ansar |
Followers of the Mahdi (Arabic, helper or follower) |
ardeb | A unit of capacity in many Islamic countries. In the Sudan about 5 1/2 bushels. |
ashraf | A name given to relatives of the Mahdi |
asida | Sorghum mixed with water into a paste onto which was poured a strong sauce of spices and peppers. Eaten with meat and milk in the Sudan. |
aziba |
Tail of turban hung behind left ear as a mark of being a Madhist. |
Baggara | Cattle owning Arab tribes living south of Darfur and Kordafan |
beia | The oath of allegiance to the Mahdi |
bimbashi |
Major in the Egyptian army |
curbash | Whip made from rhino hide |
dem | Mahdhist camp |
Dervishes | Soldiers of the Mahdhi (Arabic, poor men) |
dragoman | An interpreter or guide who speaks Arabic, Turkish, or Persian used especially in the Near East (Aramaic, turgemana) |
durra | A kind of millet eaten in the Sudan |
effendi | A man of property, authority, or education in an eastern Mediterranean country (Turkish efendi master) |
farda | A cotton or woollen shawl |
fellah |
Common soldiers in the Egyptian Army, also Arabic or Egyptian peasant (Arabic fallah) |
fellahin |
Plural of fellah |
felucca | A sharp-prowed, three-masted, lateen-rigged coasting vessel of north Africa (Italian feluca) |
gellabas (or jellaba) | West African pilgrims working their way across the Sudan heading for Mecca |
Haddendowa | Sudanese tribe, the famous Fuzzy-Wuzzys, due to their large hair style |
hamattan | Dry, Sahara wind |
imma |
Turban |
jebel | Hill or mountain |
jibbah |
Rough Sudanese robe |
jihadiyya |
Mahdist rifle units pre-1892 |
kadi | A judge during the Mahdiya |
kaimakam |
Lieutenant colonel in the Egyptian army |
karaba |
Straw belt |
Khedive |
Turkish ruler of Egypt 1867-1914 (Turkish hidiv) |
Mahdi | Sudanese messiah (Arabic mahdIy, one rightly guided) |
Mahdiya | The years 1885-98 when the Sudan was ruled by the Mahdi and Khalifa |
mudiria | Building in which the district governor lived or worked |
mulazem | Servent/bodyguards who served the Mahdi and Khlifa, plural mulazemin |
mulazimiyya |
Madhist rifle units post-1892 |
muslimaniya | Christians who converted to Islam |
ombeya | Horn made from an elephant tusk |
pasha | A man of high rank or office in Turkey or North Africa (Turkish pasa) |
ras | Ethiopian prince |
ratib | The book of sayings of the Mahdi |
rayya |
Flag, used to designate Mahdist military groupings, as in the Black Flag force or the Green Flag force, etc. |
rekuba | A light hut |
sayidan |
Sandals |
shebba ( shaybe) | A forked pole fastened to the necks of slave to prevent escape |
ship of the desert | Camel |
siraral |
White trousers |
sirdar | Commander of the Anglo-Egyptian army ((Hindi sardar, from Persian) |
Sudan |
Land of the blacks (Arabic) |
taggia |
Skull cap |
tarboosh |
Fez-like hat (Arabic tarbush) |
Turkiya | The era when the Sudan was ruled by Egypt, 1821-85 |
voyageurs |
French-Canadian boatmen imported for the Nile expedition. |
xebec, zebec | A north African coasting vessel having three masts and a combination of lateen and square sails. (modification of French chebec, from Arabic shabbak) |
zariba |
Improvised enclosure of thorn bushes (Arabic zaribah enclosure) |
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Arabic
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China and the Far East
East Africa
French North Africa
India and the Northwest Frontier
Old West
South Africa