Nişancı Ahmed Pasha

Nişancı Ahmed Pascha , also Şehla Ahmed Pascha , Hacı Şehla Ahmed Pascha or Kör Vezir Ahmed Pascha , (* 17th or 18th century in Foça ; † February 1753 in Aleppo ) was Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire under Mahmud I and Ottoman Governor of Eyâlet Egypt . He got his nickname Kör Vezir ("blind vizier") because he crossed his eyes.

Life

Ahmed's family came from Alaiye (today Alanya ), but Ahmed was born as the son of Cafer Ağa in Foça in Eyâlet Aydın . One of his uncles was a vizier and governor of Jeddah . Ahmed grew up with him and, as Kethüda, became his adjutant and deputy. He later got a job in the palace and the title of stable master ( Imrahor ). In 1738 he was promoted to governor of Eyâlet Aydın. Four years later he returned to Istanbul and became Nişancı ( seal keeper , one of the highest offices in the administration of the palace). On June 23, 1740 he was finally appointed Grand Vizier of the empire by the Sultan.

His tenure was one of the few periods of peace in the history of the Ottoman Empire, as the war against the Habsburg Monarchy and the Russian Empire had just ended and the Persian King Nader Shah was bound in the fight against the Uzbeks in Transoxania and Dagestan . Despite the favorable conditions, Ahmed Pasha was unable to take advantage of the peace and implement his intended program of reforms. Eventually he was accused of “dishonesty” and “indifference to state affairs” and was replaced on April 21, 1742 by the experienced Hekimoğlu Ali Pasha , who had been Grand Vizier ten years earlier.

Nişancı Ahmed Pasha was exiled to the island of Rhodes . Soon after, he was pardoned and returned to government service. In 1743 he became governor of Sanjak İçel (now Mersin Province ) and Governor of Eyâlet Sidon (now Sidon , Lebanon ). After the beginning of a new phase of the war against Persia, he was assigned to command the northern part of the front as Serdar and was able to successfully defend Kars . He then acted as governor of Eyâlet Aleppo (now Syria ) and Eyâlet Diyarbekir (now Diyarbakır Province ).

After the Treaty of Kerden he was appointed governor of Eyâlet Baghdad in 1747 and governor of Eyâlet Egypt in 1748. In 1751 he was appointed governor of Eyâlet Adana . Ahmed Pasha turned down this last position in Adana and returned to his previous governor's post in Aleppo in 1752, where he died in February 1753.

Contemporaries in Ottoman Egypt described him as a man interested in science and philosophy and reported that he was disappointed when he realized that Egypt's famous Al-Azhar University had stopped teaching science and focused only on religious education concentrated. He reportedly found that even the educated Egyptians and religious scholars had little basic knowledge of mathematics, and spent most of his time with those who shared his interest in science.

literature

Aydın Topaloğlu: Ahmed Paşa (Hacı, Foçalı). In: Yaşamları ve Yapıtlarıyla Osmanlılar Ansiklopedisi. Volume 1, Yapı Kredi Kültür Sanat Yayıncılık A.Ş., Istanbul 1999, ISBN 975-08-0072-9 , p. 145.

Individual evidence

↑ İsmail Hâmi Danişmend: Osmanlı Devlet Erkânı . Türkiye Yayınevi, Istanbul 1971.
↑ ^a ^b Mehmet Süreyya: Sicill-i Osmanî . Türkiye Kültür Bakanlığı and Türkiye Ekonomik ve Toplumsal Tarih Vakfı, Istanbul, 1996 (digitized version )

↑ ^a ^b Yılmaz Öztuna: Büyük Osmanlı Tarihi: Osmanlı Devleti'nin siyasî, medenî, kältür, teşkilât ve san'at tarihi . Volume 10, Ötüken Neşriyat AS, 1994, ISBN 975-437-141-5 , pp. 412-416.

^ ^A ^b ^c ^d Daniel Crecelius: Eighteenth Century Egypt: The Arabic Manuscript Sources . Regina Books, Claremont 1990, ISBN 0-941690-42-3 .

^ 'Abd al-Rahman Jabarti, Thomas Philipp, Moshe Perlmann: Abd Al-Rahmann Al-Jabarti's History of Egypt . Volume 1, Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 1994, p. 303.

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Ahmed Paşa, Şehlâ , TDV Islam Ansiklopedisi, Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı, accessed on April 28, 2020.

^ Ayhan Buz: Osmanlı Sadrazamları. Neden Kitap, Istanbul 2009, ISBN 978-975-254-278-5 , pp. 227-231.

^ ^A ^b 'Abd al-Rahman Jabarti, Thomas Philipp, Moshe Perlmann: Abd Al-Rahmann Al-Jabarti's History of Egypt . Volume 1, Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 1994, p. 305.

predecessor	Office	successor
Ivaz Mehmed Pasha	Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire June 22, 1740 - April 23, 1742	Hekimoğlu Ali Pasha

personal data
SURNAME	Nişancı Ahmed Pasha
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Şehla Ahmed Pasha; Hacı Şehla Ahmed Pasha; Kör Vezir Ahmed Pasha
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire and Provincial Governor
DATE OF BIRTH	17th century or 18th century
PLACE OF BIRTH	Soke
DATE OF DEATH	February 1753
Place of death	Aleppo

[turkbook-1] İsmail Hâmi Danişmend: Osmanlı Devlet Erkânı . Türkiye Yayınevi, Istanbul 1971.

[sicilli-2] Mehmet Süreyya: Sicill-i Osmanî . Türkiye Kültür Bakanlığı and Türkiye Ekonomik ve Toplumsal Tarih Vakfı, Istanbul, 1996 (digitized version )

[Öztuna1994-3] Yılmaz Öztuna: Büyük Osmanlı Tarihi: Osmanlı Devleti'nin siyasî, medenî, kältür, teşkilât ve san'at tarihi . Volume 10, Ötüken Neşriyat AS, 1994, ISBN 975-437-141-5 , pp. 412-416.

[Crecelius1990-4] A ^b ^c ^d Daniel Crecelius: Eighteenth Century Egypt: The Arabic Manuscript Sources . Regina Books, Claremont 1990, ISBN 0-941690-42-3 .

[JabartiPhilipp1994-303-5] 'Abd al-Rahman Jabarti, Thomas Philipp, Moshe Perlmann: Abd Al-Rahmann Al-Jabarti's History of Egypt . Volume 1, Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 1994, p. 303.

[TDVIA-6] Ahmed Paşa, Şehlâ , TDV Islam Ansiklopedisi, Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı, accessed on April 28, 2020.

[7] Ayhan Buz: Osmanlı Sadrazamları. Neden Kitap, Istanbul 2009, ISBN 978-975-254-278-5 , pp. 227-231.

[JabartiPhilipp1994-305-8] A ^b 'Abd al-Rahman Jabarti, Thomas Philipp, Moshe Perlmann: Abd Al-Rahmann Al-Jabarti's History of Egypt . Volume 1, Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 1994, p. 305.