Where does “спахија” come from?
спахија (Macedonian) comes from Ottoman Turkish سپاهی, from Persian سپاهی, from Persian سپاه, from Proto-Iranian *cwáHdah, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *ćwáHdʰaH, from Proto-Indo-European ḱwéh₁-dʰ-o-h₁.
спахија (Macedonian): spahi
Ancestry of “спахија”, step by step