NIHAṄG BOLE, grandiloquent patois peculiar to the Nihaṅgs, a chivalrous order among the Sikhs. It comprises euphemisms and jargon symbolic of high-spirited confidence and courage. Another term for this language of defiance and optimism is Gaṛgajj Bole, lit. thunderous utterances. Nihaṅg is interpreted, among other connotations such as sword, charger, alligator, pure, etc., as one without fear of death. Up to the days of Mahārājā Raṇjīt Siṅgh the Nihaṅgs often served as "death squads" who carried out their military tasks that defied the common tactics of the regular army. Their distinctive garb — blue robes and elaborate weaponry they wore on their persons — is said to have originated with Gurū Gobind Siṅgh's youngest son Fateh Siṅgh, who once appeared before his father so dressed. To match their martial accoutrement and character, the Nihaṅgs developed a special vocabulary of their own by adopting hilarious euphemisms and humorous parallels to words and expressions in common use. Thus they made light of hardships, especially in the days of persecution. A single Nihaṅg would announce himself as an army of a lakh and a quarter. Adversities would be described in a language of challenge and bravado, and articles of worldly comfort and glory belittled to the point of ridicule. Death was called an expedition of the Khālsā into the next world. One with empty stomach would call himself maddened with prosperity. Taking a meal of parched gram of necessity a Nihaṅg would describe himself as eating almonds. Even now onions for Nihaṅgs are silver pieces, rupees on the other hand mere pebbles, and a club the repository of wisdom. In their separate camps and also in their converse with the common people, the Nihaṅgs use such euphemistic or derogative terms for things of common use or for act of daily occurrence which create humour or conceal, in a quixotic manner, the material limitations of the speaker. A large number of these have gone out of use and some even out of common memory. An illustrative list of Nihaṅg bole is given below :
| Term | Meaning in Common Language | Euphemism for |
| airāvat | legendary elephant | he-buffalo |
| akaldān | container of wisdom a stick; | a baton |
| ākaṛbhann | that which shatters arrogance | disease, especially fever |
| akāshparī | fairy of heaven | goat |
| amritī | name of sweetmeat | broth of gram flour |
|
aṅgīṭhā |
fireplace |
funeral pyre |
|
añjanī |
antimony powder |
night |
|
athakk |
tireless |
emaciated pony |
|
athakk savārī |
tireless mount |
a pair of shoes or slippers |
|
badām |
almonds |
gram, parched gram |
|
basantkaur |
woman's name |
maize |
|
baṭerā |
quail |
brinjal |
|
bhoiṅsūr s |
oil pig |
turnip |
|
bhūtanī |
female spirit; witch |
duststorm; train |
|
brahma ras |
drink of the gods |
sugarcane |
|
būndī |
sweets |
boiled gram |
|
chalākā |
clever man |
thick needle |
|
chalākan |
clever woman |
spud; hoe |
|
chāndanī-pulāo |
dish of cooked rice |
parched millet |
|
charandāsī |
maidservant; attached to the master's feet |
shoes |
|
chaṛhāī karnā |
to invade; to set out on an expedition |
to die |
|
chhauṇī |
cantonment |
the camp of Nihaṅgs |
|
chhillar |
bark; husk |
rupee; coin |
|
chimanī begum |
humorous name for woman |
opium |
|
chubāre chaṛhiā |
one on the upper storey |
deaf |
|
chūnā |
lime |
flour |
|
dharamrāj dī dhī |
daughter of the mythical Dharam Rāj, dispensar of Divine justice |
