The rank, office, or period of rule of a dey; the office of ruler in Ottoman territories like Algeria and Tunisia.
From dey + -ship (Old English suffix denoting office or status). This term appears in colonial and Ottoman histories from the 17th century onward.
A deyship could be incredibly brief and dangerous—deys were sometimes overthrown by their own military officers (the Janissaries), making it one of history's most precarious political positions!
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