A word from Hindi, meaning "the madness". It is known from Rudyard Kipling's work The Jungle Book as a
sickness known to be caused by the
bite of a jackal, potentially referring to some form of the
rabies or another.
"Even the tiger runs when
little Tabaqui goes mad, for madness is the most disgraceful thing that can overtake a
wild creature. We call it hydrophobia, but they call it dewanee-the madness-and run." - Passage from the
first page of The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling