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(Though strictly only the Arabic, Turkish and Mongolian ones.)
abba — meaning the aba: a long, loose sleeveless outer garment of aba (sic; ?) or of fine silk worn chiefly by Bedouin Arabs.
Afghuli — the name Howard uses for the Pashtuns in the Conan stories, though it also signifies a specific tribe in Afghulistan.
Afghulistan — Howard’s version of Afghanistan in the Conan stories. It is named from the dominant tribe, the Afghulis.
Afridi — (classically called the Abaörteans) a Pashtun tribe inhabiting about 1,000 square miles (3,000 sq. km) of rough hilly area in the eastern Safed Koh range, west of the Peshawar Valley.
agha — an honorific for high officials used in Turkey and certain Muslim countries. The word comes from Turkish ağa “chief, master, lord,”, and was a title for a civil or military officer.
akinji — in Turkish akıncı, literally “raider” (plural akıncılar), were Ottoman irregular light cavalry. It was the new name given to the preexisting Turkish ghazis when they were incorporated into the Ottoman Empire’s military. They were one of the first divisions to face the opposing military and were known for their prowess in battle. Unpaid, they lived and operated as raiders on the frontiers of the Ottoman Empire, subsisting totally on plunder.
Al Hamud Lillah — Arabic exclamation, Al-Ḥamdu Lillāh (Alhamdulillah, Elhamdulillah, Hamdellah): “Praise to God” or “All praise is due to Allah” (same as Hallelujah). Used in the El Borak story Blood of the Gods.
Allah ilallah — I think it means “Praise God.”
Allaho akbar — Allāhu Akbar: “God is the Greatest.”
ameer — i.e. amir; see emir. Apparently only used in the El Borak story The Country of the Knife.
angareb — Sudanese Arabic, from Nobiin (ancient Nubian) àngàréé “wooden bed.” Apparently only used in the Conan story The Vale of Lost Women.
Asad tribes, the — mentioned in The Lion of Tiberias. The Bani Assad or Banu Assad (Arabic for “Sons of the Lion”) is a tribe of Adnanite Arabs in Iraq. Powerful and one of the most famous tribes, they are widely respected by other tribes and respected by Shia Muslims, because they buried the body of Imam Husayn. Many martyrs of the Battle of Karbala (10 October 680) are from the tribe.
asper — a silver coin, the akçe (akche) was the chief monetary unit of the Ottoman Empire, equal to a third of the para (from Persian pārah, piece); 120 akçes equaled one large silver kuruş (gurûş, from the German Groschen but often called piastre).
atabeg — (atabeg, atabek, or atabey) a hereditary title of nobility of Turkic origin, indicating a governor of a nation or province who was subordinate to a monarch and charged with raising the crown prince. The word is a compound of the Turkic ata (ancestor) and beg or bey (leader, prince). When a Seljuk prince died, leaving minor heirs, a guardian would be appointed to protect and guide the young princes. These guardians would often marry their ward’s widowed mothers, thus assuming a sort of surrogate fatherhood.
azabs — azaps (from the Arabic for “bachelor”) were irregular light infantry of the Ottoman army. They were volunteers who were paid only during campaigns and had the freedom to leave the army whenever they wanted. Initially only Anatolian Turks, by the late 16th century any Muslim from an Ottoman province could enlist as an azap. Their main role was fighting as infantry archers, although they were often mounted as well. They are frequently confused with the asappes (or asappi, from the Turkish saph, which signifies rank, file, order); these were an order of soldiers who were exposed to the first shock of their enemies. This tactic was used to fatigue the enemies and blunt their swords, allowing the Sipahis and Janissaries to push forward and easily conquer the enemy. The assapes were held of so little value that they frequently served as bridges for the cavalry to pass over in poor roads, and as fascines to fill up the ditches in sieges. They traveled on foot and were unpaid, except for what they could plunder from the enemy.
bahadur — see bogatyr.
bashibazouki — a bashi-bazouk or bashibazouk (from Turkish başıbozuk, literally “damaged head,” meaning “free headed, leaderless, disorderly”) was an irregular soldier of the Ottoman army, noted for their lack of discipline. They were armed and maintained by the government, but did not receive pay and did not wear uniforms or distinctive badges. Primarily, they were motivated to fight by expectations of plunder. Though the majority of troops fought on foot, some troops (called akibi) rode on horseback.
