Sultana or sultanah (; ') is a female

royal title Traditional rank amongst European imperiality, 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 ...

, and the feminine form of the word

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 ...

. This term has been officially used for female monarchs in some

Islamic states The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS occupied signif ...

, and historically it was also used for a sultan's consort.

Nomenclature

The term ''sultana'' is the feminine form of the word

(), an Arabic

abstract noun In grammar, a noun is a word that represents a concrete or abstract thing, like living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, and ideas. A noun may serve as an object or subject within a phrase, clause, or sentence.Example ...

meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the

verbal noun Historically, grammarians have described a verbal noun or gerundial noun as a verb form that functions as a noun. An example of a verbal noun in English is 'sacking' as in the sentence "The ''sacking'' of the city was an epochal event" (wherein ...

', 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 ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

, or to refer to a powerful

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

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

Comoros The Comoros, officially the Union of the Comoros, is an archipelagic country made up of three islands in Southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city is Moroni, ...

, there have been several ruling sultanas.

Shajar al-Durr Shajar al-Durr (), also Shajarat al-Durr (), whose royal name was al-Malika ʿAṣmat ad-Dīn ʾUmm-Khalīl Shajar ad-Durr (; died 28 April 1257), was a ruler of Egypt. She was the wife of As-Salih Ayyub, and later of Izz al-Din Aybak, the first ...

became the ruling sultana of Egypt on May 1250, founding the

Mamluk Sultanate The Mamluk Sultanate (), also known as Mamluk Egypt or the Mamluk Empire, was a state that ruled Egypt, the Levant and the Hejaz from the mid-13th to early 16th centuries, with Cairo as its capital. It was ruled by a military caste of mamluks ...

South Asia

Razia Sultana Raziyyat-Ud-Dunya Wa Ud-Din ( Hindustani (Hindi): रज़िय्यत उद दुन्या व उद दीन, ; 1205 – 15 October 1240, ), popularly known as Razia Sultan, was a ruler of the Delhi Sultanate in the northern part ...

(r. 1236–1240) was a ruler 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.

in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent. She was the first female Muslim ruler of the Indian Subcontinent. In the

Maldives The Maldives, officially the Republic of Maldives, and historically known as the Maldive Islands, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in South Asia located in the Indian Ocean. The Maldives is southwest of Sri Lanka and India, abou ...

, there have been six ruling sultanas: * Khadijah (1347–1363, 1364–1374, 1376–1380) * Raadhafathi (1380) * Dhaain (1383–1388) *

Kuda Kala Kamanafa’anu Kuda Kala Kamanafaanu, also known as Kalhu Kamana or Queen Tukkamana, was the '' de facto'' Sultana regnant of the Maldives, but legally the regent of King Dom Philippe who resided in Goa. From the death of Kalaafaan in 1609, Kalaafaan's cous ...

(1607–1609) * Amina I (1753–1754) * Amina II (1757–1759)

Southeast Asia

Nur ul-Azam became the female sultan in

Sultanate of Sulu The Sultanate of Sulu (; ; ) is a Sunni Muslim subnational monarchy in the Philippines, Republic of the Philippines that includes the Sulu Archipelago, coastal areas of Zamboanga City and certain portions of Palawan in today's Philippines. H ...

. In

Samudera Pasai Sultanate The Samudera Pasai Sultanate (), also known as Samudera or Pasai or Samudera Darussalam or Pacem, was a Muslim kingdom on the north coast of Sumatra from the 13th to the 16th centuries. Little evidence has been left to allow for historical ...

(now part of

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

), (r. 1406–1428) became the sole ruler. Of the six female monarchs in Bone state (now part of

), three used the title sultana. In Aceh Darussalam (now part of

), there have been four ruling sultanas: * Sultana

Seri Ratu Ta'jul Alam Syafiatuddin Syah of Aceh Sulṭāna Taj ul-Alam Safiatuddin Syah (1612 – 23 October 1675; born Putri Sri Alam) was the fourteenth ruler of Aceh. She was the daughter of the sultan Iskandar Muda and the wife of his successor, Iskandar Thani. She became sulṭāna ...

