Hadim Mesih Pasha ( ota, خادم مسيح پاشا; died 1589) was an
Ottoman statesman
A statesman or stateswoman typically is a politician who has had a long and respected political career at the national or international level.
Statesman or Statesmen may also refer to:
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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 ...
under
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 Saf ...
from 1 December 1585 until 15 April 1586.
Masih Pasha was born in Bosnia to a Christian family. As a
eunuch
A eunuch ( ) is a male who has been castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function.
The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2nd millennium ...
he served as chief of the inner pantry and treasury of the imperial palace. In 1574 he was sent to Cairo as governor-general of
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
. On his return to the capital in 1581 he became the third vizier. He was promoted to second vizier in July 1584 and in November 1585 he substituted for
Özdemiroğlu Osman Pasha
Özdemiroğlu Osman Pasha ( ota, اوزدمیر اوغلی عثمان پاشا, lit=Osman Pasha, the son of Özdemir; 1526 – 29 October 1585) was an Ottoman statesman and military commander who also held the office of grand vizier for one ...
when Osman Pasha left the capital on a campaign against the
Safavids
Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...
. On Osman Pasha's death Masih Pasha was appointed 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 ...
on 1 December 1585, a post he only held until 15 April 1586. He died in 1589 and was buried in a tomb next to the
mosque that he had commissioned in Istanbul.
See also
*
List of Ottoman Grand Viziers
*
List of Ottoman governors of Egypt
The Ottoman Empire's governors of Egypt from 1517 to 1805 were at various times known by different but synonymous titles, among them ''beylerbey'', viceroy, governor, governor-general, or, more generally, '' wāli''. Furthermore, the Ottoman sul ...
References
Sources
*
16th-century Grand Viziers of the Ottoman Empire
16th-century Ottoman governors of Egypt
Devshirme
Ottoman governors of Egypt
Eunuchs from the Ottoman Empire
1589 deaths
{{Ottoman-bio-stub