Babu (title)

Rani is the title for the wife of a Babu or a female monarch. It also applies to the wife of a Raja. Compound titles include Babu Saheb and Babuji.

Civil servants

In British India, baboo often referred to a native Indian clerk. The word was originally used as a term of respect attached to a proper name, the equivalent of "mister", and "babuji" was used in many parts to mean "sir" as an address of a gentleman; their life-style was also called "baboo culture" often also humorously appealed as "babuism". The British officials treated baboos as workers who had both Indian and British connections. Since the mid-20th century, the term babu is frequently used pejoratively to refer to bureaucrats of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and other government officials, especially by the Indian media, while the Indian bureaucracy is called "babudom", as in the "rule of babus", especially in India's media.