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#REDIRECT [[List of ethnic slurs#G]]
'''Gora''' (or '''gaura''') is a [[South Asian]] adjective for a yellow-skinned or light-brown person, whether from [[India]], [[Pakistan]] or other regions. The word literally means "white" or "fair-skinned" in [[Indo-Aryan languages]] like [[Hindustani language|Hindustani]] ([[Hindi-Urdu]]), and [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]].


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Although the word distinctly means "yellowish", it is sometimes used informally to include any light-skinned person, whether light-brown, yellow or even white. In place names that date back to the colonial era - there are a number of graveyards in Pakistan such as the Gora Qabristan (the lighter-skinned graveyard) in [[Peshawar]],<ref>[http://www.dawn.com/weekly/dmag/archive/050612/dmag7.htm A vanishing landmark]</ref> the Gora Kabrastan in [[Karachi]],<ref>[http://www.dawn.com/weekly/review/archive/031002/review6.htm Grave business]</ref> as well as one in [[Chillianwala]], the site of a [[Battle of Chillianwala|famous battle]] involving the [[British East India Company]].<ref>[http://www.dawn.com/weekly/dmag/archive/030824/dmag11.htm Battlefields of Chillianwallah]</ref>
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According to the ''Natyasastra'', an Indian text, the term refers to "yellowish-reddish".<ref>''Studies in the Nāṭyaśāstra : with special reference to the Sanskrit drama in performance'', G.H. Tārḷekar, p. 138</ref> Because of Sri [[Chaitanya]] Mahaprabhu's explicitly yellow skin, he was termed "Gauranga".<ref> P. 52 ''Chaitanya Mahaprabhu'' By Prem Lata </ref>
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==Usage in Britain and among anglophones on the Subcontinent==
The term ''gora'' is often used by [[British Asian]]s and among English-speaking South Asians in the Subcontinent to refer to [[white people]], the feminine form being '''''gori'''''.<ref>[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/linguists-get-chuddies-in-twist-over-dialects-568408.html ''The Independent'', 1 April 2004]</ref>{{dead link|date=August 2012}} The plural term ''gore'' is also used to refer to white people of both genders. In this form it has taken on racial connotations so has acquired the status of a slur, though it is not inherently pejorative.

==Usage in Sikhism==
The term has been used to describe [[Sikh]]s of non-[[Punjabi people|Punjabi]] descent, especially [[White American]]s.<ref>http://books.google.com/books?id=YN9jC2_7UHYC&pg=PA985&lpg=PA985&dq=gora+sikhs+united+states&source=bl&ots=Bfint1_Hrt&sig=dEGyiSAjxd117ZpofR8cpYctX9I&hl=en&sa=X&ei=VIcqUJ2YAoHA6AHB74GoDQ&ved=0CEUQ6AEwBDgK#v=onepage&q=gora%20sikhs%20united%20states&f=false</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}


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[[Category:Ethnonyms]][[Category:Human appearance]]

Latest revision as of 06:04, 28 November 2022