Mir ( fa, ) (which is derived from the
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
title ''
Emir
Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cerem ...
'' 'general, prince') is a rare ruler's title in princely states and an
aristocratic
Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'.
At the time of the word's ...
title generally used to refer to a person who is a descendant of a commander in medieval
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
tradition.
It was adopted in many languages under Islamic influence, such as Mir is a Balochi word and all the rest of the tribes copy this word and Sardar also came from the Balochs, later it became popular in Pakistan.
According to the book ''
Persian Inscriptions on Indian Monuments'', ''Mir'' is most probably an Arabized form of ''Pir''.
''Pir'' in
Old Persian
Old Persian is one of the two directly attested Old Iranian languages (the other being Avestan language, Avestan) and is the ancestor of Middle Persian (the language of Sasanian Empire). Like other Old Iranian languages, it was known to its native ...
means "the old", "the wise man", "the chief" and "the great leader." Pir is a religious cleric's or leader's title for
Alevi
Alevism or Anatolian Alevism (; tr, Alevilik, ''Anadolu Aleviliği'' or ''Kızılbaşlık''; ; az, Ələvilik) is a local Islamic tradition, whose adherents follow the mystical Alevi Islamic ( ''bāṭenī'') teachings of Haji Bektash Veli, w ...
,
Yezidism
Yazidism , alternatively Sharfadin is a monotheistic ethnic religion that has roots in a western Iranic pre-Zoroastrian religion directly derived from the Indo-Iranian tradition. It is followed by the mainly Kurmanji-speaking Yazidis and is ...
and
Yarsanism
Yarsanism, Ahl-e Haqq or Kaka'i ( ku, یارسان, translit=Yarsan or ; fa, اهل حق, ar, كاكائي), is a syncretic religion founded by Sultan Sahak in the late 14th century in western Iran. The total number of followers of Yarsanism i ...
faith meaning old and wise spiritual leader. ''Amir'', meaning "lord" or "commander-in-chief", is derived from the Arabic root a-m-r, "command".
Title
Ruling Princes
In Muslim
princely state
A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Raj, British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, ...
s of British India, few rulers were formally styled ''Mir'', notably in present
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
, where only two of the six have actually reached the level of
salute state
A salute state was a princely state under the British Raj that had been granted a gun salute by the British Crown (as paramount ruler); i.e., the protocolary privilege for its ruler to be greeted—originally by Royal Navy ships, later also ...
, becoming entitled to a gun salute and the attached form of address ''His Highness'':
* the Mir of
Morni
Morni is a village and tourist attraction in the Morni Hills at the height of in the Panchkula district of the Indian state of Haryana. It is located around from Chandigarh, from Panchkula city and is known for its Himalayan views, flora ...
, Garhi Kotaha and
Pindrawal
Pindrawal is a town in Bulandshahr district of Uttar Pradesh, India
History
Pindrawal was a zamindari during British India belonging to dynasty of Lalkhani Badgujar Muslim Rajput community.
Raja’s of Pindrawal
* Raja Mir Syed Muha ...
part of then
Punjab Province and
United Province
United may refer to:
Places
* United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
* United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community
Arts and entertainment Films
* ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film
* ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...
.
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
now
Punjab
Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...
,
Haryana
Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ar ...
and some parts of
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
* the Mir of
Khayrpur (Khairpur) (17 guns), a
Rajputana
Rājputana, meaning "Land of the Rajputs", was a region in the Indian subcontinent that included mainly the present-day Indian state of Rajasthan, as well as parts of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, and some adjoining areas of Sindh in modern-day ...
part of present Pakistan's Sindh province, under a branch of the
Talpur clan
The Talpur dynasty ( sd, ٽالپردور) were rulers based in Sindh. Four branches of the dynasty were established following the defeat of the Kalhora dynasty at the Battle of Halani in 1783: one ruled lower Sindh from the city of Hyderabad, ...
* the
Mir of Hunza
Mir of Hunza was the title of rulers in the Hunza Valley in the Northern Areas, Pakistan.
