Hayreddin_Barbarossa_-_Fine_Art_Museum_Algiers

The Kapudan Pasha (,

modern Turkish Turkish ( , , also known as 'Turkish of Turkey') is the most widely spoken of the Turkic languages, a member of Oghuz branch with around 90 million speakers. It is the national language of Turkey and one of two official languages of Cyprus. Si ...

: ), also known as the (, modern: , "Captain of the Sea") was the

grand admiral Grand admiral is a historic naval rank, the highest rank in the several European navies that used it. It is best known for its use in Germany as . A comparable rank in modern navies is that of admiral of the fleet. Grand admirals in individual ...

of the

Ottoman Navy The Ottoman Navy () or the Imperial Navy (), also known as the Ottoman Fleet, was the naval warfare arm of the Ottoman Empire. It was established after the Ottomans first reached the sea in 1323 by capturing Praenetos (later called Karamürsel ...

. Typically, he was based at

Galata Galata is the former name of the Karaköy neighbourhood in Istanbul, which is located at the northern shore of the Golden Horn. The district is connected to the historic Fatih district by several bridges that cross the Golden Horn, most nota ...

and

Gallipoli The Gallipoli Peninsula (; ; ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east. Gallipoli is the Italian form of the Greek name (), meaning ' ...

during the winter and charged with annual sailings during the summer months. The title of ''Kapudan Pasha'' itself is only attested from 1567 onwards; earlier designations for the supreme commander of the fleet include ("

bey Bey, also spelled as Baig, Bayg, Beigh, Beig, Bek, Baeg, Begh, or Beg, is a Turkic title for a chieftain, and a royal, aristocratic title traditionally applied to people with special lineages to the leaders or rulers of variously sized areas in ...

of the sea") and ("head captain"). The title ''Derya Bey'' as an official rank within the Ottoman state structure originated during the reign of

Bayezid I Bayezid I (; ), also known as Bayezid the Thunderbolt (; ; – 8 March 1403), was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1389 to 1402. He adopted the title of ''Sultan-i Rûm'', ''Rûm'' being the Arabic name for the Eastern Roman Empire. In 139 ...

(). Following the 1453

conquest of Constantinople The Fall of Constantinople, also known as the Conquest of Constantinople, was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Empire. The city was captured on 29 May 1453 as part of the culmination of a 55-day siege which ha ...

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, ...

raised Baltaoğlu Süleyman Bey to the status of sanjak bey for his efforts against the Byzantines in the

Golden Horn The Golden Horn ( or ) is a major urban waterway and the primary inlet of the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey. As a natural estuary that connects with the Bosphorus Strait at the point where the strait meets the Sea of Marmara, the waters of the ...

.Shaw, Stanford J
''History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey''
Vol. 1, pp. 131 ff. Cambridge University Press (Cambridge), 1976. Accessed 12 Sept 2011. Baltaoğlu received the

sanjak of Gallipoli The Sanjak of Gelibolu or Gallipoli (Ottoman Turkish: ''Sancak-i/Liva-i Gelibolu'') was a second-level Ottoman province (''sanjak'' or '' liva'') encompassing the Gallipoli Peninsula and a portion of southern Thrace. Gelibolu was the first Ottoma ...

(the principal Turkish naval base) and the

kaza A kaza (, "judgment" or "jurisdiction") was an administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire, administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. It is also discussed in English under the names district, subdistrict, and juridical district. Kazas co ...

s of Galata (until the Conquest a

Genovese Genovese is an Italian surname meaning, properly, someone from Genoa. Its Italian plural form '' Genovesi'' has also developed into a surname. People * Alfred Genovese (1931–2011), American oboist * Alfredo Genovese (born 1964), Argentine arti ...

colony) and of

İzmit İzmit () is a municipality and the capital Districts of Turkey, district of Kocaeli Province, Turkey. Its area is 480 km2, and its population is 376,056 (2022). The capital of Kocaeli Province, it is located at the Gulf of İzmit in the Sea ...

