Everything about K Pr L Mehmed Pasha totally explained
Mehmed Köprülü (
1575/
1578/
1583 Rojnik, near
Berat in what today is
Albania –
October 31,
1661 Edirne) was the
Grand Vizier of the
Ottoman Empire from
1656 until his death. He was also the founder of the
Köprülü noble family.
He was recruited as a part of the
devshirmeh system and was trained in the palace school. He eventually rose to the rank of pasha and was appointed the
beylerbey (provincial
governor) of the
Province of Trebizond in
1644. Later he was to rule the provinces of
Eğri in
1647, of
Karamanid in
1648, and of
Anadolu in
1650. He served as vizier of the
divan for one week in
1652 before being dismissed due to the constant power struggle within the palace. He retired to an estate in the small town of
Köprü in northern
Anatolia that he'd inherited from his father-in-law. The town became the seat of his family, and the family came to be called as Köprülü, meaning 'from Köprü'. It is called
Vezirköprü today to the family's honor.
In 1656 the political situation in Ottoman Empire was very critical. The war in Crete against the Venetians was still continuing. The Ottoman Navy under Captain-of-Seas Kenan Pasha on May 1656 was defeated by the Venetian and Maltese navy at
Battle of Dardanelles (1656) and the Venetian navy continued the blockade of the Canakkale Straits cutting the Ottoman army at Crete from Istanbul, the state capital. There was a political plot to unseat the reigning
Sultan Mehmed IV led by important viziers including the Grand Mufti (Seyhulislam) Mesud Effendi. This plot was discovered and the plotters were executed or exiled. The Mother Sultana
Turhan Hatice conducted consultations and the most favored candidate for the post of Grand Vizier came out as the old and retired but experienced Koprulu Mehmed Pasha. Koprulu Mehmed Pasha was offered the post of Grand Vizier but he'd only accept it if he was given extraordinary powers and political rule without interference, even from the highest authority of the Sultan. His conditions were accepted and he was appointed Grand Vizier by the
Sultan Mehmed IV in 15th September
1656.
As the Grand Vizier, his first task was to advise
Sultan Mehmed IV to conduct a life of hunts and traveling around the Balkans and to reside in the old capital of
Edirne, thus stop his political interventions. In 4 January 1657 the household cavalry Sipahi troops in Istanbul started a rebellion and this was cruelly suppressed by Koprulu Mehmed Pasha with the help of
janissary troops. The Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Istanbul was proven to be in treasonous contacts with the enemies of Ottoman state and Koprulu Mehmed Pasha approved of his execution.
Against external enemies of the Empire Mehmed Köprülü was also quite successful. He started on a military expeditions against the Venetian blockade of Dardanelles Straits. The Ottoman navy had a victory against
Venice in the
Battle of the Dardanelles on
July 19,
1657. This allowed Ottomans to regain some of the
Aegean islands, including
Tenedos and
Limni (
November 15) and to open the sea-supply routes to the Ottoman Army still conducting the sieges of Crete.
Koprulu Mehmed Pasha then directed his attention to internal rebellions in Anatolia and started on a military campaign in
Anatolia. He suppressed the revolts some of the Anatolian governors of provinces, most notably the revolt of
Abaza Hasan Pasha, the ruler of
Aleppo and of Ahmed Pasha, Kenan Pasha, Ali Mirza Pasha, Ferhad Pasha, Mustafa Pasha in
1658–
1659.
In
1658 he conducted a successful campaign in
Transylvania where he defeated the disloyal vassal prince,
George II Rákóczi (György Rákóczi), and had him replaced. He also annexed
Yanova (Jenö) on
August 1,
1660 and
Várad on
August 27.
In July 1660 there was a big fire in Istanbul (the Ayazmakapi Fire) causing great damage to persons and buildings, leading later to a food scarcity and plague. Koprulu Mehmed Pasha became personally involved in the reconstruction affairs. The honesty and integrity in conducting state affairs by Koprulu Mehmed Pasha is shown by an episode in this task [see Sakaoglu (1999) p.281). The burnt-out Jewish quarters from the Ayazmakapi Fire were decided to be compulsorily purchased by the state. The Jewish merchants with the aim of changing this policy offered the Grand Vizier a very large monetary bribe from their 'Accidents and Emergencies Fund'. This was refused by the Grand Vizier and those who offered the bribes were punished.
Koprulu Mehmed Pasha died in
Edirne on
October 31,
1661. During his short extraordinary rule as the Grand Vizier from 1656 to 1661 the Ottoman Empire had regained some of its former prestige and power internally and externally. Koprulu Mehmed's victories in Transylvania would push the Ottoman border closer to
Austria. He was succeeded as Grand Vizier by his son,
Köprülü Fazıl Ahmet Pasha.
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