Divan

A divan or diwan (Persian: دیوان‎‎, dīwān) was a high governmental body in a number of Islamic states, or its chief official (see dewan). Divan is also a male first name, which is very popular in South Africa. However, the origin of Divan as a name is unknown.

Etymology

The word, recorded in English since 1586, meaning "Oriental council of a state," from Turkish divan, from Arabic diwan.

It is first attested in Middle Persian spelled as dpywʾn and dywʾn, itself hearkening back, via Old Persian, Elamite and Akkadian, ultimately to Sumerian dub, clay tablet. The word was borrowed into Armenian as well as divan; on linguistic grounds this is placed after the 3rd century, which helps establish the original Middle Persian (and eventually New Persian) form was dīvān, not dēvān, despite later legends that traced the origin of the word to the latter form. The variant pronunciation dēvān however did exist, and is the form surviving to this day in Tajiki Persian.

In Arabic, the term was first used for the army registers, then generalized to any register, and by metonymy applied to specific government departments. The sense of the word evolved to "custom house" and "council chamber," then to "long, cushioned seat," such as are found along the walls in Middle-Eastern council chambers. The latter is the sense that entered European languages as divan (furniture).

Diwan

Dewan, Diwaan or Divan may refer to:

Divan (Mughal architecture)

Diwan or Divan refers to two types of palatial buildings in Indian courts. They tend to occur in pairs in the Mughal imperial capitals; the most famous ones are in Agra Fort, but there are others in Red Fort, Delhi and Fatehpur Sikri and certain other princely capitals such as Amber and also in Lahore Fort Pakistan.

Dīwān-e-Ām

The Dīwān-e-Ām (Persian ديوان عام), also Divan-i-Aam, was the court's Hall of Public Audience, where the ruler held mass audience. He would sit on his throne facing petitioners. His minister would assemble the petitions and refer them to the Dīwān-e-Khās for private audience. It was made by Shah Jahan.

Dīwān-e-Khās

The Dīwān-e-Khās (Persian: ديوان خاص) was the court's Hall of Private Audience, smaller than the Dīwān-e-Ām. Here envoys and other honoured guests were granted a personal audience with the ruler. At Agra, the Dīwān-i-Khās is a small marble structure near the Dīwān-e-Ām. It is inside a red fort. It was the most ornamental building built by Shahjhan. It was decorated by gems and gold silver linings. A channel built by marble in which water flows justifies its exceptional beauty. On one of its walls this verse in Persian language is written: