Sultan
Sultan (
Arabic: سلطان) is an
Islamic title, with several historical meanings. Originally it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", or "rulership". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain Muslim rulers who claimed full sovereignty in practical terms (i.e. the lack of dependence on any higher ruler), without claiming the overall
caliphate. It then developed some further meanings in certain contexts. The dynasty and lands ruled by the Sultan is called
Sultanate (
Arabic: سلطنة).
The title carries 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. In the
Byzantine Empire and the traditional spheres of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, a comparable unity of church and state in the person of the ruler is termed
Caesaropapism. The last non-Islamic ruler with comparable authority was
Nicholas II, the last
Tsar of Russia, though formally (if not in practice) the
British monarch represents a similar union of church and state, being both the head of state and the
Supreme Governor of the Church of England; in practice, the Queen is merely the titular leader of church and state; this status is also under question as
Charles, Prince of Wales has indicated he intends to rule as 'defender of the faiths' rather than 'defender of the faith'.
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 spiritual validation of the title was well 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 Ottoman Empire in
1383. The earlier leaders had been
beys.
At later stages, lesser rulers assumed the styling "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, and some titular sultans in the
southern Philippines,
Java, and in the former
Malay States which are now part of
Malaysia 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 consttuctions 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'.
These are generally secundary 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 secundary titles have a devout Islamic connotation, e.g.
Sultan ul-Mujahidin as champion of
jihad bis saif (Holy war to establish Islamic rule)
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 HejazHami
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 authochthonous 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)
title Sultan
*
Comoros sultanates*
Northern Somali sultanates*
Angoche Sultanate on the Mozambiquan coast (also several neighbouring sheikdoms)
*
Afar Sultanate of
Awsa in northeastern
EthiopiaMaliki
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)
Mfalume
This 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
JembeSultani
This was the native ruler's title in the Tanzanian state of
UheheIndian Ocean island sultanates
See
Sultans on the Comoros; several alternative native titles occur, including
Mfalme,
Phany and the 'hegemonic' title
Sultani tibeFar East
In China:
*
Dali, Yunnan province, capital of the short-lived
Panthay RebellionMost are however in the ethnically predominantly Malay countries:
*
Sultan of Brunei, BruneiIn Malaysia:
*
Sultanate of Malacca, Malaysia
*
Sultanate of
Johor*
Perak*
Terengganu, Malaysia 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, IndonesiaIn the Philippines:
*
Sultanate of Maguindanao,
*
Sultanate of Sulu, Philippines
*
Bahmani Sultanate*
Sultanate of Bengal*
Deccan sultanates:
Berar,
Bidar,
Bijapur,
Golconda,
Ahmednagar*
Sultanate of Delhi several dynasties, the last (Mughal) became imperial Padshah-i Hind
*
Sultanate of Gujarat*
Sultanate of Jaunpur*
Sultanate of Kandesh*
Maldives Sultanate*
Sultanate of Malwa*
Sultanate of Mysore*
Brunei*
Indonesia — Sultan of
Yogyakarta 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)
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 Sultan
zada' (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 KhanateIn 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
Other Islamic titles
*
Emir (Amir)
*
Atabeg*
Bey*
Caliph*
Datu*
Ilkhan*
Khan*
Khaqan*
Malik*
Mir*
Padishah*
Shah*
Shahanshah*
Sultanism Further
*
HMS Sultan (Royal Navy)
*
RoyalArk - here the Persian Empire*
WorldStatesmen