Etymology
The Mir used to have the Burushaski title of Thum (also ''Tham'' or ''Thom''), later changed to Mir, a Persian form of the Arabic title ''Emir ...
(15 guns)
The following all remained non-salute states:
* The Mir of
Mirpur State, under a branch of the above Talpur clan, in Sind(h)
* The Mir of
Kharan; from 1921, restyled Sardar Bahador Nawab, till 1940 a vassal of the Khan and Wali of
Khalat
A khalat ( fa, خلعت / ALA-LC: ''xalat''), also known as khelat ( bn, খেলাত), is a loose, long-sleeved outer silk or cotton robe common in Central Asia and South Asia and worn both by men and women, although in differing styles.
...
(the senior ruler in British/
Pakistani Baluchistan)
* Petty
Pashtun
Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...
''Northwestern Frontier states''
** The Mir of
Amb (Tanawal), capital Darband; from 1868, restyled
Nawwab
Nawab ( Balochi: نواب; ar, نواب;
bn, নবাব/নওয়াব;
hi, नवाब;
Punjabi : ਨਵਾਬ;
Persian,
Punjabi ,
Sindhi,
Urdu: ), also spelled Nawaab, Navaab, Navab, Nowab, Nabob, Nawaabshah, Nawabshah or Nobab, ...
; from 1921 promoted Nawab Bahador
** The Mir of
Nagar, in the northern part of
Gilgit–Baltistan
Gilgit-Baltistan (; ), formerly known as the Northern Areas, is a region administered by Pakistan as an administrative territory, and constituting the northern portion of the larger Kashmir region which has been the subject of a dispute be ...
.
** The Mir of
Jandala State, a petty
Rajput
Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...
North Frontier state
''Mir'' was also used as an honor rank. (See:
Mirza
Mirza may refer to:
* Mirza, Kamrup, town in Assam, India
* Mirza (name), historical royal title & noble
* ''Mirza'', the genus of giant mouse lemur
* "Mirza", song by Nino Ferrer
* ''Mirza – The Untold Story'', Punjabi action romance film wri ...
)
Compound Titles
In
the subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geopolitically, it includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India ...
, since the Mughal period, various compounds were used 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 ...
including:
* combined Indian princely styles, notably Sahibzada Mir
*Mīr-tuzak or ''tǒzak'': Marshal, in the sense of an officer who maintains order in a march or procession; master of the ceremonies
*Mīr-dah or ''Mīr-daha'': Commander or superintendent of ten: decurion; a
Tithingman
In English law, the term headborough, head-borough, borough-head, borrowhead, or chief pledge, referred historically to the head of the legal, administrative, and territorial unit known as a tithing, which sometimes, particularly in Kent, Surrey an ...
*Mīr-
sāmān: Head steward
*Mīr-
shikār: Master of the hunt, chief huntsman; also
Grand Falconer; hence bird-catcher, and (metaphorically) a pimp
*Mīr-ě-ātash or ''Mīr-ātish'': Chief of the fireworks; also Commandant of artillery, Master of the ordnance
*Mīr-ě-majlis, shortened ''Mīr-majlis'': Master of the ceremonies or president, chairman of a
majlis
( ar, المجلس, pl. ') is an Arabic term meaning "sitting room", used to describe various types of special gatherings among common interest groups of administrative, social or religious nature in countries with linguistic or cultural conne ...
(assembly)
*Mīr-
mahalla
is an Arabic word variously translated as district, quarter, ward, or "neighborhood" in many parts of the Arab world, the Balkans, Western Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and nearby nations.
History
Historically, mahallas were autonomous social ins ...
: Headman of a ''mahal(la)'', i.e. quarter (of a town)
*Mīr-ě-manzil, shortened ''Mīr-manzil'': Overseer of the halting-places; Quartermaster-general
*Mīr-
munshī: Chief secretary; Head (native) clerk of a (colonial) office.
