Abba. An Arab cloak. See p. 9.

Agha. “Master.” The title of a petty chieftain, chiefly in use among the Kurds.

Araba. A light carriage. See p. 6. The driver is an Arabaji.

Ashiret. “Feudatory.” See p. 167.

Baita (or Bait). A living room (Syriac).

Beg (or Bey). Perhaps equivalent to “Honourable.” A title given to Europeans as well as to local chiefs.

Belai. Perhaps equivalent to Belvedere. See p. 142.

Binbashi. Lit. the commander of 1000 men. A “Major” (Turkish), often written Bimbashi, for euphony.

Birader. “Brother” (Kurdish).

Cadi. “Judge” or “Magistrate.”

Capitulations. The charters defining the privileges of foreign residents in Turkey. Originally granted by the Sultans of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and confirmed in their present form in 1870.

ChÔl. The desert. See p. 61.

Dagh. “Mountain” (Turkish).

Deir. “Monastery” (Syriac).

Diwan. Lit. “Sofa” or “DÄis”; hence an “Audience” or “Reception.” Diwan Khana, “A Reception Room.”

Effendi. “Sir.” A title given especially to Europeans.

Fedai. An Armenian terrorist. See p. 245.

Firman. An Imperial rescript.

Franga. “Frank”; i.e. European.

Giaour. An “Infidel”; i.e. one who is not a Moslem.{418}

Haj. The obligatory pilgrimage to Mecca, which is incumbent upon all strict Moslems. Haji, one who has performed the pilgrimage. Shiahs go also on “Haj” to the tomb of Hossein at Kerbela.

Hakim. A physician.

HamidiÉ. The battalions of irregular soldiers embodied by Abdul Hamid II.

Hegira. The flight of Mohammed from Mecca in 622 A.D.

Imaum. Properly one who leads the Responses in the public services in the Mosques. A Moslem divine, learned in the Sheriat or Sacred Law.

Iyba. “Shame”; “Infra dig.”

Jebel. “Mountain” (Arabic).

Jehad. A “Holy War,” undertaken for the defence of Islam against unbelievers.

Kaimakam. A Turkish district governor of the third rank, inferior to a Vali and a Mutaserif. Kaimakamlik, the district governed by a Kaimakam.

Kala. “Castle.”

Kalima. The Moslem Confession of Faith.

Katar. “Mule.” Katarji. A “Muleteer.”

Kavass. An armed attendant, usually attached to a foreign Consulate.

Keleg. A raft buoyed on inflated skins. See pp. 137 and 340. Kelegji, the man who works it.

Khan. An “Inn” (Turkish). Khanji, an “Inn-keeper.”

Khan. “Chief” (Persian). A title of respect.

Malik. “Chief” (Syriac). Akin to Melek, “King.” A title in use among the Mountain Syrians as about equivalent to Agha among the Kurds.

Mar. “Lord.” Fem. Mart. (Syriac). A title given by the Syrians to the Saints and Bishops of their Church.

MejidiÉ. A Turkish silver coin of the value of twenty piastres. Equivalent at present rates to about 3s. 9d.

Millet. Any subject religious sect officially recognized as existing in the Ottoman Empire. See pp. 80 and 89.

Mira. “Ruler.” A form of Amir or Emir (Arabic). A title given to the Chief of the Yezidis, and to certain prominent Chiefs among the Kurds.{419}

Mohurram. The ten days’ mourning observed by the Shiah Moslems in memory of Hassan and Hosein, the sons of Ali: particularly in memory of the latter, slain by his rival Yezid at Kerbela in 680.

Mollah. A Moslem priest.

Mudir. A Turkish local governor of the fourth and lowest rank; inferior to a Vali, a Mutaserif, and a Kaimakam.

Mutaserif. A Turkish provincial governor of the second rank; inferior to a Vali.

Piastre. A Turkish coin, worth about 2¼d.

Pshitta. The ancient Syriac version of the Holy Scriptures.

Qasha. A Christian priest (Syriac).

Rabban. Fem. Rabbanta (Syriac). A Christian who has adopted certain Monastic obligations. See pp. 113 and 270.

Rabbi. “Teacher” (Syriac). The title usually given by the Syrians to the members of the Archbishop’s Assyrian Mission.

Rais. The head man of a village.

Ramazan. The great Moslem Fast, lasting one lunar month; during which time no food may be taken from sunrise to sunset.

Rayat. “Subject” or “Serf”; see p. 167.

Regie. An inter-national trading company, which rents the tobacco monopoly from the Ottoman Government.

Sam. The “Poison Wind” of the desert. See pp. 62 and 339.

Santon. A Moslem saint.

Serai. Strictly a “yard” or “quadrangle”; hence a house which is built around a quadrangle: often “Government House.”

Seyyid. A descendant of the Prophet Mohammed.

Shamasha. A Christian deacon (Syriac).

Sheikh. Lit. “Elder.” A title given especially to Moslem chiefs possessing high religious authority.

Sheriat. The “Sacred Law,” as enunciated in the Koran.

Shiah. An important sect among the Moslems, dominant in Persia and India, who maintain that Ali, Mohammed’s son-in-law, was his legitimate and hereditary successor, and who accordingly repudiate the authority of Ali’s three predecessors in the Khalifate, Abu Bekr, Omar, and Othman.

Sufi. A Moslem mystic of somewhat pantheistic sympathies.

Sunni. The Orthodox Moslems, dominant in Turkey, who regard Abu Bekr, Omar, and Othman as being legitimate Khalifs and assign them precedence over Ali.{420}

Tashnak. The Armenian Revolutionary Society. See p. 245.

Tel. A prehistoric barrow or tumulus.

Vali. A Provincial Governor-General. A Turkish governor of the highest rank.

Vilayet. The province under the jurisdiction of a Vali.

Yezidi. See chap. iv, pp. 87-110.

Zaptieh. A policeman of the Turkish constabulary. See p. 47.

Ziaret. A Moslem place of pilgrimage; usually the tomb of a saint.