A recent suggestion by Irfan Habib caught BJP government off guard when the Historian brought out that “Shah is a Persian word, and it is not derived from Sanskrit. They should first change his name before renaming cities” the ANI quoted him as saying on 11 November.

A distinguished Historian, writer of book ‘Agrarian system of Mughal India’ Irfan Habib is Professor Emeritus at the Department of the History of the AMU (Aligarh Muslim University). The suggestion came in the backdrop of Uttar Pradesh state government’s name change maneuver starting from Mughalsarai.

The Uttar Pradesh government led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has changed names of cities affiliated to the Mughals in past 4-5 months this year.

The endeavour began with changing the name of Mughalsarai junction, the station considered one of the oldest was renamed on 5^th August 2018, this year to Pandit Deen Dayal.

“Today is a very big day for the Bharatiya Janata Party as Mughalsarai station, where Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya was killed has today been named after him. I am happy that under Prime Minister Modi leadership a memorial is being built” BJP National President Amit Shah has said on the occasion.

Allahabad which is said to be known in Indic circles as Prayagraj as reported media was next to see a revamping of its name. The Uttar Pradesh cabinet on 16^th October 2018 gave approval of change of name. It is changed to its said old name “Prayagraj”.

Senior cabinet minister Siddharth Nath Singh, briefing media on the occasion had said “Rigveda, Mahabharat and Ramayana also mention Prayagraj. The people of entire Allahabad, the sages, seers wanted that Allahabad should be known as Prayagraj. All the sages and seers had given their unanimous approval for the same”. The telegraph reported.

Besides, reports also say that before renaming of Allahabad, the Yogi government had also changed names of several roads, parks, crossings buildings after BJP icon Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Two dozen public spots were renamed in Uttar Pradesh itself as reported by Daily Pioneer.

The last nail in the vocational journey was Faizabad district, renamed to Ayodhya recently on November 6, 2018. The Wire quoted Yogi Adityanath as saying that “Nobody can do injustice to Ayodhya. I want to make sure that Lord Ram’s legacy remains forever.

Having said so it must be noted that re-nomenclature started in 2007 during the fourth tenure of BSP (Bahujan Samaj Party) chief Mayawati. Riding on the absolute majority in the state she had renamed eight districts of Uttar Pradesh most of them on Dalit icons. Her successor Akhilesh Yadav however after assuming charges as chief minister has restored public institution’s name. 

Fact Hunt traces the course of name shah, in a bid to bring clarity over its origination.

The first mention of name “Shahanshan” (meaning king of kings) could be found in Persia (now known as Iran) in the list of Imperial and Royal titles list of Achaemenian Dynasty ---- an ancient dynasty as early as  559—330 BC. A distinguished ruler of this dynasty was Cyrus- II, who is addressed by the title still, according to Brittanica Encyclopedia

The title name “Shahanshah” resurfaced again during 559-330 BC, the reign of Buyid dynasty.

A book named “shah-nameh” said to be celebrated work of epic poet, Ferdowsi, in which the “Persian national epic found its final and enduring form, is believed to be written for Sultan Mahmud of Ghazna (2^nd November 971—1030) a prominent ruler of Ghaznavid Empire, whom Wikipedia states were the first to get the title Sultan. The ‘Shah-nameh’ is a poem of nearly 60,000 verses. Completed in 1010, it has remained one of the most popular works in the Persian speaking world.

Malik shah, born in 1055 and the third ruler among Seljuq sultans is next who bears shah title, in chronology. The ruler showed a great interest in Science, literature, and Art. He died in Baghdad in 1092.

Next Anustegin a utensil keeper of Malik Shah after the last ruler from Seljuq dynasty, who was rewarded the governorship of Khwarzem on the oxus, founded the dynasty named Khwarzem-shah (1077-1281).

During (1405-47) a ruler named Shah-Rokh son of Timur of Timurid Dynasty ruled Azarbaijan and western Persia was king for a brief and troubled period of time.

After the death of Shah-Rokh another ruler bearing name shah reigned from 1438-67. The ruler was defeated by Uzun Hasan by the end of 1467.

Safavid dynasty 1502-1736 considered a significant dynasty in understanding modern Iran; often considered as the beginning of modern Iranian history considers Shahs as king and divine representative.

