Dewan (also known as diwan, sometimes spelled devan or divan) designated a powerful government official, minister, or ruler.
Diwans belonged to the elite families in the history of Mughal and post-Mughal India and held high posts within the government.
[citation needed] In 19th-century Romania, the Ad hoc Divan was a body which played a role in the country's development towards independence from Ottoman rule.
One of the examples – Shrimant Diwan/Rao Bahadur Atmaram Kulkarni, was the Diwan (Prime Minister) of Maratha Jamkhandi State.
[4][5] Dewan, Diwan, Divan, or Deo was the hereditary title borne by the Chief Minister of the Hindu Cooch State in the Bengal region.
[citation needed] The document dated Bikram Samvat 1833 Bhadra Vadi 3 Roj 6 (i.e. Friday 2 August 1776), shows that Vamsharaj Pande and Swaroop Singh Karki had carried the title of Dewan (equivalent to Prime Minister) of the Kingdom of Nepal.