Zagano's Pasha

Assumed resting place of the Zaganos Pasha, the Zaganos Pasha Mosque in Balıkesir

Zaganos Mehmed Pascha (also Zagan Pascha , Albanian  Zognush Pasha , Turkish Zağnospaşa ; died 1462 or 1469 in Balıkesir ) was an Ottoman military commander and grand vizier . He was considered the Lālā (mentor and protector) of Sultan Mehmed II and played an important role in the conquest of Constantinople in 1453.

Zaganos Pasha's origin is not certain. Depending on the source, an Albanian , Greek ( Rûm ) or South Slavic origin is assumed. Halil İnalcık assumes that Zaganos Pasha could be the son of Vrana Konti , an advisor to the Albanian Turkish fighter Skanderbeg . Zaganos was born a Christian and was sent to the Enderûn Palace School in Edirne for training via the boy harvest .

Zaganos was promoted to vizier and soon to be commander in the Ottoman navy . During the Battle of Constantinople, together with Saruca Pascha and Çandarlı II. Halil Pascha , he guarded the three towers of the Rumeli Hisarı castle , which was built in 1452 , which is why one of them is named after Zaganos Pascha. He was considered particularly cruel and "enemy of Christians". After Mehmed II had Halil Pasha executed on June 1, 1453, Zaganos became Grand Vizier. It is believed that Zagano's stories of Halil Pasha's collaboration with the Byzantines were spread.

Because of the failed siege of Belgrade in 1456 against Johann Hunyadi , Zaganos were deposed as Grand Vizier, his daughter was expelled from the harem and both were exiled to Balikesir ; Zaganos was married to the daughter of Sultan Murad II and Anna, the granddaughter of the despot Demetrios I. Kantakuzenos . In Balikesir he donated the Zaganos Pascha mosque , a hammam and other buildings that still exist today .

In 1459 he returned from Balikesir and in 1463 became Kapudan Pasha . In 1466 he became Wālī (governor) of Thessaly and Macedonia . The circumstances of his death are also not certain. According to some sources, Zaganos Pasha died in 1462.

literature

• A. Savvides: Za gh anos Pa sh a. In: The Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition . Vol. 11, Brill, Leiden, p. 384.
• Halil İnalcık: From empire to republic: essays on Ottoman and Turkish social history . Isis Press, Istanbul 1995, ISBN 978-975-428-080-7 , pp. 76 (French, limited preview in Google Book search).
• David Nicolle, John F. Haldon, Stephen R. Turnbull: The fall of Constantinople: the Ottoman conquest of Byzantium . Osprey Publishing, 2007, ISBN 978-1-84603-200-4 , pp. 189– ( limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed October 5, 2010]).