Hobson-Jobson: A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases, and of Kindred Terms, Etymological, Historical, Geographical and Discursive c10.12863

c10.12863

1726.—“The name of the place is properly Sadrangapatam; but for short it is also called Sadrampatam, and most commonly Sadraspatam. In the Tellinga it indicates the name of the founder, and in Persian it means ‘thousand troubles’ or the Shahboard which we call chess.”—*Valentijn*, *Choromandel*, 11. The curious explanation of *Shatranj* or ‘chess,’ as ‘a thousand troubles,’ is no doubt some popular etymology; such as P. *sad-ranj*, ‘a hundred griefs.’ The word is really of Sanskrit origin, from *Chaturangam*, literally, ‘quadripartite’; the four constituent parts of an army, viz. horse, foot, chariots and elephants.