Sarı Mehmet Pasha

Defterdar Sarı Mehmet Pasha (* in Istanbul , † 1716 / 17 in Kavala ) was a high Ottoman officials and chronicler . In some sources Mehmet Pascha was given the nickname el-Hacc (" Hajji "), Sarı ("the yellow one") or Bakkalzâde ("son of the shopkeeper"). Defterdar ("Finance Director") is the most common name after the office he held seven times.

Life

The time of Mehmet's birth is not known, he received his first training in Istanbul. Then he began as an official for financial transactions ( ruznamçeci ) in the income tax office ( defterdarlik ) under Kılıç Ali Pascha († 1691/92), whom he also served as a private secretary ( mektupçu ). During the tenure of the Grand Vizier Rami Mehmed Pascha († 1707?) He was appointed Defterdar in 1703. The Janissaries uprising in the same year ended his career for the time being because he was forced to resign by the insurgents along with other dignitaries. Also Sultan Mustafa II. († 1703) was dethroned and against Ahmed III. († 1730) exchanged. However, Mehmet was soon brought back to office from Edirne because Defterdar Muhsinzade 'Abdullah Efendi († 1748) had refused the soldiers the traditional baksheesh when a new sultan ascended the throne. Despite Mehmet's success in solving some financial and salary problems, he was soon recalled. After a few months, however, he was in office for the third time in 1704, which he held for short periods with interruptions between 1705 and 1708. In Selanik ( Thessaloniki ) he was installed for his services as vizier and governor-general.

Because of the expected war against Russia , Mehmet was charged with the formation of a troop ( serdengeçti ) from 200 Sipahis and Silâhdare , who were recruited in Istanbul. After the Battle of the Prut (1711) he came to Bender (Tighina) for two and a half years . For the sixth time, Mehmet, now appointed pasha, took over the defterdarlik in 1712 for six months. In 1713 he became the financial administrator of the imperial shipyard ( tersane-i amire emini ) and at the same time a member of the assessment commission on the Russian-Ottoman border. In 1714 he was Defterdar for the seventh time under Çorlulu Damat Ali Pascha († 1716). During his Morea campaign in 1715 he was responsible for the financial administration and supplies to the army in Egriboz ( Euboia ) and a year later also in the war against the Holy Roman Empire . His hope for the office of Grand Vizier after Damat 'Ali Pascha 's death before Belgrade was disappointed, but Arnavud Koca Halil Pascha († 1733) appointed him one of his deputies. When Prince Eugene of Savoy took the city of Timisoara , Mehmet Pasha demanded again to be appointed Grand Vizier. This demand and the fact that he was publicly Sultan Ahmed III. mocked, became his undoing. After being charged with complicity in the loss of Timisoara, he was imprisoned in Kavala, his property was confiscated and in March 1717 he was executed. His grave is in the courtyard of the Ulu Mosque in Kavala.

The chronogram şeker hab شكر خواب ( Persian : "Sweet Sleep"), with which his death was recorded, gives the year 1129 Islamic calendar (1716 C.E.).

Works

• Zübde-i Veqayi'at (for example: The best protection / the best precaution)

From Babinger this work was erroneously attributed Damad Mehmed Pasha († 1716), who was, however, also Defterdar. Literary scholarship assumes that the author wrote part of the final work between 1714 and 1716 under the rule of Mehmed IV († 1687).

Zübde-i Veqayi'at is divided into three parts: In the introduction, Mehmet notes that he wrote in the hope of receiving a reward from God and a good obituary after his death. Here he also names chroniclers on whom his work is based. In the Cairo version, a brief outline of Ottoman history up to Mehmed IV is inserted, apparently a later addition by the author. This is followed by a chronological listing of the grand viziers, important events (birth of princes, circumcision ceremonies, wedding celebrations, campaigns, peace treaties, natural disasters, etc.) and - at the end of each annual chapter - a list of prominent deaths. An important point for Mehmet Pascha was the listing of tax laws, economic aspects, the award of fiefs and state price regulations. The first version of the work closes with the announcement of the death of Mustafa II.

Hammer-Purgstall was the first to determine the partially literal use of Mehmet Pasha's work in Mehmed Raşid's Tarih-i Raşid .

• Nesayihü'l-vüzera ve'l-ümera (for example: "Recommendations to the viziers and governors"), or Kitab-i Güldeste (for example: "Book of the flower harvest " or anthology)

This is a siyasetname ("book on politics"), which is used as a collection of recommendations for high-ranking statesmen, e. B. Grand Viziers, is thought. Although the author does not name himself, the hint that he was at the accession to the throne of Ahmed III. Defterdar, however, refers to Mehmet Pascha. In the introduction, the author states that many writers had written similar guides before him, but that his was more precise and would have come about without the interference of the politicians concerned. In fact, he brings a large number of original points of view, whereby his high position in the State Council gave him the necessary insight.

