Shah

Shāh (; ) is a royal title meaning "king" in the Persian language.Yarshater, Ehsa

, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII, no. 1 (1989) Though chiefly associated with the monarchs of Iran, it was also used to refer to the leaders of numerous Persianate societies, such as the Ottoman Empire, the Khanate of Bukhara and the Emirate of Bukhara, the Mughal Empire, the Bengal Sultanate, and various Afghan dynasties, as well as among Gurkhas. With regard to Iranian history, in particular, each ruling monarch was not seen simply as the head of the concurrent dynasty and state, but as the successor to a long line of royalty beginning with the original Persian Empire of Cyrus the Great. To this end, he was more emphatically known as the Shāhanshāh ( ), meaning " King of Kings" since the Achaemenid dynasty. A roughly equivalent title is Pādishāh (; ), which was most widespread during the Muslim period in the Indian subcontinent.

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 ''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 (Middle Persian) ''Šâhân Šâh'', '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

Persian dynasties

''Shāh'', also known by its full-length term ''Shāhanshāh'' ( King of Kings), 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 20th 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''. 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.

Non-Persian dynasties

* From the reign of Ashot II, 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'' ( Persian: شاه عالم پناه), meaning "the king that is the refuge of the world."
* The Shah-Armens ("Kings of Armenia", sometimes known as Ahlahshahs), used the title ''Shāh-i Arman'' ().
* 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">Mepe_(title).html" ;"title="'Mepe (title)">Mepe''-king in Georgian was also inspired by the ''shahanshah'' title.

Impact and influence

Derived terms

''Shahzade''

''Shahzade'' (, transliterated