Aristocracy (class)

The aristocracy are people considered to be in the highest social class in a society which has or once had a political system of aristocracy. Aristocrats possess hereditary titles granted by a monarch, which once granted them feudal or legal privileges, or deriving, as in Ancient Greece, Rome and India, from membership of a military caste.^[1] They are usually below only the monarch of a country or nation in its social hierarchy. The term "aristocracy" is derived from the Greek ἀριστοκρατία (aristokratia), ἄριστος (aristos) "excellent," and κράτος (kratos) "power"^[2] In most cases titles of aristocracy were and are hereditary, passing on death of an aristocrat to another family member, typically the eldest son or eldest child.

Origins of the notion

The term "aristocracy" (ἀριστοκρατία) was first given in Athens to young citizens (the men of the ruling class) who led armies from the front line. Because military bravery was highly regarded as a virtue in ancient Greece, it was assumed that the armies were being led by "the best". From the ancient Greeks, the term passed on to the European Middle Ages for a similar hereditary class of military leaders often referred to as the "nobility". As in Greece, this was a class of privileged men and women whose familial connections to the regional armies allowed them to present themselves as the most "noble" or "best."

Europe

Historically the status and privileges of the aristocracy in Europe were below royalty and above all non-aristocrats.

The French Revolution attacked aristocrats as people who had achieved their status by birth rather than by merit, and this was considered unjust. In the United Kingdom and other European countries, such as Spain and Denmark, in which hereditary titles are still recognised, "aristocrat" still refers to the descendant of one of approximately 7,000 families with hereditary titles, many still in possession of considerable wealth.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom members of the highest echelon of the aristocracy, the hereditary peers, were until 1999 members of the House of Lords, the upper house of the legislature, the Parliament of the United Kingdom; in 1999 most ceased to be members, though the Duke of Norfolk who always serves in the office of Earl Marshal and the hereditary peer serving in the office of Lord Great Chamberlain, currently the Marquess of Cholmondeley, and a further 90 Representative Hereditary Peers elected by the Hereditary Peers retained membership. Since 1958 non-hereditary "life peers" have been created, automatically members of the House of Lords for life, and with the right to be known by their title; e.g., John Gummer became (The Rt Hon.) Lord Deben; however, life peers are not considered part of the aristocracy, nor are knights, unless born into an aristocratic or landed gentry family (examples include James Douglas-Hamilton, Baron Selkirk of Douglas and Sir Winston Churchill, all born into aristocratic families). Besides the hereditary peers, the landed gentry, consisting of Baronets and untitled landowning armigerous families are considered to be part of the aristocracy. Unlike the case of the Continental untitled nobility, the British untitled families that belong to the gentry do not have any legal recognition of their aristocratic position.

USA

The United States Constitution explicitly states "No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States: and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince or foreign state." This absolutely rules out any formal, recognised aristocracy. When the USA became independent of Britain, the British aristocracy was powerful and much resented; the new nation wanted to do away with aristocracy.

However, in some nations without a formal aristocracy, including the USA, the term is sometimes used informally for families which have been rich and powerful for several generations, though without formal titles or rights.

India

In ancient India, starting in the Vedic period, the Kshatriyas formed the military aristocracy. Although the Brahmins – priests and interpreters of religious texts – were theoretically the highest caste, the power and prestige rested with the ruling Kshatriya caste.

Indian allochtonous titles

Under the rule of the Mughal Empire, the titles for those under a king were borrowed from Persia. Most Indian princely families and a large part of the subcontinent's jagirdars, thikanadars and talukdars were of the kshatriya rajput caste, as was the case for the rulers of the Deccan. These were often thought of as the Nobility of the Sword.

Zamindar

Many landholding families either held legal or administrative offices, and were sometimes considered to be the Indian version of the Nobility of the Robe. The princes appointed officers, such as dewan and other state level ministers, to run their administrations, who were considered to be members of the regional nobility. Most of these officers were either relatives of the princes who appointed them, or were themselves substantial landlords under the sovereignty of the Princely States, and most held hereditary titles. Sometimes, educated men belonging to the British Imperial Services were also appointed to the high offices of the Princely States, but their positions were not hereditary and they were seen as career bureaucrats rather than noblemen by their employer's.

Nowadays, aristocratic titles like Chaudhary, Sardar, Zaildar, Jagirdar, Singh, Rajput, Thakur, Nair, Iyer, Madampi, Varma and Verma are still used in India.

Nigeria

Deriving for the most part from the pre-colonial states that existed in the region that would become known as Nigeria, the legally-recognised titles of the Nigerian nobility range from king to the eponymous chief. They give their bearers no political authority in theory, but in practice allow them to serve as immensely powerful patrons of the country's political leaders due to their control of popular opinion within its various tribes. Along with those of their titled relatives and courtiers, they also ensure that they serve as the guiding forces behind the varied cultural and religious ceremonies that take place in the country throughout the calendar year.

Titles such as Oba, Amanyanaboh, Mai, Obong, Sarki, Attah and Obi are used by the dynastic heads, while prince and princess are either used in their English forms or in their native ones by the cadets of their houses. Their ministers, meanwhile, tend to be called either chiefs or elders depending on what their monarchs are themselves called, with chiefs serving under a ruler who is called a king and elders serving under one called a chief.

References

^ The aristocrats: a portrait of Britain's nobility and their way of life today, by Roy Perrott, (London 1968), page5-10
^ The Oxford Companion to British History, John Cannon (Editor), Oxford University Press, 1997, ISBN 978-0-19-866176-4

External links

[1] The aristocrats: a portrait of Britain's nobility and their way of life today, by Roy Perrott, (London 1968), page5-10

[2] The Oxford Companion to British History, John Cannon (Editor), Oxford University Press, 1997, ISBN 978-0-19-866176-4

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