Ahmed Muhtar Pasha

Ahmed Muhtar Pasha ( احمد مختار پاشا Gazi Ahmed Muhtar Paşa ; * November 1, 1839 in Bursa ; † January 21, 1919 in Istanbul ) was a Turkish general.

Life

The son of a senior civil servant was educated at the military school in Constantinople and joined the army as an officer in 1854. He took part in the Crimean War as an adjutant. Later he taught military science at the military school (Harbije Mektebi) and in 1865 became the military educator of the favorite son of Sultan Abdülaziz , Prince Yusuf Izzeddin, in 1867 Turkish commissar on the Montenegrin border and lieutenant colonel, in 1870 major general and second expedition in command after Pascha Red Yemen , 1871 Commander in Chief there and Müschir (German: Field Marshal), 1873 Commander of the 2nd Army Corps in Shumen and 1874 of the 4th in Erzurum .

1875–76 he was Commander-in-Chief in Herzegovina , where he operated clumsily against the insurgents and the Montenegrins and suffered a severe defeat in the Dugapass from the latter.

In 1877, at the beginning of the Russo-Turkish War, he was again Commander-in-Chief in Erzurum. Before the first energetic attack by the Russians, he retreated as far as Köprükoy , but took the offensive in June, after he had received reinforcements, defeating the Russians on June 21 and 22 at Elbar and on June 25 at Sewin; entered the horrified Kars on July 10, repulsed an attack by the Russians on August 18, and captured their position near Bashkadiklar on August 25. For these victories he received the title Gazi (the victorious) from the Sultan . But when the Russians had considerably strengthened their forces, they broke through Muhtar's position on the Alacadağ on October 15 and defeated him on December 4 at Deveboyun. Muhtar Pasha was then recalled to lead the defense of Constantinople and sent to Crete in September 1878 to fight the uprising there. After he had succeeded, he was appointed commander-in-chief in Thessaly and Epirus , in 1879 to the governor of Monastir and in 1884 sent to Egypt to protect the interests of the Sublime Porte .

Muhtar Pascha had a son, his name was Mahmud Muhtar Pascha .

literature

Buğra Atsız: Ahmed Muhtar Pasha . In: Biographical Lexicon on the History of Southeast Europe . Vol. 1. Munich 1974, pp. 19-21.

Individual evidence

↑ Older encyclopedias such as Brockhaus (14th edition, 1894–1896) mention 1832 as the year of birth.

personal data
SURNAME	Ahmed Muhtar Pasha
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Gazi Ahmed Muhtar Paşa
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Turkish general, commander in chief in Herzegovina
DATE OF BIRTH	November 1, 1839
PLACE OF BIRTH	Bursa
DATE OF DEATH	January 21, 1919
Place of death	Istanbul

[1] Older encyclopedias such as Brockhaus (14th edition, 1894–1896) mention 1832 as the year of birth.