226 Oranges and Lemons of India. 



is called kamala, and in Khasi, ^tsoh niamtra* In 

 Nepal it goes by the name suntola, or suntowrea ; in 

 Kumaon by the name of shor, and also by the name of 

 the Bageshwar orange, from the fair where it is largely 

 sold, and also the Gungoli hat and Ramgunga orange, . 

 where it is largely grown. f In the plains, it is called 

 by the educated people suntara, and by others suntra, 

 sungtra, and in Delhi also rungtra. The Europeans 

 call the Delhi orange Cintra orange, and by the 

 English in Calcutta it is known as the Sylhet orange. 



I asked Mr. Stevenson, the Deputy Commissioner 

 of Sylhet, whether the Khasis had any legend about 

 this orange. He replied : " Nothing is known as to 

 the time when orange cultivation began in these parts. 

 From the extracts of the lives of the Lindsays, ap- 

 pended to Dr. Hunter's ' Statistical Account of Sylhet/ 

 it would seem that there were oranges growing spon- 

 taneously in the mountains some time previous to the 

 close of last century (1776). No one knows how the 

 orange was introduced here. All agree that it is not 

 indigenous, and the legend has it that Hanuman, a 

 general of Rama, introduced the plant on his return 

 from Lanka (Ceylon). Some people say seeds were 

 brought from Assam proper." 



More recently Mr. Stevenson very kindly wrote 

 again, and said : " I have been endeavouring to obtain 

 some clue to the derivations of the Bengali-Khasia 

 names of oranges of all kinds. Their origin cannot be at 

 all had. I asked the chief Khasia official at Shillong, 

 and he was quite in the dark. I then consulted the 

 missionary of the Welsh Presbyterian Mission in the 

 Khasia-Jaintia hills. I enclose Mr. Jerman Jones's 



* Mr. Stevenson says usoh santra (vide Appendix, No. 43). 

 t Mr. H. Harris, of Sitowli, informs me that these are all one, and 

 resemble the Nagpore orange. 



