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Sultan

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Suleiman the Magnificent,the longest-reigningsultan of the Ottoman Empire
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Sultan(/ˈsʌltən/;Arabic:سلطانsulṭān,pronounced[sʊlˈtˤɑːn,solˈtˤɑːn]) is apositionwith several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabicabstract nounmeaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from theverbal nounسلطةsulṭah,meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who claimed almost full sovereignty (i.e., not having dependence on any higher ruler) without claiming the overallcaliphate,or to refer to a powerfulgovernorof a province within the caliphate. The adjectival form of the word is "sultanic",[1]and thestateand territories ruled by a sultan, as well as his office, are referred to as asultanate(سلطنةsalṭanah).[2][3]

The term is distinct from king (ملكmalik), though both refer to a sovereign ruler. The use of "sultan" is restricted to Muslim countries, where the title carries religious significance,[4][5]contrasting the more secularking,which is used in both Muslim and non-Muslim countries.

Brunei,MalaysiaandOmanare the only independent countries which retain the title "sultan" for their monarchs. In recent years, the title has been gradually replaced by "king" by contemporary hereditary rulers who wish to emphasize their secular authority under the rule of law. A notable example isMorocco,whose monarch changed his title from sultan to king in 1957.

History of the term

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See also:Timeline of 11th-century Muslim history

The word derives from the Arabic and Semitic rootsalaṭa"to be hard, strong". The nounsulṭāninitially designated a kind of moral authority or spiritual power (as opposed to political power), and it is used in this sense several times in theQur'an.[6]

In theearly Muslim world,ultimate power and authority was theoretically held by the caliph, who was considered the leader of the caliphate. The increasing political fragmentation of the Muslim world after the 8th century, however, challenged this consensus. Local governors with administrative authority held the title ofamīr(أمير,traditionally "commander" or "emir",later also" prince ") and were appointed by the caliph, but in the 9th century some of these becamede factoindependent rulers who founded their own dynasties, such as theAghlabidsandTulunids.[7]Towards the late 10th century, the term "sultan" begins to be used to denote an individual ruler with practically sovereign authority,[8]although the early evolution of the term is complicated and difficult to establish.[6]

The first major figure to clearly grant himself this title was theGhaznavidrulerMahmud(r. 998–1030 CE) who controlled an empire over present-dayAfghanistanand the surrounding region.[8][6]Soon after, theGreat Seljuksadopted this title after defeating the Ghaznavid Empire and taking control of an even larger territory which includedBaghdad,the capital of theAbbasid caliphs.The early Seljuk leaderTughril Beywas the first leader to adopt the epithet "sultan" on hiscoinage.[6]While the Seljuks acknowledged the caliphs in Baghdad formally as the universal leader of theMuslim community,their own political power clearly overshadowed the latter. This led to various Muslim scholars – notablyAl-JuwayniandAl-Ghazali– attempting to develop theoretical justifications for the political authority of the Seljuk sultans within the framework of the formal supreme authority of the recognized caliphs. In general, the theories maintained that all legitimate authority derived from the caliph, but that it was delegated to sovereign rulers whom the caliph recognized. Al-Ghazali, for example, argued that while the caliph was the guarantor of Islamic law (shari'a), coercive power was required to enforce the law in practice and the leader who exercised that power directly was the sultan.[9][8]

The position of sultan continued to grow in importance during the period of theCrusades,when leaders who held the title of "sultan" (such asSalah ad-Dinand theAyyubid dynasty) led the confrontation against theCrusader statesin theLevant.[6]Views about the office of the sultan further developed during the crisis that followed thedestruction of Baghdadby theMongolsin 1258, which eliminated the remnants of Abbasid political power. Henceforth, the surviving descendants of the Abbasid caliphs lived inCairounder the protection of theMamluksand were still nominally recognized by the latter. However, from this time on they effectively had no authority and were not universally recognized across the Sunni Muslim world.[9]As protectors of the line of the Abbasid caliphs, the Mamluks recognized themselves as sultans and the Muslim scholar Khalil al-Zahiri argued that only they could hold that title.[6]Nonetheless, in practice, many Muslim rulers of this period were now using the title as well. Mongol rulers (who had since converted to Islam) and other Turkish rulers were among those who did so.[6]

The position of sultan and caliph began to blend together in the 16th century when theOttoman Empireconquered the Mamluk Empire and became the indisputable leading Sunni Muslim power across most of theMiddle East,North Africa,andEastern Europe.The 16th-century Ottoman scholar and jurist,Ebüssuûd Mehmet Efendi,recognized theOttoman sultan(Suleiman the Magnificentat the time) as the caliph and universal leader of all Muslims.[9]This conflation of sultan and caliph became more clearly emphasized in the 19th century during the Ottoman Empire's territorial decline, when Ottoman authorities sought to cast the sultan as the leader of the entire Muslim community in the face of European (Christian)colonial expansion.[10]As part of this narrative, it was claimed that when SultanSelim Icaptured Cairo in 1517, the last descendant of the Abbasids in Cairo formally passed on the position of caliph to him.[10]This combination thus elevated the sultan's religious or spiritual authority, in addition to his formal political authority.[9][10]

