TUMBRIL. A carriage for the gun ammunition. VACKEEL, VAQUEEL. One endowed with authority to act for another. Ambassador, agent sent on a special commission, or residing at a court. Native law pleader, under the judidicial system of the Company. VIZIR, VIZIER. Under the Mogul government, the prime minister of the sovereign. VEDAS, VEDS, BEEDS. Science, knowledge. The sacred scriptures of the Hindus. YOGIES, JOGIES. Hindu devotees. period of the Hindus; also a religious ceremony. ZEMINDAR. From two words signifying, earth, land, and holder or keeper. Land-keeper. An officer who, under the Mahomedan government, was charged with the superintendence of the lands of a district, financially considered; the protection of the cultivators, and the realization of the government's share of its produce, either in money or kind. ZEMINDARRY. The office or jurisdiction of a Zemindar. ZENANA. The place where the ladies reside. ZILLAH. Side, part, district, division. A local division of a conntry having reference to personal jurisdiction. N. B. The explanations of the above terms are taken, for the most part, from the Glossary attached to the fifth Report of the Committee of the House of Commons on Indian affairs, appointed in 1810. HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA. BOOK I. 1527-1707. Commencement of the British Intercourse with India; and the Circumstances of its Progress, till the Establishment of the Company on a durable Basis by the Act of the Sixth of Queen Anne. Two centuries have elapsed, since a few British merchants humbly solicited permission of the Indian princes to traffic in their dominions. The British power at present embraces nearly the whole of that vast region, which extends from Cape Comorin to the mountains of Tibet, and from the mouths of the Brahmapootra to the Indus. In the present undertaking, it is proposed to collect, from its numerous and scattered sources, the information necessary to convey correct and adequate ideas of this empire, and of the transactions through which it has been acquired; and, for that purpose, |