nabob

Nabob is an English loanword derived from the Persian and Urdu word nawab, which designated a high-ranking provincial governor in the Mughal empire and other Indo-Persian political hierarchies. In English usage, nabob originally referred to such officials or nobles and later came to denote wealth and influence associated with governance in India.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, British merchants and East India Company servants who spent years in India sometimes returned to Britain with substantial fortunes. These returning officials were called nabobs, a label that carried both status and stigma. The term acquired a pejorative sense, emphasizing ostentatious wealth, conspicuous consumption, and alleged corruption, rather than administrative competence. The influx of Indian wealth influenced British politics, social life, and the economy, sometimes provoking debates about colonial exploitation and the morality of wealth acquired abroad.

In literature and journalism, nabobs were depicted as emblematic of a new money elite and of imperial excess. The term gradually faded from neutral usage and became largely historical or ironic, although it occasionally appears in discussions of colonial history or as a literary caricature.

Nabob remains cognate with Nawab, the modern title used in South Asia for certain rulers or governors, of which the English form Nabob is an archaic variant. The term Nabob also appears in cultural references as a generic symbol for sudden wealth acquired through colonial service.