The rank of Sirdar – a variant of Sardar – was assigned to the British Commander-in-Chief of the British-controlled Egyptian Army in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Sirdar resided at the Sirdaria, a three-block-long property in Zamalek which was also the home of British military intelligence in Egypt.
Sirdar
Image: Sir Evelyn Wood
Image: Francis Wallace Grenfell
Image: Horatio Herbert Kitchener (cropped)
Sardar, also spelled as Sardaar/Sirdar, is a title of royalty and nobility that was originally used to denote princes, noblemen, chiefs, kings and other aristocrats. It has also been used to denote a chief or leader of a tribe or group. It is used as a Persian synonym of the title Emir of Arabic origin.
Sardar-I-Azam, Prince Abdol Majid Mirza of Qajar Persia c. 1920s.
Pakistani President Ayub Khan and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy with the prized gelding "Sardar".
Grand Vizier Ahmet Tevfik Pasha, the last Ottoman Serdar-ı Azam.
Serdar Janko Vukotić of the Principality and Kingdom of Montenegro.