Batinis — how the modern-day Assassins of the El Borak story Three-Bladed Doom refer to themselves, but in reality, that is what their medieval enemies called them. Batiniyya is a pejorative term to refer to groups, such as Alevism, Ismailism, and often Sufism, that distinguish between an inner, esoteric (Batini) level of meaning in the Qur’an, in addition to the outer, exoteric level of meaning (Zahiri).
beg — (beg or baig, also begg) an alternative form of the Turkic title bey (chief, lord, leader, commander, chieftain, governor etc). It is also used by Iranian, Afghan and Pakistani people. The wife of a beg is referred to as begum, bickum or baigum. Cf. atabeg.
bey — see beg.
bhang — a preparation from the leaves and flowers (buds) of the female cannabis plant, smoked or consumed as a beverage in the Indian subcontinent.
bismillah — Basmala or Bismillah (“In God’s name”) is an Arabic noun that is used as the collective name of the whole of the recurring Islamic phrase b-ismi-llāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīm.
Bismillah el rahman el rahhim — Arabic exclamation, b-ismi-llāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīm: “In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.” Used in the El Borak story Blood of the Gods.
Black Kirghiz — in Turkish Kara-Kirghiz; a term specifically used to distinguish the Kyrgyz (a Turkic ethnic group found primarily in Kyrgyzstan) from their more numerous northern relatives, the Kazakhs.
bogatyr — Russian form of the Turkic word for “warrior, commander, hero” In other languages it exists in forms such as bahadur, baatar (bator). It is now used as a common name.
caftan — see kaftan.
calpack — see kalpak.
caphar — Islamic term for “infidel, unbeliever” i.e. a non-Muslim. Hence the derogatory word “kaffir” (and similar).
caravanserai — caravan station where traders and travellers and their animals rest; a roadside inn having a central courtyard where caravans can rest.
cittern, cithern — (also cither) a stringed instrument of the guitar family dating from the Renaissance. Its name derives ultimately from the Iranian se-tar or “three strings.”
chupatties — a chupatty (also chapata, chapati, chappati, chowpatty) is an extremely simple circular, flat, unleavened bread made with sieved wholemeal flour and water.
Dagozai — one of the Afghuli tribes in the Conan stories.
djebbeh — jibbah (also djibbah, jibba; variant of jubbah) is a long, collarless coat or smock worn by Muslims.
effendi — meaning an educated or well-respected man in an eastern Mediterranean or Arab country; often used as a title of respect or courtesy in Turkey or a former Ottoman territory.
emir — Emir (Arabic: amīr, female emira: amīrah), “commander; general; (also) prince.” Also transliterated amir, aamir, ameer, it is a high title of nobility or office, used throughout the Muslim world, as well as historically in 19th-century Afghanistan and in the medieval Muslim world. Amirs are usually considered high-ranking sheikhs, but in monarchical states the term is also used for princes, with “Emirate” being analogous to principality in this sense.
Erlik — (Erlik, Erlig) the god of death and underworld in Turkic and Mongolian mythology. In at least one story, Howard directly uses the name to translate the Arabic Shaitan (Satan). Compare Tarim.
ellaheen — (or fellahin) plural of fellah: a peasant in an Arabic country.
Feringhi, Feringi, Ferengi — Arabic for Frank, used to indicate a European, Westerner, and (in Howard’s day) “white man.”
