Kim (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) - Rudyard Kipling [160]
61
Member of a religious sect, a reformed offshoot of Hinduism, founded in Punjab around 1500.
62
Muslim who has made the pilgrimage to Mecca.
63
That is, Ambala; city in East Punjab, 120 miles north of Delhi.
64
Russia.
65
That is, Peshawar; city at the entrance to the Khyber Pass, 240 miles northwest of Lahore (now Pakistan).
66
In Hindu Kush, between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
67
Small state in northern India whose capital is Jaipur.
68
Monsters with a woman’s head and a bird’s body; here, prostitutes.
69
Mohammed’s laws, enshrined in the Koran, sacred text of Islam. ‡Euphemism for a prostitute.
70
Dealer.
71
Reference to Shakespeare’s Hamlet (act 1, scene 1): “The sheeted dead/ Did squeak and gibber in the Roman streets.”
72
Poor travelers often sleep in the huge railroad stations.
73
Half-educated Bengali who knows English.
74
That is, Amritsar, northern Indian town 40 miles east of Lahore.
75
Section of Lahore where the British garrison was stationed.
76
Indo-Aryan people in northwestern India. ∥City 80 miles east of Lahore.
77
Warrior caste from Rajputana.
78
Indian soldier in the British army.
79
Town between Jullundur and Chandigarh.
80
Sikhs are a warrior caste.
81
Indian king.
82
Pirzai Kotal was a battlefield in an 1877 British expedition against the Afridis, an Afghan tribe.
83
Mutilated.
84
That is, Gehenna; hell.
85
Betel-nut paste wrapped in a leaf and chewed.
86
That is, the Ganges, a sacred river in India.
87
Tibetan invocation to the divine essence of Buddha.
88
Bird that builds elaborate nests.
89
English club for drinks, social events, and sports.
90
That is, Rawalpindi, 90 miles southeast of Peshawar (now Pakistan).
91
Member of a priestly caste near the Sarasvati, a sacred river in East Punjab.
92
The priest casts Kim’s horoscope.
93
Astrological signs: Taurus (the Bull) and Gemini (the Twins).
94
Devadatta is Buddha’s cousin, Ananda’s brother.
95
Cultivators in Punjab.
96
That is, rail; train.
97
Kohlrabi, or cabbage turnip.
98
Hindu deity.
99
Allahabad, city in northern India.
100
Road that ran from Calcutta to Peshawar and from Aligarh to Bombay.
101
Reference to the Bible, Ecclesiastes 7:6: “As the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool” (KJV).
102
Indian Mutiny; major revolt of sepoy (native Indian) troops in British India (1857-1858).
103
Sites of major battles in the Sikh Wars (1845-1849).
104
Empress of India: Queen Victoria.
105
Indian cavalry officers.
106
Dysentery.
107
Reference to the Bible, Revelation 7:14: They “have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (KJV).
108
Hot peppers.
109
Small copper coin, one-quarter of an anna.
110
Mango grove.
111
General John Nicholson (1821-1857), hero of the Sikh Wars and the Indian Mutiny, in which he was killed.
112
About 2 miles.
113
Leatherworkers. ∥Hindu traders, shopkeepers, or money changers.
114
Peninsula northwest of Bombay, on the Arabian Sea; famous for horses.
115
Ticklish, fidgety.
116
That is, Hai na: Am I right? Isn’t that so?
117
Tax.
118
People considered “untouchable”—that is, of the lowest caste—who shine shoes, gather iron dust, and do casual labor.
119
Sikh zealot.
120
Rings.
121
Sikh community and church.
122
Earth carriers.
123
Covered bed, suspended between shafts and carried by men or animals.
124
Prolonged volley of applause, as a demonstration of impatience or dissent.
125
Asian society values sons more than daughters, who earn less and must be given a dowry.
126
South of the Himalayas, but in northern India.
127
Brown, starling-like birds.
128
Indians do not eat food cooked by a person of lower caste.
129
Dried cow dung used for fuel.
130
People from Orissa province, on the eastern coast of India, north of Madras.
131
Town in East Punjab, 14 miles southwest of Dharmsala, near Kashmir.
132
According to chance, at random; reference to the Bible, 1 Kings 22:34: “And a certain man drew a bow at a venture” (KJV).