Mahmud Pasha Angelović (; ; 1420–1474) was a major military leader and the
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 ...
from 1456 to 1466 and from 1472 to 1474. He also wrote
Persian and
Turkish poems under the pseudonym ''Adni'' (the "Eden-like").
Born in the
Serbian Despotate
The Serbian Despotate () was a medieval Serbian state in the first half of the 15th century. Although the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 is mistakenly considered the end of medieval Serbia, the Despotate, a successor of the Serbian Empire and Moravi ...
, he was a descendant of the Byzantine
Angelos family that had left Thessaly in 1394. According to biographers, he was conscripted as a child by the Ottomans employing the ''
devşirme
Devshirme (, usually translated as "child levy" or "blood tax", , .) was the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman practice of Conscription, forcibly recruiting soldiers and bureaucrats from among the children of their Balkan Christian subjects and raising th ...
'' system. Raised as a
Muslim
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
in
Edirne
Edirne (; ), historically known as Orestias, Adrianople, is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the Edirne Province, province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, Edirne was the second c ...
, he was a capable soldier and was married to a daughter of
Zaganos Pasha. After distinguishing himself at the
Siege of Belgrade in 1456, he was raised to the position of Grand Vizier as a reward, succeeding his father-in-law Zaganos Pasha. Throughout his tenure, he led armies or accompanied Mehmed II on his own campaigns.
Origin and early life
After the
Ottoman conquest of Thessaly in 1394, the ruling
Angeloi Philanthropenoi family took refuge. The grandchildren of either
Alexios
Alexius is the Latinization (literature), Latinized form of the given name Alexios (, polytonic , "defender", cf. Alexander), especially common in the Byzantine Empire. The female form is Alexia (given name), Alexia () and its variants such as Ales ...
or
Manuel were Mahmud Pasha and his brother
Mihailo Anđelović.
It is estimated that Angelović was born in the early 1420s. Most historians accept that Angelović was born in
Novo Brdo in the
Serbian Despotate
The Serbian Despotate () was a medieval Serbian state in the first half of the 15th century. Although the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 is mistakenly considered the end of medieval Serbia, the Despotate, a successor of the Serbian Empire and Moravi ...
, and that his father Mihailos was the son of either
Alexios Angelos Philanthropenos or his son/nephew/brother
Manuel, rulers of
Thessaly
Thessaly ( ; ; ancient Aeolic Greek#Thessalian, Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic regions of Greece, geographic and modern administrative regions of Greece, administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient Thessaly, a ...
.
T. Stavrides views it more probable that Manuel was his grandfather. The only information on his father is that he lived in Serbia in the 1420s. His mother's ancestry is the matter of debate.
Chalkokondyles (1430–1470) called her Serbian,
Kritoboulos (1410–1470), Greek, while there are various theories on her noble ancestry. Angelović had a brother,
Mihailo Anđelović, later a prominent Serbian statesman, after the Turkish conquest.
According to
Tahsin Yazıcı, Angelović was "born to a Greek or Serbian family".
Dejan Djokić stated that Angelović was born "to a Serb mother and a Greek refugee father – no less than son of the last Angeloi ruler of Thessaly who had emigrated to Serbia in the late fourteenth century". Ottoman historians like
Gelibolulu Mustafa Ali and later considered him as a
Croat
The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...
, and Angelović himself in a letter from April 1467 signed as "Abogović Hrvat" (but the Croatian ethnonym probably meant "someone from the wider south-Slavic area").
Chalkokondyles mentions that Angelović was captured by Ottoman horsemen while travelling with his mother from Novo Brdo to
Smederevo
Smederevo ( sr-Cyrl, Смедерево, ) is a list of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Podunavlje District in eastern Serbia. It is situated on the right bank of the Danube, about downstream of the Serbian capital, ...
