The full, Old Persian title of the Achaemenid rulers of the First Persian Empire was Xšāyaθiya Xšāyaθiyānām or (Middle Persian) Šâhân Šâh, 'King of Kings' or 'Emperor'. This formation with the 'origin' suffix -iya is derived from a deverbal abstract noun * xšāy-aθa- 'rule, ruling, Herrschaft ', from the (Old Persian) verb xšāy- 'to rule, reign'. Most recently, the form xšāyaθiya has been analyzed as a genuine, inherited Persian formation with the meaning 'pertaining to reigning, ruling'. The word descends from Old Persian xšāyaθiya 'king', which used to be considered a borrowing from Median, as it was compared to Avestan xšaθra-, 'power' and 'command', corresponding to Sanskrit kṣatra- (same meaning), from which kṣatriya-, 'warrior', is derived. 'Master King') in the sense of a continuation of the original Persian Empire. ' King of Kings') or Padishah ( پادشاه, Pâdešâh, lit. European-style monarchies), each Iranian ruler regarded himself as the Shahanshah ( شاهنشاه, Šâhanšâh, lit. Rather than regarding himself as simply a king of the concurrent dynasty (i.e. It was also used by a variety of Persianate societies, such as the Ottoman Empire, the Kazakh Khanate, the Khanate of Bukhara, the Emirate of Bukhara, the Mughal Empire, the Bengal Sultanate, historical Afghan dynasties, and among Gurkhas. 'king') is a royal title that was historically used by the leading figures of Iranian monarchies.

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Shahanshah of Iran from 1941 to 1979, was the last ruler to hold the title of shah. Imperial, royal, noble, gentry and chivalric ranks in West, Central, South Asia and North Africa For other uses, see Shah (disambiguation) and Shahanshah (disambiguation).

Şah & Sultan by İskender Pala