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Strategies & Market Trends : India Coffee House
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To: JPR who wrote (5784)8/23/1999 2:43:00 PM
From: Mohan Marette  Read Replies (1) of 12475
 
Phirangee - I got it from Amir Ali.

JPR:
I suspect 'Phirangee' is either Hindustani/Urdu or Persian.
Amir Ali used this word often in reference to 'foreign' invaders particularly the British,a word denoting contempt . He is the lead character in a book called 'Confessions of a Thug' written by one Mr.Taylor who used to be a officer in Nizam's army in Hyderabad in the 1800s. The book is essentially a narration of what Amir Ali told Mr.Taylor in first person about his life.Ali was a prisoner uner Mr.Taylor at the time,it is almost like a historical novel and Taylor stated he didn't add anyting to the book and he didn't cook the story up as it was difficult for anybody to conjure up such horrendous stories.Amir Ali as it turned out was a 'Jamadar' of a group of Thugs who used to roam certain section of India particularly modern day Madhya Pradesh,Andra Pradesh,Karnataka,Delhi and even U.P. He had over 1000 men under his command,their main avocation being to lure unsuspecting travellers especially business men into their midst under the guise of protecting them and then kill them with a 'Rumaal' taking all their possessions. He later later became a 'Pindharee' under one called 'Chote' a fierce warrior,their main occupation was rading various towns and looting them and burning the village down for fun a la Genhis Khan and Co.They also helped the Marathas to fight against the British. Amir Ali claimed he killed almost a thousand people all by himself during his 'career' before he was caught and sentenced to 'death or life'. A fascinating story by any measure. I suspect the modern day 'Dacoits' that one hear about in the Chmabal Valley (MP) and UP might have their origins in these Thugs.

So anyway Amir Ali knew Persian and spoke Hindustani/Urudu so I suspect the word originated somewhere in these languages and here I was thinking 'Phirangee' was word invented by writers of Star Trek.<vbg>
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