The Black Sultan Glossary
Stories from the Golden Age reflect the words and expressions used in the 1930s and 1940s, adding unique flavor and authenticity to the tales. While a character’s speech may often reflect regional origins, it also can convey attitudes common in the day. So that readers can better grasp such cultural and historical terms, uncommon words or expressions of the era, the following glossary has been provided.
Annamite: of Annam, a historic region of southeast Asia, comprising most of central Vietnam. The name Annam, meaning “pacified south,” comes from an ancient Chinese name for Vietnam. France revived the term in the nineteenth century to designate central Vietnam. In the 1880s France established a protectorate over the region. Annam, along with Cochin China in southern Vietnam, Tonkin in northern Vietnam and eventually Laos and Cambodia, was part of the French-ruled Indochinese Union, popularly called French Indochina. During World War II, Japan expelled France from occupying Vietnam.
AVB rifle grenade: anti-personnel VB (for Viven-Bessières, the French company that made it) rifle grenade; a form of grenade that utilizes a rifle as a launch mechanism to increase the effective range of the grenade.
barbs: a breed of horses introduced by the Moors (Muslim people of mixed Berber and Arab descent) that resemble Arabian horses and are known for their speed and endurance.
Berber: a member of a people living in North Africa, primarily Muslim, living in settled or nomadic tribes between the Sahara and Mediterranean Sea and between Egypt and the Atlantic Ocean.
bleu: (French) a new recruit; newcomer.
Browning: a .30- or .50-caliber automatic belt-fed, air-cooled or water-cooled machine gun capable of firing ammunition at a rate of more than 500 rounds per minute.
burg: city or town.
cacolet: (French) a horse or mule litter for the transport of wounded.
cantle: the raised back part of a saddle for a horse.
carbine: a short light rifle; originally used by soldiers on horseback.
Casablanca: a seaport on the Atlantic coast of Morocco.
concha: a disk, traditionally of hammered silver and resembling a shell or flower, used as a decoration piece on belts, harnesses, etc.
cop: to steal something, especially by snatching it hurriedly.
corrugated ellipsoid: an oval shape with parallel and alternating ridges and grooves; grenade.
coup de soleil: (French) sunburn.
crosstree: the raised wooden pieces at the front and rear of the saddle that form a high pommel or horn in the front and cantle in the back.
djellaba: a long loose hooded garment with full sleeves, worn especially in Muslim countries.
dum-dum: a bullet with a soft front that increases in size when it hits its target, causing serious injuries.
Fez: the former capital of several dynasties and one of the holiest places in Morocco; it has kept its religious primacy through the ages.
flintlock: a type of gun fired by a spark from a flint (rock used with steel to produce an igniting spark). It was introduced about 1630.
forty-five or .45: a handgun chambered to fire a .45-caliber cartridge and that utilizes the recoil or part of the force of the explosive to eject the spent cartridge shell, introduce a new cartridge, cock the arm and fire it repeatedly.
.45 Colt: a .45-caliber automatic pistol manufactured by the Colt Firearms Company of Hartford, Connecticut. Colt was founded by Samuel Colt (1814–1862), who revolutionized the firearms industry.
Franzawi: (Arabic) Frenchman.
French Foreign Legion: a unique elite unit within the French Army established in 1831. It was created as a unit for foreign volunteers and was primarily used to protect and expand the French colonial empire during the nineteenth century, but has also taken part in all of France’s wars with other European powers. It is known to be an elite military unit whose training focuses not only on traditional military skills, but also on the building of a strong esprit de corps amongst members. As its men come from different countries with different cultures, this is a widely accepted solution to strengthen them enough to work as a team. Training is often not only physically hard with brutal training methods, but also extremely stressful with high rates of desertion.
French Indochina: part of the French colonial empire in Indochina, a region in southeast Asia, east of India and south of China.
Frogs: Frenchmen.
Hamitic: of or relating to the Hamites, African people of Caucasoid descent believed to be the original settlers of northern Africa from Asia.
heliograph: a device for signaling by means of a movable mirror that reflects beams of light, especially sunlight, to a distance.
High Atlas: portion of the Atlas Mountain range that rises in the west at the Atlantic coast and stretches in an eastern direction to the Moroccan-Algerian border.
Hotchkiss: a heavy machine gun designed and manufactured by the Hotchkiss Company in France from the late 1920s until World War II where it saw service with various nations’ forces, including France and Japan, where the gun was built under license. The machine gun is named for Benjamin B. Hotchkiss (1826–1885), one of the leading American weapons engineers of his day, who established the company in 1867.
ifrit: (Arabic) a powerful evil jinni, demon or monstrous giant in Arabic mythology.
illahu: (Arabic) al illahu; the (one) God.