*Mir-
Hashimi'': leader in logar province of Afghanistan ( Mir Samim Hashimi)
In the
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
kingdom of
Nepal
Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
:
*Mir Munshi, from the Arabic
Amir-i-Munshi, 'commander of the secretaries', is the Chief Secretary of the Foreign Office.
*Mir Umrao, from the Arabic
Amir ul-Umara, 'commander of commanders': a senior military officer ranking below a
Sardar
Sardar, also spelled as Sardaar/Sirdar ( fa, سردار, , 'commander', literally 'headmaster'), is a title of royalty and nobility that was originally used to denote princes, noblemen, chiefs, kings and other aristocrats. It has also been u ...
and charged with the command of a fort and surrounding territories, the training and equipment of soldiers and the supply of material.
In the
Baloch kingdom of
Balochistan
Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...
:
*
Mir Chakar Rind
Chakar Khan Rind, Mir Shakar Khan Rind, Meer Chaakar Khan Rind or Chakar The Great, Chakar-i-Azam Baloch Nation (1468–1565) ( Balochi: میر چاکَر حان رِند) was a Baloch chieftain in the 14-15th century. He also aided Mugh ...
, Ruler of Balochistan in the 15th Century.
In the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
, ''Mir-i Miran'' was used as the Persian equivalent to the Turkish title ''
Beylerbey
''Beylerbey'' ( ota, بكلربكی, beylerbeyi, lit=bey of beys, meaning the 'commander of commanders' or 'lord of lords') was a high rank in the western Islamic world in the late Middle Ages and early modern period, from the Anatolian Seljuks ...
'' ("Bey of Beys"), alongside the Arabic equivalent ''
Amir al-Umara'' ("Emir of Emirs").
[Zetterstéen (1986), p. 446]
In the
Yazidi
Yazidis or Yezidis (; ku, ئێزیدی, translit=Êzidî) are a Kurmanji-speaking endogamous minority group who are indigenous to Kurdistan, a geographical region in Western Asia that includes parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran. The majo ...
culture, the Mîr is the religious and also the administrative authority.
See also
*
Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani
Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani ( fa, میر سید علی همدانی; CE) was a Persian scholar, poet and a Sufi Muslim saint of the Kubrawiya order. He was born in Hamadan, Iran and preached Islam in Central Asia and Kashmir as he travelled to pr ...
* There are several cities and towns in
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
named after this princely title. These include
Mirpur, in
Kashmir
Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...
, and
Mirpurkhas
Mirpur Khas ( Sindhi and ; ''meaning "Town of the most-high Mirs"'') is the capital city of the Mirpur Khas District and Mirpur Khas Division in the Sindh province, Pakistan. Mirpur Khas is the 16th largest city in Sindh province and the 80th ...
, in
Sindh
Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...
.
*
Mir Ali Ayyubi
* In the tribal societies of South Asia, many people used this word with or as rather as part of their names e.g. Mir Murtaza Bhutto, as happens with many titles (especially
Khan
Khan may refer to:
*Khan (inn), from Persian, a caravanserai or resting-place for a travelling caravan
*Khan (surname), including a list of people with the name
*Khan (title), a royal title for a ruler in Mongol and Turkic languages and used by ...
), not only those holding a position as tribal or other leader.
*
Mir
''Mir'' (russian: Мир, ; ) was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, operated by the Soviet Union and later by Russia. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to&n ...
is a prominent family name among people of Kashmiri origin in Punjab province of
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
.
*
Amir
Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cerem ...
(later Amir Nawwab) of
Bahawalpur
Bahawalpur () is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. With inhabitants as of 2017, it is Pakistan's 11th most populous city.
Founded in 1748, Bahawalpur was the capital of the former princely state of Bahawalpur, ruled by the Abbasi fa ...
)
References
{{Reflist
External links
Platt's Dictionary of Urdu&Hindi
Court titles
Feudalism in Asia
Heads of state
Military ranks
Royal titles
Noble titles
Titles
Titles in Pakistan
Islam in South Asia
Titles in Bangladesh