''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 (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 political and military system, typically granted to governors, generals, dignita ...

) appointed to the military and administrative command of a district (''

sanjak Sanjaks (liwāʾ) (plural form: alwiyāʾ) * Armenian: նահանգ (''nahang''; meaning "province") * Bulgarian: окръг (''okrǔg''; meaning "county", "province", or "region") * el, Διοίκησις (''dioikēsis'', meaning "province" ...

'', in Arabic '' liwa’''), hence the equivalent Arabic title of ''amir liwa'' ( ) He was answerable to a superior ''

wāli ''Wāli'', ''Wā'lī'' or ''vali'' (from ar, والي ''Wālī'') is an administrative title that was used in the Muslim World (including the Caliphate and Ottoman Empire) to designate governors of administrative divisions. It is still in us ...

'' or another provincial governor. In a few cases the ''sanjak-bey'' was himself directly answerable to

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

. 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 ...

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 Selj ...

'' ("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.

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 {{Ottoman-stub

See also

References