Padishah
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History of islamic monarchies
Padishah, Badishah, or Badshah is a very prestigeous title derived from the Persian word Padshah, which is based on the better-known title "Shah", assumed by several islamic monarchs, notably these rulers, the first three commanding major muslim empires :
- the Shahanshah of Iran (Persia);
- the Great Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and (not from the start; sunnite) Caliph;
- on the Indian subcontinent the mughal Sultan of Delhi as head of the vast Indian Moghul Empire, as well as
- his challenger Tipu Sultan (in full Padshah bahadur) in Khudadad (in fact Mysore and neighbouring conquests), respected by the British as a valid military adversary but crushed (for siding with London's French rivals)
- a former vassal, the former Nawab (i.e. mughal governor, turned hereditary prince) of Awadh=Oudh, who assumed independence at the instigation of the British colonial paramount power, who in turn established a protectorate 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;
- one 14 month ruler (predecessor styled Amir i shariat, successors (Khan and) Wali) of the tiny (one valley!) Pakistani North West Frontier state of Swat - see [RoyalArk (http://www.4dw.net/royalark/Pakistan/swat.htm|)]
- the King of Afghanistan : Padshah i-Afghanistan, not constantly (at other times Emir (Amir al-Momenin) or Malik=King), only under the Mohammadzay segment of the Duranni dynasty - see [Rulers (of all countries and many minor polities) (http://www.rulers.org/rula1.html|)].
The paramount prestige of the title, in islam and even beyond, is clearly apparent from he fact hat the major (christian) European powers, who gradually drove the Turks from the Balkans (and in the case of Russia most of Central Asia and the Caucasus) actually insisted, even at the coast of delaying the end of hostilities, on the usage of the style of Padishah in the Turkish versions of their treaties with the High Porte, as acknowledgement that their emperors were in any diplomatic and protocollary sense the equal of the Turkish ruler, who also held the religious paramount office in islam (caliph) and thus had a theoretical claim of universal sovereignty (at least among sunnites; the shiite Shahanshah of Persia was his eternal muslim rival).
Fictional Usage
In Frank Herbert's Dune series, the Padishah Emperor is the supreme ruler of humanity, although his power is somewhat undercut by the Spacing Guild, the Bene Gesserit, and the Landsraad. He is also commonly refered to as "Emperor of the Known Universe" or "Emperor of a Million Worlds".
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