Sofu Mehmed Pasha

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Sofu Mehmed Pascha , also Mevlevi Mehmed Pascha , († August 1649 in Malkara ) was an Ottoman statesman and grand vizier of the Ottoman Empire . He was also a defterdar of the Ottoman government.

Life

Nothing is known about the origin, childhood and youth of Mehmed Pascha. He served with the Kapıkulu , then as a kethüda (adjutant / deputy) of a Defterdar , who was a kind of finance minister and chief chamberlain of the Sultan. During the reign of Murad IV , he was promoted to Defterdar himself in 1636 and remained in office until 1639. During his retirement he became a member of the Mevlevi Order and was given the title Mevlevi or Sofu . Mehmed Pascha was again Defterdar several times in the following years.

During the turbulent events shortly before the dethronement of Ibrahim in 1648, the former Grand Vizier Hezarpare Ahmed Pasha was lynched by an angry mob together with the Janissaries . The leaders of the Janissaries then forced the Sultan to appoint Sofu Mehmed Pasha as Grand Vizier. The sultan reluctantly agreed on August 8, 1648. Even so, the sultan was dethroned five days after his appointment and hanged ten days later. Sofu Mehmed Pasha is said to have been present in person during the execution.

The new Sultan Mehmed IV was only seven years old. The regent Kösem Sultan , Ibrahim's mother and Mehmed's grandmother, was suspicious of Mehmed Pasha because his role in the execution of Ibrahim was obscure. Another problem for Sofu Mehmed was the economy. The top priority for him in the government was the state treasury. He limited spending, but this policy sparked resentment among the Sipahi troops and an uprising broke out. Sofu Mehmed saved his life by taking refuge behind the power of the Janissary troops. Due to the resulting power vacuum, the janissaries gained even more power and soon the commander of the janissaries, Kara Murad Pasha , appeared against Sofu Mehmed Pasha. The defeat of the Ottoman Navy in the Battle of Focchies on May 12, 1649 was another blow to Sofu Mehmed Pasha.

On May 21, 1649, Mehmed Pasha was replaced as Grand Vizier by Kara Murad Pasha. He was exiled to Malkara and executed by Frenk Ahmed Ağa in August 1649 on the orders of Kara Murad Pasha.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sofu Mehmed Pascha , İslâm Ansiklopedisi, Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı, accessed on May 4, 2020
  2. ^ Ayhan Buz: Osmanlı Sadrazamları . Neden Kitap, Istanbul 2009, ISBN 978-975-254-278-5 , p. 104
  3. ↑ a b Yaşar Yüce, Ali Sevim: Türkiye tarihi . Volume III, AKDTYKTTK Yayınları, Istanbul 1991, pp. 100-102
  4. ↑ Suraiya Faroqhi, Bruce McGowan, Donald Quataert, Şevket Pamuk: An Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1997, ISBN 0-521-57455-2 , pp. 414 f.
  5. ↑ M.Fatih Ertürk: Osmanlı İmparatorluğu Tarihi . Kalipso yayınları, Istanbul, p. 172
predecessor Office successor
Hezarpare Ahmed Pasha Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire
August 7, 1648 - May 21, 1649 		Kara Murad Pasha
personal data
SURNAME Sofu Mehmed Pasha
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Ottoman statesman and grand vizier
DATE OF BIRTH 16th Century
DATE OF DEATH August 1649
Place of death Malkara