Çeteci Abdullah Pasha ibn Ibrahim al-Husayni al-Jarmaki (also known as Abdullah Pasha al-Jatahji) was an Ottoman statesman of

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...

origin. He served terms as the governor of

Sivas Sivas is a city in central Turkey. It is the seat of Sivas Province and Sivas District.İl Beledi ...

, Diyarbekir, Rakka,

Adana Adana is a large city in southern Turkey. The city is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the northeastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the administrative seat of the Adana Province, Adana province, and has a population of 1 81 ...

Van A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. There is some variation in the scope of the word across the different English-speaking countries. The smallest vans, microvans, are used for transporting either goods or ...

Erzurum Erzurum (; ) is a List of cities in Turkey, city in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. It is the largest city and capital of Erzurum Province and is 1,900 meters (6,233 feet) above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 367,250 in 2010. It is the site of an ...

Kütahya Kütahya (; historically, Cotyaeum or Kotyaion; Ancient Greek, Greek: Κοτύαιον) is a city in western Turkey which lies on the Porsuk River, at 969 metres above sea level. It is the seat of Kütahya Province and Kütahya District. In 19 ...

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

and

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

. Çeteci was born in 1703 in the village of

Çermik Çermik (; ) is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Diyarbakır Province, Turkey. Its area is 948 km2, and its population is 49,644 (2022). The mayor is Şehmus Karamehmetoğlu from the Justice and Development Party (Turkey), J ...

(also spelled Jarmak), hence his surname "al-Jarmaki".Sharon, 2013, p.
225
/ref> Prior to his political career, Çeteci was a "distinguished field commander" according to

Alexis de Tocqueville Alexis Charles Henri Clérel, comte de Tocqueville (29 July 180516 April 1859), was a French Aristocracy (class), aristocrat, diplomat, political philosopher, and historian. He is best known for his works ''Democracy in America'' (appearing in t ...

. He fought in the Ottoman campaigns in the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

in the 1720s and in the

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

against the

Safavid Empire The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the begi ...

. During those campaigns he served as a ''levend başağasi'' (commander of a mercenary battalion). He was promoted to ''

beylerbey ''Beylerbey'' (, meaning the 'commander of commanders' or 'lord of lords’, sometimes rendered governor-general) was a high rank in the western Islamic world in the late Middle Ages and early modern period, from the Anatolian Seljuks and the I ...

'' of

Sivas Sivas is a city in central Turkey. It is the seat of Sivas Province and Sivas District.İl Beledi ...

in 1739. He founded the Çeteci Abdullah Pasha Medresesi, an

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 ...

ic school in his hometown of Çermik in 1756–57.

Governor of Damascus

Çeteci entered office in January 1758 after his predecessor Husayn Pasha ibn Makki failed to protect the

Hajj Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...

caravan from a massive Bedouin raid.Barbir, 2014, p
84
/ref> His first major action was suppressing a revolt by the

Janissaries A janissary (, , ) was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops. They were the first modern standing army, and perhaps the first infantry force in the world to be equipped with firearms, adopted du ...

who had staged a revolt during Husayn Pasha's tenure. The revolt in the

Midan Al-Midan () is a neighbourhood and municipality in Damascus, Syria, south of the old walled city and near the modern city centre. In the 2004 census, it had a population of 177,456. Today, the neighbourhood is often considered to be one of th ...

district was put down, but Çeteci's troops engaged in mass killings and looting against rebellious neighborhoods. Several men, women and children were killed.Grehan, 2007, pp
90
91 The economy in Damascus, already flailing, was severely damaged during the revolt's suppression since Midan was a major bread market for the city. Its bakeries closed as a result of the violence. The events in Midan coincided with bad grain harvest elsewhere in the province, resulting in the depletion of bread in bakeries throughout the city.Grehan, 2007, p
91
/ref> According to a Damascene chronicler at the time, the empty bakeries were surrounded by "great crowds of men, women and children, from whom heart-breaking cries and wails were heard". Çeteci, wary of a repeat of the bread riots of 1757, dispatched troops to guard the bakeries. Çeteci replaced the ''

naqib al-ashraf Naqib al-ashraf () (plural: ''nuqaba'' or ''niqabat'') was a governmental post in various Muslim empires denoting the head or supervisor of the descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.Damurdashi, ed. Muhammad, p. 43. The descendants of Muhammad ...

'' (politically privileged descendant of

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

) Sayyid Hamza with his rival Ali al-Ajlani. Hamza was exiled to

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

on Çeteci's orders and Ajlani remained in the post until his death in 1778. Çeteci was reappointed as governor of Diyarbaker in January 1760. He was succeeded as governor of Damascus by Muhammad Pasha al-Shalik, who served for a few months before being replaced by Uthman Pasha al-Kurji.Joudah, 1987, p. 143. Çeteci died later in 1760.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ceteci Abdullah Pasha 1703 births 1760 deaths 18th-century people from the Ottoman Empire 18th-century Ottoman military personnel Ottoman governors of Damascus Political people from the Ottoman Empire People from Çermik Ottoman governors of Aleppo