(1641–1675) was the daughter of

Sultan Iskandar Muda Iskandar Muda (1583? – 27 December 1636Yusra Habib Abdul Gani, accessed on 4 January 2007) was the twelfth Sultan of Acèh Darussalam, under whom the sultanate achieved its greatest territorial extent, holding sway as the strongest power ...

, and wife of

Sultan Iskandar Tani Iskandar Thani Alauddin Mughayat Syah (1610 – 15 February 1641) was the thirteenth sultan of Aceh, following the powerful Iskandar Muda. Iskandar Thani was the son of the 11th sultan of Pahang, Ahmad Shah II, who was brought to Aceh in the conq ...

. She spoke 6 languages, Acehnese, Malay,

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

, and

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 ...

. * 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, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

. In (now part of

), there have been two ruling sultanas: * (reigned 1759–1761) * (reigned 1791–1795) On 5 May 2015, Sultan

Yogyakarta Yogyakarta is the capital city of the Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by Hamengkubuwono, a monarchy, Yogyakarta is regarded as an importan ...

and governor of the

Special Region of Yogyakarta The Special Region of Yogyakarta is a province-level special region of Indonesia in southern Java. It is a semi-enclave that is surrounded by on the landward side by Central Java Province to the west, north, and east, but has a long coastline ...

in Indonesia

Hamengkubuwono X Sri Sultan Hamengkubawono X ( Hanacaraka: , also spelled as Hamengkubawana X, often abbreviated as HB X; born Bendara Raden Mas Herjuno Darpito, 2 April 1946) is the Sultan of the historic Yogyakarta Sultanate in Indonesia and is currently al ...

, who only has daughters, appointed his eldest child, Lady Nurmalitasari, as his

heiress presumptive An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of a person with a better claim to the position in question. This is in contrast to an heir app ...

, henceforth titled

Princess Mangkubumi Mangkubumi, Crown Princess of Yogyakarta (full name: Her Royal Highness Princess Mangkubumi Hamemayu Hayuning Bawana Langgeng ing Mataram; , Gusti Kanjeng Ratu Mangkubumi, born as Gusti Raden Ajeng Nurmalitasari on 24 February 1972, later known as ...

. If she does succeed her father, she will become the first Javanese woman to become a Sultana in her own right.

West Asia

Sati Beg Sati Beg ( 1316–1345) was an Ilkhanid princess, the sister of Il-Khan Abu Sa'id Bahadur Khan, Abu Sa'id (r. 1316–1333). She was the consort of ''amir'' Chupan (1319–1327), Il-Khan Arpa Ke'un, Arpa (r. 1335–36), and Il-Khan Suleima ...

, a 14th-century an

Ilkhanid The Ilkhanate or Il-khanate was a Mongol khanate founded in the southwestern territories of the Mongol Empire. It was ruled by the Il-Khans or Ilkhanids (), and known to the Mongols as ''Hülegü Ulus'' (). The Ilkhanid realm was officially known ...

princess, issued coins using the title ''sultan'' or ''sultana''.

Sultana consort

Sultana is also used for sultan's wives. Between 1914 and 1922,

monarchs A monarch () is a head of stateWebster's II New College Dictionary. "Monarch". Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority an ...

of the

Muhammad Ali Dynasty The Muhammad Ali dynasty or the Alawiyya dynasty was the ruling dynasty of Egypt and Sudan from the 19th to the mid-20th century. It is named after its progenitor, the Albanians, Albanian Muhammad Ali of Egypt, Muhammad Ali, regarded as the fou ...

used the title of

Sultan of Egypt Sultan of Egypt was the status held by the rulers of Egypt after the establishment of the Ayyubid dynasty of Saladin in 1174 until the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1517. Though the extent of the Egyptian Sultanate ebbed and flowed, it generally ...

, and their wives were legally styled as sultanas. Two women held the title of sultana during the short-lived Sultanate of Egypt:

Melek Tourhan Melek Hassan Tourhan () (27 October 1869 – 4 February 1956) was the second wife of Sultan Hussein Kamel of Egypt. After her husband ascended the throne in 1914, she became known as Sultana Melek (). Early life Born in Istanbul on 27 October 1 ...

