List: Titles of national or ethnic leadership

by likeorhate

•  Caliph

  The Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the leader of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transcribed version of the Arabic word خليفة Khalīfah which means "successor" or "representative". The early leaders of the Muslim nation following Muhammad's (570–632) death were called "Khalifat Rasul Allah", the political successors to the messenger of God (referring to Muhammad). Some academics prefer to transliterate the term as Khalīfah.

  

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•  Dictator

  For the ancient Roman title, see Roman dictator. A dictator is a ruler who assumes sole and absolute power (sometimes but not always with military control) but, without hereditary ascension such as an absolute monarch. When other states call the head of state of a particular state a dictator, that state is called a dictatorship. The word originated as the title of a magistrate in ancient Rome appointed by the Senate to rule the republic in times of emergency.

  

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•  Imam

  An imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the leader of a mosque and the community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads the prayer during Islamic gatherings. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have an Islamic question. In smaller communities an imam could be the community leader based on the community setting. It is important to note that the position of the Imam is not clerical in Sunni-Islam

  

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•  Pharaoh

  Pharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. In antiquity this title began to be used for the ruler who was the religious and political leader of united ancient Egypt. This was true only during the New Kingdom, specifically during the middle of the eighteenth dynasty. For simplification, however, there is a general acceptance amongst modern writers to use the term to relate to all periods.

  

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•  Shogun

  'Shogun listen (literally, "a commander of a force") is a military rank and historical title for (in most cases) hereditary military dictator of Japan. The modern rank is equivalent to a Generalissimo. Although the original meaning of "shogun" is simply "a general", as a title, it is used as the short form of ', the governing individual at various times in the history of Japan, ending when Tokugawa Yoshinobu relinquished the office to the Meiji Emperor in 1867.

  

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•  Taoiseach

  The Taoiseach, plural Taoisigh, also referred to as An Taoiseach, is the head of government of Ireland. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas), and must, while he remains in office, retain the support of a majority in the Dáil. The role of Taoiseach is that of a prime minister. The current Taoiseach is Brian Cowen, TD, leader of the Fianna Fáil party.

  

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•  Tsar

  Tsar or czar is a title used to designate certain monarchs or supreme rulers. The first ruler to adopt the title tsar was Simeon I of Bulgaria. As a system of government, it is known as Tsarism. Czar, is a Slavic term with Bulgarian origins which is derived from Cæsar, meant Emperor in the European mediæval sense of the term, that is, a ruler who claims the same rank as a Roman emperor, with the approval of another emperor or a supreme ecclesiastical official.

  

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•  Hetman

  Hetman was the title of the second highest military commander used in 15th to 18th century Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania, known from 1569 to 1795 as the Rzeczpospolita. It was the highest military title in Cossack Hetmanate as well as the head of state. This title was used among the Cossacks (гетьман) of Ukraine since the 16th century and by the Czechs (hejtman) in Bohemia from the Hussite Wars (15th century) onward.

  

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•  Grand duke

  The title grand duke is used in Western Europe and particularly in Germanic countries for provincial sovereigns. Grand duke is of a protocolary rank below a king but higher than a sovereign duke. Grand duke is also the usual and established translation of grand prince in languages which do not differentiate between princes who are children of a monarch and ruling princes. English and French also use Grand Duke in this way.

  

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•  Sultan

  Sultan is an Islamic title, with several historical meanings. Originally it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", or "rulership", derived from the masdar سلطة sulṭah, meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain Muslim rulers who claimed almost full sovereignty in practical terms (i.e.

  

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•  Shah

  Shah is a Persian term for a king (leader) that has been adopted in many other languages.

  

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•  Stadtholder

  A Stadtholder in the Low Countries was a medieval function which during the 18th century developed into a rare type of de facto hereditary head of state of the thus "crowned" Dutch Republic. It is comparable with the French title Lieutenant, England's fifteenth century Lord Lieutenant, and the Italian title of Doge.

  

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•  Regent

  A regent, from the Latin regens "that who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state (ruling or not) because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. In a monarchy, a regent usually governs due to one of these reasons, but may also be elected to rule during the interregnum when the royal line has died out. This was the case in Finland and Hungary, where the royal line was considered extinct in the aftermath of World War I.

  

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•  Cathaoirleach

  Cathaoirleach is the title of the chairman of Seanad Éireann, the sixty-member upper house of the Oireachtas, the legislature of Ireland. The current Cathaoirleach is Senator Pat Moylan. The Cathaoirleach is the sole judge of order and has a range of powers and functions namely: Calls on members to speak and all speeches must be addressed to the Chair. Puts such questions to the House as are required, supervises Divisions and declares the results.

