English Explanatory Dictionary

khwaja sira

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A member of a traditional transfeminine third gender in Pakistan and India since Mughal times.

Word forms

khwaja sira khwaja siras

Etymology

Borrowed from Hindustani ख़्वाजा सिरा (xvājā sirā) / خواجہ سرا (xvāja sirā), ultimately partly from Classical Persian. Emphasizing the mismatch between their visible bodies (hazir) and the invisible soul (ruh), they presented the khwaja sira as a feminine soul that was stuck in a masculine body. In presenting this definition of their gender and seeking legitimacy for it, khwaja siras seek to define the distinctiveness of their soul. It is not just any feminine soul but one endowed with certain spiritual qualities.1

Related words

hijra
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