Çorlulu Damat Ali Pasha ( in

Çorlu Çorlu () is a northwestern Turkish city in inland Eastern Thrace that falls under the administration of the Province of Tekirdağ. It is a rapidly growing industrial centre built on flatland located on the motorway Otoyol 3 and off the highwa ...

– 1711 in

Lesbos Lesbos or Lesvos ( el, Λέσβος, Lésvos ) is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It has an area of with approximately of coastline, making it the third largest island in Greece. It is separated from Asia Minor by the nar ...

) 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 ...

who held the office from 1706 to 1710.

Early life and career

As his surname indicates, Ali was born in

in , the son of a peasant or barber. His handsome appearance and intelligence led to his adoption by a member of the court under Sultan

Ahmed II Ahmad ( ar, أحمد, ʾAḥmad) is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other spellings of the name include Ahmed and Ahmet. Etymology The word derives from the root (ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from the ve ...

(). This opened the way to the Galata Palace School, and eventually the Inner Service of the palace itself. Ali rose quickly, from ''seferli oda'' to the post of Silahdar Agha (chief sword-bearer) under

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 Sulta ...

(). As Silahdar Agha, Çorlulu Ali advanced his office's standing and power considerably: from the

Kizlar Agha The kizlar agha ( ota, قيزلر اغاسی, tr, kızlar ağası, ), formally the agha of the House of Felicity ( ota, links=no, دار السعاده اغاسي, tr, links=no, Darüssaade Ağası), was the head of the eunuchs who guarded the ...

he assumed the role of intermediary between the

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 the Sultan, and from the Kapi Agha he took over control of the palace pages, the '' iç oğlan''s. Ali was also charged with reordering the hierarchy of the entire Inner Service. At the beginning of the revolt known as the

Edirne event The Edirne Incident ( ota, Edirne Vaḳʿası, script=Latn) was a janissary revolt that began in Constantinople (now Istanbul) in 1703. The revolt was a reaction to the consequences of the Treaty of Karlowitz and Sultan Mustafa II's absence fro ...

in 1703, he was dismissed due to the intrigues of the Grand Vizier

Rami Mehmed Pasha Rami Mehmed Pasha (1645–1706) was an Ottoman statesman and poet who served as Grand Vizier (1703) and governor of Cyprus and of Egypt (1704–06). He was known as a poet of divan literature (the epithet Rami, meaning "Obedient", is his pen n ...

and the influential Sheikh-ul-Islam, Hacı Feyzullah Efendi, although he acquired the rank of

vizier A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called '' katib'' (secretary), who was ...

. However, after Mustafa II's overthrow, Sultan

Ahmed III Ahmed III ( ota, احمد ثالث, ''Aḥmed-i sālis'') was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and a son of Sultan Mehmed IV (r. 1648–1687). His mother was Gülnuş Sultan, originally named Evmania Voria, who was an ethnic Greek. He was born at ...

() appointed Çorlulu Ali as a "vizier of the dome" (''kubbe vezir'', i.e., a member of the Imperial Council). He was briefly appointed as the ''

beylerbey ''Beylerbey'' ( ota, بكلربكی, beylerbeyi, lit= bey of beys, meaning the 'commander of commanders' or 'lord of lords') was a high rank in the western Islamic world in the late Middle Ages and early modern period, from the Anatolian Selj ...

'' (governor-general) of Tripoli (modern

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus lie ...

) in 1704, but quickly returned to

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

and resumed his position as "vizier of the dome".

Grand vizierate

In May 1706, he was appointed as Grand Vizier. According to the ''

Encyclopaedia of Islam The ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'' (''EI'') is an encyclopaedia of the academic discipline of Islamic studies published by Brill. It is considered to be the standard reference work in the field of Islamic studies. The first edition was published ...

