Indo-Persian Royal and noble ranks

Emperor : Shah

High King

King : Sultan

Royal Prince : Shahzada, Mirza

Noble Prince : Sahibzada

Nobleman: Nawab, Baig

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Mughal Shahanshah Shah Jahan

Shāh (/ˈʃɑː/; Persian: شاه‎, [ʃɒː]) is the title of the ruler of certain South Asian and Central Asian countries, especially Persia (modern Iran), and derives from the Persian word shah, meaning "king".

History[link]

Shah or shahanshah ("King of Kings") was the title of Persian emperors or kings. It includes rulers of the first Persian Empire, the Achaemenid dynasty, who unified Persia and created a vast intercontinental empire, as well as rulers of succeeding dynasties. The title was also extensively used later by emperors of the Indian subcontinent, including those of the Mughal Empire. For instance, the third Mughal emperor, Akbar the Great (1542–1605), was formally known as "Shahanshah Akbar-e-Azam".

The full title of the Achaemenid rulers was Kshatriya Kshatriyanamah, "King of Kings" in Old Persian, corresponding to Middle Persian šāhān šāh, literally "kings' king", and Modern Persian shāhanshāh (شاهنشاه).^{[citation needed]} In Greek, this phrase was translated as "βασιλεύς τῶν βασιλέων (basileus tōn basiléōn)", "king of kings", equivalent to emperor. Both terms were often shortened to their roots: shah and basileus.

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, shahanshah of Iran, 1941–1979

In Western languages, shah is often used as an imprecise rendering of shāhanshāh. The term was first recorded in English in 1564 as a title for the king of Persia, with the spelling "Shaw". For a long time, Europeans thought of shah as a particular royal title rather than an imperial one, although the monarchs of Persia regarded themselves as emperors of the Persian Empire (later the Empire of Iran). The European opinion changed in the Napoleonic era, when Persia was an ally of the Western powers eager to make the Ottoman Sultan release his hold on various (mainly Christian) European parts of the Ottoman Empire, and western (Christian) emperors had obtained the Ottoman acknowledgement that their western imperial styles were to be rendered in Turkish as padishah.

The last shah of Persia, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, officially adopted the title شاهنشاه shâhanshâh (literally King of Kings) and, in western languages, the rendering as "Emperor". He also styled his wife شهبانو shahbânu (empress).

Ruler styles[link]

• The title padishah (Great King) was also adopted from the Iranians by the Ottomans, and by various other Islamic monarchs claiming imperial rank, such as the Indian Mughals.
• Another subsidiary style of the Ottoman sultan khan was Shah-i-Alam Panah, meaning "King, refuge of the world".
• Some monarchs were known by a contraction of the kingdom's name with shah, such as Khwarezmshah, ruler of the short-lived Muslim realm of Khwarezmia, or the more modest Azeri Shirvanshah of Shirvan (later a minor khanate).
• The kings of Georgia called themselves shahanshah alongside their other titles.

Shahzada[link]

Shahzada (Persian شاهزاده Šāhzādé). In the realm of a shah (or a more lofty derived ruler style), a prince of the blood was logically called shahzada as the term is derived from shah using the Persian patronymic suffix -zāde or -zāda, "son, descendant"; it also means a Gujarati prince. However the precise full styles can differ in the court traditions of each shah's kingdom. Female descendants or princesses are called Shahzadi.

Thus, in Oudh, only sons of the sovereign shah bahadur (see above) were by birth-right styled "Shahzada [personal title] Mirza [personal name] Bahadur", though this style could also be extended to individual grandsons and even further relatives. Other male descendants of the sovereign, in the male line were merely styled "Mirza [personal name]" or "[personal name] Mirza". This could even apply to non-Muslim dynasties. For example, the younger sons of the ruling Sikh maharaja of Punjab were styled "Shahzada [personal name] Singh Bahadur".

The corruption shahajada, "Shah's son", taken from the Mughal title Shahzada, is the usual princely title borne by the grandsons and male descendants of a Nepalese sovereign, in the male line.

For the heir to a "Persian-style" shah's royal throne, more specific titles were used, containing the key element Vali Ahad, usually in addition to shahzada, where his junior siblings enjoyed this style.^{[clarification needed]}

Other styles[link]

• Shahbanu (Persian شهبانو, Šahbānū): Persian term using the word Shah and the Perian suffix -banu ("lady"): Empress, in modern times, the official title of Empress Farah Pahlavi.
• Shahdokht (Persian شاهدخت Šāhdoxt) is also another term derived from shah using the Persian patronymic suffix -dokht "daughter, female descendant", to address the Princess of the imperial households.

