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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 A Persianate society is a society that is based on or strongly influenced by the Persian language, culture, literature, art and/or identity. The term "Persianate" is a neologism credited to Marshall Hodgson. In his 1974 book, ''The Venture of I ...
, such as 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) ...
, the
Kazakh Khanate The Kazakh Khanate ( kk, Қазақ Хандығы, , ), in eastern sources known as Ulus of the Kazakhs, Ulus of Jochi, Yurt of Urus, was a Kazakh state in Central Asia, successor of the Golden Horde existing from the 15th to 19th century, ...
, the
Khanate of Bukhara The Khanate of Bukhara (or Khanate of Bukhoro) ( fa, , Khānāt-e Bokhārā; ) was an Uzbek state in Central Asia from 1500 to 1785, founded by the Abu'l-Khayrid dynasty, a branch of the Shaybanids. From 1533 to 1540, Bukhara briefly became its ...
, the
Emirate of Bukhara The Emirate of Bukhara ( fa, , Amārat-e Bokhārā, chg, , Bukhārā Amirligi) was a Muslim polity in Central Asia that existed from 1785 to 1920 in what is modern-day Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. It occupied the lan ...
, the
Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...
, the
Bengal Sultanate The Sultanate of Bengal ( Middle Bengali: শাহী বাঙ্গালা ''Shahī Baṅgala'', Classical Persian: ''Saltanat-e-Bangālah'') was an empire based in Bengal for much of the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. It was the dominan ...
, historical Afghan dynasties, and among
Gurkhas The Gurkhas or Gorkhas (), with endonym Gorkhali ), are soldiers native to the Indian Subcontinent, chiefly residing within Nepal and some parts of Northeast India. The Gurkha units are composed of Nepalis and Indian Gorkhas and are recru ...
. 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 Padishah ( fa, پادشاه; ; from Persian: r Old Persian: *">Old_Persian.html" ;"title="r Old Persian">r Old Persian: * 'master', and ''shāh'', 'king'), sometimes Romanization of Persian, romanised as padeshah or padshah ( fa, پادشاه; ...
( fa, پادشاه, translit=Pâdešâh, label=none, ) in the sense of a continuation of the original
Persian Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, wikt:𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎶, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an History of Iran#Classical antiquity, ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Bas ...
.


Etymology

The word descends from
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 ...
''xšāyaθiya'' "king", which used to be considered a borrowing from
Median In statistics and probability theory, the median is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a data sample, a population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as "the middle" value. The basic fe ...
, as it was compared to
Avestan Avestan (), or historically Zend, is an umbrella term for two Old Iranian languages: Old Avestan (spoken in the 2nd millennium BCE) and Younger Avestan (spoken in the 1st millennium BCE). They are known only from their conjoined use as the scrip ...
''xšaθra-'', "power" and "command", corresponding to
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 ...
(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 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 ...
title of the
Achaemenid The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, wikt:𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎶, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an History of Iran#Classical antiquity, ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Bas ...
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 Tukulti-Ninurta I (meaning: "my trust is in he warrior god Ninurta"; reigned 1243–1207 BC) was a king of Assyria during the Middle Assyrian Empire. He is known as the first king to use the title "King of Kings". Biography Tukulti-Ninurta I s ...
(1243–1207 BC).


