Glossary

adhyatmik      :    spiritual
AIR            :    All-India Radio
akhand         :    unbroken, uninterrupted
akhara         :    arena; martial monastery
AMU            :    Aligarh Muslim University
archana        :    worship
archanavatar   :    worship-incarnation, idol
avarna         :    outside the varna system
avatar         :    incarnation of a god
Babarwadi      :    follower of Babar; Indian secularist
Bajrang Dal    :    "Hanuman Team"
bandh          :    closing, strike
bhajan         :    devotional song, psalm
bhakt          :    devotee
Bharat         :    India
Bharatiyatva   :    Indian-ness
BHU            :    Banaras Hindu University
BJP            :    Bharatiya Janata (Indian  People's) Party
(AI)BMAC       :    (All-India)   Babri   Masjid   Action Committee
BMMCC          :    Babri  Masjid Movement  Co-ordination Committee
bodhi          :    awakening, enlightenment
brahmin        :    varna  of  keeping  and  transmitting knowledge
BSP            :    Bahujan  Samaj  (Masses'  Society) Party
burqa          :    veil covering a Muslim woman's face
chabootra:     :    platform
communalism    :    ideology  championing  the  political unity  and  secular  interests  of  a religious community
Congress-I     :    Indira Congress
CPI            :    Communist Party of India
CPI(M), CPM    :    Communist Party of India (Marxist)
crore          :    ten million
dacoit         :    armed robber, criminal
dalit          :    oppressed, downtrodden
dharma         :    duty; world order; religion
dharna         :    sit-down strike
dhoti          :    cloth covering hips and legs
DMK            :    Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (Dravida Forward Group)
doordarshan    :    television: India's TV network
ekatmata       :    "belonging   to   a   single   self", integrated-ness
fatwa          :    Islamic juridical opinion, verdict
garbha-griha   :    womb-house, sanctum sanctorum
ghat           :    bathing-place
gherao         :    lock-in strike
goonda         :    street fighter, criminal
Granth         :    Sikh Scripture
granthi        :    reciter from the Granth
guna           :    quality, characteristic
gurudwara      :    Sikh temple
Hadis          :    traditions of the Prophet
harijan        :    "God's people", the untouchables
HMS            :    Hindu Maha Sabha (Great-Assembly)
imam           :    prayer-leader in mosque
IPF            :    Indian People's Front
IUML           :    Indian Union Muslim League
janmabhoomi    :    birthplace
janmasthan     :    birthplace
jati           :    caste, endogamous group
JD             :    Janata Dal (People's Group)
jihad          :    Islamic war against the Kafirs
Kafir          :    non-Muslim, Pagan
kar seva       :    manual service
khatib         :    reader in mosque
kirtan         :    devotional chant
kshatriya      :    varna  entrusted with  defending  and ruling
kula           :    extended family
kulapati       :    "family-leader" ; vice-chancellor
kurta          :    loose shirt
lakh           :    one hundred thousand
Lok Sabha      :    People's  Assembly  (lower  house  of Parliament, directly elected)
mahant         :    temple high-priest
mandir         :    temple
masjid         :    mosque
math           :    monastery, abbey
millat         :    (the world Muslim) community
MIM            :    Majlis-e     Ittehad-ul     Muslimeen (Muslims' Unity Council)
MLA            :    Member of Legislative Assembly
muazzin        :    man who calls the Muslims to prayer
murti          :    idol
mutwalli       :    mosque manager
naib           :    deputy
nambardar      :    village functionary
nawab          :    honorific plural of naib; governor
nirguna        :    without characteristics, formless
PAC            :    Provincial Armed Constabulary
padyatra       :    foot-march
pagari         :    turban
pajama         :    loose trousers
panth          :    school of thought, sect
parampara      :    teacher-pupil chain, tradition
pradesh        :    state of the Indian Union
PUCL           :    People's Union for Civil Liberties
puja           :    devotional ritual
qaum           :    nation, community
raj            :    rule, British rule
Rajya Sabha    :    States'  Assembly  (upper  house   of Parliament,  selected via  the  State Assemblies)
Ramzan         :    month of fasting for Muslims
RSS            :    Rashtriya   Swayamsevak   Sangh (National Volunteer Corps)
rath           :    chariot
rathyatra      :    chariot-march, procession
sadbhavana     :    goodwill
samiti         :    committee
sampradaya     :    sect
sanatana       :    eternal
Sanatana Dharma:    philosophia perennis; Hinduism
sanskriti      :    culture
secularism     :    doctrine  of  separating  state   and religion
shuddhi        :    purification,  (re-)entry  into   the Hindu fold
shudra         :    varna entrusted with serving
SS             :    Shiv  Sena  (Shiva's  or  Shivajis' Army)
suba           :    province
swaraj         :    self-rule, independence
tabligh        :    Islamic     religious     propaganda, especially  to weed  out  non-Islamic practices among Muslims
talaq          :    Muslim unilateral divorce
thekedar       :    contractor
tilak          :    mark on forehead
tirth          :    ford; place of pilgrimage
tirthankara    :    "ford-maker", Jain sage
UP             :    Uttar   Pradesh,   formerly    United Provinces (of Agra and Oudh)
upajati        :    sub-caste
vaishya        :    commoner, varna entrusted with trade
varna          :    "colour",  four function-wise  groups in society
vedi           :    altar
Vidhan Sabha   :    Legislative Assembly of the states
VHP            :    Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World  Hindu Council)
yajna (yagya)  :    sacrifical ritual
zamindar       :    landlord
zimmi          :    "protected one", non-Muslim tolerated in Muslim society