Reis ( ''ra‘īs''; sometimes spelled ''rais'') was a military rank 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) ...

, akin to that of a naval

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

or (in the Levant) a commodore, that was commonly added to the officer's name as an epithet during the

. Examples include: * Piri "Reis" * Turgut "Reis" * Uluç Ali "Reis" * Hizir "Reis" * Seydi Ali "Reis" * Oruç "Reis" The rank ''Reis Pasha'' referred to an Admiral, while the Kapudan Pasha (akin to Grand Admiral; literally "Captain Pasha") title referred to the commander-in-chief of the Ottoman Navy fleet. The rank is also a quasi-aristocratic title in Lebanon and Syria's coastlines denoting a landed or formerly landed family that swore fealty to Fakhr al-Din II during their alliance with the

Medici The House of Medici ( , ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici, in the Republic of Florence during the first half of the 15th century. The family originated in the Muge ...

in the 17th century. It is roughly equivalent to a Baron, however titles of the Ottoman and subordinate nobility seldom translates to Western peerages. The only extant "Ru'assa" in Lebanon are the "House of El Azzi" in

Tabarja Tabarja ( ar, طبرجا) is an ancient coastal village in Lebanon, situated in Kesrouan, Etymology The name "Tabarja" is of uncertain origins. It bears a similarity to the Turkic word "Tabarjin", which means "battle axe", and also to the Persi ...

whom escaped persecution in the 19th century and abandoned their ancestral homes in the Chouf.

References

Military ranks of the Ottoman Empire Military ranks of Turkey Ottoman titles Turkish titles Titles in Bosnia and Herzegovina during Ottoman period {{Turkey-mil-stub