Emir

Emir (/əˈmɪər, eɪˈmɪər, ˈeɪmɪər/; Arabic: أمير ʾamīr ar (listen), also transliterated as amir, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or ceremonial authority. The title has a history of use in West Asia, East Africa, West Africa, Central Asia, and South Asia. In the modern era, when used as a formal monarchical title, it is roughly synonymous with "prince", applicable both to a son of a hereditary monarch, and to a reigning monarch of a sovereign principality, namely an emirate. The feminine form is emira (أميرة ʾamīrah), with the same meaning as "princess".

Prior to its use as a monarchical title, the term "emir" was historically used to denote a "commander", "general", or "leader" (for example, Amir al-Mu'min). In contemporary usage, "emir" is also sometimes used as either an honorary or formal title for the head of an Islamic, or Arab (regardless of religion) organisation or movement.

Qatar and Kuwait are the only independent countries which retain the title "emir" for their monarchs. In recent years, the title has been gradually replaced by "king" by contemporary hereditary rulers who wish to emphasize their secular authority under the rule of law. A notable example is Bahrain, whose monarch changed his title from emir to king in 2002.[1] Whereas the titular United Arab Emirates use the title Sheikh instead of Emir for their subnational rulers.

## Contents

* 1 Origins
* 2 Princely, ministerial and noble titles
* 3 Military ranks and titles
* 4 Other uses
* 5 See also
* 6 References

## Origins

Amir, meaning "lord" or "commander-in-chief", is derived from the Arabic root a-m-r, meaning "command". Originally simply meaning "commander", it came to be used as a title of leaders, governors, or rulers of smaller states. In modern Arabic the word is analogous to the title "Prince". The word entered English in 1593, from the French émir.[2] It was one of the titles or names of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

## Princely, ministerial and noble titles

Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi Mohammed Alim Khan, Emir of Bukhara, taken in 1911 by Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky

* The monarchs of Qatar and Kuwait are currently titled emir.[3][4][5]
* All members of the House of Saud have the title of emir (prince).[6][7][8]
* The caliphs first used the title Amir al-Muminin or "Commander of the Faithful", stressing their leadership over the Islamic empire, especially over the militia. The title has been assumed by various other Muslim rulers, including sultans and emirs. For Shia Muslims, they still give this title to the Caliph Ali as Amir al-Muminin.
* The Abbasid (in theory still universal) Caliph Al-Radi created the post of Amir al-Umara ("Amir of the Amirs") for Ibn Raik; the title was used in various Islamic monarchies; see below for military use. In Iraq, the direct descendants of previous Emirs from the largest tribes who ruled the kingdoms before modern statehood, use the title of Sheikh or Prince as the progeny of royalty.[9][10]
* Amirzade, the son (hence the Persian patronymic suffix -zade) of a prince, hence the Persian princely title mirza.
* Afghanistan under the government of the Taliban is officially an emirate, with the leader of the Taliban bearing the title Amir al-Mu'minin.
* Amīr al-Baḥr (أمير البحر, "commander of the sea"), a position in the Fatimid navy, is frequently mistaken as the etymological origin of the English admiral, the French amiral, and similar terms in other European languages.[11] The titles actually derive solely from Medieval Latin forms of emir itself,[11] originally in reference to the "amirs al-umara" of Norman Sicily.
* The Constitution of Morocco uses the term Amir al-Mu'minin as the principal title of the King of Morocco, as a means to showcase the hegemonic role and Islamic legitimacy of the Monarch.[12]

## Military ranks and titles

From the start, emir has been a military title. In the 9th century the term was used to denote a ruler of a state i.e. Italy's Emirate of Sicily.

