TheArabic titleal-Dawla (الدولة, often renderedad-Dawla,ad-Daulah,ud-Daulah, etc.) means 'dynasty' or 'polity', (in modern usage, 'government' or "nation-state") and appears in manyhonorific andregnal titles in theIslamic world. Invented in the 10th century for senior statesmen of theAbbasid Caliphate, such titles soon spread throughout the Islamic world and provided the model for a broad variety of similar titles with other elements, such asal-Din ('Faith' or 'Religion').
The termdawla originally meant 'cycle, time, period of rule'. It was particularly often used by the earlyAbbasid caliphs to signify their "time of success", i.e. reign, and soon came to be particularly associated with the reigning house and acquire the connotation of 'dynasty'.[1] In modern usage, since the 19th century, it has come to mean "state", in particular a secular state of the Western type as opposed to the dynastic or religion-based state systems current until then in the Islamic world.[2]
From the early 10th century, the formal-Dawla began appearing as a compound inhonorific titles granted by the caliphs to their senior-most courtiers, beginning with thevizieral-Qasim ibn Ubayd Allah ibn Wahb, who was granted the title ofWali al-Dawla ('Friend of the Dynasty') by the caliphal-Muktafi (r. 902–908), an epithet which also appeared on caliphal coinage.[3] The same honour was also bestowed on al-Qasim's son,al-Husayn, who was namedAmid al-Dawla ('Support of the Dynasty') byal-Muqtadir in February 932.[3]
The major turning point was the double award of the titles ofNasir al-Dawla ('Helper of the Dynasty') andSayf al-Dawla ('Sword of the Dynasty') to theHamdanid princes Hasan and Ali in April 942. After this time, "the bestowing of such titles on governors formally symbolised the handing over of political power to the 'princelings' of provincial dynasties" (G. Endress).[3][4] In 946, with the victory of theBuyids in the contest for control ofIraq and the Caliphate's capital ofBaghdad, the victorious Ahmad ibn Buya assumed the title ofMu'izz al-Dawla ('Fortifier of the Dynasty'), while his brothers assumed the titles ofImad al-Dawla andRukn al-Dawla ('Support' and 'Pillar of the Dynasty' respectively).[3][4]
The example set by the Hamdanids and Buyids was soon imitated throughout the Islamic world, from theSamanids andGhaznavids in the east to theFatimids ofEgypt and even some of thetaifa kingdoms inMuslim Spain.[3] By the end of the 10th century, however, the use of theal-Dawla element had become so widespread that it had become debased, and began to be complemented—and eventually replaced—by other titles. The Buyids, who had from early on begun to use pre-Islamic,Sasanian titles likeShahanshah in parallel to their Arabic titles, again led the way, withAdud al-Dawla receiving from the Caliph the title ofTaj al-Milla ('Crown of the [Islamic] Community'). Henceforth, titles with the elementsmilla ('religion'),umma ([Islamic] community'),din ('faith') began to appear.[3][5]
Indeed, the proliferation of multiple and ever more lofty titles which began with the award of theal-Dawla forms was so swift and extensive, that already around the year 1000 the scholaral-Biruni lamented the practice, complaining that "the matter became utterly opposed to common sense, and clumsy to the highest degree, so that he who mentions them gets tired before he has scarcely commenced, and he who writes them loses his time and writing space, and he who addresses them risks missing the time of prayer".[6] By the 12th century, the titles withal-Dawla had become lowly honorific appellations; a simple court physician at the Baghdad court, such asIbn al-Tilmidh, could receive the title ofAmin al-Dawla ('Trusted Supporter of the Dynasty'). Nevertheless, despite their debasement, the titles remained indicative of their bearer's "high standing in the community", according to F. Rosenthal.[3] InIndia, they continued to be used by individual Muslim rulers, and inIran, cabinet ministers until 1935 often received titles with theal-Dawla compound.[3]
In the major Indian Muslim princely state ofHyderabad,Dawla was one of the aristocratic titles bestowed by the rulingNizam upon Muslim court retainers, ranking aboveKhan, Khan Bahadur,Nawab (homonymous with a high Muslim ruler's title),Jang (in ascending order), but underMulk,Umara andJah. The equivalent for the court's Hindu retainers wasVant. InBahwalpur,Mukhlis al-Dawla ('Devoted Servant of the State'),Sayf al-Dawla,Muin al-Dawla andRukn al-Dawla were all subsidiary titles of the ruling Nawab and Amir. TheQajar dynasty of Persia used titles with the suffixEd-Dowleh as an honorific for members of the royal family. In early modern Egypt and theBeylik of Tunis,Sahib al-Dawla ('Lord of the State') were used as honorifics for high-ranking ministers, whileRa'is al-Dawla ('Head of the State"' was the formal title ofAbd el-Krim, the leader of theRif Republic.
In kingdoms of pre-colonial Maritime Southeast Asia influenced by theMalay cultural realm,daulattuanku (Jawi:دولة توانکو, lit. 'thine sovereignty') is the standard salutation for a king orqueen regnant (raja orraja permaisuri likePatani'sRaja Ijau, orsultanah as in ofAceh) as recorded in many historical texts like theSejarah Melayu andHikayat Patani; the greeting is a loyal affirmation of a kingdom's standing solely on the capacity or power of its ruler.[7][8]