Elmas Mehmed Pasha (1661 – 11 September 1697) was an Ottoman statesman who served as

grand vizier Grand vizier ( fa, وزيرِ اعظم, vazîr-i aʾzam; ota, صدر اعظم, sadr-ı aʾzam; tr, sadrazam) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. The office of Grand Vizier was first ...

from 1695 to 1697. His epithet ''Elmas'' means "diamond" in

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

and refers to his fame as a handsome man.

Early years

He was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

from

Doğanyurt :''See also Doğanyurt, Çine, a village in Aydin province, Turkey.'' Doğanyurt, formerly Hoşalay, is a town and district of the Kastamonu Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. According to the 2000 census, population of the district is 9, ...

(formerly Hoşalay), now in

Kastamonu Province Kastamonu Province ( tr, ) is one of the provinces of Turkey, in the Black Sea region to the north of the country. It is surrounded by Sinop to the east, Bartın, Karabük to the west, Çankırı to the south, Çorum to the southeast and the ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. His father was a sea captain ( tr, reis). During the reign of

Mehmed IV Mehmed IV ( ota, محمد رابع, Meḥmed-i rābi; tr, IV. Mehmed; 2 January 1642 – 6 January 1693) also known as Mehmed the Hunter ( tr, Avcı Mehmed) was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1648 to 1687. He came to the throne at the a ...

, he began working for the Ottoman palace upon the personal request of the

sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...

. He was one of the few Ottoman statesmen who were fortunate enough to be appointed to high posts while still young. During the reign of

Ahmed II Ahmad ( ar, أحمد, ʾAḥmad) is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other spellings of the name include Ahmed and Ahmet. Etymology The word derives from the root (ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from the ve ...

, he was appointed as the

nişancı Nişancı was a high post in Ottoman Empire, Ottoman bureaucracy. The Turkish word ''nişancı'' literally means "court calligrapher" or "sealer," as the original duty of the nişancı was to seal royal precepts. History Although the post of the c ...

in 1688 and a

vizier A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was a ...

(government minister) in 1689.

As a grand vizier

The Ottoman Empire had been experiencing a period of defeats during the

Great Turkish War The Great Turkish War (german: Großer Türkenkrieg), also called the Wars of the Holy League ( tr, Kutsal İttifak Savaşları), was a series of conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy League consisting of the Holy Roman Empire, Pola ...

following the Second Siege of Vienna in 1683. After the execution of

Kara Mustafa Pasha Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Pasha ( ota, مرزيفونلى قره مصطفى پاشا, tr, Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Paşa; "Mustafa Pasha the Courageous of Merzifon"; 1634/1635 – 25 December 1683) was an Ottoman nobleman, military figure and Gr ...

, 11

s had been in the office between 1683 and 1695. Elmas Mehmed Pasha was appointed as the grand vizier on 2 May 1695 by the sultan

Mustafa II Mustafa II (; ota, مصطفى ثانى ''Muṣṭafā-yi sānī''; 6 February 1664 – 29 December 1703) was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1695 to 1703. Early life He was born at Edirne Palace on 6 February 1664. He was the son of Sult ...

. He was more successful than his immediate predecessors, and together with the sultan, he defeated

Habsburg Empire The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...

in two battles, namely the Battle of Lugos and the Battle of Ulaş. He was not only a military leader. He also tried to reform the treasury. One of the most important problems of the 17th-century Ottoman economy was the devaluated coins. He collected various coins (including European coins) and minted new gold and silver coins in the name of Mustafa II.

Battle of Zenta and death

His luck failed him during the battle of Zenta on 11 September 1697. A subordinate of Elmas Mehmed Pasha was arrested by the Habsburgs prior to the battle.

Prince Eugene of Savoy Prince Eugene Francis of Savoy–Carignano, (18 October 1663 – 21 April 1736) better known as Prince Eugene, was a Generalfeldmarschall, field marshal in the army of the Holy Roman Empire and of the Austrian Habsburg dynasty during the 17th a ...

, the Habsburg commander, learned about the campaign plan of the Ottoman side and the Habsburgs raided the Ottoman army while the army was crossing the bridge over

Tisa The Tisza, Tysa or Tisa, is one of the major rivers of Central and Eastern Europe. Once, it was called "the most Hungarian river" because it flowed entirely within the Kingdom of Hungary. Today, it crosses several national borders. The Tisza be ...

.Prof. Yaşar Yüce-Prof. Ali Sevim: Türkiye tarihi Cilt III, AKDTYKTTK Yayınları, İstanbul, 1991 p 227 Elmas Mehmed tried to organize an orderly withdrawal and he had to fight against the undisciplined soldiers who were in panic. He was killed by his own soldiers, suffocated to death with a bowstring. Two years later the Ottoman Empire had to sign the

Treaty of Karlowitz The Treaty of Karlowitz was signed in Karlowitz, Military Frontier of Archduchy of Austria (present-day Sremski Karlovci, Serbia), on 26 January 1699, concluding the Great Turkish War of 1683–1697 in which the Ottoman Empire was defeated by the ...

and had to accept the loss of

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mehmed, Elmas 17th-century Grand Viziers of the Ottoman Empire 1697 deaths 1661 births Ottoman military personnel killed in action Pashas Nişancı People from Doğanyurt People executed by ligature strangulation