Glossary

Ahimsa - Non-violence; positively the practice of love.

Ashram - A hermitage; a place for study and discipline of life; a quiet place where people having common ideals lead a community life and follow a particular discipline. The place where Gandhiji resided with his co-workers and disciples was referred to as the Ashram.

Bania - Hindu merchant or trader; member of the third caste among the Hindus, whose traditional occupation is trade and commerce.

Bhai - Brother; comrade. This word is used as an affix and as a term in addressing a gentleman.

Brahman - The first or the highest of the four castes sanctioned by the Hindu religion (literally, one who knows Brahman).

Chaprasis - Peons in uniforms.

Coolie - Term for porter or hired labourer; in South Africa, indiscriminately applied to all Indians.

Crore - Ten millions.

Dayada - Relative; dependent.

Dharma - Religion; moral law or practice; duty. A comprehensive Sanskrit term embracing the concepts of law, justice, duty and virtue rolled into one.

Diwan - Chief minister of a princely state.

Foujdar - The chief constable or sub-inspector of police.

Gadi - A throne; a post of authority.

Hartal - A strike; temporary suspension of business or work as a mark of protest or mourning.

Islam - The religion of the Prophet Muhammad.

Ji - An affix added to names denoting respect, e.g. Gandhiji.

Khaddar or Khadi - Hand-woven cloth from hand-spun yarn.

Khalifa or Caliph - The religious head of Islam.

Khilafat - The office of Caliph.

Khilafat Movement - A movement organized in India by the Indian Muslims under the leadership of Maulana Muhammad Ali, from 1919 to 1924 in order to defend the office of the Caliph of Turkey and to restore his powers as the Head of the Muslim Faith. In 1924, after the proclamation of the Turkish Republic the office of the Caliph in Turkey was abolished by the decision of Mustafa Kemal Pasha. Thus the Indian Khilafat Movement ceased to exist in 1924.

Lakh - One hundred thousand.

Langarkhanas - Community kitchens where food is served free of costs.

Lokmanya - Respected by the people. An honorific title conferred by the people on the late Bal Gangadhar Tilak.

Mahatma - A high-souled man; a noble-minded man; a great soul; a title generally given to Saints. In later years, Gandhi was generally referred to in India as the Mahatma.

Malgujar - A system of land holding (Zamindari) in the former C.P. and Berar Province of which Nagpur was the capital.

Maulana - A learned Muslim divine.

Mitakshara - It is a running commentary on the Yajnavalkyasmriti or the Institutes of Yajnavalkya. Yajnavalkyasmriti was compiled by the great sage Yajnavalkya in about the first century after Christ. Mitakshara was written in the latter part of the eleventh century by Vijnaneshwara. In the Mitakshara one finds the quintessence of the Smriti law and its precepts and injunctions. The chief merit of the work consists in its synthesizing of various Smriti texts. It is of supreme authority throughout India except in Bengal where the Dayabhaga of Jimutavahana is given paramount importance. In Bengal the Mitakshara is more revered than followed, but its authority is not questioned on points on which there is no conflict between it and' the works prevalent there.

Moharrirs - Clerks.

Moplahs - a tribe of Musalmans living in South India in the State of Kerala.

Musalman - Follower of Islam.

Muslim - Belonging to Islam.

Parsi - A follower of Zoroastrianism.

Pugree - Turban.

Ryot - Peasant.

Sabha - An assembly, a meeting.

Sahib - A master; a gentleman; a term of respect; an European.

Samaj - An assembly.

Sanad - A commission, a charter, a giant, a warrant.

Sannyasi - One who has renounced the worldly life; a recluse.

Sapinda - A blood relation or kinsman connected by offering of balls of rice (pinda). The affinity extends to six male descendants in the male line and six male ascendants in the male line. Under the Mitakshara the Sapinda relationship arises ' between two people through their being connected by particles of one body, namely, that of the common ancestor, in other words, from community of blood in contradistinction to the Dayabhaga notion of community in the offering of religious oblation.

Satyagraha - A force which is born of truth and love or non-violence; a tenacious clinging to truth; civil or non-violent resistance; literally, holding on to truth. Name given by Gandhiji to the technique of non-violent resistance as practised by him and under his guidance.

Satyagrahi - One practising Satyagraha.

Shastras - Institutes of religion, law or letters; scriptures.

Shirastedar - Head clerk in a Court of Justice.

Smritis - Social and religious codes of conduct as delivered originally by Manu and other law-givers to their respective pupils and committed by them, from memory, to writing.

Streedhan - Property altogether at the disposal of the wife.

Swadeshi - Manufacture of one's own country; belonging to, or made in one's own country.

Swami - Holy man; master.

Swaraj - Self-government; self-rule.

Tehsildar - The Officer in charge of Tehsil, a subdivision of a district.