Abdurrahman Abdi Pasha

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Abdurrahman Abdi Pascha, Ottoman defender of the furnace fortress

Abdurrahman Abdi Pascha (* unknown; † September 2, 1686 ), Turkish: Arnavut Abdurrahman Abdi Paşa, was a high Ottoman military commander and dignitary of Albanian origin . As the last Beglerbeg (Grand Governor) of Ofen , he fell while storming the fortress on September 2, 1686.

Origin and name

The date and place of birth of Abdurrahman Pasha are unknown. Since he is said to have been over 80 years old - some sources say over 70 years old - at his death, he was probably born in the first decade of the 17th century. According to Ottoman sources, Abdurrahman was "arnavut", i.e. of Albanian origin. Since there was a Christian minority in Albania at that time too, he does not have to have been a Muslim from birth, but could have become a Muslim during the boy harvest (devşirme). Young Christian men who were converted to Islam and who enjoyed a strict upbringing and military training formed the personnel reservoir in the Ottoman Empire for the sultan's elite troops of the Janissaries and for the highest military ranks.

According to Evliya Çelebi , Abdurrahman Pascha donated numerous places of worship and public buildings in the central Albanian town of Peqin (in Turkish : Peklin ). The great mosque of Peqin , of which remains are still preserved today, was built by him.

The Arabic name Abdurrahman means "servant of the merciful", whereby "rahman", the merciful, is one of the 99 epithets of God in Islam. The names beginning with “abd” (servant / slave) were often given as patronymic names to men who had converted to Islam. Abdi is the diminutive of all these names.

Legends

In the German-speaking world, the claim that Abdurrahman was a converted Swiss persisted. The starting point for this was the story “Le Bacha de Bude”, which was published in French-speaking Switzerland in 1765 without naming the author. On this basis, Heinrich Zschokke from Magdeburg, who immigrated to Switzerland, created his novella “The Pascha of Buda” in 1811. In it, the defender of Ofen is a Swiss military man named Cugny, who was captured by the Turks and converted to Islam. The writer Theodor Fontane then explained about 60 years later in a historical reflection on the life of Hans Adam von Schöning , who was the commander of the Brandenburg troops in front of Ofen, that Abdurrahman was a native Swiss named Coigny: “He was already from during the siege recognized a skilled in the city Parlamentäroffizier called Wattenwyl as a compatriot. "and in" the siren "pulp magazine and organ of Reichsluftschutzbund, reported in 1936 of the then-known military historian Martin Lezius celebration of the 250th anniversary of the fall of the furnace of" Abdurahman Bassa, a renegade from French-speaking Switzerland named Cugny ”.

"Without a doubt no Swiss" is Abdurrahman Pascha for the historian and Turkologist Josef Matuz , who in 1987 published an article about the life of the last defender of the fortress of Ofen.

career

Abdurrahman reached the highest military and administrative positions in the Ottoman Empire by gradually serving his way up through the subordinate ranks of the Janissaries until he finally became their commander-in-chief on May 2, 1669. He was able to gain experience in the fortress battle during the siege of Candia (Heraklion), which the Venetians had to give up in 1669. On February 6, 1671, he was awarded the title of vizier - not least for his services to pacify mutinous troops in Crete . In 1672 he led the janissaries in the conquest of the Podolnian castle Kamieniec , as well as in 1674 during the Ukraine campaign of his employer, Sultan Mehmed IV . While retaining his vizier dignity, Abdurrahman was employed several times as a Beglerbeg in various major provinces ( Eyalets ) - on June 25, 1674 for the first time in Baghdad, which was threatened by the Safavids . On May 11, 1676 he became a member of the revolting Egypt. It is unclear why he was relieved of this office in the summer of 1680 - at that time, however, he was already over 75 years old, so that his age could have been the reason. Appointed Beglerbeg of Bosnia on May 24, 1681, he took part in the fighting in Hungary in 1682. On October 12, 1682 he was charged with the defense of Kamieniec and then appointed to the High Porte on December 20, 1683 .

Abdurrahman Abdi Pascha, Death in the Breach of Oven

At the end of November 1684, Abdurrahman was first appointed as Beglerbeg of the furnace, which was threatened by the troops of the Holy Roman Empire and its allies. In the winter of 1685 he became Commander-in-Chief in Hungary and - possibly to ensure his supplies from a quieter region - Beglerbeg in distant Aleppo. He had to give up the post of Beglerbeg von Ofen, but on December 20, 1685, the High Porte changed its decision. Abdurrahman gave up the supreme command in Hungary and was again Beglerbeg von Ofen. In spite of the increasingly hopeless situation of Ofen in the following year, he refused to hand over the fortress to the Christian besiegers and died in the fall of Ofen on September 2, 1686.

