Rana ( IAST: ''Rāṇā'',

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 ...

: ) is a historical title denoting an absolute Hindu

monarch A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority and power i ...

in the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

. Today, it is used as a hereditary name in the Indian and Pakistani subcontinent. "Rana" was formerly used as a title of martial

sovereignty Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...

Jat The Jat people ((), ()) are a traditionally agricultural community in Northern India and Pakistan. Originally pastoralists in the lower Indus river-valley of Sindh, Jats migrated north into the Punjab region in late medieval times, and su ...

and

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 ...

kings in

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 ...

. Rani is the title for the wife of a rana or a female monarch. It also applies to the wife of a

raja ''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested f ...

. Compound titles include ''rana sahib'', ''ranaji'', ''rana bahadur'', and ''

maharana Maharana is a variation on the Indian royal title Rana (title), Rana. Maharana denotes 'king of kings', similar to the word "Maharaja". Ruler title in British India Salute states (all in present India) The gun salutes enjoyed by the states that ...

''.

Usage in the Indian subcontinent

Statue of Maharana Pratap of Mewar, commemorating the Battle of Haldighati, City Palace, Udaipur

"Rana" was formerly used as a title of martial

kings in

. Sisodia rulers of Mewar used the title of Mahārāṇā (महाराणा) extensively in their royal charters. Today, members of some

Rajput clans 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 Raj ...

use it as a hereditary title. 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 ...

, mostly

Muslims 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 ...

—but also some

Hindus 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 ...

in Sindh (present-day Pakistan)—use it as a hereditary title.

Umerkot Umerkot (formerly known as Amarkot) is a city in the Sindh province of Pakistan. The local language is Dhatki, which is one of the Rajasthani languages of the Indo-Aryan language family. It is most closely related to Marwari. Sindhi, Urdu an ...

, a state in Sindh, has a Hindu Thakur Sodha Rajput ruler who uses the title. In the 16th century, Rana Prasad, the monarch of Umerkot, gave refuge to the Mughal prince

Humayun Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad ( fa, ) (; 6 March 1508 – 27 January 1556), better known by his regnal name, Humāyūn; (), was the second emperor of the Mughal Empire, who ruled over territory in what is now Eastern Afghanistan, Pakistan, Northe ...

and his wife,

Hamida Banu Begum Hamida Banu Begum ( 1527 – 29 August 1604), was the queen consort of the second Mughal emperor Humayun and the mother of his successor, the third Mughal emperor Akbar.Sher Shah Suri Sher Shah Suri ( ps, شیرشاه سوری) (1472, or 1486 – 22 May 1545), born Farīd Khān ( ps, فرید خان) , was the founder of the Sur Empire in India, with its capital in Sasaram in modern-day Bihar. He standardized the silver coin ...

. Their son Akbar was born in the fort of the Rana of Umerkot. Maharaj Jung London 1850 AD

The head of the Kunwar nobles of Nepal,

Jung Bahadur Kunwar Maharaja Jung Bahadur Kunwar Ranaji, (born Bir Narsingh Kunwar ( ne, वीर नरसिंह कुँवर), 18 June 1817; popularly known as Jung Bahadur Rana (JBR, ne, जङ्गबहादुर राणा)) () belonging to the ...

, took the title of Rana(ji) and Shree Teen

Maharaja Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great king" or " high king". A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Empire, a ...

after consolidation of his post of

Prime Minister of Nepal The Prime Minister of Nepal ( ne, नेपालको प्रधानमन्त्री) is the head of government of Nepal. The Prime Minister is the head of the Council of Ministers of Nepal and the chief adviser to the President of ...

. This dynasty controlled administration of the

Kingdom of Nepal The Kingdom of Nepal ( ne, नेपाल अधिराज्य), also known as the Gorkha Empire ( ne, गोरखा अधिराज्य) or Asal Hindustan ( ne, असल हिन्दुस्तान)(), was a Hindu king ...

from 1846 until 1951, reducing the Shah monarch to a figurehead and making

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

and other government positions hereditary.

As a title

* The

Kolis The Koli is an Indian caste found in Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka, Odisha and Jammu and Kashmir states in India. Koli is an agriculturist caste of Gujarat but in coastal areas the ...

of India used the

title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...

of Rana and ruled over

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, ...

Shevdivadar Shevdivadar is a village in the Bhavnagar district of Gujarat in western India. History Shevdivadar was a petty princely state, in the Gohelwar ''prant'' of Kathiawar Kathiawar () is a peninsula, near the far north of India's west c ...

and

Sinhagad Sinhagad is an ancient hill fortress located at around 49 km southwest of the city of Pune, India. Previously known as ''Kondhana'', the fort had been the site of many battles, most notably the Battle of Sinhagad in 1670. The Sinhagad ...

fort A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

wae ruled by

Koli Koli may refer to: Places * Koli, Finland, a hill in Finland * Koli National Park, a national park in Finland * Koli, Iran (disambiguation), several places in Iran * Koli Airfield, a former airfield in the South Pacific Other uses * Koli peopl ...

Rana Nag Nayak who challenged the Delhi sultanate's

Sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...

Muhammad bin Tughluq Muhammad bin Tughluq (1290 – 20 March 1351) was the eighteenth Sultan of Delhi. He reigned from February 1325 until his death in 1351. The sultan was the eldest son of Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq, founder of the Tughlaq dynasty. In 1321, the youn ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rana Royal titles Titles in India Titles in Pakistan Titles of national or ethnic leadership Cultural history of India History of Pakistan