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{{short description|Powerful government official in the context of Islamic history}}
{{other uses}}
{{More citations needed|date=August 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}}

'''''Dewan''''' (also known as '''''diwan''''', sometimes spelled '''''devan''''' or '''''divan''''') designated a powerful government official, minister, or ruler. A ''dewan'' was the head of a state institution of the same name (see [[Divan]]). Diwans belonged to the elite families in the history of Mughal and post-Mughal India and held high posts within the government.

==Etymology==
{{See also|Divan}}

The word is Persian in origin and was loaned into Arabic. The original meaning was "bundle (of written sheets)", hence "book", especially "book of accounts," and hence "office of accounts," "custom house," "council chamber". The meaning of the word, ''[[Divan (furniture)|divan]]'' "long, cushioned seat" is due to such seats having been found along the walls in Middle Eastern council chambers. It is a common surname among Sikhs in Punjab.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=divan|title = Divan | Origin and meaning of divan by Online Etymology Dictionary}}</ref>

==Council==
The word first appears under the [[Caliphate]] of [[Omar|Omar I]] (A.D. 634–644). As the Caliphate state became more complicated, the term was extended over all the government bureaus.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

The ''divan of the [[Sublime Porte]]'' was the council or [[Cabinet (government)|Cabinet]] of the state. In the [[Ottoman Empire]], it consisted of the usually (except in the [[Sultan]]'s presence) presiding [[Grand Vizier]] and other [[vizier]]s, and occasionally the [[Janissary]] Ağa.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

In 19th-century [[Romania]], the [[Ad hoc Divan]] was a body which played a role in the country's development towards independence from Ottoman rule.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

In [[Malay language|Malay]] (including [[Indonesian language|Indonesian]]) and related languages (such as [[Javanese language|Javanese]], [[Minangkabau language|Minangkabau]], etc.), the [[borrowing (linguistics)|borrowed]] word "dewan" is the standard word for council, as in the {{Lang|id|[[Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat]]}} (or Indonesia's Council of People's Representatives) and Dewan Undangan Negeri ([[State legislative assemblies of Malaysia|State Legislative Assembly of Malaysia]]), Dewan Rakyat ([[Dewan Rakyat|House of Representatives of Malaysia]]), and [[Dewan Negara]] ([[Senate of Malaysia]]).{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

{{anchor|Title}} 

==Indian subcontinent==
===Mughal Empire===
During the effective rule of [[Mughal Empire|Mughal India]], the ''Dewan'' served as the chief revenue officer of a province.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Thangjam |first=Homen |date=Summer 2014 |title=Militarism, Human Rights, and Democracy in Northeast India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TZErDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA27 |journal=Kangla Lanpung |volume=VIII |issue=II |publisher=RK Sanatomba Memorial Trust, Imphal |pages=27– |issn=2321-2357}}</ref>

Later, when most vassal states gained various degrees of [[self-determination]], the finance — and/or chief minister and leader of many [[princely state]]s (especially [[Muslim]], but also many [[Hindu]], including [[Baroda]], [[Hyderabad state|Hyderabad]], [[Mysore]], [[Kochi (India)|Kochi]], [[Travancore]] — referred to as ''Dalawa'' until 1811) became known as a ''dewan''.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

Exceptionally, a ruler was himself titled Dewan or a loftier variation, notably:
* in [[Beri State|Beri-Bundelkhand]]
* in [[Dhurwai State|Dhurwai]]
* in [[Jaso State|Jaso]] (Jassu) and in [[Bandhora]] (which was split from the former c. 1750)
* in [[Khilchipur]] until 1873, then [[Rai Bahadur]]
* in [[Junagadh]], where [[Shah Nawaz Bhutto]] was the prime minister of the former princely state.
* ''Diwan Sahib'' or ''Diwan Bahadur'' in [[Garrauli State]]

===Maratha period===
As a title used in various Early Modern Indian states, ''Diwan'' denoted the highest officials in the court after the king; the suffix [[-ji]] is added as a mark of respect in India.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://luthar.com/2014/05/06/the-meaning-of-the-term-ji-in-the-indian-culture-by-dr-harsh-k-luthar/|title = The Meaning of the Term "Ji" in the Indian Culture: By Dr. Harsh K. Luthar|date = 6 May 2014}}</ref> In the major [[List of Maratha dynasties and states|Maratha states]] of Baroda (ruled by the Gaekwad), Gwalior (ruled by Scindias or Shinde), Indore (ruled by Holkar), and Nagpur ([[Bhonsles of Nagpur|ruled by Bhonsle, but not from the Chhatrapati Shivaji family]]), the highest officer after the king was called the Diwan.