Feringistan — “Frankistan” (the land of the Franks, i.e. originally meaning France), where the Feringhi live, so Europe and the USA.
fortalice — see sangar.
Galzai — one of the Afghuli tribes, the name used for the Ghilzai in the Conan stories.
ghazi — a hero or champion, especially as a Muslim against non-Muslims; often used as a title.
Ghilzai — one of the major Pashtun tribes found in Afghanistan and Pakistan, also known in history as Ghaljis, and Gharzais by some locals; located mainly in the southeast, between Kandahar and Kabul.
gumbaz — I cannot actually find this word (used in the El Borak story Blood of the Gods), but it refers to some form of clothing. Perhaps a connection to the Gumbaz province in Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province?
hakim — meaning hakīm, a “wise man” or “physician,” or in general, a practitioner of herbal medicine. (Note: despite being usually spelled the same in English, it is not the same word as hākim, meaning ruler, governor or judge.)
harim — harem, the private part of an Arab household. In traditional Arab culture, this part of the household was forbidden to male strangers. Turkish harem, from Arabic ḥaram “something prohibited; sanctuary, women;” and later also from ḥarīm with same meaning, both from ḥaruma “be forbidden or unlawful.”
houri — the ḥūr or ḥūrīyah, described as “(splendid) companions of equal age (well-matched),” “lovely eyed,” of “modest gaze,” “voluptuous,” “pure beings” or “companions pure” of paradise, denoting humans and jinn who enter paradise after being recreated anew in the hereafter.
imam — Islamic leadership position, often the leader of a mosque and the community; similar to spiritual leaders.
inshallah — Insha’Allah (In ša’ Allāh), Arabic term to indicate hope for an aforementioned event to occur in the future. The phrase translates as “God willing” or “If it is God’s will” (also simply “hopefully”).
Irakzai — mentioned among the Himelian (Himalayan) tribes in the Conan story The People of the Black Circle. This is not a tribe, but seems to be Howard’s version of the Iraqis.
janizaries — Janissaries (from Ottoman Turkish Yeniçeri “new soldier”) comprised infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan’s household troops and bodyguards. The force was created by the Sultan Murad I from male children levied through the devşirme system from conquered countries in the 14th century and was abolished by Sultan Mahmud II in 1826.
Jehannum — Jahannam, “the Hell-fire; Hell” (same as the Biblical Gehenna).
Jowaki — one of the Afghan groups, but all I can find just now is mention of the British fighting a “Jowaki Campaign” 1877-78.
Juheina — Juhayna, a large Bedouin tribe whose region surrounds the area of Mecca, and extends to Southern Medina. Many of its warriors were recruited as mercenaries during World War I by Prince Faisal (as seen in the El Borak story Son of the White Wolf).
Kabuli — not really a tribe or such, but meaning just those in the service of the emir of Kabul; it could be seen as equal to “royalist” etc in times of civil strife link.
kafieh, kafiyeh, kaffiyeh — keffiyeh, a traditional headdress typically worn by Arab men; made of a square of cloth (“scarf”), folded and wrapped in various styles around the head.
kaftan — a man’s cotton or silk cloak buttoned down the front, with full sleeves, reaching to the ankles and worn with a sash.
Kalat — (also Qalat, Qelat, Kalaat, or Kelat) fortress; a fortified place or fortified village.
Kalmucks — Kalmyk people or Kalmyks (alternatively translated as Kalmuck, Kalmuk, or Kalmyki) is the name of a western Mongolic people, the European branch of the Oirats who migrated from Central Asia in the seventeenth century. Their ancient grazing lands are now located in Kazakhstan, Russia, Mongolia and China.
kalpak — (also calpack, calpac, kalpac, qalpaq) a high-crowned cap (usually made of felt or sheepskin) worn by men in Bulgaria, Turkey, Iran, and throughout Central Asia and the Caucasus.
