Nişancı Süleyman Pasha (also known as Silahdar Süleyman Pasha, died 1715) was an 18th-century high-ranking Ottoman civil servant 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 ...

Biography

Süleyman Pasha was of

Abazin The Abazin, Abazinians or Abaza ( Abaza and Abkhaz: Абаза; Circassian: Абазэхэр; ; ; ) are an ethnic group of the Northwest Caucasus, closely related to the Abkhaz and Circassian peoples. Today, as a result of atrocities committ ...

origin. In 1705, he was appointed governor of

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

, then 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 ...

. He also served on

Euboea Euboea ( ; , ), also known by its modern spelling Evia ( ; , ), is the second-largest Greek island in area and population, after Crete, and the sixth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is separated from Boeotia in mainland Greece by ...

an island in

Ottoman Greece The vast majority of the territory of present-day Greece was at some point incorporated within the Ottoman Empire. The period of Ottoman rule in Greece, lasting from the mid-15th century until the successful Greek War of Independence broke out ...

and

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

. In 1709, he was promoted to the high post of a

nişancı was a high post in Ottoman Empire, Ottoman bureaucracy. The Turkish word literally means "court calligrapher" or "sealer", as the original duty of the was to seal royal precepts. History Although the post of the court calligrapher was establish ...

court reporter A court reporter, court stenographer, or shorthand reporter is a person whose occupation is to capture the live testimony in proceedings using a stenographic machine or a stenomask, thereby transforming the proceedings into an official certif ...

. On 12 November 1712, he was appointed grand vizier. The main diplomatic problem during his office term was the fate of the King

Charles XII of Sweden Charles XII, sometimes Carl XII () or Carolus Rex (17 June 1682 – 30 November 1718 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.), was King of Sweden from 1697 to 1718. He belonged to the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, a branch line of the House of ...

, who was residing in Ottoman lands after his defeat by the Russian forces in the

Battle of Poltava The Battle of Poltava took place 8 July 1709, was the decisive and largest battle of the Great Northern War. The Russian army under the command of Tsar Peter I defeated the Swedish army commanded by Carl Gustaf Rehnskiöld. The battle would l ...

(1709). When Charles XII refused to return to his country Sweden, Süleyman Pasha moved his residence from Bender in

Ottoman Moldova The history of Moldova spans Prehistory, prehistoric cultures, Ancient history, ancient and Medieval history, medieval empires, and periods of foreign rule and modern independence. Evidence of human habitation dates back 800,000–1.2 million y ...

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 ...

in Ottoman Greece. But

Ottoman Sultan The sultans of the Ottoman Empire (), who were all members of the Ottoman dynasty (House of Osman), ruled over the Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental empire from its perceived inception in 1299 to Dissolution of the Ottoman Em ...

Ahmet III (reigned 1703–1730) did not approve this policy towards a guest of the Empire. On 4 April 1713, he was dismissed from the post of grand vizier. Although he was then appointed

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 ...

, grand admiral, 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 ...

, he was accused of corruption, and in November 1713, he was exiled to the island

Kos Kos or Cos (; ) is a Greek island, which is part of the Dodecanese island chain in the southeastern Aegean Sea. Kos is the third largest island of the Dodecanese, after Rhodes and Karpathos; it has a population of 37,089 (2021 census), making ...

in Ottoman Greece. The next year, he was transferred to

Rhodos In Greek mythology, Rhodos/Rhodus () or Rhode (), was the goddess and personification of the island of Rhodes and a wife of the Solar deity, sun god Helios. Family Various parents were given for Rhodos. Pindar makes her a daughter of Aphrodit ...

, another Ottoman Greek island. In 1715, he was executed.Ayhan Buz: Osmanlı Sadrazamları p.174-175

References

{{Grand Viziers of Ottoman Empire Pashas Ottoman governors of Cyprus Nişancı 18th-century grand viziers of the Ottoman Empire Kapudan Pashas Exiles from the Ottoman Empire 1715 deaths 18th-century executions by the Ottoman Empire Abazins from the Ottoman Empire Ottoman governors of Aleppo