Kemankeş Kara Mustafa Pasha (; 1592 – 31 January 1644) was an Ottoman

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 ...

military officer and statesman who served as

Kapudan Pasha The Kapudan Pasha (, modern Turkish: ), also known as the (, modern: , "Captain of the Sea") was the grand admiral of the Ottoman Navy. Typically, he was based at Galata and Gallipoli during the winter and charged with annual sailings durin ...

and

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 ...

of 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 ...

Early life

Mustafa was born to an

family in Avlonya (present-day

Vlorë Vlorë ( ; ; sq-definite, Vlora) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, third most populous city of Albania and seat of Vlorë County and Vlorë Municipality. Located in southwestern Albania, Vlorë sprawls on the Bay of Vlorë and is surr ...

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

) in 1592. He was an officer in the

Janissary 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 dur ...

corps. His epithet, ' (), refers to his talent as an archer. He was the deputy () of the Janissary commander in 1634 and was promoted to the post of

Agha of the Janissaries The Agha of the Janissaries or Janissary Agha (; ) was a top Ottoman Empire, Ottoman military official and courtier, and the commander of the Janissary corps. Apart from the commander-general of the entire corps, the title of "Agha of the Janissar ...

() in 1635. On 17 October 1635, he was appointed

(Grand Admiral of the Navy). Nevertheless, he participated in the 1638 Capture of Baghdad far from the sea. On 24 December 1638, following the death of the then-Grand Vizier Tayyar Mehmet Pasha during the siege, Sultan

Murad IV Murad IV (, ''Murād-ı Rābiʿ''; , 27 July 1612 – 8 February 1640) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1623 to 1640, known both for restoring the authority of the state and for the brutality of his methods. Murad I ...

appointed Kemankeş Mustafa as the new Grand Vizier, the highest post of the empire after the Sultan.

As a grand vizier

Following the Ottoman conquest of

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

, Kemankeş Mustafa represented the Ottoman side in the consequent peace talks. The resulting

Treaty of Zuhab The Treaty of Zuhab (, ''Ahadnāmah Zuhab''), also called Treaty of Qasr-e Shirin (), signed on May 17, 1639, ended the Ottoman-Safavid War of 1623–1639. It confirmed territorial divisions in West Asia, shaping the borders between the Safavid an ...

, signed on 17 May 1639 between the Ottoman and Safavid Empires, provided the outline for the border between Iran and the states of Turkey and Iraq that continues to be the basis of present-day borders between the three nations. Murad IV died on 9 February 1640, and Kemankeş Mustafa continued as a Grand Vizier during Ibrahim's reign. Ibrahim was a weak sultan, and Kemankeş Mustafa became the ''de facto'' ruler of the empire. Using severe methods, he ended the rebellions, balanced the budget, and reduced the number of soldiers. He also used his power to subdue and cause the death of other able statesmen whom he considered to be potential competitors for his post.

Death

Kemankeş Mustafa made many enemies. His most important opposition was a kind of triumvirate in the palace, formed by

Kösem Sultan Kösem Sultan (; 1589 – 2 September 1651), also known as Mahpeyker Sultan (;), was the Haseki sultan, Haseki Sultan as the chief consort and legal wife of the List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman Sultan Ahmed I, Valide sultan, Vali ...

(the sultan's mother), Turhan Sultan (the sultan's haseki), Ayşe Sultan (Kösem Sultan daughter), Fatma Sultan (Kösem Sultan daughter), Hanzade Sultan (Kösem Sultan daughter) a

charlatan A charlatan (also called a swindler or mountebank) is a person practicing quackery or a similar confidence trick in order to obtain money, power, fame, or other advantages through pretense or deception. One example of a charlatan appears in t ...

named Djindji Hodja, and a vizier named Semiz Mehmed Pasha. They began to criticize Kemankeş Mustafa vehemently. Although he gave his resignation several times, it was not accepted by the Sultan. However, the Sultan, who was initially pleased with Kemankeş Mustafa, finally dismissed him on 31 January 1644. A few hours later, he was executed.

Legacy

In 1640, Mustafa Pasha converted a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

into a

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

named Odalar Mosque located in the

Üsküdar Üsküdar () is a municipality and district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 35 km2, and its population is 524,452 (2022). It is a large and densely populated district on the Anatolian (Asian) shore of the Bosphorus. It is border ...

district. According to architectural historian

Semavi Eyice Mustafa Semavi Eyice (9 December 1922 in Istanbul, Turkey – 28 May 2018 in Istanbul, Turkey) was a Turkish art historian and archaeologist, who specialised in the study of Byzantine and Ottoman art in Istanbul. Professor Eyice is widely rega ...

, the original church, a

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

one, was probably the ''Monastery of Philanthropos'' but was converted to the Latin church and renamed ''Santa Maria di Constantinopoli'' during the reign of

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, ...

. Around the same time, Mustafa Pasha commissioned another mosque, the eponymous Kemankeş Kara Mustafa Paşa Mosque, to be built in

Karaköy Karaköy (), the modern name for the old Galata, is a commercial quarter in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul, Turkey, located at the northern part of the Golden Horn mouth on the European side of Bosphorus. Karaköy is one of the oldest and mo ...

, a former Genoese trading colony. The site of the mosque was previously occupied by the Genoese Saint Antonio Church, which was appropriated in 1606 and demolished thereafter. The mosque was mostly rebuilt in 1771. In Istanbul, the present-day administrative neighborhood division encompassing Karaköy is named after him.

Popular culture

* In the 2015 TV series '' Muhteşem Yüzyıl: Kösem'', Kemankeş Kara Mustafa Pasha is portrayed by Turkish actor

İsmail Demirci İsmail Demirci (born 13 November 1984) is a Turkish actor. Demirci was born in 1984 in Ankara. His family, who immigrated from Bulgaria, is of Turkish descent. In 2009, he graduated from Anadolu University State Conservatory with a degree in t ...

References

External links

Kemankeş Kara Mustafa Paşa
at

TDV Encyclopedia of Islam TDV may refer to: * TDV 2200, a 1980s computer * '' TDV Encyclopedia of Islam'', first published in 1988 * The Digital Village, the precursor to British website h2g2 * "Truth Duty Valour", the motto of the Royal Military College of Canada * TDV (), ...

( Turkish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Kemankes Mustafa Pasha 1592 births 1644 deaths Devshirme Converts to Sunni Islam from Christianity Pashas 17th-century grand viziers of the Ottoman Empire Albanian grand viziers of the Ottoman Empire Albanian people from the Ottoman Empire Executed people from the Ottoman Empire Ottoman people of the Ottoman–Persian Wars 17th-century Albanian people People from Vlorë 17th-century executions by the Ottoman Empire Executed Albanian people Kapudan Pashas Albanian Pashas 17th-century slaves in the Ottoman Empire 16th-century slaves in the Ottoman Empire