Sultanzade Mehmed Pasha
Sultanzade Civankapıcıbaşı Mehmet | |
---|---|
Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire | |
In office 31 January 1644 – 17 December 1645 | |
Monarch | Ibrahim |
Preceded by | Kemankeş Kara Mustafa Pasha |
Succeeded by | Nevesinli Salih Pasha |
Ottoman Governor of Egypt | |
In office 1637–1640 | |
Preceded by | Gazi Hüseyin Pasha |
Succeeded by | |
Personal details | |
Born | 1603 |
Died | July 1646 (aged 43) |
Sultanzade Mehmed Pasha (1603 – July 1646) was an Ottoman grand vizier. The epithet Sultanzade means son of a sultana.
Biography[]
He was born in 1596/1603. His father, Abdurrahman Bey, was a son of Ayşe Sultan, daughter of Rüstem Pasha and Mihrimah Sultan.[1] His mother was a daughter of Cığalazade Yusuf Sinan Pasha.[1] He was a great-great-grandson of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and Hurrem Sultan.
Early years[]
In 1637, he was appointed as the governor of Egypt. Three years later, during the reign of İbrahim, he returned to İstanbul as a vizier in the Ottoman divan. In 1641, he was appointed as the governor of Özü (modern Ochakiv in Ukraine) and tasked with capturing the fort of Azak (modern Azov in Russia), which had recently been lost to the Cossacks. He was successful in recapturing the fort. In 1643, he was appointed as the governor of Damascus (in modern Syria). This appointment was probably due to the secret power struggle between him and the grand vizier, Kemankeş Mustafa Pasha.[2]
As Grand Vizier[]
In 1644, he succeeded the grand vizier Kemankeş Mustafa Pasha, who was executed. Kemankeş Mustafa Pasha was a victim of palace intrigues and a quack hodja named Djindji Khodja. Well aware of hodja's influence on the sultan and the tragedy of the previous grand vizier, he was too cautious in governance and became an ineffective grand vizier. He became a yes man of the sultan. According to Lord Kinross,[3] one day the sultan asked why he never opposed any opinion to which he replied, "Every opinion of the sultan has a deep aphorism even if subjects are unable to understand." Although he was against declaring war on the Republic of Venice,[4] his cautious objections were not taken into consideration and the Cretan War (1645–1669) soon began in 1645, which was financially disastrous to both sides.
Later years[]
In 1645, Sultan Ibrahim deposed him. His next mission was on the island of Crete (in modern Greece), which was the theatre of the recently started war as the commander of the army (Turkish: serdar) but he soon died of natural causes.[2]
See also[]
- List of Ottoman grand viziers
- Turks in Kosovo
- Sultanzade
References[]
- ^ a b Mehmet Nermi Haskan (2001). Yüzyıllar boyunca Üsküdar. Üsküdar Belediyesi. p. 532. ISBN 978-975-97606-2-5.
- ^ a b Ayhan Buz: Osmanlı Sadrazamları, Neden Kitap, İstanbul, 2009, ISBN 978-975-254-278-5
- ^ Lord Kinross: The Ottoman centuries (translated by Meral Gaspıralı), Altın Kitaplar, İstanbul, 2008, ISBN 978-975-21-0955-1, p. 306
- ^ Prof. Yaşar Yüce-Prof. Ali Sevim: Türkiye tarihi Cilt III, AKDTYKTTK Yayınları, İstanbul, 1991 p. 90
- 1603 births
- 1646 deaths
- 17th-century Grand Viziers of the Ottoman Empire
- 17th-century Ottoman governors of Egypt
- Pashas
- Ottoman princes
- Kosovan Turks