Hobson-Jobson: A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases, and of Kindred Terms, Etymological, Historical, Geographical and Discursive c10.114

c10.114

AGAM, adj. A term applied to certain cloths dyed in some particular way. It is the Ar. *‘ajam* (lit. “one who has an impediment or difficulty in speaking Arabic”), a foreigner, and in particular, a Persian. The adj. *‘ajamī* thus means “foreign” or “Persian,” and is equivalent to the Greek *βάρβαρος* and the Hind. *mleććha*. Sir G. Birdwood (*Rep. on Old Rec.*, p. 145) quotes from Hieronimo di Santo Stefano (1494-99), “in company with some Armenian and Azami merchants”: and (*ibid.*) from Varthema: “It is a country of very great traffic in merchandise, and particularly with the Persians and Azamini, who come so far as there.”]