History

''Šāh'', or ''Šāhanšāh'' (
King of Kings King of Kings; grc-gre, Βασιλεὺς Βασιλέων, Basileùs Basiléōn; hy, արքայից արքա, ark'ayits ark'a; sa, महाराजाधिराज, Mahārājadhirāja; ka, მეფეთ მეფე, ''Mepet mepe'' ...
) to use the full-length term, was the title of the Persian emperors. It includes rulers of the first Persian Empire, the
Achaemenid dynasty The Achaemenid dynasty ( Old Persian: ; Persian: ; Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) was an ancient Persian royal dynasty that ruled the Achaemenid Empire, an Iranian empire that stretched from Egypt and Southeastern Europe in the west to the In ...
, 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
tughra A tughra ( ota, طغرا, ṭuġrā) is a calligraphic monogram, seal or signature of a sultan that was affixed to all official documents and correspondence. Inspired by the tamgha, it was also carved on his seal and stamped on the coins minted du ...
s. Their male offspring received the title of ''
Şehzade ''Şehzade'' ( fa, شهزاده) is the Ottoman form of the Persian title '' Shahzadeh'', and refers to the male descendants of an Ottoman sovereign in the male line. This title is equivalent to " prince of the blood imperial" in English. Origi ...
'', 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 Middle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle Per ...
''Šâhân Šâh'', and Modern Persian (''Šâhanšâh''). 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 ...
, this phrase was translated as (''
basileus ''Basileus'' ( el, ) is a Greek term and title that has signified various types of monarchs in history. In the English-speaking world it is perhaps most widely understood to mean "monarch", referring to either a "king" or an "emperor" and al ...
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 This is a list of monarchs of Persia (or monarchs of the Iranic peoples, in present-day Iran), which are known by the royal title Shah or Shahanshah. This list starts from the establishment of the Medes around 671 BCE until the deposition of the ...
regarded themselves as emperors of the Persian Empire (later the
Empire of Iran The Pahlavi dynasty ( fa, دودمان پهلوی) was the last Iranian royal dynasty, ruling for almost 54 years between 1925 and 1979. The dynasty was founded by Reza Shah Pahlavi, a non-aristocratic Mazanderani soldier in modern times, who ...
). 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 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) ...
, and western (Christian) emperors had obtained the Ottoman acknowledgement that their western imperial styles were to be rendered in Turkish as ''
padishah Padishah ( fa, پادشاه; ; from Persian: r Old Persian: *">Old_Persian.html" ;"title="r Old Persian">r Old Persian: * 'master', and ''shāh'', 'king'), sometimes Romanization of Persian, romanised as padeshah or padshah ( fa, پادشاه; ...
''. In the twentieth century, the Shah of Persia,
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 ...
, 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 The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...
.