Appreciation

Abdurrahman Abdi Pascha, tomb on the Anjou hill of the fortress of Ofen

In the Ottoman Empire, Abdurrahman was considered magnanimous and brave. There are also reports on his freethinking tendencies, his joy in drinking alcohol and his inclination towards Sufism , Islamic mysticism. The edge of his personal seal, which he had cut during his time in Baghdad, bears the following text:

"O friend of God, (I swear you) in the intoxication of God:
May you send me 3 things forever:
Knowledge, activity, generosity,
faith, security and health."

- Georg Jacob : Turkish documents

A modest tomb for the last defender of the Ofen Fortress has stood on the Anjou bastion in Budapest's castle district since 1936 . The inscriptions in Hungarian and Ottoman say: "He was a brave hero."

The fact that Abdurrahman did not strive for his "heroic death" in the breach of the fortress of Ofen is shown by his correspondence with the Christian opponent, which reflects a hesitant stretching out of peace feelers. The addressee of his letter of September 8, 1685 is Markgraf Hermann von Baden , field marshal and Hofkriegsrats President of the Austrian Emperor Leopold I . The text is as follows:

“
Eminent among the princes of Christianity and highly respected by the greats of the Jesus community, sincere friendship as it is hoped for from you, our friend, so we, this friend of yours, have written the letter of friendship in a friendly and neighborly spirit. May we not neglect the activity of friendship through a friendly letter on your part. Otherwise we close (actually: it was closed) with a greeting of peace, friendship and love.
Drafted on 9 Schewal 1094 = 8 September 1685 in the warehouse of the well-protected oven. "

- Georg Jacob : Turkish documents

The Ottoman writing bears the tugra and the private seal of the last Beglerbeg from Ofen. The margrave replied politely but cautiously and asked for proposals appropriate to the war situation if they were to be presented to the emperor. After all the years of great terror against the Turks in Europe, the battle at Kahlenberg had turned the tide, and the Christian armies showed no mercy for the "Servant of the Merciful". They wreaked horrific bloodbaths on soldiers and civilians in Ofen.

literature

  • Josef Matuz: The Ottoman Empire. Baseline of its history. 4th edition, Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 2006, ISBN 3-534-20020-9 .
  • Josef Matuz: Vizier Abdurrahmen Abdi Pascha, the last Ofner Beglerbeg (attempt at a vita). In: Acta Historica Academiae Scientiarum Hungariae. 33 (2-4) 1987, pp. 341-350.
  • Anton von Gévay: Attempt of a chronological register of the Turkish governors of Ofen. In: The Austrian historian. II (1841), pp. 56-90.
  • Mehmed Süreyya: Sicill-i Osmani (Ottoman Personal Register ) III, Stambul 1311 H., p. 316.
  • Georg Jacob: Turkish documents. In: Der Islam - Journal for the History and Culture of the Islamic Orient. Volume VII, Strasbourg 1917, pp. 269-287.
  • Victor de Gingins Moiry: Le Bacha de Bude. Yverdon 1765.
  • Heinrich Zschokke: The Pasha of Buda. Amusements, Aarau 1811.
  • Theodor Fontane: Walks through the Mark Brandenburg. ( The Oderland. Chapter Adam von Schöning. )
  • Martin Lezius: The storm on oven. in Die Sirene No. 18 of 1936, pp. 489-491.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Mehmed Süreyya Sicill-i Osmani
  2. ↑ see e.g. B. his funerary inscription in Budapest
  3. ^ Anton von Gévay, attempt to create a chronological index ...
  4. ^ Machiel Kiel : Ottoman architecture in Albania (1385-1912) . In: Research Center for Islamic History, Art and Culture (Ed.): Islamic art series . tape 5 . Istanbul 1990, ISBN 92-9063-330-1 .
  5. ↑ a b Josef Matuz, vizier Abdurrahmen Abdi Pascha
  6. ↑ the auror was the Swiss Victor de Gingins Moiry
  7. ↑ Josef Matuz: Wesir Abdurrahmen Abdi Pascha. is the source for the following career path data
  8. ↑ a b c Georg Jacob: Turkish documents .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Pasha, Abdurrahman Abdi
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Paşa, Arnavut Abdurrahman Abdi (Turkish)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Ottoman military commander and dignitary
DATE OF BIRTH 17th century
DATE OF DEATH September 2, 1686
Place of death oven