Synthesis: The two commonly used Hindi words for sugar are both of Chinese origin

Rashmun wrote:The first Chinese emigrant to Calcutta was Yang Tai Chow. He arrived in 1778 on the banks of the Hooghly. He gathered together a group of Chinese, many of whom had jumped ship and decided to stay on in the area of Calcutta or were working on the Khidderpore docks.Yang started a sugar mill with the eventual goal of saving enough to start a tea trade. Though history has obliterated the sugar mill, Yang’s endeavour has been immortalised in the Bengali word for sugar, chini, which is derived from the Mandarin (similar to the Bengali word for porcelain,chinamati). Yang, known locally as Tong Achi, established the first Chinese community in the area which came to be known as Achipur, a place 33km from Calcutta, near Budge Budge. The place no longer has any Chinese inhabitant but Yang Tai Chow’s grave, and a temple that he built, are still visited by the Calcutta Chinese at the time of the Chinese New Year to seek his blessing.

http://www.academia.edu/786169/The_Chinese_of_Calcutta

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sugar has two commonly used words (synonyms) in hindi: cheeni and shakkar. For chinese origin of cheeni see above. And shakkar is also apparently a word of chinese origin:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6764089

Merlot Daruwala wrote:

Rashmun wrote:The first Chinese emigrant to Calcutta was Yang Tai Chow. He arrived in 1778 on the banks of the Hooghly. He gathered together a group of Chinese, many of whom had jumped ship and decided to stay on in the area of Calcutta or were working on the Khidderpore docks.Yang started a sugar mill with the eventual goal of saving enough to start a tea trade. Though history has obliterated the sugar mill, Yang’s endeavour has been immortalised in the Bengali word for sugar, chini, which is derived from the Mandarin (similar to the Bengali word for porcelain,chinamati). Yang, known locally as Tong Achi, established the first Chinese community in the area which came to be known as Achipur, a place 33km from Calcutta, near Budge Budge. The place no longer has any Chinese inhabitant but Yang Tai Chow’s grave, and a temple that he built, are still visited by the Calcutta Chinese at the time of the Chinese New Year to seek his blessing.

http://www.academia.edu/786169/The_Chinese_of_Calcutta

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sugar has two commonly used words (synonyms) in hindi: cheeni and shakkar. For chinese origin of cheeni see above. And shakkar is also apparently a word of chinese origin:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6764089

I don't know about chini, but shakkar is from the Sanskrit "sharkara" which means sand or gravel. Sugarcane itself is mentioned in early vedic literature but the first explicit mention of guda is in Panini's works which date back to 4th century BC. Kautilya's Arthashastra actually describes the process of manufacture of sharkara. There is absolutely no reason to believe that it is some phonetically convoluted descendant of the Chinese "sha che".

Rashmun wrote:Large crystalline pieces of sugar are known as Mishri in Hindi. In Chinese they are known as Mi-Sha-Li.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6764089

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In hindi,large white crystalline pieces of sugar is mishri, tiny white granules of sugar is shakkar, and white powdery sugar is cheeni.

Seva Lamberdar wrote:

Rashmun wrote:Large crystalline pieces of sugar are known as Mishri in Hindi. In Chinese they are known as Mi-Sha-Li.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6764089

---
In hindi,large white crystalline pieces of sugar is mishri, tiny white granules of sugar is shakkar, and white powdery sugar is cheeni.

Merlot and Max are right. Sanskrit word 'sharkara' for sugar is more ancient and as its root than its Chinese equivalent 'sha che' -- the latter (sha che) seems to be based on the former Sharkara). As for mishali and mishari being similar, that's because Indians started calling white sugar (bleached sharkara or brown sugar) as cheeni based on its white color (as the Chinese look, as fairer or more whitish than the Indians). The difference in names as the original sharkara (brown sugar) and the later cheeni (white sugar) was only to signify the color change resulting from the bleaching process and nothing else.

Seva Lamberdar wrote:

Rashmun wrote:Large crystalline pieces of sugar are known as Mishri in Hindi. In Chinese they are known as Mi-Sha-Li.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6764089

---
In hindi,large white crystalline pieces of sugar is mishri, tiny white granules of sugar is shakkar, and white powdery sugar is cheeni.

