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Maharaja (also spelled Maharajah or Maharaj; ; feminine: Maharani) is a South Asian royal title of Sanskrit origin. In modern India and Medieval India, the title was equivalent to a prince. However, in late ancient India and medieval south India, the title denoted a king.
The form "Maharaj" (without "-a") indicates a separation of noble and religious offices, although since in Marathi the suffix -a is silent, the two titles are near homophones. Historically, the title "Maharaja" was first used in the second century BC by the Indo-Greek rulers (such as the kings Apollodotus I and Menander I)Chakravarti, N. P (1937). . pp. 1–10. and then later by the Indo-Scythians (such as the king Maues), and also the Kushans as a higher ranking variant of "Raja". Eventually, during the medieval era, the title "Maharaja" came to be used by sovereignty princes and vassal state princes, and the title "Maharajadhiraja" was used by sovereign . Eventually, during the Mughal Empire and British Raj, Maharajadhiraja too came to be used by princes, though it was used by sovereign kings as well, such as the King of Maratha.
The title ranks under the titles of Maharajadhiraja Bahadur, Maharajadhiraja and Maharaja Bahadur, equal to Maharana and Maharao and above Raja Bahadur, Raja and Rai.
The British Empire directly ruled two-thirds of the Indian subcontinent; the rest was under indirect rule by the above-mentioned princes under the considerable influence of British representatives, such as Residents, at their courts.
The word Maharaja may be understood simply to mean "ruler" or "king", in spite of its literal translation as "great king". This was because only a handful of the states were truly powerful and wealthy enough for their rulers to be considered 'great' monarchs; the remaining were minor , sometimes little more than towns or groups of villages. The word, however, can also mean emperor in contemporary Indian usage.
The title of Maharaja was not as common before the gradual British colonisation of India, upon and after which many and otherwise styled Hindu rulers were elevated to Maharajas, regardless of the fact that scores of these new Maharajas ruled small states, sometimes for some reason unrelated to the eminence of the state, for example, support to the British in Afghanistan, World War I or World War II. The Maharaja of Punjab in the 19th century was Maharaja Ranjit Singh. He earned this title by keeping the Britishers beyond the Sutlej and even crushed the Afghan Empire. Maharajas in the twentieth century were the Maharaja of Cochin and Maharaja Jagatjit Singh of Kapurthala. Apart from princely states, rulers of some large and extended zamindaris were also awarded the title of Maharaja. The rulers of Jeypore, Darbhanga, Vizianagaram, Parlakhemundi Gidhaur were a few zamindars who were titled Maharaja for their cordiality and contribution to the British Raj.
In the Mughal Empire it was quite common to award to various princes (hereditary or not) a series of lofty titles as a matter of protocolary rank. The British would, as paramount power do the same.
Many of these (see also above) elaborate explicitly on the title Maharaja, in the following descending order:
Furthermore, there were various compound titles simply including other princely styles, such as:
Certain Hindu dynasties even came to use a unique style, including a term which as such is not of princely rank, e.g. Maharaja Gaikwar of Baroda State, of Gwalior State, Maharaja Holkar of Indore, three of the very highest ranking ruling Maratha houses.
Maharaja was also part of the titles of the nobility in the Sumatran sultanate of Aceh. In the past, the title of Maharaja is given to a leader of the unreigning noble family and the Prime Minister Maharaja Mangkubumi. The last Prime Minister of Aceh who was installed to be the Maharaja Mangkubumi, Habib Abdurrahman el Zahir, who also acted as the foreign affairs minister of Aceh but was deposed and exiled to Jeddah by the colonial Dutch East Indies authorities in October 1878.
In northern Borneo, the title Maharajah of Sabah and Rajah of Pulau Gaya and Sandakan was used from 29 December 1877 to 26 August 1881 by Baron von Overbeck (compare White Rajah).P. J. Rivers, " The Origin of 'Sabah' and a Reappraisal of Overbeck as Maharajah", Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 77(1), 2004; pp. 79–80
The Englishman Capt. James Brooke was declared as Rajah Brooke by the Sultan of Brunei for his role in pacifying the Sarawak revolt against the Sultan during the Raffles' stint. The word Rajah derived from the word Maharaja. In 1842, the Sultan of Brunei ceded Sarawak to Rajah Brooke who founded the Kingdom of Sarawak and a line of dynastic monarchs known as the White Rajahs.
In contemporary Malay usage, the title Maharaja refers to an emperor, e.g. " Maharaja Jepun" ("Emperor of Japan").
The palace marshal of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (head of state) of modern Malaysia is called Datuk Maharaja Lela Penghulu Istana Negara.
Eventually, Maharajah Adinda was also used to refer to a particular lineage within the royal families.
Etymology
The word Maharaja originates in Sanskrit and is a compound karmadhāraya term from mahānt- "great" and raja "ruler, king"). It has the Latin magnus "great" and rex "king". Due to Sanskrit's major influence on the vocabulary of most languages in Greater India and Southeast Asia, the term Maharaja is common to many modern Indo-Aryan and Dravidian languages. The Sanskrit title Maharaja was originally used only for rulers who ruled a considerably large region with minor tributary rulers under them. Since medieval times, the title was used by (Hindu) monarchs of lesser states claiming descent from Ancient history maharajas.
Indian subcontinent
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Raja as a ruler's title
On the eve of independence in 1947, the Indian Empire contained more than 600 , each with its own native ruler, often styled Raja or Rana or Thakur (if the ruler were Hinduism) or Nawab (if he were Muslim), with a host of less current titles as well.
of Gondal.]] Shahu of Kolhapur.]] Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III of Baroda.]]]] , the last Maharaja of the Sikh Empire.]], Kalinga.]]
