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Sultan

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Politics and government

   Sultan (Arabic: سلطان) is an Islamic title, with several historical
   meanings. Originally it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning
   "strength", "authority", or "rulership". Later, it came to be used as
   the title of certain Muslim 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. It then developed
   some further meanings in certain contexts. The dynasty and lands ruled
   by the Sultan is called Sultanate (Arabic: سلطنة). In Hebrew, "shilton"
   or "shaltan" (Hebrew:שלטן, based on the root ש-ל-ט to control, rule)
   means "dominion" or "regime".
   Sultan Beyazit: Ottoman Empire - Oil on Canvas by Haydar Hatemi-1999
   Sultan Beyazit: Ottoman Empire - Oil on Canvas by Haydar Hatemi-1999

Muslim governor ruling under the terms of shariah

   The title carried moral weight and religious authority, as the ruler's
   role was defined in the Qur'an. The Sultan however was not a religious
   teacher himself.

   The first to carry the title of 'Sultan' was the Turkmen chief Mahmud
   of Ghazni (ruled 998 - 1030). Later, 'Sultan' became the usual title of
   rulers of Seljuk and Ottoman Turks and Ayyubid and Mamluk rulers in
   Egypt. In the later stages Sultan was used mostly for the wives of the
   emperor. The religious validation of the title was illustrated by the
   fact that it was the shadow Caliph in Cairo that bestowed the title
   "Sultan" on Murad I, the third ruler of the emerging Ottoman Empire in
   1383; its earlier leaders had been Beys or Emirs. It was hence also
   used to refer to governors of provinces, or federated nations within
   the Caliphate.

   At later stages, lesser rulers assumed the style "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, the Sultans of Johor,
   Kedah, Kelantan, Pahang, Perak, Selangor, and Terengganu in Malaysia,
   and some titular sultans in the southern Philippines and Java still use
   the 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).

   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'.

Compound ruler titles

   These are generally secondary titles, either lofty 'poetry' or with a
   message; e.g.:
     * Mani Sultan = Manney Sultan, meaning 'the Pearl or rulers', or less
       poetically Honoured Monarch, was a subsidiary title, part of the
       full style of the Maharaja of Travancore
     * Sultan of Sultans is the 'sultanic equivalent' of King of Kings
     * certain secondary titles have a devout Islamic connotation, e.g.
       Sultan ul-Mujahidin as champion of jihad bis saif (Holy war to
       establish Islamic rule)

Former Sultans and Sultanates

Middle East & Central Asia

     * Ghaznavid Sultanate
     * Sultans of Great Seljuk
     * Seljuk Sultanate of Rum
     * Sultans (becoming Padishahs) of the Ottoman Empire, the Osmanli
     * Ayyubid Sultans of Damascus (in Syria)
     * in present-day Yemen, various small sultanates of the former
       British Aden Protectorate and South Arabia:

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

     * in present-day Saudi Arabia :
          + Sultans of Nejd
          + Sultans of the Hejaz

Hami

   This was the authentical style, commonly rendered as sultan, of the
   Islamic monarchs of the ruling house of Oman, in both its realms:
     * Oman — Sultan of Oman, on the southern coast of the Arabian
       peninsula, still an independent sultanate, since 1784, two years
       before the imamate lost temporal power in 1786 (assumed the formal
       style of Sultan in 1861)
     * Sultanate of Zanzibar two incumbents (from the Omani dynasty) since
       the de faco separation from Oman in 1806, the last assumed the
       style Sultan in 1861 at the formal separation under British
       auspices; since 1964 union with Tanganyika part of Tanzania)

North Africa

     * in Algeria: sultanate of Tuggurt
     * in (greater) Egypt:
          + Ayyubid Sultans
          + Mamluk Sultans
     * in Morocco
     * in Sudan:
          + Darfur
          + Dar al-Masalit
          + Dar Qimr
          + Funj Sultanate of Sinnar (Sennar)
          + Kordofan
     * in Chad:
          + Bag(u)irmi (main native title: Mbang)
          + Wada'i (main native title: Kolak), successor state to Birgu
          + Dar Sila (actually a wandering group of tribes),

