A sultan (Arabic: سلطان) is an Islamic monarch ruling under the terms of shariah. The title carries moral weight and religious authority, as the ruler's role was defined in the Qur'an. The sultan however was not a religious teacher himself. In the Byzantine Empire and the traditional spheres of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, a comparable unity of church and state in the person of the ruler is termed Caesaropapism. The last Western ruler with comparable authority was Nicholas II, the last Tsar of Russia, though formally (if not in practice) the British monarch represents a similar union of church and state, being both the head of state and the Supreme Governor of the Church of England; in practice, the Queen is merely the titular leader of church and state.

The first to carry the title of 'Sultan' was the Turkmen chief Mahmud of Ghaznavid (ruled 998 - 1030). Later, 'Sultan' became the usual title of rulers of Seljuk and Ottoman Turks and Ayyubid and Mamluk rulers in Egypt. The spiritual validation of the title was well illustrated by the fact that it was the shadow caliph in Cairo that bestowed the title "sultan" on Murad I, the third ruler of the Ottoman Empire in 1383. The earlier leaders had been beys.

At later stages, lesser rulers assumed the styling "sultan", as was the case for the earlier leaders of today's royal family of Morocco. Today, only the Sultan of Oman, the Sultan of Brunei, and some titular sultans in the southern Philippines, Java, and in the former Malay States (Malaysia) still use the title. The sultan's domain is properly called a sultanate. A feminine form, used by Westerners, is Sultana; the very styling misconstrues the roles of wives of sultans. In a similar usage, the wife of a German Field-Marshal might be styled Feldmarschallin.

Among those modern hereditary rulers who wish to emphasize their secular authority under the rule of law, the term is gradually being replaced by 'king'.

The consort of a sultan is sometimes called a sultanah.

See also: Bey, Caliph, Emir, Khan and Shah.

Former Sultans and Sultanates

• Sultans of Great Seljuk
• Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm
• Sultans of the Ottoman Empire
• Ayyubid Sultans of Damascus
• Ayyubid Sultans of Egypt
• Mamluk Sultans of Egypt
• Northern Somali sultanates
• Sultans of Maguindanao , Philippines
• Sultanate of Delhi
• Sultanate of Mysore —see also Tippu Sultan
• Qu'aiti and Kathiri sultans in the Hadhramaut
• Sultans of Nejd in Arabia
• Sultans of the Hejaz in Arabia
• Sultans of Zanzibar
• Sultans of Maldives

Contemporary Sultans

• Brunei
• Indonesia — Sultan of Yogyakarta is governor of that province
• Malaysia
  • Note: Sultan is the title of seven of the nine rulers of the Malay states. The head of state for all Malaysia, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, is selected from among the Rulers, but is usually styled "King" in foreign countries. Political power, however, lies with Prime Minister. See also: Malay titles
• Oman — Sultan of Oman
• Philippines — Sultanate of Sulu
• Saudi Arabia
  • Note: The Saudi Sultan wishes to be called "King" in foreign countries.