Köprülüzade Fazıl Ahmed Pasha (, ; ; 1635 – 3 November 1676) was an Ottoman nobleman and statesman, who belonged to the renowned

Köprülü family Köprülü may refer to: People * Köprülü family (Kypriljotet), an Ottoman noble family of Albanian origin ** Köprülü era (1656–1703), the period in which the Ottoman Empire's politics were set by the Grand Viziers, mainly the Köprülü fa ...

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 ...

origin, which produced six grand viziers of the Ottoman Empire.

Life

He was born into the

, the son of

Köprülü Mehmed Pasha Köprülü Mehmed Pasha (, , ; or ''Qyprilliu'', also called ''Mehmed Pashá Rojniku''; 1575, Roshnik,– 31 October 1661, Edirne) was Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire and founding patriarch of the Köprülü political dynasty. He helped ...

and Ayşe Hatun (Hanım), daughter of Yusuf Ağa. His father was an Ottoman general of ''

devshirme Devshirme (, usually translated as "child levy" or "blood tax", , .) was the Ottoman practice of forcibly recruiting soldiers and bureaucrats from among the children of their Balkan Christian subjects and raising them in the religion of Islam ...

'' origin who in 1656 became

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 ...

, while his mother was the daughter of a notable originally from Kayacık, a village of Havza in

Amasya Amasya () is a city in northern Turkey, in the Black Sea Region. It was called Amaseia or Amasia in antiquity."Amasya" in ''Encyclopædia Britannica, The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol ...

. His maternal grandfather was a ''voyvoda'' (tax-farmer) who built a bridge in Kadegra, that because of this was renamed Köprü, where his father Mehmed was stationed, and to which the Köprülü family owes its name. He served as

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 ...

from 1661 to 1676 after he inherited the title from his father. Prior to this appointment, he served in

Ottoman Syria Ottoman Syria () is a historiographical term used to describe the group of divisions of the Ottoman Empire within the region of the Levant, usually defined as being east of the Mediterranean Sea, west of the Euphrates River, north of the Ara ...

as the Ottoman governor of the

Damascus Eyalet Damascus Eyalet (; ) was an eyalet of the Ottoman Empire. Its reported area in the 19th century was . It became an eyalet after the Ottomans took it from the Mamluks following the 1516–1517 Ottoman–Mamluk War. By Gábor Ágoston, Bruce Alan ...

(1660 to 1661) and the Erzurum Eyalet (1659 to 1660). He was dubbed ''Fazıl'', meaning "wise" (from the

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

''fazilet'', meaning "wisdom"), for reducing taxation and promoting education. On the other hand, he was brutal in war. He led the

Ottoman Army The Military of the Ottoman Empire () was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. It was founded in 1299 and dissolved in 1922. Army The Military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the years ...

in the Austro-Turkish War (1663–64) in which he intended to subdue

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and to finally conquer

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

itself. At the beginning of July 1664, he succeeded in destroying the fortress of Novi Zrin in the northern part of the Kingdom of Croatia after nearly a month-long

siege A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict charact ...

. Although defeated in the Battle of Saint Gotthard, he was able to gain territory by the Peace of Vasvár in 1664. Following this treaty, he concentrated on the Cretan War and captured

Candia The name Candia can refer to: People * The House of Candia, a noble family from Savoy (14th-16th) * Alfredo Ovando Candía, 56th president of Bolivia * Antoinette Candia-Bailey, American academic administrator * Cecilia Maria de Candia, British-It ...

(present-day

Heraklion Heraklion or Herakleion ( ; , , ), sometimes Iraklion, is the largest city and the administrative capital city, capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion (regional unit), Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in G ...

) from the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...

in 1669. At the end of the

Polish–Ottoman War (1672–1676) The Polish–Ottoman War of 1672–1676 was fought by the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Ottoman Empire. It ended with the Treaty of Żurawno, by which the Commonwealth ceded control of most of its territories in Central Ukraine to the O ...

against the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

, he signed the

Treaty of Buchach The Treaty of Buchach was signed on 18 October 1672 in Buczacz (Buchach) between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth under King Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki, who had been unable to raise a suitable army, on the one side and the Ottoman Empire o ...

in 1672 and the

Treaty of Żurawno The Treaty of Żurawno (; ; ) was signed on 17 October 1676 in the town of Żurawno (or ''İzvança'', as it was called during the Ottoman occupation of Podolia), in the aftermath of the Battle of Żurawno. The treaty, signed by the Polish–Lit ...

in 1676. Contemporary European observers frequently remarked upon the

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

ic tendencies of Fazıl Ahmed's inner circle of courtiers, and particularly those of Fazıl Ahmed himself. Nevertheless, his exact religious views remain unknown. Fazıl Ahmed Pasha died on November 3, 1676, from complications resulting from his lifestyle of heavy drinking.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Koprulu, Fazil Ahmed 1635 births 1676 deaths Fazil Ahmed Albanian grand viziers of the Ottoman Empire Albanian people from the Ottoman Empire People from Vezirköprü Koprulu, Fazil Ahmed People of the Austro-Turkish War (1663–64) Albanian Pashas Ottoman governors of Damascus Ottoman people of the Cretan War (1645–1669) 17th-century Albanian people

Life

See also

References

External links