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Pasha (; ; ) was a high rank in the Ottoman Empire political and military system, typically granted to , , dignitary, 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. (2025). 9782801112601, De Boeck Supérieur. ISBN 9782801112601
According to Online Etymology Dictionary, the Turkish pasha or basha was itself from Turkish / bash (باش 'head, chief'), itself from Old Persian pati- ('master', from Proto-Indo-European * ) and the root of the Persian word shah, شاه. According to Oxford Dictionaries, the Turkish word from which it was borrowed was formed as a result of the combination of the Pahlavi language words pati- 'lord', and shah (). According to Josef W. Meri and Jere L. Bacharach, the word is "more than likely derived from the Persian Padishah" (پادشاه). (2025). 9780415966924, Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9780415966924 The same view is held by Nicholas Ostler, who mentions that the word was formed as a shortening of the Persian word padishah. (2025). 9780141922218, Penguin UK. ISBN 9780141922218 Jean Deny also attributed its origin to padishah, while repeating a suggestion by Gerhard Doerfer that it was influenced by Turkic languages baskak (bāsqāq), meaning 'agent, tax collector'.
Some theories have posited a Turkish or Turkic origin of the word, claiming it derived from başağa (bāş āghā), which denoted a 'principal elder brother' or 'prince's elder son' in the pre-Ottoman period. According to etymologist italic=no, the word is derived from Turkish beşe (بچّه 'boy, prince'), which is cognate with Persian bačče (بچّه). Some earlier Turkish lexicographers, such as Ahmed Vefik Paşa and Mehmed Salahi, argued it was most likely derived from Turkish başa or Turkish beşe, the latter meaning 'elder brother' and being a title given to some Ottoman provincial officials and Janissary.
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 language word bassa. 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.
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 people 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 Ottoman 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 and Aghas, but below and .
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.
The following military ranks entitled the holder to the style Pasha (lower ranks were styled Bey or merely Effendi):
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, wilayah. Both Beylerbey (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, such as the Pasha or Bashaw of Tripoli.
Ottoman and Egyptian authorities conferred the title upon both 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. In an Egyptian context, the Abaza Family is known as "the family of the pashas" for having produced the largest number of nobles holding this title under the Muhammad Ali dynasty and was noted in Egyptian media in 2014 as one of the main "families that rule Egypt" to this day, and as "deeply rooted in Egyptian society and… in the history of the country."
The sons of a Pasha were styled Pashazada or Pashazade.
In modern Egyptian Arabic 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 formal way of addressing one's male peers.
The Grand National Assembly of Turkey abolished the title Paşa, along with all other titles and nicknames, through Law No. 2590, known as the Law on the Abolition of Titles and Nicknames, enacted on November 26, 1934Shaw, Stanford J. and Ezel Kural Shaw. History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey (Volume II). Cambridge University Press, 27 May 1977. , 9780521291668. p. 386 . Although Paşa title is no longer an official title, of the Turkish Armed Forces are often unofficially referred to as Paşa along with General by the Turkish public and media.
In the Marine nationale, "pasha" ( pacha in French) is the nickname of the Commanding Officer, similar to the term "skipper" in the Anglophone navies. [3]
]] The inclusion criterion is that the person held the rank of "pasha" in his society
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