Keraits — the Turkish Keraits or Kereits were a cluster of many subtribes (indeed, they are often called a clan) in Central Asia, dominant in the area and, as allies of Genghis Khan, influential in the rise of the Mongol Empire. They lived in the area between the Orkhon and Kherlen rivers, to the east of the Naimans, and like them are sometimes called Mongols.
khalat — a loose long-sleeved outer silk or cotton robe common in Central Asia, Iran, Pakistan and northern India and worn both by men and women, although in differing styles.
khilat — see khalat.
kibitka — (also kabitka) Russian word for a nomad’s dwelling of some ethnic groups such as the Kalmyks and Kyrgyz (cf. the yurts of an ordu). The Russians also used the word for a type of covered horse-drawn carriage, often used to transport prisoners.
kindhjal — the Russian form of the name of a Caucasian dagger. Wikipedia prefers the Georgian form khanjali for the double-edged, single-fullered dagger.
Kipchaks — ancient people who seem to have left Siberia around the middle of the 11th century and started for Europe. The western Kipchaks were known as Cumans (Kumans, Kuns) in Western Europe and Polovtsy (Polovtsians) in Ukraine and Russia, or by other names, most of which have the meaning “pale, sallow.” Howard’s Kipchaks, however, are the Central Asian branch that did not move all the way to Europe.
Kirghiz — see Black Kirghiz.
Kismet — Turkish for Fate; a predetermined or unavoidable destiny.
Kshatriya — (kṣatriya) Hindi for “protector of gentle people,” the second-highest of the four castes or varnas in traditional Indian society: the warrior or military caste. The word is used in the Conan story The People of the Black Circle when describing the Vendhyan (Indian) cavalry.
kumiss, koumiss — kumis: a fermented dairy product traditionally made from mare’s milk.
Khurakzai — one of the Afghuli tribes in the Conan stories.
La illaha illulah; Muhammad rassoul ullah — the two parts of the first pillar of Islam, its most important expressions. The first is Lā ilāha ill-Allāh (There is no god other than Allah), which is the the message of all the Prophets (such as Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad). The second is Muhammadun rasulullah (Muhammad is the messenger of God), completing the statement.
Lurs — the inhabitants of Luristan, in the Zagros Mountains of western Iran. Mentioned in the Cormac Fitzgeoffrey story The Blood of Belshazzar.
Mashallah — Arabic phrase, Māšā’ Allāh, indicating appreciation for an aforementioned individual or event. Towards this, it is used as an expression of respect, while at the same time serving as a reminder that all accomplishments are so achieved by the will of God. The closest English translation is “God has willed it” (another source picks “I accept what God has ordained”), the present perfect tense of God’s will accentuating the essential Islamic doctrine of belief in fate. It is used to show joy and praise, it is said upon hearing good news, and used to prevent the evil eye or jinxing.
Melakani, Melikani — used in a few stories when talking about Feringhi. Since it hardly refers to Malā’ikah (angels), all I can think of is a connection to melik (milk, mulk, etc), meaning “king, prince,” link that to the British Empire (probably specifically India), and then see it as some sort of Feringhi-variant meaning just those that speak English.
Melek Taus — The Peacock Angel (Kurdish Tawûsê Melek), the Yazidis’ name for the central figure of their faith.
memluk — mameluke, one of a body of mounted soldiers recruited from slaves converted to Mohammedanism, who, at times, had more or less control of the government of Egypt, until exterminated or dispersed by Mehemet Ali in 1811. From Arabic mamluk “slave” (used specifically for white slaves).
Naimans — the Mongolian name for a group of people dwelling on the steppe of Central Asia, having diplomatic relations with the Kara-Khitai, and subservient to them until 1177. They are most often classified as a Turkic people, but there are also sources that count them as Mongols.
nakir, nakar — naker, a kettledrum, from Arabic naqqāra, “drum.”
