Muhammad Pasha al-Azm was the Ottoman 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 = , eve ...

(1763–1770) and Damascus Eyalet (1771–72 and 1773–83). He was a member of the prominent al-Azm family, the son of a former governor As'ad Pasha al-Azm. During Muhammad Pasha's time in office, Damascus was experiencing a peak in its prosperity, although its political clout in the

Levant The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is eq ...

was being overshadowed by the rulers of

Acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

, first Zahir al-Umar and then Jezzar Pasha. Muhammad Pasha administered the city well and commissioned numerous building projects. Among the new constructions were the Abdullah al-Azm Madrasa near the Azm Palace, and the Suq al-Jadid (New Market) between the Suq al-Arwam and the Citadel of Damascus. He married off one of his daughters to Jezzar Pasha which was intended to signify an alliance between the two governors, although they remained rivals nonetheless. Muhammad Pasha's death in 1783 largely marked the end of the al-Azm family's political dominance in

Ottoman Syria Ottoman Syria ( ar, سوريا العثمانية) refers to divisions of the Ottoman Empire within the region of Syria, usually defined as being east of the Mediterranean Sea, west of the Euphrates River, north of the Arabian Desert and south ...

, although the family continued to be influential well after the end of Ottoman rule in 1917.Khoury, 2003, p. 18. Muhammad Pasha's son, Abdullah Pasha, was the last governor of Damascus from the al-Azm family.

References

Bibliography

* * {{s-end 1783 deaths Ottoman governors of Damascus

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...

Ottoman governors of Sidon 18th-century people from the Ottoman Empire