(the Serbian capital), and taken to the Ottoman court. It is assumed that this took place in 1427, when the Ottomans attacked Serbia. Furthermore, it is unconcluded whether he was captured according to the ''
devşirme
Devshirme (, usually translated as "child levy" or "blood tax", , .) was the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman practice of Conscription, forcibly recruiting soldiers and bureaucrats from among the children of their Balkan Christian subjects and raising th ...
'' (practice, the regular practice of taking children certain noble families whose Ottomans have taken lands and making these children high rankings officials) or as a
prisoner of war
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...
.
Taşköprüzade (d. 1560) and
Aşık Çelebi
Pir Mehmed ("Mehmed the Pir"; 1520–1572), better known as Aşık Çelebi ("Gentleman Bard" in Turkish), was an Ottoman biographer, poet, and translator. Born in Prizren, he served as '' kadi'' (judge) in many towns of the Rumelia. His majo ...
(1520–1572) name two other boys led with Angelović on horseback to Edirne, Molla Iyas and
Mevlana Abdülkerim, the latter which reached the rank of ''
kadıasker
A kazasker or kadıasker (, ''ḳāḍī'asker'', "military judge") was a chief judge in the Ottoman Empire, so named originally because his jurisdiction extended to the cases of soldiers, who were later tried only by their own officers. Two kazas ...
'' (chief judge) and ''
şeyhülislam'' (Islamic scholar). Upon conversion to Islam, he received the name Mahmud.
Little is known about his activities before 1453. According to T. Stavrides, Angelović and his companions were educated in the palace, probably as ''
içoğlan'', and Mahmud then entered service in the
Enderûn
(, from Persian language, Persian , ) was the term used in the Ottoman Empire to designate the "Inner Service" of the imperial court, concerned with the private service of the Ottoman sultans, as opposed to the state-administrative "Outer Service ...
, later serving prince
Mehmed
Mehmed or Mehmet is the most common Turkish form of the Arabic male name Muhammad () (''Muhammed'' and ''Muhammet'' are also used, though considerably less) and gains its significance from being the name of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam. Origina ...
, the future sultan. Sources do not agree on which posts he held at the palace.
Life

Mahmud Pasha was a capable soldier. After distinguishing himself at the
siege of Belgrade (1456)
The siege of Belgrade, or siege of Nándorfehérvár ( or , "Triumph of Nándorfehérvár"; sr-Cyrl, Опсада Београда, Opsada Beograda) was a military blockade of Belgrade that occurred 4–22 July 1456 in the aftermath of th ...
, he was raised to the position of Grand Vizier as a reward, succeeding
Zaganos Pasha. Throughout his tenure he led armies or accompanied Mehmed II on his own campaigns.
In 1458, the Serbian Despot
Lazar Branković died. Mahmud's brother Mihailo became member of a collective regency, but he was soon deposed by the anti-Ottoman and pro-Hungarian faction in the Serbian court. In reaction, Mahmud attacked and seized
Smederevo Fortress, although the citadel held out, and seized some additional strongholds in its vicinity. Threatened by a possible Hungarian intervention however he was forced to withdraw south and join the forces of Sultan Mehmed II at
Skopje
Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...
. In 1461, he accompanied Mehmed in his campaign against the
Empire of Trebizond
The Empire of Trebizond or the Trapezuntine Empire was one of the three successor rump states of the Byzantine Empire that existed during the 13th through to the 15th century. The empire consisted of the Pontus, or far northeastern corner of A ...
, the last surviving fragment of the
Byzantine Empire
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 History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...
. Mahmud negotiated the surrender of the city of
Trebizond with the ''
protovestiarios
''Protovestiarios'' (, ) was a high Byzantine court position, originally reserved for eunuchs. In the late Byzantine period (12th–15th centuries), it denoted the Empire's senior-most financial official, and was also adopted by the medieval Ser ...
'', the scholar
George Amiroutzes, who was also his cousin.
In 1463, Mahmud led the
invasion and conquest of the Kingdom of
Bosnia
Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...
