ahimsa: nonviolence.
Allah-o-akbar: “God is great,” an Arabic expression heard in Indian mosques.
Arya Samaj: Hindu reform movement.
Balmikis, Valmikis: name taken by untouchable sweepers, after Hindu saint.
Bapu: father, used affectionately for Gandhi.
Bhagavad Gita: portion of Hindu epic Mahabharata, embracing teachings of Krishna.
bhai: brother.
Bhangis: sweepers, viewed traditionally as untouchable.
bidi: small cigarette.
brahmacharya, brahmachari: celibacy, a person who vows celibacy.
Brahman: priestly caste.
bustee: shanty, shack.
Chamars: traditionally leather workers, tanners, seen as untouchable.
charkha: spinning wheel.
charpoy: rope bed.
chetti: moneylender.
Dalit: preferred name, nowadays, for untouchables.
darshan: gaining or giving merit by viewing someone or something deemed holy.
dharma: duty, true code or teaching, religion.
dharma yudha: holy struggle, war.
dhoti: wraparound loincloth, usually a single long strip of hand-loomed fabric.
diwan: chief minister, under a rajah, of an Indian princely state.
doba: Bengali word for pond.
Dwarkanath: another name for the god Krishna.
Ezhavas: an upwardly mobile South Indian subcaste, once considered untouchable.
Harijans: name Gandhi attempted to give untouchables, stands for “children of God.”
hijrat: exodus by Muslims from a land deemed unholy.
Hind Swaraj: title of 1909 Gandhi tract, meaning Indian self-rule.
Hindu Mahasabha: nationalist movement of orthodox Hindus.
Hindutva: “Hinduness,” doctrine of Hindu supremacy.
jati: an endogamous social grouping, not necessarily synonymous with caste.
jihad: Muslim striving for sanctified goals by means nonviolent or otherwise.
kala pani: “the Black Water,” standing mainly for the Indian Ocean as a buffer against Western ways.
karma: individual’s destiny, shaped by conduct in previous life.
khadi, khaddar: hand-loomed cloth.
Khilafat: caliphate, position in Sunni Islam involving supervision of holy places; Indian movement to preserve Ottoman Caliph.
ki jai!: cry or slogan meaning “glory to,” or “Long Live,” as in “Mahatma Gandhi ki jai!”
Kolis: a loosely defined subcaste in western India with a reputation for lawlessness; possible root of “coolie.”
kurta: a loose-fitting tunic.
mahajans: caste elders.
Mahars: an upwardly mobile group in Maharashtra in western India, traditionally deemed untouchable.
mahatma: great soul, a spiritual honorific.
Manusmriti: ancient legal texts governing caste.
maulana: a Muslim religious scholar.
Modh Banias: the merchant subcaste into which Gandhi was born.
Panchama: an outcaste, or untouchable.
Pariah: an untouchable group in South India.
poorna swaraj: complete self-rule; as used by Gandhi, applied to social uplift as well as political independence.
Pulayas: group deemed untouchable in what’s now the state of Kerala.
Ramchandra: another name for the god Ram or Rama.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS): militant Hindu group banned after Gandhi’s assassination, backbone today of right-wing party; name means National Volunteer Association.
rishi: wise man or sage.
ryot: Indian peasant.
sadhu: an ascetic or holy man, often a mendicant.
sanatan, sanatanists: orthodox; orthodox Hindus.
sannyasi: a Hindu who has renounced the world.
satyagraha, satyagrahis: literally, “firmness in truth,” the name for Gandhi’s doctrine of nonviolent resistance; those who take part in such campaigns.
shamiana: a colorful, sometimes embroidered tent, used in celebrations.
shastras: Hindu scriptures, holy texts.
sherwani: a long coat worn by Muslims.
shuddi: purification ritual used in religious conversions by Hindus; offered by reformist sects to untouchables.
Shudras: lowest order of caste, mostly peasant laborers, traditionally ranks above untouchables.
sjambok: whips made of rhino or hippo hide in South Africa.
swadeshi: self-reliance.
swaraj: self-rule.
tabligh: propagating religious observance by Muslims.
Vande Mataram: “Hail, Mother,” a nationalist cry, standing for Mother India.
varna: one of the four main caste orders.
varnashrama dharma: the rules of caste.
yajna: sacrifice of a religious nature.
zamindar: landowner.