Mahmud Angelović | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 13thGrand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire | |
| In office 1472–1474 | |
| Monarch | Mehmed II |
| Preceded by | Ishak Pasha |
| Succeeded by | Gedik Ahmed Pasha |
| In office 1456–1466 | |
| Monarch | Mehmed II |
| Preceded by | Zaganos Pasha |
| Succeeded by | Rum Mehmed Pasha |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1420 |
| Died | 1474 (aged 53–54) |
| Nationality | Ottoman |
| Spouse | Selçuk Hatun |
| Children | Ali Bey Hatice Hatun |
| Signature |  |
| Nickname | Adni |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Ottoman Empire |
| Branch/service | Ottoman Navy |
| Rank | Kapudan Pasha (grand admiral) |
| Battles/wars | |
Mahmud Pasha Angelović (Serbian:Махмуд-паша Анђеловић/Mahmud-paša Anđelović;Turkish:Veli Mahmud Paşa; 1420–1474) was a major military leader and theGrand Vizier of theOttoman Empire from 1456 to 1466 and from 1472 to 1474. He also wrotePersian andTurkish poems under the pseudonymAdni (the "Eden-like").[1]
Born in theSerbian Despotate, he was a descendant of the ByzantineAngelos family that had left Thessaly in 1394. According to biographers, he was conscripted as a child by the Ottomans employing thedevşirme system.[2] Raised as aMuslim inEdirne, he was a capable soldier and was married to a daughter ofZaganos Pasha. After distinguishing himself at theSiege of Belgrade in 1456, he was raised to the position of Grand Vizier as a reward, succeeding his father-in-law Zaganos Pasha. Throughout his tenure, he led armies or accompanied Mehmed II on his own campaigns.
After theOttoman conquest of Thessaly in 1394, the rulingAngeloi[3][4]Philanthropenoi family took refuge. The grandchildren of eitherAlexios orManuel were Mahmud Pasha and his brotherMihailo Anđelović.
It is estimated that Angelović was born in the early 1420s.[5] Most historians accept that Angelović was born inNovo Brdo in theSerbian Despotate, and that his father Mihailos was the son of eitherAlexios Angelos Philanthropenos or his son/nephew/brotherManuel, rulers ofThessaly.[6]T. Stavrides views it more probable that Manuel was his grandfather.[5] The only information on his father is that he lived in Serbia in the 1420s.[5] His mother's ancestry is the matter of debate.Chalkokondyles (1430–1470) called her Serbian,Kritoboulos (1410–1470), Greek, while there are various theories on her noble ancestry.[7] Angelović had a brother,Mihailo Anđelović, later a prominent Serbian statesman, after the Turkish conquest.[8]
According toTahsin Yazıcı, Angelović was "born to a Greek or Serbian family".[9]Dejan Djokić stated that Angelović was born "to a Serb mother and a Greek refugee father – no less than son of the last Angeloi ruler of Thessaly who had emigrated to Serbia in the late fourteenth century".[10] Ottoman historians likeGelibolulu Mustafa Ali and later considered him as aCroat, and Angelović himself in a letter from April 1467 signed as "Abogović Hrvat" (but the Croatian ethnonym probably meant "someone from the wider south-Slavic area").[11][12]
Chalkokondyles mentions that Angelović was captured by Ottoman horsemen while travelling with his mother from Novo Brdo toSmederevo (the Serbian capital), and taken to the Ottoman court.[13] It is assumed that this took place in 1427, when the Ottomans attacked Serbia.[14] Furthermore, it is unconcluded whether he was captured according to thedevşirme (practice, the regular practice of taking children certain noble families whose Ottomans have taken lands and making these children high rankings officials) or as aprisoner of war.[15]Taşköprüzade (d. 1560) andAşık Çelebi (1520–1572) name two other boys led with Angelović on horseback to Edirne, Molla Iyas andMevlana Abdülkerim, the latter which reached the rank ofkadıasker (chief judge) andşeyhülislam (Islamic scholar).[16] Upon conversion to Islam, he received the name Mahmud.
Little is known about his activities before 1453. According to T. Stavrides, Angelović and his companions were educated in the palace, probably asiçoğlan, and Mahmud then entered service in theEnderûn, later serving princeMehmed, the future sultan.[17] Sources do not agree on which posts he held at the palace.[18]
Mahmud Pasha was a capable soldier. After distinguishing himself at thesiege of Belgrade (1456), he was raised to the position of Grand Vizier as a reward, succeedingZaganos Pasha.[19] Throughout his tenure he led armies or accompanied Mehmed II on his own campaigns.[20]
In 1458, the Serbian DespotLazar Branković died. Mahmud's brother Mihailo became member of a collective regency, but he was soon deposed by the anti-Ottoman and pro-Hungarian faction in the Serbian court. In reaction, Mahmud attacked and seizedSmederevo Fortress, although the citadel held out, and seized some additional strongholds in its vicinity. Threatened by a possible Hungarian intervention however he was forced to withdraw south and join the forces of Sultan Mehmed II atSkopje.[21] In 1461, he accompanied Mehmed in his campaign against theEmpire of Trebizond, the last surviving fragment of theByzantine Empire. Mahmud negotiated the surrender of the city ofTrebizond with theprotovestiarios, the scholarGeorge Amiroutzes, who was also his cousin.[22]
In 1463, Mahmud led theinvasion and conquest of the Kingdom ofBosnia, even though a peace treaty between Bosnia and the Ottomans had just been renewed. He captured the Bosnian king,Stephen Tomašević, atKljuč, and obtained from him the cession of the country to the Empire.[21]
Angelović accompanied Mehmed II when he attackedAlbania Veneta in the summer of 1467, and ravaged the lands. For 15 days he pursuedSkanderbeg, who was a Venetian ally at the time, but failed to find him, as Skanderbeg retreated into the mountains and then succeeded in fleeing to the coast.[23] According toTursun Beg andIbn Kemal, Angelović swam overBojana, attacked Venetian-controlledScutari, and plundered the surrounding area.[24]
Mahmud was dismissed in 1468 due to the machinations of his successor,Rum Mehmed Pasha, ostensibly due to irregularities regarding the resettlement of theKaramanids inConstantinople following the conquest of Karaman earlier in that year.[25] He was reinstated in 1472, but his relations with the Sultan were now strained. Mahmud was fired and executed in 1474. The cause was the suspicion that he was involved in the sudden death ofŞehzade Mustafa, the favorite son of Sultan Mehmed II. It was said that Şehzade Mustafa had an affair with Mahmud's wife, Selçuk Hatun (sister of Hatice Hatun, the youngest consort of Mehmed II), and that Mahmud poisoned him for it. Mahmud denied it but, even without proof, Mehmed II still decided to execute him.[26]
Mahmud Pasha wrote works inPersian andTurkish with "Adni" as hispen name.[9] Thedivan he composed includes 45ghazals and 21mofrads in Persian, as well as "some rather successfulnaziras on theghazals ofZahir Faryabi andHafez".[9]Tahsin Yazıcı adds that Mahmud Pasha "also wrote a number of official letters in Persian".[9]
He married Selçuk Hatun, daughter ofZaganos Pasha by his first wife Sitti Nefise Hatun, and they had a son named Ali Bey and a daughter named Hatice Hatun. His wife became lover toŞehzade Mustafa, son of SultanMehmed II. For this reason, Mahmud was suspected of involvement in Mustafa's death and executed.
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire 1456–1466 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire 1472–1474 | Succeeded by |
 Seamen of the Ottoman Empire | |
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| Kapudan Pashas |
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| Other important seamen | |
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