afghanistanshahāda witness, testimony, in particular the fundamental confession of
Is lamic faith, kalima, or word: ‘There is no God but Allah and Muhummad
is the Messenger (or Apostle) of Allah’
shahīd (a) witness (b) martyr
shahr town, city
shāhzāda pr ince
shaikh in Afghanistan, a spiritual leader, usually associated with a shrine or Sufi
Order
shamshīra sword or cutlass
shamsī Afghan solar year
s h a r ī ‘a Islamic canon law
sharīf (a) noble, honoured (b) a honorific title (for example, Sharif of Mecca)
Shī’a generic name for the followers of the Twelve Imams
shirk the sin of associating individual or other beings as equal to God, hence
idolatry
shūrā (a) religious council (b) community council
silsila (a) genealogical tree (b) the chain of authority of Sufi pīrs and Orders
sipāh salār general, military governor, supreme commander
sīyāh black
sōwār cavalry soldier
stūpa Buddhist reliquary
sūbadār (a) Mughal title for a governor of a sūbah, or province (b) a sepoy rank
in the British Indian army, equivalent to lieutenant
sūfī devotee of an Islamic mystical Order
sultān king, emperor, monarch
sunna the Traditions, sayings and teaching attributed to Muhammad
surkh red
ta gāb (colloquially, tagau) valley or river system
takhalus pen name
takht-i rawān palanquin, sedan chair
tālib (plural tālibān) a student of a religious seminary, or madrasa
tangi gorge, deep-sided valley
tarīqa a Sufi Order
ta‘wīz charm or amulet consisting often of a Qur’anic verse, or on occasion
relics or dust from a shrine
tazkira identity card or document
tepa hill, mound, knoll
tōmān gold coin used in Safavid and Qajar Persia
‘ulamā’ (singular, ‘alīm) Senior Islamic jurists
ulus (wulus) originally the Turco-Mongolian word for people, but subsequently
applied to a tribal confederacy or a clan-based military division
’umma the community, commonwealth or ‘nation’ of all Muslims
‘ushr Islamic agricultural tax paid at the rate of 10 per cent for irrigated and 5
per cent for non-irrigated or hand-irrigated land
vihāra Buddhist monastery
wafādār loyal, faithful, trusty, a title conferred by the Mughals on certain
Multani Saddozais