Glossary
Arsad marriage circle of sixty-eight villages in the Charotar Sunni Vohra samaj
Bajrang Dal Youth wing of the VHP, founded in 1984
bapu saint
BJP Bharata Janata Party (Indian People’s Party); political party in India
closed house house in Anand with an absentee landowner
Charotar region in central Gujarat
Charotar Sunni Vohra samaj an endogamous community of Sunni Muslims in the Charotar region, not to be confused with the Baruchi Vohras (from the region of Baruch), Surti Vohras (from the Surat region), or Daudi Bohras (who are Shia)
Chaud marriage circle of fourteen villages in the Charotar Sunni Vohra samaj
Congress Party political party in India
dupatta shawl, commonly worn by women as part of a salwar kameez outfit
endogamy marriage within a group
ghetto term used in India to indicate marginalized residential areas inhabited by Muslims
ghettoization term used in India to indicate residential segregation along religious lines
haj pilgrimage to Mecca (pronounced Makka)
Hindutva term used to denote the ideology of Hindu nationalism, or Hindu majoritarianism
housing society common residential area in Anand, in which a group of house owners within a residential complex is legally registered as a cooperative
hypergamy marriage system in which a lower-status female is married to a higher-status male
land conversion legal procedure, during which the agricultural status of a plot of land is converted to a nonagricultural status
madrassa religious school or institute
majid mosque
majoritarianism a political ideology that asserts that a majority of the population is entitled to have primacy and power in society
maulana religious teacher
pir paternal home (of a married woman)
RSS an organization, founded in 1925, which organizes training to instill Hindutva values and discipline in participants
salwar kameez a clothing set of wide trousers and a long short
Sangh Parivar a group of organizations that promote the Hindutva ideology
samaj community
scooty light motorized two-wheeler
suburb term to denote an urban space with a distinctive middle-class identity
Sunni an umbrella category in Islam. In global discourse, “Sunni” is the opposite of “Shia” Islam, but in Anand more likely to be presented as part of a different opposition, between “Sunnis” (the followers of saints) and “Tablighis” (the followers of the Tablighi Jamaat)
Tablighi Jamaat Islamic reform movement
T.P. scheme Town Planning scheme
Vohra/Vahora/Vora/Bohra/Bora surname within the Charotar Sunni Vohra community
vatan home, place of origin, motherland (of a man)
VHP an organization, founded in 1964, with the aim of promoting Hinduism worldwide
ward locality that constitutes a voting unit during elections