During this later period, the title of sultan was still used outside the Ottoman Empire as well, as with the examples of theSomali aristocrats,Malay noblesand thesultans of Morocco(such as theAlaouite dynastyfounded in the 17th century).[6]It was, however, not used as a sovereign title byShi'aMuslim rulers. TheSafavid dynastyofIran,who controlled the largest Shi'a Muslim state of this era, mainly used thePersiantitleShah,a tradition which continued under subsequent dynasties. The termsultan,by contrast, was mainly given to provincial governors within their realm.[6]

Feminine forms

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A feminine form ofsultan,used by Westerners, isSultanaorSultanahand this title has been used legally for some (not all)Muslim womenmonarchs and sultan's mothers and chief consorts. However,TurkishandOttoman Turkishalso usessultanfor imperial lady, asTurkish grammaruses the same words for both women and men (such asHurrem Sultanand Sultan Suleiman Han (Suleiman the Magnificent)). The female leaders inMuslim historyare correctly known as "sultanas". However, the wife of the sultan in theSultanate of Suluis styled as the "panguian" while the sultan's chief wife in many sultanates ofIndonesiaandMalaysiaare known as "permaisuri", "Tunku Ampuan", "Raja Perempuan", or "Tengku Ampuan". Thequeen consortinBruneiespecially is known asRaja Isteriwith the title ofPengiran Anaksuffixed, should the queen consort also be a royal princess.

Compound ruler titles

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Ottoman SultanMehmed IVattended by a eunuch and two pages.

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

  • Mani Sultan–Manney Sultan(meaning the "Pearl of Rulers" or "Honoured Monarch" ) – a subsidiary title, part of the full style of theMaharajaofTravancore
  • Sultan of Sultans– the sultanic equivalent of the styleKing of Kings
  • Certain secondary titles have a devout Islamic connotation; e.g.,Sultan ul-Mujahidinas champion ofjihad(to strive and to struggle in the name of Allah).
  • Sultanic Highness– a rare, hybrid western-Islamic honorific style exclusively used by the son, daughter-in-law and daughters of SultanHussein Kamel of Egypt(aBritish protectoratesince 1914), who bore it with their primary titles ofPrince(Amir;Turkish:Prens) orPrincess,after 11 October 1917. They enjoyed these titles for life, even after the Royal Rescript regulating the styles and titles of the Royal House following Egypt'sindependence in 1922,when the sons and daughters of the newly styled king (malikMisr,considered a promotion) were granted the titleSahib(at) us-Sumuw al-Malaki,orRoyal Highness.
  • Sultan-ul-Qaum– a title meaning King of the Nation, given to 18th-centurySikhleaderJassa Singh Ahluwaliaby his supporters

Princely and aristocratic titles

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Thevalide sultan(sultana mother) of theOttoman Empire

By the beginning of the 16th century, the title sultan was carried by both men and women of the Ottoman dynasty and was replacing other titles by which prominent members of the imperial family had been known (notablykhatunfor women andbeyfor men). This usage underlines the Ottoman conception of sovereign power as family prerogative.

Western tradition knows the Ottoman ruler as "sultan", but Ottomans themselves used "padişah" (emperor) or "hünkar" to refer to their ruler. The emperor's formal title consisted of "sultan" together with "khan" (for example, Sultan Suleiman Khan). In formal address, the sultan's children were also entitled "sultan", with imperial princes (Şehzade) carrying the title before their given name, and imperial princesses carrying it after. For example:Şehzade Sultan MehmedandMihrimah Sultan,son and daughter of Suleiman the Magnificent. Like imperial princesses, the living mother and main consort of the reigning sultan also carried the title after their given names, for example:Hafsa Sultan,Suleiman's mother and firstvalide sultan,andHürrem Sultan,Suleiman's chief consort and firsthaseki sultan.The evolving usage of this title reflected power shifts among imperial women, especially between theSultanate of Women,as the position of main consort eroded over the course of the 17th century, with the main consort losing the title of "sultan", which was replaced by "kadin", a title related to the earlier "khatun". Henceforth, the mother of the reigning sultan was the only person of non imperial blood to carry the title "sultan".[11]

InKazakh Khanatea Sultan was a lord from the ruling dynasty (a direct descendants ofGenghis Khan) elected by clans, i.e. a kind of prince. The best of sultans was elected askhanby people atKurultai.[citation needed]

Military rank

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In a number of post-caliphal states underMongolorTurkicrule, there was afeudaltype of military hierarchy. These administrations were often decimal (mainly in larger empires), using originally princely titles such askhan,malik,amiras mere rank denominations.

In thePersian empire,the rank of sultan was roughly equivalent to that of a modern-daycaptainin the West; socially in the fifth-rank class, styled 'Ali Jah.

Former sultans and sultanates

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Sultanates in the Balkans, Anatolia and Central Asia

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Caucasus

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West Asia and North Africa

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Tuman bay II,last of the Mamluk Sultans.
SultanAbd al-Hafid of Morocco.