Nizam — shortened version of Nizam-ul-Mulk (Administrator of the Realm), the title of the native sovereigns of Hyderabad State, India, since 1719, belonging to the Asaf Jah dynasty.
noyon — noyan, noyon was a title of authority in the Mongol Empire and later periods. Initially, it was a term for a military commander in the army of Genghis Khan. It was not a military rank: the term noyon applied to commanders of tumens (10,000 soldiers), as well as for minghans (1,000 soldiers). During conquests noyons used to receive territories for administration and they effectively became Mongolian aristocracy. They were above the ordinary Mongols but below the seeds of Genghis and his brothers. They were sometimes called emir or bey in the Islamic areas. Usually notable persons are referred to with the addition of “Noyan” after the ordinary personal name, similarly to the usage of the title “Khan,” e.g. Jebe noyan, Chormaqan Noyan, Sali Noyan, etc.
Orakzai — a Pashtun tribe of eighteen clans, mostly settled in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province.
ordu — Turkish for “army, horde.” Howard uses it in a slightly different sense related to yurt (the portable homes the people of the ordu inhabit; cf. kibitka), so meaning rather “mobile village.”
orkhan — title similar to gurkhan, khagan, etc, and so basically a superior type of khan. (Now used as a common name.)
Pathan — meaning Pashtuns or Pakhtuns, also called historical Afghans. An Eastern Iranian ethno-linguistic group with populations primarily in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Note that Howard’s Pathans always speak Pashto, not “Patho” as could be expected from his choice of name for the group.
For the Pathan tribes Howard mentions, see Afridi, Ghilzai, Orakzai, Shinwari, Waziri, and Yusufzai.
Many of these tribes also appear in the Conan stories, though there they are grouped as Afghulis rather than as Pathans. See Afghuli, Dagozai, Galzai (i.e., Ghilzai), Khurakzai, Wazuli (i.e., Waziri), and Zhaibari. Finally, one tribe is called Irakzai, which is simply the Iraqis though turned into a hill tribe.
paynim — archaic word for pagan or heathen, especially a Muslim or Jew.
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Roualla, Rualla, Roualli — the Ruwallah, a large Bedouin Arab tribe of Lebanon, northern Arabia and the Syrian Desert, including modern-day Jordan. Until the demarcation of borders in the Middle East in the early 20th century, the Ruwallah were an almost entirely warrior tribe centered in the region of al-Jauf and Wadi Sirhan in northern Arabia, though their tribal territories extended as far southwards as al-Qasim, and as far northwards as Damascus. The tribe apparently came to being some time in the 16th century, or shortly thereafter, and belong to the Dhana Maslam branch of the large ‘Anizzah tribal confederation. They had historically been rivals with the neighboring tribe of Shammar, and were active in the “Arab Revolt” against the Ottomans during the First World War (as seen in the El Borak story Son of the White Wolf).
Also described as the Rwala, a large clan from the Aniza tribe, that lives in Saudi Arabia but extends through Jordan into Syria and Iraq.
Rustum, Rustem — Rostam from Zabulistan, the national hero of Greater Iran in Persian mythology.
sahib — from Hindustani sāhib (lord), Arabic sāhib (companion). Formerly, a term of respect for a white European in colonial India.
sangar — (Kurdish, Persian: “barricade”) small temporary fortified position with a breastwork of stone. However, Howard seems always to use the word to indicate a larger, more permanent construction, such as a stone tower or small fort; indeed, he equates it with the archaic word fortalice, “a small fortress.”
shaykh — see sheikh.
serai — see caravanserai.
sheikh — also Sheik, Shaykh, Shaikh, Sheyh, Šeih, Šejh, Şeyh, etc (Arabic: shaykh, plural shuyūkh): Arabic word or honorific term literally meaning “elder,” commonly used to designate an elder of a tribe, a revered wise man, or an Islamic scholar.
Shinwari — an ethnic Pashtun tribe of western Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan.
