The English wordpasha comes fromTurkishpasha (pāşā; alsobasha (bāşā)).[5][6] TheOxford English Dictionary attributes the origin of the English borrowing to the mid-17th century.[6] The etymology of the Turkish word itself has been a matter of debate.[7] Contrary to titles likeemir (amīr) andbey (sir), which were established in usage much earlier, the titlepasha came intoOttoman usage right after the reign ofOsman I (d. 1324), though it had been used before the Ottomans by someAnatolian Turkish rulers of the same era.[7] Old Turkish had no fixed distinction between /b/ and /p/, and the word was spelledbaşa still in the 15th century.[8]
According toOnline Etymology Dictionary, the Turkishpasha orbasha was itself from Turkishbaş / bash (باش 'head, chief'), itself fromOld Persianpati- ('master', fromProto-Indo-European*poti) and the root of the Persian wordshah,شاه.[5] According to Oxford Dictionaries, the Turkish word from which it was borrowed was formed as a result of the combination of thePahlavi wordspati- 'lord', andshah (𐭬𐭫𐭪𐭠).[6] According toJosef W. Meri andJere L. Bacharach, the word is "more than likely derived from the PersianPadishah" (پادشاه).[9] The same view is held byNicholas Ostler, who mentions that the word was formed as a shortening of the Persian wordpadishah.[10]Jean Deny also attributed its origin topadishah, while repeating a suggestion byGerhard Doerfer that it was influenced byTurkicbaskak (bāsqāq), meaning 'agent, tax collector'.[11][7]
Some theories have posited a Turkish or Turkic origin of the word, claiming it derived frombaşağa (bāş āghā), which denoted a 'principal elder brother' or 'prince's elder son' in the pre-Ottoman period.[7] According to etymologistSevan Nişanyan, the word is derived from Turkishbeşe (بچّه 'boy, prince'), which iscognate with Persianbačče (بچّه).[12] Some earlier Turkish lexicographers, such asAhmed Vefik Paşa and Mehmed Salahi, argued it was most likely derived from Turkishbaşa or Turkishbeşe, the latter meaning 'elder brother' and being a title given to some Ottoman provincial officials andjanissaries.[7]
As first used in western Europe, the title appeared in writing with an initialb. The English formsbashaw,bassaw,bucha, etc., general in the 16th and 17th century, derive through the medievalLatin andItalian wordbassa.[citation needed] Due to the Ottoman presence in theArab world, the title became used frequently inArabic, though pronouncedbasha due to the absence of the /p/ sound in Arabic.
Within theOttoman Empire, theSultan had the right to bestow the title ofPasha.Lucy Mary Jane Garnett wrote in the 1904 workTurkish Life in Town and Country that it was the sole "Turkish title which carries with it any definite rank and precedence".[13]
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 byMuhammad Ali, anAlbanian military commander, effectively establishedEgypt as ade facto independent state; however, it still owed technical fealty to the Ottoman Sultan. Moreover, Muhammad Ali harboured ambitions of supplanting theOsman Dynasty inConstantinople (nowIstanbul), and sought to style his Egyptian realm as a successorsultanate to the Ottoman Empire. As such, he bore the title ofPasha, in addition to the official title ofWāli, and the self-declared title ofKhedive. His successors to theEgyptian and Sudanese throne,Ibrahim,Abbas,Sa'id, andIsma'il also inherited these titles, withPasha, andWāli ceasing to be used in 1867, when theOttoman Sultan,Abdülaziz officially recognised Isma'il as Khedive.
The titlePasha appears originally to have applied exclusively to military commanders and only high ranking family of the sultans, but subsequently it could distinguish any high official, and also unofficial persons whom the court desired to honour.[citation needed]
It was also part of the official style of theKapudan Pasha (Grand Admiral of the Ottoman fleet).Pashas ranked aboveBeys andAghas, but belowKhedives andViziers.
Three grades of Pasha existed, distinguished by the number of horse tails (three, two, and one respectively; a symbol ofTurco-Mongol tradition) or peacock tails that 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, assovereigncommander in chief.
The following military ranks entitled the holder to the style Pasha (lower ranks were styled Bey or merelyEffendi):
TheVizier-i-Azam (Grand Vizier, the prime minister, but also often taking the field as Generalissimo instead of the Sultan)
TheKizlar Agha (chief black eunuch, the highest officer in theTopkapı Palace; three tails, as commander of thebaltadji corps of the halberdiers in the imperial army
Constantinople'sShaikh ul-Islam, the highest Muslim clergyman, of cabinet rank.
If a Pasha governed a provincialterritory, it could be called apashaluk after his military title, besides the administrative term for the type of jurisdiction, e.g.eyalet,vilayet/walayah. Bothbeylerbeys (governors-general) andvalis/wālis (the most common type of Governor) were entitled to the style of Pasha (typically with two tails). The wordpashalik designated anyprovince or other jurisdiction of a Pasha, such as the Pasha or Bashaw ofTripoli.