Compound and dynastic ruler titles
Chakravarti
Chakravarti is a Sanskrit term for "emperor". The meaning of chakravarti is "he, whose wheels (of Ratha) are moving" which symbolises that the leader who is a war hero, who commands over vast land and sea, the one who rules the people with dedication. In the Mahabharata, the Chakravarti Bharat is known to have ruled the entire sub-continent of India brought golden age to his empire. He is called as chakravarti. The wife of a Chakravartin or a female Chakravartin is called a Chakaravartini.
Yuvaraja
Yuvaraja means the crown prince of the kingdom or empire. He is granted with certain powers and responsibilities so that he can be prepared to take over as the Maharaja. His wife is called Yuvarani.
Rajakumara
Rajakumara is the son of a king who is not the heir apparent. He is conferred with certain duties or powers per the king's wishes. The daughter of a king who is not the heir apparent is called Rajakumari.
Maharani
Maharani usually denotes the wife of a Maharaja (or Maharana, Maharao, Maharawal) or in rare cases, in some states where it was customary, a Queen regnant. Hansdev Patel (1998). Royal Families and Palaces of Gujarat. Scorpion Cavendish. .
Rajamata
In cases where a child king is crowned, the mother of the king takes charge of the kingdom and acts as a regent. Until the young king is of the age, the Rajmata (Queen mother) administers the kingdom. Famous examples include Rajamata Shetu Lakshmi Bai of Travancore dynasty, Gowri Lakshmi Bai, Maharaji (later Rajamata) Rudrama Devi of Kakatiya dynasty. When the king is present, the Rajamata being the mother of the king, might be given ceremonial roles. A famous Rajamata who functioned with the king is Rajamata Jijabai of the Maratha Kingdom, accompanying the Chhatrapati (king).
Noble and honorary use
Like Raja and various other titles, Maharaja was repeatedly awarded to notables without a princely state, such as .
Derived style for princes of the blood
Maharaj Kumar (or Kumar) means son of a Maharaja or Heir-Apparent; the female equivalent is Maharaj Kumari (Maharajkumari): daughter of a Maharaja.
Nepal
The Gorkha Kings of Nepal (now a republic) used the title of Mahārājādhirāja which was "King of Great Kings", a title of honour, a degree higher than Mahārājā.
Rana dynasty used the title of Sri Maharaja while the Gorkha Kings used Shree Panch Maharajadhiraja.
Southeast Asia
Dali
Duan Xingzhi, the last monarch of the Kingdom of Dali, submitted to the Mongol Empire, and in return was enfeoffed as Maharaja (摩诃罗嵯) of Dali, continuing to rule the area (but subordinated to Yuan dynasty princes and Muslim governors of Yunnan), until the Ming conquest of Yunnan.
Indonesia
When the Indonesian Archipelago was still predominantly Hindu-Buddhist (circa 3rd century CE until the 15th century CE), all of the Greater India which ruled different areas of the archipelago was ruled by a "Maharaja" or simply referred by the locals as "Raja", such as the first and oldest Hindu kingdom of Indonesia the Kutai in eastern Borneo, the Tarumanegara, the Srivijaya, the Majapahit and numerous other kingdoms. Traditional titles remain in use for other members of royalty, such as Pangeran Ratu for the heir and other local-Malay titles such as "Paduka Sri". The title "Maharaja" has been used to refer to kings of ancient Indianised kingdoms, such as Maharaja Mulavarman king of Kutai Martadipura and Maharaja Purnawarman king of Tarumanegara.
Malaysia
In peninsular Malaysia:
Brunei
In Seri Malayas of the Srivijaya, under the Srivijaya satellite empire of the Majapahit Empire dominated over the whole Malayas far-reaching the present Philippine Archipelago, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia under the Srivijaya Empire of the Majapahit King Maharaja Pamariwasa. The latter's daughter Es-kander was married to an Arab (Zein Ul-Abidin), the third Makdum who promulgated Koranic studies (Madrassahs) and was a Srivijaya ruler in Seri who were a Srivijaya Monarchy. In the 12th century with the fall of the empire, the Seri King being a Muslim established the Sultanate of Brunei in 1363 with the throne name Sultan Mohamad Shah. In 1426, he established the sultanate of sulu as his death was recorded in 1431 Mt. Makatangis Sulu grave and 1432 Brunei grave. Both Sulu and Brunei claim the honor of his grave, while his brother, a Johore (Singapore) Prince Makdum Karim (Sharif Kabungsuwan of Malabang Lanao) the second Makdum after the first one Makdum Tuan Masha'ik. Karim ul-makdum re=enforced Islam, a Srivijaya Johore ruler, later established the Sultanate of Maguindanao-Ranao (Mindanao) after taking the political authority of his father-in-law Tomaoi Aliwya of the Maguiindanao family dynasty. He adapted the title as sultan Aliwya (Sharif Kabungsuwan), the first Maguindanao Sultan. The second and third Makdum's father was Sultan Betatar of Taif Arabia who was the 9th progeny of Hasan, the grandson of prophet Sayyidina Muhammad.
Compound Malay titles
The word can also be part of titles used by Malay nobility:
Most famous was Bendahara Seri Maharaja Tun Mutahir of Malacca (executed 1509) and Datuk Maharaja Lela Pandak Lam of Perak (executed 1876).
Thailand
The King of Thailand has been called a "Maharaj" ().
See also
Explanatory notes
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