The story
- Hindustani · borrowed from
- English todaykhwaja sira
Borrowed from Hindustani ख़्वाजा सिरा (xvājā sirā) / خواجہ سرا (xvāja sirā), ultimately partly from Classical Persian. Emphasizing the mismatch between their visible bodies (hazir) and the invisible soul (ruh), they presented the khwaja sira as a feminine soul that was stuck in a masculine body. In presenting this definition of their gender and seeking legitimacy for it, khwaja siras seek to define the distinctiveness of their soul. It is not just any feminine soul but one endowed with certain spiritual qualities.1
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.