Word origins

• choopsKeep quiet.
• cuttaneeA kind of cloth from India.
• dacoitA bandit or armed robber, especially in former parts of British India.
• dadajiFather’s father; paternal grandfather.
• darcheeneeCinnamon.
• dargahA shrine associated with the grave of a Muslim saint or similar religious figure.
• darwaza bundNot at home; currently unwilling to receive visitors into one's house.
• dasturiA commission or duty charged by an agent; a kickback.
• degchiA South Asian type of cooking pot used to store biryani to keep it warm.
• deodarAny member of the species Cedrus deodara of cedar trees native to the western Himalayas.
• dhoonAny of the flat valleys lying parallel to the base of the Himalayas, and between the rise of that mountain mass and the low tertiary ranges known as the sub-Himalayan or Sivalik Hills, or rather between the interior and exterior of these ranges.
• dilrubaA bowed string instrument of Indian origin, with a goatskin soundboard, sympathetic strings and twenty frets
• durwanA live-in doorkeeper, especially in an apartment building.
• durziA tailor, especially a personal one.
• Fatehpur SikriA town in India
• faujArmy.
• firangiA foreigner, especially a British or a white person.
• ghararaA traditional garment of Lucknow in India, consisting of kurti, dupatta, and wide-legged flaring trousers which are often elaborately embroidered.
• gulab jamunA South Asian dessert made from milk solids that are deep-fried and soaked in syrup.
• gyneeA kind of dwarf cow bred in Bengal.
• HajjamA member of an ethnic group of North India and Pakistan, traditionally working as barbers.
• halalcoreA sweeper or scavenger; a person of very low caste.
• havildarAn noncommissioned officer rank in parts of India, later a specific military rank of the British Indian Army and of the modern armies of India and Pakistan, equivalent to sergeant.
• HoshangabadA city in Madhya Pradesh, India.
• hundiSynonym of hawala (“informal system of money transfer from India and the Middle East”).
• jail khanaA prison, especially in the Bengal Presidency.
• jalebiA sweet popular in the Indian subcontinent, made by deep-frying a maida flour batter and soaking it in sugar syrup.
• jamooraA performer who acts as a sidekick in the traditional folk theatre of India and Pakistan.
• JaunpurA city in Jaunpur district, Uttar Pradesh, India.
• jheelA pond, marsh, lake or similar wetland area, usually with significant vegetation providing shelter and/or food to a variety of aquatic and semi-aquatic animal species.
• kala-azarVisceral leishmaniasis.
• kalakarAn artist.
• kanatA canvas screen or partition forming the wall or division of a tent or other enclosure.
• karkunA record keeper involved in the administration of the pargana.
• kataraAn Indian push dagger with an H-shaped handle, used predominantly ceremonially, and rarely as a weapon.
• kewraThe essence of pandanus flowers, used to make a syrup in North Indian and Pakistani cuisine.
• KhariboliThe Delhi dialect of Hindustani upon which Standard Hindi and Urdu are based.
• khasraA plot of land.
• khitmatgarA male servant, with responsibility for waiting at table.
• khwaja siraA member of a traditional transfeminine third gender in Pakistan and India since Mughal times.
• Kumbh MelaA Hindu festival, held every twelve years at four locations in India, at which pilgrims bathe in the Ganges and Yamuna rivers for purification from sin.
• lugaoTo moor a boat.
• LyallpurFormer name of Faisalabad, a city in Punjab Pakistan.
• mahallaA subdivision or neighborhood.
• mamlatdarThe officer in charge of a taluk.
• manqabatA Sufi devotional poem in praise of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the son-in-law of Muhammad, or of any Sufi saint.
• Masihia Christian.
• muchalkaA written obligation or bond.
• nankhataiShortbread biscuit popular in the Indian subcontinent.
• nihariA South Asian stew of slow-cooked beef or lamb with bone marrow.
• nuqtaA diacritic used in the Devanagari, Gurmukhi, and other Indian scripts for sounds not present in the original scripts, including sounds borrowed from Arabic, Persian, and English.
• oontA camel.
• peshgiA form of debt bondage where an advance loan by the employer is to be repaid by bonded labour
• phaoraA mattock or large hoe.
• puckerowTo seize; to take hold of.
• RekhtaA style of Hindi-Urdu, Hindavi, or sometimes Braj or Punjabi used in poetry that linguistically adapts Persian grammar and vocabulary (to a large extent); a mix of Persian and Khariboli.
• rezaiA coverlet quilted with cotton.
• Rooh AfzaA brand name for a concentrated syrup, commonly diluted with water or milk to create a squash which is widely popular in South Asia; manufactured by the pharmaceutical companies Hamdard Laboratories (India), Hamdard Laboratories (Waqf) Pakistan, and Hamdard Laboratories (Waqf) Bangladesh.
• shajraa family tree
• sharbatA West and South Asian sweet drink prepared from fruits or flower petals; a sherbet.
• Taj MahalA monument in Agra, India, constructed between 1631 and 1654, considered one of the finest examples of Mughal architecture in the world.
• zabtA Mughal land revenue system that replaced the earlier tribute system with a monetary tax system based on a uniform currency.
• zafraniSaffron.
• zindabadLong live.