Shirkuh — name used by Kirby O’Donnell, and also by several other characters. Howard translates it as “mountain lion,” which is the word’s meaning in Persian, although that is not used as a name. Usually, Howard’s Shirkuhs are Kurds, in which case the name is really Shêr-guh (also Shêrko, or Shêrgo) and meaning “lion-ear.”
sirkar — in India: The Government, the State.
spahi — Sipahi (Ottoman Turkish; also transliterated as Spahi, Sepahi, and Spakh) was the name of several Ottoman cavalry corps. The word refers to all Ottoman mounted troops other than akincis and tribal horsemen, and is used almost synonymously with cavalry. There were two distinct types: the feudal-like, provincial Timarli Sipahis (timariots), and the salaried, regular Kapikulu Sipahis (Sipahis of the Porte) that formed the cavalry part of Ottoman household troops.
In the form of “Spahi” it was the title given to several cavalry units serving in the French and Italian colonial armies during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The name ultimately derives from the Persian sepâh (“army”) and has the same root as the English term “sepoy.”
Sudozai — mentioned as a tribe or similar in the El Borak story The Country of the Knife, but all I can find right now is the Sudhun tribe of Kashmir, which is also called Sadozai, apparently.
suk — souk, an Arab marketplace.
Tajik — a general designation for a wide range of Persian-speaking peoples of Iranian origin, with traditional homelands in present-day Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and southern Uzbekistan.
talsmin — a talisman (from Arabic tilasm, ultimately from Greek telesma or the word telein which means “to initiate into the mysteries”) is an amulet or other object considered to possess supernatural or magical powers.
tarboosh — a red felt or cloth cap with a tassel, worn in the Arab world; a fez.
Tarim — the usual Hyborian counterpart of Erlik in the Conan stories, though Shadows in Zamboula does refer to Erlik.
Thibhahum, bism er rassul — exclamation used in the El Borak story Blood of the Gods. I cannot translate this, but the second part is basically “in the name (bism) of the Prophet (rasul is messenger, Muhammad being God’s special messenger)”.
tulwar — (also talwar, talwaar) the favoured weapon in Howard’s Eastern stories: a type of curved sword, equivalent to the European sabre, originating in medieval India dating back to at least the 13th century. Since it lacks the radical curve of otherwise similar Persian sabres, it can be used for slashing, thrusting and cutting purposes by both mounted warriors and foot soldiers. The blade of some examples widens towards the tip, making it a very savage cutting blade if used by a skilled warrior: when a blow is struck it transfers tremendous amount of force towards the fore end and can cleave a person in half. (For example, a giant deaf-mute guard in the El Borak story The Daughter of Erlik Khan carries a “broad-tipped tulwar.”)
Turkoman — (also Turkomen, in Howard’s plural) the Turkmen (Türkmen, plural Türkmenler) are a Turkic people located primarily in the Central Asian states of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, northern Iraq and in northeastern Iran.
Turcople — (also turcopoles, turcopoli or turcopoliers, from the Greek tourkópouloi, “sons of Turks”) locally recruited mounted archers employed by the Christian states of the Eastern Mediterranean. At first used by the Byzantine army as auxiliaries, they were children of mixed Greek and Turkish parentage, and at least nominally Christian (although some may have been practising Muslims). In the crusader states the turcoples were not necessarily Turkish or mixed-race mercenaries, but many were probably recruited from Christianized Seljuqs, or from Syrian Eastern Orthodox Christians under crusader rule.
