Mirza

Mirza (/ˈmɜːrzə/ or /mɪərˈzɑː/; Persian: میرزا)[1][lower-alpha 1] is a name of Persian origin. It is used as a surname or prefix to identify patriarchal lineage.

For other uses, see Mirza (disambiguation).

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Grand Duke: Khedive · Nawab · Nizam · Wāli · Yabghu
Crown Prince: Shahzada · Mirza · Nawabzada · Yuvraj · Vali Ahd · Prince of the Sa'id · Mir · Shad
Prince or Duke: Emir · Sheikh · Ikhshid · Beylerbey · Pasha · Babu Saheb · Sardar · Rajkumar · Sahibzada · Nawab · Nawabzada · Yuvraj · Sardar · Thakur · Şehzade · Mirza · Morza · Tegin
Noble Prince: Sahibzada
Earl or Count: Mankari · Dewan Bahadur · Sancak bey · Rao Bahadur · Rai Bahadur · Khan Bahadur · Atabeg · Boila
Viscount: Zamindar · Khan Sahib · Bey · Kadi · Baig or Begum · Begzada · Uç bey
Baron: Lala · Agha · Hazinedar · Rais
Royal house: Damat · Gurkani
Nobleman: Zamindar · Jenmi · Mankari · Mirza · Pasha · Bey · Baig · Begzada · al-Dawla · Bibi
Governmental: Lala · Agha · Hazinedar · Mostowfi ol-Mamalek

It is a historical royal and noble title,[2] denoting the rank of a royal prince,[2] high nobleman,[3] distinguished military commander,[3] or a scholar.[4] Specifically, it was used as a title by (and today signifies patriarchal lineage to) the various Persian Empires, the Nogai Horde, Shirvanshahs and Circassians of the European Caucasus, as well as the Muslim Rajputs[5] and mainly the Mughals / Moguls, both of the Indian Subcontinent. It was also a title bestowed upon members of the highest aristocracies in Tatar states, such as the Khanates of Kazan and Astrakhan.

Etymology

The original title Mīrzā or Merzāh is derived from the Persian term Amīrzādeh which literally means child of the Amīr or child of the ruler.[4] Amīrzādeh in turn consists of the Arabic title Amīr (English: Emir), meaning "commander" and the Persian suffix zādeh, meaning "son of" or "lineage of".[4] Due to vowel harmony in Turkic languages, the alternative pronunciation Morza (plural morzalar; derived from Persian) is also used.

History

Mirza first emerged during the 15th century as an appellative term for members of the Timurid dynasty, adopted in deference to their progenitor, the Central Asian conqueror Timur, who used Amir as his principal title.[6][7] During the early Timurid period, Mirza preceded a prince's given name, therefore adhering to the Persian fashion, though subsequently the Turkish style was adopted, with the title instead being placed after.[8] This was continued by later rulers such as the Aq Qoyunlus, Safavids and Mughals.[6]

Originally restricted to only kings and princes,[9] the title eventually spread among other social groups, though only the former could have it placed after their given name.[10] During the 16th century, the Safavids conferred it upon high-ranking viziers such as Mirza Shah Hossein and Mirza Ata-Allah Isfahani.[6] By the Qajar period, the title simply marked a person as a clerk or a literate man of consequence.[11] Writing in 1828, Frederic Shoberl records that "as a prefix to the name, it may be assumed by, or conferred on any person. It is right, however, to observe, that none but well-educated men, or such as follow respectable professions, or hold honourable posts, take the title of mirza."[10]

Persian Empires
Alqas Mirza meeting Suleiman the Magnificent. Illustration from the Süleymanname.

Safavid dynasty

Afsharid dynasty

Qajar dynasty

Shirvanshahs

Three consecutive titular kings of Shirvan, of the Shirvanshah Dynasty (present-day Azerbaijan), adopted the title as well following the death of Gurban Ali.

Circassians

Circassian dynasty

The hereditary title of Mirza was adopted by the nobility class of the Circassians. Idar of Kabardia, also known as "Mirza Haydar Temruk Bey", was the great-grandson of Prince Inal – Sultan of Egypt the founder of the "Temruk dynasty" of the Kabardian princes, known in Russia as the "Cherkassky" a Circassian princely family.

Circassian nobility with the name Mirza include:

Princely Issues:

  • Temruk Mirza (ca. 1501 – 1571)
  • Kambulat Mirza (ca. 1510 – 1589)
  • Zhelegot Mirza (ca. 1520- ?)

