- published: 20 Aug 2015
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Sahib ( /səˈhiːb/, traditionally /ˈsɑː.iːb/ or /ˈsɑːb/; Arabic: صاحب, Urdu: صاحب, Punjabi: ਸਾਹਬ, Hindi: साहिब) is a word of Arabic origin and is primarily used in Urdu which literally translates to "Owner" or "Proprietor". The primary Punjabi meaning of Sahib (صاحب) is "associate, companion, comrade, friend" though it also includes "(with foll. genit.) man, owner, possessor, holder, master, lord, commander, representative, author or originator of ..." (Cowan 1994, 588).
It has passed on to several languages including Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali, Gujarati, Pashto, Persian, Turkish and Marathi. It has been translated in the Indian sub-continent after the advent of colonialism as: grace or, as in the Sikh religion, "Guru's honor".
(This list may well be incomplete; gun salutes mentioned are as in 1947, some may be the result of one or more promotions)
In various dynasties, members of certain genealogical rank were awarded various combinations of additional styles, in se not their rank, which may include sahib. This could even happen in a Muslim dynasty, e.g. sons of the ruling Nawab of Junagadh used Nawabzada before their personal name, then Khanji and the father's name, finally Sahib.