pasha

[pah-shuh, pash-uh, puh-shah, -shaw]

pasha, highest honorary title in official usage in the Ottoman Empire and with slight variation in the states formed from its territories, where it is sometimes still employed (although Turkey formally abolished it in 1934 and Egypt in 1953). The designation, which is a personal rather than a hereditary distinction, was given under the Ottoman rulers to individuals of both civilian and military status, notably ministers, provincial governors, and army officers.

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Mehmed Emin Pasha

orig. Eduard Schnitzer

(born March 28, 1840, Oppeln, Silesia—died Oct. 23, 1892, Kanema, Congo Free State [now Democratic Republic of the Congo]) German physician, explorer, and administrator in Egyptian Sudan. Schnitzer adopted a Turkish name while serving as a medical officer and administrator in the Ottoman government. In 1876 he joined with British forces led by Gen. Charles George Gordon at Khartoum. In 1878 he was appointed governor of Equatoria province. During the Mahdist movement uprising, the Egyptian government abandoned the Sudan (1884), and the isolated Emin was rescued by Henry Morton Stanley in 1888. On an expedition to equatorial Africa, he was killed by Arab slave-traders. Through his scholarly papers and specimen collections, he contributed vastly to the knowledge of African geography, natural history, ethnology, and languages.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.

Ibrahim Pasha

(born 1789, Kavalla, Rumelia—died Nov. 10, 1848, Cairo, Egypt) Egyptian general. After helping train the new Egyptian army, he won military fame in Syria, defeating an Ottoman force, and Syria and Adana were ceded to Egypt, with Ibrahim as governor-general (1833). His administration was relatively enlightened; he created a consultative council and suppressed the feudal regime. Sultan Mahmud II (r. 1808–39) then sent an Ottoman army to invade Syria, and Ibrahim won his greatest victory in 1839 when the Ottoman fleet deserted to Egypt. However, the European powers, fearing the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire, forced the Egyptians to evacuate the occupied territories. Ibrahim became viceroy of Egypt in 1848 shortly before his death.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.

Emin Pasha, Mehmed

orig. Eduard Schnitzer

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.

Pasha

Pasha or pacha, formerly bashaw, (paşa پاشا) (Persian: پاشا) (Armenian: Փաշա) was a high rank in the Ottoman Empire political system, typically granted to governors and generals. As an honorary title, "Pasha" in one of its various ranks is equivalent to the British title of "Lord".

Linguistics

Etymologists variously derive the word pasha from the Turkish baş ağa (Big Brother) (in some dialects pash), "head lord", "tribal chief" etc. (more likely for an officer). Old Turkish had no fixed distinction between /b/ and /p/. 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.

Role in Ottoman political system

The Ottoman sultan of Turkey and (by delegation) the viceroyal khedive of Egypt had the right to bestow the title of Pasha. The title 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 Kapudan 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 marshall)
Ferik (army Lieutenant-general or navy Vice-admiral)
Lewa=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. Both Beylerbeys (governors-general) and Valis (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 authorities conferred the title upon both Muslims and Christians without distinction. They also frequently gave it to foreigners in the service of the Turks or of the Egyptians, e.g. Hobart Pasha.

Honorific

In usage, the title followed the given name. Although the word serves as a non-hereditary title, English speakers have commonly used the word pasha as if it formed part of a personal name, as for instance in Ibrahim Pasha or Emin Pasha, similar to the practice of referring to a British Peer as Lord X, since in both cases it substitutes for a more precise rank title.

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.