Padishah (; ) is a superlative

sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title that can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to ...

title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify their generation, official position, military rank, professional or academic qualification, or nobility. In some languages, titles may be ins ...

of Persian origin. A form of the word is known already from

Middle Persian Middle Persian, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg ( Inscriptional Pahlavi script: , Manichaean script: , Avestan script: ) in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasania ...

(or Pahlavi) as ''pātaxšā(h)'' or ''pādixšā(y)''. Middle Persian ''pād'' may stem from

Avestan Avestan ( ) is the liturgical language of Zoroastrianism. It belongs to the Iranian languages, Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family and was First language, originally spoken during the Avestan period, Old ...

''paⁱti'', and is akin to Pati (title). ''Xšāy'' 'to rule' and ''xšāyaθiya'' 'king' are both from Old Persian. It was adopted by several monarchs claiming the highest rank, roughly equivalent to the ancient

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

n notion of " Great King", and later adopted by post- Achaemenid and the Mughal emperors of India. However, in some periods it was used more generally for autonomous Muslim rulers, as in the '' Hudud al-'Alam'' of the 10th century, where even some petty princes of Afghanistan are called ''pādshā(h)''/''pādshāʼi''/''pādshāy''. The rulers on the following thrones – the first two effectively commanding major

West Asia West Asia (also called Western Asia or Southwest Asia) is the westernmost region of Asia. As defined by most academics, UN bodies and other institutions, the subregion consists of Anatolia, the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Mesopotamia, the Armenian ...

n empires – were styled Padishah: * The

Shahanshah 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 List of monarchs of Iran, monarchs of Iran, it was also used to refer to the ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, originating mainly with the Safavids * The Padishah of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

*The Badshah of Hindustan, used by the Mughals * Some Seljuk rulers, like Grand Seljuk Ahmad Sanjar (as , a translation of the Arabic ing of the East and the West, Sultan of Rum Kaykhusraw I (as ''Padishah of Islam''), and Sultan of Rum Kayqubad I (as ). * Mongol Ilkhan Ghazan took the title ''Padshah-i Islam'' after he converted to Islam in 1295, possibly in order to undermine the religious prestige of the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt. The title ''Ilkhan'', that came into use –1265, may be an equivalent of ''Padishah'', if it is taken to mean 'sovereign khan' (and not 'subordinate khan' as often posited). * Miangul Golshahzada Abdul Wadud (predecessor styled ''Amir-i shariat'', successors hān and''Wali'') of the

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

i North-West Frontier state of Swat, who called himself ''badshah'' from November 1918 to March 1926. * Ahmad Shah Durrani, who founded the Durrani Empire in 1747 with the title ''Pādshah-i Afghanistan'' in Persian and ''Badcha Da Afghanistan'' in the

Pashto language Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...

. The Sadduzai were overthrown in 1823 but there was a brief restoration by Shah Shujah in 1839 with the help of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

. The title became dormant from his assassination in 1842 until 1926 when Amanullah Khan resurrected it (official from 1937) and was finally abandoned with the abdication of Mohammed Zahir Shah in 1973 following a coup; at other times the Afghan monarchy used the style ''

Emir Emir (; ' (), also Romanization of Arabic, transliterated as amir, is a word of Arabic language, Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocratic, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person po ...

(Amir al-Momenin)'' or

Malik Malik (; ; ; variously Romanized ''Mallik'', ''Melik'', ''Malka'', ''Malek'', ''Maleek'', ''Malick'', ''Mallick'', ''Melekh'') is the Semitic term translating to "king", recorded in East Semitic and Arabic, and as mlk in Northwest Semitic d ...

('King'). * The last Basha bey of

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

, Muhammad VIII al-Amin (proclaimed bey on 15 May 1943), adopted the

style ''padshah'' 20 March 1956 – 25 July 1957. * The female monarch Razia of the

Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate or the Sultanate of Delhi was a Medieval India, late medieval empire primarily based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for more than three centuries.

used the masculine title ''padshah''. The compound Pādshah-i- Ghazi ('Victorious Emperor') is only recorded for two individual rulers: # Ahmad Shah Durrani, Emperor of the Durrani Empire () # Rustam-i-Dauran, Aristu-i-Zaman, Asaf Jah IV, Muzaffar ul-Mamaluk, Nizam ul-Mulk, Nizam ud-Daula, Nawab Mir Farkhunda 'Ali Khan Bahadur ufran Manzil Sipah Salar, Fath Jang, Ayn waffadar Fidvi-i-Senliena, Iqtidar-i-Kishwarsitan Muhammad Akbar Shah Padshah-i-Ghazi,

Nizam of Hyderabad Nizam of Hyderabad was the title of the ruler of Hyderabad State ( part of the Indian state of Telangana, and the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka). ''Nizam'' is a shortened form of (; ), and was the title bestowed upon Asaf Jah I wh ...

() * The

Sikhs Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Sikh'' ...

usе the term Padishah for

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

and the 10 gurus. Padishah is also used for the 10th and last Guru of Sikhs

Guru Gobind Singh Guru Gobind Singh (; born Gobind Das; 22 December 1666 – 7 October 1708) was the tenth and last human Sikh gurus, Sikh Guru. He was a warrior, poet, and philosopher. In 1675, at the age of nine he was formally installed as the leader of the ...

. Like many titles, the word ''Padishah'' was also often used as a name, either by nobles with other (in this case always lower) styles, or even by commoners. Padshah Begum is the title of consorts of ''padishahs''.

Ottoman Empire

In the Ottoman Empire the title padishah was exclusively reserved for the Ottoman emperor, as the Ottoman chancery rarely and unwillingly addressed foreign monarchs as padishahs. The Habsburg emperors were consequently denied this title and addressed merely as the "kings of Vienna" (''beç kıralı''). With the Peace of Zsitvatorok in 1606, it was the first time that the Sublime Porte recognized Rudolf II as equal of the padishah. The Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca in 1774, gave similar concessions to the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

In Ottoman sources

According to Ahmedi's '' İskendernâme'', one of the earliest Ottoman sources, alongside the titles

sultan Sultan (; ', ) 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 came to be use ...

and beg, Orhan and Murad I bore the title padishah as well.

Notes

References

External links

* {{EI2, last1=Babinger, first1=Fr., last2=Bosworth, first2=C.E., title=Pādis̲h̲āh, volume=8, url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/padishah-SIM_6055?s.num=24&s.f.s2_parent=s.f.book.encyclopaedia-of-islam-2&s.start=20&s.q=Ak+Koyunlu+Persian Heads of state Monarchy Ottoman titles Persian words and phrases Titles in Afghanistan Titles in Iran Titles in Pakistan Titles of national or ethnic leadership