Begzada (
Kurdish
Kurdish may refer to:
*Kurds or Kurdish people
*Kurdish language
** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji)
**Central Kurdish (Sorani)
**Southern Kurdish
** Laki Kurdish
*Kurdish alphabets
*Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes:
**Southern ...
), Beyzade (
Turkish), and Begzadići (Slavic), Beizadea (Romanian), Begzadi (female) "Bəyzadə" (Azerbaijani) are titles given within the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
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.
Social status
The Begzada as a caste developed in
Kurdistan
Kurdistan (, ; ), or Greater Kurdistan, is a roughly defined geo- cultural region in West Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, languages, and national identity have historically been based. G ...
among some of the chief tribes and householders such as those of the
Jaff
The Jaff tribe, () is one of the largest Kurds, Kurdish Kurdish tribes, tribal confederation, The Jaf tribes of Iraq were used to be called Muradi while those of Iran where called Javānrudi. Their heartland is between Sulaymaniyah to Sanandaj. ...
s,
Khoshnaws,
Feylis Berwaris and the Bayat Begzade family descendants .
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.
See also
*
Beg or
Baig
Bey, also spelled as Baig, Bayg, Beigh, Beig, Bek, Baeg, Begh, or Beg, is a Turkic title for a chieftain, and a royal, aristocratic title traditionally applied to people with special lineages to the leaders or rulers of variously sized areas i ...
*
Behzadi
*
Khanzada
*
Shahzada
*
Sahibzada
Sahib or Saheb () is a term of address originating from Arabic (). As a loanword, ''Sahib'' has passed into several languages, including Persian, Kurdish, Turkish, Azerbaijani, Kazakh, Uzbek, Turkmen, Tajik, Crimean Tatar, Urdu, Hi ...
*
Begzadići
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