Russian Empire

Under Catherine the Great, empress of Russia, the Mirzas gained equal rights with the Russian nobility due to their extreme wealth. Abdul Mirza was given the title Prince Yusupov, and his descendant Prince Felix Yusupov married Princess Irina Alexandrovna of Russia, the only niece of Tsar Nicholas II.

Mughal Empire
Babur Mirza (born Mirza Zahiruddin), first emperor of Mughal Dynasty.[12]
Meeting between Babur Mirza and Sultan Ali Mirza near Samarqand (The Met Museum of Art NYC / Cleveland Museum of Art).
Akbar Mirza (born Mirza Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad), one of the most popular Mughal Emperors of India, known as "Akbar the Great".
Mirzas of the Mughal imperial family, c. 1878.[13]

In the Indian subcontinent, the title Mirza was borne by an imperial prince. It was adopted as part of ones name, implying relationship to the Turk dynasties like the Mughal Dynasty (the Imperial House of Timur).[14] In the traditional naming sequence of the Indian royal families, the title can be placed both before the name and after it, such as Prince Mirza Mughal or Prince Kamran Mirza. Prince Khusrau Mirza was the grandson of Emperor Babur (Babur Mirza), son of Emperor Jahangir and a brother of Emperor Shah Jahan. Emperor Akbar Shah II was known as Prince Mirza Akbar before his coronation. Emperor Babur took the imperial title of Padishah on 6 March 1508, before which he used the title Mirza.[15]

Mughal dynasty
Further information: Mughal Emperors

Royal family of Bengal

Imperial families of Central India and Bengal The archaic Bengali form of Mirza was Mridha in Bengal and Bihar.[16]

Further information: Nawabs of Bengal

Royal family of Awadh
Further information: Nawab of Awadh

Other notable Mirzas

Sport

Academics and literature
  • Heidi Safia Mirza (born 1958), British academic
  • Iraj Mirza, Persian folk poet, also known as Jalaal-al-mamalek.
  • Mirza Abu Taleb Khan, tax-collector and administrator from northern India, writer of an early travel guide to Europe.
  • Mirza Athar Baig is a Pakistani novelist, playwright and short story writer.
  • Mirza Gʻafur Gʻulom, Uzbek poet, writer, and literary translator, considered one of the most influential Uzbek writers of the 20th century.
  • Mirza Ghalib (born Mirza Asadullah Baig Khan), an Urdu and Persian poet from South Asia who adorned the Mughal court.
  • Mirza Kalich Beg, Sindhi writer.
  • Mirza Khan of "Mirza & Sahiba", a tragic romance story, based on true events, which is enshrined in Punjabi literature and commonly told in the Punjab region. Mirza of "Mirza & Sahiba" was of Kharal Muslim Rajput / Muslim Jat tribe of Puar Rajput descent.
  • Muhammad Munawwar Mirza, a prominent scholar, historian, writer and intellectual from Pakistan.
  • Nawab Mirza Khan "Daagh", Urdu poet.
  • Mirza Beigh Family from Jammu & Kashmir's Srinagar district have immensely worked for Shia Literature under the genre of elegy commonly called "Kashmiri noha". Some of noted family members include Mirza Abdul Ghani Beigh, Mirza Manzoor Hussain Beigh and Mirza Sharafat Hussain Beigh.[17]

Entertainment
  • Aziz Mirza (born 1947), Indian film director, producer and writer.
  • Dia Mirza, Indian actress and former "Miss Asia Pacific" titleholder.
  • Mastan Haider Mirza, Indian Mafia boss, mobster and filmmaker; popularly known as the first "celebrity gangster" of Bombay.
  • Mirza Babayev, Azerbaijani movie actor and singer. Honored Artist of the Azerbaijan SSR and People's Artist of Azerbaijan.
  • Mirza Nadeem Baig Mirza Nazeer Baig Mughal better known by his stage name Nadeem Baig, a Pakistani actor, singer and producer.
  • Mohib Mirza is a Pakistani actor and television host.
  • Saeed Mirza, Indian film director and screenwriter, considered one of the most influential parallel cinema movie makers in India.

Arts

Government

Judges and advocates
  • Jerome Mirza (1937–2007), was a prominent American lawyer, barrister, published author and philanthropist. A native of Chicago, he was a prominent member of the Illinois legal community from the early 1960s until his passing. He ran a multi-million dollar legal practice, was the former president of the Illinois State Bar Association and Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, founded the Jerome Mirza College of Advocacy at Illinois Wesleyan University and the University of Illinois and published numerous legal textbooks, including "Winning Litigation the Mirza Way". The Jerome Mirza Foundation, a 501c3, was formed in his honor.
  • Mirza Aziz Akbar Baig, former Vice Chairman of the Pakistan Bar Council.
  • Zafar Hussain Mirza, Pakistani judge and the father of former Home Minister of Sindh Zulfiqar Mirza.

