Sultana or sultanah (; ar, سلطانة ') is a female
royal title
Traditional rank amongst European royalty, peers, and nobility is rooted in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Although they vary over time and among geographic regions (for example, one region's prince might be equal to another's grand duke ...
, and the feminine form of the word
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 c ...
. This term has been officially used for
female monarchs in some
Islamic states
An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ' ...
, and historically it was also used for sultan's consorts.
Nomenclature
The term ''sultana'' is the feminine form of the word
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 c ...
( ar, سلطان), an Arabic
abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the
verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, sultan came to be used as the title of certain rulers who claimed almost full sovereignty in practical terms, albeit without claiming the overall
caliphate
A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
, or to refer to a powerful
governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
of a province within the caliphate.
Usage
Ruling sultana
Some Muslim female monarchs chose to adopt the title of Sultana/Sultanah when they ascended to the throne.
Africa
In
Comoros
The Comoros,, ' officially the Union of the Comoros,; ar, الاتحاد القمري ' is an independent country made up of three islands in southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean. It ...
, there have been several ruling sultanas.
Shajar al-Durr became the ruling sultana of Egypt on May 1250.
South Asia
Razia Sultana (r. 1236–1240) was a ruler of the
Delhi Sultanate
The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526). in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent. She was the first female Muslim ruler of the Indian Subcontinent.
In
Maldives
Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...
, there have been six ruling sultanas:
*
Khadijah
Khadija, Khadeeja or Khadijah ( ar, خديجة, Khadīja) is an Arabic feminine given name, the name of Khadija bint Khuwaylid, first wife of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. In 1995, it was one of the three most popular Arabic feminine names in th ...
(1347–1363, 1364–1374, 1376–1380)
*
Raadhafathi (1380)
*
Dhaain (1383–1388)
*
Kuda Kala Kamanafa’anu (1607–1609)
*
Amina I (1753–1754)
*
Amina II (1757–1759)
Southeast Asia
Nur ul-Azam became the female sultan in
Sultanate of Sulu.
In
Samudera Pasai Sultanate
The Samudera Pasai Sultanate (), also known as Samudera or Pasai or Samudera Darussalam or Pacem, was a Muslim harbour kingdom on the north coast of Sumatra from the 13th to the 16th centuries CE. The kingdom was believed to have been founded ...
(now part of
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...
), Sultana
Ratu Nahrasyiyah (r. 1406–1428) became the sole ruler.
In
Bone state
Bone (also ''Boni'', or ''Bone Saoraja'') was a sultanate in the south-west peninsula of what is now Sulawesi (formerly Celebes), a province of modern-day Indonesia. It came under Dutch rule in 1905, and was succeeded by the Bone Regency.
Co ...
(now part of
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...
), there have been three ruling sultanas.
In
Aceh Darussalam (now part of
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...
), there have been four ruling sultanas:
* Sultana
Seri Ratu Ta'jul Alam Syafiatuddin Syah of Aceh (1641–1675) was the daughter of
Sultan Iskandar Muda, and wife of
Sultan Iskandar Tani. She spoke 6 languages,
Acehnese,
Malay,
Spanish,
Dutch,
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a 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. E.Watson; Walter ...
, and
Persian.
* Sultana
Seri Ratu Nurul Alam Naqiatuddin Syah (1675–1678).
* Sultana
Seri Ratu Zakiatuddin Inayat Syah (1678–1688).
* Sultana
Seri Ratu Kamalat Syah (1688–1699). Replaced by her husband, under pressure from the Mufti of
Mecca
Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow v ...
.
On 5 May 2015, Sultan
Yogyakarta and governor of the
Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia
Hamengkubuwono X, who only has daughters, appointed his eldest child, Lady Nurmalitasari, as his
heiress presumptive, henceforth titled
Princess Mangkubumi
Her Royal Highness Princess Mangkubumi Hamemayu Hayuning Bawana Langgeng ing Mataram ( jv, ꦩꦁꦑꦸꦨꦸꦩꦶ, Gusti Kanjeng Ratu Mangkubumi, born as Gusti Raden Ajeng Nurmalitasari on 24 February 1972, later known as Gusti Kanjeng Ratu Pemb ...
. If she does succeed her father, she will become the first Javanese woman to become a Sultana in her own right.
