vizier, vizir, visier

[Arabic wazir = a counselor of state, minister, viceregent, orig.=a porter; hence, one who bears the burden of state affairs, from wazara =to bear a burden, to support. to sustain.) The title of a high political officer in the Turkish empire and other Mohammedan states. The title is given in Turkey to the heads of the various ministerial departments into which the divan or ministerial council is divided, and to all pashas of three tails. The prime-minister, or president of the divan, is styled the grand-vizier, vizier azam, or sadr-azam. In India vizier was the title of the highest officer at the Mogul court at Delhi; and nawab-vizier ultimately became the hereditary title in the dynasty ruling at Oude.