, the wife of Sultan Hussein Kamel, and

Nazli Sabri Nazli Sabri (; 25 June 1894 – 29 May 1978) was the first queen consort in the Kingdom of Egypt from 1919 to 1936. She was the second wife of King Fuad I. Early life Nazli was born on 25 June 1894 to an Egyptians, Egyptian father and a mother o ...

, the wife of Sultan

Fuad I Fuad I ( ''Fu’ād al-Awwal''; 26 March 1868 – 28 April 1936) was the Sultan and later King of Egypt and the Sudan. The ninth ruler of Egypt and Sudan from the Muhammad Ali dynasty, he became Sultan in 1917, succeeding his elder brother Hus ...

. Nazli Sabri became

queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

(''malika'') following the establishment of the

Kingdom of Egypt The Kingdom of Egypt () was the legal form of the Egyptian state during the latter period of the Muhammad Ali dynasty's reign, from the United Kingdom's recognition of Egyptian independence in 1922 until the abolition of the monarchy of Eg ...

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 Che Puan Besar Hajjah Kalsom Abdullah ( Jawi: چئ ڤوان بسر حاجه كلثوم عبدالله), formerly known as Sultanah Kalsom (''née'' Anita; born 12 September 1951 in Taftan, Baluchistan, Dominion of Pakistan) is a former Sulta ...

, second wife of

Ahmad Shah of Pahang Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Al-Musta’in Billah ibni Almarhum Sultan Abu Bakar Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mu’azzam Shah ( Jawi: ; 24 October 1930 – 22 May 2019) was Sultan of Pahang from 1974 until his abdication in 2019, and the seventh Yang di-Pertua ...

. She became Sultanah of Pahang on 30 September 1992 until 15 August 2019. * Sultanah Nur Zahirah, consort of

Mizan Zainal Abidin of Terengganu Al-Wathiqu Billah Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin ibni Almarhum Sultan Mahmud Al-Muktafi Billah Shah (; born 22 January 1962) is the Sultan of Terengganu, reigning since 1998. He previously reigned as the King of Malaysia, from 2006 to 2011 ...

. She became Sultanah of Terengganu on 5 June 2006. * Sultanah Haminah, second wife of

Abdul Halim of Kedah Al-Mu’tassimu Billahi Muhibbuddin Sultan Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Badlishah (Jawi script, Jawi: ; 28 November 1927 – 11 September 2017) was the 28th Sultan of Kedah from 1958 until his death in 2017, and served twice a ...

. She succeeded as Sultanah of Kedah after her predecessor's death on 21 November 2003 until 11 September 2017. * Sultanah Maliha, consort of

Sallehuddin of Kedah Al-Aminul Karim Sultan Sallehuddin ibni Almarhum Sultan Badlishah (Jawi alphabet, Jawi: ; born 30 April 1942) is the 29th Sultan of Kedah since ascending to the throne in September 2017 upon the death of his elder half-brother Abdul Halim of ...

. She became Sultanah of Kedah on 12 September 2017 after her husband was proclaimed as the

Sultan of Kedah The Kedah Sultanate () 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 Union but was restored ...

. *

Sultanah Nur Diana Petra Sultanah Nur Diana Petra Abdullah (; ''née'' Jana Jakoubková; born 25 February 1988) is the Sultanah of Kelantan as the wife of Sultan Muhammad V, the 29th and current Sultan of Kelantan. Early life Sultanah Nur Diana Petra was born as Jana ...

, consort of

Muhammad V of Kelantan Muhammad V ( Jawi: ; born 6 October 1969) has been the 29th Sultan of Kelantan since ascending to the throne in 2010. He previously reigned as the King of Malaysia from 2016 until his abdication in 2019. He was proclaimed Sultan of Kelantan o ...

. She married with the

Sultan of Kelantan The Sultan of Kelantan (, Jawi: ) is the constitutional head of Kelantan state in Malaysia. The executive power of the state is vested in him as the monarch of the state. The current sultan, Muhammad V, is the 29th Sultan of Kelantan. He is th ...

on 30 October 2010 and officially proclaimed the title Sultanah of Kelantan by her husband on 2 August 2022.

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 ( , ), 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 ...

, a former slave of Turkic or

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 ...