Horn of Africa

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Portrait ofMohamoud Ali Shire,the 20th Sultan of theSomaliSultanate of Warsangali.
Main articles:Somali aristocratic and court titlesandEthiopian aristocratic and court titles

Southeast Africa and Indian Ocean

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Maliki

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Apparently derived from the Arabicmalik,this was the alternative native style of the sultans of theKilwa SultanateinTanganyika(presently the continental part of Tanzania).

Swahili Coast

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The eighthSultanofZanzibar,Ali bin Hamud.Photograph taken between 1902 and 1911.
  • Sultanate of Zanzibar:two incumbents (from the Omani dynasty) since the de facto separation from Oman in 1806, the last assumed the title Sultan in 1861 at the formal separation under British auspices;[citation needed]since 1964 union with Tanganyika (part ofTanzania)

Mfalumeis the(Ki)Swahilititle of various native Muslim rulers, generally rendered in Arabic and in western languages as Sultan:

Sultani

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This was the native ruler's title in the Tanzanian state of Uhehe.

West and Central Africa

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  • InCameroon:
    • Bamoun(Bamun, 17th century, founded uniting 17 chieftaincies) 1918 becomes a sultanate, but in 1923 re-divided into the 17 original chieftaincies.
    • Bibemi,founded in 1770 - initially styledlamido
    • MandaraSultanate, since 1715 (replacingWandalakingdom); 1902 Part of Cameroon
    • Rey BoubaSultanate founded 1804
  • in theCentral African Republic:
    • Bangassoucreatedc. 1878;14 June 1890 underCongo Free Stateprotectorate,1894 under French protectorate; 1917 Sultanate suppressed by the French.
    • Dar al-Kuti - French protectorate since December 12, 1897
    • Rafaic. 1875Sultanate, April 8, 1892, under Congo Free State protectorate, March 31, 1909, under French protectorate; 1939 Sultanate suppressed
    • Zemioc. 1872established; December 11, 1894, under Congo Free State protectorate, April 12, 1909, under French protectorate; 1923 Sultanate suppressed
  • inChad:
  • inNiger:Arabicalternative title of the following autochthonous rulers:
  • inNigeriamost monarchies previously had native titles, but when most in the north converted to Islam, Muslim titles were adopted, such asemirand sometimessultan.

South Asia

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Southeast and East Asia

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Hamengkubuwono X,the incumbent Sultan of Yogyakarta
Pakubuwono XII,last undisputed Susuhunan of Surakarta
Sultan Saifuddin ofTidore
Mohammed Mahakuttah Abdullah Kiram,last recognised Sultan of Sulu

InIndonesia(formerly in theDutch East Indies):

InMalaysia:

InBrunei:

InChina:

  • Dali, Yunnan,capital of the short-livedPanthay Rebellion
    • Furthermore, theQa´id Jami al-Muslimin(Leader of the Community of Muslims) ofPingnan Guo( "Pacified South State", a major Islamic rebellious polity in western Yunnan province) is usually referred to in foreign sources as Sultan.
  • Ili Sultanate[zh]

In thePhilippines:

InThailand:

Current sultans

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Sultans of sovereign states

Sultans in Federal Monarchies

Sultan with power within Republic

See also

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References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related toSultans.
  1. ^"sultan".Dictionary.com.Archivedfrom the original on 2023-02-08.Retrieved2023-02-08.
  2. ^"Sultanate".Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary.Archivedfrom the original on 2022-06-22.Retrieved2022-06-22.
  3. ^"Sultanate".Britannica Dictionary.Archivedfrom the original on 2022-06-22.Retrieved2022-06-22.
  4. ^Montgomery, James Edward (2004).ʻAbbasid Studies: Occasional Papers of the School of ʻAbbasid Studies, Cambridge, 6–10 July 2002.Peeters Publishers. p. 83.ISBN978-90-429-1433-9.Archivedfrom the original on 27 January 2024.Retrieved16 January2018.
  5. ^Riad Aziz Kassis (1999).The Book of Proverbs and Arabic Proverbial Works.Brill. p. 65.ISBN90-04-11305-3.Archivedfrom the original on 2024-01-27.Retrieved2018-01-16.
  6. ^abcdefghiKramers, J.H.; Bosworth, C.E.; Schumann, O.; Kane, Ousmane (2012). "Sulṭān". In Bearman, P.; Bianquis, Th.; Bosworth, C.E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W.P. (eds.).Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition.Brill.
  7. ^Duri, A.A. (2012). "Amīr". In Bearman, P.; Bianquis, Th.; Bosworth, C.E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W.P. (eds.).Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition.Brill.
  8. ^abcEsposito, John L., ed. (2003). "Sultan".The Islamic World: Past and Present.Oxford University Press.
  9. ^abcdTuran, Ebru (2009). "Sultan". In Esposito, John L. (ed.).The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World.Oxford University Press.
  10. ^abcFinkel, Caroline (2012).Osman's Dream: The Story of the Ottoman Empire 1300–1923.John Murray Press.ISBN978-1848547858.
  11. ^Peirce, Leslie P. (1993).The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire.New York: Oxford University Press.ISBN0-19-507673-7.
  12. ^Mardūḵ, 'A. (December 15, 1988)."BĀNA".Encyclopaedia Iranica.
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