In certain decimally-organized Muslim armies, Amir was an officer rank. For example, in Mughal India, the Amirs commanded 1000 horsemen (divided into ten units, each under a sipah salar), ten of them under one malik. In the imperial army of Qajar Persia:

* Amir-i-Nuyan
* Amir Panj, "Commander of 5,000"
* Amir-i-Tuman, "Commander of 10,000"

The following posts referred to "amir" under medieval Muslim states include:

* Amir al-umara, "Amir of Amirs" (cfr. supra) or 'Commander of Commanders'
* Amir al-hajj, "Commander of the Hajj [caravan]"
* Amir al-ʿarab, "Commander of the Arabs [Bedouin tribes]"

In the former Kingdom of Afghanistan, Amir-i-Kabir was a title meaning "great prince" or "great commander".

Muhammad Amin Bughra, Nur Ahmad Jan Bughra, and Abdullah Bughra declared themselves emirs of the First East Turkestan Republic.

## Other uses

* Amir is a masculine name in the Persian language and a prefix name for many masculine names such as Amir Ali, Amir Abbas.
* Amir-i-Iel designates the head of an Il (tribe) in imperial Persia.
* The masculine Amir and feminine Amira are Arabic-language names common among both Arabs regardless of religion and Muslims regardless of ethnicity, much as Latin Rex and Regina ("king" and "queen", respectively) are common in the Western world. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the female name Emira, often interpreted as "princess", is a derivative of the male name Emir.
* The masculine Amir and feminine Amira are Hebrew-language names that are relatively common in Israel. In Hebrew the word can also mean "bundle of grain" or "treetop" depending on the spelling.
* Ameer of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami

## See also

Related or similar titles:

* Bey
* Dux
* Imam
* Mir
* Mirza
* Padishah
* Pasha
* Rana
* Sayyid
* Shah
* Vizier

Present-day emirs:

* List of emirs of Kuwait
* List of emirs of Qatar

## References

1. ↑ "Ruling Bahrain (Part I): The emir declares himself king". 14 March 2019. https://english.alaraby.co.uk/opinion/ruling-bahrain-part-i-emir-declares-himself-king.
2. ↑ Harper, Douglas. "amir (n.)". http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=amir&searchmode=none.
3. ↑ "Emir of Kuwait wraps up Gulf mediation visits – Qatar News – Al Jazeera". https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/06/kuwait-emir-qatar-gcc-170607195623973.html.
4. ↑ "Gulf Ministers Hold Key Talks Before GCC Summit". December 5, 2017. http://www.malaysiandigest.com/frontpage/29-4-tile/711173-gulf-ministers-hold-key-talks-before-gcc-summit.html.
5. ↑ Al Qasimi, Muhammad. "Sheikh Dr Sultan". https://sheikhdrsultan.ae/Portal/en/home.aspx.
6. ↑ Amos, Deborah (1991). "Sheikh to Chic" (in en). Mother Jones. p. 28. https://books.google.com/books?id=H-cDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA28.
7. ↑ "Saudi Arabia: HRH or HH? - American Bedu". 7 August 2016. https://americanbedu.com/2010/03/23/saudi-arabia-hrh-or-hh/.
8. ↑ "Family Tree" (in en). http://www.datarabia.com/royals/familytree.do.
9. ↑ Howell, Georgina (15 January 2015). Queen of The Desert: The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell. Pan Books. ISBN 9781447286264.
10. ↑ Batatu, Hanna (1978). The Old Social Classes and the Revolutionary Movements of Iraq: A Study of Iraq's Old Landed and Commercial Classes and of its Communists, Ba'thists and Free Officers. Princeton University Press.
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "admiral, n.", Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2024, https://www.oed.com/dictionary/admiral_n .
12. ↑ Pennell, Richard (2016-08-07). "What is the significance of the title ‘Amīr al-mu'minīn?'" (in en). The Journal of North African Studies 21 (4): 623–644. doi:10.1080/13629387.2016.1157482. ISSN 1362-9387. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/What-is-the-significance-of-the-title-‘Amīr-Pennell/43bc0be83f393af6ffefe276e681864510ae7288.

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