A district or province ruled by a bashaw (high official) in the Ottoman Empire or other Islamic territories.
From Turkish 'başalık,' derived from 'başa' (to a pasha/chief) + suffix '-lik' (state/condition). Used in English since the 1600s for Ottoman administrative divisions.
Bashalicks were power bases where ambitious officials built private armies and governed with almost complete autonomy—they were so independent that Ottoman sultans constantly worried about rebellions from these distant provinces.
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