, a Persian title abbreviated from the Arab amīr and approximating in meaning both to it and to the title mīrzā [ q.v.]. (For the dropping of the initial alif cf. Bū Sahl for Abū Sahl, etc.). Like amīr the title is applied to princes (Manūčihrī, ed. A. de Biberstein-Kazimirsky, ¶ Menoutchehri , poète persan du onzième siècle de notre ère , Paris 1886, 96, speaks of Sultan Masʿūd of G̲h̲azna, as “Mīr”), but it is also borne by poets and other men of letters (e.g. Mīr ʿAlī S̲h̲īr, Mīr K̲h̲wānd, Mīr Muḥsin; cf. the following arts.). In India and Pakistan, Sayyids sometimes call themselv…

or Mirzā , a Persian title, from Mīr-zāda or Amīr-zāda , and originally meaning “born of a prince’’ (cf. Malik-zāda and Sarhang-zāda , which occur in Saʿdī, etc.). 1. In Persian usage. The title, in addition to bearing its original significance, was also given to noblemen and others of good birth, thus corresponding to the Turkish Āg̲h̲ā. Since the time of Nādir S̲h̲āh’s conquest of India, it has been further applied to educated men outside of the class of mullās or ¶ ʿulamāʾ . In modern times, but not formerly, the title is placed after the name of a pri…