Bibi (title)

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Portrait of a Bibi, Lucknow (Oudh State) 1785 Portrait of a Bibi, Lucknow.jpg
Portrait of a Bibi, Lucknow (Oudh State) 1785

Bibi, also spelled Bebe, is frequently used as a respectful title for Muslim, Christian and Sikh women in South Asia when added to the given name. [1] [2]

Contents

Bibi, like Begum, is used as a surname by many women in the region. [3]

In Anglo-Indian, the term bibi came to be seen as a synonym for mistress. [2]

Etymology

The word "Bibi", which made its way into the Pashto and Urdu language, was originally borrowed from Classical Persian (بی‌بیbī-bī). It was translated as "grandma" (chiefly in Pashto, Dari, Tajik ). Besides this it was also used as respectful title to address a senior women. [4]

Notable people known by this title

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References

  1. Nevile, Pran (2000). "Bibis and mistresses". The Hindu . Retrieved 31 October 2018.[ dead link ]
  2. 1 2 Hyam, Ronald (1990). Empire and Sexuality: The British Experience. Manchester University Press. p. 115. ISBN   9780719025044 . Retrieved 31 October 2018. Bibi is a Hindustani word meaning 'high-class woman', which in Hobson-Jobson 'Anglo-Indian' parlance came to mean native mistress.
  3. A. R. Gatrad; Aziz Sheikh (2001). "Muslim birth customs". Archives of Disease in Childhood - Fetal and Neonatal Edition. 84 (1). Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed2001;84:F6-F8 doi:10.1136/fn.84.1.F6: 6F–8. doi:10.1136/fn.84.1.F6. PMC   1721205 . PMID   11124915. Archived from the original on 2015-02-05.
  4. "بی‌بی", Wiktionary, the free dictionary, 2023-08-31, retrieved 2023-11-13
  5. Pant, Poonam (2001). Role of Women in Medieval Indian Politics, 1236-1627. Tarun Prakashan. p. 123. Retrieved 31 October 2018. Bibi Ambha , a Hindu beauty who enamoured Bahlol Lodi displayed a Machiavellian diplomacy.