| Summary: |
This article discusses the use of the word sulṭān in Arabic political and historical discourse in the period before the term is regularly used as a title of rulership attached to an individual in the middle of the fifth/eleventh century. It describes four phases, sulṭān as abstract authority, sulṭān as state or administration, sulṭān as an informal descriptor of a powerful individual and sulṭān as a formal title used on coins. It argues that the changing uses are related to the changing nature of power and authority in the Muslim community.
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