Sultana consort
Sultana is also used for sultan's wives. Between 1914 and 1922,
monarchs of the
Muhammad Ali Dynasty used the title of
Sultan of Egypt, and their wives were legally styled as sultanas. Two women held the title of sultana during the short-lived Sultanate of Egypt:
Melek Tourhan, the wife of Sultan
Hussein Kamel, and
Nazli Sabri, the wife of Sultan
Fuad I. Nazli Sabri became
queen
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
(''malika'') following the establishment of the
Kingdom of Egypt in 1922, and it is with the latter title that she is almost always associated. Melek Tourhan, on the other hand, legally retained the title of sultana even after Egypt became a kingdom, and is often referred to simply as Sultana Melek.
Sultana is also title for consort of ruler in some
Malaysian states. Some consorts who hold this title are:
*
Sultanah Kalsom binti Abdullah, second consort of
Ahmad Shah of Pahang. She became
Sultanah of Pahang on 30 September 1992 until 15 August 2019.
*
Sultanah Nur Zahirah
Sultanah Nur Zahirah ( Jawi: سلطانة نور ظاهرة; ''née'' Rozita binti Adil Bakeri; born 7 December 1973) is the current Sultanah of Terengganu. She was the 13th Raja Permaisuri Agong (Queen Consort) of Malaysia from 2006 to 2011.
...
, consort of
Mizan Zainal Abidin of Terengganu. She became
Sultanah of Terengganu on 5 June 2006.
*
Sultanah Haminah Hamidun, second consort of
Abdul Halim of Kedah
Abdul (also transliterated as Abdal, Abdel, Abdil, Abdol, Abdool, or Abdoul; ar, عبد ال, ) is the most frequent transliteration of the combination of the Arabic word '' Abd'' (, meaning "Servant") and the definite prefix '' al / el'' (, mea ...
. She became the
Sultanah of Kedah
Sultanah of Kedah is the title given to the consorts of the incumbent Sultan of the Malaysian State of Kedah. The title was introduced by Sultan Badlishah on 13 May 1943. Previous consorts of the Sultan of Kedah given no any official title. S ...
after her predecessor's death on 21 November 2003 until 11 September 2017.
*
Sultanah Maliha
Sultanah Maliha binti Almarhum Tengku Ariff (née Tengku Maliha binti Almarhum Tengku Ariff, born 13 April 1949) is wife of Sallehuddin of Kedah and the current Sultanah of Malaysian State of Kedah replacing her sister-in-law, Sultanah Haminah ...
, consort of
Sallehuddin of Kedah
Al-Aminul Karim Sultan Sallehuddin ibni Almarhum Sultan Badlishah ( Jawi: ;born 30 April 1942) is the 29th Sultan of Kedah, Malaysia. He was proclaimed Sultan on 12 September 2017, upon the death of his elder half brother, Sultan Abdul Hali ...
. She became
Sultanah of Kedah
Sultanah of Kedah is the title given to the consorts of the incumbent Sultan of the Malaysian State of Kedah. The title was introduced by Sultan Badlishah on 13 May 1943. Previous consorts of the Sultan of Kedah given no any official title. S ...
on 12 September 2017 after her husband was proclaimed as the
Sultan of Kedah
The Kedah Sultanate (كسلطانن قدح) is a Muslim dynasty located in the Malay Peninsula. It was originally an independent state, but became a British protectorate in 1909. Its monarchy was abolished after it was added to the Malayan Un ...
.
*
Sultanah Nur Diana Petra
Sultanah Nur Diana Petra Abdullah ( Jawi: ; ''née'' Yana Yakubka; born 25 February 1988) is the Sultanah of Kelantan and the wife of Sultan Muhammad V, the current Sultan of Kelantan.
Marriage
Sultanah Nur Diana Petra Abdullah married Sult ...
, consort of
Muhammad V of Kelantan. She married with the
Sultan of Kelantan on 30 October 2010 and officially became
Sultanah of Kelantan on 2 August 2022 after her husband proclaimed her as the new Sultanah of Kelantan.
Claim
In the west, the title of sultana is also used to refer to many female Muslim monarchs who don't hold this title officially.
In medieval
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...
,
Shajar al-Durr, a former slave of
Armenian origin, ascended the throne in 1250. Although several sources assert that she took the title of sultana, ''The Cambridge History of Islam'' disputes the claim, stating that "a feminine form, sultana, does not exist in Arabic: the title ''sulṭān'' appears on Shajar al-Durr's only extant coin."
Raziya al-Din, usually referred to in history as
Razia Sultana, was the
Sultan of Delhi in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
from 1236 to May 1240. Like some other princesses of the time, she was trained to lead armies and administer kingdoms if necessary.
