Öküz Mehmed Pasha
Ottoman Governor of Egypt | |
---|---|
In office 1607–1611 | |
Preceded by | Yemenli Hasan Pasha |
Succeeded by | Sofu Mehmed Pasha |
Personal details | |
Died | 23 December 1619 Istanbul, Ottoman Empire |
Nationality | Ottoman |
Spouse | |
Children | Sultanzade Fülan Bey |
Military service | |
Rank | Silahdar |
"Öküz" Mehmed Pasha ("Mehmed Pasha the Ox"; died 23 December 1619), also known as Kara Mehmed Pasha ("the Black") or "Kul Kıran" Mehmed Pasha ("the Slavebreaker"), Okuz Mehmed's nickname "Kul Kiran" (slavebreaker) came from his success in crushing the mutiny in Egypt during the early 1600s (soldiers were often known as kul or slave).
Background
He was of Turkish origin and was born in Karagümrük district of Istanbul. It is reported that his father was an ox blacksmith.[7][8][9] He was nicknamed "Black" and also given the nickname "Ox" by is enemies, based on the profession of his father.[10] Before holding governmental positions, Mehmed Pasha had been a silahdar, a high-ranking position in the sultan's guard.[3]
He married princess Gevherhan Sultan, the daughter of sultan Ahmed I and Kösem Sultan. They had a son died in infancy.[4]
Governor of Egypt
Before his first term as grand vizier, Mehmed Pasha was appointed as governor of Egypt in 1607, a post he held until 1611.[1][3][4][5][6] In 1604, three years before he assumed the office, the Governor of Ottoman Egypt Maktul Hacı Ibrahim Pasha was murdered by mutinying sipahi soldiers of his own troops.[11][12][13] This event caused three years of instability in Egypt, with the subsequent two governors, Hadım Mehmed Pasha and Yemenli Hasan Pasha unable to completely quell the rebellion.
When Mehmed Pasha came into office, his strong-handed methods and personality allowed him to suppress the sipahis and abolish the illegal tulba protection tax they had been imposing on the Egyptian countryside.[3] After first landing at Alexandria, he gathered public support by visiting the tombs of local saints and treating the Mamluks well, ordering repairs on Mamluk-built buildings and structures.[3] He then proceeded to execute district governors who had allowed the sipahis to impose the tulba and warned others of the same fate.[3]
Tensions came to a head in February 1609, when the rebels gathered in the city of Tanta and met at the tomb of Ahmad al-Badawi, Egypt's most popular saint, to swear that they would resist Mehmed Pasha's efforts; they then began to gather troops and pillage villages for supplies.[3] Mehmed Pasha also gathered troops, although some of his officers suggested diplomacy, which Mehmed agreed to, sending a mufti named Altıparmak Mehmed Efendi and an officer to negotiate with the rebels.[14] The mufti advised the rebels to give into "those in authority," and upon refusal, Mehmed Pasha's forces began to mobilize.[14]
Mehmed Pasha's forces met the rebels just north of Cairo. The rebels, discouraged, lost the battle, and the pasha's forces summarily executed over 250 of them, while others were later exiled to Yemen.[14]
In the aftermath of this event, Mehmed Pasha became known as Kul Kıran ("slavebreaker" in Turkish) for subjugating the Mamluks and the soldiers to Ottoman rule. He went on to promote public works and attempted to reform the fiscal and military organization of the Egypt eyalet, reducing the number of local beys to 12,[14] although this measure was later abandoned.[5] In 1611, he was recalled to the capital Constantinople by the sultan.[14]
Grand Vizierates
Mehmed Pasha was
One episode during his time as grand vizier involved an attack on
Governor of Aidin
In between his two terms as grand vizier, he held the office of governor of
Death
He was strangled to death in office in 1619 by a young Janissary whose favors he had sought.
See also
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-582-41899-8.
- ^ İsmail Hâmi Danişmend, Osmanlı Devlet Erkânı, Türkiye Yayınevi, İstanbul, 1971 (Turkish)
- ^ ISBN 978-0-521-47211-1.
- ^ a b c A. Zuhuri Danışman (1965). Osmanlı İmparatorluğu tarihi. Z. Danışman Yayınevi. p. 243.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-203-16923-0.
- ^ a b Doris Behrens-Abouseif (2000). "The Ottoman-Egyptian Elites (review)". Turkish Studies Association Bulletin. Ehud R. Toldedano (reviewer). Turkish Studies Association.: 93, 95.
- ^ Uzunçarşılı, İsmail Hakkı, (1954) Osmanlı Tarihi III. Cilt, 2. Kısım , XVI. Yüzyıl Ortalarından XVII. Yüzyıl Sonuna kadar), Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu
- ^ Mehmed Süreyya (haz. Nuri Akbayar) (1996), Sicill-i Osmani, İstanbul:Tarih Vakfı Yurt Yayınları ISBN 975-333-0383 C.IV s.441 [1]
- ^ Avcı, Casim, "Mehmed Paşa (Öküz, Damat)" (1999) Yaşamları ve Yapıtlarıyla Osmanlılar Ansiklopedisi, İstanbul:Yapı Kredi Kültür Sanat Yayıncılık A.Ş. C.2 s.164 ISBN 975-08-0072-9
- ^ "Mehmed Paşa, Damad". İslâm Ansiklopedisi.
- ISBN 978-0-203-16923-0.
- ISBN 978-0-521-47211-1.
- ISBN 978-90-04-19435-9.
- ^ a b c d e Winter 1998, p. 19.
- ^ Prof.Yaşar Yücel-Prof Ali Sevim:Türkiye tarihi vol.III, AKDTYKTTK Yayınları, 1991, 43-44