Semiz Mehmed Pasha (1596 – July 1646) was an
Ottoman 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 ...
and a descendant of
Suleiman the Magnificent.
Biography
He was born in 1596. His father, Sultanzade Abdurrahman Bey, was a son of
Ayşe Hümaşah Sultan
ota, عائشه ھما شاہ سلطان
, house = Ottoman
, house-type = Dynasty
, father = Rüstem Pasha
, mother = Mihrimah Sultan
, birth_date = 1541
, birth_place = Constantinople, Ottoman Empire (present day I ...
, daughter of
Rüstem Pasha and
Mihrimah Sultan Sultan may refer to:
* Mihrimah Sultan (daughter of Suleiman I) (1522–1578), Ottoman princess
* Mihrümah Sultan (daughter of Şehzade Bayezid) (1547–1602), Ottoman princess
* Mihrimah Sultan (daughter of Murad III) (1579–), Ottoman princess ...
.
His mother was Ayşe Hanım, a daughter of
Cığalazade Yusuf Sinan Pasha.
He was a great-great-grandson of Sultan
Suleiman the Magnificent and
Hurrem Sultan.
Early years
In 1637, he was appointed as the governor of
Egypt. Three years later, during the reign of
İbrahim
Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Jew ...
, he returned to
İstanbul as a
vizier in the Ottoman
divan. In 1641, he was appointed as the governor of
Özü (modern
Ochakiv in
Ukraine) and tasked with capturing the fort of
Azak
Azov (russian: Азов), previously known as Azak,
is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in Rostov Oblast, Russia, situated on the Don River (Russia), Don River just from the Sea of Azov, which derives its name from the town. Popu ...
(modern
Azov in
Russia), which had recently been lost to the
Cossack
The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...
s. He was successful in recapturing the fort. In 1643, he was appointed as the governor of
Damascus
)), is an adjective which means "spacious".
, motto =
, image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg
, image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg
, seal_type = Seal
, map_caption =
, ...
(in modern
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 ...
). This appointment was probably due to the secret power struggle between him and the grand vizier,
Kemankeş Mustafa Pasha.
[Ayhan Buz: ''Osmanlı Sadrazamları'', Neden Kitap, İstanbul, 2009, ]
As Grand Vizier
In 1644, he succeeded the grand vizier Kemankeş Mustafa Pasha, who was executed. Kemankeş Mustafa Pasha was a victim of palace intrigues and a quack
hodja
Khawaja (Persian language, Persian: خواجه ''khvâjəh'') is an honorific title used across the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia and Central Asia, particularly towards Sufi teachers.
It is also used by Kashmiri Muslims and the Mizrah ...
named
Djindji Khodja Cinci Hoca (literally "hoca of jinn") is the epithet of Karabaşzade Hüseyin Efendi, a 17th-century Ottoman spiritualist whose influence on the sultan caused many problems in the empire.
Life
He was born in Safranbolu (in modern province of K ...
. Well aware of hodja's influence on the sultan and the tragedy of the previous grand vizier, he was too cautious in governance and became an ineffective grand vizier. He became a yes man of the sultan. According to Lord Kinross, one day the sultan asked why he never opposed any opinion to which he replied, "''Every opinion of the sultan has a deep aphorism even if subjects are unable to understand''." Although he was against declaring war on the
Republic of Venice,
[Prof. Yaşar Yüce-Prof. Ali Sevim: ''Türkiye tarihi'' Cilt III, AKDTYKTTK Yayınları, İstanbul, 1991 p. 90] his cautious objections were not taken into consideration and the
Cretan War (1645–1669) soon began in 1645, which was financially disastrous to both sides.
Later years
In 1645, Sultan Ibrahim deposed him. His next mission was on the island of
Crete (in modern
Greece), which was the theatre of the recently started war as the commander of the army ( tr, serdar) but he soon died of natural causes.
See also
*
List of Ottoman grand viziers
*
Turks in Kosovo
*
Sultanzade
Sultanzade is an Ottoman title for sons of sultana or imperial princesses, female descendants of sovereign in male line. The feminine equivalent is ''hanımsultan''.
Term
Sultan (سلطان) is a word Arabic origin, originally meaning "author ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sultanzade Mehmed Pasha
Year of birth uncertain
1646 deaths
17th-century Grand Viziers of the Ottoman Empire
17th-century Ottoman governors of Egypt
Pashas
Ottoman princes
Kosovan Turks