Hadım Sinan Pasha ( ota, خادم سنان پاشا, tr, Hadım Sinan Paşa, ; sh, Sinan-paša Borovinić; died 22 January 1517) was Bosnian- Ottoman nobleman, politician and statesman. He served as the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire from 1516 to 1517. He was 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 ...

Life

Early life

Sinan Pasha was of Bosnian descent. According to Ragusan documents the Borovinić noble family were from the Borovinići village near

Foča Foča ( sr-Cyrl, Фоча, ) is a town and a municipality located in Republika Srpska in south-eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the banks of Drina river. As of 2013, the town has a population of 12,234 inhabitants, while the municipality has 1 ...

. His ancestor

Tvrtko Borovinić Tvrtko may refer to: * Tvrtko I of Bosnia, medieval king of Bosnia * Tvrtko II of Bosnia, medieval king of Bosnia * Tvrtko Jakovina, Croatian historian * Tvrtko Kale Tvrtko Kale (now Dreshler Kale, he, טברטקו קאלה; born 5 June 1974) ...

(fl. 1417–46) was a close relative of

Grand Dukes of Bosnia The title ''Grand Duke of Bosnia'' was a court title in the Kingdom of Bosnia, bestowed by the King to highest military commanders, usually reserved for most influential and most capable among highest Bosnian nobility. To interpret it as an offi ...

Radoslav Pavlović Radoslav (Lale) Pavlović ( sr, Радослав Павловић; born 8 September 1954, in Aleksandrovac, Serbia) is a Serbian writer. Pavlovic authored numerous theatre plays and film/TV scripts popular with the audience and acclaimed by th ...

, whom he served as a vassal.

Sanjak-bey

From December 1496 he was sanjak-bey of Bosnia. From 1504 to 1506, he was the sanjak-bey of Herzegovina. In 1507–08 he expanded the

Mostar Mostar (, ; sr-Cyrl, Мостар, ) is a city and the administrative center of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the historical capital of Herzegovina. Mostar is sit ...

mosque built in 1473 by an earlier Sinan Pasha who was the first sanjak-bey of Herzegovina. Then he was the sanjak-bey of Smederevo between 1506 and 1513. Hadim Sinan was a

Beylerbey and Grand Vizier

In 1514, he was the

Beylerbey ''Beylerbey'' ( ota, بكلربكی, beylerbeyi, lit=bey of beys, meaning the 'commander of commanders' or 'lord of lords') was a high rank in the western Islamic world in the late Middle Ages and early modern period, from the Anatolian Seljuks ...

(high governor) of

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

. In the

battle of Chaldiran The Battle of Chaldiran ( fa, جنگ چالدران; tr, Çaldıran Savaşı) took place on 23 August 1514 and ended with a decisive victory for the Ottoman Empire over the Safavid Empire. As a result, the Ottomans annexed Eastern Anatolia an ...

against Safavid Persia he was in charge of right flank. After the battle he was appointed as the beylerbey of

Rumeli Rumelia ( ota, روم ايلى, Rum İli; tr, Rumeli; el, Ρωμυλία), etymologically "Land of the Romans", at the time meaning Eastern Orthodox Christians and more specifically Christians from the Byzantine rite, was the name of a histo ...

, a post more prestigious than his former post. His next mission was the conquest of the

Dulkadirids The Anatolian beylik of Dulkadir (Modern Turkish: ''Dulkadiroğulları Beyliği''), was one of the frontier principalities established by the Turkoman clans Bayat, Afshar and Begdili after the decline of Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm. Capitals ...

, a vassal of the Mameluks, in what is now South

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 ...

. He defeated

Bozkurt of Dulkadir Bozkurt of Dulkadir (also known as "Alaüddevle") (died June 13, 1515) was a bey of Beylik of Dulkadir, a Turkish beylik (principality) in Anatolia Background Dulkadir was a semi independent beylik under the sovereignty of the Mamluk Egypt. The ...

in the Battle of Turnadağ. After the conquest of the beylik,

Selim I Selim I ( ota, سليم الأول; tr, I. Selim; 10 October 1470 – 22 September 1520), known as Selim the Grim or Selim the Resolute ( tr, links=no, Yavuz Sultan Selim), was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1512 to 1520. Despite las ...

