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 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

Khanate of Bukhara The Khanate of Bukhara was an Uzbek state in Central Asia from 1501 to 1785, founded by the Abu'l-Khayrid dynasty, a branch of the Shaybanids. From 1533 to 1540, Bukhara briefly became its capital during the reign of Ubaidullah Khan. The Khana ...

and the

Emirate of Bukhara The Emirate of Bukhara (, ) was a Muslims, Muslim-Uzbeks, Uzbek polity in Central Asia that existed from 1785 to 1920 in what is now Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. It occupied the land between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rive ...

, the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an Early modern period, early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to ...

, the

Bengal Sultanate The Bengal Sultanate (Middle Bengali: , Classical Persian: ) was a Post-classical history, late medieval sultanate based in the Bengal region in the eastern South Asia between the 14th and 16th century. It was the dominant power of the Ganges- ...

, and various Afghan dynasties, as well as among Gurkhas. With regard to

Iranian history The history of Iran (also known as Persia) is intertwined with Greater Iran, which is a socio-cultural region encompassing all of the areas that have witnessed significant settlement or influence exerted by the Iranian peoples and the Iranian ...

, 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 The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; , , ), was an Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, it was the larg ...

Cyrus the Great Cyrus II of Persia ( ; 530 BC), commonly known as Cyrus the Great, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. Achaemenid dynasty (i. The clan and dynasty) Hailing from Persis, he brought the Achaemenid dynasty to power by defeating the Media ...

. To this end, he was more emphatically known as the Shāhanshāh ( ), meaning "

King of Kings King of Kings, ''Mepet mepe''; , group="n" was a ruling title employed primarily by monarchs based in the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent. Commonly associated with History of Iran, Iran (historically known as name of Iran, Persia ...

" since the

Achaemenid dynasty The Achaemenid dynasty ( ; ; ; ) was a royal house that ruled the Achaemenid Empire, which eventually stretched from Egypt and Thrace in the west to Central Asia and the Indus Valley in the east. Origins The history of the Achaemenid dy ...

. A roughly equivalent title is Pādishāh (; ), which was most widespread during the

Muslim period in the Indian subcontinent The Muslim period in the Indian subcontinent or Indo-Muslim period is conventionally said to have started in 712, after the conquest of Sindh and Multan by the Umayyad Caliphate under the military command of Muhammad ibn al-Qasim. It began in t ...

Etymology

The word descends from

Old Persian Old Persian is one of two directly attested Old Iranian languages (the other being Avestan) and is the ancestor of Middle Persian (the language of the Sasanian Empire). Like other Old Iranian languages, it was known to its native speakers as (I ...

''xšāyaθiya'' 'king', which used to be considered a borrowing from

Median The median of a set of numbers is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a Sample (statistics), data sample, a statistical population, population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as the “ ...

as it was compared to

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 ...

''xšaθra-'', 'power' and 'command', corresponding to

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

''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,

title of the

Achaemenid The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; , , ), was an Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, it was the large ...

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 Tukulti-Ninurta I (meaning: "my trust is in he warrior godNinurta"; 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". Reign Tukulti-Ninurta I succeed ...

(1243–1207 BC).

History

Persian dynasties

''Shāh'', also known by its full-length term ''Shāhanshāh'' (

), was the title of the Persian emperors. It includes rulers of the first Persian Empire, the

, 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

tughra A tughra (; ) is a calligraphy, calligraphic monogram, Seal (emblem), seal or signature of a sultan that was affixed to all official documents and correspondence. Inspired by the Tamga, tamgha, it was also carved on his seal and stamped on the co ...

s. Their male offspring received the title of ''

Şehzade ''Şehzade'' () is the Ottoman form of the Persian title ''Shah#Shahzadeh, Shahzadeh'', and refers to the male Osmanoğlu family, descendants of an Ottoman sovereign in the male line. This title is equivalent to "prince du sang, prince of the bloo ...

'', 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, 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 ...

''Šâhân Šâh'', and Modern Persian (''Šâhanšâh''). 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 ...

, this phrase was translated as (''

basileus ''Basileus'' () is a Greek term and title that has signified various types of monarchs throughout history. In the English language, English-speaking world, it is perhaps most widely understood to mean , referring to either a or an . The title ...

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 The monarchs of Iran ruled for over two and a half millennia, beginning as early as the 7th century BC and enduring until the 20th century AD. The earliest Iranian king is generally considered to have been either Deioces of the Median dynasty () ...

