Pasha (; ; ) was a higher rank in the Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, generals, dignitaries, and others. Pasha was also one of the highest titles in the 20th-century Kingdom of Egypt and it was also used in Morocco in the 20th century, where it denoted a regional official or governor of a district.
Etymology
The English word pasha comes from Turkish (; also ()). The Oxford English Dictionary attributes the origin of the English borrowing to the mid-17th century. The etymology of the Turkish word itself has been a matter of debate. Contrary to titles like emir (amīr) and bey (beg), which were established in usage much earlier, the title pasha came into Ottoman usage right after the reign of the Osman I (d. 1324), though it had been used before the Ottomans by some Anatolian Turkish rulers of the same era. Old Turkish had no fixed distinction between /b/ and /p/, and the word was spelled still in the 15th century.
According to Online Etymology Dictionary, the Turkish or was itself from Turkish / ( 'head, chief'), itself from Old Persian ('master', from Proto-Indo-European *) and the root of the Persian word , . According to Oxford Dictionaries, the Turkish word from which it was borrowed was formed as a result of the combination of the Pahlavi words 'lord', and (). According to Josef W. Meri and Jere L. Bacharach, the word is "more than likely derived from the Persian " (). The same view is held by Nicholas Ostler, who mentions that the word was formed as a shortening of the Persian word . Jean Deny also attributed its origin to , while repeating a suggestion by Gerhard Doerfer that it was influenced by Turkic (), meaning 'agent, tax collector'.
Some theories have posited a Turkish or Turkic origin of the word, claiming it derived from (), which denoted a 'principal elder brother' or 'prince's elder son' in the pre-Ottoman period. According to etymologist , the word is derived from Turkish ( 'boy, prince'), which is cognate with Persian (). Some earlier Turkish lexicographers, such as Ahmed Vefik Paşa and Mehmed Salahi, argued it was most likely derived from Turkish or Turkish , the latter meaning 'elder brother' and being a title given to some Ottoman provincial officials and janissaries.
As first used in western Europe, the title appeared in writing with an initial b. The English forms bashaw, bassaw, bucha, etc., general in the 16th and 17th century, derive through the medieval Latin and Italian word . Due to the Ottoman presence in the Arab world, the title became used frequently in Arabic, though pronounced basha due to the absence of the /p/ sound in Arabic.
Role in Ottoman and Egyptian political system
Within the Ottoman Empire, the Sultan had the right to bestow the title of Pasha. Lucy Mary Jane Garnett wrote in the 1904 work Turkish Life in Town and Country that it was the sole "Turkish title which carries with it any definite rank and precedence".
It was through this custom that the title () 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 (now Istanbul), 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 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.
It was also part of the official style of the Kapudan Pasha (Grand Admiral of the Ottoman fleet). Pashas ranked above Beys and Aghas, but below Khedives and Viziers.
Three grades of Pasha existed, distinguished by the number of horse tails (three, two, and one respectively; a symbol of Turco-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, as sovereign commander in chief.