  

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•  Ceann Comhairle

  The Ceann Comhairle ("head of the council") is the chairman of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (parliament) of Ireland. The person who holds the position is elected by members of the Dáil from among their number in the first session after each general election. The current Ceann Comhairle is Séamus Kirk, TD. The Leas-Cheann Comhairle (Deputy Chairman) is Brendan Howlin, TD.

  

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•  Voivode

  Voivode is a Slavic title that originally denoted the principal commander of a military force. The word gradually came to denote the governor of a province; the territory ruled or administered by a voivode is known as a voivodeship. In English, the title is often translated as "prince", "duke", or, as in Bram Stoker's Count Dracula, "count". The Polish title is sometimes rendered in English as "palatine" or "count palatine", in charge of a palatinate.

  

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•  Maharaja

  The word Mahārāja (also spelled maharajah) is Sanskrit for "great king" or "high king" (a karmadharaya from mahānt "great" and rājan "king"). Due to Sanskrit's major influence on the vocabulary of most languages in India and Asia, the term 'maharaja' is common to many modern Indian languages, such as Hindi, Oriya, Punjabi, Bengali, Gujrati, etc. Its use is primarily for Hindu potentates (ruler or sovereign).

  

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•  Kaiser

  Kaiser is the German title meaning "Emperor", with Kaiserin being the female equivalent, "Empress". Like the Russian Czar it is directly derived from the Latin Emperors' title of Caesar, which in turn is derived from the personal name of a branch of the gens (clan) Julia, to which Gaius Julius Caesar, the forebear of the first imperial family, belonged.

  

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•  Tánaiste

  The Tánaiste, or, more formally, An Tánaiste, is the deputy prime minister of Ireland. The Taoiseach nominates a member of the government to the position of Tánaiste. The current Tánaiste is Mary Coughlan, TD. Tánaiste was originally the Irish word for the heir of the chief (taoiseach) or king (rí), under the Gaelic system of tanistry. Before independence, the British Viceroy was sometimes referred to in the Irish language as An Tánaiste-Ri, literally 'the deputy king'.

  

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•  Emir

  Emir, ("commander" or "general", also "prince"; also transliterated as amir, aamir or ameer) is a high title of nobility or office, used throughout the Arab World, as well as historically in 19th-century Afghanistan and in the medieval Muslim world. Emirs are usually considered high-ranking sheikhs, but in monarchical states the term is also used for princes, with "Emirate" being analogous to principality in this sense.

  

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•  Sheikh

  Sheikh, also rendered as Sheik, Shaykh, Shaikh, Cheikh, Šeih, Šejh, Şeyh and other variants, is a word or honorific term in the Arabic language that literally means "elder. " It is commonly used to designate an elder of a tribe, a revered wise man, or an Islamic scholar. Although the title generally refers to a male, a very small number of female sheikhs have also existed in history. It also refers to a man over 40 or 50 years old generally.

  

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•  Khan (title)

  Khan is an originally Central Asian title for a sovereign or military ruler, first used by medieval Altaic-speaking nomadic tribes living to the north of China. 'Khan' is first seen as a title in the Xianbei confederation for their chief between 283–289. The probably proto-Mongolian Rourans were the first people who used the titles Khagan and Khan for their emperors, replacing the Chanyu of the Xiongnu, whom Grousset and others assume to be Turkic.

  

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•  Lord Lieutenant

  The title Lord Lieutenant is given to the British monarch's personal representatives in the United Kingdom, usually in a county or similar circumscription, with varying tasks throughout history. Usually a retired local notable, senior military officer, peer or business person is given the post honorarily. Both men and women are eligible for the post.

  

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•  Margrave

  A margrave was a medieval hereditary nobleman with military responsibilities in a border province of a kingdom. Border provinces usually had more exposure to military incursions from the outside, compared to interior provinces, and thus a margrave usually had larger and more active military forces than other lords. The margrave may also have had larger territorial area under his control as a result of expansions of territory at the border.

  

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•  President for Life

  President for Life is a title assumed by some dictators to remove their term limit, in the hope that their authority, legitimacy, and term will never be disputed. One of the most well-known incidents of a republican leader extending his term indefinitely was Roman dictator Julius Caesar, who made himself "Perpetual Dictator" (commonly mistranslated as 'Dictator-for-life') in 45 BC.

  

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