Ottoman and Egyptian authorities conferred the title upon bothMuslims andChristians without distinction. They also frequently gave it to foreigners in the service of the Ottoman Empire, or of theEgyptian Khedivate (laterSultanate, andKingdom in turn), e.g.Hobart Pasha. In an Egyptian context, theAbaza Family is known as "the family of the pashas" for having produced the largest number of nobles holding this title under theMuhammad Ali dynasty and was noted in Egyptian media in 2014 as one of the main "families that rule Egypt" to this day,[14][15] and as "deeply rooted in Egyptian society and… in the history of the country."[16][17][18]
As an honorific, the title pasha was an aristocratic title and could be hereditary or non-hereditary, stipulated in thefirman (patent of nobility) issued by the Sultan carrying thetughra (imperial seal). 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".[citation needed]
The sons of a Pasha were styledPashazada orPashazade.[citation needed]
In modernEgyptian 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 theRevolution of 1952 and the abolition of aristocratic titles, it is considered a highly formal way of addressing one's male peers.[citation needed]
The Grand National Assembly of Turkey abolished the titlePaşa, along with all other titles and nicknames, through Law No. 2590, known as theLaw on the Abolition of Titles and Nicknames, enacted on November 26, 1934[19] AlthoughPaşa title is no longer an official title,generals of theTurkish Armed Forces are often unofficially referred to asPaşa along withGeneral by the Turkish public and media.
In theFrench Navy, "pasha" (pacha in French) is the nickname of theCommanding Officer, similar to the term "skipper" in the Anglophone navies.[20]
Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha ("Ibrahim Pasha of Parga"), also known asFrenk Ibrahim Pasha ("the Westerner"),Makbul Ibrahim Pasha ("the Favorite") andMaktul Ibrahim Pasha ("the Executed")
^Edward Gibbon.The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Chapter 68, etal[1]Archived 2019-05-09 at theWayback Machine
^Twain, Mark (1869).The Innocents Abroad. pp. Chapter 42."Pacha" used as spelling in this text
^Benzakour, Fouzia; Gaadi, Driss; Queffélec, Ambroise (2000).Le Français au Maroc: Lexique et contacts de langues. De Boeck Supérieur.ISBN9782801112601.
^abc"Pasha".Oxford Dictionaries (English). Archived fromthe original on 16 April 2017. Retrieved15 April 2017.
^abcdeBouquet, Olivier (2014). "Paşa". In Fleet, Kate; Krämer, Gudrun; Matringe, Denis; Nawas, John; Rowson, Everett (eds.).Encyclopaedia of Islam, Three. Brill.ISBN9789004161658.The use of paşa (pāşā) as an Ottoman title emerged immediately after the reign of Osman I (ʿOthmān I, d. c. 724/1324), contrary to previous honorific designations used for upper dignitaries, such as emir (emīr), bey (beg), mirimiran (mīrimīrān), and vezir (vezīr, vizier). This is probably one of the reasons why its etymology has been a matter of debate. According to Jean Deny, it probably derived from padişah (pādishāh, emperor), with the possible influence of baskak (bāsqāq, agent, tax collector), as suggested by Gerhard Doerfer. Alternative theories claim that it is a modification of the word başağa (bāş āghā), which was used to designate a 'principal elder brother' or 'prince's elder son' in pre-Ottoman times. Some Turkish lexicographers, including Ahmed Vefik (Aḥmed Vefīḳ) Paşa and Mehmed Salahi (Meḥmed Salāhī), assert that it most likely originated from başa (bāşa) or beşe (elder brother), which was a title generally attributed to provincial notables and janissaries. This theory rests on a double hypothesis: 1) the first Ottoman honoured with the title was probably Alaeddin (ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn), the brother of Orhan (Orkhān, r. c. 724–63/1324–62), and 2) it was also conferred on his designated successors in the second half of the eighth/fourteenth century. In any case, two facts are indisputable. Some Anatolian emirs made use of this honorific distinction before the Ottomans, such as Aydınlı Umur (Umūr) Paşa (d. 748/1348). Moreover, outside of members of the Ottoman family circle, the first dignitaries awarded the title were the sultan's most prominent lieutenants, such as Çandarlı Kara Halil (Qara Khalīl, d. 789/1387), chief of the administration and commander of the army in the reign of Murad (Murād) I (r. 763–91/1362–89).
^Meri, Josef W.; Jere L. Bacharach (2006).Medieval Islamic Civilization: L–Z, index. Taylor & Francis. p. 814.ISBN978-0415966924.
^Ostler, Nicholas (2010).The Last Lingua Franca: English Until the Return of Babel. Penguin UK. pp. 1–352.ISBN978-0141922218.Even in Ottoman Turkish much military vocabulary is borrowed from Persian. The highest rank,paşa, was a shortening of Persianpadišāh 'emperor'.
^Deny, Jean (1995). "Pas̲h̲a". In Bearman, P.; Bianquis, Th.; Bosworth, C.E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W.P. (eds.).Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Vol. 8. Brill.ISBN9789004161214.
