The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories

GLOSSARY OF CAUCASIAN MOUNTAINEER WORDS

(The speech of the Caucasus is made up of words from Tartar, Persian, Arabic, Chechen, Nogai, and other local languages. Accents have been added to indicate pronunciation.)

ADÁT Custom

AIDÁ Come

AMANÁT Hostage

AÓUL Tartar mountain village

AYA Yes

BAIRÁM Name of two Muslim festivals: Uraza (Lesser) Bairam, which ends the fast of Ramadan, and Kurban (Greater) Bairam, which comes seventy days later and commemorates the story of Abraham and Isaac

BAR Have

BASHLÝK Hood with long ends wrapped around the neck as a scarf

BESHMÉT Upper garment fitted and buttoned from waist to neck and hanging to the knees

BÚRKA Long, round felt cape with decorative fastening at the neck

CHERKÉSKA Outer garment overlapping on the chest and belted, with rows of individual cartridge pockets on each side, worn over the beshmet

CHIKHÍR Young red wine

CHINÁRA Plane tree

CHUVIÁKI Soft leather shoes, often worn under wooden shoes

DZHIGÍT Bold, showy horseman, fine fellow, “brave”

GIAÓUR Perjorative term applied by Muslims to non-Muslims, especially Christians

GHAZAVÁT Muslim holy war against infidels

IMÁM Muslim priest, leader or chief combining worldly and spiritual authority

KHAN Originally a title given to the successors of Genghis Khan; later a common title given even to very minor rulers or officials in Central Asia; Russians created the word khansha for a khan’s wife

KIZYÁK Fuel made from dung and straw

KOSHKÓLDY Good health and peace (greeting)

KUMGÁN Tall jar with spout and lid

KUNÁK Sworn friend, adoptive brother

MURID One who follows the mystical-religious path of Muridis, a movement that spread through the northern Caucasus in the nineteenth century, a form of Sufism connected with aspiration for an Islamic state free of Russian dominance; used here to mean adjutant or bodyguard

MURSHÍD One who leads murids on the path

NAB Lieutenant or administrator appointed by the imam Shamil

NAMÁZ Muslim prayers and ablutions performed five times a day

NOGÁI A Tartar people said to be descended from Nogai Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan, settled in Daghestan, Cherkessia, and along the Black Sea NÚKER Attendant, bodyguard

PAPÁKHA Tall hat, usually of lambskin, often with a flat top

PESHKÉSH Gift

SÁKLYA Clay-plastered house, often built of earth, with a large shaded porch in front

SALÁAM ALÉIKUM Peace be with you (greeting)

SARDÁR Chief administrator or military commander; title given to the Russian emperor’s representative in the Caucasus

SAUBÚL Good health to you (greeting)

SHARIÁT Islamic written law, in the Koran and other texts

SHAROVÁRY Balloon trousers

TARIQÁT The “path” (rules) of ascetic life

TULÚMBAS A percussion instrument

YAKSHÍ Good

YOK No, not