Ad Mata [Ad Mata]

Jhala kuldevi

Ashapura [Asapura]

Cauhan kuldevi

ashram [asram]

spiritual retreat

asur [asur]

demon, e.g., Mahishasur, the Buffalo Demon defeated by the goddess Durga

bahadur [bahadur]

brave; valiant

Bala Satimata [Bala Satimata]

living satimata who resided in northwestern Rajasthan

balidan [balidan]

sacrifice, usually a blood sacrifice

baniya [baniya]

merchant; refers to a person in one of a number of business castes

Ban Mata [Ban Mata]

Sisodiya kuldevi

Bappa Rawal [Bappa Raval]

illustrious forefather of the Sisodiyas of Mewar

Bara Battis Thikana [Bada Battis Thikana]

Big Thirty-two Thikana; a thikana belonging to the group of Mewari estates with status lower than the Solah Thikanas and higher than the Chota Battis Thikanas

bhakt [bhakt]

devotee of a deity; lover of God

bhakti [bhakti]

emotional commitment to a deity; devotional love

Bhat [Bhat]

genealogist caste

bhav [bhav]

possession; influence

Bheru [Bheru]

(Hindi and Sanskrit, Bhairava) guardian deity; each Rajput kuldevi is associated with a Bheru

Bhil [Bhil]

tribe famed for archery skills; the blood brothers of Guha

bhopa [bhopa]

medium who is possessed by various deities

bolma [bolma]

vow to perform a stated service for a deity if the deity first grants a devotee's desires

Bukh Mata [Bukh Mata]

the Hungry Goddess; epithet of Ban Mata, kuldevi of the Sisodiyas of Mewar

cabutra [cabutra]

platform marking a sacred place; square on which a cenotaph (chatri ) is sometimes mounted

camatkar [camatkar]

miracle; confirmation of superhuman power

Caran [Caran]

bard caste

caritra [caritra]

character, nature

Cauhan [Cauhan]

a Rajput kul

Chitor [Citod or Citaud]

a former capital of Mewar

chota bhai Rajput [chota bhai Rajput]

little brother Rajput; a village Rajput, who claims descent from a younger brother of a ruler

Chota Battis Thikana [Chota Battis Thikana

Little Thirty-two Thikana; a thikana belonging to a group of Mewari estates ranked just below the Bara Battis Thikanas

cil [cil]

kite, bird of prey

cita [cita]

funeral pyre

Daroga [Daroga]

offspring of a Rajput father and a lower-caste consort

darshan [darsan]

auspicious sight of a Hindu deity, a revered person, or a sacred place

Dashamata [Dasamata]

Mother of Fate; name of a goddess worshiped in Rajasthan and for whom ten (das ) stories are told illustrating the benefits of keeping an annual vow for her

Dashara [Dashara]

festival celebrating the victory of Rama, hero of the Ramayan , over his demon nemesis Ravana

devar [devar]

younger brother-in-law

devi [devi]

goddess, term often applied to the Sanskritic Goddess (Devi)

Devimahatmya [Devimahatmya]

part of the Markandeya Upanishad; text praising the Goddess, who is seen as ultimate reality; translated in Hindi as the Durga Path (lesson of Durga)

dharm [dharm]

duty; law; custom; order

dharmashastra [dharmasastra]

Sanskritic legal text

dhok [dhok]

respect paid a Hindu deity

Dholi [Dholi]

drummer caste

doha [doha]

short couplet, often championing heroic virtues

Durga [Durga]

Sanskritic goddess worshiped especially on Navratri

Ekling Ji [Ekling Ji]

incarnation of Shiv associated with the ruling family of Mewar

ghunghat [ghunghat]

women's practice of covering their faces to preserve modesty in front of men and sometimes senior women in their conjugal households

gotra [gotra]

group of people claiming spiritual descent from a common preceptor

Guha [Guha]

founder of the Guhil kul of Mewar

Guhil [Guhil]

kul to which the Sisodiyas belong

Gujar [Gujar]

agrarian caste

gun [gun]

quality; one of the three qualities, which are sattva , rajas , and tamas

Hari Rani [Hadi Rani]

Rajput heroine who sliced off her head to give to her husband as a memento when he went off to war

