Ban ( /ˈbɑːn/) was a title used in several states in central and south-eastern Europe between the 7th century and the 20th century.

The word ban has entered the English language probably as a borrowing from South Slavic ban, meaning "lord, master; ruler". The Slavic word is probably borrowed from late Thracian *ban meaning "master (of a house)" (cf. Albanian bánë, banésë - "house", Romanian ban - nobility rank, Bănie, Banat - "region under the rule of bans"), that is an old indo-European root *pa- - "to protect" (see also Persian ban - "master").

Another assumption for the origin of the ban was a borrowing from a Turkic language, from the Avar word bajan meaning "ruler of the horde", a derivation of the Proto-Turkic root *bāj- "rich, noble". The term was also borrowed from a Turkic source into Mongolian, where it is preserved in a basically identical form to this day as bajan "rich".

South Slavic ban (Serbo-Croatian pronunciation: [bâːn], with a long [a]) is a result of the contraction from the earlier form bojan. The long form is directly attested in 10th-century Constantine Porphyrogenitus' book De Administrando Imperio as βο(ε)άνος, in a chapter dedicated to Croats and the organisation of their state, describing how their ban "has under his rule Krbava, Lika and Gacka". The 12th-century Byzantine historian John Kinnamos on the other hand already writes the title in its contracted form (μπάνος). Beside South Slavic, the contracted form can be also found in Hungarian bán and Romanian ban.

Ban may refer to:

Ranbir Kapoor (born 28 September 1982) is an Indian actor who appears in Bollywood movies.

Making his acting debut in the 2007 film Saawariya, for which he won the Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut, Kapoor earned positive notice for his performance in Wake Up Sid (2009). He later appeared in the romantic comedy Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani (2009) and the political thriller Raajneeti (2010), with the later being his biggest commercial success to date. In 2011, Kapoor starred and earned critical acclaim for his performance in Rockstar for which he received the Best Actor and Best Actor (Critics) awards at the Filmfare ceremony.

Ranbir Kapoor, the son of actors Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh, was born into a family of Punjabi origin; his sister is Riddhima Kapoor Sahni. He is the grandson of actor and filmmaker Raj Kapoor, great grandson of Prithviraj Kapoor, nephew of actors Randhir Kapoor and Rajiv Kapoor, grand-nephew of actors Shashi Kapoor and Shammi Kapoor, and first-cousin of actresses Karisma Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor. Kapoor studied at Bombay Scottish School in Mahim, Mumbai and went on to pursue method acting at The Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York.

Prabodh Chandra Dey (born 1 May 1919), better known by his nickname Manna Dey (Bengali: মান্না দে), is a playback singer in Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, Malayalam, Kanada, Assamese films. Along with Mohammed Rafi, Kishore Kumar, Mukesh he was a part of Indian film playback music industry. He is rated best classical singer among all singers of Hindi film music though he sang all types of songs from Pop to folk. He has recorded more than 3500 songs over the course of his career. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri in 1971, the Padma Bhushan in 2005 and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2007.

Dey was born to Purna Chandra (father) and Mahamaya Dey (mother) on 1 May 1919. Besides his parents, his youngest paternal uncle Sangeetacharya (meaning "Venerable Teacher of Music" in Sanskrit), K. C. Dey highly inspired and influenced him. Dey received his early education in a small pre-primary school named Indu Babur Pathshala. Thereafter he attended Scottish Church Collegiate School and Scottish Church College, followed by Vidyasagar College where he received his graduate education.

Mark Levine may refer to: