Gedik Ahmed Pasha | |
|---|---|
کدك احمد پاشا | |
| 16thGrand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire | |
| In office 1474–1477 | |
| Monarch | Mehmed II |
| Preceded by | Mahmud Pasha Angelović |
| Succeeded by | Karamanlı Mehmed Pasha |
| Grand Admiral ofthe Ottoman Fleet Sanjakbeyi ofAvlonya | |
| In office 1478 – c. 1481 | |
| Monarch | Mehmed II |
| Preceded by | Unknown |
| Succeeded by | Mesih Pasha |
| Beylerbeyi ofAnatolia | |
| In office c. 1462–1470 | |
| Monarch | Mehmed II |
| Preceded by | Ishak Pasha |
| Succeeded by | Koca Davud Pasha |
| Beylerbeyi ofRum | |
| In office c. 1451–1462 – c. 1451–1462 | |
| Monarch | Mehmed II |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Punoševce (Serbian Despotate) |
| Died | (1482-11-18)18 November 1482 Edirne Palace, Edirne, Ottoman Empire |
| Cause of death | Strangling |
| Citizenship | Ottoman |
| Education | Enderun School |
| Profession | Statesman |
| House | Member of minorSerbian feudal family from the area ofVranje |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Ottoman Empire |
| Branch/service | Ottoman Army (c. 1450s–1477 and 1481–1482) Ottoman Navy (1478–1481) |
| Rank | Army Commander Grand Admiral |
| Battles/wars | Ottoman-Karamanid wars Ottoman-Aq Qoyunlu wars • Battle of Koyulhisar (1461) • Battle of Otlukbeli • Battle of Kıreli Ottoman-Genoese War Ottoman invasion of Otranto Siege of Mangup Siege of Negroponte (1470) |
Gedik Ahmed Pasha (Serbian:Гедик Ахмед-паша; died 18 November 1482) was anOttoman statesman and admiral who served asGrand Vizier andKapudan Pasha (Grand Admiral of theOttoman Navy) during the reigns of sultansMehmed II andBayezid II.[1][2]
Very little was known about Gedik Ahmed Pasha in primary sources until late in historiography.Serbia andAlbania had both been proposed as geographical regions for his birthplace and Mükrimin Halil Yinanç had even claimed that he was descended from the Byzantine GreekPalaiologos dynasty based on unnamed Western sources Yinanç claimed to have access to. Later research in the Ottoman archives ofVranje (southeastern Serbia) by Aleksandar Stojanovski established that Gedik Ahmed Pasha was a member of the local Serbian feudal families of the area and was born in the villagePunoševce.[3][4][5]
Leading theOttoman Army, he defeated the lastAnatolian beylik (principality) resisting Ottoman expansion in the region, theKaramanids.[6] The Karamanids had been the strongest principality in Anatolia for nearly 200 years, even stronger than the Ottomans in the latter's beginning. They effectively succeeded theSultanate of Rûm in the amount of possessions they held, among them the city ofKonya, the formerSelçuk capital.
Gedik Ahmed Pasha also fought againstVenetians in theMediterranean and was dispatched in1475 by the Sultan to aid theCrimean Khanate againstGenoese forces. InCrimea, he conqueredCaffa,Soldaia,Cembalo and other Genoese castles as well as thePrincipality of Theodoro with its capitalMangup and the coastal regions of Crimea. He rescued the Khan of Crimea,Meñli I Giray, from Genoese forces.[6] As a result of this campaign,Crimea andCircassia entered into the Ottoman sphere of influence.
In1479, when he was asanjakbey of theSanjak of Avlona,[7] Sultan Mehmet II ordered him to lead a force of between 10,000 and 40,000 troops for thesiege of Shkodra.[8] Later that year, the sultan ordered him to lead the Ottoman Navy in the Mediterranean Sea as part of the war againstNaples andMilan. During his campaign, Gedik Ahmed Pasha conquered the islands ofSanta Maura (Lefkada),Kefalonia, andZante (Zakynthos). Since he had conqueredConstantinople in 1453,Mehmed II saw himself as the inheritor of theRoman Empire and seriously considered the conquest of Italy to reunite Roman lands under his dynasty. As part of this plan, Gedik Ahmed Pasha was sent with a naval force to the heel of theItalian peninsula.[2]
After afailed attempt to conquer Rhodes from theKnights of St. John, Ahmed successfullytook the Italian harbor city of Otranto in1480.[9] However, due to lack of food and supplies, he had to return with most of his troops to Albania in the same year, planning to continue the campaign in1481.
The death ofMehmed II prevented this. Instead, Ahmet sided withBayezid II in the struggle for who would succeed the sultan. However, Bayezid II did not fully trust Ahmed and had him imprisoned and later killed on 18 November 1482.[3][10]
While little is known about the early years of Gedik Ahmed Pasa, the Turkish scholar Mükrimin Halil Yinanç has cited unnamed Western sources claiming that he was of Palaiologan origin. More recently, the 1985 study on the Serbian region of Vranje by Aleksandar Stojanovski, has established that Gedik Ahmed Pasa was a member of the minor Serbian aristocracy
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire 1474–1477 | Succeeded by |
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| Kapudan Pashas |
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