Harit [Harit]

divine sage, Bappa Rawal's spiritual teacher

haveli [haveli]

traditional urban household that a Rajput nobleman used when he came to the state capital to serve in the king's court

ishtadevta [istadevta]

chosen deity; god or goddess chosen by an individual or family as a guardian deity

itihas [itihas]

history

Jamvai Mata [Jamvai Mata]

Kachvaha kuldevi

Jat [Jat]

agrarian and martial caste especially numerous in Panjab

jati [jati]

literally, kind or genus; birth group, caste, or caste group

jauhar [jauhar]

(Hindi, jauhar) woman's self-immolation to avoid capture by enemy forces; jewel; proof; quality; ritual revenge taken against an enemy

Jhala [Jhala]

a Rajput kul

jhumjhar [jhumjhar]

literally, struggler; hero who, having been decapitated in battle, exacts revenge for his death by killing many enemies before his body falls to the ground

Kachvaha [Kachvaha]

a Rajput kul whose members include the rulers of Jaipur

Kali [Kali]

the Black Goddess; conqueror of demons in the Devimahatmya

Karni Mata [Karni Mata]

kuldevi of a Caran kul

Kayasth [Kayasth]

scribe caste

khamp [khamp]

twig; kinship unit between the shakh and nak

Krishna [Krsna]

cowherd god, charioteer in the Bhagavad Gita ; incarnation of Vishnu

Krittikas [Krttikas]

mothers of Kartikeya, the Sanskritic war god

kshatriya [ksatriya]

member of any warrior caste

kul [kul]

kinship unit comprising the lesser segmentary units shakh , khamp , and nak

kuldevi [kuldevi]

goddess of a kul or some lesser kinship unit

Kumbhalgarh [Kumbhalgadh]

a former capital of Mewar; a fortress constructed in rugged hill country in the fifteenth century by Maharana Kumbha

laj [laj]

modesty, shame

madaliyau [madaliyau]

bracelet worn on the upper arm

Mahabharat [Mahabharat]

great epic relating the adventures of the Pandava brothers

Maharaja [Maharaja]

great king; title used by rulers of most large Rajasthani states; title used by a younger brother in the royal family of Mewar

Maharana [Maharana]

great king; title used by the ruler of Mewar

mahasatiyam [mahasatiyam]

cremation ground in which the cenotaphs of sati s are found

Mahish [Mahis]

(Sanskrit, Mahisha) the Buffalo Demon whose death at the hands of the goddess Durga is told in the Devimahatmya and celebrated on the festival of Navratri

malipanau [malipanau]

shiny foil used to adorn religious icons

mandir [mandir]

Hindu temple

manvar [manvar]

ritual toast or giving of honor; in traditional Rajput weddings it can involve ritual sharing of alcohol and sometimes of opium

mardana [mardana]

male quarters in a traditional Rajput household

Marwar [Marvad]

state in northwestern Rajasthan ruled by the Rathaurs

mata [mata]

mother; epithet of goddesses

mela [mela]

religious festival, fair

Mewar [Mevad]

state in southwestern Rajasthan ruled by the Sisodiyas

Mina [Mina]

tribal group defeated by the Kachvahas on their arrival in the Jaipur area

Mira Bai [Mira Bai]

Mewari princess who left Chitor to become a devotee of Krishna

moksh [moks]

enlightenment

Naganecha Ji [Naganecha Ji]

Rathaur kuldevi

Nai [Nai]

barber caste

nari [nari]

woman

Navratri [Navratri]

festival celebrating the defeat of Mahish, the Buffalo Demon, by the goddess Durga

ok [ok]

observance; prohibition established by a sativrata

Padmini [Padmini]

queen who immolated herself with other Rajput women in the vaults of a palace of Chitor

pala [pala]

literally, protector; embossed pendant bearing a divine image and worn by women to protect their husbands

parakiya [parakiya]

the wife of another

parda [parda]

literally, curtain; seclusion of women

Parvati [Parvati]

a Sanskritic goddess, wife of Shiv

pativrata [pativrata]

woman who has taken a vow (vrat ) of devotion to her husband (pati ); a word often used to describe any wife whose husband is alive

pitr [pitr]

male ancestor

pitrani [pitrani]

female ancestor

puja [puja]

worship; devotional service to a deity at a temple or shrine

pujari [pujari]

priest who performs devotional services

purana [purana]

type of text, generally in Sanskrit, that tells of "ancient" matters, including many myths about the gods

purohit [purohit]

