Gazanfer Agha (died on 3 January 1603) was an Ottoman courtier and politician of Venetian origin. He held the office of '' Kapıağası'' for Sultan

Murad III Murad III (; ; 4 July 1546 – 16 January 1595) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1574 until his death in 1595. His rule saw battles with the Habsburg monarchy, Habsburgs and exhausting wars with the Safavid Iran, Safavids. The long-inde ...

part of a network of spies dedicated to manipulating Ottoman politics in favor of Venice.

Biography

He was born in

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

to Giacomo Michiel, chancellor of Venice in

Buda Buda (, ) is the part of Budapest, the capital city of Hungary, that lies on the western bank of the Danube. Historically, “Buda” referred only to the royal walled city on Castle Hill (), which was constructed by Béla IV between 1247 and ...

,Reason why Minetti mistakenly considered him to be of Hungarian origins and his wife Franceschina Zorzi. He had a brother and two sisters, one of whom was Beatrice. In 1559, he was sailing with his family to join his father in Buda, but their ship was attacked by

Barbary pirates The Barbary corsairs, Barbary pirates, Ottoman corsairs, or naval mujahideen (in Muslim sources) were mainly Muslim corsairs and privateers who operated from the largely independent Barbary states. This area was known in Europe as the Barba ...

. While his mother and sisters were later freed, he and his brother were sold into slavery in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

and taken to the Grand Seraglio school at Topkapi Palace. There they were castrated and converted to Islam, taking the names Gazanfer and Cafer. They were assigned to the court of Şehzade Selim, who ascended the throne as

Selim II Selim II (; ; 28 May 1524 – 15 December 1574), also known as Selim the Blond () or Selim the Drunkard (), was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1566 until his death in 1574. He was a son of Suleiman the Magnificent and his wife Hurrem Sul ...

in 1566. Gazanfer and his brother were part of the inner circle of Selim and his favorite,

Nurbanu Sultan Nurbanu Sultan (; 1525 – 7 December 1583) was Haseki Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and legal wife of Sultan Selim II (reign 1566–1574), as the mother of Sultan Murad III (reign 1574–1583) and the Valide sultan of the Ottoman Empire from ...

, and in 1577, during the reign of

, son of Selim and Nurbanu, Gazanfer was appointed '' kapıağası'' and chief of the ''

Enderûn (, from Persian language, Persian , ) was the term used in the Ottoman Empire to designate the "Inner Service" of the imperial court, concerned with the private service of the Ottoman sultans, as opposed to the state-administrative "Outer Service ...

,'' while Cafer became '' odabaşı'' (chief of the sultan's chamber). Both were nominated because Nurbanu, with her son's rise, became the

Valide Sultan Valide Sultan (, lit. "Sultana mother") was the title held by the mother of a ruling sultan of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans first formally used the title in the 16th century as an epithet of Hafsa Sultan (died 1534), mother of Sultan Suleima ...

. In 1583, Nurbanu died and Gazanfer managed to ally himself with Murad's favorite,

Safiye Safiye is a Turkish feminine given name, a variant of the Arabic name Safiya. People named Safiye include: * Safiye Ali (1891–1952), Turkish physician * Safiye Ayla (1907–1998), Turkish singer * Safiye Erol (1902–1964), Turkish novelist * ...

, who had also been an enemy of Nurbanu. In 1595, Murad III died and his son with Safiye,

Mehmed III Mehmed III (, ''Meḥmed-i sālis''; ; 26 May 1566 – 22 December 1603) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1595 until his death in 1603. Mehmed was known for ordering the execution of his brothers and leading the army in the Long Turkish ...

, became the Sultan, so Safiye became the new Valide Sultan and created a shadow government in the harem. Having become a powerful man, he managed to get in touch with his family of origin. Between 1582 and 1584, his mother lived with him in Constantinople. Franceschina transmitted the information provided by her sons to Venice and when she return, she was rewarded by Venice's government. In 1591, his sister Beatrice moved to Constantinople, where she converted to Islam, married a protégé of her brothers and became a Venetian spy. Later, Beatrice's son, Giacomo di Bianci, did the same. Gazanfer did not openly engage in Venice's cause, but became a conduit and ally for their network of spies at court, consisting of Beatrice, Chirana, and

Esther Handali Esther Handali (died 18 or 19 December 1588Pedani, Maria Pia. “Safiye's Household and Venetian Diplomacy”. Turcica 32 (2000). ) was a Jewish Ottoman businesswoman. She was the influential favorite and ''Kira'' (business agent) of Nurbanu S ...

. He also maintained economic ties with Venice, depositing part of his fortune in the Mint of the Serenissima. He died on 3 January 1603, during a revolt of the

janissaries A janissary (, , ) was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops. They were the first modern standing army, and perhaps the first infantry force in the world to be equipped with firearms, adopted du ...

ulemas In Islam, the ''ulama'' ( ; also spelled ''ulema''; ; singular ; feminine singular , plural ) are scholars of Islamic doctrine and law. They are considered the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious knowledge in Islam. "Ulama ...

and

sipahis The ''sipahi'' ( , ) were professional cavalrymen deployed by the Seljuk Turks and later by the Ottoman Empire. ''Sipahi'' units included the land grant–holding (''timar'') provincial ''timarli sipahi'', which constituted most of the army, ...

against the Shadow government of Safiye. He was beheaded in front of the weeping Mehmed III on the threshold of the third gate of Topkapi. Among the many who died with him were his brother Cafer, the husband of his sister Beatrice (who survived with her son, who later became a '' musahibe'' of Sultan

Murad IV Murad IV (, ''Murād-ı Rābiʿ''; , 27 July 1612 – 8 February 1640) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1623 to 1640, known both for restoring the authority of the state and for the brutality of his methods. Murad I ...

with name of Mehmed Bey) and the '' kızlarağası'' Osman Agha.

References

{{reflist 1603 deaths Courtiers from the Ottoman Empire Eunuchs from the Ottoman Empire People from the Ottoman Empire of Italian descent 16th-century slaves in the Ottoman Empire Year of birth unknown Republic of Venice people