Sokollu Mehmed Pasha and Feridun Ahmed Beg

Feridun Ahmed Bey (died 16 March 1583) was an influential Ottoman official, bureaucrat, author and military officer, best known for his service in the government of

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 ...

Sokollu Mehmed Pasha Sokollu Mehmed Pasha ( ota, صوقوللى محمد پاشا, Ṣoḳollu Meḥmed Pașa, tr, Sokollu Mehmet Paşa; ; ; 1506 – 11 October 1579) was an Ottoman statesman most notable for being the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire. Born in ...

(1565–1579). He was the second husband of

Ayşe Hümaşah Sultan Ayşe Hümaşah Sultan ( ota, عائشه ھما شاہ سلطان; "''The living one''" or "''womanly''" and "''Şah's Phoenix''", 1541 – 1598) was an Ottoman princess, the only daughter of Mihrimah Sultan and Rüstem Pasha ( Grand Vizier 15 ...

, grandaughter of Sultan

Suleiman the Magnificent Suleiman I ( ota, سليمان اول, Süleyman-ı Evvel; tr, I. Süleyman; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the West and Suleiman the Lawgiver ( ota, قانونى سلطان سليمان, Ḳ ...

. The ''Münșeâtu's-Selâtin'' is his most important work, a two-volume compilation going back to early Islamic periods. According to Selcuk Aksin Somel, this work is "crucial for the study of early and classical periods of Ottoman history".

Biography

Feridun Ahmed Bey's date of birth is unknown. According to his own writings, he was born to a certain Abdülkadır (ʿAbd al-Qādir). Feridun Ahmed Bey was probably of ''

devshirme Devshirme ( ota, دوشیرمه, devşirme, collecting, usually translated as "child levy"; hy, Մանկահավաք, Mankahavak′. or "blood tax"; hbs-Latn-Cyrl, Danak u krvi, Данак у крви, mk, Данок во крв, Danok vo krv ...

'' origin. He was a protégé of Sokollu Mehmed Pasha and was reputable at the

Siege of Szigetvár The siege of Szigetvár or the Battle of Szigeth (pronunciation: �siɡɛtvaːr hu, Szigetvár ostroma, hr, Bitka kod Sigeta; Sigetska bitka, tr, Zigetvar Kuşatması) was a siege of the fortress of Szigetvár, Kingdom of Hungary, that block ...

in 1566. He served as secretary of state (''

Reis ül-Küttab The ''Reis ül-Küttab'' ( ota, رئيس الكتاب), or ''Reis Efendi'' (), was a senior post in the administration of the Ottoman Empire. Translated as "chief of the scribes" or "head clerk", the holder of the post was originally the head of th ...

'') from 1570 to 1573, and as chancellor (''

Nişancı Nişancı was a high post in 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 court calligraph ...

'') from 1573 to 1576. Following the ascension of

Murad III Murad III ( ota, مراد ثالث, Murād-i sālis; tr, III. Murad; 4 July 1546 – 16 January 1595) was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1574 until his death in 1595. His rule saw battles with the Habsburgs and exhausting wars with the Sa ...

(1574–1595), Sokollu Mehmed Pasha's power dwindled, and so did Feridun Ahmed Bey's. In the subsequent period he was sent to serve under the ''

sanjakbey ''Sanjak-bey'', ''sanjaq-bey'' or ''-beg'' ( ota, سنجاق بك) () was the title given in the Ottoman Empire to a bey (a high-ranking officer, but usually not a pasha) appointed to the military and administrative command of a district ('' sanja ...

s'' of

Smederevo Smederevo ( sr-Cyrl, Смедерево, ) is a city and the administrative center of the Podunavlje District in eastern Serbia. It is situated on the right bank of the Danube, about downstream of the Serbian capital, Belgrade. According t ...

and Köstendil. In 1581, he was recalled to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

and was reappointed as ''Nişancı''. Feridun Ahmed Bey died on 16 March 1583.

Notes

References

Sources

* * * Year of birth unknown 1583 deaths Devshirme 16th-century writers from the Ottoman Empire Reis ül-Küttab Nişancı 16th-century Ottoman military personnel {{Ottoman-bio-stub