''Kolağası'' (also written as ''Kol Ağası'', ''Kol Aghasi'') was a

military rank Military ranks is a system of hierarchy, hierarchical relationships within armed forces, police, Intelligence agency, intelligence agencies, paramilitary groups, and other institutions organized along military organisation , military lines, such ...

of the

Ottoman Army The Military of the Ottoman Empire () was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. It was founded in 1299 and dissolved in 1922. Army The Military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the years ...

. It corresponds to a Senior Captain or an Adjutant

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

. Erik Jan Zürcher, ''The Unionist Factor: The Role of the Committee of Union and Progress in the Turkish National Movement, 1905-1926'', BRILL, 1984,
p. 64.
/ref> ''Kol Ağası'' is a compound word composed of ''Kol'' (

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...

in Turkish) and ''

Ağa Ağa is a Turkish surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Mustapha Aga, Ottoman Empire ambassador to the Swedish Court *Osman Aga of Temesvar, Ottoman army officer *Sedefkar Mehmed Agha, Ottoman architect of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque *Sul ...

'' (chief in Turkish). The rank was junior to the rank '' Binbaşı'' (Major), and senior to the rank ''Yüzbaşı'' (

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

) in the Ottoman Army. Despite being a single rank, ''Kolağası'' was divided in two: ''Sağ Kolağası'' (Kolağası of the Right Flank) and ''Sol Kolağası'' (Kolağası of the Left Flank). ''Sağ Kolağası'' was senior to ''Sol Kolağası''. After the rank of ''Yüzbaşı'' (Captain), an officer had to first become ''Sol Kolağası'', before becoming ''Sağ Kolağası''.

Sources

Military ranks of the Ottoman Empire Turkish words and phrases {{Ottoman-stub

See also

Sources