Khawaja (
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
:
خواجه ''khvâjəh'') is an honorific title used across the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
,
South Asia
South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical
Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth descr ...
,
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...
and
Central Asia
Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...
, particularly towards
Sufi teachers.
It is also used by
Kashmiri Muslims
Kashmiri Muslims are ethnic Kashmiris who practice Islam and are native to the Kashmir Valley in Indian-administered Kashmir. Quote: "Jammu and Kashmir: Territory in northwestern India, subject to a dispute between India and Pakistan. It has ...
and the
Mizrahi Jews
Mizrahi Jews ( he, יהודי המִזְרָח), also known as ''Mizrahim'' () or ''Mizrachi'' () and alternatively referred to as Oriental Jews or ''Edot HaMizrach'' (, ), are a grouping of Jewish communities comprising those who remained ...
—particularly
Persian Jews
Persian Jews or Iranian Jews ( fa, یهودیان ایرانی, ''yahudiān-e-Irāni''; he, יהודים פרסים ''Yəhūdīm Parsīm'') are the descendants of Jews who were historically associated with the Persian Empire, whose successor ...
and
Baghdadi Jews
The former communities of Jewish migrants and their descendants from Baghdad and elsewhere in the Middle East are traditionally called Baghdadi Jews or Iraqi Jews. They settled primarily in the ports and along the trade routes around the Indian ...
. The word comes from the Iranian word ''khwāja'' (
Classical Persian
Persian (), also known by its endonym Farsi (, ', ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken and u ...
: ''khwāja'';
Dari
Dari (, , ), also known as Dari Persian (, ), is the variety of the Persian language spoken in Afghanistan. Dari is the term officially recognised and promoted since 1964 by the Afghan government for the Persian language,Lazard, G.Darī ...
''khājah'';
Tajik ''khoja''). In
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
, the title roughly translates to 'Lord' or 'Master'.
The
Ottoman Turkish pronunciation of the Persian
خواجه gave rise to ''hodja'' and its equivalents such as ''
hoca
Hoca is the Turkish spelling of the Persian word Khawaja ( Persian: خواجه ''khwāja, khâjeh''), used as a title, given name or surname.
As a title, Hoca (variant ''Hodja'') means “master” and is commonly used for teachers, professor ...
'' in
modern Turkish
Turkish ( , ), also referred to as Turkish of Turkey (''Türkiye Türkçesi''), is the most widely spoken of the Turkic languages, with around 80 to 90 million speakers. It is the national language of Turkey and Northern Cyprus. Significant smal ...
, ''hoxha'' in
Albanian, ''xoca'' (''khoja'') in
Azerbaijani, ''hodža'' in
Bosnian, ''χότζας'' (''chótzas'') in
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
, ''hogea'' in
Romanian
Romanian may refer to:
*anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania
**Romanians, an ethnic group
**Romanian language, a Romance language
*** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language
** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...
, and ''хоџа'' in
Serbian.
Other spellings include ''khaaja'' (
Bengali
Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to:
*something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia
* Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region
* Bengali language, the language they speak
** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
) and ''koja'' (
Javanese).
The name is also used in
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
and
Sudan to indicate a person with a foreign nationality or foreign heritage.
Etymology
Ultimately derived from a Middle Indo-Aryan reflex of
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
br>
उपाध्याय(upādhyāya, “teacher; preceptor; spiritual adviser”), via Central Asian intermediaries.Various Middle Indo-Aryan reflexes are attested from all stages, including
Maharashtri Prakrit 𑀉𑀯𑀚𑁆𑀛𑀸𑀅 (uvajjhāa), but the Central Asian loaning source most closely resembles an unattested *𑀯𑀸𑀚𑁆𑀛𑀸𑀅 (*vājjhāa) — matching
Sindhi واجهو (vājho, “Hindu schoolteacher”). The initial aspiration in
Classical Persian
Persian (), also known by its endonym Farsi (, ', ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken and u ...
خواجه (xwāja) is also found in
Khwarezmian خواجیک (xwʾjyk /xwājīk/, “venerated man”) and
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
和尚 (héshàng, “Buddhist monk”).
Gallery
File:Lescostumespopul00osma.pdf, page=99, Hodja of Shkodra, from ''Les costumes populaires de la Turquie en 1873'', published under the patronage of the Ottoman Imperial Commission for the 1873 Vienna World's Fair
)
, building = Rotunda
, area = 233 Ha
, invent =
, visitors = 7,255,000
, organized =
, cnt =
, org =
, biz =
, country = Austria-Hungary
, city ...
File:Lescostumespopul00osma.pdf, page=137, Hodja of Salonika, today's Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...
(first on the right, with the Hakham Bashi
''Haham Bashi'' (chachampasēs) which is explained as "μεγάλος ραβίνος" or "Grand Rabbi".
* Persian: khākhāmbāšīgarī is used in the Persian version of the Ottoman Constitution of 1876. Strauss stated that there was a possibil ...
of Salonika on the left and a Monastir town dweller in the middle), from ''Les costumes populaires de la Turquie en 1873'', published under the patronage of the Ottoman Imperial Commission for the 1873 Vienna World's Fair
See also
*
Khwaja Khizr Tomb
Khwaja Khizr Tomb is a maqbara located at Jatwara, Sonipat
Sonipat is a city, municipal corporation and administrative headquarter in Sonipat district of Haryana state of India. It comes under the National Capital Region and is around from N ...
at
Sonipat
Sonipat is a city, municipal corporation and administrative headquarter in Sonipat district of Haryana state of India. It comes under the National Capital Region and is around from New Delhi. It is also around 214 km (128 miles) southwest o ...
*
Afaq Khoja Mausoleum in
Kashgar
*
Khwajagan
Khwājagān (shortened/singular forms: Khwaja, Khaja(h), Khawaja or khuwaja) is a Persian title for ''"the Masters"''. Khwajagan, as the plural for "Khwāja", is often used to refer to a network of Sufis in Central Asia from the 10th to the 16th ...
, a network of
Sufis in
Central Asia
Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...
from the 10th to the 16th century who are often incorporated into later
Naqshbandi hierarchies.
*
Khajeh Nouri (Or Khajenouri), a Persian family belonging to pre-revolution
nobility
Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The character ...
, thei
family treecan be traced back 45 generations.
*
Khojaly, a town in
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...
.
*
Khoja (Turkestan)
Khoja or Khwaja ( kk, Қожа; ug, خوجا; fa, خواجه; tg, хӯҷа; uz, xo'ja; ), a Persian word literally meaning 'master' or ‘lord’, was used in Central Asia as a title of the descendants of the noted Central Asian Naqshbandi ...
, a title of the descendants of the Central Asian Naqshbandi Sufi teacher, Ahmad Kasani
*
Hoca
Hoca is the Turkish spelling of the Persian word Khawaja ( Persian: خواجه ''khwāja, khâjeh''), used as a title, given name or surname.
As a title, Hoca (variant ''Hodja'') means “master” and is commonly used for teachers, professor ...
, Turkish spelling of Khawaja
*
Hoxha
Enver Halil Hoxha ( , ; 16 October 190811 April 1985) was an Albanian communist politician who was the authoritarian ruler of Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. He was First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania from 1941 unt ...
, Albanian surname
*
Hodžić, Bosniak surname
*
Koya, a medieval Indian administrative position
References
{{Surname
Islamic honorifics
Islamic Persian honorifics
Islamic Urdu honorifics
Titles
Turkish words and phrases
Persian words and phrases
Bengali words and phrases
Albanian words and phrases