Kurbash

Kurbash or Kourbash (qurbāj, from kırbaç, "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