burkundaz

English

Alternative forms

• berkendoss, burkundauze, burkundoss

Etymology

From Hindi बरक़ंदाज़ (barqandāz), from Persian برق انداز (barq-andâz, literally “lightning-thrower”).

Noun

burkundaz (plural burkundazes)

1. (India, now historical) An armed guard or watchman.
   • 2008, Amitav Ghosh, Sea of Poppies, Penguin, published 2015, page 90:

     But unlike such forts as Chunar and Buxar […], the Carcanna was anything but a picturesque ruin: its turrets housed squads of sentries, and its parapets were manned by a great number of peons and burkundazes.

Further reading

• Henry Yule, A[rthur] C[oke] Burnell (1903) “burkundauze”, in William Crooke, editor, Hobson-Jobson […] , London: John Murray, […], page 130.