Glossary

AMALGUZAR. A revenue collector, usually the head of a district or pargana (q.v.)

AMIL. Under the Mughals, a revenue collector, but the term had more general application during the sultanate.

AMIN. A revenue assessor, who decided the government's share of the produce of the land.

AMIR. During the sultanate, a designation for officers of the third rank. Later, amir and the plural, umara, were used for "noblemen" in general, and to indicate officials of high rank.

AMIR-I-AKHUR. Commander of the cavalry.

AMIR-I-DAD. The law officer who carried out the decisions of the judges. Appeals from a qazi's (q.v.) judgment could be made to him, and he investigated complaints made against high officials.

AMIR-I-HAJIB. An official of great prestige who superintended all court ceremonies, regulated protocol, and controlled contacts between the ruler and his subjects. "Lord Chamberlain" is the usual translation.

AMIR-I-MAJLIS. The official who arranged the social and cultural contacts of the sultan.

AMIR-UL-UMARA. Literally, chief of nobles. This was a title conferred by a ruler, rather than an office.

ARIZ (or diwan-i-arz). The department of government under the sultanate concerned with maintaining the army. Usually translated "War Office" or "Ministry of War."

ARIZ-I-MUMALIK. The official during the sultanate responsible for the administration of the army, including recruiting, payment of salaries, supplies, and transportation. The office was similar to that of the mir bakshi under the Mughals. See "bakhshi."

BADSHAH. See padshah.

BAKHSHI. Under the Mughals, the official who kept the army records and paid the troops. The chief paymaster in the central administration was known as the mir bakhshi, and there were subordinate bakhshis in the provinces.

BARID. Official in charge of intelligence and newsgathering. The barid-i-mumalik was the head of the central office, and his agents sent in reports from all over the country. This system was of great importance in controlling local governments.

BHAKTI. In Hinduism, devotion offered to a deity, with an emphasis on love and self-surrender.

CALIPH (khalifa). A representative or successor; the title adopted by the rulers of the Islamic community indicating, that as successors of Muhammad, they were both spiritual and temporal leaders. After the destruction of the Abbasid caliphate in 1258, the title was held by various rulers, including the Ottoman sultans. The office is referred to as the caliphate or khilafat.

CRORE (kror). Ten millions or one hundred lakhs (q.v.).

DAR-UL-HARB. "Abode of War." A land ruled by infidels that might, through war, become the "Abode of Islam," dar-ul-Islam. In the nineteenth century, some Muslims argued that India had become dar-ul-harb because of British rule.

DAR-UL-ISLAM. "Abode of Islam." A country where Islamic laws are followed and the ruler is a Muslim.

DECCAN. India south of the Vindhya Mountains, but more particularly the interior plateau.

DIWAN. 1. A ministry or department; but under the Mughals it meant specifically the financial or revenue ministry (diwani). 2. In the provincial administration, the diwan had judicial power in civil cases as well as having control of revenue collection. 3. The term was also applied to the royal court and the council that advised the ruler. 4. The word is also used for the collected works of a poet.

DIWAN-I-ARZ. See ariz.

DIWAN-I-KHALSA (khalisa). The office in charge of the lands reserved as sources of revenue for the state.

DIWAN-I-MAZALIM. A court presided over by the ruler in which petitions were received, complaints against officials were heard, and to which appeals could be made from other courts.

DIWAN-I-TAN. The office responsible for payment of salaries.

DOAB. "Two rivers." The land lying between two rivers, particularly the area between the Ganges and the Jamna.

DURBAR (darbar). The court of a ruler, or an audience granted by him.

FARMAN (firman). An order issued by a ruler.

FAUJDAR. In the early period, the word was applied to a military officer, but under the Mughals, it meant the head of a district. Later it was used for a police official.

FIQH. Islamic jurisprudence, or the science of interpreting the Shariat (q.v.). There are four orthodox schools: Hanafi, Hanbali, Maliki, and Shafii. The sources of fiqh are the Quran, hadith, ijma, and quiyas (q.v.).

GADDI (gadi). The cushion or seat on which a ruler sits, hence, "throne."

GHANIMAH. The spoils of war. In original Islamic practice, four-fifths of all the captured goods went to the army, and a fifth was taken for pious purposes. Under the sultanate, the state took four-fifths and one-fifth was given to the soldiers.

GHAZAL. A short poem, usually on a theme dealing with love.

HADITH (hadis). A saying or reported action of Muhammad that is not found in the Quran, but that is accepted as a source of fiqh (q.v.).

HAJJ. Annual pilgrimage made to Mecca; every Muslim is supposed to make the journey at least once in a lifetime.

HANAFI. A school of Islamic jurisprudence. See fiqh.

