The name 'Ferengi' in Star Trek has a clear resemblance to a word for foreigners in Southeast Asian and Indian languages.
In particular, it's thought it may originally have been a word to describe the French, but being insular societies, the term came to apply to anyone from outside.
I've done some reading on India of late and have found that an alternate term for Sikhs is Sardar or Sardarji.
Sometimes used as a derogatory kind of like 'Polock.' Indeed, Sardarji jokes are an Indian phenomenon.
The Sikhs are famous as soldiers and warriors.
Thus is it any surprise the Padishah emperor sends his elite Sardakaur legions to Arrakis?
Frank Herbert is already known to have delved into history for names. Perhaps most famously Jesuit to Gesserit, both sects of powerful scheming intellectual clergy.
Also, the word 'thug' derives from the 'thugee', Indian gangsters who would gain the confidences of groups of travelers and then rob and strangle them when their guard was down. They were also a cult, performing their murders in the name of the goddess of destruction, chaos, our primal instincts: Kali. They were a major problem, killing huge numbers of people until the British dealt with them.
As it so happens, a Thugee leader or boss was known as a Jemadar. According to wiki, Jemadar also corresponds to the rank of Lieutenant in the Indian armed forces. Sound familiar?
Finding these connections is so much fun.
Anyone else notice world-wide linguistic connections to fictional universes?
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