Related terms[link]

• Shah is a widespread name in Iran and the Indian subcontinent. See Shah (surname).
• Satrap, the term in Western languages for a governor of a Persian province, is a distortion of xšaθrapāvan, literally "guardian of the realm", which derives from the word xšaθra, an Old Persian word meaning "realm, province" and related etymologically to shah.
• Maq'ad-i-Shah (Persian مقعد شاه Maq'ad-i-Shah), the phrase from which the name of Mogadishu is believed to be derived, which means "The seat of the Shah", a reflection of the city's early Persian influence.^[1]
• Chess and the chess term check in Western languages are derived from shah, transmitted through Arabic.

References[link]

	Iran portal
	Middle East portal

External links[link]

Look up shah in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Last name: Shah at surnamedb.com
• WorldStatesmen – here Iran; see each present country
• Etymology OnLine

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Naseeruddin Shah
Naseeruddin Shah
Born	(1950-07-20) 20 July 1950 (age 61) Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh, India
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1975–present
Spouse	Manara Sikri (deceased) Ratna Pathak Shah (1982-present)
Children	Heeba Shah Imaad Shah Vivaan Shah
Signature	150px

Naseeruddin Shah (born 20 July 1950) is an Indian / Bollywood film actor and director. He is widely considered to be one of the best actors produced by India. In 2003, the Government of India honored him with the Padma Bhushan for his contributions towards Indian cinema.

Early life[link]

Shah was born on 20 July 1950 in Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh, India where his father was a Navy Officer. Shah's family hails from Sardhana in District Meerut (Uttar Pradesh).He is a descendant of the 19th-century Afghan warlord Jan Fishan Khan. Naseeruddin Shah did his schooling at St. Anselm's Ajmer and St Joseph's College, Nainital. He graduated in arts from Aligarh Muslim University in 1971 and attended National School of Drama in Delhi. He has been successful in mainstream Bollywood cinema as well as in Parallel Cinema. He has also appeared in international films, notably playing Captain Nemo in the Hollywood comic book adaptation The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. His elder brother is Lt. General Zameerud-din Shah PVSM, SM, VSM, recently appointed as the Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University.

Career[link]

Shah has acted in movies such as Nishant, Aakrosh, Sparsh, Mirch Masala, Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Ata Hai, Trikal, Bhavni Bhavai, Junoon, Mandi, Mohan Joshi Hazir Ho!, Ardh Satya, Katha, Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, etc.^[1] In the very early stages of his career he acted in a film Dil Aakhir Dil Hai directed by noted director Ismail Shroff, with Rakhi where she played the character of Naseer's elder girl friend kusumji whom he was forced to marry unwillingly because he is quite younger to her(in the film). One of his most important films Masoom (1983) was shot at St Joseph's College, Nainital.

He became active in mainstream Bollywood cinema with the 1980 film Hum Paanch. His next major success in mainstream films was the 1986 multi-starrer film Karma where he acted alongside veteran Dilip Kumar. Starring roles for films such as, Ijaazat (1987), Jalwa (1988) and Hero Hiralal (1988) followed. In 1988 he played opposite his wife Ratna Pathak as Inspector Ghote, the fictional detective of H. R. F. Keating's novels in the Merchant-Ivory English language film The Perfect Murder.

He has acted in several multi-starrer Bollywood films as well, such as, Ghulami (1985), Tridev (1989) and Vishwatma (1992). In 1994, he acted as the villain in Mohra, his 100th film as an actor. He strongly believed that the distinction between art and commercial films had largely reduced, especially with the directors of the former also making commercial films. In 2000 his dream of playing Mahatma Gandhi was realized when he played Gandhi in Kamal Hassan's critically acclaimed Hey Ram which focused on the assassination of Gandhi from the assailant's point of view. He won a lot of critical acclaim by acting as Mohit, the drunken coach to a deaf and mute boy in Iqbal which was written by Vipul K Rawal keeping specially him in mind. He also worked in the critically acclaimed A Wednesday (2008).

