Khwāja
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Khawaja () is an honorific title used across the
Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
,
South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...
,
Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...
and
Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...
, particularly towards
Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...
teachers. It is also used by
Kashmiri Muslims Kashmiri Muslims are ethnic Kashmiris who practice Islam and are native to the Kashmir Valley of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir. Quote: "Jammu and Kashmir: Territory in northwestern India, subject to a dispute between India and Pakistan ...
and
Mizrahi Jews Mizrahi Jews (), also known as ''Mizrahim'' () in plural and ''Mizrahi'' () in singular, and alternatively referred to as Oriental Jews or ''Edot HaMizrach'' (, ), are terms used in Israeli discourse to refer to a grouping of Jews, Jewish c ...
—particularly
Kurdish Jews Kurdistani Jews are the Mizrahi Jewish communities from the geographic region of Kurdistan, roughly covering parts of northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, northeastern Syria and southeastern Turkey. Kurdish Jews lived as closed ethnic communities ...
. The name or title ''Khawaja'' was usually given in Arab lands to non-Muslim dignitaries, usually to Jews or Christians. The word comes from the Persian word . 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 ...
, the title roughly translates to 'Lord' or 'Master'. The
Ottoman Turkish Ottoman Turkish (, ; ) was the standardized register of the Turkish language in the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed extensively, in all aspects, from Arabic and Persian. It was written in the Ottoman Turkish alphabet. ...
pronunciation of the Persian gave rise to ''hodja'' and its equivalents such as in
modern Turkish Turkish ( , , also known as 'Turkish of Turkey') is the most widely spoken of the Turkic languages, a member of Oghuz branch with around 90 million speakers. It is the national language of Turkey and one of two official languages of Cyprus. Si ...
, in
Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...
, () in
Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...
, (''khoja'') in Azerbaijani, / in
Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian ( / ), also known as Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS), is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. It is a pluricentric language with four mutually i ...
, () in Bulgarian, () in
Greek Greek may refer to: 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 of all kno ...
, and in
Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...
. Other spellings include (
Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
) and ( Javanese). The term has been rendered into English in various forms since the 1600s, including ''hodgee'', ''hogi'', ''cojah'' and ''khoja''. The name is also used in
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
and
Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...
to indicate a person with a foreign nationality or foreign heritage.


Gallery

File:Lescostumespopul00osma.pdf, page=99, Hodja of Shkodra, from ''Les costumes populaires de la Turquie en 1873'', published under the patronage of the Ottoman Imperial Commission for the
1873 Vienna World's Fair The 1873 Vienna World's Fair () was the large world exposition that was held from 1 May to 31 October 1873 in the Austria-Hungarian capital Vienna. Its motto was "Culture and Education" (). History As well as being a chance to showcase Austro- ...
File:Lescostumespopul00osma.pdf, page=137, Hodja of Salonika, today's
Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...
(first on the right, with the
Hakham Bashi ''Hakham Bashi - חכם באשי'' (, , ; ; translated into French as: khakham-bachi) is the Turkish name for the Chief Rabbi of the nation's History of the Jews in Turkey, Jewish community. In the time of the Ottoman Empire it was also used for ...
of Salonika on the left and a Monastir town dweller in the middle), from ''Les costumes populaires de la Turquie en 1873'', published under the patronage of the Ottoman Imperial Commission for the 1873 Vienna World's Fair


See also

* Khwaja Khizr Tomb at
Sonipat Sonipat is a planned industrial city and administrative headquarter in Sonipat district of Haryana state of India. It comes under the National Capital Region and is around from New Delhi. It lies 214 km (128 miles) southwest of Chandigar ...
*
Afaq Khoja Mausoleum The Afaq Khoja Mausoleum is a mausoleum in Xinjiang; it is the holiest Muslim site in the region. It is located some 5km northeast from the centre of Kashgar, in Haohan Village (; ''Ayziret'' in Uyghur), which is also known as Yaghdu., page 75. T ...
in
Kashgar Kashgar () or Kashi ( zh, c=喀什) is a city in the Tarim Basin region of southern Xinjiang, China. It is one of the westernmost cities of China, located near the country's border with Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. For over 2,000 years, Kashgar ...
*
Khwajagan Khwājagān (shortened/singular forms: Khwaja, Khaja(h), Khawaja or khuwaja) is a Persian title for ''"the Masters"''. Khwajagan, as the plural for "Khwāja", is often used to refer to a network of Sufis in Central Asia from the 10th to the 16th ...
, a network of
Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...
s in
Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...
from the 10th to the 16th century who are often incorporated into later
Naqshbandi Naqshbandi (Persian: نقشبندیه) is a major Sufi order within Sunni Islam, named after its 14th-century founder, Baha' al-Din Naqshband. Practitioners, known as Naqshbandis, trace their spiritual lineage (silsila) directly to the Prophet ...
hierarchies. * Khajeh Nouri (Or Khajenouri), a Persian family belonging to pre-revolution
nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. T ...
, thei
family tree
can be traced back 45 generations. * Khojaly, a town in
Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...
. *
Khoja (Turkestan) Khoja or Khwaja (; ; ; ; ; ; ), a Persian word literally meaning 'master' or ‘lord’, was used in Central Asia as a title of the descendants of the noted Central Asian Naqshbandi Sufi teacher, Ahmad Kasani (1461–1542) or others in the N ...
, a title of the descendants of the Central Asian Naqshbandi Sufi teacher, Ahmad Kasani *
Hoca , also rendered into English as ''hodja'', is a Turkish language, Turkish word deriving from the Persian language, Persian word , , used as a title, given name or surname. As a honorific title, means “master” and is commonly used for teac ...
, Turkish spelling of Khawaja * Hoxha, Albanian surname *
Hodžić Hodžić (, ) is a common family name found in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia. It is derived from the word ''hodža'', meaning "master/lord", itself a Turkish loanword (''hoca'') of ultimately Persian origin (''khaw ...
, Bosniak surname * Koya, a medieval Indian administrative position * Zohaib Khusru, a contemporary Solutions TPM


Notes


References

{{Surname Islamic honorifics Islamic Persian honorifics Islamic Urdu honorifics Titles Turkish words and phrases Persian words and phrases Bengali words and phrases Albanian words and phrases