Agha (title)

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Agha ( Turkish spelling: Ağa ; belonging to the tribe aḳ , 'white', and originally denoting an old person or old man) is a title of Mongolian origin.

The title has different meanings in the various Turkic languages : in Turkish, for example, it means u. a. "Older brother" (as in later Ottoman) and in Yakut "father". Other meanings such as “uncle”, “grandfather” and “older sister” are also documented. The Mongols used the term as an honorific in the sense of "older brother" or "older family member". In older Ottoman, aḫy was an honorary title for scholars.

In the Ottoman language , Agha meant  /اغا"Leader", "Lord" or "Landowner". Agha was a title for civil and military dignitaries in the Ottoman Empire . In the military it initially referred to the commander of a branch of service , such as the commander of the Janissaries ( Yeniçeri Ağası  /يکيچرى اغاسی), or the artillery ( Topçu Ağa ). Agha later designated a captain and civilian officials of the same rank.

The next higher title was Bey . The commanders of the Janissaries, on the other hand, ranked tied with the Pashas , which is why they were entitled to two to three horse tails as a badge of rank.

The title was placed at the end of the name and was used until the beginning of the 19th century to address everyone who was not entitled to the designation “Herr” (bey or efendi) . Today it is widely used for large landowners in eastern Turkey.

The title was abolished in Turkey in 1934 and in Egypt in 1953.

In today's Turkish language, the composition ağabey , usually abi , is used with the meaning of older brother and is also used as a salutation among young people.

In Persian Āghā means (آغا, DMG Āġā ) "Eunuch, title of the eunuch", whereas the similarly pronounced title Āqā (آقا, DMG Āqā ) in the meaning "lord, master, landlord, landlord" is the normal, respectful form of address for men: Āqā-ye Hedāyat = Mr. Hedāyat. In other semantic contexts, however, both terms are mixed up with one another. ( Chānom is called to women .)

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Karl Lokotsch : Etymological dictionary of the European (Germanic, Romanic and Slavic) words of oriental origin . Carl Winter, Heidelberg 1927; 2nd, unchanged edition 1975 (= Indo-European Library. Volume 2), p. 3 (on Turkish aġa ).
  2. ^ Karl Lokotsch (1927), p. 3.
  3. ↑ Article Aqa in the Encyclopædia Iranica .
  4. ^ Karl Lokotsch (1927), p. 3.
  5. ^ Klaus Kreiser : Small Turkey Lexicon. Beck, Munich 1992, ISBN 3-406-33184-X , p. 12.
  6. ↑ By law no. 2590 of November 26, 1934 on the cancellation of the salutations and titles "Efendi", "Bey", "Pascha" and the like, RG No. 2867 of November 29, 1934 ( online ).
  7. ↑ See Junker, Alavi: Persian-German Dictionary. Leipzig / Tehran 1970, p. 43.
  8. ↑ See Junker, Alavi: Persian-German Dictionary. Leipzig / Tehran 1970, p. 47.