Later, he starred in international projects such as Monsoon Wedding in 2001 and a Hollywood comic book adaptation The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen in 2003 (co-starring Sean Connery) where he played the role of Captain Nemo. His portrayal of Nemo was very close to the design of the graphic novel, although his Nemo was far less manic. He worked in an Indian adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth, titled Maqbool and Rajiv Rai's Asambhav in 2004. He then went on to work in The Great New Wonderful. He was most recently seen in Ishqiya. Shah's upcoming films include The Hunt where he plays a recluse growing marijuana in his forest retreat.

He made his Pakistani film debut in Khuda Ke Liye by Shoaib Mansoor where he played a short cameo.

Other media and art forms[link]

In 1977, he along with Tom Alter and Benjamin Gilani formed a theatre group called Motley Productions. Their first play was Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot, which was staged at Prithvi Theatre on 29 July 1979.^[2]

In 1988, he acted in the eponymous television series based on the life and times of Mirza Ghalib, directed by Gulzar and telecast on DD National.^{[citation needed]}

In 1989, he had also acted as the Maratha King Shivaji in another eponymous television series Bharat Ek Khoj based on Jawaharlal Nehru's book The Discovery of India.^{[citation needed]}

In 1999, he acted as a special agent in a TV Series Tarkash, coming in Zee TV. He played the role of a retired agent haunted by nightmares who is re-inducted as he apparently knows something about a dreaded terrorist somehow connected with his past.^{[citation needed]}

In 1998, he played the role of Mahatma Gandhi in the play Mahatma Vs. Gandhi, (which looked at the Mahatma's relation with Harilal Gandhi, his first son).^[3] With this, he achieved his objective of portraying Mahatma Gandhi, a role he had auditioned for Richard Attenborough's Gandhi.^[4] In 2000, he again portrayed the Mahatma, this time on film, in Hey Ram.^{[citation needed]}

He played the villain with dual identity of a Ghazal singer and Pakistani spy who supports terrorism in India in Sarfarosh (1999).^{[citation needed]}

He played the role of Mohit, a drunken coach, in the critically acclaimed film Iqbal (film). The role was specially written keeping him in mind by Vipul K Rawal, the writer of Iqbal (film). The film was recently voted as one of Ten Hindi Films that is considered ideal training and motivational material.

He was the first of several celebrity actors, who played the role of narrator in the popular audiobook series for kids Karadi Tales,.^{[citation needed]} He was also the narrator in the film Paheli - the Indian entry to the 2006 Academy Awards.^{[citation needed]}

He has been awarded the life membership of International Film And Television Club of Asian Academy Of Film & Television.^{[citation needed]}

As director[link]

Naseeruddin Shah has been giving performances with his theatre troupe at places such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Lahore. He has directed plays written by Lavender Kumar, Ismat Chughtai and Saadat Hasan Manto.

His directorial debut in movie, Yun Hota To Kya Hota, was released in 2006. The movie stars several established actors such as Konkona Sen Sharma, Paresh Rawal, Irfan Khan, newcomer Ayesha Takia, his son Imaad Shah and his old friend Ravi Baswani.

Personal life[link]

He first got married to Parvin Murad, Surekha Sikri’s step sister. He has a daughter named Heeba Shah from his first marriage. He married Bollywood actress Ratna Pathak Shah in 1982 after the death of his first wife.^{[citation needed]} He has two sons from his second marriage Imaad and Vivaan. He has co-starred with Ratna in films like Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na, Mirch Masala and The Perfect Murder.^[5][6]

Awards[link]

Other Awards[link]

• 2000: Won: Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
• 2000: Won: IIFA (International Indian Film Academy) Award — Artistic Excellence for Performance in a Negative Role for Sarfarosh

Filmography[link]

Actor[link]

Director[link]

• Yun Hota To Kya Hota (2006)

References[link]

External links[link]

This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. (February 2012)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Naseeruddin Shah

• Full Filmography
• Article about Shah's direction of plays
• An interview about state of Bollywood movies
• An article about Naseerudddin Shah's directorial debut in Cinema
• Award at the International Film Festival of Mumbai
• Naseeruddin Shah is a master at work
• Naseeruddin Shah to play Professor Shanku?
• http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076089/

