Editing Maharaja (section)

== Etymology ==
[[File:Maharaj Ranjit Singh.jpg|thumb|[[Maharaja Ranjit Singh|Ranjit Singh]], first Maharaja of the [[Sikh Empire]]]]
The word ''Maharaja'' originates in [[Sanskrit]] and is a compound [[Sanskrit compound#Karmadhāraya (descriptive)|karmadhāraya]] term from ''mahānt-'' "great" and ''[[raja|rājan]]'' "ruler, king"). It has the Latin [[cognate]]s ''magnus'' "great" and ''rex'' "king".<ref name="samuelian2000">{{Citation |last=Thomas J. Samuelian |title=Armenian origins: an overview of ancient and modern sources and theories |year=2000 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E6otAQAAIAAJ |publisher=Iravunq Publishing House |quote=''... Cognate Chart Sanskrit: Maha Greek: Mega English: Much ...''}}</ref><ref name="danner1990">{{Citation |last=Horace G. Danner, Roger Noël |title=An introduction to an academic vocabulary: word clusters from Latin, Greek and German |quote=''... Mag-, great; maj-, greater; max-, greatest; IE base: meg-, yields Sanskrit maha; English much; Greek mega ...''}}</ref> Due to Sanskrit's major influence on the vocabulary of most languages in [[Greater India]] and [[Southeast Asia]], the term Maharaja is common to many modern [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]] and [[Dravidian languages]]. The Sanskrit title Maharaja was originally used only for rulers who ruled a considerably large region with minor tributary rulers under them. Since medieval times, the title was used by (Hindu) monarchs of lesser states claiming descent from [[Ancient history|ancient]] maharajas.