Imaziren: an indigenous people of Morocco who are Berbers and who call themselves Imaziren (free-men).
jinni or jinn: (Arabic) jinni singular, jinn plural; in Muslim legend, a spirit often capable of assuming human or animal form and exercising supernatural influence over people.
kasbah: a unique kind of medina (a distinct city section found in many north African or Islamic cities). It was the place for the local leader to live and was used for defense when the city was under attack. They were made with high walls, usually with no windows. Sometimes they were built on hilltops to make them easier to defend.
la belle Légion: (French) the lovely Legion.
Lebel: a French rifle that was adopted as a standard infantry weapon in 1887 and remained in official service until after World War II.
legation: the official headquarters of a diplomatic minister.
Legion: French Foreign Legion, a specialized military unit of the French Army, consisting of volunteers of all nationalities assigned to military operations and duties outside France.
Legionnaire: a member of the French Foreign Legion.
limned: outlined in clear detail; delineated.
Magat: a river on the largest island of the Philippines.
Mannlicher: a type of rifle equipped with a manually operated sliding bolt for loading cartridges for firing, as opposed to the more common rotating bolt of other rifles. Mannlicher rifles were considered reasonably strong and accurate.
Marabouts: spiritual leaders in the Islamic faith, especially in Africa. They are scholars of the Koran and many make amulets for good luck, preside at various ceremonies and in some cases actively guide the life of the follower.
mon ami: (French) my friend.
mon lieutenant: (French) my lieutenant.
Monsieur: (French) Mr.
Moorish: of the Moors, Muslim people of mixed Berber and Arab descent.
Moroccan: of Morocco, a country in North Africa. It has a coast on the Atlantic Ocean that reaches past the Strait of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean Sea.
mountain rifle: a very long, ruggedly built rifle designed for use in mountainous terrain.
musette: a small canvas or leather bag with a shoulder strap, as one used by soldiers or travelers.
OD: (military) olive drab.
offal: refuse; rubbish.
parapet: a wall, rampart or elevation of earth for covering soldiers from an enemy’s fire.
pith helmet: a lightweight hat made from dried pith, the soft spongelike tissue in the stems of most flowering plants. Pith helmets are worn in tropical countries for protection from the sun.
present arms: a position in which a long gun, such as a rifle, is held perpendicularly in front of the center of the body.
Qu’est-ce que c’est?: (French) What is that?
rowels: the small spiked revolving wheels on the ends of spurs, which are attached to the heels of a rider’s boots and used to nudge a horse into going faster.
run-over: of boots, where the heel is so unevenly worn on the outside that the back of the boot starts to lean to one side and does not sit straight above the heel.
salat: (Arabic) a ritual Muslim prayer made five times a day in a standing position, alternating with inclinations and prostrations, as the worshiper faces toward Mecca. The five periods of Muslim prayer are dawn, midday, afternoon, evening and night.
scimitar: a curved, single-edged sword of Oriental origin.
Shaitan: (Arabic) Satan.
Shilha: the Berber dialect spoken in the mountains of southern Morocco.
Snider: a rifle formerly used in the British service. It was invented by American Jacob Snider in the mid-1800s. The Snider was a breech-loading rifle, derived from its muzzle-loading predecessor called the Enfield.
sorrel: a horse with a reddish-brown coat.
Spahis: light cavalry regiments of the French Army recruited primarily from Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco.
tramp: a freight vessel that does not run regularly between fixed ports, but takes a cargo wherever shippers desire.
vizier: a high officer in a Muslim government.
Wagon-Lit: name of a hotel. Wagon-Lit means “sleeping car” in French. Sleeping compartments on trains were first introduced by Georges Nagelmackers in 1872 to service international railroad travelers on trains such as the Orient Express. The original company, Campaignie Internationale des Wagons-Lits, later expanded into hotels.
Webley: Webley and Scott handgun; an arms manufacturer based in England that produced handguns from 1834. Webley is famous for the revolvers and automatic pistols it supplied to the British Empire’s military, particularly the British Army, from 1887 through both World War I and World War II.
wudu’: (Arabic) a Muslim cleansing ritual involving cleaning with water of the hands, face, mouth and feet (and perhaps other parts of the body), which is a symbol of spiritual cleansing. Usually practiced before salat.
Yank: Yankee; term used to refer to Americans in general.
Zouave: a member of a French infantry unit, originally composed of Algerian recruits and characterized by colorful uniforms with baggy trousers.
