khalifan.

1728 J. Morgan Compl. Hist. Algiers I. iv. 153 From Alexandria..came all the Mighty Armadas set on Foot by the Saracen Khalifas.

1898 Manch. Guard. 14 Oct. The Khalifate had belonged to the Khalifa, and not to the Khedive.

1856 Cape Monitor 16 Jan. 2/3 (heading) Checking the Malay ‘Califa’.

1856 Cape Monitor 16 Jan. 2/3 Several Malay priests have been examined..and it would seem from their evidence that the Califa is by no means part of the Mahomedan religion, and..ought only to be played on a certain night in each year.

1861 Cape Monthly Mag. Dec. 356 The most characteristic of their customs is the ‘Khalifa’, a religious ceremonial of the highest solemnity.

1867 M. Kollisch Mussulman Population Cape Good Hope 29 The feats which the ‘Khalifa’ involved, were highly amusing and..not altogether unmingled with fear of accident.

1900 Diamond Fields Advertiser (Kimberley) 31 May 2/3 Town Hall, Kimberley. Khalifa Representation in aid of the fund for the relief of the sick and wounded in the Transvaal war.

1950 M. Masson Birds of Passage xv. 142 But the pièce de résistance of the whole affair was a kalifa dance by two hundred Malays.

1953 I. D. Du Plessis & C. A. Lückhoff Malay Quarter iii. 62 During the previous century..there were many bands of Chalifah-players.

1953 I. D. Du Plessis & C. A. Lückhoff Malay Quarter iii. 62 The chief priest..is designated by the term Chalifah, which has now, through common usage, come to be applied to the performance itself.

1972 Standard Encycl. Southern Afr. VII. 147/1 The most spectacular custom of the Cape Malays is the performance of the Chalifah.

1844 R. M. Milnes Palm Leaves 10 The just successor of the Khaleefate.

1898 Manch. Guard. 14 Oct. The Khalifate had belonged to the Khalifa, and not to the Khedive.