Ruler styles

* From the reign of
Ashot III Ashot III ( hy, Աշոտ Գ) was a king of Armenia, ruling the medieval kingdom of Armenia from 952/53–77. Known as Ashot III the Merciful (Աշոտ Գ Ողորմած) and acknowledged by foreign rulers as the ''Shahanshah'' (king of kings) o ...
(952/53–77), the Bagratid kings of Armenia used the title ''shahanshah'', meaning "king of kings". * The title ''
Padishah Padishah ( fa, پادشاه; ; from Persian: r Old Persian: *">Old_Persian.html" ;"title="r Old Persian">r Old Persian: * 'master', and ''shāh'', 'king'), sometimes Romanization of Persian, romanised as padeshah or padshah ( fa, پادشاه; ...
'' (
Great King Great king, and the equivalent in many languages, refers to historical titles of certain monarchs, suggesting an elevated status among the host of kings and princes. This title is most usually associated with the '' shahanshah'' (shah of shahs ...
) was adopted from the Iranians by the
Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...
and by various other monarchs claiming imperial rank, such as the
Mughals The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...
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 The Shah-Armens (lit. 'Kings of Armenia', tr, Ermenşahlar), also known as Ahlatshahs (lit. 'Rulers of Ahlat', tr, Ahlatşahlar), was a Turkoman Sunni Muslim Anatolian beylik founded after the Battle of Manzikert (1071) and centred in Ahlat on t ...
("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 Khwarazmshah was an ancient title used regularly by the rulers of the Central Asian region of Khwarazm starting from the Late Antiquity until the advent of the Mongols in the early 13th-century, after which it was used infrequently. There were a to ...
, ruler of the realm of
Khwarezmia Khwarazm (; Old Persian: ''Hwârazmiya''; fa, خوارزم, ''Xwârazm'' or ''Xârazm'') or Chorasmia () is a large oasis region on the Amu Darya river delta in western Central Asia, bordered on the north by the (former) Aral Sea, on the ea ...
in the Central Asia, or the
Shirvanshah ''Shirvanshah'' ( fa, شروانشاه), also spelled as ''Shīrwān Shāh'' or ''Sharwān Shāh'', was the title of the rulers of Shirvan from the mid-9th century to the early 16th century. The title remained in a single family, the Yazidids, a ...
of the historical region of
Shirvan Shirvan (from fa, شروان, translit=Shirvān; az, Şirvan; Tat: ''Şirvan''), also spelled as Sharvān, Shirwan, Shervan, Sherwan and Šervān, is a historical Iranian region in the eastern Caucasus, known by this name in both pre-Islam ...
in Caucasia (present-day
Republic of Azerbaijan A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th ...
) * The kings of
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
called themselves ''shahanshah'' alongside their other titles. The Georgian title ''mepetmepe'' (also meaning King of Kings
Mepe Matrix extracellular phosphoglycoprotein (Osteoblast/osteocyte factor 45) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''MEPE'' gene. A conserved RGD motif is found in this protein, and this is potentially involved in integrin Integrins are t ...
''-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 A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...
or
princess Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince. Princess as a subst ...
of the
royal Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...
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 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) ...
(''
Şehzade ''Şehzade'' ( fa, شهزاده) is the Ottoman form of the Persian title '' Shahzadeh'', and refers to the male descendants of an Ottoman sovereign in the male line. This title is equivalent to " prince of the blood imperial" in English. Origi ...
'',
Ottoman Turkish Ottoman Turkish ( ota, لِسانِ عُثمانى, Lisân-ı Osmânî, ; tr, Osmanlı Türkçesi) was the standardized register of the Turkish language used by the citizens of the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed extens ...
: شهزاده) and was used by the princes of Islamic India (''Shahzāda'',
Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''
Sultans of Delhi were not of Indian origin but of Mongol-Turkic origin and were heavily influenced by Persian culture, a continuation of traditions and habits ever since Persian language was first introduced into the region by Persianised Turkic and Afghan dynasties centuries earlier. Thus, in
Oudh The Oudh State (, also Kingdom of Awadh, Kingdom of Oudh, or Awadh State) was a princely state in the Awadh region of North India until its annexation by the British in 1856. The name Oudh, now obsolete, was once the anglicized name of ...
, only sons of the sovereign ''shah bahadur'' (see above) were by birth-right styled "Shahzada ersonal title
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 ...
ersonal nameBahadur", though this style could also be extended to individual grandsons and even further relatives. Other male descendants of the sovereign in the male line were merely styled "Mirza ersonal name or " ersonal nameMirza". This could even apply to non-Muslim dynasties. For example, the younger sons of the ruling
Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...
maharaja of Punjab were styled "Shahzada ersonal nameSingh Bahadur". The borrowing ''shahajada'', "Shah's son", taken from the Mughal title Shahzada, was the usual princely title borne by the grandsons and male descendants of a
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 ...
ese sovereign in the male line of the
Shah dynasty The Shah dynasty ( ne, शाह वंश), also known as the Shahs of Gorkha or the Royal House of Gorkha, was the ruling Chaubise Thakuri dynasty ; and the founder of Gorkha Kingdom from 1559 to 1768 and later the unified Kingdom of Nepal ...
until its abolition in 2008. For the heir to a "Persian-style" shah's royal throne, more specific titles were used, containing the key element '' Vali Ahad'', usually in addition to ''shahzada'', where his junior siblings enjoyed this style.


