bunjara

English

Alternative forms

• banjara, binjarree, binjarry, brinjaree, brinjarree, brinjarry, bunjarree, vanjara, vanjarrah

Etymology

From Hindustani بنجارا / बंजारा (bañjārā), ultimately from Sanskrit वणिज्या (vaṇijyā, “trade”) + कार (kāra, “doer”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /bʌnˈdʒaɹə/

Noun

bunjara (plural bunjaras)

1. (India) A wandering grain and salt merchant in the Deccan Plateau.
   • 1888, Rudyard Kipling, ‘At Twenty-two’, In Black and White, Folio Society, published 2005, page 410:

     Thirty years ago this ford was on the track of the bunjaras, and I have seen two thousand pack-bullocks cross in one night.

Related terms

• banjari
• Banjara