A recent conversation made me realize that I tend to use the word firangi while talking about white tourists in India and got me thinking about the other words used for them. My knowledge is restricted largely to Punjabi, but at least for north India, I think the list below would be almost if not fully exhaustive. Where I did get stuck was in figuring out the difference in the usage for the terms, especially firangi and gora.*
Firangi - Along with gora, the more common word used to describe a foreigner. I had always assumed that word's origin was fi-rang - other coloured. But it appears I was wrong. Wikipedia informs that the word is not just used in the Indian sub-continent, but across much of the middle-eastern world:
"Because the Frankish kingdom (Francia, the name origin of "France") dominated Western Europe for centuries, terms derived from "Frank" were used by many in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and beyond as a synonym for Latin Christians or Western and Northern Europeans in general."
The french, though, also have their own specific word in the sub-continent - francisi.
Gora (f. - Gori) - White-complexioned. According to the Concise Hobson-Jobson, the word referred to any European who was not a sahib, 'sahib' being used when "no disrespect was intended". (Now of course, we are masters of our own fate and no longer use the word for the white man; instead we use it to obsequiously address our government masters who possibly hold more power than their pre-independence compatriots in ruining lives).
Even though Hobson-Jobson may consider the term not a very polite one, it means a fair complexion and is used to refer to fair skinned Indians also. Surinder Kaur singing about the chaos caused by the gori and her jhanjraan (anklets) is quite a Punjabi favourite (our unhealthy obsession with fair skin notwithstanding, it is a beautifully sung song).
Vilayati is the equivalent of the hindi Videshi - a foreigner, and comes from the arabic wilayat meaning 'a kingdom, a province' and in Hindustani is used to indicate "any imported article or good", including a person. It also gave rise to the English term Blighty for their homeland, as in "Fifty of the 76 escapees were summarily shot by the Gestapo on Hitler's orders, and only three (none British) made a successful "home run" to Blighty."
And though vilayati-pani means soda-water, frangipani apparently has no connection with India. I clarify only because I assumed it did and meant the same thing as vilayati-pani. Frangipani is the common name of the flower Plumeria, known in the subcontinent as champa, and gets its name from an Italian marquess.
Angrej (Angrez) (f. - Angrejan) - Strictly speaking, refers to an Englishman but colloquially can be used to refer to any foreigner. If you try and act too cool, you might get to hear "Baala angrej ban dae" (You think you're an Angrej?) in Punjabi.
Englandi - Used specifically for a resident of England, irrespective of ethnicity, race, color etc., as demonstrated by one of the pater's friends known to me only as Englandi. Yes, he lives there.
The question still remains - when do you use which term? And I don't know the answer. Sometimes one, sometimes the other term comes more easily to the tongue. Shah Muhammad's epic on the Anglo-Sikh wars is titled Jangnama - Singhan tey Firangian (Book of War - the Singhs and the Firangis.) and while firangi is the more common word used by him, he also uses gorey and angrej. Perhaps there isn't and never was much difference between a firangi and a gora.
Firangi - Along with gora, the more common word used to describe a foreigner. I had always assumed that word's origin was fi-rang - other coloured. But it appears I was wrong. Wikipedia informs that the word is not just used in the Indian sub-continent, but across much of the middle-eastern world:
"Because the Frankish kingdom (Francia, the name origin of "France") dominated Western Europe for centuries, terms derived from "Frank" were used by many in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and beyond as a synonym for Latin Christians or Western and Northern Europeans in general."
The french, though, also have their own specific word in the sub-continent - francisi.
Gora (f. - Gori) - White-complexioned. According to the Concise Hobson-Jobson, the word referred to any European who was not a sahib, 'sahib' being used when "no disrespect was intended". (Now of course, we are masters of our own fate and no longer use the word for the white man; instead we use it to obsequiously address our government masters who possibly hold more power than their pre-independence compatriots in ruining lives).
Even though Hobson-Jobson may consider the term not a very polite one, it means a fair complexion and is used to refer to fair skinned Indians also. Surinder Kaur singing about the chaos caused by the gori and her jhanjraan (anklets) is quite a Punjabi favourite (our unhealthy obsession with fair skin notwithstanding, it is a beautifully sung song).
Vilayati is the equivalent of the hindi Videshi - a foreigner, and comes from the arabic wilayat meaning 'a kingdom, a province' and in Hindustani is used to indicate "any imported article or good", including a person. It also gave rise to the English term Blighty for their homeland, as in "Fifty of the 76 escapees were summarily shot by the Gestapo on Hitler's orders, and only three (none British) made a successful "home run" to Blighty."
And though vilayati-pani means soda-water, frangipani apparently has no connection with India. I clarify only because I assumed it did and meant the same thing as vilayati-pani. Frangipani is the common name of the flower Plumeria, known in the subcontinent as champa, and gets its name from an Italian marquess.
Hobson-Jobson also gives the term "Blatty", again derived from vilayati, for two plants in south India, the Hydrolea zeylanica and the Sonneratia acida, though I can't figure out why - with my limited botanical understanding, they both seem to be native to this side of the world (unlike the vilayati-baingan or the tomato).
Angrej (Angrez) (f. - Angrejan) - Strictly speaking, refers to an Englishman but colloquially can be used to refer to any foreigner. If you try and act too cool, you might get to hear "Baala angrej ban dae" (You think you're an Angrej?) in Punjabi.
Englandi - Used specifically for a resident of England, irrespective of ethnicity, race, color etc., as demonstrated by one of the pater's friends known to me only as Englandi. Yes, he lives there.
The question still remains - when do you use which term? And I don't know the answer. Sometimes one, sometimes the other term comes more easily to the tongue. Shah Muhammad's epic on the Anglo-Sikh wars is titled Jangnama - Singhan tey Firangian (Book of War - the Singhs and the Firangis.) and while firangi is the more common word used by him, he also uses gorey and angrej. Perhaps there isn't and never was much difference between a firangi and a gora.
To sign off, a white man's views on considering himself a firangi:
‘Since my first visit to India over ten years ago, I have grown increasingly fascinated by the word firangi. To translate it simply as ‘foreigner’ doesn’t do it justice. The Hindi videshi is a world away, quite literally, from firangi, a Mughal-era Persian makeover of ‘Frank’ (or Frenchman). My former Hindi teacher, who favours a chaste Sanskritised language purged of all alien interlopers, grimaces whenever she hears the word. She considers firangi an impure term, a linguistic foreign body that has illegitimately become Indian. But that impurity is precisely what I love about the word firangi. And it is also why I consider myself a firangi, not a videshi. I am a foreigner, but I also am not: my time in India has transformed me, changing how I speak, how I think, what I wear, what I eat, the music I listen to. Slowly but surely, like the word firangi itself, main Hindustani ban raha hoon.’
For the rest of the interview with Jonathan Gil Harris, read here.
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*These terms are, as far as I know, used only for the white western people. For people of all other regions of the world and India, I don't know if we have any politically-correct words at all.
*These terms are, as far as I know, used only for the white western people. For people of all other regions of the world and India, I don't know if we have any politically-correct words at all.
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