Malik (Arabic: ملك) is an Arabic word meaning "king, chieftain".
It has been adopted in various other, mainly Islamized or Arabized, Asian languages for their ruling princes and to render kings elsewhere. It is also sometimes used in derived meanings. 'Al-Malik' (literally 'The King') is one of the Names of Allah.
The female version of Malik is Malikah (Arabic: ملكة) (or its Persian language equivalent Malekeh), meaning "queen". Malik are also found in India like in Himachal Pradesh , Jammu & Kashmir , Rajasthan 'Delhi & Pakistan.Malik does also mean "the master"
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The Northwest Semitic mlk was the title of the rulers of the city-states of the Levant from the Late Bronze Age. The Biblical Hebrew form is מֶלֶךְ melek.
Moloch has been traditionally interpreted the epithet of a god, known as "the king" like Baal was an epithet "the master" and Adon an epithet "the lord", but in the case of Moloch purposely mispronounced as Molek instead of Melek using the vowels of Hebrew bosheth "shame".[1]
Primarily a malik is the ruling monarch of a kingdom, called mamlaka, title used by the former slaves aka Mamluks (مملوك) royal dynasty of Egypt; that term is however also used in a broader sense, like realm, for rulers with another, generally lower titles, as in Sahib al-Mamlaka. Malik is also used for tribal leaders, e.g. among the Pashtuns.
Although monarchy is sometimes viewed as a non-Islamic form of government, some Arab kingdoms are presently ruled by a Malik:
Other historic realms under a Malik include:
In Mughal and colonial India, the princely state of Zainabad, Vanod was ruled by a Malek Shri (Shri is an emphatical honorific without intrinsic meaning).
The title Malik has also been used in languages which adopted Arabic loanwords (mainly, not exclusively, in Muslim cultures), for various princely or lower ranks and functions.
The word Malik is sometimes used in Arabic to render roughly equivalent titles of foreign rulers, for instance the chronicler Baha al-Din Ibn Shaddad refers to King Richard I of England as Malik al-Inkitar.
The following components are frequently part of titles, notably in Persian (also used elsewhere, e.g. in India's Moghol tradition):
In the great Indian Muslim salute state of Hyderabad, a first rank- vassal of the Mughal padshah (emperor) imitating his lofty Persian court protocol, the word Molk became on itself one of the titles used for ennobled Muslim retainers of the ruling Nizam's court, in fact the third in rank, only below Jah (the highest) and Umara, but above Daula, Jang, Nawab, Khan Bahadur and Khan; for the Nizam's Hindu retainers different titles were used, the equivalent of Molk being Vant.
With the arrival of Arabs and Persians in the region, the term Malik became popular amongst rulers and aristocrats. Soon after, it became the most prestigious title of them all in the region.
The Arabic term came to be adopted as a term for "tribal chieftain" in in Afghanistan and the tribal areas of Pakistan, especially among Pashtuns, for a tribal leader or a chieftain. Maliks serve as de facto arbiters in local conflicts, interlocutors in state policy-making, tax-collectors, heads of village and town councils and delegates to provincial and national jirgas as well as to Parliament.
Among Tanoli Term Malik is applied to the chief of villages or notable personalities Nawab Khalli Maliks are the sons of Rais e Azam Nawab Khan.
Malik is used by Khokhar rajputs and Khokhran, and refers to chiefs, In the Punjab, "Malik" was one of the titles used by local aristocrats, more formally known as Zamindars, under both the Mughals and the British, and to some degree still in present-day Pakistan. The title is given for large amount of ownership of land(landlords). Currently, in punjab region of Pakistan, Malik is mostly used by different Rajputs clans and Jatt clans to show their large land ownership. Mainly in the yester years, malik was used to signify largest land ownership in the area.
Most famous of the clans of Punjab and KPK that use Malik these days are, Chattar, Tiwana, Gathwal, Khokhar, Minhas, Janjua, Gunjial, Wattu, Noon, Haans, Langrial, Bandial, Bhatti, Johiya, attra, Awan, Taman, Khukhrain etc.
Like many prestigious titles, Malik or Malek is a common element in first and family names, usually without any aristocratic meaning. For example, Awan Malik is a large community in Pakistan with Arab heritage. Malik is used both as title and surname in Pakistan.
Some Maliks (Urdu: ملک) are also a clan of Hindu Jatt, Muslim Jatt and a few Sikh Jatt, found primarily in Haryana and Pakistan and parts of Punjab (There also exist Hindu Punjabi Maliks that are part of the Khukhrain or Arora communities but they are entirely different from jats). The Hindu Malik Jat are spread all over Haryana. The Muslim Malik Jat community is settled all over Pakistan and Sikh, mainly in the Punjab province. The Malik are also known as the Ghatwala. They are descended from Mann Jats and have been ferocious warriors in history, earning them the name Malik(leader). The Gathwala are now designating themselves as Maliks, which is a title.
According to the 1901 Census of India, the total Rajputs population in the Punjab was 1,798,000.,[4] of which 1,347,000 (75%) were Muslim. Traditionally, in the plains of Punjab, most of the Rajput clans had converted to Islam, while those of Punjab hills (modern Himachal Pradesh) remained Hindu.[5]
Punjabi Rajput are vast holding landlords of Punjab. The members of Punjabi Rajput tribes are landowners, businessmen and they play an active role in politics and bureaucracy. In 1947, during the independence, almost all Punjabi Muslim Rajputs of India moved to Pakistan.
The Maliks are a Suryavanshi Rajput clan, and are Dogras. The Hindu branch provided the Maharajas of Jammu and Kashmir. Prior to independence, the districts of Hoshiarpur and Gurdaspur were home to a large number of Muslim Maliks. In what became Pakistani territory, they were and are found in numbers in Sialkot, Gujrat, Jhelum and Rawalpindi districts, which all bordered Jammu and Kashmir.Malik Hindu converted into Islam , especially during and before India - Pakistan partition.