Ghulam ( ar, غلام, ) is an Arabic word meaning ''servant'', ''assistant'', ''boy'', or ''youth''. It is used to describe young servants in paradise. It is also used to refer to slave-soldiers in the
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
Safavid
Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...
and to a lesser extent, Mughal empires, as described in the article ''
Ghilman
Ghilman (singular ar, غُلاَم ',Other standardized transliterations: '' / ''. . plural ')Other standardized transliterations: '' / ''. . were slave-soldiers and/or mercenaries in the armies throughout the Islamic world, such as the Safavi ...
'', which is the plural form of the word.
It is traditionally used as the first element of compounded Muslim male given names, meaning ''servant of ...'', mostly in
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
al-
( ar, ٱلْـ), also Romanized as ''el-'', ''il-,'' and ''l-'' as pronounced in some varieties of Arabic, is the definite article in the Arabic language: a particle (''ḥarf'') whose function is to render the noun on which it is prefixed def ...
'' is not used with ''ghulam'' (unlike compounds formed with '' ʿabd''; e.g. ''Gholammohammad'', ''Gholamhoseyn'', ''Gholamali''... and ''Abd al-Muhammad'', ''Abd al-Husayn'', ''Abd al-Ali''...). Since the 20th century, ''Ghulam'' has also been used as an independent given name and surname.
People with the given name (not in compound)
*
Ghulam Bombaywala
Ghulam Mohammed "Bombay" Bombaywala is a Pakistani-American restaurateur in Houston.Ghulam Ali Chowdhury (1824–1888), Bengali landlord and philanthropist
*
Ghulam Murshid
Ghulam Murshid ( Born 8 April 1940 ) is a Bangladeshi author, scholar and journalist, based in London. He won a number of awards, including Bangla Academy Literary Award in 1982 for his contribution to research.; Prothom Alo Book Award in 2007 ...
, Bangladeshi author, scholar and journalist
* Arbab Ghulam Rahim (born 1957), Pakistani politician
* Ghulam Raziq (born 1932), Pakistani hurdler
(born 1962), Lebanese architect
* Ali Gholam (born 1981), Iranian footballer
* Sara Ghulam (born 1989), Canadian model
* Jassim Ghulam Al-Hamd (born 1979), Iraqi footballer
List of compounded given names with first part ''Ghulam''
Ghulam Azam
Ghulam Azam ( bn, গোলাম আযম; 7 November 192223 October 2014) was a Bangladeshi Islamist politician. He was the former leader of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, the largest Islamist political party in Bangladesh.
Azam was arrested b ...
Ghulam Qadir Khan
Jam Mir Ghulam Qadir Khan Korejo (Urdu: جام غلام قادرخان عالياني) was the 11th Jam of Lasbela who also served as the 2nd Chief Minister of Balochistan. He belonged to Koreja Family of the Samma tribe who ruled over Sindh. H ...
Ghilman
Ghilman (singular ar, غُلاَم ',Other standardized transliterations: '' / ''. . plural ')Other standardized transliterations: '' / ''. . were slave-soldiers and/or mercenaries in the armies throughout the Islamic world, such as the Safavi ...
, young servants in paradise or slave-soldiers in the Abbasid, Ottoman, Safavid and to a lesser extent, Mughal empires
*
Ghulam Khan
Ghulām Khān (Pashto/) is a town in North Waziristan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Ghulam Khan is on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. It is the third most important border crossing point between Pakistan and Afghanistan, after Wesh ...