The Massachusetts spy, and Worcester County advertiser. [volume] ([Worcester, Mass.]) 1825-1831, 1830-12-15


quently occurring in connection with the af.
fairs of the East. together with their etyiaolo-
gical import, will no: be found undressing:
.Mohaned, filmed. From Hani0d !; prals-
ed, highly celebrated, illustrious, glorious.
.fOsIem, .Muss,tinan, Islam, Islamism. al
from the same root, Islam signifyng, 10
yield up, dedicate, consecrate entirely 10
the service of religion.
Koran. From Kara, to read; the read
ing legend, or that which ought to he read.
CdilDh. A successor; from the Hebrew
Chaiaph ito be changed, to succeed, to pass
round in a revolution.
Sulian. Originally from the Chaldaic Sol
tan; signifying authority, domini on, princi-
pality.
Vizier. An assistant.
Hadji. Pilgrimage; Hadji; one VINO
makes the pilgrimage to Mecca.
Saracen. Etymology doubtful supposed
to be from SGrak, to steal; plunderer,
robller.
Heiira, or Hgcd The Flight; applied
emphatlcally to Mohammed's fight from
Mecca to Medina.
.Hufii. The principal head of the Mo
hammedan religion, and the resolver of all
doubtful points ofthe law. An office Ofgreat
dignity in the Turkish empire.
Imam. A kind of priest attached 20 the
mosques, whose duty ii is occasionally to ex
pound passage of the Koran They, at
the same time, usually follow some more lu
crative employment.
JMoOllah The Moollahs form what is call
led the Ulema, or body of doctors in theolo-
gy and Jurisprudence, who are entrusted
with the guardianship of the laws of the
empire, and from whose number the Mutt
is chosen.
Emir. Lineal descendants OF the Proph-
ct himself, distinguished by wearing tur-
bans of deep sea-green, the color peculiar
to all the race of Mohammed. They have
special immunities on the score of their de-
scent, and one of them carries the green
standard of the Prophet when the Grand
Seignor appears in any public solemnity.
Pasha. The title given TO the provincial
governors. a Pasha is 10 province OF pa
shalic, what the Sultan is to the empire, ex-
cept that the judicial power Is in the hands
ofthe cadis, the provincial magistrates. The
tails of a Pasha are the standards which he
is allowed 10 carry; one of three tails is one
of three standards, which number gives the
power of life and death.
Refs Eferadi. This officer may be term
ed the High Chancellor of the Ottoman en-
pire. He is at the head of class of attor-
neys, which at this time contains the best
informed men of the nation.
Seragtio. This word is derived from Sc
raj, a term Of Persian origin, signifying a
palace. Il is therefore improperly used as
Synonymous with Harem, the apartments of
the women. The Seraglio is, in strictness
of'speech, the place where the court of the
Grand Seignior is held but it so happens
that at Constantinople this building includes
the imperial Harem within its walls.
Crescent. The national ensign of the
Turks, surmounting the domes and minarets
attached to their mosques, as the Cross does
the churches of the Roman Catholics in
Christian countries. This peculiar and uni
versal use of the Crescent is said to have
owed its origin to the fact, that at the time
Of Mohammed's flight from Mecca to Medi-
ma, the moon tods neW. Hence the half moon
is commemorative of that event.
Sabine Porte. This title, which is fire.
quenily applied to the court, cabinet, or ex-
ecntive department of the Ottoman empire,
is derived, as the words import, from a lofty
arched gateway of splendid construction,
forming the principal entrance to the Sc
raglio or palace. 1t is a phrase equivalent
TO" Court of st. james," Court of ST.
Cloud" &c.