Alî from Timisoara

Alî (* 1674 in Timisoara , † after 1722 in Istanbul ) was the keeper of the seal of the commandant of the Timisoara Fortress, Ca'fer Pascha . Alî wrote his "Chronicle of the events of Ca'fer Pasha" in Istanbul. He also wrote poems under the name Nakşî ( Eng . "The Ornamental").

Life

Alî was the son of the great fiefdom Mehmed. At the age of 14, he was taken prisoner of war in the Lipova Fortress in 1688 during a salary transport in which the then very young cavalry officer Osman Ağa also took part . His father bought him from the Imperial General Antonio Caraffa immediately. Since the new governor of Timisoara, Ca'fer Pascha, also called Büyük or Koca (both in English "big"), was a friend of Alî's father, he took him into his service after his death as keeper of the seals. He stayed that way until Ca'fer Pasha's death in the Battle of Zenta on September 11, 1697.

His next employer was the Belgrade governor Hazinedar 'Alî Pasha from 1697 to 1700, with whom he was Chancellor. With the governor of Timisoara, Yürük Hasan Pascha, whom he served as Kethüda (prefect), he returned to his hometown in November 1708. Before Prince Eugene of Savoy took the fortress (October 13, 1716), he was apparently living in Istanbul. There he finished his chronicle in 1722 at the age of 48. Nothing is known about his further life and death.

plant

The "Chronicle of the events of Ca'fer Pasha" is the work of an educated, humorous narrator. The events on the border with the Habsburg Empire are reproduced fairly reliably, although he nevertheless puts his apparently very revered first master in the best light. Therefore the years from 1688 (beginning of governorship) to 1697 (death in battle) are the most important part of his chronicle. However, he does not write anything about his private life, place and time of birth, whether the pasha was married or what he looked like. Some obviously incorrect information can be explained by the time taken to the recording. His love for poetry can be seen in many Koran and Persian verses, as well as in his own poems in the chronicle. As an eyewitness, he describes the siege of Belgrade in 1693 and Peterwardein in 1694, as well as the battle of Zenta in 1697 in many details. He reports urgently about Ca'fer Pasha's futile warnings to the Great Vizier .

"When he reported to our Lord Pasha, the latter tore his beard in despair and said: 'Oh dear, oh dear, now the time has come that the honor of the sublime kingdom must be demolished!' He invited the Pashas and Ağas to his place and when he informed them that the transfer to the other bank was taking place, they were all dejected and grieved because they considered this measure to be completely wrong; they were amazed at whose instigation it had come about and were very upset. "

Against the accusation that Ca'fer Pascha was cruel, he defends him by pointing out the necessity of his action.

“The eternal Ca'fer Pascha was above all not a fool, so that he could not have differentiated between right and wrong and therefore would have committed atrocities. […] Should a high lord entrusted with this difficult task not have had this or that killed in view of the demands of the time […]? That he had to do it in any case is clearer than the sunshine. "

See also

• Osman Ağa (chronicler)
• List of Ottoman chroniclers
• List of Ottoman titles

literature

• Stefan Schreiner (editor): The Ottomans in Europe. Memories and reports by Turkish historians. Verlag Styria, Graz / Vienna / Cologne 1985, ISBN 3-222-11589-3 .
• Richard Franz Kreutel / Karl Teply (translator): The lion of Timisoara. Memories of Ca'fer Pascha the Elder, recorded by his keeper 'Alî. From the series: Ottoman historians. Volume 10, Verlag Styria, Graz / Vienna / Cologne 1981.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Stefan Schreiner (editor): The Ottomans in Europe. Memories and reports by Turkish historians. Verlag Styria, Graz / Vienna / Cologne 1985, ISBN 3-222-11589-3 , pp. 308-312.
2. ^ Stefan Schreiner (editor): The Ottomans in Europe. Memories and reports by Turkish historians. Verlag Styria, Graz / Vienna / Cologne 1985, ISBN 3-222-11589-3 , p. 337.
3. ^ Stefan Schreiner (editor): The Ottomans in Europe. Memories and reports by Turkish historians. Verlag Styria, Graz / Vienna / Cologne 1985, ISBN 3-222-11589-3 , pp. 347, 348.