sleep |
|
dharamrāj dā puttar |
Dharam Rāj's son |
fever |
|
dhūṛkoṭ |
the fort of dust |
woman's heavy skirt |
|
dusāṅgā |
fork |
trousers |
|
fateh kumait |
winning bay horse |
black coloured club |
|
gaṅgā jal |
water of the Ganges |
liquor |
|
gobindā |
man's name |
melon |
|
gobindī |
woman's name |
carrot |
|
guptā |
secretive |
dumb |
|
harā |
green |
dried |
|
harn hoṇā |
to become a deer |
to flee |
|
harnī |
doe |
a fly |
|
hukam sat |
true order |
dead |
|
ilāchī |
cardamom |
a twig of palāhi or acacia chewed to cleanse teeth |
|
indrāṇī |
Indra's consort |
emaciated mare |
|
irāqī |
thoroughbred from Iraq |
horse of poor quality |
|
Jagat jūṭh |
universal pollution |
hukkā; hubble-bubble |
|
jahāz |
ship |
bullock-cart |
|
joṛ melnī |
match-maker |
sewing needle |
|
kalgā |
plume |
bala person |
|
kanūngo |
a revenue official |
Stick, walking-stick |
|
kastūrā |
musk-deer |
Pig |
|
kaṭṭā |
young buffalo-calf |
elephant |
|
kāzī |
interpreter of Islamic law |
Cook |
|
kesar |
saffron |
turmeric |
|
Khaṇḍ |
sugar |
ashes |
|
Khoti chuṅghāṇā |
sucking a she-ass smoking |
hukkā or pipe |
|
kotal |
horse of good breed |
charpoy; bedstead |
|
kūch |
march |
death |
|
kuhī |
a bird of prey |
sickle |
|
lāchīdāṇā |
cardamom seeds |
millet |
|
lakhnetarā |
one with a hundred eyes |
blind in one eye |
|
mahāṅ prasād |
supreme dish |
meat curry |
|
māmalā lainā |
to collect land revenue |
to collect victuals or donation |
| mast, mastānā | in ecstasy | empty of provisions |
|
nākhāṅ |
pears |
fruit of banyan tree |
|
nihakalaṅk |
without blemish |
earthen pitcher |
|
pañj isnānā |
five times bath |
washing of face, hands and feet only |
|
Pañjavāṅ |
fifth |
ghee, clarified butter |
|
parī |
fairy |
a sheep |
|
pauṇ turaṅg |
flying horse |
jaded, worn-out pony |
|
pauṇ parkāsh |
lighter of wind |
fan |
|
phirnī |
circulator |
hand operated millstone |
|
rajjī |
satiated |
ladle |
|
rāmbāgh |
garden of Rāma |
forest |
|
rāmjaṅgā |
Rāma of battle |
gun, musket |
|
rāmlaḍḍū |
sweet balls of Rāma |
watermelon |
|
resham |
silk |
jute |
|
roṛ |
gravel |
kidney bean |
|
rūpkaur |
beautiful; woman's name |
pitcher in which milk is boiled |
|
ruppā |
silver piece |
onion |
|
rūp ras |
silvery drink |
salt, salt water |
|
sabaz pulāo |
green dish of rice |
dish made of sarsoṅ (mustard) leaves |
|
sadā gulāb |
perennial rose |
acacia tree |
|
safājaṅg |
cleanser in battle |
hatchet |
|
samundar |
sea; ocean |
milk |
|
sarab ras |
manifold flavour |
salt |
|
saugī |
dried grapes |
green gram grain |
|
shahidī deg |
martyr's cooking-vessel |
drink prepared from hemp |
|
shāh jahāṅ |
king of the world |
the poppy plant |
|
shīsh mahal |
glass palace |
crumbling shack through which the sky peeps |
|
sirkhiṇḍī |
woman with untied scattered hair |
raw sugar |
|
sodhaṇā |
to apply correction |
to punish; to beat |
|
sukhdeī |
woman; bringer of comfort |
mattress |
|
sukhnidhān |
treasure-house of comforts and happiness |
drink of hemp |
|
sundarī |
beautiful woman |
broom |
|
sūrmā |
hero; warrior |
a blind person |
|
tar pulāo |
juicy dish of rice |
dry bread or meal |
|
tankhāh |
salary |
penalty for breach of religious code |
|
ṭhīkar |
broken piece of pottery |
body |
|
ṭhīkarī |
shard |
coin; rupee |
| ujāgar | well-known; shining | earthen lamp |
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sant Siṅgh Sekhoṅ