Effendi

2025-06-05T09:57:27Z

103.95.114.55:

{{short description|Title of nobility}}
{{redirect|Efendi}}
{{more footnotes|date=April 2012}}
[[File:A Turkish Effendi (1862).jpg|250px|thumb|A Turkish Effendi (1862)]]
[[File:An effendi MET ES5568.jpg|250px|thumb|Figurine of an effendi, circa 1770, hard-paste porcelain, height: 10.8 cm, [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] (New York City)]]

'''Effendi''' or '''effendy''' ({{langx|tr|efendi}} {{IPA|tr|eˈfændi|}}; {{langx|ota|[[wikt:افندی#Ottoman Turkish|افندی]]|efendi}}; originally from {{langx|grc-x-medieval|[[wikt:αφέντης#Greek|αφέντης]]}} {{IPA|el|aˈfendis|}}) is a title of nobility meaning ''[[sir]]'', ''[[lord]]'' or ''[[master (form of address)|master]]'', especially in the Ottoman Empire and the Caucasus''.'' The title itself and its other forms are originally derived from Medieval Greek ''aphentēs'' which is derived from [[Ancient Greek language|Ancient Greek]] ''authentēs'' meaning lord.<ref>{{cite book|last=El-Messiri|first=Sawsan|title=Ibn Al-Balad: A Concept of Egyptian Identity|publisher=[[Brill Publishers]]|year=1997 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vb4eAAAAIAAJ&q=effendi+turkish+title&pg=PA5|page=5|isbn=9004056645}}</ref>

It is a title of respect or courtesy, equivalent to the English [[Sir#Formal styling|Sir]]. It was used in the [[Ottoman Empire]] and [[Byzantine Empire]]. It follows the personal name, when it is used, and is generally given to members of the learned professions and to government officials who have high ranks, such as ''[[bey]]'' or ''[[pasha]]''. It may also indicate a definite office, as {{lang|tr|hekim efendi}}, chief physician to the [[sultan]]. The [[Possessive adjective|possessive]] form ''efendim'' (my master) was formerly used by [[Slavery in the Ottoman Empire|slaves]], and is commonplace in formal discourse, when answering the telephone, and can substitute for "excuse me" in some situations (e.g. asking someone to repeat something).<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Effendi|volume=9|pages=9–10}}</ref>

In the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] era, the most common title affixed to a personal name after that of ''[[Agha (Ottoman Empire)|agha]]'' was ''efendi''. Such a title would have indicated an "educated gentleman", hence by implication a graduate of a secular state school ({{lang|tr|rüşdiye}}), even though at least some if not most of these efendis had once been religious students, or even religious teachers.{{Citation needed lead|date=July 2013}}

[[Lucy Mary Jane Garnett]] wrote in the 1904 work ''Turkish Life in Town and Country'' that Ottoman Christians, women, [[mullahs]], [[sheiks]], and princes of the [[Ottoman royal family]] could become ''effendi'', a title carrying "the same significance as the French ''[[Monsieur]]''" and which was one of two "merely conventional designations as indefinite as our '[[Esquire]]' has come to be [in the United Kingdom]".<ref name=Garnettp5>[[Lucy Garnett|Garnett, Lucy Mary Jane]]. ''Turkish Life in Town and Country''. [[G.P. Putnam's Sons]], 1904. p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=t5Q4AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA5 5].</ref>

The [[History of the Republic of Turkey|Republican Turkish]] authorities abolished the title {{circa}} the 1930s.<ref>Shaw, Stanford J. and Ezel Kural Shaw. ''History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey'' (Volume II). [[Cambridge University Press]], 27 May 1977. {{ISBN|0521291666}}, 9780521291668. p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=AIET_7ji7YAC&pg=PA386 386].</ref>

