''Sanjak-bey'', ''sanjaq-bey'' or ''-beg'' ( ota, سنجاق بك) () was the title given in 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 a
bey
Bey ( ota, بك, beğ, script=Arab, tr, bey, az, bəy, tk, beg, uz, бек, kz, би/бек, tt-Cyrl, бәк, translit=bäk, cjs, пий/пек, sq, beu/bej, sh, beg, fa, بیگ, beyg/, tg, бек, ar, بك, bak, gr, μπέης) is ...
(a high-ranking officer, but usually not a
pasha
Pasha, Pacha or Paşa ( ota, پاشا; tr, paşa; sq, Pashë; ar, باشا), in older works sometimes anglicized as bashaw, was a higher rank in the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, gener ...
) appointed to the military and administrative command of a district (''
sanjak
Sanjaks (liwāʾ) (plural form: alwiyāʾ)
* Armenian language, Armenian: նահանգ (''nahang''; meaning "province")
* Bulgarian language, Bulgarian: окръг (''okrǔg''; meaning "county", "province", or "region")
* el, Διοίκησι ...
'', in Arabic ''
liwa’''), hence the equivalent Arabic title of ''amir liwa'' ( )
He was answerable to a superior ''
wāli'' or another provincial governor. In a few cases the ''sanjak-bey'' was himself directly answerable to
Istanbul
Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
.
Like other early Ottoman administrative offices, the ''sanjak-bey'' had a military origin: the term ''sanjak'' (and ''liva'') means "flag" or "standard" and denoted the insigne around which, in times of war, the cavalrymen holding fiefs (''
timar
A timar was a land grant by the sultans of the Ottoman Empire between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, with an annual tax revenue of less than 20,000 akçes. The revenues produced from the land acted as compensation for military service. A ...
s'' or ''
ziamet Ziamet was a form of land tenure in the Ottoman Empire, consisting in grant of lands or revenues by the Ottoman Sultan to an individual in compensation for their services, especially military services. The ziamet system was introduced by Osman I, wh ...
s'') in the specific district gathered. The ''sanjakbey'' was in turn subordinate to a ''
beylerbey
''Beylerbey'' ( ota, بكلربكی, beylerbeyi, lit=bey of beys, meaning the 'commander of commanders' or 'lord of lords') was a high rank in the western Islamic world in the late Middle Ages and early modern period, from the Anatolian Seljuks ...
'' ("bey of beys") who governed an ''
eyalet
Eyalets ( Ottoman Turkish: ایالت, , English: State), also known as beylerbeyliks or pashaliks, were a primary administrative division of the Ottoman Empire.
From 1453 to the beginning of the nineteenth century the Ottoman local government ...
'' and commanded his subordinate ''sanjak-beys'' in war. In this way, the structure of command on the battlefield resembled the hierarchy of provincial government.
The office of ''sanjak-bey'' resembled that of the ''beylerbey'' on a more modest scale. Like the ''beylerbey'', the ''sanjak-bey'' drew his income from a prebend, which consisted usually of revenues from the towns, quays and ports within the boundary of his ''sanjak''.
Within his own sanjak, a governor was responsible above all for maintaining order and, with the cooperation of the fief holders, arresting and punishing wrongdoers. For this, he usually received half of the fines imposed on miscreants, with the fief holder on whose lands the misdeed took place, receiving the other half. ''Sanjak'' governors also had other duties, for example, the pursuit of bandits, the investigation of heretics, the provision of supplies for the army, or the despatch of materials for shipbuilding, as the sultan commanded.
See also
*
Mirliva
''Mirliva'' or ''Mîr-i livâ'' was a military rank of the Ottoman Army and Navy. It corresponds to a brigadier general (modern Turkish: ''Tuğgeneral'') in the modern Turkish Army. ''Mirliva'' is a compound word composed of ''Mir'' (commander) ...
*
Beg
*
Beg Khan Beg Khan, or Bekkhan among the Muslim areas of Russia, is a concatenation of ''Baig'', and ''Khan'' titles originally used in Central Asia and the Middle East to indicate nobility or high rank. It is used as part of the name or title by the followin ...
References
Gubernatorial titles
Military ranks of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman titles
Civil servants from the Ottoman Empire
Titles in Bosnia and Herzegovina during Ottoman period
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