Nawwab

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A title once given to a Muslim governor or a wealthy landowner of high rank in the Mughal period and later in India
2. An honorific for a powerful Muslim official or aristocrat, especially in the Indian subcontinent under Mughal and colonial rule
3. A high-ranking Muslim nobleman or provincial administrator in South Asia, often a wealthy landholder honored with this title

Etymology: Nawwab comes from Urdu and Persian, where it is a title for a Muslim ruler or nobleman in India. It is the Urdu form of an Arabic word, "nuwwāb", the plural of "nā'ib", meaning deputy or governor. The title reflects its original sense: a nawwab acted on behalf of a higher authority, usually the Mughal emperor, governing a province as his representative. As Mughal power declined in the eighteenth century, regional governors in places such as Bengal, Awadh and Arcot kept the title but became effectively independent rulers. The word therefore came to name a local dynasty of power rather than a deputy's post, and it was applied to many princely figures under British India. Because of this history, English-language writers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries used "nawab" for the wealthy landowning and courtly elite of the subcontinent, and it remains common in English in that sense, often spelled "nawab".

Synonyms: nawab, nabob