Padishah, the Turkish form of the Persian padshah, a title - equivalent to "lord king" - of the reigning sovereign. Though strictly applied in the East to the shahs of Persia, it was also used of the Great Moguls or Tatar emperors of Delhi, and hence it is now used by the natives of British India of the British sovereign as emperor of India. In Europe it is applied to the sultan of Turkey. The Persian padshah is from pati, lord, master, and shah, king. It is now generally considered to have no etymological connexion with "pasha" (q.v.) .