(the Inflexible) appointed him as the grand vizier on April 25, 1516. Sinan was Selim's favorite grand vizier. He was active in the conquest of

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

and

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 ...

. He defeated and subdued the independent

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...

emirate of

Baban Baban () was a Kurdish principality existing from the 16th century to 1850, centered around Sulaymaniyah. The Baban principality played an active role in the Ottoman- Safavid conflict and gave significant military support to the Ottomans. They wer ...

, making them an Ottoman vassal. On October 28, 1516, he defeated an Egyptian Mameluke army in

Khan Yunis Khan Yunis ( ar, خان يونس, also spelled Khan Younis or Khan Yunus; translation: ''Caravansary fJonah'') is a city in the southern Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Khan Yunis had a population of 142,6 ...

, near Gazza,

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

. Next year, he fought in the

Battle of Ridaniya The Battle of Ridaniya or Battle of Ridanieh ( tr, Ridaniye Muharebesi; ar, معركة الريدانية) was fought on January 22, 1517, in Egypt. The Ottoman forces of Selim I defeated the Mamluk forces under Al-Ashraf Tuman bay II. The T ...

in Egypt on January 22, 1517. In Ottoman battle tradition, the sultan was almost always in the central headquarters. But battle of Ridaniya was an exception. Selim I decided to encircle the Mameluks personally and assigned Sinan in the central headquarters. The plot was successful and the Mameluks were defeated. However, before the battle was over, Mameluk cavalry (including

Tuman bay II Al-Ashraf Abu Al-Nasr Tuman bay ( ar, الأشرف أبو النصر طومان باي), better known as Tuman bay II ( ar, طومان باي), (c. 1476 – 15 April 1517) was the last Sultan of Egypt before the country's conquest by the Ottoman ...

, the Egyptian sultan) raided the Ottoman headquarters and killed Sinan, thinking he was the sultan.Prof. Yaşar Yüce-Prof. Ali Sevim: ''Türkiye tarihi Cilt II'', AKDTYKTTK Yayınları, İstanbul, 1991 p 248-249 After the battle sultan Selim expressed his sorrow, saying, "We won the battle, but we lost Sinan."

Personal life

According to some sources, Sinan was married to the full-sister of Sultan

Bayezid II Bayezid II ( ota, بايزيد ثانى, Bāyezīd-i s̱ānī, 3 December 1447 – 26 May 1512, Turkish: ''II. Bayezid'') was the eldest son and successor of Mehmed II, ruling as Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1481 to 1512. During his reign, ...

. It has been speculated that this sister was

Gevherhan Hatun Gevherhan Hatun ( ota, کوھرخان خاتون "''Gem of the Khan''") was an Ottoman princess, the daughter of Mehmed the Conqueror (reign 1444–46 and 1451–81) and Gülbahar Hatun. She was the sister of Sultan Bayezid II (reign 1481–1512 ...

, Bayezid's only known full sister. Some historians have disputed this, arguing that Sinan may also have married one of Bayezid's half-sisters, or that Bayezid had an unknown second full-sister.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sinan Pasha, Hadim 16th-century Grand Viziers of the Ottoman Empire Grand Viziers of Selim I Ottoman governors of Anatolia Ottoman governors of Rumelia Ottoman governors of Bosnia Sanjak of Herzegovina Year of birth unknown 1517 deaths Eunuchs from the Ottoman Empire Ottoman military personnel killed in action Pashas Devshirme Ottoman Bosnian nobility People from the Ottoman Empire of Bosnian descent Bosnian Muslims from the Ottoman Empire Slavs from the Ottoman Empire 1510s in the Ottoman Empire 16th century in Bosnia and Herzegovina Ottoman people of the Ottoman–Persian Wars