Mehmet Pascha chalked the statesmen of the early 18th century on their religious and moral indifference and contrasted this with the demand for piety and righteousness. He proves his opinion with verses from the Koran , poems and proverbs. In nine chapters he specifically addresses the grand viziers, incumbents, defterdare, imperial councilors, janissaries and military commanders, as well as the dangers of corruption, oppression, internal and external enemies. In the last section, Mehmet compares the present with the time of Suleyman I († 1566) and criticizes the decline of finances and economics. He closes his work with advice on how to solve all of these problems.

In Mehmet Pasha's estate there was a summary of his above-mentioned work under the title Ta'limat-i Şehid 'Ali Paşa (for example: Instructions, dedicated to Şehid' Ali Pasha). The assumption of Mehmet's authorship is based on the content and the fact that the work was apparently assigned to a relative. It is a compression of his demands on statesmen in which he repeats all the points of the Nesayih .

Manuscripts

Zübde-i Veqayi'at

• Cairo , Hidiviye Library, 160/8956, 312 folios
• Istanbul, İstanbul Üniversitesi Kütüphanesi (“Istanbul University Library”), 3 manuscripts: TY 5, 377 folios; TY 2389, 125 folios; TY 6048, 356 folios
• Istanbul, Murad Molla Kütüphanesi , 1447, 359 folios; found in Mehmet Pasha's desk after his death
• Istanbul, Nuruosmaniye Kütüphanesi , 2 manuscripts: 3122, 374 folios; 3305, 403 folios
• Istanbul, Süleymaniye Kütüphanesi , ("Library of the Süleymaniye Mosque"), 3 manuscripts: Esad Efendi 2382, 442 folios, one of the two best-preserved and almost complete copies; Hamidiye 949, 524 folios, copy from 1731; Reisülküttab 654, 368 folios, copy from 1743
• Istanbul, Topkapı Sarayı Müzesi Kütüphanesi ("Library of the Topkapi Seraglio Museum"), 3 manuscripts: III. Ahmed 3084, 399 folios; Revan 1226, 316 folios; Revan 1227, 294 folios, copy from 1733
• Vienna , Austrian National Library , HO85, 444 folios, from the Joseph von Hammer-Purgstalls collection, the second of the best-preserved and almost complete copies

Nesayihü'l-vüzera ve'l-ümera

• Berlin , Prussian State Library , No. 153
• Budapest , Hungarian Academy of Sciences , O.297
• Istanbul, Süleymaniye Kütüphanesi , 5 manuscripts: Esad Efendi 1830, 61 folios; Esad Efendi 1854, 67 folios; Hacı Mahmud Efendi 5859, 29 folios; Hafid Efendi 239, 37 folios; Halet Efendi 354, 42 folios
• Saint Petersburg , Institute for Oriental Languages, No. 360
• Paris , Bibliothèque nationale de France ("French National Library"), Suppl. Turc 1112

literature

• Abdülkadir Özcan: Meḥmed Pașa Defterdār, Ṣarı, Baqqalzāde , July 2006 (English version September 2008). In: C.Kafadar / H.Karateke / C.Fleischer: Historians of the Ottoman Empire. Harvard University. Center for Middle Eastern Studies, ISBN 9780-9762-7270-0 , pp. 97-99. [1]
• Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall: The Ottoman Empire's state constitution and state administration. Vienna 1815, 2 volumes.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Mehmed Raşid: Tarih-i Raşid. Istanbul 1740, Vol. 2, pp. 73b and 178a.
2. ↑ Silâhdar Fındıklılı Mehmed Ağa : Nusretname. Manisa Il Halk Kütüphanesi, No. 5040, p. 358b.
3. ^ Mehmed Raşid: Tarih-i Raşid. Istanbul 1740, Vol. 2, p. 166b.
4. ↑ Numerical values ​​of the letters: 300 (shin) + 20 (kaf) + 200 (ra) = 520. - 600 (kha) + 6 (waw) + 1 (alif) + 2 (ba) = 609. - 520 + 609 = 1129. In: Topkapi Sarayi Müzesi Arşivi, E. 182; Ayvansarayi Hüseyin, Vefayat-i Selatin ve Meşahir-i Rical. Istanbul 1978, p. 86.
5. ^ Franz Babinger: Osmanlı Tarih Yaziları ve Eserleri. ( The historians of the Ottomans and their works. Leipzig 1927) translated by Coşkun Üçok, Ankara 1982, p. 271 f.
6. ^ Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall: Osmanlı Devleti Tarihi. ( The Ottoman Empire's state constitution and state administration. Vienna 1815, 2 volumes) translated by Ata Beg, Istanbul 1947, Vol. II, p. 300
7. ↑ Gustav Flügel : The Arabic, Persian and Turkish manuscripts of the imperial-royal court library in Vienna. Vienna 1865, Vol. 2, p. 277.