- Padishah
Padishah, Padshah, Padeshah, Badishah or Badshah (Persian پادشاه "Pādeshāh") is a very prestigious
title , which is composed from the Persian words "pād" "master" and the better-known title "shāh " "king", which was adopted by severalIslamic monarchies claiming the highest rank, roughly equivalent to Christian Emperors or the ancient notion of a "Great King". The word "kshatrapati" is aSanskrit near-cognate.History of Islamic monarchies
The rulers on the following thrones, the first three effectively commanding major Muslim empires, were styled Padishah:
*TheShahanshah ofIran (King of Kings of Persia), also recognized by someShia Muslims as the rightfulCaliph (a claim of universal rule, as theirZoroastrian Sassanid predecessors did often express by inserting in their title 'ofIran andAniran (i.e. the rest of the world)').
*TheGreat Sultan of theOttoman Empire , also claiming the title ofCaliph (the highest religious authority, as successor to the Prophet Mohammed), recognized by mostSunni Muslims ; his Persian arch-rival was Shiite).
*Over most of theIndian subcontinent (where there also was a Sanskritised version, Patisaha), the MughalSultan ofDelhi as head of the vast (later British Indian)Moghul Empire . The title was also used by Muslim rulers over smaller parts of that subcontinent:
** His challengerTipu Sultan (in full Padshah bahadur; the addition "bahadur", originally Mongolian for 'brave', always signifies a slightly higher rank, implicitely proclaiming himself the Mughal's "superior") inKhudadad (in fact the realm ofMysore , which his father and he took over from theHindu Maharaja, and neighbouring conquests), respected by the British as a validmilitary adversary but crushed (for siding withLondon 's French rivals). He was killed in 1799.
** A formervassal of Delhi, the former "Nawab" (i.e. Mughal governor, turnedhereditary prince ) of Avadh(Oudh ), who assumed independence at the instigation of the colonial paramount power, who in turn established aprotectorate over him, ended the Mughal rule (by then merely nominal) and finally would claim imperial rank in chief of India for their own royal dynasty;
** Miangul Golshahzada Abdul Wadud (predecessor styled "Amir-i shariat", successors (Khan and) "Wali") of the tiny (one valley)Pakistan i North West Frontier state of Swat called himself "badshah" from November 1918 to March 1926. [http://www.4dw.net/royalark/Pakistan/swat.htm]
*InAfghanistan , Ahmed Shah Duranni founded theDurrani Empire in 1747 with the title ""Pādshah-i Afghanistan" in Persian Dari, then Da Afghanistan "Bacha" in thePashto language. TheSadozai were overthrown in 1823 but there was a brief restoration byShoja Shah in 1839. The title went dormant after his assassination in 1842 until 1926 whenAmanullah Khan resurrected it (official from 1937) and was finally laid to rest with the abdication ofMohammed Zahir Shah in 1973 following a coup; at other times the Afghan monarchy used the style "Emir (Amir al-Momenin)" orMalik =King. [http://www.rulers.org/rula1.html]
*The last Bashabey ofTunisia ,Muhammad VIII al-Amin (ruling since15 May 1943 ), adopted the sovereign style "padshah"20 March 1956 -25 July 1957 .The paramount prestige of this title, in Islam and even beyond, is clearly apparent from the
Ottoman Empire 's dealings with the (predominantlyChristian )Europe an powers. As the Europeans and theRussians gradually drove the Turks from theBalkans ,Central Asia , and the Caucasus, they insisted—even at the cost of delaying the end of hostilities—on the usage of the title 'Padishah' for themselves in the Turkish versions of their treaties with theHigh Porte , as acknowledgement that their Christianemperor s were in all diplomatic and protocollary capacities the equal of the Turkish ruler, who by his religious paramount office inIslam (Caliph ) had a theoretical claim of universal sovereignty (at least amongSunnites ).The compound Pādshah-i-
Ghazi 'Victorious Emperor' is only recorded for two individual rulers:
*H.M. Ahmad Shah Bahadur, "Padshah-i-Ghazi, Dur-i-Durran" ('pearl of pearls'), Padshah ofKhorasan (today Afghanistan) 1747 - 1772
*H.H. Rustam-i-Dauran, Aristu-i-Zaman, Asaf Jah IV, Muzaffar ul-Mamaluk, Nizam ul-Mulk, Nizam ud-Daula, Nawab Mir Farkhunda 'Ali Khan Bahadur [Gufran Manzil] , Sipah Salar, Fath Jang, Ayn waffadar Fidvi-i-Senliena, Iqtidar-i-Kishwarsitan Muhammad Akbar Shah Padshah-i-Ghazi,Nizam of Hyderabad 1829 - 1857:Note that as many
titles , the word was also often used as a name, either bynobles with other (in this case always lower) styles, or even bycommoners Fictional usage
In
Frank Herbert 's "Dune" series, thePadishah Emperor — also commonly referred to as "Emperor of the Known Universe" or "Emperor of a Million Worlds" — is the supreme ruler of humanity, whose power is checked by theSpacing Guild , theBene Gesserit and theLandsraad .Common usage
The term shah was dropped after the Ottoman landing in the North East Libyan town of Musrata and the pronunciation of Padi became Badi due to Arab language barriers.
There is a large family of Turkish origin Padishahs using the surname Badi in modern day Libya.
ources and references
* [http://4dw.net/royalark/ RoyalArk] – Select present country, then choose dynasty from its menu
* [http://www.worldstatesmen.org/ WorldStatesmen] idem; more cases but less thorough
* [http://www.bartleby.com/61/94/P0009400.html| Bartbleby.com Dictionary&Etymology]ee also
*
Shah
*Shahanshah
*Sultan
*Badshah
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