Nadir Shah is another such person bearing the title, he came to India during 1738-39. Looting treasures of Mughals of Delhi, with the looted money he was able to exempt people of Iran from taxes for three years. He, however, met his tragic end; he was murdered by a group of his own tribesman in 1747.

The frequency of repetition in shah name can be found in Pahlavi Dynasty, the dynast ruled from 1925 to 1979. Reza shah Pehlavi deposed weak Ahmed shah. Reign of Reza Shah brought about considerable change in Iran; the custom of a woman wearing veils was banned, the minimum age for marriage was raised, the university of Tehran was established in 1934.

Mohammad Reza shah succeeded Reza Shah Pehlavi the ruler is remembered today for the white revolution in Iran.

Shah in Indian context

In India, Shah surname is used mostly in Gujarat and Rajasthan by Hindu (Bania, Vania) and Jain community. Ancestry claims that this surname was originally Sah but it appears to have been altered under the influence of the Persian word Shah for the ‘king’. In Gujarati, Sah means ‘merchant’ while in Sanskrit it means sadhu (‘honest’ and ‘good’). 

The word Sahu is used in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and was widely used by the Jains even in Delhi/Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra. The surnames "Shah" and "Sahu" are variants of one another which have evolved from the word "sah" over time.

Historical Usage

A profound search for the title navigated us to a book written by Romesh Chandra Dutt “The Civilisation of India”. In quest for my answer found title “shah” to have appeared as early as 120 to 388 AD in Gujarat.

The title used by 27 kings of Shaka-dynasty, starting from “Nahapana”. The link lists the name of 27 kings ruled during the period.

These 27 kings ruled Saurashtra region independently after Kanishka of Kushan dynasty.

Among the western Historians the Shaka-Dynasty popular as “kshatrapas”. kshatrapas, had two branches, while eastern kshatrapas was located at Mathura, western one was Saurashtra. Brittanica mentions them as people of original Iranian stock, known as early as the 9^th century BCE. They also found mention in ancient Hindu texts Ramayana and Mahabharata, Wikipedia claims.

The shakas were overpowered by Vikramaditya. The ruler had got the title of “sakari”. The legendary king is addressed by “Sahasanka”. He has been referred to as a global leader by Historians, he began Vikramsamvat in 57 BCE.

In the same epoch, after the collapse of Kushan dynasty, Zoroastrianism based Sasanian dynasty was founded by Aradhshir-I in Iran. kshatrapas I was the ‘shahanshah’ of sasanian empire. Wikipedia page list a total of 44 shahanshahs. This is significant because large scale migration from country took place, before Islamic radicalisation. Many of them migrated India, the Brittanica says.

Brittanica brings out that under British rule in India, the Zoroastrians who previously had been humble agriculturists started to enrich themselves through commerce and then through industry. According to 2011, consensus of India there is 57,624 Zoroastrians in India.

Zoroastrianism is said to be an ancient form of Hinduism, which later lapsed. Many Zoroastrians who came to India said to have adapted and converted to religions in India barring Islam, the Zoroastrians despite migration retained their title.

The Oxford Research Encyclopedia highlights the expansion of the Parsi community in India.

Iranian Migration to India.

A major factor behind the migration of Iranian to India was political turbulence in their home country as stated by Shodhganga. Reasons attributed to such turbulence were internal revolts and foreign invasion.

Many Iranians during the reign of Chengis Khan moved India during 1919-1922. Next during 1253-1258 in the reign of Hulaku.

Further, during the reign of Timur, a descent of Chengis Khan caused group migration of Iranian families to India in 1385 AD. Also, Iranians migrated to India following invasions of Afghans. The article also puts that not everyone was able to migrate --- only those having an interest in learning and literature and Safavids were able to migrate.

Besides these various linguistic cultural, religious trade and commerce were the major cause of immigration.

Amit Shah: Surname Indian or Persian?

In our investigation, we found that Shah surname is different from the title "Shah" given to the kings. The Indic people claims that the surname was originally Sah but it has been altered under the influence of the Persian word Shah.

We can't be 100% sure about the origin of the word Shah but Amit Shah's name has been caught in the storm who is also known as Chanakya of modern day politics. The BJP national president has held numerous key positions and has been instrumental in many BJP victories both at the center and state.

Born in well to do Gujarati Baniya community to Anil Chandra Shah, he initially wanted to be a business, but destiny has thought otherwise on him.