In the Ottoman Empire, the high rank of Pasha (or pascha, bashaw; Turkish spelling: paşa) typically distinguished governors and generals. Pashas governed territories called pashaluks or eyalets. The word pasbalik designates a province governed by or under the jurisdiction of a pasha.
Pashas ranked above beys, but below khedives and viziers.
The title of Pasha was in the gift of the sultan of Turkey and, by delegation, of the khedive of Egypt. The title appears, originally, to have applied exclusively to military commanders, but subsequently it could distinguish any high official, and also unofficial persons whom their superiors desired to honour.
Ottoman authorities conferred the title indifferently upon Moslems and Christians, and frequently gave it to foreigners in the service of the Turks or of the Egyptians. Three grades of pasha exist, formerly distinguished by the number of horse-tails (three, two and one respectively) which they had the entitlement to display as symbols of authority when on campaign.
Etymologists variously derive the word pasha from the Persian padshah, Turkish padishah, equivalent to "king" or "emperor", and from the Turkish bash (in some dialects pash), a "head", "chief", etc.
Old Turkish had no fixed distinction between /b/ and /p/. As first used in western Europe the title appeared in writing with the initial "b". The English forms bashaw, bassaw, bucha, etc., general in the 16th and 17th century, derive through the medieval Latin and Italian word bass.
In usage, the title followed the given name. Although the word serves as a non-hereditary title, English-speakers have commonly used pasha as if it formed part of a personal name, as for instance in Ibrahim Pasha or Emin Pasha.
Notable pashas: