Bey

Bey, title for a native ruler or provincial governor that was used throughout the Ottoman Empire. The term is Turkish for “prince” or “governor”, and once indicated a tribal leader or a relative of the monarch, although it is now used only as a polite form of address. Egypt was effectively ruled by Mameluke beys from the 16th to the 18th centuries. In Tunisia, the term was used from 1705 onwards with the founding of the Husaynid dynasty; following the change in status of Tunisia in 1881 to a French protectorate, the bey’s role was reduced to that of a nominal ruler, and was finally abolished when the country became a republic in 1957. The title of “bey” was also used in Kazakhstan.