HANBALI. A school of Islamic jurisprudence. See fiqh.

HINDUSTANI. 1. Any native of North India (Hindustan). 2. The term was applied to the Indian converts to Islam. 3. As an adjective, is used to describe the products of the fusion of Islamic and Hindu influences; e.g., Hindustani music.

IJMA. The consensus of the Islamic community as a source of law. See fiqh.

IMAM. A leader of the Islamic community. Among the Shias (q.v.), the descendants of Ali.

INAM. A gift or reward; particularly applied to lands which were granted rent-free.

IQTA. A form of grant made by the sultants. The grantee had rights of revenue collection but not property rights, which were retained by the state. This tenure corresponded to the jagir (q.v.) of the Mughals.

JAGIR. The term used during Mughal rule for iqta tenures. The holder of land under the jagir system was known as a jagirdar. The assignment of land was usually made for a lifetime, and it was not inheritable. Jagir tenures were different from inam (q.v.) in that they carried an obligation to perform services for the state.

JIHAD. A righteous war against unbelievers.

JIZYA. Tax paid by zimmis (q.v.) in a Muslim society.

KAVI RAI. "Prince of Poets," or poet-laureate. A title used by the Mughals.

KHALIFAH. See caliph.

KHALSA. See diwan-i-khalsa.

KHAN. A Turkish title. Under the sultanate, it designated a particular rank in the military service, but it was frequently used to indicate ethnic affiliations (e.g., the Pathans) or by anyone claiming its connotation of "brave and heroic."

KHARIJ. Originally, the tribute paid by conquered populations, but in India it came to mean simply the land tax, or the proportion of the produce claimed by the state.

KHUTBA. Sermon delivered in the mosque on Fridays. Mention in it of a ruler's name was a declaration of a claim for sovereignity.

KHWAJA. A Persian title of respect. In the sultanate it was used for the official in each province who kept the revenue accounts.

KOS. A land measure, varying in different parts of India from one mile to two.

KOTWAL. A term applied to various local officials, but usually to the officer who was responsible for police functions in a town or rural area.

LAKH. One hundred thousand.

MADRASA. A school for Islamic studies, usually associated with a mosque.

MALIK. Under the sultanate, a title indicating a military rank, but later used as a general title of honor. Also used for a person who owns land.

MALIKI. A school of Islamic jurisprudence. See fiqh.

MANSAB. A rank in the Mughal army based on the number of horsemen the officer was supposed to bring into the field. Mansabdars, the holders of the rank, were graded from those responsible for ten horses up to those who were responsible for ten thousand.

MAUND. A measure of weight, roughly equal to eighty pounds, but varying greatly in different areas.

MIR BAKHSHI. See bakhshi.

MIR SAMAN. The official in charge of the imperial household stores, the workshops for producing goods for the palaces, and the arsenals.

MLECCHA. Sanskrit term for a non-Indian, meaning "barbarian"; often used for the Muslim invaders.

MOHALLA. A subdivision of a city.

MUHTASIB. The overseer of public morality.

MUJTAHID. A man who through learning and piety is able to undertake the interpretation and application of the Islamic law in such a way that his judgments should be followed by others.

MULLAH. A teacher of the law and doctrines of Islam.

MUSHRIF. The officer responsible for keeping the account of state income during the sultanate.

MUSTAUFI. The official responsible for expenditure and for the auditing of accounts.

NAIB. A deputy, lieutenant, or assistant, as in the title, naib wazir.

NAWAB. Originally used for the viceroy or governor of a province of the Mughal empire, but later used simply as a title.

NAZIM. Term used for a provincial governor, particularly indicating his function as administrator of the criminal law.

NIZAM. A governor, particularly the viceroy of the Deccan.

PADSHAH. King, emperor. A title used by the Mughal rulers.

PANCHAYAT. A traditional Indian village court (made up of five elders) that judged petty cases and controlled local affairs.

PARGANA. A subdivision of the basic administrative unit, the sarkar, made up of a number of villages.

PESHWA. The Chief Minister of the Maratha rulers. The office became hereditary, and in the eighteenth century the peshwa was virtually an independent ruler.

PIR. The head of a Sufi order; later, a Sufi saint.

QASIDA. A long, usually panegyric, poem, or ode.

QAZI. The judge who administered Islamic law. Qazi-i-mumalik was the chief judge of the kingdom.

QIYAS. One of the sources of fiqh (q.v.); the process of applying hadith (q.v.) to new situations by the use of analogy.

QURAN (Koran). For Muslims, the Word of God. The fundamental source of fiqh (q.v.) and all rules governing human relationships.

RAIYAT (ryot). Cultivator, peasant.

RAIYATWARI. A system of revenue assessment and collection in which the government officials dealt with the actual cultivator, not an intermediary.

