Khawaja (Persian: خواجه, romanized: khwāja) is an honorific title used across the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia and Central Asia, particularly towards Sufi teachers.
It is also used by Kashmiri Muslims and Mizrahi Jews—particularly Kurdish Jews. The name or title Khawaja was usually given in Arab lands to non-Muslim dignitaries, usually to Jews or Christians. The word comes from the Persian word khwāja. In Persian, the title roughly translates to 'Lord' or 'Master'.
The Ottoman Turkish pronunciation of the Persian khwāja gave rise to hodja and its equivalents such as hoca in modern Turkish, hoxha in Albanian, խոջա (xoǰa) in Armenian, xoca (khoja) in Azerbaijani, hodža/хоџа in Serbo-Croatian, ходжа (khodzha) in Bulgarian, χότζας (chótzas) in Greek, and hoge in Romanian.
Other spellings include khaaja (Bengali) and koja (Javanese). The term has been rendered into English in various forms since the 1600s, including hodgee, hogi, cojah and khoja.
The name is also used in Egypt and Sudan to indicate a person with a foreign nationality or foreign heritage.
Gallery
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Hodja of Shkodra, from Les costumes populaires de la Turquie en 1873, published under the patronage of the Ottoman Imperial Commission for the 1873 Vienna World's Fair
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Hodja of Salonika, today's Thessaloniki (first on the right, with the Hakham Bashi of Salonika on the left and a Monastir town dweller in the middle), from Les costumes populaires de la Turquie en 1873, published under the patronage of the Ottoman Imperial Commission for the 1873 Vienna World's Fair
See also
- Khwaja Khizr Tomb at Sonipat
- Afaq Khoja Mausoleum in Kashgar
- Khwajagan, a network of Sufis in Central Asia from the 10th to the 16th century who are often incorporated into later Naqshbandi hierarchies.
- Khajeh Nouri (Or Khajenouri), a Persian family belonging to pre-revolution nobility, their family tree can be traced back 45 generations.
- Khojaly, a town in Azerbaijan.
- Khoja (Turkestan), a title of the descendants of the Central Asian Naqshbandi Sufi teacher, Ahmad Kasani
- Hoca, Turkish spelling of Khawaja
- Hoxha, Albanian surname
- Hodžić, Bosniak surname
- Koya, a medieval Indian administrative position
Notes
- Classical Persian: خواجه khwāja; Dari khājah; Tajik khoja; modern Iranian reading: khāje.
References
- Epilogue, Vol 4, Issue 5. Epilogue -Jammu Kashmir. pp. 23–. GGKEY:JAACF25BJCD.
- Shyam Lal Pardesi (1989). Amudarya to Vitasta: A Bird's Eye-view of Relations Between Central-Asia and Kashmir. Sangarmaal Publications. p. 15.
It is most pertinent to mention here that the word Khwaja is used as mark of respect before the name of a Kashmiri Muslim shopkeeper or wholesale dealer.
- Zaken, Mordechai (2007). Jewish subjects and their tribal chieftains in Kurdistan: a study in survival. Jewish Identities in a Changing World. Leiden: Brill. pp. 59–60. ISBN 978-90-04-16190-0.
The leading Jewish family in Aqra during the last three generations was known by the name of Khawaja Khinno. The patriarchs of Khawaja Khinno managed the affairs of the Jewish community of Aqra and developed relationships with aghas and officials whose benevolence aided the Jews in times of need... The name or title Khawaja was usually given in Arab lands to non-Muslim dignitaries, usually to Jews or Christians.
- Potter, Lawrence G., ed. (2014). The Persian Gulf in Modern Times. New York: Palgrave Macmillan US. doi:10.1057/9781137485779. ISBN 978-1-349-50380-3.
- Ashyrly, Akif (2005). Türkün Xocalı soyqırımı (PDF) (in Azerbaijani). Baku: Nurlan. p. 12.
"Xoca" türkcə ağ-saqqal, "böyük" mənasını daşıyaraq hörmət əlamətini bildirir
- "Xoca". Obastan (in Azerbaijani). Archived from the original on 11 February 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
- S. Robson and S. Wibisono, 2002, Javanese English dictionary ISBN 0-7946-0000-X, sv koja
- "Khoja". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
- Albaih, Khalid (25 November 2018). "Jamal Khashoggi's borrowed white privilege made his murder count | Khalid Albaih". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
- "The Khajenouri Family". The Khajenouri Family. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
Surname listThis page lists people with the surname Khawaja. If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name(s) to the link. Categories: