Köprülüzade Fazıl Ahmed Pasha ( ota, كپرولى زاده فاضل احمد پاشا, tr, Köprülü Fazıl Ahmet Paşa; ; 1635 – 3 November 1676) was an Ottoman nobleman and statesman, who was a member of the renowned

Köprülü family The Köprülü family ( tr, Köprülü ailesi) was a noble family of Albanian origin in the Ottoman Empire.Ivo Banac''The national question in Yugoslavia: origins, history, politics'' , Cornell University 1988 page 292. The family hailed from th ...

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

origin, which produced six grand viziers of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

Life

He was born into the

, the son of

Köprülü Mehmed Pasha Köprülü Mehmed Pasha ( ota, كپرولی محمد پاشا, tr, Köprülü Mehmet Paşa; or ''Qyprilliu'', also called ''Mehmed Pashá Rojniku''; 1575, Roshnik,– 31 October 1661, Edirne) was the founder of the Köprülü political dynas ...

and Ayşe Hatun (Hanım), daughter of Yusuf Ağa. His father was an Ottoman general 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 who in 1656 became

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 ...

, while his mother was the daughter of a notable originally from Kayacık, a village of

Havza Havza is a district of Samsun Province of Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia ...

Amasya Amasya () is a city in northern Turkey and is the capital of Amasya Province, in the Black Sea Region. It was called Amaseia or Amasia in antiquity."Amasya" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th e ...

. His maternal grandfather was a ''voyvoda'' (tax-farmer) who built a bridge in Kadegra, that because of this was renamed Köprü, where his father Mehmed was stationed, and to which the Köprülü family owes its name. He 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 ...

from 1661 to 1676 after he inherited the title from his father. Prior to this appointment, he served as the Ottoman governor of the

Damascus Eyalet ota, ایالت شام , conventional_long_name = Damascus Eyalet , common_name = Damascus Eyalet , subdivision = Eyalet , nation = the Ottoman Empire , year_start = 1516 , year_end ...

(1660 to 1661) and the

Erzurum Eyalet The Erzurum Eyalet ( ota, ایالت ارضروم, ''Eyālet-i Erżurūm'') was an eyalet of the Ottoman Empire. It was established after the conquest of Western Armenia by the Ottoman Empire. Its reported area in the 19th century was . History T ...

(1659 to 1660). He was dubbed ''Fazıl'', meaning "wise" (from the Arabic ''fazilet'', meaning "wisdom"), for reducing taxation and promoting education. On the other hand, he was brutal in war. He led the Ottoman army in the Austro-Turkish War (1663–64). At the beginning of July 1664, he succeeded in destroying

Novi Zrin Novi Zrin ( hu, Zrínyiújvár or Új-Zrínyivár) was a fortress of the Zrinski ( Zrínyi in Hungarian) noble family built near the Donja Dubrava village in the northernmost part of Croatia (at the border village of Őrtilos in Hungary) on t ...

in the northern part of the

Kingdom of Croatia Kingdom of Croatia may refer to: * Kingdom of Croatia (925–1102), an independent medieval kingdom * Croatia in personal union with Hungary (1102–1526), a kingdom in personal union with the Kingdom of Hungary * Kingdom of Croatia (Habsburg) (152 ...

after nearly a month-long

siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition warfare, attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity con ...

. Although defeated in the Battle of Saint Gotthard, he was able to gain territory by the

Peace of Vasvár The Peace of Vasvár was a treaty between the Habsburg monarchy and the Ottoman Empire which followed the Battle of Saint Gotthard of 1 August 1664 (near Mogersdorf, Burgenland), and concluded the Austro-Turkish War (1663–64). It held for abou ...

in 1664. Following this treaty, he concentrated on the Cretan War and captured Candia (present-day

Heraklion Heraklion or Iraklion ( ; el, Ηράκλειο, , ) is the largest city and the administrative capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in Greece with a population of 211,370 (Urban A ...

) from the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...

in 1669. At the end of the Polish–Ottoman War (1672–1676) against the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...

, he signed the

Treaty of Buchach The Treaty of Buchach was signed on 18 October 1672 in Buczacz (now '' Buchach, Ukraine'') between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth under King Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki, who had been unable to raise a suitable army, on the one side and t ...

in 1672 and the

Treaty of Żurawno The Treaty of Żurawno ( tr, İzvança Antlaşması; pl, rozejm w Żurawnie) was signed on 17 October 1676 in the town of Żurawno (or ''İzvança'', as it was called during the Ottoman occupation of Podolia), in the aftermath of the Battle of � ...

in 1676. Contemporary European observers frequently remarked upon the atheistic tendencies of Fazıl Ahmed's inner circle of courtiers, and particularly those of Fazıl Ahmed himself. Nevertheless, his exact religious views remain unknown. Fazıl Ahmed Pasha died on November 3, 1676, from complications resulting from his lifestyle of heavy drinking.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Koprulu, Fazil Ahmed Koprulu, Fazil Ahmed Fazil Ahmed Albanian Grand Viziers of the Ottoman Empire Koprulu, Fazil Ahmed People from Vezirköprü Koprulu, Fazil Ahmed People of the Austro-Turkish War (1663–64) Albanian Pashas Ottoman governors of Damascus Ottoman people of the Ottoman–Venetian Wars

Life

See also

References

External links