Sarı Süleyman Pasha (; ; died 14 October 1687) was 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 18 November 1685 to 18 September 1687.İsmail Hâmi Danişmend, Osmanlı Devlet Erkânı, Türkiye Yayınevi, İstanbul, 1971 (Turkish) He was executed after the defeat of the Ottoman forces in the Second Battle of Mohács. In Turkish, his epithet ''sarı'' means "blond (haired)", literally "yellow".

Early life

He was of Bosnian descent.Uzunçarşılı, İsmail Hakkı, (1954) ''Osmanlı Tarihi III. Cilt, 2. Kısım, XVI. Yüzyıl Ortalarından XVII. Yüzyıl Sonuna kadar)'', Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu (Altıncı Baskı 2011 ) say.425-426* Aslan, Adnan "Süleyman Paşa (Sarı)", (1999), ''Yaşamları ve Yapıtlarıyla Osmanlılar Ansiklopedisi'', İstanbul:Yapı Kredi Kültür Sanat Yayıncılık A.Ş. C.2 s.568 ISBN 975-08-0072-9Mehmed Süreyya (haz. Nuri Akbayar) (1996), ''Sicill-i Osmani'', İstanbul:Tarih Vakfı Yurt Yayınları ISBN 975-333-0383 C.III s.6

/ref> Sarı Süleyman Pasha was born in Taşlıca (

Pljevlja Pljevlja (, ) is a town located in the Northern Montenegro, Northern Region of Montenegro, situated along Ćehotina, Ćehotina river. The town lies at an altitude of . In the Middle Ages, Pljevlja had been a crossroad of the important commercial ...

, now

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

), in the

Bosnia Eyalet The Eyalet of Bosnia (; By Gábor Ágoston, Bruce Alan Masters ; ), was an eyalet (administrative division, also known as a ''beylerbeylik'') of the Ottoman Empire, mostly based on the territory of the present-day state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. ...

. He was the ''kdhya'' of Grand Vizier Ahmed Köprülü (s. 1661–1676), and later the Sultan's

master of the horse Master of the Horse is an official position in several European nations. It was more common when most countries in Europe were monarchies, and is of varying prominence today. (ancient Rome) The original Master of the Horse () in the Roman Rep ...

Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire

After Sarı Süleyman Pasha was appointed grand vizier, he immediately began to write desperate letters to the Great Khan of the

Crimean Khanate The Crimean Khanate, self-defined as the Throne of Crimea and Desht-i Kipchak, and in old European historiography and geography known as Little Tartary, was a Crimean Tatars, Crimean Tatar state existing from 1441 to 1783, the longest-lived of th ...

and the

pasha Pasha (; ; ) was a high rank in the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, generals, dignitary, dignitaries, and others. ''Pasha'' was also one of the highest titles in the 20th-century Kingdom of ...

s of

Timișoara Timișoara (, , ; , also or ; ; ; see #Etymology, other names) is the capital city of Timiș County, Banat, and the main economic, social and cultural center in Western Romania. Located on the Bega (Tisza), Bega River, Timișoara is consider ...

Székesfehérvár Székesfehérvár (; ; ; ; Serbian language, Serbian: ''Стони Београд''; ), known colloquially as Fehérvár (), is a city in central Hungary, and the country's ninth-largest city. It is the Regions of Hungary, regional capital of C ...

and

Osijek Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...

in order to reorganize and reinforce the battered

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 ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, struggling during the Battle of Buda (1686). Although Sarı Süleyman Pasha made several attempts to break the blockade around

Buda Buda (, ) is the part of Budapest, the capital city of Hungary, that lies on the western bank of the Danube. Historically, “Buda” referred only to the royal walled city on Castle Hill (), which was constructed by Béla IV between 1247 and ...

, the city was ultimately captured by Charles V, Duke of Lorraine. Soon afterwards the Ottomans had even lost

. Süleyman Pasha thereafter commanded his forces to hold what remained of the Ottoman north against their opponents and even sent Mehmet Agha to negotiate peace with Donat John Heissler at Guttentag. After the defeat at Mohács, the Ottoman army started a rebellion against the grand vizier. Suleyman Pasha, fearful that the rebellion would result in his death, escaped from the commanding position, first to

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 ...

and then, rather foolishly, to

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 ...

, where he took refuge at the house of an old friend, a Jew named Salomon. At the beginning of September 1687, news about his defeat and escape came to Constantinople. After Mehmed IV received this news, he proclaimed Abaza Siyavuş Pasha as the new commander of the armed forces, and, eventually, as the new grand vizier. Soon after this, Süleyman Pasha was apprehended and executed. Two months later, the sultan himself was also removed from power as the result of the defeat in the Battle of Mohács, and was replaced by sultan Süleyman II.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sari Suleyman Pasha 17th-century grand viziers of the Ottoman Empire Executed people from the Ottoman Empire Ottoman people of the Great Turkish War 17th-century executions by the Ottoman Empire Year of birth unknown 1687 deaths People from Prijepolje Bosnian Muslims from the Ottoman Empire People from the Ottoman Empire of Bosnian descent

Early life

Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire

See also

References

Sources