Turkey of the Ottomans #247420

With the exception of these provincial families, however, the Ottomans have never had an aristocracy, properly so called. All the subjects of the Empire were held to be on a level at the feet of their Padishah, who conferred the title Of Pasha on the men whom he delighted to honour, and, when displeased with them, deprived them of rank and fortune — if not also of their heads — and relegated them to their original Obscurity. This title of Pasha is the only one that carries with it any definite rank and precedence. Bey and Effendi are merely conventional designations as indefinite as our Esquire has come to be. The former is generally applied to high government officials, generals, colonels, and to distinguished persons and their sons. The latter has the same signification as the French Monsieur, and is applied indiscriminately to princes Of the Royal House, to mollahs and Sheikhs, to ladies, and to native Christians. It is also used in conjunction with other titles, a gentleman being addressed as Bey Effendi or Pasha Effendi, and a lady as Hanum Effendi. Agha is applied to non commissioned officers and respectable elderly Turks, and Tchelebi (gentleman) to persons of the better class generally, whether Christian or Moslem.