# Rais > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Rais > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Rais.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rais > Source revision: 1299948097 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Arabic title for chief or leader}} {{About|the Arabian title}} [[File:فضل_الرحمن_فاضل_با_یاسر_عرفات_(cropped).jpg|thumb|Palestinian leader [Yasser Arafat](/source/Yasser_Arafat) was referred to as the "rais"]] {{Indo-Persian royal and noble ranks}} '''{{Transliteration|ar|Raʾīs}}''' ({{langx|ar| رئيس}}), plural '''{{Transliteration|ar|ruʾasāʾ}}''', is an [Arabic](/source/Arabic) [title](/source/title) meaning 'chief' or 'leader'. It comes from the word for head, {{Transliteration|ar|raʾs}}. The corresponding word for leadership or chieftaincy is '''{{Transliteration|ar|riʾāsa}}'''.{{EI2|author1=A. Havemann|author2=[C. E. Bosworth](/source/C._E._Bosworth)|author3=S. Soucek|title=Raʾīs|volume=8|pages=402–403}} It is often translated as 'president' in [Arabic](/source/Arabic_language), and as 'boss' in [Persian](/source/Persian_language). [Swahili](/source/Swahili_language) speakers may also use it for president. The [Ottoman Turkish](/source/Ottoman_Turkish_language) form of the title is [reis](/source/Reis_(military_rank)), which denoted a [captain](/source/captain) (a term with identical etymology, being from [Latin](/source/Latin) {{Lang|la|caput}}, 'head').The term {{Transliteration|ar|raʾīs}} is of pre-Islamic origin. It may function as an honorific ''[laqab](/source/laqab)'' in a person's name. In the central [Arab world](/source/Arab_world), the term originally meant [village headman](/source/village_headman). ==British India== In British India the [landed nobility](/source/landed_nobility) in Muslim societies often used the word {{Transliteration|ar|rais}} to describe their aristocratic position held in society. The term {{Transliteration|ar|rais}} was also often used by Muslims when making deed of endowments in their community. Although the word meant 'chief' or 'leader', legal documents used it in the context of 'landlords' or landowners. Other terms such as {{Transliteration|ar|malik}} or ''[zamindar](/source/zamindar)'' also appeared as 'landlords', ‘landowners, or 'taxers', even though these titles implied that the individual who bore them was more ruler than proprietor.Muslim Endowments and Society in British India, By: Gregory C. Kozlowski. pp 47-48. Cambridge University Press, 1985. {{ISBN|0521088674}} However, when describing any aspect of the management of their holdings, '{{Transliteration|ar|rais}} or ''zamindars''' employed regal terminology. The {{Transliteration|ar|rais}} sat upon a throne (''masand or gaddi''). ''Riayat'', whom British preferred to call tenants or cultivators were literally subjects. When a {{Transliteration|ar|rais}} met with his ''riayat'' he described himself as holding court (''darbar''). The money which ''riayat'' paid his lord was tribute (''nazrana'') not rent. The place where he paid the tribute was called a ''kachari'', just as a government revenue office was, and the clerks who collected, kept accounts and ensured tributes kept coming on time were known by their Mughal courtly styles of (''dewans'') and (''sipahis'' – a horse trooper). ==Urdu== From Arabic, via Persian, this word came into [Urdu](/source/Urdu) as {{Transliteration|ur|raees}}, which means a person belonging to the [aristocracy](/source/Aristocracy_(class)) of noble distinction.Hobson-Jobson: The Definitive Glossary of British India, By: Henry Yule, A. C. Burnell - pg 438. Oxford University Press, 2013. {{ISBN|978-0-19-960113-4}} In [Urdu](/source/Urdu), the word {{Transliteration|ar|Rais}} is also used similarly to the English term "[old money](/source/old_money)," as the opposite or antonym of [nouveau riche](/source/nouveau_riche), a person who has accumulated considerable wealth within his or her generation. When the book "The Pleasure of Philosophy" by [Will Durant](/source/Will_Durant) was translated into Urdu, by Syed [Abid Ali Abid](/source/Abid_Ali_Abid), he translated the word aristocracy with the Urdu word {{Transliteration|ar|raisiyyat}} ({{lang|ur|رئیسيت}}). ==Palestine== The Arabic adjective {{Transliteration|ar|azam}} ''['' {{Lang|ar|عظيم}} '']'' (meaning 'great'), is also added to mean 'the great {{Transliteration|ar|ra’is}}'. This term, as well as the Hebrew term {{Script/Hebrew|יושב-ראש}} ([chairman](/source/chairman)), are used by [Israel](/source/Israel)i media to refer to the [President of the Palestinian National Authority](/source/President_of_the_Palestinian_National_Authority), as opposed to {{Script/Hebrew|נשיא}} (president). In a New York Times op-ed, commentator Bret Stephens referred to late Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat as "the rais."{{cite journal|last1=Stephens|first1=Bret|title=Mugabe and Other Leftist Heroes|journal=New York Times|date=November 18, 2017|page=A19}} ==Tatarstan== In the [Republic of Tatarstan](/source/Tatarstan) (part of Russia), regional lawmakers voted in December 2022 to change the title of the [head of the republic](/source/Head_of_Tatarstan) from president to rais ([tt](/source/Tatar_language). Рәис/ ''Rəis''). The title of president was seen as the last remaining symbol of federalism following the centralization reforms under [Vladimir Putin](/source/Vladimir_Putin).{{cite web|url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/12/23/russias-tatarstan-to-rename-regional-presidency-a79788|title=Russia's Tatarstan to Rename Regional Presidency|website=[The Moscow Times](/source/The_Moscow_Times)|date=23 December 2022}} ==References== {{Reflist}} Category:Arabic-language honorifics Category:Swahili words and phrases Category:Heads of state Category:Islamic honorifics Category:Military ranks Category:Royal titles Category:Noble titles Category:Positions of authority Category:Titles of national or ethnic leadership Category:Titles in India Category:Titles in Afghanistan Category:Titles in Pakistan Category:Ottoman titles Category:Turkish titles Category:Titles in Iran --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Rais](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rais) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rais?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.