or [Divan's] People, or any other imposition for ever."—Fort St. George Consn., April 11, in Notes and Exts., No. i. 25.
1673.—"We landed at about Nine in the Morning, and were civilly treated by the Customer in his Choultry, till the Havildar could be acquainted of my arrival."—Fryer, 123.
[1680.—"Avaldar." See under [JUNCAMEER].]
1696.—"... the havildar of St. Thomé and Pulecat."—Wheeler, i. 308.
[1763.—"Three avaldars (avaldares) or receivers."—India Office MSS. Conselho, Ultramarino, vol. i.