The Sleeping Sands (43 page)

Seyyid Kerim;
a Seyyid, or direct descendant of the Prophet, resident in Shuster, an open-minded individual with a love of Persian literature

Shefi’a Khan;
chief advisor, or vizier, to Mehemet Taki Khan

Sheikh Abu Dhaouk;
a powerful Arab chieftain of the Kalikat tribe

Sheikh Ahmed;
an Arab chieftain, son of the Mujelli

Sheikh Ali Mirza;
a wealthy Persian, resident at Douletabad

Sheikh Mahmoud;
chief of a small band of nomadic bandits in the vicinity of Kerak

Shimoth;
a Polish-born Jew, resident in Safed

Sir Charles Fellows;
traveller and archaeologist, a senior member of the Royal Geographical Society

Sir George Lackland;
a European, possibly of English descent, resident in Syria

Sir John Barrow;
permanent secretary to the Admiralty

Sir Stratford Canning;
diplomat and politician

William Layard;
an occasional agent of the Royal Geographical Society and uncle to Henry Layard

G
LOSSARY

B
ELOW IS A LIST OF SOME OF THE
T
URKISH
, Arab and Persian words used in the Sleeping Sands that are either not in common use in English, or else have a meaning in the story other than a more modern or familiar one.

arak;
strong liquor made from distilling wine or other fermented juices

Bashi Bozuk;
an irregular soldier in the Ottoman army, also a peacetime gendarme

bastinado;
punishment involving whipping of the soles of the feet

bourghoul;
a simple dish of cracked wheat mixed with melted butter

chapaw;
a Bakhtiari tribal raid

courbash;
a hippopotamus-hide whip

dragoman;
an interpreter and guide

Effendi;
a polite term of address

enderun;
the women’s or family quarters (literally, innermost)

Ferenghi;
a foreigner

ferrash;
a household servant (literally, one who spreads carpets), used to described a member of the personal militia of the Matamet

firman;
an official travel pass, sometimes including a requisition order for supplies

Frank;
a term generally used to describe non-Arabs, particularly Europeans (literally, Frenchman)

Ghûlam;
an officer of the Shah (literally, slave)

gourumsag;
Persian vernacular term for a thief or ruffian

kaleon;
a type of water pipe, popular in Persia (cf narguile)

lung;
in Bakhtiari traditional costume, a striped cloth worn twisted around a felt cap

mehmandar;
an official assigned as an escort

Muteselim;
a local governor

narguile;
a type of water pipe popular in the Ottoman Empire (cf kaleon)

Nizam;
a regular soldier in the Ottoman army

piastre;
a small Syrian coin, worth a little under 2½d

salwar;
a pair of loose trousers

serbáz;
a Persian soldier

seyyid;
a holy man claiming direct descent from the Prophet

tarbush;
a red felt cap, similar to a fez, worn alone or wrapped within a turban

toman;
a gold Persian coin, worth 10,000 dinars

yaghi;
in a state of rebellion against the Shah