amlahn.
/ˈʌmlə/, /ˈamlə/, U.S. /ˈɑmlə/ Now historical.
In South Asia (esp. India): the body of officials who staff a courthouse; (more generally) any body of minor officials associated with a particular institution. (Sometimes with plural agreement.) Also: a member of such a body.
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society > law > administration of justice > one who administers justice > an officer of the court > [noun] > body of court officials in India
amlah1779
1779 in App. to India Courier Extraordinary (1787) VI. 167 The Pergunnah is now under Mr. Purling, and the Amla of both parties attended that gentleman with the papers.
a1836 R. Lindsay in A. W. C. Lindsay Lives Lindsays (1849) III. 166 I was at this place met by the Omlah, or officers belonging to the establishment.
1866 Calcutta Rev. 43 360 As in most collectorates there are from 100 to 300 suits a month,..the amlah are evidently richer men than they are generally supposed to be.
1872 E. Braddon Life in India vi. 253 The venality and turpitude of the native amla of our courts.
1920 Young India 6 Oct. 6/1 Every law court is infested with a number of amalas, subordinate officers, peons, etc., each one of whom has to be paid a certain fee, not authorised by law.
1979 Mod. Asian Stud. 13 117 They agreed, and were then schooled by the village amlah to admit execution before the Registrar.
2011 J. Sharma Empire's Garden iii. 97 Many new arrivals were clerks, the archetypal Bengali amlahs who accompanied the colonial regime.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2021; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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