Beylerbey (from Beylerbeyi, Ottoman Turkish for "Bey of Beys", meaning "Commander of Commanders" or "Lord of Lords"; originally Beglerbeg(i) in older Turkic, is the Ottoman and Safavid title used for the highest rank in the hierarchy of provincial administrators (all military officers, at high levels generally pashas), in western terms a Governor-general, with authority over the Governors (often styled Wali) of several vilayets, generally (if not yet made) a Pasha (circa General), second only to the Grand Vizier.

The rank was used (with many different spelling variants) initially for very large parts of the empire – all of Anatolia and Rumelia – but in later centuries the title was devaluated by extending it to the governors of various much smaller Ottoman eyalets.

[edit] See also

• Bey, his jurisdiction Beylik
• Subdivisions of the Ottoman Empire

[edit] Sources and references

• RoyalArk- OttomanTurkey-Glossary
• Encyclopaedia Iranica. Beglerbegī

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