an important government official in some Muslim countries in the past (vezier, from wazir). Arabic wazr Chief minister of the Abbsid caliphs and later a high government official in various Muslim countries. The office was originally held and defined by the Barmakids in the 8th century; they acted as the caliph's representative to the public, later serving a similar function for various sultans. In the Ottoman Empire the title could be held by several people at once; under Mehmed II the position of grand vizier, the absolute representative of the sultan, was created
[vi zEEr, viz yuhr] Ottoman equivalent of the Abbasid wazir; head of the Ottoman bureaucracy; after 15th century often more powerful than sultan (p 616)
The chief minister of Egypt answerable only to the pharaoh He was responsible for the day-to-day running of the country In the New Kingdom there were two viziers - one for Upper Egypt and one for Lower Egypt The position became less important in the Late Period