==Etymology==
The [[Ottoman Turkish language|Ottoman Turkish]] word {{lang|ota|[[wikt:افندی#Ottoman Turkish|افندی]]}}, in modern [[Turkish language|Turkish]] {{lang|tr|[[wikt:efendi#Turkish|efendi]]}}, is a borrowing of the [[Medieval Greek]] {{lang|grc-x-medieval|αφέντης}} {{lang|grc-latn|aféndēs}}, from [[Byzantine Greek]] {{lang|grc-x-byzant|ἀφέντης}} {{lang|grc-latn|aphéntēs}}, from [[Ancient Greek]] {{lang|grc|[[wikt:αὐθέντης#Ancient Greek|αὐθέντης]]}} {{lang|grc-latn|authéntēs}}, "master, author, doer, perpetrator" (from which ''[[wikt:authentic|authentic]]'').<ref>{{LSJ|au)qe/nths|αὐθέντης|ref}}.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://oxforddictionaries.com/view/entry/m_en_gb0257030#m_en_gb0257030|title=effendi|website=Oxford Dictionaries}}{{dead link|date=September 2022|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref>{{OEtymD|effendi}}</ref><ref>{{OEtymD|authentic}}</ref> The word was widely used as a Greek title for [[Byzantine]] nobles as late as 1465, such as in the letters of Cardinal [[Bessarion]] concerning the children of [[Thomas Paleologus]].<ref>{{cite web|website=Surprised by Time|url=http://surprisedbytime.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/bessarion-on-imperial-hangers-on.html|title=Bessarion on the imperial hangers-on|date=16 July 2014 }}</ref>

