middle eastern officers

[Dago Red]

Does anyone know what officers/captains/generals, etc would be called in the various muslim armies of the time?

For example what would a man commanding a group of men or horse be commonly called in the Turkish Sultanate/Sultanate of Rum? Not the Sultan, just an officer of some type...

And is this the same for the slave classes like the Ghulams?

[garudamon11]

ghulams actually means "junior" in arabic
as for arabic officers , i dont know much but commander is qa'id in arabic

[Dago Red]

Okay something for the Arabs, anyone know for the Turks... I assume the same can be said for the Sultanate of Rum/Turkish sultanate, the great seljuks, and maybe even the Kypchaks and other Turkic peoples?

Remember the Turks are not Arabs they are Turks... from a different part of the world, invaders of the Arab world.

But the Ghulams seemed to be a common link among Turks, Arabs, and Persians so perhaps there was a common lingo for officers?

[wudang_clown]

Remember the Turks are not Arabs they are Turks... from a different part of the world, invaders of the Arab world.

Not in XII century. Seljuk sultans and their administration were using Arabic and Persian titulature ('sultan' is Arabic title) and adapted Persian and Arabic culture. This, roughly speaking, was one of the reasons of Oghuz Turks rebellion in mid XII century.

[Dago Red]

Bey is a Turkish warlord type but i'm not sure how powerful/ranking. I guess it depends on the house/tribe...

[Qarama]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binbashi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agha_(Ottoman_Empire)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yarbay

[Dago Red]

Yes another point of confusion/complexity.

Well, that actually makes it simpler.
I know there was a great mingling of culture, so much so that most Americans think they are all just one people.

It seems to me these are some general correlations:

Bey/Beg (Chief) = Noble Lord

Atabey/Atabeg (High Chief) = High Noble Lord / Governor

Emir = Prince / General

Vizier = Minster

[Qarama]

In the book i was reading (a book about the city Denizli) it is written that turcomans asked the Ilkhanates for help because a Seljuq leader wanted to give the city Denizli to the Byzantines. The reason for that "gift" was that the Sultan wanted byzantine soldiers and with the help of this army he wanted to be the Sultan. Turcoman/ Oguz rebellions happened many times. Note Denizli is one of the unique citys which was build by Turks and with a turkish name. Denizli was build near the antique citys of Hierapolis and Laodicea.

And i partly agree that Turks get persianized/ arabized. Persian was the language of art and poetry you can compare it to greek and latin in the western world. Arabic is the language of the religion and medicine. And don't forget the books which were written in old turkish or turkic. For example the "Divan-i Lugat-it Turk" or "Baburnama" "Muhakamat al-Lughatayn" etc.