Emir
Emir (also sometimes rendered as Amir or Ameer, Arabic: أمير commander) is a high title of nobility or office, historically used in Islamic nations of the Middle East, North Africa, the Turkic world etc.
Middle eastern origins
Originally it was a title of honor given to descendants of Muhammad via his daughter Fatima Zahra. Centuries after the time of Muhammad it became used in a wider range of contexts, such as the title used by chieftains of Bedouins of Arabia and by nobles and officials of the Ottoman Empire.The word emir is also used less formally for leaders in certain contexts, for example the leader of a group of pilgrims to Mecca is called an emir hadji. Where an adjectival form is necessary, "emiral" suffices.
The Caliphs used the title emir ul-mu'mineen, "Commander of the Faithful". The Western naval rank Admiral comes from the Arabic expression amir al-bahr, "sea commander."
Emir is also the term used by the Kuwaiti al-Sabah dynasty to refer to their ruling Monarch since their independence on June 19, 1961. Qatar likewise uses this title since 1971, and Bahrain did so from 1971 to 2002.
- a country ruled by an independent emir is an Emirate, as in the United Arab Emirates (but there part of an elective, federal monarchy).
- Another meaning of the word "emir" is prince, specifically, the male descendant of a sovereign, as in the sultanate of the Maldives (besides the native title Manippulu). In some states it could mean "Crown Prince" (more typically Wali al-Ahd). For example, before the crowning as King Abdullah of Jordan, the son of King Hussein was still referred to as "Emir Abdullah" (in this case a obsolete title of the dynasty, which adopted the higher title of Malik = king).
In other muslim cultures
- In various muslim states, Amir was also a nobiliary title, as under the (Turkic?) form ämir in the Tartar Khanate of Kazan
- In certain decimally organised Muslim armies, e.g. in India, Amir was an officer rank, commanding 1000 horsemen (divided in ten units, each under a Sipah salar), ten of them underneath a Malik.
- Emir is also a common Muslim male name in Bosnia (see also Azra), taken from Arabic, just as the Latin Rex ('king') in the West.