'', he was "the first competent Grand Vizier of the reign", and enjoyed high favour with the Sultan, who in 1708 married his niece Emine Sultan (a daughter of Mustafa II) to him. Thus Ali gained the title '' damat'' ("groom") to the Ottoman dynasty. As Grand Vizier, Çorlulu Ali paid particular attention to rectifying the abuses in the

Ottoman army The military of the Ottoman Empire ( tr, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu'nun silahlı kuvvetleri) was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. Army The military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the ...

, the reining in of the government budget, and improvements to the Ottoman navy and the

Imperial Arsenal The Imperial Arsenal ( ota, Tersâne-i Âmire) was the main base and naval shipyard of the Ottoman Empire from the 16th century to the end of the Empire. It was located on the Golden Horn in the Ottoman capital, Constantinople (modern Istanbul). ...

. At the same time, however, he was strongly opposed to entering any conflict for the time being. Thus he was accused of missing the opportunities presented by the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...

, which drew the attention of the Western European powers, to regain the

Morea The Morea ( el, Μορέας or ) was the name of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece during the Middle Ages and the early modern period. The name was used for the Byzantine province known as the Despotate of the Morea, by the Ottom ...

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 ...

, as well as checking the growing threat of

Peter the Great Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...

during

Charles XII of Sweden Charles XII, sometimes Carl XII ( sv, Karl XII) or Carolus Rex (17 June 1682 – 30 November 1718 O.S.), was King of Sweden (including current Finland) from 1697 to 1718. He belonged to the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, a branch line of ...

's invasion of Russia in the

Great Northern War The Great Northern War (1700–1721) was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swe ...

. Indeed, after his defeat at the

Battle of Poltava The Battle of Poltava; russian: Полта́вская би́тва; uk, Полта́вська би́тва (8 July 1709) was the decisive and largest battle of the Great Northern War. A Russian army under the command of Tsar Peter I defeat ...

, Charles XII refused to treat with Çorlulu Ali, as he believed that he had been promised assistance from the

Crimean Khanate The Crimean Khanate ( crh, , or ), officially the Great Horde and Desht-i Kipchak () and in old European historiography and geography known as Little Tartary ( la, Tartaria Minor), was a Crimean Tatar state existing from 1441 to 1783, the long ...

, an Ottoman vassal, that had never materialized. Matters came to a head when Charles XII sought refuge in Ottoman lands. Peter the Great tried to follow him into Ottoman lands, and Charles persuaded the Ottoman government to declare war on Russia.Prof. Yaşar Yüce-Prof. Ali Sevim: ''Türkiye tarihi Cilt III'', AKDTYKTTK Yayınları, İstanbul, 1991 p 23 Ali Pasha wasn't able to follow a consistent policy, and the

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

ambassador accused him of accepting bribes from the

Russians , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 '' Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...

. Having lost the Sultan's confidence, Ali was dismissed in June 1710 and sent to govern Kefe (

Feodosia uk, Феодосія, Теодосія crh, Kefe , official_name = () , settlement_type= , image_skyline = THEODOSIA 01.jpg , imagesize = 250px , image_caption = Genoese fortress of Caffa , image_shield = Fe ...

) in the Crimea. But before he was able to reach his new office, the sultan changed his mind and exiled Ali Pasha to the island of

(in modern

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

), where he was then executed in December 1711.

Buildings

Çorlulu Ali erected a number of monuments, including a school and a fountain at Çorlu, and two

Friday mosque A congregational mosque or Friday mosque (, ''masjid jāmi‘'', or simply: , ''jāmi‘''; ), or sometimes great mosque or grand mosque (, ''jāmi‘ kabir''; ), is a mosque for hosting the Friday noon prayers known as ''jumu'ah''.* * * * * * * ...

s in Istanbul: at the Imperial Arsenal, and at the quarter, where his tomb is.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ali Pasha, Corlulu 1670 births 1711 deaths 18th-century Grand Viziers of the Ottoman Empire 18th-century executions by the Ottoman Empire Damats Executed people from the Ottoman Empire People from Çorlu Galatasaray High School alumni Exiles from the Ottoman Empire