==Other uses==

* Effendi ({{IPA|arz|æˈfændi}}) was also considered a title for a man of high education or social standing in an eastern ([[Mediterranean Basin|Mediterranean]] or [[Middle East|Middle Eastern]]) country. It was an analogous to [[esquire]], and junior to [[bey]] in [[Egypt]] during the period of the [[Muhammad Ali of Egypt|Muhammad Ali]] dynasty, and was used a lot among the Egyptians.<ref>{{cite book|last=Nassau|first=William Senior|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=QkRCAAAAIAAJ|title=Conversations and Journals in Egypt and Malta|publisher=S. Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington|year=1882|volume=2}}</ref>
*Effendi is still used as an honorific in [[Egypt]], [[Jordan]], and [[Turkey]] (as well as some other former Ottoman states), and is the source of the word أفندم؟ ''afandim?'', {{Langx|tr|efendim}}, a particularly polite way of saying, "Excuse me?",<ref>Hans-Jürgen Kornrumpf (1979) ''Langenscheidt's Universal Dictionary, Turkish-English, English-Turkish'', Langenscheidt KG, Berlin and Leipzig {{ISBN|978-0-88729-167-8}}</ref> and can be used in answering the phone.{{citation needed|date=July 2013}}
*The colonial military forces of [[East Africa Protectorate|British East Africa]] and [[German East Africa]] were built from a stock of Sudanese soldiers of the Egyptian army, which was nominally under the [[Ottoman Empire]]. These units entered East Africa with some officers who brought their title of effendi with them and, thus, it continued to be used for non-European officers of the two colonial forces. Up to the present the Swahili form ''afande'' is a way to address officers in the armies of [[Kenya]], [[Tanzania]]<ref>See entry "Afande" in TUKI KAMUSI YA KISWAHILI-KIINGEREZA, by Taasisi ya Uchunguzi wa Kiswahili, Chuo Kikuu cha Dar es Salaam; Toleo la 1 Edition (January 1, 2001), [http://www.elimuyetu.co.tz/subjects/arts/swa-eng/a.html online here]; "afande: respectful or formal address used by a soldier to his/her superior; respectful or formal answer of a soldier to his/her superior's call."</ref> and recently in [[Rwanda]] with the coming to power of [[Rwandan Patriotic Front|RPF]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Abbot |first1=Peter |title=Armies in East Africa 1914-1918 |date=2002 |publisher=Osprey |isbn=978-1-84176-489-4 |series=Men-at-Arms 379}}</ref>
** Effendi (Governor's [[Officer (armed forces)|Commissioned Officer]]) was the highest rank that African soldiers could reach in the [[King's African Rifles]] (KAR) and other [[British Colonial Auxiliary Forces]] units until 1961 (from then, promotions to commissioned officers became possible). They were equivalent to the [[Viceroy's Commissioned Officer]]s in the [[British Indian Army]]. An Effendi's authority was confined to other KAR troops ([[askari]]s), and he could not command white troops. The KAR rank came into disuse during the 1930s and was reintroduced in 1956.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KoLbjlIYLzwC&q=warrant+officers+platoon+commanders+wopcs|first=Timothy H.|last=Parsons|title= The 1964 Army Mutinies And The Making Of Modern East Africa|publisher=Praeger Publishers|place=Westport, CT|year=2003|isbn=0-325-07068-7}}</ref>
** Effendi was also a non-European's officer rank in the [[Schutztruppe]] of [[German East Africa]]. Similar to the practice, Effendis were promoted by a governor's warrant, not by a [[kaiser]]'s commission, as white commissioned officers were. Effendis had no authority over white troops. In the Schutztruppe this rank was used, together with other ranks of Ottoman origin like "Tschausch" (sergeant) and "Ombascha" (corporal).<ref>Armies in East Africa 1914-18, Osprey Men-at-Arms, Peter Abbott, 2002, {{ISBN|978-1-84176-489-4}}</ref> During the First World War askari NCOs were promoted to the rank of Effendi for exemplary service and leadership.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://s400910952.websitehome.co.uk/germancolonialuniforms/doa%20effendi.htm|title=German Colonial Uniforms|website=s400910952.websitehome.co.uk}}</ref>
* In [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]] "Efendija" refers to Muslim clerics.{{citation needed|date=July 2013}}
* In [[Indonesia]] and [[Malaysia]], "Effendi" can be used as a masculine [[first name]].{{citation needed|date=July 2013}}
* In [[Pakistan]] and [[India]], "Effendi" is the surname of some families whose ancestors migrated from [[Turkey]] or [[Afghanistan]].{{citation needed|date=July 2013}}
* In [[Afghanistan]], some members of the former ruling [[Barakzai]] clan of [[Durrani]]s also use "Effendi" or a variant "Affandi" as their surname.{{citation needed|date=July 2013}}
* In [[China]], "Effendi" (阿凡提) often refers to [[Nasreddin]].{{citation needed|date=July 2013}}
* Jazz pianist [[McCoy Tyner]] has one composition named "Effendi". It appears on his debut album, [[Inception (McCoy Tyner album)|''Inception'']].<ref name=gelfland>Gelfand, A. [{{Allmusic|class=album|id=r149216|pure_url=yes}} Allmusic Review] accessed February 19, 2009.</ref>
* [[Shoghi Effendi]], born '''Shoghí Rabbání''', acquired the title from [[ʻAbdu'l-Bahá]] in his youth.

==See also==
* [[Byzantine bureaucracy and aristocracy]]
* [[Ottoman titles]]
* [[Mustafa Sabri Efendi]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*Baranovitch, Nimrod. "From the Margins to the Center." ''China Quarterly'' 175: 726-750 . Cambridge Univ. Press, 2003.
*Drompp, Michael. ''Tang China And The Collapse Of The Uighur Empire: A History''. Brill Academic Publishers, 2004.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20011007123324/http://www.readliterature.com/glossary.htm ReadLiterature.com - Definition of Efendi]
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=d5LAxdb53t4C&dq=efendi%2Bis%2Btitle&pg=PA299 A Nation of Empire: The Ottoman Legacy of Turkish Modernity]

[[Category:Greek language]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek]]
[[Category:Ottoman titles]]
[[Category:Titles in North Africa]]
[[Category:Titles in Middle East]]
[[Category:Titles in Pakistan]]
[[Category:Titles in Lebanon]]
[[Category:Titles in Bosnia and Herzegovina during Ottoman period]]

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Effendi