GLOSSARYalaha (Syr.): god, used for God by Christians, cognate with Allah
(Ar.).
a'mal (Ar. pl.): units of fiscal administration for collecting taxes.
'amil (Ar.): an agent, sometimes a civilian financial official. The plural
'ummal means tax collectors.
amzr (Ar.): "commander," the Islamic military governor.
amzr-i virroyishnikan (M.P.): a rendering of the Arabic phrase amzr
al-mu'minzn, "commander of the faithful," which occurs on some
Arab-Sasanian coins. It is worth noting that the Aramaic ideogram
HYMNN that is used in Pahlavi orthography for this word comes
from the root 'mn, which is cognate with Arabic' amana (faithful),
and that mehaymena (Syr., believer) is cognate with mu'min (Ar.).
'amma (Ar.): common, public, general.
andarzpat or handarzpat (M.P.): chancellor, chief judge, head of a
provincial treasury, administrator of property.
ansab (Ar. pl.): genealogies, sg. nusab.
arc! (AL): "land," used in the sense of an administrative territory.
'arc! (Ar.): "presentation," a military review.
'arzf (Ar., pl. 'urafa'): "one who knows," an official in charge of a
military division at Basra and Kufa in the time of Ziyad.
asiiwira (M.P.): heavy mailed cavalry, a loanword in Arabic from M.P.
usvariin, sg. uswar in Arabic.
a~~ab: see ~a~ib.
ashriif: see sharif.
'atii' (AL): stipend.
aziitzh (M.P.): freedom, N.P. aziidz.
biij (M.P., N.P.): tribute or tax; Magian state of purity framed by
ritual.
baraka (Ar.): "blessing."
barzd (L.): the state communication and transport system, loanword
in Arabic from veredus (L.) via beredos (Gr.).
barsom (M.P.): the sacred bundle of twigs used by Magians in the
Yasna ceremony.
bay'a (Ar.): the political allegiance rendered by Muslims to their lead-
ers; also the act of rendering allegiance by clasping right hands.
bayt a/-mal (Ar.): "house of wealth," the Islamic treasury.
beth din (A.): the rabbinic court in the Jewish community.
birdhawn (A.): destrier, the heavy Persian warhorse, a loanword in
P.rabic from bardonii (A.), "pack animal" or "beast of burden."
It also occurs in Greek as bourdon.