Tarhoncu Ahmed Pasha ( tr, Tarhuncu Ahmed Paşa; died 21 March 1653) was an Ottoman Albanian statesman and Grand Vizier 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) ...

from 20 June 1652 until 21 March 1653, when he was executed because of the economic reforms he initiated. Tarhoncu Ahmed Pasha was born in the area of modern

Mat District Mat District () was one of the 36 districts of Albania, which were dissolved in July 2000 and replaced by 12 newly created counties. It had a population of 61,906 in 2001, and an area of . It was named after the river Mat, which flows through ...

, northern

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

in the early 17th century. He was initially a

tarragon Tarragon (''Artemisia dracunculus''), also known as estragon, is a species of perennial herb in the family Asteraceae. It is widespread in the wild across much of Eurasia and North America and is cultivated for culinary and medicinal purposes ...

salesman (''tarhoncu'') before joining the Ottoman administration. He served as

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

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 Medit ...

before attaining the vezirate. During his brief tenure in the middle of the reign of Sultan

Mehmet IV Mehmed IV ( ota, محمد رابع, Meḥmed-i rābi; tr, IV. Mehmed; 2 January 1642 – 6 January 1693) also known as Mehmed the Hunter ( tr, Avcı Mehmed) was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1648 to 1687. He came to the throne at the a ...

(''r''. 1648–1687), he attempted to forestall decline and reform the Ottoman bureaucracy. Tarhoncu Ahmed was the first grand vizier to draft an annual budget in advance of the coming

fiscal year A fiscal year (or financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. Laws in many ...

. However, his reforms threatened the conservative forces in the Ottoman elite, who secured his execution on 21 March 1653 by spreading the false rumour that he intended to depose the sultan. This effectively ended the attempts at reform for several years.

References

* Stanford Jay Shaw, ''History of the Ottoman Empire and modern Turkey'', vol. 1, ''Empire of the Gazis: The Rise and decline of the Ottoman Empire, 1280–1808'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1976), 205–206. 1653 deaths 17th-century Grand Viziers of the Ottoman Empire 17th-century Ottoman governors of Egypt 17th-century executions by the Ottoman Empire Albanian Grand Viziers of the Ottoman Empire Albanians from the Ottoman Empire Devshirme Executed people from the Ottoman Empire People from Mat (municipality) Executed Albanian people Year of birth unknown Ottoman governors of Egypt {{Ottoman-bio-stub

See also

References