The Çandarlı family (; ) was a prominent Turkish political family which provided the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

with five

grand vizier Grand vizier (; ; ) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. It was first held by officials in the later Abbasid Caliphate. It was then held in the Ottoman Empire, the Mughal Empire, the Soko ...

s during the 14th and 15th centuries. At the time, it was the second most important family after the

Ottoman dynasty The Ottoman dynasty () consisted of the members of the imperial House of Osman (), also known as the Ottomans (). According to Ottoman tradition, the family originated from the Kayı tribe branch of the Oghuz Turks, under the leadership of Os ...

itself.

Background and history

In contrast to European monarchies, aside from the

, the Ottoman Empire had no

aristocracy Aristocracy (; ) is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocracy (class), aristocrats. Across Europe, the aristocracy exercised immense Economy, economic, Politics, political, and soc ...

. There was no difference between the noble birth and the humble birth and everybody had equal chance to reach high ranks. The only prerequisite for an official appointment was conversion to

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

. However, families like the Çandarlı (or, for example, the Köprülü) were able to gain favor with the royal family, creating multi-generational political dynasties and amassing large amounts of wealth. The roots of the family can be traced back to the village of Çandar (now called Cendere, part of

Ankara Province Ankara Province (, ) is a province and metropolitan municipality of Turkey with the capital city Ankara. Its area is 25,632 km2, and its population is 5,782,285 (2022). History The site of the modern city has been home to settlements ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

) in Central Anatolia. The family was of Turkoman nomadic Turkish origin. After the foundation of the Ottoman beylik (the precursor to the Ottoman Empire), the family settled in İznik (ancient

Nicaea Nicaea (also spelled Nicæa or Nicea, ; ), also known as Nikaia (, Attic: , Koine: ), was an ancient Greek city in the north-western Anatolian region of Bithynia. It was the site of the First and Second Councils of Nicaea (the first and seve ...

; today in

Bursa Province Bursa Province () is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality in Turkey along the Sea of Marmara coast in northwestern Anatolia. It borders Balıkesir Province, Balıkesir to the west, K ...

, Turkey). They were the members of Ahi tradition and in the early years of the beylik, one member of the family became kadı (judge) of Bilecik in 1326. Between 1365 and 1499, five members of the family became grand viziers. In a period of 88 years (during the first four between 1365 and 1453), the Çandarlı family held the post for 64 years, a feat unparalleled in Ottoman history. Kara Halil Hayreddin Pasha was first judge of

Bursa Bursa () is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the Marmara Region, Bursa is one of the industrial centers of the country. Most of ...

and then the family's first Grand Vizier. In the early 15th century,

Çandarlı Halil Pasha the Younger Çandarlı Halil Pasha (died 10 July 1453), also known as the Younger, was the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire from 1439 to 1453 under the sultans Murad II and, for the first few years of his reign, Mehmed II.İsmail Hâmi Danişmend, Osman ...

a member of the family, had a castle for sultan Murad II built in Aegean sideside town occupying the site of the ancient Greek city of Pitane, renaming it

Çandarlı Çandarlı is a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Dikili, İzmir Province, Turkey. Its population is 8,021 (2022). Before the 2013 Turkish local government reorganisation, 2013 reorganisation, it was a town (''belde''). It is a we ...

after his family. Çandarlı is now a resort town in İzmir Province of

Decline in 1453

Sultan

Mehmed II Mehmed II (; , ; 30 March 14323 May 1481), commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror (; ), was twice the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from August 1444 to September 1446 and then later from February 1451 to May 1481. In Mehmed II's first reign, ...

disliked his late father's grand vizier Çandarlı Halil Pasha the Younger, whom he had inherited from his father Murad II upon his succession to the throne in 1451. After conquering Constantinople (Istanbul) in 1453, he had Halil executed, making him the first of many grand viziers to be executed. After Halil, four of his grand viziers were of '' devşirme'' (i.e. non-Turkish and non-Muslim) origin. There was indeed a rise in slave administrators, who were much easier to control.

Later years

Although a fifth member of the Çandarlı family ( Çandarlı Ibrahim Pasha the Younger) was able to reach the post of grand vizier during the reign of Bayezid II in 1498, the family never fully recovered from the shock of 1453. In later years, two other members of the family also worked for the empire; İsa Pasha (d. 1549) and Halil Bey (d. 1568) served in the imperial bureaucracy, but they were unable to become part of the

Sublime Porte The Sublime Porte, also known as the Ottoman Porte or High Porte ( or ''Babıali''; ), was a synecdoche or metaphor used to refer collectively to the central government of the Ottoman Empire in Istanbul. It is particularly referred to the buildi ...

, the central imperial government.Çandarlı page
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List of Grand Viziers from the family

Notes

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chardarly Family Families from the Ottoman Empire Turks from the Ottoman Empire Medieval people from the Ottoman Empire Pashas 14th-century grand viziers of the Ottoman Empire 15th-century grand viziers of the Ottoman Empire