Giaour

Giaour or Gawur (; Turkish: gâvur, Turkish pronunciation: [ɟaˈvuɾ]; from Persian: گور gâvor; Romanian: ghiaur; Albanian: kaur; Greek: γκιαούρης, romanized: gkiaoúris; Macedonian: каур/ѓаур; Bulgarian: гяур; Bosnian; kaur/đaur) meaning "infidel", is a slur used mostly in the lands of the former Ottoman Empire for non-Muslims or, more particularly, Christians in the Balkans.

Terminology

The terms "kafir", "gawur", and "rûm" (the last meaning "Rum millet") were commonly used in defters (tax registries) for Orthodox Christians, usually without ethnic distinction. Christian ethnic groups in the Balkan lands of the Ottoman Empire included Greeks (rûm), Bulgarians (bulgar), Serbs (sırp), Christian Albanian (arnavut) and Vlachs (eflak), among others.

The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica described the term as follows:

Giaour (a Turkish adaptation of the Persian gâwr or gōr, an infidel), a word used by the Turks to describe all who are not Mohammedans, with especial reference to Christians. The word, first employed as a term of contempt and reproach, has become so general that in most cases no insult is intended in its use; for example in parts of China, the term foreign devil has become void of offence. A strict analogy to giaour is found in the Arabic kafir, or unbeliever, which is so commonly in use as to have become the proper name of peoples and countries.

During the Tanzimat era (1839–1876), a Hatt-i humayun prohibited the use of the term by Muslims with reference to non-Muslims in order to prevent problems occurring in social relationships.

European cultural references

• Giaour is the name given to the evil monster of a man in the tale Vathek, written by William Beckford in French in 1782 and translated into English soon after. The spelling Giaour appears in the French as well as in the English translation.
• In 1813 Lord Byron published his poem The Giaour: A Fragment of a Turkish Tale, whose themes revolve around the ideas of love, death, and afterlife in Western Europe and the Ottoman Empire.
• Le Giaour, an 1832 painting by Ary Scheffer, oil on canvas, "Musée de la Vie romantique", Hôtel Scheffer-Renan, Paris.

See also

• Gabr, Persian equivalent
• Kafir, Arabic equivalent
• Dhimmi
• Rayah
• Guiri is Spanish slang for a foreign tourist. According to Juan Goytisolo, it is derived from Turkish gâvur.

Notes

References

Bibliography

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Giaour". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 11 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 927.

1. The Giaour
2. Vathek
3. Wurdulac
4. The Combat of the Giaour and Hassan
5. Paganism
6. Rafida
7. Rayah
8. Goy
9. Qadiani
10. Holy Roller
11. Mirzai
12. Jesus freak
13. List of ethnic slurs
14. Mulhid
15. Tamerlane (poem)
16. Varda Viaduct
17. Lord Byron
18. Fenian
19. Gabr
20. Byronic hero