Lala (, , ) was a
Turkish and
Persian title (of
Persian origin) meaning ''tutor'' and ''statesman'' in the
Ottoman and
Safavid Empires.
History
In Ottoman tradition, lalas were the experienced statesmen who were assigned as the tutors of young princes (. While still teenagers, the princes were sent to provinces (sanjak) as provincial governors (). They were accompanied by their lalas who trained them in statesmanship. The purpose of this practice was to prepare the princes for the future duties of regency. Later, when the prince was enthroned as the
sultan
Sultan (; ', ) 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 came to be use ...
, his lala was usually promoted to be a
vizier
A vizier (; ; ) is a high-ranking political advisor or Minister (government), minister in the Near East. The Abbasids, Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was at first merely a help ...
.
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 (1603–1617), who was enthroned in his early teens without a period of provincial governorship, banned this practice. This meant a 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 Seljuk Empire, or the Great Seljuk Empire, was a High Middle Ages, high medieval, culturally Turco-Persian tradition, Turco-Persian, Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslim empire, established and ruled by the Qiniq (tribe), Qïnïq branch of Oghuz Turks. ...
, the experienced statesmen accompanying the princes were called
Atabeg
Atabeg, Atabek, or Atabey is a hereditary title of nobility of Turkic language, 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 ti ...
or Atabey (a Turkic composite title meaning ancestor-lord). However, the 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, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...
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, , 1413–1421, , Mehmed I
, -
, Ibrahim Pasha, , 1498–1499, , Bayezid II
, -
, Lala Mustafa Pasha, , 1580, , Selim II
, -
, Lala Mehmed Pasha, , 1595, , Mehmed III
, -
, Sokolluzade Lala Mehmed Pasha
(in the capital), , 1604–1606, , Ahmed I
See also
* Lalla (title)
References
Government of the Ottoman Empire
Government of Safavid Iran
Ottoman titles
Titles in Iran
Titles in Bosnia and Herzegovina during Ottoman period