(or murza). (1) In Iran, (a) title of members of the ruling house, placed after a name, as for example in “Abbas-mirza”; (b) title of a scribe, civil servant, or secretary, placed before the name, as in “Mirza Muhammad.”
(2) Among the Turkic nomadic peoples of Russia, including the Tatars and Nogais, from the 13th century to the October Revolution of 1917, a title given to major feudal lords, as well as to heads of clans and hordes.