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

, was the

Sultan of Delhi The Sultan of Delhi was the absolute monarch of the Delhi Sultanate which stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent during the period of medieval era, for 320 years (1206–1526).India India, officially the Republic of India, 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 by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

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

.Table of Delhi Kings: Muazzi Slave King

The Imperial Gazetteer of India ''The Imperial Gazetteer of India'' was a gazetteer of the British Indian Empire, and is now a historical reference work. It was first published in 1881. Sir William Wilson Hunter made the original plans of the book, starting in 1869.< ...

, 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 possibly 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 languages. ''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: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

பரமேஸ்வரி (paramēsvari), from

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 ...

परमेश्वरी (parameśvarī), 'supreme lady'. This title is still used for the consort of

Yang di-Pertuan Agong The King of Malaysia, officially ''Yang di-Pertuan Agong'' ( Jawi alphabet, Jawi: ), is the constitutional monarch and Figurehead, ceremonial head of state of Malaysia. The office was established in 1957, when the Federation of Malaya gained ...

, monarch and head of state of

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

. The formal way of addressing her is

Raja Permaisuri Agong The Queen of Malaysia, officially ''Raja Permaisuri Agong'' ( Jawi: ) is the consort of the ''Yang di-Pertuan Agong'', the elected, constitutional federal monarch of Malaysia. Title and precedence The queen's full style and title in Mala ...

. In

Brunei Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...

, official title for a chief wife of the sultan is ''Seri Baginda Raja Isteri'', derived from

raja Raja (; from , IAST ') is a noble or royal Sanskrit title historically used by some Indian subcontinent, Indian rulers and monarchs and highest-ranking nobles. The title was historically used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. T ...

'' (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 ''Shahbanu'' (, ) was a title for empress regnant or empress consort in Persian and other Iranian languages. The title was specifically used by Farah Pahlavi, the wife of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran ( Persia). During Sas ...

'', title for the wife of Iran's monarch, is derived from

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 Per ...

'' (شاه, equivalent with "king") and '' banu'' (بانو, translated as "lady"). Upon assuming the title in 1967,

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 ...

, the third wife of

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 ...

, 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'' (

: ملكة), a feminine form of the word ''

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 ...

'', for their wives. This title is still used in many Muslim kingdoms, like

Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

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 Valide Sultan (, lit. "Sultana mother") was the title held by the mother of a ruling sultan of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans first formally used the title in the 16th century as an epithet of Hafsa Sultan (died 1534), mother of Sultan Suleima ...

(e.g.

Hafsa Sultan Ayşe Hafsa Sultan (; 1478/1479 - 19 March 1534), was a concubine of Selim I and the mother of Suleiman the Magnificent. She was the first Valide Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and, during the period between her son's enthronement in 1520 until ...

). She was referred to by this title alone, without her given name. Principal consort had the title

Haseki Sultan Haseki Sultan (, ''Ḫāṣekī Sulṭān'' ) was the title used for the chief consort of an Ottoman sultan. In later years, the meaning of the title changed to "imperial consort". Hurrem Sultan, principal consort and legal wife of Suleiman the ...

(e.g.

Hürrem Sultan Hürrem Sultan (; , "''the joyful one''"; 1505– 15 April 1558), also known as Roxelana (), was the chief consort, the first Haseki Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and the legal wife of the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, and the mothe ...

). Non-principal consorts had the title ''

hatun Khatun ( ) is a title of the female counterpart to a khan or a khagan of the Turkic Khaganates and in the subsequent Mongol Empire. Etymology and history Before the advent of Islam in Central Asia, Khatun was the title of the queen of Bukhara. ...

'', equivalent to ''

lady ''Lady'' is a term for a woman who behaves in a polite way. Once used to describe only women of a high social class or status, the female counterpart of lord, now it may refer to any adult woman, as gentleman can be used for men. "Lady" is al ...

''. 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.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sultana (Title) Islamic honorifics Women monarchs Egyptian royal titles Arabic words and phrases Military ranks Royal titles Ottoman titles Titles of national or ethnic leadership Titles in Afghanistan Titles in Bangladesh Bengali Muslim surnames Titles in Pakistan Filipino royalty Noble titles of women