Shah-an-shah

Shah (; fa, شاه, , ) is a royal title that was historically used by the leading figures of Iranian monarchies.Yarshater, Ehsa
Persia or Iran, Persian or Farsi
, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) It was also used by a variety of Persianate societies, such as the Ottoman Empire, the Kazakh Khanate, the Khanate of Bukhara, the Emirate of Bukhara, the Mughal Empire, the Bengal Sultanate, historical Afghan dynasties, and among Gurkhas. Rather than regarding himself as simply a king of the concurrent dynasty (i.e. European-style monarchies), each Iranian ruler regarded himself as the Shahanshah ( fa, شاهنشاه, translit=Šâhanšâh, label=none, ) or Padishah ( fa, پادشاه, translit=Pâdešâh, label=none, ) in the sense of a continuation of the original Persian Empire.

Etymology

The word descends from Old Persian ''xšāyaθiya'' "king", which used to be considered a borrowing from Median, as it was compared to Avestan ''xšaθra-'', "power" and "command", corresponding to Sanskrit (Old Indic) ''kṣatra-'' (same meaning), from which '' kṣatriya-'', "warrior", is derived. Most recently, the form ''xšāyaθiya'' has been analyzed as a genuine, inherited Persian formation with the meaning 'pertaining to reigning, ruling'. This formation with the "origin" suffix ''-iya'' is derived from a deverbal abstract noun *''xšāy-aθa-'' 'rule, ruling, ''Herrschaft'', from the (Old Persian) verb ''xšāy-'' 'to rule, reign'. The full, Old Persian title of the Achaemenid rulers of the First Persian Empire was ''Xšāyaθiya Xšāyaθiyānām'' or (Modern Persian) ''Šāhe Šāhān'', "King of Kings" or "Emperor". This title has ancient Near Eastern or Mesopotamian precedents. The earliest attestation of such a title dates back to the Middle Assyrian period as ''šar šarrāni,'' in reference to the Assyrian ruler Tukulti-Ninurta I (1243–1207 BC).

History

''Šāh'', or ''Šāhanšāh'' (King of Kings) to use the full-length term, was the title of the Persian emperors. It includes rulers of the first Persian Empire, the Achaemenid dynasty, who unified Persia in the sixth century BC, and created a vast intercontinental empire, as well as rulers of succeeding dynasties throughout history until the twentieth century and the Imperial House of Pahlavi.

While in Western sources the Ottoman monarch is most often referred to as a Sultan, in Ottoman territory he was most often referred to as ''Padishah'' and several used the title Shah in their tughras. Their male offspring received the title of ''Şehzade'', or prince (literally, "offspring of the Shah", from Persian ''shahzadeh'').

The full title of the Achaemenid rulers was ''Xšāyaθiya Xšāyaθiyānām'', literally "King of Kings" in Old Persian, corresponding to Middle Persian ''Šâhân Šâh'', and Modern Persian (''Šâhanšâh''). In Greek, this phrase was translated as (''basileus tōn basiléōn''), "King of Kings", equivalent to "Emperor". Both terms were often shortened to their roots ''shah'' and ''basileus''.

In Western languages, ''Shah'' is often used as an imprecise rendering of ''Šāhanšāh''. The term was first recorded in English in 1564 as a title for the King of Persia and with the spelling ''Shaw''. For a long time, Europeans thought of ''Shah'' as a particular royal title rather than an imperial one, although the monarchs of Persia regarded themselves as emperors of the Persian Empire (later the Empire of Iran). The European opinion changed in the Napoleonic era, when Persia was an ally of the Western powers eager to make the Ottoman Sultan release his hold on various (mainly Christian) European parts of the Ottoman Empire, and western (Christian) emperors had obtained the Ottoman acknowledgement that their western imperial styles were to be rendered in Turkish as ''padishah''.

In the twentieth century, the Shah of Persia, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, officially adopted the title ''Šâhanšâh'' and, in western languages, the rendering ''Emperor''. He also styled his wife '' Shahbânū'' ("Empress"). Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was the last Shah, as the Iranian monarchy was abolished after the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

Ruler styles

* From the reign of Ashot III (952/53–77), the Bagratid kings of Armenia used the title ''shahanshah'', meaning "king of kings".
* The title ''Padishah'' (Great King) was adopted from the Iranians by the Ottomans and by various other monarchs claiming imperial rank, such as the Mughals that established their dynasty in the Indian subcontinent.
* Another subsidiary style of the Ottoman and Mughal rulers was ''Shah-i-Alam Panah'', meaning "King, refuge of the world".
* The Shah-Armens ("Kings of Armenia", sometimes known as Ahlahshahs), used the title ''Shāh-i Arman'' (lit. "Shah of Armenia").
* Some monarchs were known by a contraction of the kingdom's name with ''shah'', such as Khwarezmshah, ruler of the realm of Khwarezmia in the Central Asia, or the Shirvanshah of the historical region of Shirvan in Caucasia (present-day Republic of Azerbaijan)
* The kings of Georgia called themselves ''shahanshah'' alongside their other titles. The Georgian title ''mepetmepe'' (also meaning King of Kings Mepe''-king in Georgian]) was also inspired by the ''shahanshah'' title.

Shahzade

''Shahzade'' ( fa, شاهزاده, Transliteration, transliterated as ''Šâhzâde''). In the realm of a shah (or a more lofty derived ruler style), a prince or princess of the royal blood was logically called ''shahzada'' as the term is derived from shah using the Persian patronymic suffix -zâde or -zâdeh, "born from" or "descendant of". However the precise full styles can differ in the court traditions of each shah's kingdom. This title was given to the princes of the Ottoman Empire (''Şehzade'', Ottoman Turkish: شهزاده) and was used by the princes of Islamic India (''Shahzāda'', Urdu