One of the examples – Shrimant Diwan/Rao Bahadur Atmaram Kulkarni, was the Diwan (Prime Minister) of Maratha [[Jamkhandi State]]. In the 19th century, the British Parliament established in British India a supreme court for revenue matters (non-criminal matters) named the "[[Sudder Dewanny Adawlut]]", which applied Hindu law.<ref>Campbell, Lawrence Dundas (ed), Asiatic Annual Register for 1802, or A View of the History of Hindustan and of the Politics, Commerce and Literature of Asia, London, J. Debrett, 1803, footnote pp.97-100, Miscellaneous Tracts [https://books.google.com/books?id=byIoAAAAYAAJ&dq=Dewanny+Adawlut&pg=RA2-PA98]</ref><ref name="mill">Definition per James Mill (1826): "Dewan, Duan: place of assembly. Native minister of the revenue department; and chief justice, in civil causes, within his jurisdiction; receiver-general of a province. The term is also used, to designate the principal revenue servant under a European collector, and even of a Zemindar. By this title, the East India Company are receivers-general of the revenues of Bengal, under a grant from the Great Mogul"..."Dewanny, Duannee: the office, or jurisdiction of a Dewan" (Mill, James, The History of British India, Vol. 1 (of 6), 3rd Edition, London, 1826, Glossary [http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/840])</ref>

===Among Hindus and Sikhs of Punjab and Bengal===
Dewan, Diwan, Divan, or Deo was the hereditary title borne by the [[Chief Minister]] of the Hindu [[Cooch Behar State|Cooch State]] in the [[Bengal region]].

Diwan also became a surname of high-caste Hindus or Sikhs in the [[Punjab region]].

===Chhattisgarhi Rajput-Brahmins===
There is also a community with the surname ''Diwan'' found in [[Chhattisgarh]], near the [[Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh|Bilaspur]] and [[Janjgir–Champa district|Janjgir-Champa]] regions. This is a [[Brahmin-Rajput]] community descendant from Deo Brahmin-Rajputs who migrated from [[Purvanchal]] in [[Uttar Pradesh]]. The males in this community take the title Dhar (e.g., Mohan Dhar Diwan, a high-ranked member of [[Vishva Hindu Parishad|Vishwa Hindu Parishad]]). They had a fight with the royal family of Ratanpur, defeated the king, and started ruling the Ratanpur estate.

===Diwani in British India===
After the [[Battle of Buxar]], when [[Bengal]] was annexed by the [[East India Company]] in 1764, the [[Mughal Emperor]] granted the Company the ''Diwani'' (the right to collect revenue) in Bengal and Bihar in 1765.<ref>{{cite book |last=Robb |first=Peter |year=2004 |title=A History of India |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |pages=116–147 |isbn=978-0-333-69129-8}} "Chapter 5: Early Modern India II: Company Raj", {{citation |last1=Metcalf |first1=Barbara D. |author1-link=Barbara D. Metcalf |last2=Metcalf |first2=Thomas R. |author2-link=Thomas R. Metcalf |year=2006 |title=A Concise History of Modern India |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=56–91 |isbn=978-1-139-45887-0}} "Chapter 3: The East India Company Raj, 1772-1850," {{cite book |last1=Bose |first1=Sugata |author1-link=Sugata Bose |last2=Jalal |first2=Ayesha |author2-link=Ayesha Jalal |year=2003 |title=Modern South Asia: History, Culture, Political Economy |edition=2nd |publisher=Routledge |pages=76–87 |isbn=0-415-30787-2}} "Chapter 7: Company Raj and Indian Society 1757 to 1857, Reinvention and Reform of Tradition."</ref><ref name="mill"/> The term ''Diwani'' thus referred to British (fiscal) [[suzerainty]] over parts of India during the early British Raj.

===Diwani in French India===
In [[French India]], one of its constituent colonies, [[Yanam, French India|Yanaon]], had [[Zamindar]] and [[Diwan Bahadur|Diwan]]. They were active in its local and municipal administration during French rule. The Zamindar of Yanam was given a 4-gun salute by French counterparts.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}
* [[Zamindar]] — [[Manion]] Canacaya
* [[Diwan Bahadur|Diwan]] — [[Bouloussou Soubramaniam Sastroulou]]
* [[Sovereignty]] — [[French Colonial Empire]]

===Nepal===
The document dated [[Bikram Samvat]] 1833 [[Bhadra (Nepali calendar)|Bhadra]] Vadi 3 Roj 6 (i.e. Friday 2 August 1776), shows that [[Vamsharaj Pande]] and [[Swaroop Singh Karki]] had carried the title of Dewan (equivalent to Prime Minister) of the [[Kingdom of Nepal]].{{sfn|Regmi|1975|p=272}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Books===
* {{Citation|last=Regmi |first=D.R. |title= Modern Nepal|volume= 1|publisher=Firma K.L. Mukhopadhyay |year=1975 |isbn= 0883864916|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=idJBAAAAYAAJ}}

[[Category:Ministerial offices]]
[[Category:Titles in India]]
[[Category:Titles in Pakistan]]
[[Category:Titles in Bangladesh]]
[[Category:Indian dewans| ]]
[[Category:Titles of national or ethnic leadership]]
[[Category:Bengali words and phrases]]

Dewan - Revision history

Eurotechconseil at 20:22, 1 March 2026