, even though a peace treaty between Bosnia and the Ottomans had just been renewed. He captured the Bosnian king,
Stephen Tomašević, at
Ključ, and obtained from him the cession of the country to the Empire.
Angelović accompanied Mehmed II when he attacked
Albania Veneta in the summer of 1467, and ravaged the lands. For 15 days he pursued
Skanderbeg
Gjergj Kastrioti (17 January 1468), commonly known as Skanderbeg, was an Albanians, Albanian Albanian nobility, feudal lord and military commander who led Skanderbeg's rebellion, a rebellion against the Ottoman Empire in what is today Albania, ...
, who was a Venetian ally at the time, but failed to find him, as Skanderbeg retreated into the mountains and then succeeded in fleeing to the coast. According to
Tursun Beg and
Ibn Kemal, Angelović swam over
Bojana, attacked Venetian-controlled
Scutari, and plundered the surrounding area.
Mahmud was dismissed in 1468 due to the machinations of his successor,
Rum Mehmed Pasha, ostensibly due to irregularities regarding the resettlement of the
Karamanids
The Karamanids ( or ), also known as the Emirate of Karaman and Beylik of Karaman (), was a Turkish people, Turkish Anatolian beyliks, Anatolian beylik (principality) of Salur tribe origin, descended from Oghuz Turks, centered in South-Centra ...
in
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 ...
following the conquest of Karaman earlier in that year. He was reinstated in 1472, but his relations with the Sultan were now strained. Mahmud was fired and executed in 1474. The cause was the suspicion that he was involved in the sudden death of
Şehzade Mustafa, the favorite son of Sultan Mehmed II. It was said that Şehzade Mustafa had an affair with Mahmud's wife, Selçuk Hatun (sister of Hatice Hatun, the youngest consort of Mehmed II), and that Mahmud poisoned him for it. Mahmud denied it but, even without proof, Mehmed II still decided to execute him.
Literary output
Mahmud Pasha wrote works in
Persian and
Turkish with "Adni" as his
pen name
A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name.
A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...
. The ''
divan
A divan or diwan (, ''dīvān''; from Sumerian ''dub'', clay tablet) was a high government ministry in various Islamic states, or its chief official (see ''dewan'').
Etymology
The word, recorded in English since 1586, meaning "Oriental cou ...
'' he composed includes 45 ''
ghazal
''Ghazal'' is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry that often deals with topics of spiritual and romantic love. It may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss, or separation from the beloved, and t ...
s'' and 21 ''mofrads'' in Persian, as well as "some rather successful ''naziras'' on the ''ghazals'' of
Zahir Faryabi and
Hafez".
Tahsin Yazıcı adds that Mahmud Pasha "also wrote a number of official letters in Persian".
Family
He married Selçuk Hatun, daughter of
Zaganos Pasha by his first wife Sitti Nefise Hatun, and they had a son named Ali Bey and a daughter named Hatice Hatun. His wife became lover to
Şehzade Mustafa, son of 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, ...
. For this reason, Mahmud was suspected of involvement in Mustafa's death and executed.
References
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Angelovic, Mahmud Pasha
1420 births
1474 deaths
15th-century Serbian people
15th-century Greek people
People from the Ottoman Empire of Serbian descent
People from the Ottoman Empire of Greek descent
People from Novo Brdo
Converts to Sunni Islam from Eastern Orthodoxy
Former Serbian Orthodox Christians
Grand viziers of Mehmed II
15th-century grand viziers of the Ottoman Empire
Kapudan Pashas
15th-century Ottoman military personnel
Ottoman people of the Ottoman–Venetian Wars
Pashas
Executed people from the Ottoman Empire
Executed Serbian people
15th-century executions by the Ottoman Empire
1450s in the Ottoman Empire
1460s in the Ottoman Empire
1470s in the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman period in the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina
15th-century Persian-language writers
Turkish-language writers
Kosovo Serbs
15th-century governors
Ottoman–Venetian War (1463–1479)