Brahmanical religious advisor to a Rajput family

purvaj [purvaj]

ancestor

putli [putli]

embossed pendant worn around the neck; see pala above

raja [raja]

king, title used by rulers of both independent states and thikanas

Rajput [Rajput]

son of a king; member of a military caste

Ram [Ram]

hero of the epic, the Ramayan ; an incarnation of Vishnu

Ramayan [Ramayan]

epic celebrating the deeds of King Ram

Ranimanga [Ranimanga]

genealogist who records the births and marriages of Rajput women

Rani of Jhansi [Jhansi ki Rani]

Maratha queen who died fighting the British

Rathaur [Rathaud]

Rajput kul whose members include the rulers of Marwar

ratijaga [ratijaga]

night wake in which songs to various family deities are sung

rup [rup]

form, shape; incarnation (of a deity)

Ruthi Rani [Ruthi Rani]

the Angry Queen, who felt insulted by her husband's attentions to dancing girls but ultimately died a sati

sadhu [sadhu]

holy man; world renouncer

saka [saka]

cutting down; entering into battle with no expectation of success or survival; sacrifice (balidan )

sannyasi [sannyasi]

world renouncer; one whose goal is liberation from rebirth

Saptamatrikas [Saptamatrkas]

the Seven Mothers associated with the Pleiades in Sanskritic tradition

sasural [sasural]

husband's household

sat [sat]

goodness, purity, truth; character

sati [sati]

good woman; a woman who dies on her husband's funeral pyre

satimata [satimata]

sati ; a guardian of family fate and fortune

sativrata [sativrata]

woman who has taken a vow to join her husband in the afterlife

sattvic [sattvic]

characterized by sat

seva [seva]

worship, service of a god or husband

shakh [sakh]

branch; kinship unit between kul and khamp

shakti [sakti]

power, strength associated with women and goddesses; consort goddess; epithet of the Goddess (Shakti)

sharam [saram]

modesty, shyness

Shila Mata [Sila Mata]

goddess whose shrine in Amber is patronized by the ruling family of Jaipur

Shiv [Siv]

Sanskritic deity, husband of Parvati

shrap [srap]

(Hindi and Sanskrit, shap) curse

sindur [sindur]

vermilion

Sisodiya [Sisodiya]

Rajput kul among whose members are the rulers of Mewar

Skand [Skand]

Kartikeya, god of war

Solah Thikana [Solah Thikana]

Sixteen Thikana; a thikana belonging to the group of Mewar estates ranked highest

Soni [Soni]

metalsmith caste

suhagin [suhagin]

pativrata ; a woman whose husband is alive

Suryavamsh [Suryavams]

family (vamsh ) of the sun, the one to which the Sisodiya Guhils belong

svakiya [svakiya]

one's own wife

tapas [tapas]

heat generated by ascetic penances

taqlif [takliph]

trouble, difficulty

thakur [thakur]

nobleman, king

thakurani [thakurani]

noblewoman, queen

thapana [thapana]

(Hindi, sthapana) place; simple shrine to a deity

thikana [thikana]

estate ruled by a nobleman

trishul [trisul]

trident, associated with goddesses and Shiv

Umca Satimata [Umca Satimata]

living satimata from southwestern Rajasthan

upanayan [upanayan]

initiation ceremony for high-caste Hindu men; spiritual rebirth

vaishya [vaisya]

member of any one of a number of agricultural or merchant castes

vamsh [vams]

family; the largest Rajput kinship group, which comprises various kuls

vrnashramadharma [varnasramadharma]

Sanskritic code of duties articulated in dharmashastric literature and pertaining to caste and the stages of life for high-caste men

vir [vir]

hero

virgati [virgati]

literally, the goal of heroes, warrior heaven

vrat [vrat]

vow

zanana [zanana]

women's quarters in a traditional Rajput household