Begzade (

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...

), Beyzade (Turkic), and Begzadići (Slavic), Beizadea (Romanian), Begzadi (female) are titles given within the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

to provisional governors and military generals who are descendants of noble households and occupy important positions within the empire. The term "Beyzade" often appears in Western accounts of the Ottoman Empire as superiors within the society, usually men who held much authority. In Eastern Europe, the Balkans, the Caucasus, and some parts of Anatolia and Iraqi Kurdistan, the title of Beyzade was given to Circassian princes who led parts of the Ottoman conquest in these regions.http://www.collinsdictionary.com/submission/12445/Begzada

Social status

The Begzade as a caste developed in

Kurdistan Kurdistan ( ku, کوردستان ,Kurdistan ; lit. "land of the Kurds") or Greater Kurdistan is a roughly defined geo-cultural territory in Western Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, Kurdish la ...

among some of the chief tribes and householders such as those of the

Jaff Jaff ( ku, جاف; also ''Jahf'', ''Jaaf'', ''Jaf'', ''Caf'') is the largest Kurdish tribe also known as clan, living in the borderlands of Iran and Iraq. Their heartland is between Sulaymaniyah to Sanandaj. The tribe predominantly adheres to the ...

Khoshnaw Khoshnaw is the name of a Kurdish tribe mainly located north of Erbil city in Kurdistan Region in Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a co ...

Feylis Feylis ( ku, فه‌یلی ,Feylî, also known as Feyli Kurds), is a Kurdish tribe mainly living in the borderlands between Iraq and Iran, and in Baghdad. They speak Feyli (also known as "Ilami" or "Southern Kurdish Feyli") which is classified a ...

and the

Berwari Barwari ( syr, ܒܪܘܪ, ku, به‌رواری, Berwarî) is a region in the Hakkari (historical region), Hakkari mountains in northern Iraq and southeastern Turkey. The region is inhabited by Assyrian people, Assyrians and Kurds, and was formerl ...

s. Begzade formed the dominant class of the tribe or household. They did not intermarry with socially inferior tribespeople; however, a member of the Begzade could be part of the caste both by kinship ties to the ruling lineage and as one of their retainers. Although regarded as Kurds, the Begzade come from an ethnically mixed background, as most of them have Circassian origins.

Notes

References

{{reflist Kurdish tribes Kurdish culture Ottoman titles Titles in Bosnia and Herzegovina during Ottoman period Titles in Serbia Titles in Pakistan Titles in India Royal titles Kurdish words and phrases