Ghulam (Arabic: ???? ?) is an Arabic word meaning servant, boy, youth. It is used to describe young servants in paradise. It is also used to refer to slave-soldiers in the Abbasid, Ottoman, Safavid and to a lesser extent, Mughal empires, as described in the article Ghilman, which is the plural form of the word.It can be used as the first element of a Muslim male given name, meaning servant of .., or in modern times as an independent surname. Particular uses as a name element are: