Ashi (title)

Not to be confused with the Zoroastrian concept Ashi.

Ashi (Dzongkha: ཨ་ཞེ་; Wylie: A-zhe) also spelled Ashe, is a Bhutanese title of respect literally meaning "Lady". The title is prefixed to the given name, and is borne by female Bhutanese nobility and by female members of the Bhutanese royal family. The masculine form is Dasho (Dzongkha: དྲག་ཤོས་; Wylie: drag-shos; "superior, best"), meaning "Lord", which is held by a number of senior officials, including deputy ministers and district magistrates, and prominent landowners. Ashi can also mean "Miss" although that is not the intended use of the term. It is similar to the Arabic title Lalla also meaning lady held by noblewomen.

As royal title

When borne by daughters of the Bhutanese Sovereign, the title Ashi however has the connotation and status of "Princess" and is used in combination with the style Her Royal Highness. Bhutanese princesses do not have a separate title and the meaning of Ashi therefore depends on the context of usage. This creates sometimes confusion outside Bhutan; to avoid misunderstanding, Bhutanese English-language sources sometimes refer to daughters of the sovereign with the hybrid "Princess Ashi", and their male counterparts as "Prince Dasho".