afghanistanb i d ‘a innovation, heresy; a term applied to reforms or theologies that do not
concur with Qur’anic doctrine and Islamic law
burqa the full body covering, tent-like veil worn by women in Afghanistan
buzkashī a Turco-Mongolian game involving horsemen competing to place the
decapitated carcass of a calf or goat in a goal circle
chādur literally, curtain; in Afghanistan the tent-like cloak worn by women
chahār four
chahār bāgh a formal Persian garden divided into four quarters, particularly
associated with the Timurid and Mughal periods
chahār sū the traditional Central Asian bazaar in which four roads meet in a
central market square
Chahār Wilāyat The Four Provinces, the term historically applied to the
alliance of four city-states: Maimana, Andkhui, Shibarghan and Sar-i Pul
Chahār Yār The ‘Four Friends’, a term commonly applied by Sunnis to the first
four Caliphs
chapan a long-sleeved coat or cloak, usually made of silk, traditionally worn by
Uzbeks
chapandāz horsemen who participated in buzkashī
chars cannabis resin, hashish
chauk the central area, or crossroads, in a bazaar
chaukīdār watchman, guard
chehel forty
chehela khāna a cell or cave where a Sufi performs the forty-day fast and retreat
chūl (a) loess dunes (b) peripheral, non-irrigated land
crore 100 lakhs, or 10 million
Dār al-Harb Abode, House, or Door of War: countries that are either at war with
a Muslim state or regions where Muslims are not free to practise their religion
Dār al-Islām Abode, House or Door of Islam: countries and regions ruled by
Islamic law and/or whose ruler is a Muslim
darbār (Anglo-Indian durbar) an assembly of the royal court, or ceremonial
gathering
darra valley
darwīsh dervish, a Sufi ascetic who has taken a vow of poverty
daryā river
dasht (a) desert, wilderness (b) uncultivated wasteland
daulat (a) country, kingdom or government (b) wealth
deh village, settlement
dhimmī non-Muslim, member of a religious minority living under an Islamic
government
dīwān bēgī chief fiscal officer
dusteh a military division, regiment
falāqa the bastinado, a torture in which the soles of the victim are repeatedly
beaten
faqīr literally, poor or impoverished (a) a term applied to itinerant mystics,
cf. English fakir (b) the lowest rank of Sufi initiation
farāmūsh khāna literally Forgotten or Forgetful House, the term used for
Masonic Lodges