Shahbanu ( fa, شهبانو, ''Šahbānū'' lit. "Lady King") was the title for empress consort 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 ...

and other

Iranian languages The Iranian languages or Iranic languages are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family that are spoken natively by the Iranian peoples, predominantly in the Iranian Plateau. The Iranian languages are grouped ...

. The two

Sassanian The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...

empresses regnant,

Boran Boran (also spelled Buran, Middle Persian: ; New Persian: پوران‌دخت, ''Pūrāndokht'') was Sasanian queen (or ''banbishn'') of Iran from 630 to 632, with an interruption of some months. She was the daughter of king (or '' shah'') Khos ...

and

Azarmidokht Azarmidokht ( Middle Persian: ''Āzarmīgdukht''; New Persian: , ''Āzarmīdokht'') was Sasanian queen regnant (''banbishn'') of Iran from 630 to 631. She was the daughter of king ( shah) Khosrow II (). She was the second Sasanian queen; her s ...

, c. 630, were the last two that carried the title before

Farah Pahlavi Farah Pahlavi ( fa, فرح پهلوی, née Farah Diba ( fa, فرح دیبا, label=none); born 14 October 1938) is the widow of the last Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and was successively Queen and Empress (''Shahbanu'') of Iran from ...

, the wife of

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi , title = Shahanshah Aryamehr Bozorg Arteshtaran , image = File:Shah_fullsize.jpg , caption = Shah in 1973 , succession = Shah of Iran , reign = 16 September 1941 – 11 February 1979 , coronation = 26 October ...

, the last

Shah Shah (; fa, شاه, , ) is a royal title that was historically used by the leading figures of Iranian monarchies.Yarshater, EhsaPersia or Iran, Persian or Farsi, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) It was also used by a variety of ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

(

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

), assumed the title on being crowned queen in 1967 for the first time since the

Muslim conquest of Persia The Muslim conquest of Persia, also known as the Arab conquest of Iran, was carried out by the Rashidun Caliphate from 633 to 654 AD and led to the fall of the Sasanian Empire as well as the eventual decline of the Zoroastrian religion. Th ...

in the 7th century. As an empress during Sassanid times, the principal Shahbanu was also titled '' bâmbişnân bâmbişn'' ("Queen of Queens") analogous to the emperor's title ''şâhânşâh'' (lit. "King of Kings") to distinguish her from the other queens in the royal household. Farah Pahlavi sometimes continues to be referred to as Shahbanu, as is customarily done internationally for titleholders associated with

abolished monarchies The abolition of monarchy and anti-royalism is a legislative or revolutionary movement to abolish monarchical elements in government, usually hereditary. Abolition of absolutist monarchy in favor of limited government under constitutional monar ...

, but the title is no longer valid in Iran. According to the

Persian Constitution of 1906 The Persian Constitution of 1906 ( fa, قانون اساسی مشروطه, Qanun-e Asasi-ye Mishirutâh), was the first constitution of the Sublime State of Persia (Qajar Iran), resulting from the Persian Constitutional Revolution and it was w ...

Yasmine Pahlavi Yasmine Pahlavi ( fa, یاسمین پهلوی, née Etemad-Amini, Persian: ; born 26 July 1968), is the wife of Reza Pahlavi, the last crown prince of the former Imperial State of Iran. Biography Yasmine Etemad-Amini was born in Pars Hospital in ...

, Crown Princess of Iran, would currently hold this title.

References

{{Reflist Iranian empresses Imperial titles Titles in Iran Persian words and phrases

See also

References