Kaplan Mataraci Pasha (transliterated from Arabic as Qublan Pasha ibn al-Mataraji) was the Ottoman governor of

Sidon Sidon ( ; he, צִידוֹן, ''Ṣīḏōn'') known locally as Sayda or Saida ( ar, صيدا ''Ṣaydā''), is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate, of which it is the capital, on the Mediterranean coast. ...

in 1698–1703.

Life

Kaplan Pasha was a probable descendant of a

janissary A Janissary ( ota, یڭیچری, yeŋiçeri, , ) was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman Sultan's household troops and the first modern standing army in Europe. The corps was most likely established under sultan Orhan ( ...

based in

Latakia , coordinates = , elevation_footnotes = , elevation_m = 11 , elevation_ft = , postal_code_type = , postal_code = , area_code = Country code: 963 City code: 41 , geocode ...

, Matarci Ali, who died in 1666 and whose descendants remained in Latakia. When Kaplan's brother, Arslan Pasha, was appointed the governor of

Tripoli Eyalet Tripoli Eyalet ( ota, ایالت طرابلس شام, Eyālet-i Ṭrāblus-ı Şām; ar, طرابلس الشام) was an eyalet of the Ottoman Empire. The capital was in Tripoli, Lebanon. Its reported area in the 19th century was . It extended ...

, he appointed Kaplan the governor of the Latakia Sanjak. He is mentioned as the governor of Tripoli in mid-September 1697 in a letter by the

Sufi Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...

traveler

Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulsi Shaykh 'Abd al-Ghani ibn Isma′il al-Nabulsi (an-Nabalusi) (19 March 1641 – 5 March 1731), was an eminent Sunni Muslim scholar, poet, and author on works about Sufism, ethnography and agriculture. Family origins Abd al-Ghani's family descen ...

. In 1698, Kaplan was appointed by the imperial Ottoman government the governor of

Sidon Eyalet ota, ایالت صیدا , common_name = Eyalet of Sidon , subdivision = Eyalet , nation = the Ottoman Empire , year_start = 1660 , year_end = 1864 , date_start = , date_end = , ev ...

, a post he held until 1703. In 1698 or 1699 Kaplan Pasha was appointed the '' amir al-hajj'' (commander of the

Hajj The Hajj (; ar, حَجّ '; sometimes also spelled Hadj, Hadji or Haj in English) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried ...

pilgrim caravan), replacing the governor of Damascus, Ahmed Pasha Salih Pashazade, who was executed by 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 ...

. Kaplan Pasha's son, Mehmed Bey, governed Latakia in the early 18th century. He was accused of a host of injustices, including "oppressing the poor", "confiscating tobacco stores" in a government document, but could not be dislodged from his saray (government house) in the city.

References

Bibliography

* * * * *{{cite book , last1=Winter , first1=Stefan , title=A History of the 'Alawis: From Medieval Aleppo to the Turkish Republic , date=2016 , publisher=Princeton University Press , location=Princeton and Oxford , isbn=9780691173894 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Suf-CwAAQBAJ 17th-century people from the Ottoman Empire 18th-century people from the Ottoman Empire People from Latakia Ottoman governors of Sidon Ottoman governors of Tripoli, Lebanon