[Gloria Steinem (Introduction)]
''Herstory: Women Who Changed the World,''
eds. Deborah G. Ohrn and Ruth Ashby, Viking, (1995) p. 34-36. She was the first female ruler of the
Delhi Sultanate
The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526). .
[Table of Delhi Kings: Muazzi Slave King]
The Imperial Gazetteer of India, 1909, v. 2, ''p. 368.''. She refused to be addressed as Sultana because it meant "wife or consort of a Sultan" and would answer only to the title "Sultan." Like Shajar al-Durr, Raziya was also often referred as sultana by westerners, very possible to distinguish her from male sultans.
Sultana was also often used to refer to women relatives of a sultan and other Muslim monarch or female members of Muslim dynasties, especially mothers and chief wives. In fact, many sultanates used other title for sultan's chief consort, some of which derived from non-Arabic language.
''Permaisuri'', a title for a chief wife of a sultan in many sultanates and Muslim kingdoms in southeast Asia, is derived from
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, na ...
பரமேஸ்வரி (paramēsvari), from
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...
परमेश्वरी (parameśvarī), 'supreme lady'. This title is still used for the consort of
Yang di-Pertuan Agong, monarch and head of state of
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...
. The formal way of addressing her is
Raja Permaisuri Agong
''Raja Permaisuri Agong'' ( Jawi: راج ڤرمايسوري اݢوڠ; full title: ''Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia Seri Paduka Baginda Raja Permaisuri Agong''; سري ڤدوک بݢيندا راج ڤرمايسوري اݢوڠ, literally ''The Que ...
.
In
Brunei
Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely surrounded by th ...
,
official title for a chief wife of the sultan is ''Seri Baginda Raja Isteri'', derived from
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...
''
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 ...
'' (राजा, equivalent with "king") and ''isteri'' (equivalent with "women" or "lady"). The official title for sultan's mother is ''Seri Suri Begawan Raja Isteri''.
''
Shahbanu'', title for the wife of Iran's monarch, is derived from
Persian ''
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 ...
'' (شاه, equivalent with "king") and ''
banu
Banu or BANU may refer to:
* Banu (name)
* Banu (Arabic), Arabic word for "the sons of" or "children of"
* Banu (makeup artist), an Indian makeup artist
* Banu Chichek, a character in the ''Book of Dede Korkut''
* Bulgarian Agrarian National Union ...
'' (بانو, translated as "lady"). Upon assuming the title in 1967,
Farah Pahlavi, the third wife of
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, was the first ''shahbanu'' to be crowned in Iran since the Arab conquest of Iran in the 7th century. ''Shahbanu'' often translated in English as "empress".
Some Muslim monarchs also used the title ''malika'' (
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a 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. E.Watson; Walter ...
: ملكة), a feminine form of the word ''
malik'', for their wives. This title is still used in many Muslim kingdoms, like
Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
.
Ottoman royalty
Since 16th century,
Ottoman used the title ''sultan'' for imperial princesses after their given names (e.g.
Mihrimah Sultan and
Hatice Sultan). They were all non-ruling royalty; in the western sense, princesses, not queens or empresses. The monarch's mother, who had more power, had the title
Valide Sultan (e.g.
Hafsa Sultan). She was referred to by this title alone, without her given name. Principal consort had the title
Haseki Sultan (e.g.
Hürrem Sultan). Non-principal consorts had the title ''
hatun'', equivalent to ''
lady
The word ''lady'' is a term for a girl or woman, with various connotations. Once used to describe only women of a high social class or status, the equivalent of lord, now it may refer to any adult woman, as gentleman can be used for men. Inf ...
''. This usage underlines the Ottoman conception of sovereign power as family prerogative.
Nevertheless, westerners often translated their official title, ''sultan'', to ''sultana'', possibly to distinguish them from the Ottoman ruler.
See also
*
Valide sultan
*
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 c ...
*
Queen regnant
A queen regnant (plural: queens regnant) is a female monarch, equivalent in rank and title to a king, who reigns '' suo jure'' (in her own right) over a realm known as a "kingdom"; as opposed to a queen consort, who is the wife of a reigni ...
*
Queen consort
*
Al-hurra
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sultana (Title)
Islamic honorifics
Women rulers
Egyptian royal titles
Arabic words and phrases
Heads of state
Military ranks
Royal titles
Noble titles
Positions of authority
Titles
Ottoman titles
Titles of national or ethnic leadership
Titles in Afghanistan
Titles in Bangladesh
Bengali Muslim surnames
Titles in Pakistan
Filipino royalty