Forms: 7 bancksall, 7–8 banksall, 7–9 banksoll, 8 bancshall, 8– banksaul, 7– bankshall. [A word now common from India to China: in Malay bāngsal shed, storehouse, porch, but prob. orig. Bengali baṇkaśālā ‘hall of trade,’ or perh. Skr. bhāṇḍaśālā storehouse or magazine. (Col. Yule.)] a. A warehouse. b. The office of a Harbour Master or other port authority.
1673. Fryer, E. Ind. Persia, 27 (Y.). Their Bank Solls, or Custom House Keys, where they land.
1688. Camd. Soc. Misc. (1881), 38. Who was come down to the bancksall, or point of sand goeing into the river [Hooghly].
1727. A. Hamilton, Acc. E. Indies, II. 6 (Y.). Above it is the Dutch Bankshall, a Place where their ships ride.
1813. J. Forbes, Orient. Mem., IV. 109 (Y.). A large banksaul or warehouse at Mirzapore for the reception of pepper and sandalwood.
1850. Jrnl. Ind. Archipelago, IV. 182. Bankshall, the name given by Europeans to the office of the Master Attendant, or Intendant of a Port. It is most probably taken from the Malay word Bañgsal, a shed, an outhouse.