West & Central Africa

     * in Cameroon:
          + Bamoun (Bamun, 17th cent. founded uniting 17 chieftancies)
            1918 becomes a Sultanate, but 1923 re-divided into the 17
            original chieftancies.
          + Bibemi 1770 founded- Rulers first style Lamido to ...., then
            Sultan
          + Mandara Sultanate since 1715 (replacing Wandala kingdom); 1902
            Part of Cameroon
          + Rey Bouba Sultanate founded 1804
     * in the Central African Republic:
          + Bangassou created c.1878; 14 June 1890 under Congo Free State
            protectorate, 1894 under French protectorate; 1917 Sultanate
            suppressed by the French.
          + Dar al-Kuti - French protectorate since December 12, 1897
          + Rafai c.1875 Sultanate, 8 April 8, 1892 under Congo Free State
            protectorate, March 31 1909 under French protectorate; 1939
            Sultanate suppressed
          + Zemio c.1872 established; December 11 1894 under Congo Free
            State protectorate, April 12 1909 under French protectorate;
            1923 Sultanate suppressed
     * in Niger: Arabic alternative title of the following autochthonous
       rulers:
          + the amenokal of the Aïr confederation of Tuareg
          + the Sarkin Damagaram since the 1731 founding of the Damagaram
            state (later capital Zinder)
     * in Nigeria most monarchies has a native title; when most in the
       north converted to Islam, Muslim titles were generally adopted,
       such as Emir- Sultan has been used in
          + Borno (alongside the native title Mai)
          + since 1817 in Sokoto, the suzerain (also styled Amir
            al-Mu´minin and Sarkin Musulmi) of all Fulbe jihad states and
            premier traditiobal Muslim leader in the Sahel (according to
            some once a caliph)

East Africa

title Sultan

     * Northern Somali sultanates
     * Angoche Sultanate on the Mozambiquan coast (also several
       neighbouring sheikdoms)
     * Afar Sultanate of Awsa in northeastern Ethiopia

Maliki

   This was the alternative native style (apparently derived from Malik,
   the Arabic word for King) of the Sultans of Kilwa Kisiwani, in
   Tanganyika (presently 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:
     * in Kenya:
          + Pate island, in the Lamu archipel
          + Witu, came under German, then British protectorate
     * in Tanganyika (presently part of Tanzania): of Hadimu, on the
       island of that name; also styled Jembe

   In Comoros, the terme used is mfaumé or Jambé

Sultani

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

Indian Ocean island sultanates

   See Sultans on the Comoros; several alternative native titles occur,
   including Mfalme, Phany and the 'hegemonic' title Sultani tibe

Far East

   In China:
     * Dali, Yunnan province, capital of the short-lived Panthay Rebellion

   Most are however in the ethnically predominantly Malay countries:
     * Sultan of Brunei, Brunei

   In Malaysia:
     * Sultanate of Malacca, Malaysia
     * Sultanate of Johor
     * Sultan of Kelantan
     * Sultan of Pahang
     * Sultan of Perak
     * Sultan of Selangor
     * Sultan of Terengganu

   In Indonesia:
     * Sultanate of Aceh, one of many on Sumatra
     * Sultanate of Ternate, in North Maluku
     * Sultanate of Tidore, in North Maluku
     * Sultanate of Mataram, Java, Indonesia

   In the Philippines:
     * Sultanate of Maguindanao,
     * Sultanate of Sulu,

   In Thailand
     * Sultanate of Pattani

South Asia

     * Maldives Sultanate

   In India:
     * Bahmani Sultanate
     * Sultanate of Bengal
     * the Deccan sultanates: Berar, Bidar, Bijapur, Golconda and
       Ahmednagar
     * Sultanate of Delhi several dynasties, the last (Mughal) became
       imperial Padshah-i Hind
     * Sultanate of Gujarat
     * Sultanate of Jaunpur
     * Sultanate of Kandesh
     * Sultanate of Malwa
     * Sultanate of Mysore

Contemporary sultanates

     * Brunei
     * Indonesia — Sultan of Yogyakarta Special Region is governor of that
       province
     * Malaysia
          + Note: Sultan is the title of seven ( Johor, Kedah, Kelantan,
            Pahang, Perak, Selangor and Terengganu) of the nine rulers of
            the Malay states. The head of state for all Malaysia, the Yang
            di-Pertuan Agong, is selected from among the Rulers, but is
            usually styled "King" in foreign countries. Political power,
            however, lies with Prime Minister. See also: Malay titles
     * Oman, an Arabian nation, formerly sultanate of Mascat (and Oman)

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 used equivalent to a
   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.
     * The sons of Imperial Princesses, excluded from the Ottoman imperial
       succession, were only styled Sultanzada (given name) Bey-Effendi,
       i.e. Son of a Prince[ss] of the dynasty.

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

Military rank

   In a number of post-caliphal states under Mongol of 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

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