Uriankhi — there is no clear ethnic delineation for the application of the name Uriankhai (originally Uriyangkhai), also known as Urianhai or Uryangkhai. In the 13th century Rashid-al-Din Hamadani described the Forest Uriyangkhai as extremely isolated Siberian forest people living in birchbark tents and hunting with skis. Despite the similarity in name to the famous Uriyankhan clan of the Mongols, Rashid states that they had no connection. By the early 17th century the term Uriankhai was a general Mongolian term for all the dispersed bands to the north-west, whether Samoyed, Turkic, or Mongolian in origin. In 1757 the Qing Dynasty organized its far northern frontier into a series of Uriankhai banners: the Khowsgol Nuur Uriyangkhai, Tannu Uriankhai, Kemchik, Salchak, and Toju (all Tuvans) and Altan-nuur Uriyangkhai. Tuvans in Mongolia are called Monchoogo Uriankhai (cf. Tuvan Monchak). Another group of Uriankhai in Mongolia (in Bayan-Ölgii and Khovd provinces) are called Altai-iin Uriankhai. These were apparently attached to the Oirats. A third group of Mongolian Uriankhai were one of the 6 tumens of Dayan Khan in Eastern Mongolia. These last two Uriankhai groups are said to be descendants of the Uriankhan tribe from which came Jelme and his more famous cousin Subutai. A variation of the name, Uraŋxai, was an old name for the Sakha. Pavel Nebolsin documented the Urankhu clan of Volga Kalmyks in the 1850s. Another variant of the name, Orangkae, was traditionally used by the Koreans to refer indiscriminately to “barbarians” that inhabited the lands to their north.[
Uzbek — a Turkic-speaking people in Central Asia, comprising the majority population of Uzbekistan, with large populations in Afghanistan, Tajikstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Russia and Xinjiang (China).
Vigurs — so in The Lord of Samarcand, from the wrong English pronunciation (starting wee- rather than uj-). The Uighurs, now called Uyghur, a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia, today primarily in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The term has taken on an increasingly expansive definition, from a small coalition of Tiele tribes, to denoting citizenship in the Uyghur Khaganate (744-847), to an ethnicity, which ancestry derives from two distinct populations: Turkic and Tocharian.
vizier — high-ranking official or minister in an Islamic government, especially in the Ottoman Empire. From the Turkish vezir, which comes from the Arabic wazīr, “helper, aide, minister; one who bears (the burden of office)” (probably literally “porter, carrier” from wazara “he carried”).
Wallah, Wellah — Arabic oath, Wa ‘Allah: “By Allah.”.
wazam — I cannot actually find this word, which is used in the Conan story The People of the Black Circle as the Vendhyan (Indian) version of wazeer. Hilariously, the nearest match is wazam as some form of Kashmiri food.
wazeer — see vizier.
Waziri — (Wazirs, Waziris) a Pashtun tribe settled in Pakistan’s North Waziristan and South Waziristan agencies and Aghanistan’s Paktia, Khost and Paktika provinces.
Waziristan — where the Waziris live.
Wazuli — one of the Afghuli tribes, the name used for the Waziris in the Conan stories.
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Ya Allah — Arabic exclamation: O, God!
ya sidi; ya Sidna — O lord (master, sir).
yasmaq — (yashmak, yashmac, yasmak) a Turkish type of veil or niqab worn by many Muslim women to cover their faces in public.
yataghan — (also yatagan) a type of Turkish sword (which became known in other countries as the “Turkish sword”) used from the mid-16th to late 19th centuries. It is a single-edged blade with a marked forward curve and a hilt (with no guard). The blade is 60-80 cm long and curved forward (in some “recurved” variants it reclines backwards again towards the very end), and while the back is made of softer steel, the sharp edge is made of hard, tempered steel for durability. Since it has no guard, the yatagan fits closely into the top of the scabbard; this is customarily worn thrust into a waist sash, retained by hook.
Yezidees — The Yazidi (also Yezidi) is a Kurdish religion with ancient Indo-European roots. See also Melek Taus.
Yusufzai — Yūsufzai (also Youssofzay, Yousafzai, Esapzey, Yousufi, or Yūsufi), one of the largest Pashtun tribes; the majority resides in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province.
Zhaibari — one of the Afghuli tribes in the Conan stories, living around the Zhaibar (i.e., Khyber) Pass.