Kör Yusuf Ziyaüddin Pasha

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Kör Yusuf Ziyaüddin Pascha , also Yusuf Ziya Pascha, (* 18th century ; † 1819 in Chios ) was an Ottoman statesman of Georgian origin who was Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire from 1798 to 1805 and from 1809 to 1811 . He was also governor several times in different regions of the empire. As Grand Vizier he commanded the Ottoman army in the war against the French expeditionary army in the Ottoman reconquest of Egypt and was later commander of the Ottoman troops in the Russo-Turkish War (1806-1812) .

Life

Kör Yusuf's date of birth is unknown, only his Georgian origin is documented. As a result of an accident during the Cirit game , he went blind in one eye, which earned him the nickname Kör (German: "the blind man"). Kör Yusuf was known for his fatalism and piety and was considered a competent commander. He began his professional career as a government employee and official responsible for mines. He was promoted to the rank of vizier and in 1793 governor ( Wālī ) of Eyâlet Diyarbekir , in 1794 of Eyâlet Erzurum , Eyâlet Çıldır and 1796 of Eyâlet Trabzon .

Kör Yusuf was on October 25, 1798 during the reign of Selim III. appointed Grand Vizier. During his first term in office, he and his sons Mehmet Bey and Sabit Yusuf Bey acquired several tax lease areas in Eyâlet Diyarbekir and Kör Yusuf bought a 50 percent stake in a copper refinery in the city of Diyarbakır.

In 1799, Kör Yusuf took over the supreme command of the Ottoman army in order to regain Ottoman control over Egypt and to drive the French out of the region after the Egyptian expedition . With a mobilization, Kör Yusuf reached a troop strength of 15,000 soldiers, with the recruitment of soldiers from Aleppo and Damascus the army grew to 25,000 soldiers. The army started moving from Gaza towards Egypt. Soldiers of Albanian origin made up the greater part of Kor Yusuf's forces, as well as a 5,000-strong cavalry and janissary units .

In January 1800, together with the French General Jean-Baptiste Kléber and the British Admiral Sidney Smith , Kör Yusuf signed the Al-Arish Agreement , which provided for the complete withdrawal of French troops from Egypt. This agreement was not ratified by the commanding Admiral Lord Keith , as he insisted on the unconditional surrender of the French expeditionary troops. The conflict was resumed and Kléber's forces defeated the Ottoman army and the allied Mamluken forces at the Battle of Heliopolis in March 1800. It was not until December 1801 that the Ottoman-British alliance was able to defeat and push back the French.

When Kör Yusuf moved into Cairo , he accused the Christians of collaborating with the French, had many executed or exiled and confiscated the property. After Kör Yusuf rearranged Egypt after the French withdrawal, he left the country for Ottoman Syria. On April 21, 1805, Kör Yusuf resigned as Grand Vizier and subsequently lived secluded in his apartments.

In March 1807, Kör Yusuf was reappointed governor of Eyâlet Trabzon. In September he became governor of the Eyâlets Baghdad and Basra and in October of the Eyâlets Konya and Aleppo . In 1808 he became wali of Erzurum for the second time and was promoted to Şark seraskeri (Supreme Commander of the East), making him commander of the Ottoman forces in the Eyâlets Sivas , Trabzon, Malatya , Maras , Chorum and Mosul . In this function he fought in the Russo-Turkish War (1828/29) near Akhalkalaki against the Russian Empire.

During the reign of Mahmud II , Kör Yusuf was again Grand Vizier in 1809. During his second term in office, he led the fighting against the Russians on the front in Rumelia for two years . On May 10, 1811 he was dismissed from office as Grand Vizier. He became governor of Sanjak Chios in 1817 after being appointed commander of Sanjak Egriboz ( Euboea ) in 1815 . Kör Yusuf died in Chios in 1819 and was buried on the island.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Yusus Ziyâeddin Pasa (Kör) . In: Mehmed Süreyya: Sicill-i-Osmanî Volume 5, Tarih Vakfi Yurt Yayınları, Istanbul 1996, ISBN 975-333-038-3 , pp. 1701f. ( Digitized version )
  2. ↑ Selcuk Aksin Somel: The A to Z of the Ottoman Empire . Scarecrow Press, 2010, pp. XXI – XXXII ( online at Google Books )
  3. ↑ a b c d e Murat Kasap: Yusuf Ziya Pasha , Gürcistan Dostluk Derneği, September 24, 2009, accessed on March 27, 2020
  4. ↑ a b Aksan (2014), p. 238.
  5. ↑ a b Salzmann 2004, p. 169.
  6. ↑ a b c d Ibrahim Yilmazçelik: Osmanli Hakimyeti Suresince Diyarbakir Eyaleti Vailileri . In: Fırat University Journal of Social Science . Vol. 10, No. 1 (2000), pp. 256–257 ( online as PDF )
  7. ↑ Aksan 2014, p. 231.
  8. ↑ a b c d Aksan 2014, pp. 235-236.
  9. ↑ a b Bruce Masters: The Arabs of the Ottoman Empire, 1516-1918: A Social and Cultural History . Cambridge University Press, 2013, ISBN 978-110703363-4 , pp. 113f. ( Online at Google Books )


predecessor Office successor
İzzet Mehmed Pasha Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire
October 23, 1798 - June 24, 1805 		Bostancıbaşı Hafız İsmail Pasha
Çarhacı Ali Pasha Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire
March 1809 - May 10, 1811 		Laz Ahmed Pasha
personal data
SURNAME Kör Yusuf Ziyaüddin Pasha
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Yusuf Ziya Pasha
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Ottoman statesman and grand vizier
DATE OF BIRTH 18th century
DATE OF DEATH 1819
Place of death on Chios