1689.—"The Natives at Suratt are much taken with Assa Foetida, which they call Hin, and mix a little with the Cakes that they eat."—Ovington, 397.
1712.—"... substantiam obtinet ponderosam, instar rapae solidam candidissimamque, plenam succi pinguis, albissimi, foetidissimi, porraceo odore nares horridé ferientis; qui ex eâ collectus, Persis Indisque Hingh, Europaeis Asa foetida appellatur."—Eng. Kaempfer Amoen. Exotic. 537.
1726.—"Hing or Assa Foetida, otherwise called Devil's-dung (Duivelsdrek)."—Valentijn, iv. 146.
1857.—"Whilst riding in the plain to the N.E. of the city (Candahar) we noticed several assafœtida plants. The assafœtida, called hang or hing by the natives, grows wild in the sandy or gravelly plains that form the western part of Afghanistan. It is never cultivated, but its peculiar gum-resin is collected from the plants on the deserts where they grow. The produce is for the most part exported to Hindustan."—Bellew, Journal of a Pol. Mission, &c., p. 270.
HIRAVA, n.p. Malayāl. Iraya. The name of a very low caste in Malabar. [The Iraya form one section of the Cherumar, and are of slightly higher social standing than the Pulayar (see [POLEA]). "Their name is derived from the fact that they are allowed to come only as far as the eaves (ira) of their employers' houses." (Logan, Malabar, i. 148.)]
1510.—"La sexta sorte (de' Gentili) se chiamão Hirava, e questi seminano e raccoglieno il riso."—Varthema (ed. 1517, f. 43v).
[HIRRAWEN, s. The Musulman pilgrim dress; a corruption of the Ar. iḥrām. Burton writes: "Al-Iḥrām, literally meaning 'prohibition' or 'making unlawful,' equivalent to our 'mortification,' is applied to the ceremony of the toilette, and also to the dress itself. The vulgar pronounce the word 'herām,' or 'l'ehrām.' It is opposed to ihlāl, 'making lawful,' or 'returning to laical life.' The further from Mecca it is assumed, provided that it be during the three months of Hajj, the greater is the religious merit of the pilgrim; consequently some come from India and Egypt in the dangerous attire" (Pilgrimage, ed. 1893, ii. 138, note).
[1813.—"... the ceremonies and penances mentioned by Pitts, when the hajes, or pilgrims, enter into Hirrawen, a ceremony from which the females are exempted; but the men, taking off all their clothes, cover themselves with two hirrawens or large white wrappers...."—Forbes, Or. Mem. ii. 101, 2nd ed.]
HOBSON-JOBSON, s. A native festal excitement; a tamāsha (see [TUMASHA]); but especially the [Moharram] ceremonies. This phrase may be taken as a typical one of the most highly assimilated class of Anglo-Indian argot, and we have ventured to borrow from it a concise alternative title for this Glossary. It is peculiar to the British soldier and his surroundings, with whom it probably originated, and with whom it is by no means obsolete, as we once supposed. My friend Major John Trotter tells me that he has repeatedly heard it used by British soldiers in the Punjab; and has heard it also from a regimental Moonshee. It is in fact an Anglo-Saxon version of the wailings of the Mahommedans as they beat their breasts in the procession of the Moharram—"Yā Hasan! Yā Hosain!" It is to be remembered that these observances are in India by no means confined to Shī'as. Except at Lucknow and Murshīdābād, the great majority of Mahommedans in that country are professed Sunnis. Yet here is a statement of the facts from an unexceptionable authority:
"The commonalty of the Mussalmans, and especially the women, have more regard for the memory of Hasan and Husein, than for that of Muhammad and his khalifs. The heresy of making Ta'ziyas (see [TAZEEA]) on the anniversary of the two latter imáms, is most common throughout India: so much so that opposition to it is ascribed by the ignorant to blasphemy. This example is followed by many of the Hindus, especially the Mahrattas. The Muharram is celebrated throughout the Dekhan and Malwa, with greater enthusiasm than in other parts of India. Grand preparations are made in every town on the occasion, as if for a festival of rejoicing, rather than of observing the rites of mourning, as they ought. The observance of this custom has so strong a hold on the mind of the commonalty of the Mussulmans that they believe Muhammadanism to depend merely on keeping the memory of the imáms in the above manner."—Mīr Shahāmat 'Ali, in J. R. As. Soc. xiii. 369.