Sultan

Sultan (pronounced [ˈsulˈtˤɑːn]; Arabic: سلطان‎ Sulṭān) is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة sulṭah, meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who claimed almost full sovereignty in practical terms (i.e. the lack of dependence on any higher ruler), without claiming the overall caliphate, or it was used to refer to a powerful governor of a province within the caliphate.

The dynasty and lands ruled by a sultan are referred to as a sultanate (Arabic: سلطنة‎).

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Muslim ruler under the terms of shariah (King/Prince)

The title carries moral weight and religious authority, in the Qur'an. The sultan, however, is not a religious teacher himself, and in constitutional monarchies, the sultanship can be reduced to a more limited role.

The first to bear the title of sultan was the Ghazni ruler Mahmud Ghaznawi (ruled 998 - 1030 CE). Later, "sultan" became the usual title of rulers of Seljuk and Ottoman Turks and Ayyubid and Mamluk rulers in Egypt. The religious validation of the title was illustrated by the fact that the shadow Caliph in Cairo bestowed the title sultan on Murad I, the third ruler of the emerging Ottoman Empire in 1383; its earlier sovereigns had been beys or emirs, a lower rank in the orders of protocol.

At later stages, lesser rulers assumed the title sultan, as was the case for the earlier leaders of today's royal family of Morocco. Today, only the Sultan of Oman, the Sultan of Brunei (both sovereign nations), the Sultans of Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Pahang, Perak, Selangor and Terengganu (within the constitutive states of the federation) in Malaysia, and the titular sultans of Sulu, Maguindanao , and Lanao Provinces in the southern Philippines and Java (Indonesia) regions still use the title or the Maharaja title. The sultan's domain is properly called a sultanate.

A feminine form, used by Westerners, is sultana or sultanah; the very styling misconstrues the roles of wives of sultans. In a similar usage, the wife of a German Field-Marshal might be styled Feldmarschallin (in French, similar constructions of the type madame la maréchalle are quite common). The rare female leaders in Muslim history are correctly known as "sultanas". However, in the Sultanate of Sulu, the wife of the sultan is styled as the "panguian".

Among those modern hereditary rulers who wish to emphasize their secular authority under the rule of law, the term is gradually being replaced by king (i.e., malik in Arabic).

Compound ruler titles

These are generally secondary titles, either lofty 'poetry' or with a message; e.g.:

Former Sultans and Sultanates

Near East and Central Asia

Arab World

Audhali, Fadhli, Haushabi, Kathiri, Lahej, Lower Aulaqi, Lower Yafa, Mahra, Qu'aiti, Subeihi, Upper Aulaqi, Upper Yafa and the Wahidi sultanates

Horn of Africa

East Africa and Indian Ocean

Sultan

Maliki

This was the alternative native style (apparently derived from malik, the Arabic word for king) of the Sultans of the Kilwa Sultanate, in Tanganyika (presently the continental part of Tanzania).

Swahili sultan

Mfalume is the (Ki)Swahili title of various native Muslim rulers, generally rendered in Arabic and in western languages as Sultan:

Sultani

This was the native ruler's title in the Tanzanian state of Uhehe a female sultan

West and Central Africa

Southern Asia

In India:

In the Maldives:

Southeast and East Asia

In Indonesia (formerly in the Dutch East Indies): . .

In the Peninsular Malaysia:

In Brunei:

In China:

In the Philippines:

In Thailand (Siam):

Contemporary sovereign sultanates

Princely and aristocratic titles

In the Ottoman dynastic system, male descendants of the ruling Padishah (in the West also known as Great Sultan) enjoyed a style including Sultan; so this normally monarchic title is equivalent in use to the western Prince of the blood: Daulatlu Najabatlu Shahzada Sultan (given name) Hazretleri Effendi. For the Heir Apparent, however, the style was Daulatlu Najabatlu Vali Ahad-i-Sultanat (given name) Effendi Hazlatlari; i.e. Crown Prince of the Sultanate.

In certain Muslim states, Sultan was also an aristocratic title, as in the Tartar Astrakhan Khanate.

The Sultan Valide was the title reserved for the mother of the ruling sultan.

Military rank

In a number of post-caliphal states under Mongol or Turkic rule, there was a feudal type of military hierarchy, often decimal (mainly in larger empires), using originally princely titles (Khan, Malik, Amir) as mere rank denominations.

In the Persian empire, the rank of Sultan was roughly equivalent to a western Captain, socially in the fifth rank class, styled 'Ali Jah.

See also

Other ruling titles

Notes

References

Autocratic
Totalitarian
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