Aelian described the bird in 250 AD in his "De Natura Animalium" as the "kilas" (κηλας), a large bird from India with a crop that looks like a leather bag. Babur described it in his memoirs under the name of "ding". In Victorian times the greater adjutant was known as the gigantic crane and later as the Asiatic marabou. It was very common in Calcutta during the rainy season and large numbers could be seen at garbage sites and also standing on the top of buildings. In Bihar, the bird is associated with the mythical bird garuda. Its name "hargila" in Bengal and Assam is said to be derived from the Sanskrit roots "had" for "bone" and "gila" - "to swallow"- and describes the bird as a "bone swallower". John Latham used the Latinized form as the species epithet in the binomial name, "Ardea argala". At that time it was believed that the birds were protected by the souls of dead Brahmins. Young British soldiers were known to harass these birds for fun, even blowing up birds by feeding them meat containing bones packed with a cartridge and fuse. The birds would remain calm when natives passed by but would bark in alarm at those in European clothes. The birds in Calcutta were considered to be efficient scavengers and an act was passed to protect them. Anyone who injured or killed a bird had to pay a hefty fine of fifty rupees. The coat of arms of the city of Calcutta issued through two patents on 26 December 1896 included two adjutant birds with serpents in their beaks and charged on their shoulder with an Eastern Crown as supporters. The motto read "Per ardua stabilis esto", Latin for "steadfast through trouble". The arms were included in the logo of official bodies such as the Calcutta Municipal Corporation and the Calcutta Scottish regiment. Captured birds, probably from Calcutta, reached menageries in Europe during this period.