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Caliph, or Khalif

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(Arab. Successor), is the highest ecclesiastical dignitary among the Mohammedans, vested with absolute authority, both religious and political. The caliphs are regarded as the vicars or representatives of Mohammed. When Bagdad was taken by the Tartars, and the caliphate destroyed, the Mohammedan princes appointed in their respective dominions a special officer to discharge the spiritual functions of the caliph. In Turkey he was' called mufti (q.v.), and in Persia, sadue.