Hadım Sinan Pasha ( ota, خادم سنان پاشا, tr, Hadım Sinan Paşa, ; sh, Sinan-paša Borovinić; died 22 January 1517) was Bosnian- Ottoman nobleman, politician and statesman. He served as the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire from 1516 to 1517. He was a

eunuch A eunuch ( ) is a male who has been castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2nd millenni ...

Life

Early life

Sinan Pasha was of Bosnian descent. According to Ragusan documents the Borovinić noble family were from the Borovinići village near

Foča Foča ( sr-Cyrl, Фоча, ) is a town and a municipality located in Republika Srpska in south-eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the banks of Drina river. As of 2013, the town has a population of 12,234 inhabitants, while the municipality has 1 ...

. His ancestor Tvrtko Borovinić (fl. 1417–46) was a close relative of Grand Dukes of Bosnia, Radoslav Pavlović, whom he served as a vassal.

Sanjak-bey

From December 1496 he was sanjak-bey of Bosnia. From 1504 to 1506, he was the sanjak-bey of Herzegovina. In 1507–08 he expanded the

Mostar , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = Mostar (collage image).jpg , image_caption = From top, left to right: A panoramic view of the heritage town site and the Neretva river from Lučki Bridge, Koski Mehmed Pasha ...

mosque built in 1473 by an earlier Sinan Pasha who was the first sanjak-bey of Herzegovina. Then he was the sanjak-bey of Smederevo between 1506 and 1513. Hadim Sinan was a

Beylerbey and Grand Vizier

In 1514, he was 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 ...

(high governor) of

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

. In the

battle of Chaldiran The Battle of Chaldiran ( fa, جنگ چالدران; tr, Çaldıran Savaşı) took place on 23 August 1514 and ended with a decisive victory for the Ottoman Empire over the Safavid Empire. As a result, the Ottomans annexed Eastern Anatolia and ...

against

Safavid Persia Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...

he was in charge of right flank. After the battle he was appointed as the beylerbey of Rumeli, a post more prestigious than his former post. His next mission was the conquest of the

Dulkadirids The Anatolian beylik of Dulkadir (Modern Turkish: ''Dulkadiroğulları Beyliği''), was one of the frontier principalities established by the Turkoman clans Bayat, Afshar and Begdili after the decline of Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm. Capitals T ...

, a vassal of the Mameluks, in what is now South

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 ...

. He defeated Bozkurt of Dulkadir in the Battle of Turnadağ. After the conquest of the beylik,

Selim I Selim I ( ota, سليم الأول; tr, I. Selim; 10 October 1470 – 22 September 1520), known as Selim the Grim or Selim the Resolute ( tr, links=no, Yavuz Sultan Selim), was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1512 to 1520. Despite las ...

(the Inflexible) appointed him as the grand vizier on April 25, 1516. Sinan was Selim's favorite grand vizier. He was active in the conquest of

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 ...

and

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

. He defeated and subdued the independent Kurdish emirate of

Baban Baban () was a Kurdish principality existing from the 16th century to 1850, centered around Sulaymaniyah. The Baban principality played an active role in the Ottoman-Safavid conflict and gave significant military support to the Ottomans. They were ...

, making them an Ottoman vassal. On October 28, 1516, he defeated an Egyptian Mameluke army in

Khan Yunis Khan Yunis ( ar, خان يونس, also spelled Khan Younis or Khan Yunus; translation: ''Caravansary fJonah'') is a city in the southern Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Khan Yunis had a population of 142,6 ...

, near Gazza, Palestine. Next year, he fought in the

Battle of Ridaniya The Battle of Ridaniya or Battle of Ridanieh ( tr, Ridaniye Muharebesi; ar, معركة الريدانية) was fought on January 22, 1517, in Egypt. The Ottoman forces of Selim I defeated the Mamluk forces under Al-Ashraf Tuman bay II. The T ...

in Egypt on January 22, 1517. In Ottoman battle tradition, the sultan was almost always in the central headquarters. But battle of Ridaniya was an exception. Selim I decided to encircle the Mameluks personally and assigned Sinan in the central headquarters. The plot was successful and the Mameluks were defeated. However, before the battle was over, Mameluk cavalry (including

Tuman bay II Al-Ashraf Abu Al-Nasr Tuman bay ( ar, الأشرف أبو النصر طومان باي), better known as Tuman bay II ( ar, طومان باي), (c. 1476 – 15 April 1517) was the last Sultan of Egypt before the country's conquest by the Ottoman ...

, the Egyptian sultan) raided the Ottoman headquarters and killed Sinan, thinking he was the sultan.Prof. Yaşar Yüce-Prof. Ali Sevim: ''Türkiye tarihi Cilt II'', AKDTYKTTK Yayınları, İstanbul, 1991 p 248-249 After the battle sultan Selim expressed his sorrow, saying, "We won the battle, but we lost Sinan."

Personal life

According to some sources, Sinan was married to the full-sister of Sultan

Bayezid II Bayezid II ( ota, بايزيد ثانى, Bāyezīd-i s̱ānī, 3 December 1447 – 26 May 1512, Turkish: ''II. Bayezid'') was the eldest son and successor of Mehmed II, ruling as Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1481 to 1512. During his reign, B ...

. It has been speculated that this sister was

Gevherhan Hatun Gevherhan Hatun ( ota, کوھرخان خاتون "''Gem of the Khan''") was an Ottoman princess, the daughter of Mehmed the Conqueror (reign 1444–46 and 1451–81) and Gülbahar Hatun. She was the sister of Sultan Bayezid II (reign 1481–151 ...

, Bayezid's only known full sister. Some historians have disputed this, arguing that Sinan may also have married one of Bayezid's half-sisters, or that Bayezid had an unknown second full-sister.

References