1881.] Mr. de Boepstorff on the Nicobarese. 7 



(i. e. 1857 Sam vat). " But they do not contain his name. Ranjit Singh 

 put his name on nothing, gave his name to nothing. The fort he built 

 at Amritsar is called Gobind Garb, the garden he made there, Ram Bagh." 

 After the accession of Ranjit Singh rupees were struck regularly every 

 year at Amritsar and Lahore, and after the conquest of Multan, also at 

 the latter place. For some years his rupees show on the obverse, what 

 looks like a double branch. This is supposed to represent a peacock's tail. 

 These coins are known as Mora Shdhi rupees amongst the bankers ; and 

 they are said to have been struck by Ranjit Singh, to gratify the desire 

 of a favourite dancing-girl of his, who wished to have her name placed on 

 his rupees. Another curious rupee of Ranjit Singh was struck at Lahore 

 in 1836 (= Samvat 1893). The reverse has two figures on it, Nanak 

 and his Muhammadan fellow-wanderer Mardana. It is the only one of 

 the kind that Mr. Rodgers says he has seen. Another peculiarity is that 

 all rupees struck after Samvat 1884 (A. D. 1827) and up to 1906 retain 

 the date 1884 or 1885 on the reverse, while the real date is given on the 

 obverse. This is explained by a superstitious notion of Ranjit Singh, 

 that he would thereby prolong the number of the years of his life. The 

 inscriptions on the Sikh coins are either in Persian or in Gurmukhi. 



• This paper will be published in the Journal, Part I. 



5. Notes on the Inhabitants of the Nicobars. — By F. A. de Roep- 

 storef, cand. philos. F. B. Danish 8. Antiquaries, C. M. B. Dan. O. S. 

 and of the Berlin S. for Anthrop, JEthnol. and Antiquaries, Sfc. 



In the Proceedings of the Asiatic Society for July 1876 will be found 

 a report on the inland tribe of Great Nicobar* in which I called 

 attention to this tribe, and quoted what was authentically known about 

 them. I mentioned the visit paid to a remote, and for the time being, 

 deserted village on the Galatheaf river by the members of the Danish 

 expedition, and I quoted the description in extenso. I then described 

 a visit I paid to the Ganges harbour^ where I saw a man and two boys 

 belonging to the inland tribe, in whom I failed to see any trace of Negrito 

 or Papuan origin, from which I concluded that the tribe living on the North 

 end of the island is not of such origin as has been supposed. There were at the 

 time sufficient facts to connect him with the Galathea village. His cooking- 

 pot I saw : it was formed (like the one in the Galathea village) of a sheet of 

 bark, and as it was standing on the fire-place with the remains of his last meal, 

 there was no mistake about it. He also produced the same sort of spear 



* The largest and most southern of the Nicobar Islands. 

 f Running out into the south bay of the Island. 



X Near the north- west point of Great Nicobar. 