v t e Shah family 1st generation Muhammed Shah (Jan-Fishan Khan) 2nd generation Nawab Muhammad Ali Shah-Nawab Of Khanpur Sardar Bhadur Meer Khan 3rd generation Amjad Ali Shah-Sultan Mohammed Khan 4th generation Sirdar Ikbal Ali Shah · Saira Elizabeth Luiza Shah · Rahat Ali Shah.Saadat Ali Shah 5th generation Amina Shah · Omar Ali-Shah · Idries Shah · Aqil Hussain Barlas · Naseeruddin Shah · Syed Kamal · Agha Sarwat Ali Shah . Mobeen Zehra Shah(Suhaila). Mir Ahmed Shah 6th generation Arif Ali-Shah · Amina Ali-Shah  · Saira Shah · Tahir Shah · Safia Shah · Owais Shah · Imaad Shah · Faraaz Ahmed Shah. Meraj Ahmed Shah.  · Adil Hussain Barlas  · Sifat Ali Shah. Samat Ali Shah.  · Fahad Ali Shah ·

v t e Bollywood (Hindi cinema) Directors · Actors · Playback singers · Music Directors · Songs · Bibliography Hindi films A–Z—Highest-grossing Films by year: 1930s · 1940 · 1941 · 1942 · 1943 · 1944 · 1945 · 1946 · 1947 · 1948 · 1949 · 1950 · 1951 · 1952 · 1953 · 1954 · 1955 · 1956 · 1957 · 1958 · 1959 · 1960 · 1961 · 1962 · 1963 · 1964 · 1965 · 1966 · 1967 · 1968 · 1969 · 1970 · 1971 · 1972 · 1973 · 1974 · 1975 · 1976 · 1977 · 1978 · 1979 · 1980 · 1981 · 1982 · 1983 · 1984 · 1985 · 1986 · 1987 · 1988 · 1989 · 1990 · 1991 · 1992 · 1993 · 1994 · 1995 · 1996 · 1997 · 1998 · 1999 · 2000 · 2001 · 2002 · 2003 · 2004 · 2005 · 2006 · 2007 · 2008 · 2009 · 2010 · 2011 · 2012

Sunny Deol
Born	Ajay Singh Deol (1956-10-19) 19 October 1956 (age 55) New Delhi, India[1]
Residence	Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Ethnicity	Punjabi
Occupation	Actor, Director, Producer
Years active	1983-Present
Spouse	Pooja Deol ਪੂਜਾ ਦਿਓਲ
Parents	Dharmendra, Prakash Kaur
Relatives	Bobby Deol (younger brother) Hema Malini (step-mother) Esha Deol (half-sister) Ahana Deol (half-sister) Abhay Deol (first cousin)

Sunny Deol is an Indian film actor, producer and director. Often referred to as "Action King of Bollywood".^[2] Deol was born to Bollywood actor Dharmendra.^[3] He has won two National Film Awards^[4] and two Filmfare Awards.^[5] He went to England to study acting. He joined theater called the Old Web Theater in Birmingham, England where he studied theatre and acting^[1]

Deol's films such as Border (1997) and Gadar: Ek Prem Katha (2001) remain some of Bollywood's biggest hits.,^[6] while films like Betaab (1983), Arjun (1985), Paap Ki Duniya (1988), Tridev (1989), Ghayal (1990), Damini – Lightning (1993), Darr (1993), Jeet (1996), Ghatak: Lethal (1996), Ziddi (1997), Indian (2001), The Hero: Love Story of a Spy (2003), Apne (2007), Yamla Pagla Deewana (2011) are other successful films thus making him successful leading actors of Bollywood.^[7][8] Gadar: Ek Prem Katha is the second-highest grossing movie of Indian film history, if inflation is taken into account ^[9] and also most watched of modern era in theaters.^[10]

Early life[link]

Deol was born into a Punjabi -Sikh family in Sahnewal village of East Punjab (India) to Bollywood actor Dharmendra^[11] and Prakash Kaur. Sunny is eldest son of Dharmendra. His stepmother is Hema Malini.^[12] He has a brother Bobby Deol and two sisters Vijayta Deol and Ajeeta Deol who are settled in California, he also has two half-sisters, Esha Deol and Ahana Deol.^[13] The former being an actress, has worked in some successful Bollywood flicks.His cousin Abhay Deol is also a successful actor.

