Ishak Pasha (, ; 1444 – died 30 January 1487) was an Ottoman general, statesman, and later

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 ...

Origin

Turkish orientalist Halil Inalcik believed that the figure of Ishak Pasha stemmed from confusion among several Ottoman Ishak Pashas (particularly Ishak bin Abdullah and Ishak bin Ibrahim) and

Ishak Bey Ishak, Ishaq or Eshaq may refer to: * Ishak (name), list of people with this given name or surname * Isaaq, a Somali clan-family in the Horn of Africa * Ishaaq bin Ahmed, the forefather and common ancestor of the Isaaq clan-family * Atakapa, a Nat ...

. Theoharis Stavrides concluded that there are indications that the Grand Visier was Ishak bin Ibrahim, who was of Anatolian Turkish origin. According to German orientalist

Franz Babinger Franz Babinger (15 January 1891 – Durrës, 23 June 1967) was a well-known German orientalist and historian of the Ottoman Empire, best known for his biography of the great Ottoman emperor Mehmed II, known as "the Conqueror", originally published ...

(1891–1967) he probably was a convert of Orthodox Greek origin. Jean-Claude Faveyrial states that Ishak Pasha was

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

Career

Сirca 1451, Ishak Pasha was appointed as the ''

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 ...

'' (provincial governor) of

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

; the same year, the newly ascended 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, ...

forced him to marry Hatice Hatun, one of his father Sultan

Murad II Murad II (, ; June 1404 – 3 February 1451) was twice the sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1421 to 1444 and from 1446 to 1451. Early life Murad was born in June 1404 to Mehmed I, while the identity of his mother is disputed according to v ...

's widowed consorts. They had eight children, five sons named Halil Bey, Şadi Bey, Mustafa Çelebi, Piri Çelebi and Ibrahim Bey, and three daughters named Hafsa Hatun, Fahrünnisa Hatun and Şahzade Hatun. His first term as a Grand Vizier was during the reign of Mehmed II. During this term, he transferred

Oghuz Turk The Oghuz Turks ( Middle Turkic: , ) were a western Turkic people who spoke the Oghuz branch of the Turkic language family. In the 8th century, they formed a tribal confederation conventionally named the Oghuz Yabgu State in Central Asia ...

people from their

n city of

Aksaray Aksaray () is a city in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. It is the seat of Aksaray Province and Aksaray District.

to newly conquered

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

in order to populate the city, which had lost a portion of its former population prior to the 1453 conquest. The quarter of the city where the migrants were settled is now called

Aksaray Aksaray () is a city in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. It is the seat of Aksaray Province and Aksaray District.

. His second term was during the reign of Sultan

Bayezid II Bayezid II (; ; 3 December 1447 – 26 May 1512) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1481 to 1512. During his reign, Bayezid consolidated the Ottoman Empire, thwarted a pro-Safavid dynasty, Safavid rebellion and finally abdicated his throne ...

. He died on 30 January 1487 in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

In popular culture

* Alev Elmas played Ishak Pasha in the 1951 film, ''

İstanbul'un Fethi ''The Conquest of Constantinople'' () is a 1951 Turkish adventure film directed by . It was the first film of the "Ottomans v. Byzantines" genre which became very popular in Turkey. The film depicts the Fall of Constantinople The Fall of Co ...

''. * Ishak Pasha is referenced in the 2011 video game '' Assassin's Creed: Revelations'', as the former Mentor of the Assassin Brotherhood in 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 ...

, in which his armor was hidden underneath the

Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia (; ; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque (; ), is a mosque and former Church (building), church serving as a major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The last of three church buildings to be successively ...

, and is later recovered by the protagonist

Ezio Auditore da Firenze Ezio Auditore da Firenze () is a fictional character in the video game series ''Assassin's Creed'', serving as the principal protagonist of the series' games set during the Italian Renaissance. An Italian Master Assassin, his life and career as ...

by collecting his Memoir Pages scattered around

. ''Assassin's Creed Rebellion'', a free-to-play mobile game, further details his story during the

Spanish Inquisition The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition () was established in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, Catholic Monarchs, King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile and lasted until 1834. It began toward the end of ...

as he and his apprentice Yusuf Tazim search for Niccolo Polo's journal in 1495 (which contradicts historical records of Ishak Pasha's death in 1487). * Yılmaz Babatürk portrayed Ishak Pasha in the 2012 film, ''

Fetih 1453 ''Sultana Muhammad Fetih 1453'' ( ''The Conquest 1453'') is a 2012 Turkish epic action film directed by Faruk Aksoy and produced by him, Servet Aksoy and Ayşe Germen. Starring Devrim Evin, İbrahim Çelikkol and Dilek Serbest, the film is based ...

''. * Ertugrul Postoglu played Ishak Pasha in Mehmed: Sultan of Conquests.

Origin

Career

In popular culture

See also

References

Further reading