Merlot and Max are right. Sanskrit word 'sharkara' for sugar is more ancient and as its root than its Chinese equivalent 'sha che' -- the latter (sha che) seems to be based on the former Sharkara). As for mishali and mishari being similar, that's because Indians started calling white sugar (bleached sharkara or brown sugar) as cheeni based on its white color (as the Chinese look, as fairer or more whitish than the Indians). The difference in names as the original sharkara (brown sugar) and the later cheeni (white sugar) was only to signify the color change resulting from the bleaching process and nothing else.

goodcitizn wrote:

Seva Lamberdar wrote:

Rashmun wrote:Large crystalline pieces of sugar are known as Mishri in Hindi. In Chinese they are known as Mi-Sha-Li.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6764089

---
In hindi,large white crystalline pieces of sugar is mishri, tiny white granules of sugar is shakkar, and white powdery sugar is cheeni.

Merlot and Max are right. Sanskrit word 'sharkara' for sugar is more ancient and as its root than its Chinese equivalent 'sha che' -- the latter (sha che) seems to be based on the former Sharkara). As for mishali and mishari being similar, that's because Indians started calling white sugar (bleached sharkara or brown sugar) as cheeni based on its white color (as the Chinese look, as fairer or more whitish than the Indians). The difference in names as the original sharkara (brown sugar) and the later cheeni (white sugar) was only to signify the color change resulting from the bleaching process and nothing else.

It might not have anything to do with the skin color of the Chinese. It is possible that the bleaching process came from China and came to be called cheeni sugar. In Tamil, China is pronounced "Cheena"; quite possibly in other Indian languages too.

Rashmun wrote:

goodcitizn wrote:

Seva Lamberdar wrote:

Rashmun wrote:Large crystalline pieces of sugar are known as Mishri in Hindi. In Chinese they are known as Mi-Sha-Li.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6764089

---
In hindi,large white crystalline pieces of sugar is mishri, tiny white granules of sugar is shakkar, and white powdery sugar is cheeni.

Merlot and Max are right. Sanskrit word 'sharkara' for sugar is more ancient and as its root than its Chinese equivalent 'sha che' -- the latter (sha che) seems to be based on the former Sharkara). As for mishali and mishari being similar, that's because Indians started calling white sugar (bleached sharkara or brown sugar) as cheeni based on its white color (as the Chinese look, as fairer or more whitish than the Indians). The difference in names as the original sharkara (brown sugar) and the later cheeni (white sugar) was only to signify the color change resulting from the bleaching process and nothing else.

It might not have anything to do with the skin color of the Chinese. It is possible that the bleaching process came from China and came to be called cheeni sugar. In Tamil, China is pronounced "Cheena"; quite possibly in other Indian languages too.

in hindi, china is cheen. sugar is cheeni in hindi, but actually anything which is of chinese origin can be called cheeni (of or from china) in hindi.

goodcitizn wrote:

Rashmun wrote:

goodcitizn wrote:

Seva Lamberdar wrote:

Rashmun wrote:Large crystalline pieces of sugar are known as Mishri in Hindi. In Chinese they are known as Mi-Sha-Li.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6764089

---
In hindi,large white crystalline pieces of sugar is mishri, tiny white granules of sugar is shakkar, and white powdery sugar is cheeni.

Merlot and Max are right. Sanskrit word 'sharkara' for sugar is more ancient and as its root than its Chinese equivalent 'sha che' -- the latter (sha che) seems to be based on the former Sharkara). As for mishali and mishari being similar, that's because Indians started calling white sugar (bleached sharkara or brown sugar) as cheeni based on its white color (as the Chinese look, as fairer or more whitish than the Indians). The difference in names as the original sharkara (brown sugar) and the later cheeni (white sugar) was only to signify the color change resulting from the bleaching process and nothing else.

It might not have anything to do with the skin color of the Chinese. It is possible that the bleaching process came from China and came to be called cheeni sugar. In Tamil, China is pronounced "Cheena"; quite possibly in other Indian languages too.

in hindi, china is cheen. sugar is cheeni in hindi, but actually anything which is of chinese origin can be called cheeni (of or from china) in hindi.

That makes more sense than skin color.

