Wiktionary
n. A whip or strap about a yard in length.
Wikipedia
Kurbash or Kourbash (, from , "a whip" ), a whip or strap about a yard in length, made of the hide of the hippopotamus or rhinoceros. It is an instrument of punishment and torture that was used in various Muslim countries, especially in the Ottoman empire. It was a common tool for discipline used on slaves. "Government by kurbash" denotes the oppression of a people by the constant abuse of the kurbash to maintain authority, to collect taxes, or to pervert justice. The use of the kurbash for such purposes, once common in Egypt, has been abolished since 1922 with Egypt's independence from England.
quotation: "Patriotism does not grow under the 'Kourbash.'" from "The River War" by Winston Churchill
Usage examples of "kurbash".
The land was ruled by bayonet and kurbash, the vicious hippo-hide whip.
As he recognized them he lashed each offender across the face with the kurbash whip he carried, and nodded to the squad of ask ari who were lined up behind him.
A pause to straighten an aching back or even the slightest hesitation invited the flick and snap of the kurbash whip from one of the overseers.
It seemed to Penrod that these were becoming more savage each day, as though by the kurbash, the firing squad and the noose he could delay the fall of the city.
He gave the stallion a cut across the rump with the kurbash, and al-Buq jumped forward.
She watched in paralyzed disbelief as his arm moved, swinging upward, the kurbash arching its limber length before it began its whistling, downward slash.
What say you to ten lashes with the kurbash for this one who seeks to cause strife in the harem?
Abdullah strutted forward, sending the kurbash whipping through the air once, twice.
Mercilessly, Abdullah brought the kurbash down across her buttocks, her thighs, and to the backs of her knees.
Mariyah writhing under the strokes of the kurbash, recognized that there could be but one answer.
The merchant wielded the kurbash himself, Jawharah said, reminiscently rubbing her broad beam, and then he had sold her to the owner of a brothel.
Their backs had been masses of scars overlaid with fresh red stripes from the kurbash in the hand of the overseer who stood to one side.
If not the kurbash, then the bastinado, the long thick rod applied to the soles of the bare feet, a method of chastisement which could leave the culprit crippled for life.
Each had his scimitar, a jeweled dagger in his belt, and a kurbash in his hand.
Carrying a vicious kurbash, he strode beside her litter, while flanking her on either side were the pair of eunuch guards with scimitars at their sides.