Journalist

Military
  • Mirza Ahmed Bey, one of the original Punjabi soldiers of the famed "Hodson's Horse" regiment of the British Indian Army, pictured in the historical 1858 photograph. He was a descendant of Mirza Hakim Bey, after whom the Indian village Hakimpur, Gurdaspur District is named.
  • Mirza Aslam Baig a Former Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan.
  • Mirza Baqi, 17th-century Mughal general
  • Mirza Ghulam Murtaza was the chieftain of Qadian and a commander with the Sikh Army.
  • Mirza Kuchak Khan was a Persian revolutionary who led the Jungle Movement in the northern jungles of Gilan Province.

Nobility

Movies

See also

Further reading
  • "Life of a Mirza" Chapter 7 (pp 225–227) The Empire of the Great Mughals: History, Art and Culture (2004) by Annemarie Schimmel ISBN 1-86189-185-7
  • Mirzah in The Wordsworth Dictionary of Phrase and Fable by Ebenezer Cobham Brewer ISBN 1-84022-310-3
  • MI’RZA in Chambers's Encyclopaedia: A Dictionary of Universal Knowledge For the People. ISBN 1-149-98693-X
  • A. Jaimoukha The Circassians: A Handbook Routledge, Palgrave, 2001, pp 157–60 ISBN 0-312-23994-7

Footnotes
  1. Persian: میرزا; Azeri: Mirzə; Tajik: Мирзо; Uzbek: Mirzo; Russian: мурза; Bashkir: mïrða; Circassian: мырзэ (common variance in Tatar nobility as Morza); Urdu: مرزا; Punjabi: مرزا

References
Specific
  1. "Mirza Definition". Collins Dictionary. n.d. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  2. "Mirza Definition". Dictionary.com. n.d. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  3. "Mirza Definition". Merriam-Webster. n.d. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  4. "Mirza Definition". Collins Dictionary. n.d. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  5. "History". Rana M. Ahsan Khan. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  6. Mitchell, Colin Paul (2006). Josef W. Meri (ed.). "Timurids". Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopaedia. New York: Taylor & Francis. 2, L–Z, index: 814. ISBN 978-0-415-96692-4.
  7. Soudavar, Abolala (2011). Nikki R. Keddie; Matthee Rudi (eds.). "The Early Safavids and their Cultural Interactions with Surrounding States". Iran and the Surrounding World: Interactions in Culture and Cultural Politics. Seattle and London: University of Washington Press: 93. ISBN 978-0-295-80024-0.
  8. Khwandamir (1994). Habibu's-siyar. Vol. III. Translated by Wheeler Thackston. Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University. p. 641.
  9. Herbert, Thomas; Butler, John Anthony (2012). Travels in Africa, Persia, and Asia the Great. ACMRS (Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies). p. 148. ISBN 978-0-86698-475-1.
  10. Shoberl, Frederic (1828). Persia: Containing a Description of the Country, with an Account of Its Government, Laws, and Religion, and of the Character, Manners and Customs, Arts, Amusements, &c. of Its Inhabitants. Philadelphia: J. Grigg. p. 53.
  11. Tāj al-Salṭanah (1993). Abbas Amanat (ed.). Crowning Anguish: Memoirs of a Persian Princess from the Harem to Modernity, 1884–1914. Mage Publishers. p. 341. ISBN 978-0-934211-35-2.
  12. World Civilizations: The Global Experience, 4th Edition Outlines – Chapter 21: The Muslim Empires. Longman. 2003.
  13. A photo from 'The People of India', published from 1868 to the early 1870s by WH Allen, for the India Office
  14. "10glossary". www.columbia.edu.
  15. pg 24. The Empire of the Great Mughals: History, Art and Culture
  16. The Khan Mohammad Mridha Mosque is named for a man known in Mughal records as Khan Muhammad Mirza; see https://archnet.org/library/sites/one-site.jsp?site_id=4450 Archived 17 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine Mughal dynasty (the Imperial House of Timur "Sarai Mulk Khanam Qutubuddunniya wa Deen Amir Qutubuddin Taimur Baig Sahib-e-kiran").
  17. Justice, Hakim Imtiyaz; Hussain (2017). The Shi'as of Jammu & Kashmir. Srinagar Jammu & Kashmir: Srinagar Publishing House. pp. 508–509.
Sources
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