(whose tax remittance consisted of ship timber). The success of

Hayreddin Barbarossa Hayreddin Barbarossa (, original name: Khiḍr; ), also known as Hayreddin Pasha, Hızır Hayrettin Pasha, and simply Hızır Reis (c. 1466/1483 – 4 July 1546), was an Ottoman corsair and later admiral of the Ottoman Navy. Barbarossa's ...

(-1546) saw the Kapudan Pasha elevated to the ranks of

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 ...

and

vizier A vizier (; ; ) is a high-ranking political advisor or Minister (government), minister in the Near East. The Abbasids, Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was at first merely a help ...

in 1535, with his territories expanded into the

Eyalet of the Archipelago The Eyalet of the Islands of the White Sea () was a first-level province (eyalet) of the Ottoman Empire. From its inception until the Tanzimat reforms of the mid-19th century, it was under the personal control of the Kapudan Pasha, the commander-i ...

and

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

. Hayreddin's successors succeeded to these holdings, but saw their rank drop to two-horsetail vizier for several centuries. The official residence of the Kapudan Pasha was in the ''Divankhane'' in the

Imperial Arsenal The Imperial Arsenal () was the main base and naval shipyard of the Ottoman Empire from the 16th century to the end of the Empire. It was located on the Golden Horn in the Ottoman capital, Constantinople (modern Istanbul). Etymology The Ottoma ...

in the Golden Horn, but he was often away as his governorship of the Eyalet of the Archipelago entailed visiting its various provinces in person every year. The post was one of great power and prestige within the Ottoman hierarchy:

Evliya Çelebi Dervish Mehmed Zillî (25 March 1611 – 1682), known as Evliya Çelebi (), was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman explorer who travelled through his home country during its cultural zenith as well as neighboring lands. He travelled for over 40 years, rec ...

reports that it had an annual income of 885,000 silver . Additional income, to the amount of 300,000 in the 18th/19th centuries, came from leasing a number of Aegean islands to

tax farmers Farming or tax-farming is a technique of financial management in which the management of a variable revenue stream is assigned by legal contract to a third party and the holder of the revenue stream receives fixed periodic rents from the contra ...

(). The heyday of the post of Kapudan Pasha came in the 16th century, when a succession of capable holders brought Ottoman naval power to its height, and for a time ensured its supremacy in the Mediterranean. Although in theory the post could only be filled by a serving

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

(), a chief of the Imperial Arsenal () or, at the very least, by the of

Rhodes Rhodes (; ) is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is their historical capital; it is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, the island forms a separ ...

, from the turn of the 17th century the appointment of court

favourite A favourite was the intimate companion of a ruler or other important person. In Post-classical Europe, post-classical and Early modern Europe, early-modern Europe, among other times and places, the term was used of individuals delegated signifi ...

s and/or persons lacking in military or naval experience marked the beginning of Ottoman naval decline. As a part of the

Tanzimat reforms The (, , lit. 'Reorganization') was a period of liberal reforms in the Ottoman Empire that began with the Edict of Gülhane of 1839 and ended with the First Constitutional Era in 1876. Driven by reformist statesmen such as Mustafa Reşid Pasha, ...

of 1839-1876, the Eyalet of the Archipelago was reduced in rank and granted to the ''

wali The term ''wali'' is most commonly used by Muslims to refer to a saint, or literally a "friend of God".John Renard, ''Friends of God: Islamic Images of Piety, Commitment, and Servanthood'' (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008); John ...

'' of Rhodes in 1848. The Kapudan Pashas retained their rank, but were thereafter solely military servicemen. A total of 161 captains served until 13 March 1867 when the post of Derya Kaptan was abolishedLangensiepen, B. & Güleryüz, Ahmet. ''The Ottoman Steam Navy, 1828–1923'', p. 197. Naval Institute Press (Annapolis), 1995. - "From 13 March 1867 the position of Derya Kaptan was abolished .." and replaced by ministers () of the Ottoman Naval Ministry. After 1877, these were replaced by the Fleet Commanders.

See also

References

Further reading