Bayezid Pasha or Beyazid Pasha (also known as

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 ...

lı Beyazid Pasha; died July 1421) was an Ottoman Albanian

statesman A statesman or stateswoman typically is a politician who has had a long and respected political career at the national or international level. Statesman or Statesmen may also refer to: Newspapers United States * ''The Statesman'' (Oregon), a ...

who 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 ...

of the Ottoman Empire from 1413 to 1421.İsmail Hâmi Danişmend, Osmanlı Devlet Erkânı, Türkiye Yayınevi, İstanbul, 1971, p. 9. (Turkish) He was the first Albanian and first Muslim from Balkans to become Grand Vizier of the Ottoman state.

Biography

Bayezid was born in

as the son of Amasyalı Yahşi Bey, earning him the epithet ''Amasyalı'', meaning "from Amasya." He was of Albanian origin. He was raised in the imperial palace. While

Bayezid I Bayezid I ( ota, بايزيد اول, tr, I. Bayezid), also known as Bayezid the Thunderbolt ( ota, link=no, یلدیرم بايزيد, tr, Yıldırım Bayezid, link=no; – 8 March 1403) was the Ottoman Sultan from 1389 to 1402. He adopted ...

was sultan, he served in various military positions. When Bayezid I's son, the future sultan

Mehmed I Mehmed I ( 1386 – 26 May 1421), also known as Mehmed Çelebi ( ota, چلبی محمد, "the noble-born") or Kirişçi ( el, Κυριτζής, Kyritzis, "lord's son"), was the Ottoman sultan from 1413 to 1421. The fourth son of Sultan Bayezid ...

(then known as Mehmed Çelebi), was a provincial governor, Bayezid Pasha served as one of his head advisers. After the disastrous Battle of Ankara in 1402, when

Tamerlane Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kür ...

defeated the Ottoman Empire and took sultan Bayezid I prisoner, Bayezid Pasha rescued the 15-year-old Mehmed Çelebi from Tamerlane's forces and brought him to his hometown of Amasya. After the subsequent

Ottoman Interregnum The Ottoman Interregnum, or the Ottoman Civil War ( 20 July 1402 – 5 July 1413; tr, Fetret Devri, , Interregnum Period), was a civil war in the Ottoman Empire between the sons of Sultan Bayezid I following the defeat of their father at the ...

in 1413, when Mehmed Çelebi finally defeated his brothers' claims to the throne, Bayezid Pasha became the official

under the now-sultan

. Under Mehmed I, Bayezid Pasha crushed the rebellion of

Sheikh Bedreddin Sheikh Bedreddin (1359–1420) ( ota, شیخ بدرالدین), full name Sheikh Bedreddin Mahmud bin Israel bin Abdulaziz was an influential mystic, scholar, theologian, and revolutionary. He is best known for his role in a 1416 revolt against t ...

in 1420. After Mehmed I's death on May 26, 1421, upon Mehmed's request, Bayezid Pasha kept the sultan's death a secret for the 40 days it took his son and successor

Murad II Murad II ( ota, مراد ثانى, Murād-ı sānī, tr, II. Murad, 16 June 1404 – 3 February 1451) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1421 to 1444 and again from 1446 to 1451. Murad II's reign was a period of important economic deve ...

to arrive in the capital to ascend the throne. This move was in order to avoid a civil war in an empire still reeling from that of the

. In July 1421, only two months after Murad II's coronation, Bayezid Pasha, still grand vizier, was sent to lead an army against the rebellion of

Mustafa Çelebi Mustafa Çelebi (d. May 1422), also called Mustafa the Impostor ( tr, Düzmece Mustafa or ''Düzme Mustafa''), was an Ottoman prince who struggled to gain the throne of the Ottoman Empire in the early 15th century. He was the Sultan of Rumelia ...

, Murad II's uncle. Bayezid's forces met with Mustafa in the area of the future village of Sazlıdere in

Keşan Keşan is the name of a district of Edirne Province, Turkey, and also the name of the largest in the district town of Keşan ( bg, Кешан; gr, Κεσσάνη, Byzantine Greek: Ρουσιον, ''Rusion'') In 2010 Keşan had a permanent populat ...

Edirne Edirne (, ), formerly known as Adrianople or Hadrianopolis ( Greek: Άδριανούπολις), is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders ...

in central

Thrace Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to ...

. In the midst of battle, Bayezid Pasha's forces deserted him and joined Mustafa Çelebi's forces, forcing him to surrender to Mustafa. Mustafa's ally

Junayd of Aydın Juneyd or Junayd Bey ( tr, İzmiroğlu Cüneyd; ) was the last ruler (bey) of the Aydınid principality in what is now central western Turkey. His exact relationship with the Aydınid dynasty is unclear. His father was a long-time and popular go ...

, distrustful of Bayezid, urged Mustafa to execute him, which Mustafa did promptly by beheading him. Junayd spared Bayezid's brother Hamza Bey, however, who in 1425 would be the one to avenge him by having Junayd and his family executed. Bayezid Pasha's grave is at the site in Sazlıdere.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bayezid Pasha 14th-century births 1421 deaths 15th-century executions by the Ottoman Empire 15th-century Grand Viziers of the Ottoman Empire Albanian Grand Viziers of the Ottoman Empire Deaths by decapitation Lalas (title) Albanians from the Ottoman Empire People of the Ottoman Interregnum People from Amasya Year of birth unknown