kajawah

English

Camel panniers (kajawahs) used by East India Company soldiers reinforcing Delhi in 1857

Covered camel litters (kajawahs) in Tunisia in 1916

Camel cacolets (kajawahs) used by the 2nd Australian Light Horse Camel Field Ambulance in WWI

Alternative forms

• kajawa, kajava, kujawah
• cajua, cajava, kedgwa, kedgway, cedgeway, cadjowa, kedjavé, kerjava, kidjawah, kidjahwah, khajawah, kajaweh, kajavah (obsolete)

Etymology

From Hindi कजावा (kajāvā), from Urdu and Classical Persian کجاوه (kajāwa, “kajawah, howdah”).

Noun

kajawah (plural kajawahs)

1. (Middle East and South Asia, chiefly historical) A camel-borne pannier, litter, or cacolet.
   • 1634, Thomas Herbert, A Relation of Some Yeares Trauaile, Begunne Anno 1626, into Afrique and the Greater Asia, page 151:

     Women of note trauell vpon Coozelbash-camels, each Camell loaded with two cages (or cajuaes as they call them) which hang on either side the beast.

   • 1880, Journal of the United Service Institution of India, volumes 9-10 1880-1881, page 44:

     For the carriage of sick the camel is fairly well suited, the main difficulty being the kujawah, cradle or chair, the correct shape, size and weight of which can only be decided by actual experiment in hills as well as plains and under varying conditions.

2. (Middle East, historical) Similar vehicles borne by other animals.
   • 1877, Robert Arthur Arnold, Through Persia by Caravan, page 125:

     For men and women who suffer from being in the saddle for so many hours, there is a choice between the "kerjava" and the "takht-i-rawan." The kerjava, in its best appearance, takes the form of two very small gypsy tents made of light bands of wood, the top bent circular, and covered with shawls or carpets. In each of these tents a man or woman sits after the kerjavas have been slung, like panniers, across the saddle of a strong mule. In the kerjava one must sit cross-legged, or with one's feet hanging out.

Synonyms

• mahmal (Arabic contexts); bassour (North African contexts)

Translations

Translations

• Arabic: هَوْدَج (hawdaj), مَحْمَل (maḥmal); مِحَفَّة (miḥaffa) (covered, for women)
• Hindi: कजावा (hi) (kajāvā)
• Persian: کجاوه (fa) (kajāwa)
• Urdu: کجاوه

References

• “kajawah, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

Anagrams

• Khawaja