how·dah also hou·dah 
(houdə)
(houdə)n.
A seat, usually fitted with a canopy and railing, placed on the back of an elephant or a camel.
[Urdu haudah, from Arabic hawdaj, litter, sedan chair, from hadaja, to shuffle along, totter; see hdg in the Appendix of Semitic roots.]
howdah