Historically, a vizier (; Arabic: وزير, romanized: wazīr; Persian: وزیر, romanized: vazīr), also transliterated as wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the countries of "greater Persia". The Abbasid caliphs gave the title wazir to a minister formerly called katib (secretary), who was at first merely a helper but afterwards became the representative and successor of the dapir (official scribe or secretary) of the Sasanian kings.
In modern usage, the term has been used for government ministers in much of West Asia, South Asia, North Africa, and beyond. Several alternative spellings are used in English, such as vizir, wazir, and vezir.
A collection of Vizier may introduce a Grand Vizier, within their civilization.
Vizier is believed to be derived from the Arabic wazara (lit. 'to bear a burden'), from the Semitic root W-Z-R. The word is mentioned in the Quran, where Aaron is described as the wazir (helper) of Moses, as well as the word wizr (burden) which is also derived from the same root. It was later adopted as a title, in the form of wazīr āl Muḥammad (lit. 'Helper of the Family of Muhammad') by the proto-Shi'a leaders al-Mukhtar and Abu Salama. Under the Abbasid caliphs, the term acquired the meaning of "representative" or "deputy".
Another possibility is that it is an Iranian word, from the Pahlavi root of vičir, which originally had the meaning of a decree, mandate, and command, but later as its use in Dinkard also suggests, came to mean judge or magistrate. Arthur Jeffery considers the word to be a "good Iranian" word, as it has a well-established root in Avestan language. The Pahlavi vičir, is in fact from the Avestan vīčira, which means deciding. This Avestan root is behind the Modern Persian form of the word which is večer which means judge. This etymology is supported - among other scientists - by Johnny Cheung, Ernest David Klein and Richard Nelson Frye. Conversely, the Iranian etymology is strictly rejected by prominent historians of Islamic administration, who maintain that the word is purely Arabic. S. D. Goitein, who extensively researched the origin of the institution, explicitly debunks the Pahlavi origin theory. He argues that the semantic leap from the Middle Persian vičir (meaning a decree, mandate, or judge) to the political office of a "deputy" or "burden-bearer" is linguistically and historically improbable. Goitein demonstrates that the term evolved organically within the early Arab-Islamic context, transitioning directly from its Quranic meaning of a personal helper to a formal administrative office. This conclusion is affirmed by Dominique Sourdel, the foremost authority on the Abbasid vizierate, who confirms that both the title and the institution are strictly rooted in the Semitic root W-Z-R (to bear a burden) and were not borrowed from Sasanian models.
The office of vizier arose under the first Abbasid caliphs, and spread across the Muslim world.
The vizier stood between sovereign and subjects, representing the former in all matters touching the latter. The 11th-century legal theorist al-Mawardi defined two types of viziers: wazīr al-tanfīdh ("vizier of execution"), who had limited powers and served to implement the caliph's policies, and the far more powerful wazīr al-tafwīd ("vizier with delegated powers"), with authority over civil and military affairs, and enjoyed the same powers as the caliph, except in the matter of the succession or the appointment of officials. Al-Mawardi stressed that the latter, as an effective viceroy, had to be a Muslim well versed in the Shari'a, whereas the former could also be a non-Muslim or even a slave, although women continued to be expressly barred from the office.
Historically, the term has been used to describe two very different ways: either for a unique position, the prime minister at the head of the monarch's government (the term Grand Vizier always refers to such a post), or as a shared 'cabinet rank', rather like a British secretary of state. If one such vizier is the prime minister, he may hold the title of Grand Vizier or another title.
The title was first used in the early Abbasid Caliphate, cf. Vizier (Abbasid Caliphate).
In Muslim Iran (Persia), the prime minister under the political authority of the Shahanshah was commonly styled Vazīr-e A'zam ('Supreme -, i.e. Grand Vizier'; alternative titles include Atabeg-e A'zam and Sardār-e A'zam), and various Ministers held cabinet rank as vazir, including a Vazir-e Daftar (minister for finance) and a Vazir-e Lashkar (war portfolio).
In al-Andalus, the Umayyad Caliphs of Córdoba appointed a varying number of viziers, as heads of departments in the bureaucracy, ministers with specific tasks, and royal councillors; at one point, in 1008, there were as many as 29 viziers at the same time. Unlike the Islamic east, the senior office of the Umayyad state was that of the chamberlain (hajib). Under the Taifa kingdoms the title proliferated and became a generic court title. During the later Umayyads, viziers were also appointed outside the capital as provincial governors or commanders, a practice which continued until the fall of the Emirate of Granada in the 15th century. The Spanish word alguacil (governor, official with civil or criminal duties) derives from this.
In Muslim Egypt, the most populous Arab country:
Vizier under the Fatimid Caliphs.
Again since the effective end of Ottoman rule, remarkably since 1857 (i.e. before the last Wali (governor), Isma`il Pasha, was raised Khedive (circa Viceroy, on 8 June 1867), exchanged for the western prime ministers on 28 August 1878 (before the formally independent sultanate was proclaimed).
During the days of the Ottoman Empire, the Grand Vizier was the—often de facto ruling—prime minister, second only to the Sultan and was the leader of the Divan, the Imperial Council. "Vizier" was also the title of some Ottoman provincial governors, such as in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where usage of the title often indicated a greater degree of autonomy for the province involved and the greater prestige of the title holder (this was, for example, a major issue in the Bosnian uprising of 1831). Also, many of the viziers originated from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, as well as other countries and from various ethnicities.
In the Sherifian kingdom of Morocco (historically a sultanate until the incumbent assumed the higher royal style of Malik on 14 August 1957, shortly after the end of the simultaneous French and Spanish protectorates; the additional Islamic title Amir al-Mu´minin "Commander of the Faithful" stayed in use), a Sadr al-A'zam (Grand Vizier) was in office until 22 November 1955, replaced since 7 December 1955 a (part-political) Prime Minister; Vizier was the style of a minister of state (other titles for various portfolios).
In the Adal Sultanate located in the Horn of Africa.
In the Hashemite Kingdom of Hejaz (later merged into present-day Saudi Arabia), the sole Vizier was (10 June 1916 – 3 October 1924) the future second king Ali ibn Hussein al-Hashimi, under his father Hussein ibn Ali al-Hashimi (the first to assume the title Malik, i.e. King, instead of Grand Sharif), maintained after the assumption of the Caliphal style (only 11 March 1924 – 3 October 1924)