Bey
Bey,
Today, the word is still used formally as a social title for men, similar to the way the titles "
Etymology
The word entered English from Turkish bey,[2] itself derived from Old Turkic beg,[3] which – in the form bäg – has been mentioned as early as in the Orkhon inscriptions (8th century AD) and is usually translated as "tribal leader".[4][5] The actual origin of the word is still disputed, though it is mostly agreed that it was a loan-word,[4] in Old Turkic.[6] This Turkic word is usually considered a borrowing from an Iranian language.[7][5] However, German Turkologist Gerhard Doerfer assessed the derivation from Iranian as superficially attractive but quite uncertain,[5] and pointed out the possibility that the word may be genuinely Turkic.[4] Two principal etymologies have been proposed by scholars:
- the Middle Persian title bag (also baγ or βaγ,[5] Old Iranian baga; cf. Sanskrit भग / bhaga) meaning "lord" and "master".[5] Peter Golden derives the word via Sogdian bġy from the same Iranian root.[4][8] All Middle Iranian languages retain forms derived from baga- in the sense "god": Middle Persian bay (plur. bayān, baʾān), Parthian baγ, Bactrian bago, Sogdian βγ-,[5] and were used as honorific titles of kings and other men of high rank in the meaning of "lord".[5][9] The Iranian bāy (through connection with Old Indian noun bhāgá "possessions, lot"[10][5]) gave Turkish word bai (rich), whence Mongol name Bayan (rich).[5][7]
- the Chinese title pö (伯 Mandarin bó; its historical pronunciation being pök or pak or perjk, as reconstructed Edwin Pulleyblank), meaning older brother and feudal lord.[4]
It was also used by the
Turkish beys
The Republican Turkish authorities abolished the title circa the 1930s.[17]
Beys elsewhere
The title bey (
Even much earlier, the virtual sovereign's title in Barbaresque North African 'regency' states was "Bey" (compare
- Just Bey itself was part of the territorial title of the ruler, and also as a title used by all male members of the family (rather like Sultan in the Ottoman dynasty).
- Bey al-Kursi "Bey of the Throne", a term equivalent to reigning prince.
- Bey al-Mahalla "Bey of the Camp", title used for the next most senior member of the Beylical family after the reigning Bey, the Heir Apparent to the throne.
- Bey al-Taula "Bey of the Table", the title of the Heir Presumptive, the eldest prince of the Beylical family, who enjoyed precedence immediately after the Bey al-Mahalla.
- Beylerbeyi (or Beglerbegi) "Lord of Lords", was the administrative rank formally enjoyed by the ruler of Algiers and by rulers of parts of the Balkans in their official capacity of Ottoman Governor-General within the Turkish empire.This title was also used in Safavid empire.
Bey was also the title that was awarded by the Sultan of Turkey in the twilight of the Ottoman Empire to
In the
Other Beys saw their own Beylik promoted to statehood, e.g.:
- in Algiers regency since 1525 (had its own Beys since 1567), the last incumbent, Ahmed Bey ben Mohamed Chérif (b. c. 1784, in office 1826–1848, d. 1850), was maintained when in 1826 the local Kabyle population declared independence, and when it was on 13 October 1837 conquered by France, until it was incorporated into Algeriain 1848.
Bey or a variation has also been used as an aristocratic title in various Turkic states, such as Bäk in the
Sometimes a Bey was a territorial vassal within a khanate, as in each of the three zuzes under the Khan of the Kazakhs.
The variation Beg, Baig or Bai, is still used as a family name or a part of a name in South and Central Asia as well as the
The title is also used as an honorific by members of the
'Bey' is also used colloquially in Urdu-speaking parts of India, and its usage is similar to "chap" or "man". When used aggressively, it is an offensive term.
Notes
- Arabic: بيه, بك, romanized: bēh, bek
See also
- Kazakh khanate
- Begum
- Beylerbey
- Begzada
- Atabeg
- Dey
- Khagan Bek
- Skanderbeg
- Bai Baianai
- Anatolian beyliks
- Ottoman titles
- Abaza Family
References
- ^ "北京保利国际拍卖有限公司". polypm.com.cn.
- ^ "Bey". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 22 March 2008.
- ^ "Bey". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. Archived from the original on 8 March 2008. Retrieved 22 March 2008.
- ^ a b c d e "Beg". Encyclopædia Iranica. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Baga". Encyclopædia Iranica. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
- ^ "Bey" in Nişanyan Dictionary
- ^ a b Alemko Gluhak (1993), Hrvatski etimološki rječnik, August Cesarec: Zagreb, pp. 123–124
- ^ P. Golden, "Turks and Iranians: An historical sketch", in S. Agcagül/V. Karam/L. Johanson/C. Bulut, Turkic-Iranian Contact Areas: Historical and Linguistic Aspects, Harrassowit, 2006, p. 19ff
- ^ Daryaee, Touraj (2010), "Ardashir and the Sasanian's Rise to Power" (PDF), Anabasis: Studia Classica et Orientalia, vol. 1, p. 239, archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016, retrieved 24 April 2015
- ^ Eilers, Wilhelm (22 August 2011). "Bāḡ". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Online Edition. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
- ISBN 0231107862. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
- ISBN 978-1136827068. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
- ISBN 978-0231139243. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
- ISBN 0520230159. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
- ISBN 0-8047-2933-6. Retrieved 28 November 2010.
- ^ Garnett, Lucy Mary Jane. Turkish Life in Town and Country. G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1904. p. 5.
- ISBN 0521291666, 9780521291668. p. 386.
- ^ Marcel, Jean Joseph (1837). Vocabulaire français-arabe des dialectes vulgaires africains: d'Alger, de Tunis, de Marok, et d'Égypte (in French). C. Hingray. p. 90.
بيك beyk, bey.
- sanjaq-bey≈ bey = beyk = beyg.
- ^ Journal asiatique (in French). 1854. p. 484.
Le titre de beg بيـگ (prononcé bey) ou bek بيى, qui, en Barbie est écrit et prononcé bâï بك est proprement un mot turc.
- ^ "Private Drawing Room, I, Kasr-el-Said, Tunisia". World Digital Library. 1899. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
External links
- "Bey" at Encyclopaedia of the Orient.