Süleyman Pasha () 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 ...

Ottoman sanjak-bey of Scutari, a Vizier and a member of the House of Bushati. Süleyman Pasha is the great-grandfather of Ditmir Bushati.

History

Upon being appointed sanjak-bey of Scutari, he paid attention to the Montenegro Vilayet. He was aware of the relation between the Montenegrins and 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 ...

. After hearing of talks between Metropolitan

Rufim Boljević Rufim Boljević ( sr-cyr, Руфим Бољевић; 1662 – d. January 1685) was the Serbian Orthodox Metropolitan (''vladika'') of Cetinje from 1662 until his death in January 1685. He succeeded Mardarije Kornečanin (fl. 1640–59), and wa ...

and '' provveditore'' Zeno, he tried by all means to break that alliance and to separate the Montenegrins and Brđani from the Venetians. During the

Great Turkish War The Great Turkish War () or The Last Crusade, also called in Ottoman sources The Disaster Years (), was a series of conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy League (1684), Holy League consisting of the Holy Roman Empire, Polish–Lith ...

, in 1685, he led a contingent that approached Cetinje, and on the way clashed with

hajduks A hajduk (, plural of ) is a type of Irregular military, irregular infantry found in Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and parts of Southeast Europe from the late 16th to mid 19th centuries, especially from Hajdú–Bihar Count ...

in Venetian service under the command of Bajo Pivljanin at the hill of Vrtijeljka (in the Battle of Vrtijeljka), where they annihilated the hajduks. It is claimed that Süleyman managed to penetrate into Cetinje only with the help of the Brđani, who were in feud with the Montenegrin tribes. Afterwards, the victorious Ottomans paraded with 500 severed heads through Cetinje, and also attacked the Cetinje monastery and the palace of Ivan Crnojević. Süleyman had Bajo's head sent to the Sultan as a trophy. In 1686 he attacked

Budva Budva (Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Будва, or ) is a town in the Coastal Montenegro, Coastal region of Montenegro. It had 27,445 inhabitants as of 2023, and is the centre of Budva Municipality. The coastal area around Budva, called the Budv ...

. In March and May 1688, he attacked the Kuči tribe. The Kuči, under Vojvode Ivan Drekalović, with help from

Kelmendi Kelmendi is a historical Albanian tribes, Albanian tribe (''fis'') and region in Malësia (Kelmend (municipality), Kelmend municipality) and eastern Montenegro (parts of Gusinje Municipality). It is located in the upper valley of the Cem (river), ...

and Piperi, destroyed the army of Süleyman, took over Medun and got their hands of large quantities of weapons and equipment. Süleyman entered Cetinje again in 1692, again with the help of the Brđani, and pushed out the Venetians, reasserting his rule over Montenegro which had been under Venetian protection. At that time, the Brđani had little respect of their co-religious tribal neighbours, as plunder was their main income. He reached an agreement with Venetians with 11 terms under which they were to retreat from Cetinje. However, before leaving, Venetians rigged their former stronghold in monastery with time controlled explosive. The impact later caused heavy havoc among the Ottomans, and Suleyman himself was seriously wounded.

Annotations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pasha, Suleyman 17th-century Ottoman military personnel Ottoman generals Ottoman governors of Scutari People of the Great Turkish War Bushati family 17th-century governors of the Ottoman Empire