Mustafa | |
|---|---|
 Imaginative portrait of Kara Mustafa Pasha, 1670-1724,Netherlands | |
| Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire | |
| In office 19 October 1676 – 25 December 1683 | |
| Monarch | Mehmed IV |
| Preceded by | Köprülü Fazıl Ahmed Pasha |
| Succeeded by | Bayburtlu Kara Ibrahim Pasha |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1634 or 1635 |
| Died | 25 December 1683 |
| Nationality | Ottoman |
| Spouse(s) | KöprülüzadeFülane Hatun Fatma Hatun Ayşe Hatun Emine Hatun Zeynep Hatun |
| Relations | Köprülü Mehmed Pasha (father-in-law) Köprülüzade Fazıl Ahmed Pasha (brother-in-law) Köprülüzade Fazıl Mustafa Pasha (brother-in-law) |
| Children | Yusuf Pasha Mehmed Pasha Ali Pasha |
| Origins | Turkish |
| Family | Köprülü family (adoptive) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Ottoman Empire |
| Branch/service |  Ottoman NavyOttoman Army |
| Years of service | 1660s–1683 |
| Rank | Grand Admiral (1666–70) Commander-in-Chief (1676–83) |
| Battles/wars | |
Kara Mustafa Pasha (Ottoman Turkish:قره مصطفى پاشا;Turkish:Kara Mustafa Paşa; "MustafaPasha the Courageous"; 1634/1635 – 25 December 1683) was anOttoman nobleman, military figure andGrand Vizier, who was a central character in theOttoman Empire's last attempts at expansion into bothCentral andEastern Europe.
Kara Mustafa Pasha was ofTurkish origin.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] However, he was brought up in theKöprülü family, ofAlbanian origin.[8][9][6] He was born in the village of Mirince/Marınca nearMerzifon (now calledKaramustafapaşa after him), the son of asipahi, cavalry man.[10] His father is said to have served underKöprülü Mehmed Pasha. Possibly as a way to increase his possibilities to start an administrative career, he was introduced into the Köprülü household, where he was educated by Köprülü Mehmed Pasha, and married into the Köprülü family.[11] How he entered the family and the details of his marriage are unclear. Within the household's inner service (enderun), he held the positions of letter-carrier (telhisci, or assistant to the grand vizier)[12][10] to Köprülü Mehmed Pasha, and ofsilahdar (armourer). He then entered the household of the Sultan asmirahor-i-sani (master of the horse). It is said that while growing up, differently from his adoptive Köprülü brothers, he disliked alcohol, as well as Europeans and other non-Muslims.[4] A contemporary French account says he had two children with the little Köprülü princess, who both died young, and that his wife died shortly after their death, at 31. He had fourconcubines (Fatma, Emine, Ayşe, Zeynep), and by them at least two sons, Yusuf and Mehmed. According to another contemporary report by Giovanni Benaglia, secretary of the Austrian ambassador in Istanbul, he divorced his "beloved Köprülü princess" after their engagement and after they had many children, and gave her to a French renegade, one of his favorites. An account by a contemporary who visited his household, Claudio Angelo di Martelli, reports of three sons who survived his death: Yusuf, Mehmed, and the youngest Ali.[10]
He conformed to the Islamic custom of not wearing silk, and never wore silver or gold, which was a largely unenforced requirement. Europeans who met him (with few exceptions, such as Colyer, who initially described him as a man of "most agreeable nature") variously described him as greedy, humorous but terse, avid, intransigent, perfidious, covetous, unwilling to accept bribes yet concerned with improving his own well-being, and completely devoted to the Ottoman state. Later accounts by Giovanni Morosini di Alvise, Venetian bailo of Istanbul from 1675 to 1680, speak of a man "born in an obscure place of Asia, inTrebisonda, to castigate the nations," and describe him as "wholly venal, cruel and unfair." The English ambassador to Istanbul John Finch also describes him as greedy, and a "grievous oppressor of Christendom."[10][12] He was particularly "unbearable to Europeans", especially for the heavy taxes he imposed (a "stream ofavanias in the years 1676-1683"). Even though his adoptive siblings also imposed notableavanias, their reputation with Europeans was not as bad.[10][12] Merlijn Orlon noted that his bad reputation doesn't do him justice. Orlon explains that he worked to maintain the House of Osman's supremacy in their own territories, clashing with ambitious foreign ministers. This resulted in his bad reputation. He dealt differently with the Dutchmen for political reasons, and this resulted in Colyer's more positive account of him. As the Franco-allied wars ended, a preferential treatment of the Dutch became useless, and, as a result, Mustafa's relationship with Colyer grew troubled.[12]
In 1659 he had become a governor ofSilistria and subsequently held a number of important posts. Within ten years, he was acting as deputy for his brother-in-law, thegrand vizierKöprülüzade Fazıl Ahmed Pasha when absent from the Sultan's court.[11]
He served as a commander of ground troops in a war againstPoland, negotiating a settlement withJohn Sobieski in 1676 that added the province ofPodolia to the empire. The victory enabled the Ottomans to transform the Cossack regions of the southernRussian Empire into aprotectorate. When his brother-in-lawKöprülü Fazıl Ahmed Pasha died that same year, Mustafa succeeded him asgrand vizier.[11]
Kara Mustafa led several successful campaigns intoTsardom of Russia, attempting to shore up the position of the Cossack state, then an Ottoman vassal. He established Ottoman garrisons in many of Ukraine's cities, and conquered the traditional Cossack capital ofChyhyryn, which had been underRussian occupation.[13]
Duringhis campaign he successful conquered Chygyryn. He pursued Grigory Romodanovsky and in the battle on the Dnieper River in August the sides did not achieve a decisive victory over each other, so both retreated, because his commanders wanted to retreat and believed that he would destroy the army.[14] After that battles he conquered by siege powerful fortress Kaniv.[15]
In 1683, he launcheda campaign northward intoAustria in a last effort to expand the Ottoman Empire after more than 150 years of war. By mid-July, his 100,000-man army had besiegedVienna (guarded by 10,000Habsburg soldiers), following in the footsteps ofSuleiman the Magnificent in 1529. By September, he had taken a portion of the walls and appeared to be on his way to victory.
