Chapter SULTAN of S by The Hobson Jobson Dictionary

SULTAN

SULTAN, s. Ar. sultan, ‘a Prince, a Monarch.’ But this concrete sense is, in Arabic, post-classical only. The classical sense is abstract ‘dominion.’ The corresponding words in Hebrew and Aramaic have, as usual, sh or s. Thus sholtan in Daniel (e.g. vi. 26—“in the whole dominion of my kingdom”) is exactly the same word. The concrete word, corresponding to sultan in its post-classical sense, is shallit, which is applied to Joseph in Gen. xlii. 6—“governor.” So Saladin (Yusuf Salah-ad-din) was not the first Joseph who was sultan of Egypt. [“In Arabia it is a not uncommon proper name; and as a title it is taken by a host of petty kinglets. The Abbaside Caliphs (as Al-Wásik …) formerly created these ‘Sultans as their regents. Al Tá’i bi’llah (A.D. 974) invested the famous Sabuktagin with the office … Sabuktagin’s son, the famous Mahmúd of the Ghaznavite dynasty in 1002, was the first to adopt ‘Sultán’ as an independent title some 200 years after the death of Harún-al-Rashíd” (Burton, Arab. Nights, i. 188.)]

c. 950.—“ ’ [Greek Text] Epi de thV BasileiaV Micahl tou uiou qeofilou anhlqen apo ’ [Greek Text] AfrikhV stoloV lV kompariwn, ecwn kefalhn ton te Soldanon kai ton Saman kai ton KalqouV, kai eceirwsanto diaqorouV poleiV thV DalmatiaV.”—Constant. Porphyrog., De Thematibus, ii. Thema xi.

c. 1075 (written c. 1130).—“… oi kai kaqelonteV PersaV te kai SarakhnouV autoi kurioi thV PersidoV gegonasi soultanon ton Straggolipida¹ onomasanteV, oper shmainei par’ BasileuV kai pantokratwr.”—Nicephorus Bryennius, Comment, i. 9.

c. 1124.—“De divitiis Soldani mira referunt, et de incognitis speciebus quas in oriente viderunt. Soldanus dicitur quasi solus dominus, quia cunctis praeest Orientis principibus.”—Ordericus Vitalis, Hist. Eccles. Lib. xi. In Paris ed. of Le Prevost, 1852, iv. 256–7.

1165.—“Both parties faithfully adhered to this arrangement, until it was interrupted by the interference of Sanjar-Shah ben Shah, who governs all Persia, and holds supreme power over 45 of its Kings. This prince is called in Arabic Sultan ul-Farsal-Khabir (supreme commander of Persia).”—R. Benjamin, in Wright, 105–106.

c. 1200.—“Endementres que ces choses coroient einsi en Antioche, li message qui par Aussiens estoient alé au soudan de Perse por demander aide s’en retournoient.”—Guillaume de Try, Old Fr. Tr. i. 174.

1298.—“Et quaint il furent là venus, adonc Bondocdaire qe soldan estoit de Babelonie vent en Armenie con grande host, et fait grand domajes por la contrée.”—Marco Polo, Geog. Text, ch. xiii.

1307.—“Post quam vero Turchi occupaverunt terrã illã et habitaverut ibidem, elegerut dominu super eos, et illum vocaverunt Soldã quod idem est quod rex in idiomate Latinoru.”—Haitoni Armeni de Tartaris Liber, cap. xiii. in Novus Orbis.

1309.—“En icelle grant paour de mort où nous estiens, vindrent à nous jusques à treize ou quatorze dou consoil dou soudan, trop richement appareillé de dras d’or et de soie, et nous firent demander (par un frere de l’Ospital qui savoit sarrazinois), de par le soudan, se nous vorriens estre delivre, et nous deimes que oil, et ce pooient il bien savoir.”—Joinville, Credo. Joinville often has soudanc, and sometimes saudanc.

1498.—“Em este lugar e ilha a que chamão Moncobiquy estava hum senhor a que elles chamavam Colyytam que era como visorrey.”—Roteiro de V. da Gama, 26.

c. 1586.—

“Now Tamburlaine the mighty Soldan comes,
And leads with him the great Arabian King.”

Marlowe, Tamb. the Great, iv. 3.

[1596.— “… this scimitar That slew the Sophy and a Persian prince That won three fields of Sultan Solyman.”

Merchant of Venice, II. i. 26.]

1

2