Elmas Mehmed Pasha (1661 – 11 September 1697) was an Ottoman statesman who served as grand vizier from 1695 to 1697. His epithet ''Elmas'' means "diamond" in Persian and refers to his fame as a handsome man.

Early years

He was a Greek from Doğanyurt (formerly Hoşalay), now in

Kastamonu Province Kastamonu Province ( tr, ) is one of the provinces of Turkey, in the Black Sea region to the north of the country. It is surrounded by Sinop to the east, Bartın, Karabük to the west, Çankırı to the south, Çorum to the southeast and the B ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

. His father was a sea captain ( tr, reis). During the reign of Mehmed IV, he began working for the Ottoman palace upon the personal request of the

sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it c ...

. He was one of the few Ottoman statesmen who were fortunate enough to be appointed to high posts while still young. During the reign of Ahmed II, he was appointed as the nişancı in 1688 and a

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 ...

(government minister) in 1689.

As a grand vizier

The Ottoman Empire had been experiencing a period of defeats during the

Great Turkish War The Great Turkish War (german: Großer Türkenkrieg), also called the Wars of the Holy League ( tr, Kutsal İttifak Savaşları), was a series of conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy League consisting of the Holy Roman Empire, Pola ...

following the Second Siege of Vienna in 1683. After the execution of

Kara Mustafa Pasha Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Pasha ( ota, مرزيفونلى قره مصطفى پاشا, tr, Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Paşa; "Mustafa Pasha the Courageous of Merzifon"; 1634/1635 – 25 December 1683) was an Ottoman nobleman, military figure and ...

, 11 grand viziers had been in the office between 1683 and 1695. Elmas Mehmed Pasha was appointed as the grand vizier on 2 May 1695 by the sultan

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 ...

. He was more successful than his immediate predecessors, and together with the sultan, he defeated Habsburg Empire in two battles, namely the

Battle of Lugos The Battle of Lugos was fought on 21 September 1695 near the city of Lugos in the East Banat, between the forces of the Ottoman Empire, and the forces of the Habsburg monarchy as part of the Great Turkish War. Background By 1695 the Ottoman Emp ...

and the

Battle of Ulaş The Battle of Olasch (also Ólas, Ulaş, Olaschin) took place after a Habsburg Imperial army led by Saxon Elector General, Augustus II the Strong, laid siege to Turkish held Temesvár. On 26 August 1696, after learning that Sultan Mustafa II ...

. He was not only a military leader. He also tried to reform the treasury. One of the most important problems of the 17th-century Ottoman economy was the devaluated coins. He collected various coins (including European coins) and minted new gold and silver coins in the name of Mustafa II.

Battle of Zenta and death

His luck failed him during the battle of Zenta on 11 September 1697. A subordinate of Elmas Mehmed Pasha was arrested by the Habsburgs prior to the battle. Prince Eugene of Savoy, the Habsburg commander, learned about the campaign plan of the Ottoman side and the Habsburgs raided the Ottoman army while the army was crossing the bridge over Tisa.Prof. Yaşar Yüce-Prof. Ali Sevim: Türkiye tarihi Cilt III, AKDTYKTTK Yayınları, İstanbul, 1991 p 227 Elmas Mehmed tried to organize an orderly withdrawal and he had to fight against the undisciplined soldiers who were in panic. He was killed by his own soldiers, suffocated to death with a bowstring. Two years later the Ottoman Empire had to sign the

Treaty of Karlowitz The Treaty of Karlowitz was signed in Karlowitz, Military Frontier of Archduchy of Austria (present-day Sremski Karlovci, Serbia), on 26 January 1699, concluding the Great Turkish War of 1683–1697 in which the Ottoman Empire was defeated by ...

and had to accept the loss of

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mehmed, Elmas 17th-century Grand Viziers of the Ottoman Empire 1697 deaths 1661 births Ottoman military personnel killed in action Pashas Nişancı People from Doğanyurt People executed by ligature strangulation