But on 12 September 1683, a Polish army under KingJohn III Sobieski took advantage of dissent within the Ottoman military command and poor disposition of his troops, winning theBattle of Vienna with a devastating flank attack led by Sobieski'sPolish Winged Hussars. The Ottomans retreated intoHungary, much of which was subsequently conquered by the Habsburgs and theirHoly League allies.
The defeat cost Mustafa his position, and ultimately, his life. On 25 December 1683, Kara Mustafa was executed inBelgrade at the order ofMehmed IV. He suffered death bystrangulation with asilkcord, which was the method of capital punishment inflicted on high-ranking persons in the Ottoman Empire. Hislast words were, "Am I to die?" and "As God pleases."[11]
The Foundation of Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Pasha was one of the largest foundations ever founded both in Ottoman Empire and Turkey. According to the official records, it was last managed by the descendants of Kara Mustafa Pasha. The last few managers of the foundation were Mustafa Pasha's descendant Ahmed Asım Bey (born 1844), his son Mehmed Nebil Bey (born 1888) (also known as Merzifonlu Karamustafaoğlu or Merzifonlu Karamustafapaşaoğlu), and his son, the Turkish painter Doğan Yılmaz Merzifonlu Karamustafaoğlu, better known as Yılmaz Merzifonlu (1928–2010), until 1976. The "Merzifonlu Karamustafaoğlu" family name ended with the marriage of Yılmaz Merzifonlu's only daughter, Abide Tuğçe Mit to Burak Mit from the house of noble Circassian Mit family.[16] Kara Mustafa Pasha's family and descendant tree can be found viaTurkey's Directorate General of Foundations.[17]
Kara Mustafa Pasha's legacy in modern Turkey is mixed. Whereas historians describe him either as a capable tactician or reckless commander,Kemal Atatürk held a sympathetic view of the man. It is said that, while attending a lecture at an Ankara institution in 1933, at which a professor spoke disparagingly of Kara Mustafa Pasha, Atatürk spoke up in favour of Kara Mustafa, arguing that marching an army of 173,000 men from Constantinople to Vienna, the "heart of Europe", was a colossal undertaking for any commander, and that the only other person who came close to such a feat was SultanSuleiman the Magnificent himself.
Kara Mustafa's birthplace near Merzifon district was renamedKaramustafapaşa in his honour.
In the 2012 Polish and Italian historical drama filmSeptember Eleven 1683 about the Battle of Vienna, Kara Mustafa Pasha is portrayed by Italian actorEnrico Lo Verso.
French: Il [Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Pacha] était d'origine turque et fut élevé dans la famille des Köprülü. (English: He [Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Pasha] was of Turkish descent and was brought up in the Köprülü family.
Spanish: A él le sucedería Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Pasa, de origen turco. (English: He would be succeeded by Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Pasa, of Turkish origin.
Kara Mustafa Pasha, who was of Turkish origin and was brought up in the Köprülü family, was a passionate, ambitious and authoritarian person
While the other Köprülü were all of Albanian origin, the first of them brought to Istanbul in the youth levy, Kara Mustafa was a pure Anatolian.
Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Pasha - Ethnicity: Turkish
Kara Mustafa Pasha from Merzifon was Turkish, and those from Köprülü were Albanians
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Even later, Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Pasha, one of the Grand Viziers of Turkish origin in the Ottoman Empire [...]
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire 19 October 1676 – 25 December 1683 | Succeeded by |
 Seamen of the Ottoman Empire | |
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| Kapudan Pashas |
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| Other important seamen | |
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