atabegate

Noun

atabegate (plural atabegates)

1. (historical) The realm administered by an atabeg.
   • Zangī's southward advance threatened both the atabegate of Damascus and the kingdom of Jerusalem, and was met by an informal alliance between the two.1970, Bernard Lewis, The Cambridge History of Islam, Vol. 1A, Pt. II, §2: "Egypt and Syria", p. 200
   • The Transjordanian highlands north of Bilad al-Sharat—the Balqa and the Sawad—remained part of the Burid atabegate of Damascus.1998, Kamal S. Salibi, The Modern History of Jordan, page 23

   Synonyms:

   governorate, province, emirate

2. (historical) The office of atabeg, in his role as tutor to a crown prince or as warlord.
   • While the sultan thus hoped to retain the nominal allegiance of the great amīrs through the atabegate, they, on the other hand, saw in it a means to establish their virtual independence.1954, Ann K.S. Lambton, Theory and Practice in Medieval Persian Government, page 243
   • A closer parallel was the atabegate in the powerful medieval Turkish dynasty of the Seljuks, centered in Iran. The atabeg (Turkish for "father-governor") was the Seljuk possessor of the lala; in fact, the Ottomans sometimes used the two terms interchangeably.1993, Leslie P. Peirce, The Imperial Harem, page 54