# Baig

Baig, also commonly spelled Bayg, Beigh, Beg, Bek, Bey, Baeg or Begh was a Turkic title which is today used as a name to identify lineage. It is the equivalent of Chief or Commander and is an honorific title. It is common in Caucasus, Central Asia, South Asia and Southeast Europe and among their respective diaspora.

## Etymology

While the origin of beg is not entirely unitary, it is mostly agreed that it is a Turkic loan-word. Two principal etymologies have been proposed. The first etymology is from a Middle Iranian form of Old Iranian baga (meaning: God); though the meaning would better fit the Middle Persian form of the word meaning "lord", used for the king or other nobility. The second etymology is from Chinese po "eldest (brother), (feudal) lord". Gerhard Doerfer seriously considers the possibility that the word is genuinely Turkic. Another possible but unlikely connection is the Turkish berk, Mongolian berke (strong) or Turkish bögü, Mongolian böge (wizard, shaman) - either of which terms being honorific in nature.
While the term is most common as a surname in South Asia to identify descent from the upper echelons of the Mughal Empire, Baig and Beg was also subsequently used as a military rank in the Ottoman Empire.
It was also used by the Uyghurs, it permitted the Turkic Begs in the Altishahr region to maintain their previous status, and they administered the area for the Qing as officials. High-ranking Begs were allowed to call themselves Begs and were allowed to wear queue in the royal courts.

## Use as a name

For the Persian use, it is common to see the name Beg added to the Persian suffix of 'zada' (male), 'zadi' (female), which means 'son of' or 'daughter of'. For Example: Sohaib Begzada or Hira Begzadi. For the Turkish use, it is most common to see the spelling Beg or Bey utilized. (Sometimes, it is used along with the title "Mirza", similar to the Mughal usage in case of Mughal descent)..
For the Mughal and Timurid dynasty use, the honorific title Mirza (Persian: مرزا) was added before the given name for all the males and 'Baig' (Persian: بیگ) for the males or Begum (Persian: بيگم) for the females, was added as a family name. For example: Mirza Sohaib Baig or Hira Begum. This was the historical naming convention for the descendants of the Mughal and Timurid dynasties, Today, however, it is not uncommon to see descendants of the Mughals and Timurids use Baig as a middle name and Mirza as the surname or vice versa. For example: Abdullah Baig Mirza or Abdullah Mirza Baig. Furthermore, with modern naming conventions wherein a person is called by the firstname-surname with the middle names usually not being called out, Mughals and Timurids may let go of 'Mirza' as the firstname while retaining 'Baig' as the surname. For example: Ahmed Ali Baig or Zulfiqar Baig. This avoids any two people named Mirza Rehan Baig and Mirza Sulaiman Baig to be confusedly referred to as Mirza Baig as per the firstname-surname name calling convention.
For the Slavic or Bosniak use, it is common to see the name Beg added to the Slavic suffix of 'ović', 'ovich', which roughly means 'descendant of'. While the title "Beg" is not in use in Bosnia anymore, track of families of "Beg" descent is kept. But a surname containing "-begović" suffix in itself is not a clear indicator of descent. For example, there is a number of "Begović" families, some are of noble descent, some not. "Idrizbegović" would be another example of a non-noble family with the suffix. Some examples of "beg" families are: Šahbegović, Rizvanbegović, Šačirbegović. On the other hand, "Kukavica" is an example of a famous "beg" family, not containing the title in itself. The book by Enver Imamović "Porijeklo i pripadnost stanovništva Bosne i Hercegovine" details the origin of a big number of families in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
There are various other alternative spellings used today as well, such as: Begh, Begg, Beigh, Beyg, Bayg, Bek, Bik.