RUPEE (rupiya). A silver coin introduced by Sher Shah in 1542 which became the standard unit of the Indian currency system. In 1800 it was worth about two shillings.

SADR (sadar). Chief or supreme. A term especially used in connection with the chief religious offices. The sadr-ul-sadur advised the Mughal emperor on religious matters, controlled religious endowments, and had oversight of educational institutions.

SAHIB. An honorific applied to titles and names, e.g., Sahib-i-barid was the chief barid (q.v.), or intelligence officer.

SANAD. A charter or grant.

SARKAR (sircar). A subdivision of a subah or province. The word is also used to mean simply “ the government.”

SARPANCH. The head of a panchayat (q.v.).

SATI. "A true wife." By extension, the term was used for a woman who immolated herself on her husband's funeral pyre.

SAYYID (said, syed). A chief. Also a name used by those who claim descent from Husain, the son of Muhammad's daughter, Fatima.

SEPOY (sipahi). A soldier.

SHAFII. A school of Islamic jurisprudence. See fiqh.

SHAIKH. “ Old man.” A term used for a Sufi (q.v.) who guided disciples. Also used to denote a caste or class among Indian Muslims.

SHARIAT (Sharia). The law of Islam, comprising all the rules that govern life.

SHIA. The Muslim sect that asserts the leadership of Islam is hereditary in the descendants of Ali, the son-in-law of the Prophet. It is the dominant group in Iran, and is well represented in India.

SHIQQ. In the sultanate, the administrative district corresponding to the later sarkar (q.v.).

SIPAH-SALAR. A military rank during the sultanate, but under Akbar the name was used for a provincial governor.

SUBAH. The term for the provinces into which the Mughal empire was divided. The subadar was the governor. This word was later used for the administrator of a smaller district.

SUFI. An Islamic mystic. Sufism, with its emphasis on the possibility of unity with the divine, was of special importance in winning converts to Islam in India.

SULTAN. King, ruler. In its early usage, the term implied dependence on the caliph (q.v.). The Delhi sultans sought recognition from the Abbasid caliphate, and even after its destruction they maintained a nominal connection with the Egyptian ruler who claimed to be the caliph.

SUNNI. An inherent of the majority, or "orthodox," Islamic sect that accepted the Abbasid rulers as caliphs, in contrast to the Shias (q.v.). "Sunna"  means the custom or traditions associated with Muhammad, and its usage implies that the Sunni follow the canonical tradition.

TAFSIR. Explanation. The commentaries on the Quran and the science of its interpretation. Tafsir was an important branch of learning in the madrasas (q.v.).

TALUKA (Taluq). A name for a subdivision of a province in the late Mughal empire.

TAWHID. "Asserting oneness." A theological term that refers to the oneness of God.

TEHSIL (tahsil). The collection of land revenue. Later applied to a subdivision of a district.

ULAMA. Learned men, plural of alim. Used particularly for those learned in Islamic studies, or for the theologians who were guardians of Islamic custom.

UMARA. Nobles. Plural of amir (q.v.).

URDU. Literally, camp. The "camp-language" that grew up through an infusion of Persian, and some Arabic and Turkish, words into Hindi, the language of the Delhi region.

VAKIL. See wakil.

WAHHABI. Follower of the community founded by Abdul Wahhab (1703-1787) in Arabia. The aim of the Wahhabis is to purify Islam of all innovations and to return to the strict observances of Islamic law. It is the dominant sect in Saudi Arabia. The beliefs of the Wahhabis, especially the strong emphasis on the removal of all non-Islamic practices, had considerable influence in India in the nineteenth century.

WAKIL (vakil). The office of the wakil or wakil-i-dar under the sultanate was concerned with the management of the royal household. In the Mughal period, however, the wakil or wakil-i-sultanat, was the chief minister, the post formerly held by the wazir (q.v.).

WAQF. An endowment, usually in the form of lands, for the upkeep of a mosque, madrasa, or some other religious enterprise.

WAZIR. The chief minister of the Delhi sultans. Under the Mughals, the title was sometimes used for the official in charge of revenue and finance.

WIZARAT. The office of the wazir.

ZAKAT. A tax collected from Muslims for charitable purposes.

ZAMINDAR. Literally, "a landholder," from zamin, land. Under the Mughals, he was a revenue official who had no proprietary rights in the land from which he collected taxes.

ZIMMI (dhimmi). A non-Muslim living in a Muslim state. According to a strict interpretation of the Islamic law, only Jews and Christians were eligible for the status of zimmi. Each adult male zimmi had to pay jizya (q.v.). In practice, when Muslims conquered a country they tolerated others than the "Peoples of the Scripture." This was particularly true in India, where the Hindus were treated as zimmis.