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Glossary

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Anna: Unit of currency formerly used in India. An anna was 1/16th of a Rupee.

Apsara: Celestial nymph in Hindu mythology

Attar: Perfume oil

Baazugar (Baazigar): Juggler, street performer, trickster

Babu: English-speaking Indian man, often employed as a clerk or administrative figure. 

Bay of Biscay: Located in the Atlantic ocean to the west of France and north of Spain.  

Brahmin (Brahman): high caste Hindu

Boniment (French): Patter

Bunnia (Bania): Indian moneylender or merchant (also a caste identity)

Burf: [in "The Haunted Cabin," child's approximation of "berth"] 

Cashmeeree (Kashmiri): Person from the Indian state of Kashmir 

Chuprassi (Chaprassi, Chaprasi): A bearer or servant 

Dholki: Small, handheld drum

Ekka (Ikka): A small horse carriage

Fakir: Muslim religious mendicant 

Ganesh: Hindu deity, known by his distinctive elephant head

Gravesend: An ancient town in north-west Kent, England.  The quarantine refers to its maritime location and epidemic of infectious diseases, which lead to a variety of quarantine measures until the Infectious Diseases Prevention Act was passed in 1889.  

Haj: Muslim religious pilgrimage to Mecca

Hakim: Indian folk doctor

Hanuman: Deity from Hindu mythology in the form of a monkey. Important figure in the Ramayana. 

Hulwai (Halwai, Halvai): Sweet seller

Jogi (Yogi): Hindu religious mendicant

Kaabah (Kaaba, Qaaba): The building at the center of the most sacred Mosque in Islam. Located in Mecca, in Saudi Arabia

Kinkob (Kincob): "A rich Indian stuff, embroidered with gold or silver" (OED)

Krishna: Deity from Hindu mythology

Kutcherry (Cutcherry): An office or court-house (see entry in Hobson-Jobson)
Mahabharata (Mahabharat): Epic in ancient Hindu mythology

Marathi: Language spoken in southwest India (generally in the state of Maharashtra)

Mela: Religious festival or fair

Murasla: Persian word for a diplomatic dispatch [Used by Lockwood Kipling in "Mirror of Two Worlds" and by Rudyard Kipling in "Kim"] 

Mussulman: Muslim

Muzzie: A diminutive of "Mother." 

Nagara: large Indian war drum

Pan (alternative spelling: Paan): Indian chewing delicacy, consisting of various substances (often tobacco) wrapped in betel-nut leaf

Pas Seul (French): Dance for one person

Pice: A former unit of Indian currency. A Pice was 1/4 of an Anna.

Rakshasa: Demon in Hindu mythology

Rama: Deity in Hindu mythology. Hero of the Ramayana

Ramayana (Ramayan): Ancient Hindu epic, source of many important narratives and icons active in modern Hindu religious practice. 

Ransingha (Narsiha, Narsingha): A kind of curved Indian trumpet

Sepoy (Sipahi): Indian soldier

Sita: Deity in Hindu mythology. Heroine of the Ramayana

Sraddha: Sanskrit word literally meaning faith. Also used to describe Hindu ritual commemorating death anniversaries of parents.

Swastika: tilted cross with sacred meaning in Hinduism

Tamasha: Spectacle, show

Zamindar: Landlord