## Notable Beighs/Begs/Beghs/Beys/Baigs

Afghanistan
* Sultan Abu Sa'id Beg
* Mohammad Murad Beg, Emir of Bokhara
* Mir Yar Beg and Mir Yar Beg Sahibzada, Emir of Bokhara
Albania
* Skanderbeg, Dominus Albaniae (lord of Albania)
Azerbaijan
* Mirza Adigozal Bey, was an Azerbaijani historian of the 19th century.
* Mirza Miran Shah Beg, was a son of Mirza Timur Beg, and a Timurid governor during his father's lifetime.
* Elbey Mirza-Hasan oglu Rzaguliyev, was an Azerbaijani Soviet artist and stage director, and father of artist Ayten Rzaguliyeva.
Bangladesh
* Mirza Agha Muhammad Reza Baig - Iranian Shia Muslim immigrant living in the Sylhet region of Bengal. Claimed to be the Mahdi and twelfth imam, engaged in battles against the East India Company and Kachari Kingdom.
* Isfandiyar Beg - Mughal faujdar of Sylhet
Bosnia
* Alija Izetbegović
* Bakir Izetbegović
* Asmir Begović
* Denis Omerbegović
* Elvir Omerbegovic
* Mirza Begić
* Senad Begić
* Elvedin Begić
* Aida Begić
* Silvije Begić
* Isa-Beg Isaković
* Isak-Beg
* Gazi Husrev-beg
* Ali-paša Rizvanbegović
* Safvet beg Bašagić
* Turahan Bey
* Turahanoğlu Ömer Bey
Central Asia
* Jani Beg
* Shadi Beg
* Temür Qutlugh
* Timur-Malik
* Timur Beg, also known as Tamerlane, is the founder of the Timurid dynasty and ancestor of the founder of Mughal dynasty
* Haji Beg Barlas, is the chief of Barlas tribe who was succeeded by his nephew Timur Beg, founder of Timurid Empire
India
* Mirza Babur Baig, the first Mughal emperor
* Mirza Muhammad Akbar Beg, the third and one of the greatest rulers of the Mughal Dynasty in India.
* Aurangzeb Beg, the most powerful Mughal emperor under who the Mughal empire reached its zenith stretching across almost the entire Indian subcontinent
* Abbas Ali Baig, Indian Test cricketer
* Aghajan Baig, Indian comic actor
* Mahmud Begada, Sultan of Gujarat
* Mirza Asadullah Baig Khan, Mughal era poet known as Ghalib
* Mirza Abul-Qasim Babur bin Baysonqor Beg, was a Timurid ruler in Khurasan (1449–1457).
* Mirza Mehboob Beg, is an Indian politician belonging to Jammu & Kashmir National Conference.He was elected to the 15th Lok Sabha from Anantnag.
* Mirza Farhatullah Baig, was an Indian Urdu writer of humor and prose.
* Mirza Ibrahim Beg, was Subahdar of Bengal during the reign of emperor Jahangir Beg.
* Wali Beg Zul-Qadr, Soldier under Akbar Mirza Mughal Emperor.
* Tardi Beg, was a military commander in the 16th century in Mughal India.
* Mirza Afzal Beg was the first Deputy Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. He was the founder of All Jammu and Kashmir Plebiscite Front.
* R. Roshan Baig, Indian politician from Bangalore
* Sultan Baig, Indian politician Meerganj
* Moin Beg, writer of the netflix show Heeramandi
Iran
* Sultan Ibrahim Beg
* Nader Qoli Beyg
* Otar Beg
* Ulugh Beg
Kashgar
* Yaqub Beg
* Timur Beg
Pakistan
* Adina Beg, was the governor of the Punjab including Lahore, Jalandhar and Multan from 1755 to 1758.
* Diana Baig international cricket and football player from Gilgit Baltistan
* Idrees Baig, Test cricket umpire
* Mirza Athar Baig, author
* Mirza Iqbal Baig is a sports journalist and cricket commentator who currently works as a television show host.
* Mirza Nazeer Baig Mughal is an actor. He has acted in several films, telefilms, and TV drama serials.
* Brigadier Mohammad Abbas Baig, a Pakistan Army one-star officer, dubbed "Baba-e-Artillery" (father of the Artillery) for his role in establishing artillery in the Pakistani army. He was also a wealthy landlord in Muzaffargarh
* Naeem Baig is a novelist and short-story writer, who has written articles, short stories, and novels in Urdu and English.
* Obaidullah Baig was a scholar, Urdu writer/novelist, columnist, media expert, and most notably a documentary filmmaker from Karachi.
* General Mirza Aslam Beg, retired Chief of Army Staff (Pakistan)
* Rabiah Jamil Beg journalist
* Mirza Rafiuddin 'Raz' Baig is a poet.
* Samina Baig only Pakistani woman to climb Mount Everest
* Mirza Ali Baig, the first man to climb all the seven highest peaks in the seven continents
* Aima Baig, Pakistani singer
Poland
* Naiman-Beg
Russia
* Mirza Kazem-Bey, Muhammad Ali Kazim-bey, was a famous orientalist, historian, and philologist of Azeri and Iranian origin.
* Alexander Lvovich Kazembek (often spelled Kazem-Bek or Kasem-Beg), was a Russian émigré and political activist, and founder of the Mladorossi political group.
* Iskander Mirza Huzman Beg Sulkiewicz, was a Polish politician of Tatar ethnicity, activist in socialist and independence movements and one of the co-founders of Polish Socialist Party.
Sri Lanka
* Mohideen Baig, was a popular Sri Lankan musician.
Turkey
* Sultan Osman-bey, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire
* Mirza Tugay Bey, was a notable military leader and politician of the Crimean Tatars.
United Kingdom
* Moazzam Begg, activist
* Assed Baig, Al Jazeera reporter
United States
* Ed Baig, technology columnist
* Minhal Baig, director

## Honorific Nomenclature

* Ulugh Beigh, crater on the moon named after the Timurid sultan, Ulugh Beg, who was an astronomer and mathematician
* Samina Peak, located at Karokoram mountain range was named after Pakistani mountaineer Samina Baig
* Uzbekistan is a country named after Oz Beg Khan who was a descendent of Genghis Khan and the ninth and longest-reigning Khan (ruler) of the Golden Horde who accepted Islam