mihaffa

Noun

mihaffa (plural mihaffas)

1. (Central-Asia, East, India, Middle, historical) Various forms of covered animal-borne litters, chiefly for female passengers.
   • Shir Khān... alleged as a pretext that he had a large number of families with him, and having placed two thousand armed Afghāns in closed litters⁷ sent them towards the fort.
     7 The Mihaffa is, as its name implies, a litter so closed in that the curtains surround on all sides the sitter upon it...1898, George Speirs Alexander Ranking translating 'Abd al-Qadir ibn-Muluk Shah al-Bada'uni as Muntakhabu-t-Tawārīkh, Vol. I, p. 457
   • Yet comfort in those days might well be considered hardship in these. Men who experienced the sensations of transport by camel cacolet during the Great War will sympathise with poor Mr. Beawes, who was daily shaken almost to pieces in a mihaffa.1930, The Naval Review, volume 18, page 617
2. (India, historical) Various forms of covered human-borne litters and sedan chairs, chiefly for female passengers.
   • Mohafa. This is the palanquin of rich females... it is entirely covered with a red lianging, and has no other ornament than a ball of copper at the top of the bambou... The Mohafa is carried by four servants, and attended by a number proportioned to the rank of the lady... Nevertheless the women...1811, F. Baltazard Solvyns, Les Hindoûs, Vol. III, Plate IV
   • The Levirate marriage... expenses are borne by the bridegroom, and the bride is carried with much parade in a palanquin, enclosed with curtains (Mihaffa).1883, James Wise, Notes on the Races, Castes, and Trades of Eastern Bengal, page 387