by John Masters
chaudhri (chowdry), agent, contractor; also, a caste title confined to several upper castes.
chhota hazri (choe-ta hahzry), early morning meal (literally, ‘little breakfast’).
chupatti (ch’patty), flat disc of unleavened wheat bread.
chuprassi (ch’prassy), doorkeeper, messenger.
dacoit (d’koyt), armed bandit.
daffadar (duffa-dah), sergeant of horse.
dal (dahl), a thick lentil stew.
Dewali (D’wanly), festival of light marking the beginning of the year for traders and businessmen in India; always falls twenty lunar days after Dussehra, q.v.
Dussehra (D’sarah), ten-day festival at close of rainy season, in September or October, hence at opening of season for war and travel.
Elphinstone, Mountstuart Elphinstone, 1779–1859; served in Bengal and (later) Bombay Civil Service; Resident at Court of Mahratta Peshwa, 1810–1819.
flame-of-the-forest, moderate-sized deciduous tree (putea frondosa).
ghi (ghee), clarified butter.
haj (hay), is.
haji (hudgey), title of respect applied to Mohammedans who have made the pilgrimage to Mecca.
halah (h’lahl), method of killing an animal by letting it bleed to death, required by Mohammedan religious law—comparable to the kosher method.
Hastings, Francis Rawdon, 1st Marquess of Hastings and 2nd Earl of Moira, 1754–1826; Governor-General and Commander-in-chief in India, 1812–1823.
huzoor (h’zoor), honorific term of address (literally, ‘presence’).
jagirdar (juggeerdahr), man holding land in a type of feudal tenure.
jemadar (jemma-dah), junior officer.
Jenkins, Sir Richard Jenkins, 1785–1853; served in Bombay Civil Service; Resident at Court of Bhonslas, Nagpur, 1810–1827.
Jhora Naik (Jhora Nike), a leader of Multan Thugs. He and his servant Koduk Bunwari are supposed to have killed a man who had 162,000 rupees on a mule. As Jhora Naik made an equitable distribution of this enormous spoil, even among members of his band who were not with him at the time, the Thugs canonized him, his servant, and his wife (Thug legend).
kala admi (kahli ahdmy), black man.
Kali (Kahlee), ‘Dark Mother’; cult title of Durga, wife of Shiva. In true Hinduism Kali represents the active aspect of Reality, and her image is a symbol of Reality’s creative and destructive principles. The Thugs prostituted the destructive aspect—which is in nature—to their own evil purpose.
Kali-Pyara (Kahlee-Peeyahra), the beloved of Kali.
kirpan (kirrpahn), short dagger carried for religious reasons by Sikhs.
Koduk Bunwari (Koe-d’k Boonwahry), see Jhora Naik, above.
koi hai (kwa hi), a call for service (literally, ‘is anyone there?’); used instead of ‘Boy!’ etc.
Krishna, regarded by Hindus as an incarnation of God—specifically, of Vishnu. Krishna is a very important character in the Mahabharata, q.v.
kulla (koolla), pointed or domed brimless hat worn under the turban by Mohammedans.
Lat Sahib (Laht Sahb), the Governor-General of India (Indian corruption of the Lord Sahib; because the Governor-General was often the only peer in Indian service).
lotah (loe-ta), metal pot used for carrying water.
Mahabharata (Ma-ha-bherta), one of the two epic poems of ancient India (the other is the Ramayana).
maharaj (ma-h’rahj), lord, master (honorific sense).
mahua (ma-hwa), large deciduous tree (bassia latifolia).
mahngga (mengga), expensive.
maul (mowl), creeper (bauminia vahlii).
maulvi (mowlvy), Mohammedan scholar or teacher, often of religion.
mohur (mohoor), gold coin of Moguls.
mynah (mine-ah), bird of starling family (acridotheres tristis).
neem, fairly large evergreen tree (azadirachta indicus), considered sacred by Thugs.
Nizam-ud-din (Nizzahm-oodeen) 1236–1325; considered a saint by Sunni sect of Mohammedans; also rumoured to have been a Thug.
patel (p’tail), chief official of village in certain parts of India.
Pindaris (Pindahrys), bands of marauding plunderers; originally only the members of a tribe who lived in Central India along the Nerbudda River.
ram ram (rahm rahm), a form of greeting.
rumal (roomahl), handkerchief, cloth.
saj (sahj), large deciduous tree, with long clear bole (terminalia tomentosa),
Saugor Pandits (Sawga Pundits), rulers of the Saugor area under the Mahratta power.
shikar (sh’kahr), hunting, game.
shikari (sh’kahry), professional hunter, hence sportsman.
sirdar (sir-dahr), title of honour, used of and to all Sikhs.
suttee (suttee), a woman who immolates herself on her husband’s funeral pyre, or the custom of so doing.
thakur (tah-koor), in Rajputana, or of Rajputs, a landholder or minor nobleman; in other parts of India, a sort of caste title.
Thug, member of a religious association devoted to highway murder and robbery; Thuggee, the association and its acts. (The Thugs are the Deceivers of this book; the words should roperly be pronounced ‘Toog,’ ‘Tooggee,’ and were so pronounced before they became popular in their present English sense of ‘gangster.’)
woh (wvoh), it, that.
zemindar (z’meendah), landowner.
A Note on the Author
John Masters was born in Calcutta in 1914. He was educated in England but in 1934 he returned to India and joined the Fourth Prince of Wales’ Own Gurkha Rifles, then served on the North-West Frontier. He saw active service in Waziristan in 1937 and, after the outbreak of war, in Iraq, Syria and Persia. In 1944 he joined General Wingate’s Chindits in Burma. He fought at the Singu Bridgehead, the capture of Mandalay, at Toungoo and on the Mawchi Road. John Masters retired from the Army in 1948 as Lieutenant-Colonel with the DSO and an OBE. Shortly afterwards he settled in the USA where he turned to writing and soon had articles and short stories published in many well-known American magazines. He also wrote several novels and was especially praised for his trilogy of the Great War: Now, God be Thanked, Heart of the War and By the Green of the Spring. He died in 1983 in New Mexico.
Discover books by John Masters published by Bloomsbury Reader at
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Now, God be Thanked
Heart of War
By the Green of the Spring
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For copyright reasons, any images not belonging to the original author have been removed from this book. The text has not been changed, and may still contain references to missing images.
This electronic edition published in 2015 by Bloomsbury Reader
Bloomsbury Reader is a division of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 50 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3DP
First published in Great Britain in 1952 Michael Joseph Ltd
Copyright © 1952 John Masters
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eISBN: 9781448214839
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