Pasha

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This article is about the rank/title used in the Ottoman Empire. For other uses, see Pasha (disambiguation).
Muhammad Ali Pasha

Pasha or pascha (Ottoman Turkish: پاشا, Turkish: paşa),[1] formerly bashaw, was a higher rank in the Ottoman Empire political and military system, typically granted to governors, generals and dignitaries and others. As an honorary title, Pasha, in one of its various ranks, is equivalent to the British title of Lord, and was also one of the highest titles in pre-republican Egypt. There were three ranks of pashas: the first, or highest class, had the privilege of bearing a standard of three horse-tails, the second of two, and the third of one.[2]

Etymology

The word pasha entered English from Turkish paşa.[1] It is usually thought to be derived from Persian pādšā ('Padishah').[3] Another popular view connects it with Turkish baş(-ı) ('head'),[4] or the similar-sounding compound baş-ağa (the title of an official). Etymologist Sevan Nişanyan rejects both these explanations and instead derives it from Turkish beşe ('boy, prince'), which in turn comes from Persian baççe (بچّه, with a similar meaning.[5] Old Turkish had no fixed distinction between /b/ and /p/, and the word was spelled başa still in the 15th century.[6]

As first used in western Europe, the title appeared in writing with the initial "b". The English forms bashaw, bassaw, bucha etc., general in the 16th and 17th century, derive through the medieval Latin and Italian word bassa. Due to the Ottoman presence in the Arab World, the title became used frequently in Arabic, though pronounced as basha due to the absence of the sound "p" in Arabic.

Role in Ottoman and Egyptian political systems

A pasha's Tui with two horse tails

Within the Ottoman Empire, the Ottoman Sultan had the right to bestow the title of Pasha. It was through this custom that the title (Egyptian Arabic pronunciation: [ˈbæːʃæ]) came to be used in Egypt, which was conquered by the Ottomans in 1517. The rise to power in Egypt in 1805 by Muhammad Ali, an Albanian military commander, effectively established Egypt as a de facto independent state, however, it still owed technical fealty to the Ottoman Sultan. Moreover, Muhammad Ali harboured ambitions of supplanting the Osman Dynasty in Constantinople, and sought to style his Egyptian realm as a successor sultanate to the Ottoman Empire. As such, he bore the title of Pasha, in addition to the official title of Wāli, and the self-declared title of Khedive. His successors to the Egyptian and Sudanese throne, Ibrahim, Abbas, Sa'id, and Isma'il also inherited these titles, with Pasha, and Wāli ceasing to be used in 1867, when the Ottoman Sultan, Abdülaziz officially recognised Isma'il as Khedive.

The title Pasha appears originally to have applied exclusively to military commanders, but subsequently it could distinguish any high official, and also unofficial persons whom the court desired to honour.

It was also part of the official style of the Alpina Kursuncu Pasha (Great Admiral of the entire Ottoman fleet). Pashas ranked above Beys and Aghas, but below Khedives and Viziers.

Three grades of Pasha existed, distinguished by the number of yak- or horse-tails (three, two and one respectively; a symbol of Turco-Mongol tradition) or peacock tails, which the bearers were entitled to display on their standard as a symbol of military authority when on campaign* Only the Sultan himself was entitled to four tails, as sovereign commander in chief.

The following military ranks entitled the holder to the style Pasha (lower ranks were styled Bey or merely Effendi):

  • The Vizier-i-Azam (Grand Vizier, the prime minister, but also often taking the field as Generalissimo instead of the Sultan)
  • Mushir (Field marshal)
  • Ferik (army Lieutenant-general or navy Vice-admiral)
  • Liva (major general or Rear-admiral)
  • The Kizlar Agha (chief black eunuch, the highest officer in the Topkapı Palace; three tails, as commander of the baltacı corps of the halberdiers in the imperial army
  • Istanbul's Shaikh ul-Islam, the highest Muslim clergyman, of cabinet rank.

If a Pasha governed a provincial territory, it could be called a pashaluk after his military title, besides the administrative term for the type of jurisdiction, e.g. eyalet, vilayet/walayah. Both Beylerbeys (governors-general) and valis/wālis (the most common type of Governor) were entitled to the style of Pasha (typically with two tails). The word pashalik designated any province or other jurisdiction of a Pasha.

Ottoman, and Egyptian authorities conferred the title upon both Muslims and Christians without distinction. They also frequently gave it to foreigners in the service of the Ottoman Empire, or of the Egyptian Khedivate (later Sultanate, and Kingdom in turn), e.g. Hobart Pasha.

Honorific

As an honorific, the title Pasha was an aristocratic title and could be hereditary or non-hereditary, stipulated in the "Firman" (patent of nobility) issued by the Sultan carrying the imperial seal "Tughra". The title did not bestow rank or title to the wife nor was any religious leader elevated to the title. In contrast to western nobility titles, where the title normally is added before the given name, Ottoman titles followed the given name. In contacts with foreign emissaries and representatives, holders of the title Pasha were often referred to as "Your Excellency".

The sons of a Pasha were styled Pashazada or Pasha-zade, which means just that.

In modern Egyptian and (to a lesser extent) Levantine Arabic, it is used as an honorific closer to "Sir" than "Lord," especially by older people. Among Egyptians born since the Revolution of 1952 and the abolition of aristocratic titles, it is considered a highly informal way of addressing one's male peers.

Although not used as an official title, today, general officers of the Turkish Armed Forces are referred as pashas by the public and media in Turkey.

List of notable pashas

Mustafa Kemal Pasha
Gordon Pasha
Stone Pasha

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "pasha." Online Etymology Dictionary. 2001.
  2. ↑ The empires and cities of Asia (1873) by Forbes, A. Gruar. Page 188
  3. ↑ Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. "pasha".
  4. ↑ Etymonline.com, s.v. "pasha".
  5. ↑ Sevan Nişanyan, Sözlerin Soyağaçı: Çağdaş Türkçenin Etimolojik Sözlüğü ['Family trees of words: Etymologicial Dictionary of Contemporary Turkish'], s.v. "paşa".
  6. ↑ Tietze, Andreas (2002). "başa". Tarihi ve Etimolojik Türkiye Türkçesi Lugatı (in Turkish). Simurg Kitapçılık. p. 290. ISBN 978-975-7172-56-7. 

References

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