the.com/sultan
A king with better calligraphy, a bigger harem, and a worse succession plan.
means A sovereign ruler of a Muslim state, especially the historical monarchs of empires like the Ottomans, Mamluks, or various sultanates.
from From Arabic sulṭān, meaning 'authority,' 'power,' or 'rule' itself — an abstract noun that hardened into a title for the person who held it. It likely passed through Aramaic roots tied to the idea of strength and dominion. The word reached Europe via the Ottoman Turks and Crusader-era contact, picked up by medieval Latin and the Romance languages, and arrived in English by the late Middle Ages. So the title literally means 'the Power' — less a name than a job description shouted in noun form.
- word root
- Arabic for authority, strength, or rulership
- ottoman record
- Some sultans ruled an empire across three continents
- brother problem
- Some sultans legally executed brothers to secure the throne
- still around
- Oman and Brunei are ruled by sultans today
- title creep
- Used for everyone from emperors to small-town chiefs
ottoman empire sultans — mehmed ii conquered constantinople in 1453; suleiman the magnificent ruled 1520-1566
sultan of brunei — hassanal bolkiah has reigned since 1967 as absolute monarch
sultan of oman — qaboos bin said ruled 1970-2020; haitham bin tariq since 2020