Paramount chief

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Not to be confused with Paramount chieftain or Paramount leader.
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A paramount chief is the English-language designation for the highest-level political leader in a regional or local polity or country administered politically with a

Piscataway Native Americans encountered by European colonists in the Chesapeake Bay region of North America
.

During the

Victoria era, paramount chief was a formal title created by British colonial administrators in the British Empire and applied in Britain's colonies in Asia and Africa. They used it as a substitute for the word "king" to ensure that only the British monarch held that title.[1] Since the title "chief" was already used in terms of district and town administrators, the addition of "paramount" was made so as to distinguish between the ruling monarch and the local aristocracy.[1]

Africa

Eastern African paramount chieftainships and titles

  • Kenya: Title since 1904 of the former laibon of all the Maasai in Kenya (not in Tanzania)
  • Kenya: Title held by supreme ruler Lago Ogom, after the advent of British colonial rule in Northern Kenya.
  • Sudan: In South Sudan, the title of the chief responsible for a payam (district) elected by the chiefs of each buma (village). The Paramount Chief works with the government-appointed Payam Director, both of whom report to a county Commissioner.

West African paramount chieftains and their countries

Southern African paramount chieftainships and titles

The Great Mongol Khan: Genghis Khan
Tribal Chief Nurhaci

In Asia

East Asia paramount chieftainships and titles

Khan, alternately spelled lowercase as khan

Rouran confederation.[6]
It was subsequently adopted by the
Persians.[4]

It now has many equivalent meanings such as commander, leader, or ruler. The most famous khan was the Great Khan of Mongols:

Nurhachi
.

Sabah, Malaysian Borneo

The current Huguan Siou.

Huguan Siou is the paramount leader for the

Kadazandusun Murut indigenous community in Sabah. The current and the second Huguan Siou is Joseph Pairin Kitingan. The office is near sacred and can be left vacant if no one is deemed worthy to hold the title.[7]

In Oceania

Samoan paramount chief Mata'afa Iosefo (1832–1912)

New Zealand

Cook Islands

Fiji

  • during the October–December 1987 secession agitation on one island, known as the Republic of
    Noa'tau
    .
  • the British Sovereign was recognized as "Paramount Chief", even after the country became a republic on 7 October 1987; however, this was not an office of state.

Polynesia

See also

Sources and references

References

  1. ^ a b Government Documents. Great Britain. Foreign Office. Correspondence with Foreign Courts Regarding Execution of Treaties Contracted. London, 1821. 110pp
  2. ^ a b "khan". Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 2008-04-25.
  3. ^ a b "khan". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. Bartleby.com. Archived from the original on 2007-08-19. Retrieved 2008-04-25.
  4. ^ a b Henning, W. B., 'A Farewell to the Khagan of the Aq-Aqataran',"Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African studies – University of London", Vol 14, No 3, p501–522. ,
  5. ^ Zhou 1985, p. 3–6
  6. ISBN 0-8135-1304-9
    .
  7. ^ "The Huguan Siou Office". Kadazandusun Cultural Association. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
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