Blunt, Edward : The caste system of northern India: with special reference to the united provinces of Agra and Oudh (London, 1931)

APPENDIX II

Glossary of Vernacular Terms

Abba

Father

Adala badala

(Marriage by) exchang-e

Aghwan

Afghan (corrupt form)

Ajami

Foreigner

Akhbari

A school of Shia law (Muhammadan)

Al

Lit. a ‘family name’; used as name of
a section of a caste

Amir jadida

New nobility

Araq

Liquor

Arsha

A form of Hindu marriag'e

Asami

Client; usually, tenant of land

Asura

A demon

Aurat

Woman, wife

Avatar

Incarnation (i.e. of Vishnu)

Badshah

Lit. ‘king’. Term for caste headman

Baghaut

Ghost of person killed by a tiger

Bahu

Son’s wife

B aiga

The priest of certain low castes

Ba’isi

Lit. ‘twenty-two’ (villages). Jurisdic-
tion of a caste council

Bdni

Lit. ‘fabric’; used by Halwais as name
of their sections

Bani Hashim

Sons of Hashim; the section of the
Qureshi tribe to which the Prophet
belonged

Bankd

Ivnife (for splitting bamboos)

Lit. ‘genealogy’; used as a name for a
section of a caste

Bans

Barachha

See Barrekhi

Barrekhi

Exchange; the payment of money at
marriage among certain castes

Batua

Cooking pot

Bera

Lit. ‘enclosure’. Jurisdiction of a caste
council

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