Emirate

Last updated

An emirate is a territory ruled by an emir, [1] a title used by monarchs or high officeholders in the Muslim world. From a historical point of view, an emirate is a political-religious unit smaller than a caliphate. [2] It can be considered equivalent to a principality in non-Muslim contexts.

Contents

Currently in the world, there are two emirates that are independent states (Kuwait, and Qatar), one state ruled by an unrecognised emirate (Afghanistan) and a state that consists of a federation of seven emirates, the United Arab Emirates. A great number of previously independent emirates around the world are now part of larger states, as can be seen in Nigeria. [3]

Etymology

Etymologically, emirate or amirate (Arabic : إمارةimārah, plural: إماراتimārāt) is the quality, dignity, office, or territorial competence of any emir (prince, commander, governor, etc.). In English, the term is pronounced /ˈɛmərət,-ɪər-,-ɪt,-t/ or /ɛˈmɪərət,-ɪt,-t,iˈ-/ in British English and /ˈɛmərət/ or /ɪˈmɪərət/ in American English. [4]

Types

Monarchies

The United Arab Emirates is a federal state that comprises seven federal emirates, each administered by a hereditary emir, these seven forming the electoral college for the federation's president and prime minister.

As most emirates have either disappeared, been integrated in a larger modern state, or changed their rulers' styles, e.g. to malik (Arabic for "king") or sultan, such true emirate-states have become rare.

Provinces

Furthermore, in Arabic the term can be generalized to mean any province of a country that is administered by a member of the ruling class, especially of a member (usually styled emir) of the royal family, as in Saudi Arabian governorates.

List of present emirates

Location of Afghanistan (grey), Kuwait (red), Qatar (green), and the emirates of the United Arab Emirates Emiratos.PNG
Location of Afghanistan (grey), Kuwait (red), Qatar (green), and the emirates of the United Arab Emirates

Current emirates with political autonomy are listed below:

Arabian Peninsula

Central Asia

List of former and integrated emirates

These are the emirates that have either ceased to exist, are not recognized and hold no real power, or were integrated into another country and preserved as "traditional states". They are arranged by location and in order of the date of the first leader styled "emir."

Africa

North Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa

Ethiopia
Ghana
Niger
Nigeria
The Emir of Kano on his throne Emir of Kano.jpg
The Emir of Kano on his throne

Asia

Arabia

Central Asia

South Asia

Near East

Europe

Caucasus

Iberia

Mediterranean region

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arab world</span> Geographical and cultural region in Africa and the Middle East

The Arab world, formally the Arab homeland, also known as the Arab nation, the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, comprises a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western Asia and Northern Africa. While the majority of people in the Arab world are ethnically Arab, there are also significant populations of other ethnic groups such as Berbers, Kurds, Somalis and Nubians, among other groups. Arabic is used as the lingua franca throughout the Arab world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Najd</span> Region in central Saudi Arabia

Najd is the geographic center of Saudi Arabia, accounting for about a third of the country's modern population. It is the home of the House of Saud, from which they pursued the unification of Saudi Arabia since the time of the Emirate of Diriyah.

Abd Allah, also spelled Abdallah, Abdellah, Abdollah, Abdullah, Abdulla, Abdalla and many others, is an Arabic name meaning "Servant of God". It is built from the Arabic words ʻabd (عبد) and Allāh (الله). Although the first letter "a" in Allāh, as the first letter of the article al-, is usually unstressed in Arabic, it is usually stressed in the pronunciation of this name. The variants Abdollah and Abdullah represent the elision of this "a" following the "u" of the Classical Arabic nominative case. Abd Allah is one of many Arabic theophoric names, meaning servant of God. God's Follower is also a meaning of this name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flag of Saudi Arabia</span> National flag

The flag of Saudi Arabia is entirely green except for the central portion which bears an Arabic inscription and a sword in white. The inscription is the Islamic creed, or shahada: "There is no god but Allah; Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah". The current design has been used by the government of Saudi Arabia since 15 March 1973.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Asia</span> Subregion of the Asian continent

West Asia, also called Western Asia or Southwest Asia, is the westernmost region of Asia, as defined by most academics, UN bodies and other institutions, and includes Anatolia, the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Mesopotamia, the Armenian Highlands, the Levant, the island of Cyprus, the Sinai Peninsula, and the southern part of the Caucasus Region (Transcaucasia). The region is separated from Africa by the Isthmus of Suez in Egypt, and separated from Europe by the waterways of the Turkish Straits and the watershed of the Greater Caucasus. Central Asia lies to its northeast, while South Asia lies to its east. Twelve seas surround the region (clockwise): the Aegean Sea, the Sea of Marmara, the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman, the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aqaba, the Gulf of Suez, and the Mediterranean Sea. The area contains the vast majority of the similarly defined Middle East, but excluding most of Egypt and the northwestern part of Turkey, and including the southern part of the Caucasus.

Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud ruled the First Saudi State from 1803 to 1814. Saud annexed Mecca and Medina from the Ottoman Empire making him the first Al Saud ruler who received the title of the servant of the Two Holy Cities. During his rule the state experienced a significant level of strength and expansion for which he was called Saud Al Kabeer or Saud the Great.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Middle East</span>

The Middle East, also known as the Near East, is home to one of the Cradles of Civilization and has seen many of the world's oldest cultures and civilizations. The region's history started from the earliest human settlements and continues through several major pre- and post-Islamic Empires to today's nation-states of the Middle East.

The Ottoman/Egyptian-Wahhabi War also known as the Ottoman/Egyptian-Saudi War (1811–1818) was fought from early 1811 to 1818, between the Ottoman Empire and the Emirate of Diriyah, the First Saudi State, resulting in the destruction of the latter.

Banū Tamīm is an Arab tribe that originated in Najd in the Arabian Peninsula. It is mainly present in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan, a strong presence in Algeria, and Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia, and Libya. It is also present in many other parts of the Arab world such as Egypt and Khuzestan in Iran. The word Tamim in Arabic means strong and solid. It can also mean those who strive for perfection.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anizah</span> Adnanite Arab tribe

Anizah or Anazah is an Arabian tribe in the Arabian Peninsula, Upper Mesopotamia, and the Levant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unification of Saudi Arabia</span> 1901–1934 consolidation of Saudi emirates

The Unification of Saudi Arabia was a military and political campaign in which the various tribes, sheikhdoms, city-states, emirates, and kingdoms of most of the central Arabian Peninsula were conquered by the House of Saud, or Al Saud. Unification started in 1902 and continued until 1932, when the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was proclaimed under the leadership of Abdulaziz, known in the West as Ibn Saud, creating what is sometimes referred to as the Third Saudi State, to differentiate it from the Emirate of Diriyah, the First Saudi State and the Emirate of Nejd, the Second Saudi State, also House of Saud states.

<i>Eublemma</i> Genus of moths

Eublemma is a genus of moths of the family Erebidae described by Jacob Hübner in 1829.

The First Saudi–Hashemite War, also known as the First Nejd–Hejaz War or the al-Khurma dispute, took place in 1918–19 between Abdulaziz Ibn Saud of the Emirate of Nejd and Hasa and the Hashemites of the Kingdom of Hejaz.

Al-Khaldi, also spelled Al Khalidi is the last name given to members of the tribe of Bani Khalid. The tribe traditionally claims descent from Khalid ibn al-Walid a senior companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and esteemed general who was crucial in the Islamic Conquest of Persia and Syria. This claim has been questioned by Arab genealogists who have suggested that the tribe may descend from his relatives from Banu Makhzum and not from Khalid himself, alternatively, they have largely been attributed to. The tribe has historically been powerful in the Arabian Peninsula, having ruled Southern Iraq, Kuwait, and Eastern Arabia after expelling Ottoman and Portuguese forces in 1670. After their conflict and fall to the Emirate of Diriyah, many Khalidis scattered to Iraq and the Levant, where many of them remain to this day. The Khalidis were reinstated in power by the Ottomans after the deposition of the first Saudi State in the early 19th century, but the Saudis would quickly rise again and permanently remove them from power. Today the overwhelming majority of the tribe lives in Saudi Arabia as well as Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Iraq, Jordan, and Palestine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ottoman Arabia</span> Ottoman control of the Arabian peninsula (1517–1918)

The Ottoman era in the history of Arabia lasted from 1517 to 1918. The Ottoman degree of control over these lands varied over these four centuries, with the fluctuating strength or weakness of the Empire's central authority.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Territory of the Islamic State</span> Overview of territory controlled by the Islamic State

The Islamic State had its core in Iraq and Syria from 2013 to 2017 and 2019 respectively, where the proto-state controlled significant swathes of urban, rural, and desert territory, mainly in the Mesopotamian region. Today the group controls scattered pockets of land in the area, as well as territory or insurgent cells in other areas, notably Afghanistan, West Africa, the Sahara, Somalia, Mozambique, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iraq–Jordan border</span> International border

The Iraq–Jordan border is 179 km in length and runs from the tripoint with Syria in the north to the tripoint with Saudi Arabia in the south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jordan–Saudi Arabia border</span> International border

The Jordan–Saudi Arabia border is 731 km (454 mi) in length and runs from the Gulf of Aqaba in the south-west to the tripoint with Iraq in the north-east.

Talal bin Abdullah Al Rashid was the second ruler of the Emirate of Jabal Shammar. He was a skilfull ruler who died by suicide. Unlike the founding ruler, Abdullah, who was titled as sheikh, the rulers of Jabal Shammar began to be referred to as emirs with the reign of Talal. In addition, Talal managed to create a state-like administration in the Emirate which had been based on the tribal alliance during the reign of Abdullah.

References

  1. "The definition of emirate". Dictionary.com.
  2. "What is the difference between an emirate and a caliphate? – Shakuhachi.net". 6 August 2020.
  3. "The Cultural and Colonial Settings". A Dangerous Awakening : The Politicization of Religion in Nigeria. African Dynamics. IFRA-Nigeria. 21 February 2013. pp. 9–43. ISBN   9791092312034.
  4. Wells, John C. (2008), Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (3rd ed.), Longman, ISBN   9781405881180