Other styles

* ''
Shahbanu Shahbanu ( fa, شهبانو, ''Šahbānū'' lit. "Lady King") was the title for empress consort in Persian and other Iranian languages. The two Sassanian empresses regnant, Boran and Azarmidokht, c. 630, were the last two that carried the titl ...
'' (Persian , ''Šahbânū''): Persian term using the word ''shah'' and the Persian suffix ''-banu'' ("lady"): Empress, in modern times, the official title of Empress
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 fro ...
. * ''Shahpur'' (Persian ''Šâhpur'') also been derived from ''shah'' using the archaic Persian suffix ''-pur'' "son, male descendant", to address the Prince. * ''Shahdokht'' (Persian ''Šâhdoxt'') is also another term derived from ''shah'' using the Persian patronymic suffix ''-dokht'' "daughter, female descendant", to address the Princess of the imperial households. * ''Shahzade'' (Persian ''Šâhzâde''): Persian termination for prince (lit; ''offspring of the Shah''); used by Ottoman Turks in the form ''
Şehzade ''Şehzade'' ( fa, شهزاده) is the Ottoman form of the Persian title '' Shahzadeh'', and refers to the male descendants of an Ottoman sovereign in the male line. This title is equivalent to " prince of the blood imperial" in English. Origi ...
''. * ''Malek ol-Moluk'' ( Persian: ) "king of kings", an Arabic title used by the Iranian
Buyids The Buyid dynasty ( fa, آل بویه, Āl-e Būya), also spelled Buwayhid ( ar, البويهية, Al-Buwayhiyyah), was a Shia Iranian dynasty of Daylamite origin, which mainly ruled over Iraq and central and southern Iran from 934 to 1062. Coup ...
, a Persianized form of the Abbasid '' amir al-umara''


Related terms

*
Satrap A satrap () was a governor of the provinces of the ancient Median and Achaemenid Empires and in several of their successors, such as in the Sasanian Empire and the Hellenistic empires. The satrap served as viceroy to the king, though with consid ...
, the term in Western languages for a governor of a Persian province, is a distortion of ''xšaθrapāvan'', literally "guardian of the realm", which derives from the word ''xšaθra'', an Old Persian word meaning "realm, province" and related etymologically to ''shah''. * Maq'ad-è-Šâh (Persian: Maq'ad-è-Šâh), the phrase from which the name of
Mogadishu Mogadishu (, also ; so, Muqdisho or ; ar, مقديشو ; it, Mogadiscio ), locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and List of cities in Somalia by population, most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port ...
is believed to be derived, which means "seat of the Shah", a reflection of the city's early Persian influence.David D. Laitin, Said S. Samatar, ''Somalia: Nation in Search of a State'', (Westview Press: 1987), p. 12. * The English word "check-mate" is in fact derived from "shah" (from Persian via Arabic, Latin and French). Related terms such as "chess" and "exchequer" likewise originate from the Persian word, their modern senses having developed from the original meaning of the king piece.


See also

*
Ikhshid ''Ikhshid'' ( sog, xšyδ, ) was the princely title of the Iranian rulers of Soghdia and the Ferghana Valley in Transoxiana during the pre-Islamic and early Islamic periods. The title is of Iranian origin; scholars have derived it variously from ...
*
Mirmiran Mirmiran ( tr, Mirmiran) the military title of the Ottoman Pasha, similar to the title of Beylerbey, the ruler of Eyalet. Initially, the title was assigned to two pashas: the ruler of Kyustendil—Mirmiran Rumelia; to the ruler of Erzurum—Mirmira ...
*
Shah (surname) Shah is a common surname in India, Nepal, Punjab, United States, Arab, United Kingdom, Spain,Germany and Pakistan. Shah (; fa, شاه, Šāh, pronounced , "king") is a title given to the emperors, kings, princes and lords of Iran (historically kn ...


References


External links


Last name: Shah
at surnamedb.com


Etymology OnLine
{{Imperial and royal styles Heads of state in Asia Royal titles Noble titles Persian words and phrases Titles of national or ethnic leadership Ottoman titles Titles in Iran Titles in Azerbaijan Titles in Bangladesh Titles in Pakistan Government of the Sasanian Empire Government of the Parthian Empire