Shah
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Shāh (/ʃɑː/; Persian: شاه [ˈʃɒːɦ] ⓘ) is a royal title meaning "king" in the Persian language.[1] Though chiefly associated with the monarchs of Iran, it was also used to refer to the leaders of numerous Persianate societies, such as the Ottoman Empire, the Khanate of Bukhara and the Emirate of Bukhara, the Mughal Empire, the Bengal Sultanate, and various Afghan dynasties, as well as among Gurkhas.[2] With regard to Iranian history, in particular, each ruling monarch was not seen simply as the head of the concurrent dynasty and state, but as the successor to a long line of royalty beginning with the original Persian Empire of Cyrus the Great. To this end, he was more emphatically known as the Shāhanshāh (شاهنشاه [ʃɒːhænˈʃɒːɦ]), meaning "King of Kings" since the Achaemenid dynasty. A roughly equivalent title is Pādishāh (پادشاه; lit. 'Master King'), which was most widespread during the Muslim period in the Indian subcontinent.
- ^ Yarshater, Ehsan Persia or Iran, Persian or Farsi Archived 2010-10-24 at the Wayback Machine, Iranian Studies, vol. XXII, no. 1 (1989)
- ^ Siddiq, Mohammad Yusuf (Spring–Summer 2015). "Titles and Islamic Culture as Reflected in the Islamic Architectural Inscriptions of Bengal (1205–1707)". Islamic Studies. 54 (1/2): 50–51. doi:10.52541/isiri.v54i1-2.161. JSTOR 44629923.
Shāh ... [a] Persian title, ... sometimes in different compound forms, such as Bādshāh or Pādshāh ... stands for monarch, which has become part of the popular vocabulary over years in a number of South Asian languages including Bengali, Urdu and Hindi, in addition to the languages of neighbouring regions. The last Afghan king Zāhīr Shāh, for instance, used to be called "Bādshāh" until his dethronement in 1973. Used by all the Mughal emperors in India, the title appeared in a few [Bengal] Sultanate inscriptions as well.