Career[link]

1980s[link]

Sunny Deol made his film debut opposite debutant Amrita Singh in Betaab (1983) which was a blockbuster & launched both Sunny & Amrita Singh's career's. His performance won him his first Filmfare Best Actor Award Nomination.^[14] He then went through a lean phase for a couple of years until Rahul Rawail's Arjun (1985) came. He played the titular role of an unemployed youngster in Arjun. The film went on to become a major hit and established Sunny’s status as an action hero. What followed were a bunch of hits like Dacait (1987), Yateem (1988) and Paap Ki Duniya (1988)^[15] In 1989, he had back to back hits with Rajiv Rai's Tridev and Pankaj Parashar's Chaalbaaz^[16][17]

1990s[link]

With his portrayal of an amateur boxer wrongly accused of his brother’s murder in Rajkumar Santoshi's Ghayal, Sunny proved that he still ruled the industry when it came to action sequences. Produced by the home banner Vijayta Films, the movie was an instant hit with the masses and went on to win seven Filmfare Awards.^[18] His performance won him his first Filmfare Best Actor Award and also his first National Film Award.^[19] In 1991, Sunny starred in about 5 films but only Narsimha was a success. Rajiv Rai's Vishwatma was Sunny's only release in 1992. His role of a lawyer in Damini – Lightning (1993) fetched him several awards and accolades in Bollywood. He shared screen space with Juhi Chawla and Shah Rukh Khan in Yash Chopra’s blockbuster Darr. In the mid-nineties he delivered four big hits in a row Jeet (1996), Ghatak: Lethal (1996), Ziddi (1997) and Border (1997)^[20] In 1999, after starring opposite Juhi Chawla in Arjun Pandit, Sunny Deol tried his hand at direction and helmed Dillagi. He also acted alongside younger brother Bobby Deol and Urmila Matondkar in his directorial debut, which was very well appreciated by critics^[21]

2000s[link]

In 2001, he starred in the film Farz opposite Preity Zinta.^[22] Sunny played the role of lorry driver Tara Singh who falls in love with a Muslim girl in Anil Sharma’s Gadar: Ek Prem Katha. The partition saga went to become an all time blockbuster and was the highest grossing Bollywood film ever that time^[23] and currently 5th highest grossing Bollywood film.^[24][25] He was nominated for the Filmfare Best Actor Award for his portrayal.^[26] His third release that year saw him playing the title role in the action film Indian, a remake of the Tamil film Vallarasu in which Sunny essayed the character of DCP Rajshekhar Azad, an honest police officer. The movie was a success.^[22] Sunny’s next few projects were extremely patriotic in nature and struck a chord with audiences across the country. He played the role of an Indian military officer in Maa Tujhhe Salaam and essayed the character of freedom fighter Chandrashekhar Azad in 23rd March 1931: Shaheed.

In 2003 Sunny Deol teamed up with director Anil Sharma yet again for The Hero: Love Story of a Spy, which also starred Preity Zinta and Priyanka Chopra in her first onscreen appearance.^[27] which released on 11 April and was billed as Bollywood's most expensive film that time with an estimated budget of 60 crore (US$11.97 million)^[28] The film received mostly positive reviews from critics and became the third highest-grossing Bollywood film of that year^[29] Sunny made an appearance alongside Dharmendra and Bobby Deol in Apne (2007)^[30] and then yet again in Yamla Pagla Deewana^[31][32]

2010s[link]

Deol's first release of 2010 was Right Yaaa Wrong.^[33] The film was critically successful, but moderately successful commercially.^[34] Yamla Pagla Deewana was Sunny's only release in 2011 and one of the biggest successes of the year^[35] In 2011, he started working in Radhika Rao and Vinay Sapru's I Love New Year opposite Tannishtha Chatterjee and in Chandraprakash Dwivedi's Mohalla Assi opposite Sakshi Tanwar but for some reason's both films have been delayed.For the first time in his career, Sunny will lend his voice (for Bheem) in the Animated film Mahabharata; produced by Jayantilal Gada of PEN India Pvt Ltd. His future ventures includes Sangeeth Sivan's Yamla Pagla Deewana 2, Anil Sharma's Singh Saheb The Great, Rahul Rawail's Ghayal Returns and Rajkumar Santoshi's Next.

Personal life[link]

Sunny Deol has always maintained a low profile in the media about his personal life. He is married to Pooja Deol. His wife has never faced the media till date like other celebrity wives. The couple have two sons Karan Deol(21) and Rajvir Deol(17).His elder son is set to make debut^[36][37]

Awards and nominations[link]

Apart from National Film Awards, Filmfare Awards and other competitive awards which Deol won for his performances throughout the years, he has been awarded several honours for his achievements in the Indian film industry.

Filmography[link]

Actor[link]

Director[link]

See also[link]

• List of Indian film actors

References[link]