Lala ( fa, لا لا, tr, Lala, az, Lələ) was a Turkish and Persian title (of Persian origin) meaning ''tutor'' and ''statesman'' in the Ottoman and

Safavid Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...

Empire.

History

In Ottoman tradition, lalas were the experienced statesmen who were assigned as the tutors of young princes ( tr, Şehzade). While still teenagers, the princes were sent to provinces (sanjak) as provincial governors ( tr, sanjak bey). They were accompanied by their lalas who trained them in statesmanship. The purpose of this practice was to prepare the princes for the future duty of regency. Later, when the prince was enthroned as the

sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it c ...

his lala was usually promoted to be a

vizier A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called '' katib'' (secretary), who was ...

. Up to the 13th sultan Mehmet III (the end of the 16th century) all sultans enjoyed a period of provincial governorship prior to their reign. However, 14th sultan

Ahmed I Ahmed I ( ota, احمد اول '; tr, I. Ahmed; 18 April 1590 – 22 November 1617) was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1603 until his death in 1617. Ahmed's reign is noteworthy for marking the first breach in the Ottoman tradition of royal f ...

(1603–1617) who was enthroned in early teens without a period of provincial governorship, banned this practice. This meant the decrease in the status of the lala.

Atabeg vs lala

The practice of lala was even older than the Ottoman Empire. During the

Seljuk Empire The Great Seljuk Empire, or the Seljuk Empire was a high medieval, culturally Turko-Persian, Sunni Muslim empire, founded and ruled by the Qïnïq branch of Oghuz Turks. It spanned a total area of from Anatolia and the Levant in the west to ...

, the experienced statesmen accompanying the princes were called

Atabeg Atabeg, Atabek, or Atabey is a hereditary title of nobility of Turkic origin, indicating a governor of a nation or province who was subordinate to a monarch and charged with raising the crown prince. The first instance of the title's use was wit ...

or Atabey (a Turkic composite title meaning ancestor-lord). However, Seljuk Empire was highly feudalistic and atabeys frequently used their power for separatist policies whenever they felt a weakness in the central authority. (like Eldiguzids in

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

and Zengids) Online ancyclopaedia
/ref> The Ottoman Empire, on the other hand was more centralist and almost no lala tried to follow a separatist policy.

Some grand viziers of lala background

{, class="sortable wikitable" !Name !Term (as grand vizier) !Tutee , - ,

Bayezid Pasha Bayezid Pasha or Beyazid Pasha (also known as Amasyalı Beyazid Pasha; died July 1421) was an Ottoman Albanian statesman who served as grand vizier of the Ottoman Empire from 1413 to 1421.İsmail Hâmi Danişmend, Osmanlı Devlet Erkânı, Tür ...

, , 1413–1421, ,

Mehmed I Mehmed I ( 1386 – 26 May 1421), also known as Mehmed Çelebi ( ota, چلبی محمد, "the noble-born") or Kirişçi ( el, Κυριτζής, Kyritzis, "lord's son"), was the Ottoman sultan from 1413 to 1421. The fourth son of Sultan Bayezid ...

, - , Ibrahim Pasha, , 1498–1499, ,

Bayezid II Bayezid II ( ota, بايزيد ثانى, Bāyezīd-i s̱ānī, 3 December 1447 – 26 May 1512, Turkish: ''II. Bayezid'') was the eldest son and successor of Mehmed II, ruling as Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1481 to 1512. During his reign, B ...

, - , Lala Mustafa Pasha, , 1580, ,

Selim II Selim II (Ottoman Turkish: سليم ثانى ''Selīm-i sānī'', tr, II. Selim; 28 May 1524 – 15 December 1574), also known as Selim the Blond ( tr, Sarı Selim) or Selim the Drunk ( tr, Sarhoş Selim), was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire f ...

, - ,

Lala Mehmed Pasha Lala Mehmed Pasha (died 28 November 1595) was an Ottoman military commander and Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire under the reign of Mehmed III.İsmail Hâmi Danişmend, Osmanlı Devlet Erkânı, Türkiye Yayınevi, İstanbul, 1971 (Turkish) ...

, , 1595, ,

Mehmed III Mehmed III (, ''Meḥmed-i sālis''; tr, III. Mehmed; 26 May 1566 – 22 December 1603) was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1595 until his death in 1603. Mehmed was known for ordering the execution of his brothers and leading the army in the L ...

, - ,

Sokolluzade Lala Mehmed Pasha Sokolluzade Lala Mehmed Pasha (died 21 June 1606) was an Ottoman statesman from Serbian origin. He may have been a cousin of Sokollu Mehmed Pasha and served as tutor (''lala'') to a royal prince. He was the grand vizier Grand vizier ( fa, و� ...

(in the capital), , 1604–1606, ,

References

Government of the Ottoman Empire Government of Safavid Iran Ottoman titles Titles in Iran Titles in Bosnia and Herzegovina during Ottoman period