The detailed description of "cabaya" can be seen in the 19th-century Hobson-Jobson dictionary. The Anglo-Indian dictionary describes "cabaya" as a word of Asian origin, referring to a surcoat or a long tunic of muslin worn by the Indian upper classes. The term was likely to be introduced into the subcontinent by the Portuguese. Several Portuguese records published in the 16th and 17th century also noted "caba", "cabaya" and "cabaia" as a Muslim long robe worn by the ruling class of India as well as the Middle East. The earliest use of the word dates to the 1540s when the Portuguese explorer, Fernão Mendes Pinto visited India. It was also mentioned that the Prince Dharmapala of Kotte was the first to be introduced to the "cabaya" by the Portuguese, where it was worn by the Portuguese royalty during royal occasions. Later, King Vimaladharmasuriya of Kandy established it as the upper garment for Sri Lankan royalty signifying the changing of attitudes and loyalty to the Portuguese. Once Goa was occupied by the Portuguese in 1510, the Portuguese influences extended from the India Subcontinent to the Malay Archipelago. The term was then introduced to the archipelago to refer to a light cotton surcoat worn by both European men and women.