Malik Melech ( ) ( ) is an Arabic , Northwest Semitic ( e . g . Neo Aramaic ) and Hebrew word meaning " king , chieftain " . It is very similar to the Arabic name / word مالِك " mālik , which in some languages means " master " or " head ( of something ) " . Although the early forms of the name were to be found among the " Pre - Arab " and " Pre - Islamic " Semites of The Levant , Canaan and Mesopotamia , it has since been adopted in various other , mainly Islamized or Arabized , Asian languages for their ruling princes and to render kings elsewhere . It is also sometimes used in derived meanings . ' Al - Malik ' ( literally ' The King ' ) is one of the Names of Allah . The female version of Malik is Malikah ( ) ( or its Persian language equivalent Malekeh ) , meaning " queen " . The name Malik originally found among various Semitic peoples such as Arabs , Jews , Mandeans , the indigenous ethnic Assyrian Christians of Iraq , Iran , Syria and Turkey and Syriacs / Arameans , has since been spread among various predominantly Muslim peoples in India , Nepal , Bangladesh , Indonesia , Malaysia and Pakistan , for example , in Punjab , Himachal Pradesh , Jammu & Kashmir , Haryana , Rajasthan , and Delhi . Etymology . The earliest form of the name " Malka " was used to denote a prince or chieftain in the East Semitic Akkadian language of the Mesopotamian states of Akkad , Assyria , Babylonia and Chaldea . The Northwest Semitic " mlk " was the title of the rulers of the primarily Amorite , Sutean , Canaan ite , Phoenician and Aramean city - states of the Levant and Canaan from the Late Bronze Age . Eventual derivatives include the Arabic , Aramaic and Assyrian forms : Malik , Malek , Mallick , Malkha , Malka , Malkai and the Hebrew form " Melek " . " Moloch " has been traditionally interpreted the epithet of a god , known as " the king " like Baal was an epithet " the master " and Adon an epithet " the lord " , but in the case of Moloch purposely mispronounced as " Molek " instead of " Melek " using the vowels of Hebrew " bosheth " " shame " . Political . Primarily a " malik " is the ruling monarch of a kingdom , called " mamlaka " , title used by the former slaves aka Mamluk s ( مملوك ) royal dynasty of Egypt ; that term is however also used in a broader sense , like realm , for rulers with another , generally lower titles , as in Sahib al - Mamlaka . Malik is also used for tribal leaders , e . g . among the Pashtuns . Some Arab kingdoms are presently ruled by a Malik : Other historic realms under a Malik include : In Mughal and colonial India , the princely state of Zainabad , Vanod was ruled by a Malek Shri ( Shri is an emphatical honorific without intrinsic meaning ) . The title Malik has also been used in languages which adopted Arabic loanword s ( mainly , not exclusively , in Muslim cultures ) , for various princely or lower ranks and functions . The word Malik is sometimes used in Arabic to render roughly equivalent titles of foreign rulers , for instance the chronicler Baha al - Din Ibn Shaddad refers to King Richard I of England as " Malik al - Inkitar " . Compound and derived titles . The following components are frequently part of titles , notably in Persian ( also used elsewhere , e . g . in India ' s Moghol tradition ) : In the great Indian Muslim salute state of Hyderabad , a first rank - vassal of the Mughal padshah ( emperor ) imitating his lofty Persian court protocol , the word Molk became on itself one of the titles used for ennobled Muslim retainers of the ruling Nizam ' s court , in fact the third in rank , only below Jah ( the highest ) and Umara , but above Daula , Jang , Nawab , Khan Bahadur and Khan ; for the Nizam ' s Hindu retainers different titles were used , the equivalent of Molk being Vant . Usage In South Asia . With the arrival of Arabs and Persians in the region , the term Malik became popular amongst rulers and aristocrats . Soon after , it became the most prestigious title of them all in the region . Pashtun usage . The Arabic term came to be adopted as a term for " tribal chieftain " in Afghanistan and the tribal areas of Pakistan , especially among Pashtuns , for a tribal leader or a chieftain . In tribal Pashtun society the Maliks serve as " de facto " arbiters in local conflicts , interlocutors in state policy - making , tax - collectors , heads of village and town councils and delegates to provincial and national " jirgas " as well as to Parliament . Malik is a common surname among the Kakazai Pashtuns . Punjabi usage . In the Punjab , " Malik " was one of the titles used by local aristocrats , more formally known as Zamindar s , under both the Mughals and the British , and to some degree still in present - day Pakistan . The title is given for large amount of ownership of land ( landlords ) . Currently , in Punjab region of Pakistan , Malik is mostly used by different Rajputs clans and Jatt clans to show their large land ownership . Mainly in the yester years , malik was used to signify largest land ownership in the area . Among the Rajput , Maliks are a Suryavanshi clan , and are Dogras . The Hindu branch provided the Maharajas of Jammu and Kashmir . Prior to independence , the districts of Hoshiarpur and Gurdaspur were home to a large number of Muslim Maliks . In what became Pakistani territory , they are found in numbers in Sialkot , Gujrat , Jhelum and Rawalpindi districts , which all bordered Jammu and Kashmir . Malik Hindu in what is now Pakistan converted into Islam , especially during and before India - Pakistan partition while those in India retained their respective religions . Most famous of the clans of Punjab that use the surname Malik include Awan , Chattar , Pahore , Tiwana , Dharoee , Gathwal , Khokhar , Minhas , Janjua , Gunjial , Wattu , Noon , Haans , chandoor , Langrial , Bandial , Bhatti , Johiya , attra , Taman , and Khukhrain . General Usage . Like many prestigious titles , Malik or Malek is a common element in first and family names , usually without any aristocratic meaning . For example , Awan Malik is a large community in Pakistan with Arab heritage . Malik is used both as title and surname in Pakistan . Some Maliks ( Urdu : ملک ) are also a clan of Hindu Jatt , Muslim Jatt and a few Sikh Jatt , found primarily in Haryana and Pakistan and parts of Punjab ( There also exist Hindu Punjabi Maliks that are part of the Khukhrain or Arora communities but they are entirely different from jats ) . The Hindu Malik Jat are spread all over Haryana . The Muslim Malik Jat community is settled all over Pakistan and Sikh , mainly in the Punjab province . The Malik are also known as the Ghatwala . They are descended from Mann Jats and have been ferocious warriors in history , earning them the name Malik ( leader ) . The Gathwala are now designating themselves as Maliks , which is a title . There were Pakistanis with the title Malik residing in Pakistan before it was split into Pakistan and Bangladesh . The Maliks there are now scattered around both countries and are respected in certain areas . Other uses . Malik is also an unrelated Greenlandic Inuit name meaning " wave . "