Havelis

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A large traditional townhouse or mansion built around a courtyard, found across the Indian subcontinent and often ornately decorated
2. An ornate old family residence in India, Pakistan or Bangladesh, typically arranged around an open central courtyard
3. A grand historic house of the Indian subcontinent, usually with a courtyard at its heart and elaborate architectural detail

Etymology: "Havelis" is the plural of "haveli", a term for a traditional mansion built around a central courtyard, found mainly in the Indian subcontinent. The singular comes from Hindi "havelī" and Urdu "havelī", both written in the Perso-Arabic or Devanagari scripts respectively, and it is the form that English speakers borrowed, usually in the plural when describing a group of these buildings, such as the old merchant houses of Rajasthan or Old Delhi. The word's roots lie in the Arabic-Persian vocabulary that shaped Urdu and much of northern Indian culture. In these languages it carried the sense of an enclosed space, and the architecture it names reflects that: rooms are arranged around an open courtyard, which provided light, ventilation and privacy for families. The building form is what gave the word its meaning, rather than the other way round.

Synonyms: mansion, villa