Lütfi Pasha (, ''Luṭfī Paşa''; Modern Turkish: ''Lütfi Paşa'', more fully ''Damat Çelebi Lütfi Paşa''; 1488 – 27 March 1564,

Didymoteicho Didymoteicho ( ) is a town located on the eastern edge of the Evros (regional unit), Evros regional unit of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, in northeastern Greece. It is the seat of the municipality of the same name. The town (pop. 8,681 in 2021 ...

) was an Ottoman Albanian statesman,

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

, 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 ...

under

Suleiman the Magnificent Suleiman I (; , ; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the Western world and as Suleiman the Lawgiver () in his own realm, was the List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman sultan between 1520 a ...

from 1539 to 1541.İsmail Hâmi Danişmend, Osmanlı Devlet Erkânı, Türkiye Yayınevi, İstanbul, 1971 (Turkish) He wrote 21 works mainly on religious topics but also on history, 13 of them written in

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 ...

and eight in Turkish. Two of his works are the ''Asafname'', a kind of mirror for ministers, and the ''Tevâriḫ-i Âl-i ‘Os̱mân'', dealing with Ottoman history and including his own experiences in the reign of the sultans

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 ...

Selim I Selim I (; ; 10 October 1470 – 22 September 1520), known as Selim the Grim or Selim the Resolute (), was the List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1512 to 1520. Despite lasting only eight years, his reign is ...

and Suleyman I.

Life

Lütfi was an

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 ...

from Vlora.K. Dervishi "Kryeministrat dhe ministrat shqiptare ne 100 vjet" He is thought to have been brought under Ottoman service as a

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 ...

, but there is also possibility that his Christian parents sent him in the Bayazid II's ''harem-i hass'', where he received a thorough indoctrination in Islam in order to advance in career. His first appointment to service outside the palace was as

sanjakbey ''Sanjak-bey'', ''sanjaq-bey'' or ''-beg'' () was the title given in the Ottoman Empire to a bey (a high-ranking officer, but usually not a pasha) appointed to the military and administrative command of a district (''sanjak'', in Arabic '' liwa’' ...

Kastamonu Kastamonu, formerly Kastamone/Castamone () and Kastamon/Castamon (), is a city in northern Turkey. It is the seat of Kastamonu Province and Kastamonu District.

, and he subsequently became

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 ...

Karaman Karaman is a city in south central Turkey, located in Central Anatolia, north of the Taurus Mountains, about south of Konya. It is the seat of Karaman Province and Karaman District.Aydın Aydın ( ''EYE-din''; ; formerly named ''Güzelhisar; Greek: Τράλλεις)'' is a city in and the seat of Aydın Province in Turkey's Aegean Region. The city is located at the heart of the lower valley of Büyük Menderes River (ancient ...

and then of Yanya (Ioannina), since Feridun Bey mentions a Lütfi Bey who served at the siege of Rhodes in 1522 as sanjakbey of Aydın (Feridun Bey, ''Münşe'at al-selâtin'', İstanbul 1274 AH/1857) and a Lütfi Bey who served at the siege of Vienna in 1529 as sanjakbey of Yanya (''ibid''. I, 573). These references may well be to Lütfi Pasha, the future Grand Vizier, since the latter himself stated to have participated in both these campaigns (Lütfi Pasha, ''Tevârih-i 'Al-i Osman'', ed. Ali, İstanbul 1341/1922–3, 3). In his book he laid stress on the question of whether the Ottoman sultans who were non-

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

could assume the title of

caliph A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

or not. In 941/1534–5 he became Third Vizier. By this time, he had, by his own account, served in Selim I's wars against the

Safavid 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 ...

s in

Eastern Anatolia The Eastern Anatolia region () is a geographical region of Turkey. The most populous province in the region is Van Province. Other populous provinces are Malatya, Erzurum and Elazığ. It is bordered by the Black Sea Region and Georgia in th ...

and against the

Mamelukes Mamluk or Mamaluk (; (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural); translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave") were non-Arab, ethnically diverse (mostly Turkic, Caucasian, Eastern and Southeastern European) enslaved mercenaries, slave-so ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

and

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. Under Suleiman I, he took part in the campaigns of

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

in 1521 and Rhodes in 1522. He became

Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire The grand vizier of the Ottoman Empire ( or ''Sadr-ı Azam'' (''Sadrazam''); Ottoman Turkish language, Ottoman Turkish: or ) was the ''de facto'' prime minister of the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, sultan in the Ottoman Empire, with the absolute p ...

in 1539 after the death of Ayas Mehmed Pasha (who held his position for three years following the execution of

Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha ( 149515 March 1536), was the first Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire appointed by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. Ibrahim, born as Orthodox Christian, was enslaved during his youth. He and Suleiman became close frie ...

). In 1541 he beat his wife, Şah Sultan, a half-sister of Suleiman, following her complaint of the pasha's overly harsh punishment of an adulteress. The princess divorced him with Suleiman's permission, and the sultan deposed him, naming Hadım Suleiman Pasha the new Grand Vizier.

In media

In the TV series ''

Muhteşem Yüzyıl ''Muhteşem Yüzyıl'' (, ) is a Turkish historical drama series. Written by Meral Okay and Yılmaz Şahin, it is based on the life of Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, the longest-reigning Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, and his wife Hür ...

'', Lütfi Pasha is played by Turkish actor Mehmet Özgür.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lutfi Pasha 1564 deaths Devshirme Converts to Sunni Islam from Christianity 16th-century grand viziers of the Ottoman Empire Pashas Albanian grand viziers of the Ottoman Empire Albanian people from the Ottoman Empire Grand viziers of Suleiman the Magnificent 16th-century historians from the Ottoman Empire Damats Albanian Pashas People from Vlorë 16th-century Albanian people 15th-century slaves in the Ottoman Empire 16th-century slaves in the Ottoman Empire

Life

In media

See also

References