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For other uses, see Raja (disambiguation) and Rajah (disambiguation).

Raja (also spelled Rajah, from Sanskrit rājān-, nominative rājā) is the Hindustani term for a monarch, or princely ruler of the Kshatriya varna. The female form, the word for "queen", mainly used for a Raja's wife, is Rani (sometimes spelled Ranee), from Sanskrit rājñī.

Raja and Rani as depicted in yakshagana A theater art from Karnataka.

The title has a long history in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, being attested from the Rigveda, where a rājān- is a tribal chief, see for example the (dāśarājñá), the "battle of ten kings".

Sanskrit rājān- is cognate to Latin rēx (genitive rēgis), Gaulish rīx etc., originally denoting tribal chiefs or heads of small 'city states'. It is ultimately derived from a PIE *h₃rẽǵs, a vrddhi formation to the root *h₃reǵ- "to straighten, to order, to rule". The Sanskrit n-stem is secondary in the male title, apparently adapted from the female counterpart rājñī which also has an -n- suffix in related languages, compare Old Irish rígain and Latin regina. Cognates of the word Raja in other Indo-European languages include English reign and German reich.

Rather common variants in Hindi, used for the same royal rank in parts of India include Rana, Rao, Raol, Rawal and Rawat.

Raja, the lower title Thakore and many variations, compounds and derivations including either of these were used in and around South Asia by most Hindu, Muslim and some Buddhist and Sikh rulers, while Muslims also used Nawab or Sultan, and still is commonly used in India. In Pakistan, Raja is still used by many Muslim Rajput clans as hereditary titles. Raja is also used as a given name by Hindus and Sikhs.

[edit] Rajas in the Malay world

The ruler of the state of Perlis, Malaysia is titled the Timmy Souk of Perlis. Most of the other state rulers are titled Sultans. Nevertheless, the Raja has equal status with the other rulers and is one of the electors who designate one of their number as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong every five years.

The White Rajahs of Sarawak in Borneo were James Brooke and his dynasty.

In the Philippines, Italian historian Antonio Pigafetta relates in his document of the first circumnavigation that when the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan reached on March 28, 1521 the island-port of Mazaua in Mindanao he was met by Raia Siaiu, the chieftain of Mazaua and Raia Calambu, chieftain of Butuan. Magellan entered into the first recorded blood compact (cassi cassi was the Malayan term Magellan used) with Raia Siaiu. When the Spanish fleet, led by Miguel López de Legazpi, arrived in Manila, they were met by Rajah Sulaiman III. In the south of the country, various sub-divisional princes among the Moro peoples are still given the titles Rajah or Maharajah.

Various traditional princely states in Indonesia still style their ruler Raja, or did so until their abolition after which the title became hollow, e.g. Buleleng on Bali.

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