Sultanzade Mehmed Pasha

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Sultanzade Mehmed Pascha (* 1603 in Istanbul , † July 1646 ) was an Ottoman statesman and from January 31, 1644 to December 17, 1645 Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire . The nickname Sultanzade is a title for sons of Ottoman princesses.

Life

Mehmed was born in 1603 as the son of Abdurrahman Bey and the Ayşe Sultan. His grandmother was Ayşe Hümaşah Sultan, a daughter of Rüstem Pasha and the Princess Mihrimah Sultan . Mehmed was thus a direct descendant of Suleyman I. He received a good education and due to the relationship with the Sultan's family it can be assumed that he went in and out of the palace at a young age. In the Ottoman-Polish War of 1620/21 Mehmed Sultan Osman II accompanied at the Battle of Chotyn in the rank of civan kapacıbaşı .

On October 15, 1637 he was appointed by the Sultan to be the Beylerbey of Egypt. Three years later, during the reign of İbrahim , he returned to Istanbul as a vizier and member of the divan . In 1641 he was appointed governor of Eyâlet Özü (now Ochakiv , Ukraine ) and tasked with conquering the Azov fortress , which had recently been lost to the Cossacks . He was able to successfully recapture the castle for the Ottoman Empire. In 1643 he was appointed governor of Damascus. This appointment was probably due to the power struggle between him and the Grand Vizier Kemankeş Kara Mustafa Pascha for the sultan's favor.

In 1644 he succeeded Kemankeş Mustafa Pasha, who had been executed, as Grand Vizier. Kemankeş Mustafa Pasha was the victim of palace intrigue over a quack named Cinci Hodscha . Mehmed, aware of the influence of the Hocas on the Sultan and the tragedy of his predecessor, was very cautious in governance and became an ineffective grand vizier. He always nodded to the Sultan's instructions. According to reports from Lord Kinross , one day the Sultan asked why the Grand Vizier never contradicted his opinion. Mehmed replied: "Every opinion of the Sultan contains a profound wisdom of life, even if the subjects cannot understand it."

Although he was against declaring war on the Republic of Venice , his cautious objections were not taken into account and the war for Crete (1645–1669) soon began. At first there wasn't much, but Mehmed Pascha and the Kapudan Pascha Silahdar Jusuf Pascha soon argued about the war strategy. Jusuf Pascha quickly achieved initial success and soon took Chania . Mehmed Sultan, now in fear of his influence on the Sultan, tried to disparage the success and complained that the victory had brought the Sultan little booty. He listened to the arguments of the two pashas and then dismissed his grand vizier in December 1645. Nevertheless, he remained in command of the army ( serdar ) in Crete, but soon died of natural causes .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Mehmed Pașa, Sultanzâde , İslâm Ansiklopedisi, Türike Diyanet Vakfı, accessed on May 6, 2020
  2. ↑ a b Ayhan Buz: Osmanlı Sadrazamları . Neden Kitap, Istanbul 2009, ISBN 978-975-254-278-5
  3. ^ A b Gábor Ágoston, Bruce Alan Masters: Encyclopedia of the Ottoman Empire . FactsonFile, New York 2010, p. 263
  4. ↑ Lord Kinross: The Ottoman centuries . Altın Kitaplar, Istanbul 2008, ISBN 978-975-21-0955-1 , p. 306
  5. ^ Yaşar Yüce, Ali Sevim: Türkiye tarihi . Volume III, AKDTYKTTK Yayınları, Istanbul 1991, p. 90
  6. ^ Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall: From Murad the Fourth's entry into government to the appointment of Mohammed Köprili as Grand Vizier. 1623-1656 . (= Volume 5, History of the Ottoman Empire: mostly from previously unused manuscripts and archives ), CA Hartleben's Verlag, Pest 1829, pp. 387–389
predecessor Office successor
Kemankeş Kara Mustafa Pasha Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire
January 31, 1644 - December 17, 1645 		Nevesinli Salih Pasha
personal data
SURNAME Sultanzade Mehmed Pasha
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Grand Vizier in the Ottoman Empire
DATE OF BIRTH 1603
PLACE OF BIRTH Istanbul
DATE OF DEATH July 1646