Seva Lamberdar wrote:

goodcitizn wrote:

Rashmun wrote:

goodcitizn wrote:

Seva Lamberdar wrote:
Merlot and Max are right. Sanskrit word 'sharkara' for sugar is more ancient and as its root than its Chinese equivalent 'sha che' -- the latter (sha che) seems to be based on the former Sharkara). As for mishali and mishari being similar, that's because Indians started calling white sugar (bleached sharkara or brown sugar) as cheeni based on its white color (as the Chinese look, as fairer or more whitish than the Indians). The difference in names as the original sharkara (brown sugar) and the later cheeni (white sugar) was only to signify the color change resulting from the bleaching process and nothing else.

It might not have anything to do with the skin color of the Chinese. It is possible that the bleaching process came from China and came to be called cheeni sugar. In Tamil, China is pronounced "Cheena"; quite possibly in other Indian languages too.

in hindi, china is cheen. sugar is cheeni in hindi, but actually anything which is of chinese origin can be called cheeni (of or from china) in hindi.

That makes more sense than skin color.

In case of sugar, "cheeni" is synonym with white color and not based as or originating as a process from China. Btw many typically browninsh people in India having slightly small ("slitty") eyes end up being nicknamed as Cheeni or Cheenu during their childhood, implying that this type of naming by people usually is according to looks and physical features (including color etc.) and not necessarily due to being of Chinese origin. Btw during my grandfather's time (beginning of 19th century), our family was into sugarcane cultivation and used to produce lot of "gur"; and using a machine in the village would transform "gur" into brown sugar or shakkar before selling. So I am quite familiar with this business, including the "cheeni" thing --- even had some relatives who would not eat cheeni (white sugar), as I indicated earlier.

Rashmun wrote:

Seva Lamberdar wrote:

goodcitizn wrote:

Rashmun wrote:

goodcitizn wrote:
It might not have anything to do with the skin color of the Chinese. It is possible that the bleaching process came from China and came to be called cheeni sugar. In Tamil, China is pronounced "Cheena"; quite possibly in other Indian languages too.

in hindi, china is cheen. sugar is cheeni in hindi, but actually anything which is of chinese origin can be called cheeni (of or from china) in hindi.

That makes more sense than skin color.

In case of sugar, "cheeni" is synonym with white color and not based as or originating as a process from China. Btw many typically browninsh people in India having slightly small ("slitty") eyes end up being nicknamed as Cheeni or Cheenu during their childhood, implying that this type of naming by people usually is according to looks and physical features (including color etc.) and not necessarily due to being of Chinese origin. Btw during my grandfather's time (beginning of 19th century), our family was into sugarcane cultivation and used to produce lot of "gur"; and using a machine in the village would transform "gur" into brown sugar or shakkar before selling. So I am quite familiar with this business, including the "cheeni" thing --- even had some relatives who would not eat cheeni (white sugar), as I indicated earlier.

never heard of this before.

Seva Lamberdar wrote:

Rashmun wrote:

Seva Lamberdar wrote:

goodcitizn wrote:

Rashmun wrote:

in hindi, china is cheen. sugar is cheeni in hindi, but actually anything which is of chinese origin can be called cheeni (of or from china) in hindi.

That makes more sense than skin color.

In case of sugar, "cheeni" is synonym with white color and not based as or originating as a process from China. Btw many typically browninsh people in India having slightly small ("slitty") eyes end up being nicknamed as Cheeni or Cheenu during their childhood, implying that this type of naming by people usually is according to looks and physical features (including color etc.) and not necessarily due to being of Chinese origin. Btw during my grandfather's time (beginning of 19th century), our family was into sugarcane cultivation and used to produce lot of "gur"; and using a machine in the village would transform "gur" into brown sugar or shakkar before selling. So I am quite familiar with this business, including the "cheeni" thing --- even had some relatives who would not eat cheeni (white sugar), as I indicated earlier.

never heard of this before.

Too bad that you never heard of this before. We have someone in our own relations with nickname "cheenu" because of the shape of her eyes. 
I also want to take this opportunity to correct my grandfather's time in the above (my earlier post), from 19th century to 20th century (later part of 19th century to earlier part of 20th century)