Grand Vizier, in Turkish Vezir-i Azam or Sadr-ı Azam (Sadrazam) (in Ottoman Turkish: صدر اعظم or وزیر اعظم), deriving from the Arabic word vizier (وزير), was the greatest minister of the Sultan, with absolute power of attorney and, in principle, dismissable only by the Sultan himself. He held the imperial seal and could convene all other viziers to attend to affairs of the state; the viziers in conference were called "Kubbealtı viziers" in reference to their meeting place, the Kubbealtı ('under the dome') in Topkapı Palace. His offices were located at the Sublime Porte. "Grand Vizier" (Vazīr-e Azam) is also the official Urdu title of the Pakistani Prime Minister (ministers are titled "vizier").
Read more about Grand Vizier: Grand Viziers of The Ottoman Empire, Grand Viziers of The Mughal Empire
Famous quotes containing the word grand:
“There is the grand truth about Nathaniel Hawthorne. He says NO! in thunder; but the Devil himself cannot make him say yes. For all men who say yes, lie; and all men who say no,—why, they are in the happy condition of judicious, unincumbered travellers in Europe; they cross the frontiers into Eternity with nothing but a carpet-bag,—that is to say, the Ego. Whereas those yes-gentry, they travel with heaps of baggage, and, damn them! they will never get through the Custom House.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)