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

, and western (Christian) emperors had obtained the Ottoman acknowledgement that their western imperial styles were to be rendered in Turkish as ''

padishah Padishah (; ) is a superlative sovereign title of Persian origin. A form of the word is known already from Middle Persian (or Pahlavi) as ''pātaxšā(h)'' or ''pādixšā(y)''. Middle Persian ''pād'' may stem from Avestan ''paiti'', and is ...

''. In the twentieth century, the Shah of Persia,

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (26 October 1919 – 27 July 1980) was the last List of monarchs of Iran, Shah of Iran, ruling from 1941 to 1979. He succeeded his father Reza Shah and ruled the Imperial State of Iran until he was overthrown by the ...

, 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 (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Impe ...

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 Padishah (; ) is a superlative sovereign title of Persian origin. A form of the word is known already from Middle Persian (or Pahlavi) as ''pātaxšā(h)'' or ''pādixšā(y)''. Middle Persian ''pād'' may stem from Avestan ''paiti'', and is ...

'' ( Great King) was adopted from the Iranians by the

Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...

and by various other monarchs claiming imperial rank, such as the

Mughals The Mughal Empire was an early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to the highlands of pre ...

that established their dynasty in the Indian subcontinent. * Another subsidiary style of the Ottoman and Mughal rulers was ''Shah-i Alam Panah'' (

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 ...

: شاه عالم پناه), meaning "the king that is the refuge of the world." * The

Shah-Armens The Shah-ArmensClifford Edmund Bosworth "The New Islamic Dynasties: A Chronological and Genealogical Manual". Article «The Shâh-i Armanids», p. 197. (lit. 'Kings of Armenia', ), also known as Ahlatshahs (lit. 'Rulers of Ahlat', ) or Begtimurids ...

("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 The Shirvanshahs (Arabic/) were the rulers of Shirvan (in present-day Azerbaijan) from 861 to 1538. The first ruling line were the Yazidids, an originally Arab and later Persianized dynasty, who became known as the Kasranids (also referred t ...

of the historical region of

Shirvan Shirvan (from ; ; Tat: ''Şirvan'') is a historical region in the eastern Caucasus, as known in both pre-Islamic Sasanian and Islamic times. Today, the region is an industrially and agriculturally developed part of the Republic of Azerbaijan ...

in Caucasia (present-day

Republic of Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a 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 the Caspian Sea to the east, Russi ...

) * The kings of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

called themselves ''shahanshah'' alongside their other titles. The Georgian title ''mepetmepe'' (also meaning King of Kings

Mepe ''Mepe'' (Old Georgian: ႫႴ; ka, მეფე ; ) is a royal title used to designate the Georgian monarch, whether it is referring to a king or a queen regnant. The title was originally a male ruling title. Etymology The word is derived from ...

''-king in Georgian]) was also inspired by the ''shahanshah'' title.

Impact and influence

Derived terms

''Shahzade''

''Shahzade'' (, Transliteration, transliterated as ''Šâhzâde''). In the realm of a shah (or a loftier derived ruler style), a Prince#Islamic traditions, prince or

princess Princess is a title used by a female member of a regnant monarch's family or by a female ruler of a principality. The male equivalent is a prince (from Latin '' princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for ...

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 or Royalty (disambiguation), royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Ill ...

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 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. ...

: شهزاده) and was used by the princes of Islamic India (''Shahzāda'',

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

: شہزاده, ) such as in the Mughal Empire. The Mughals and the Sultans of Delhi were of Indo-Persian and

Turco-Mongol The Turco-Mongol or Turko-Mongol tradition was an ethnocultural synthesis that arose in Asia during the 14th century among the ruling elites of the Golden Horde and the Chagatai Khanate. The ruling Mongol elites of these khanates eventually ass ...

origin, Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the dynasty and the empire itself became indisputably Indian. The interests and futures of all concerned were in India, not in ancestral homelands in the Middle East or Central Asia. Furthermore, the Mughal Empire emerged from the Indian historical experience. It was the end product of a millennium of Muslim conquest, colonization, and state-building in the Indian subcontinent." a continuation of traditions and habits ever since Persian language was first introduced into the region by

Turco-Persian The composite Turko-Persian, Turco-Persian,
''Turko-Persia in historical perspective'', Cambridge University Press, ...

dynasties centuries earlier. Thus, in

Oudh The Kingdom of Awadh (, , also Oudh State, Kingdom of Oudh, Awadh Subah, or Awadh State) was a Mughal subah, then an independent kingdom, and lastly a British protectorate in the Awadh region of North India until its annexation by the Br ...

, only sons of the sovereign ''shah bahadur'' (see above) were by birth-right styled "Shahzada ersonal title Mirza 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 (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 ''Si ...

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 Nepalese sovereign in the male line of the

Shah dynasty The Shah dynasty (), also known as the Shahs of Gorkha or the Royal House of Gorkha, was the ruling Chaubise Thakuri dynasty and the founder of the Gorkha Kingdom from 1559 to 1768 and later the unified Kingdom of Nepal from 1768 to 28 May ...

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.

Others

* '' Shahbanu'' (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 (; []; born 14 October 1938) is the former Queen and last Empress () of Pahlavi Iran and is the third wife and widow of the last List of monarchs of Iran, Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. She was born into a prosperous Ira ...

. * ''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 ''

''. * ''Malek ol-Moluk'' ( Persian: ) "king of kings", an Arabic title used by the Iranian

Buyids The Buyid dynasty or Buyid Empire was a Zaydi and later Twelver Shi'a dynasty of Daylamite origin. Founded by Imad al-Dawla, they mainly ruled over central and southern Iran and Iraq from 934 to 1062. Coupled with the rise of other Iranian dyna ...

, a Persianized form of the Abbasid ''

amir al-umara The office of (), variously rendered in English as emir of emirs, prince of princes, chief emir, and commander of commanders, was a senior military position in the 10th-century Abbasid Caliphate, whose holders in the decade after 936 came to super ...

Related terms

Satrap A satrap () was a governor of the provinces of the ancient Median kingdom, Median and Achaemenid Empire, Persian (Achaemenid) Empires and in several of their successors, such as in the Sasanian Empire and the Hellenistic period, Hellenistic empi ...

, 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''. * Deeply revered among both the Hindus and Muslims, 1st Guru of Sikhism Guru Nanak Dev was referred to as 'Shah' by the Muslims and as' Fakir' by the Hindus, the highest honour in both the religions, and hence came to known as "Nanak Shah Fakir". * Maq'ad-è-Šâh (Persian: Maq'ad-è-Šâh), the phrase from which the name of

Mogadishu Mogadishu, 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 connecting traders across the Indian Ocean for millennia and has ...

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.

Armenian names

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 ...

compound personal names often contain the element "šah," meaning "king" in

and

New Persian New Persian (), also known as Modern Persian () is the current stage of the Persian language spoken since the 8th to 9th centuries until now in Greater Iran and surroundings. It is conventionally divided into three stages: Early New Persian (8th ...

. These names can be found in both masculine and feminine forms and may include native Armenian or foreign components. The element "šah" can appear as either the first or second component and is sometimes part of doublet forms with the components reversed. For example, masculine names include Šah-amir and Amir-šah, Šah-paron and Paron-šah, and Vahram-šah; feminine names include Šah-xat‘un and Xat‘un-šah, and Šah-tikin. Some examples of these compound names include masculine Šah-aziz and feminine Aziz-šah, masculine Sult‘an-šah and feminine Šah-sult‘an, and masculine Melik‘-šah and feminine Šah-melē/ik‘. These names, particularly the feminine forms, sometimes vary in gender depending on the source. The name Artamšin, for instance, is based on *Artam from Old Iranian *R̥tāma-, interpreted as "having power of/from R̥ta." The auslaut of the Armenian name suggests a connection to the Iranian word for "king," šāh, found in various languages including Middle Persian and New Persian. In another example, the name Šaštʻi is interpreted as "Šah-Lady," with the second component reflecting the Arabic term sittī, meaning "My lady, lady." This name is found in a colophon from the Kołbay monastery as the name of a sister of Dawitʻ and priest Vardan. Overall, Armenian compound names containing the element "šah" provide insight into the linguistic and cultural interactions between Armenian and Iranian languages and cultures.

References

External links

Last name: Shah
at surnamedb.com

Shah
– Etymology OnLine {{Imperial and royal styles 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

Etymology

History

Persian dynasties

Non-Persian dynasties

Impact and influence

Derived terms

''Shahzade''

Others

Related terms

Armenian names

See also

References

External links