maharaja
noun
ma·ha·ra·ja ˌmä-hə-ˈrä-jə 
-ˈrä-zhə
variants or maharajah
: a Hindu prince ranking above a raja
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web Named Sriwijaya, it was ruled by a maharaja, centered on the island of Sumatra in what is now Indonesia, and flourished in the period C.E. 650 to 1377. 
Scientific American, 28 July 2022 The British enjoyed traveling to Kashmir in the summer months to escape the heat and dust of the Indian plains, but the local Hindu maharaja denied them permission to own land. Ranjan Pal, CNN, 19 Nov. 2021 The maharaja then instructed that Lakshmi Bai would rule as regent until the boy came of age. National Geographic, 6 Oct. 2020 In 1842 the young Manikarnika married the much older Gangadhar Rao, the maharaja, or king, of Jhansi. National Geographic, 6 Oct. 2020 Historians say the maharaja brought land ownership rights on the insistence of powerful Kashmiri Hindus. The Christian Science Monitor, 4 Aug. 2020 The 21-year-old maharaja is offering stays in the baby blue Gudliya Suite, with proceeds helping women's charities. Toby Skinner, Condé Nast Traveler, 18 Dec. 2019 Further discussions culminated in the 1952 Delhi Agreement, a presidential order that extended Indian citizenship to the residents of the state but left the maharaja’s privileges for residents intact. Washington Post, 6 Aug. 2019 Further discussions culminated in the 1952 Delhi Agreement, a presidential order that extended Indian citizenship to the residents of the state but left the maharaja’s privileges for residents intact. Washington Post, 6 Aug. 2019 See More
Scientific American, 28 July 2022 The British enjoyed traveling to Kashmir in the summer months to escape the heat and dust of the Indian plains, but the local Hindu maharaja denied them permission to own land. Ranjan Pal, CNN, 19 Nov. 2021 The maharaja then instructed that Lakshmi Bai would rule as regent until the boy came of age. National Geographic, 6 Oct. 2020 In 1842 the young Manikarnika married the much older Gangadhar Rao, the maharaja, or king, of Jhansi. National Geographic, 6 Oct. 2020 Historians say the maharaja brought land ownership rights on the insistence of powerful Kashmiri Hindus. The Christian Science Monitor, 4 Aug. 2020 The 21-year-old maharaja is offering stays in the baby blue Gudliya Suite, with proceeds helping women's charities. Toby Skinner, Condé Nast Traveler, 18 Dec. 2019 Further discussions culminated in the 1952 Delhi Agreement, a presidential order that extended Indian citizenship to the residents of the state but left the maharaja’s privileges for residents intact. Washington Post, 6 Aug. 2019 Further discussions culminated in the 1952 Delhi Agreement, a presidential order that extended Indian citizenship to the residents of the state but left the maharaja’s privileges for residents intact. Washington Post, 6 Aug. 2019 See More Word History
Etymology
Hindi & Urdu mahārāja, from Sanskrit, from mahat great + rājan raja; akin to Latin rex king — more at much, royal
First Known Use
1698, in the meaning defined above