Köprülüzade Fazıl Ahmed Pasha

In this Ottoman Turkish style name, the given name is Fazıl Ahmed, the title is Pasha, and the family name is Köprülü.
Köprülü
Fazıl Ahmed
Pasha
Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire
In office
31 October 1661 – 3 November 1676
MonarchMehmed IV
Preceded byKöprülü Mehmed Pasha
Succeeded byKara Mustafa Pasha
Personal details
Born1635
Vezirköprü (then named Köprü, present-day Samsun Province, Black Sea Region, Turkey)[1][2]
Died3 November 1676(1676-11-03) (aged 40–41)
Constantinople, Ottoman Empire
NationalityOttoman
RelationsKöprülüzade Fazıl Mustafa Pasha (brother)
Köprülüzade Numan Pasha (nephew)
Kara Mustafa Pasha (brother-in-law)
Abaza Siyavuş Pasha (brother-in-law)
Amcazade Köprülü Hüseyin Pasha (cousin)
Parent(s)Köprülü Mehmed Pasha (father)
Ayşe Hatun (mother)
OriginsAlbanian (father), Turkish (mother)
FamilyKöprülü family
Military service
Allegiance Ottoman Empire
Battles/wars
The Coat of arms of Köprülüzade Fazıl Ahmed Pasha.

Köprülüzade Fazıl Ahmed Pasha (Ottoman Turkish: كپرولى زاده فاضل احمد پاشا, Turkish: Köprülü Fazıl Ahmet Paşa; Albanian: Fazlli Ahmed Pashë Kypriljoti; 1635 – 3 November 1676) was an Ottoman-Albanian nobleman and statesman, who belonged to the renowned Köprülü family of Albanian origin, which produced six grand viziers of the Ottoman Empire.[3]

Another engraving of Köprülüzade Fazıl Ahmed Pasha, from 1690

Life

He was born into the Köprülü family, the son of Köprülü Mehmed Pasha and Ayşe Hatun (Hanım), daughter of Yusuf Ağa. His father was an Ottoman general of devshirme origin who in 1656 became Grand Vizier, while his mother was the daughter of a notable originally from Kayacık, a village of Havza in Amasya. His maternal grandfather was a voyvoda (tax-farmer)[4] who built a bridge in Kadegra, that because of this was renamed Köprü, where his father Mehmed was stationed, and to which the Köprülü family owes its name.[5]

He served as grand vizier from 1661 to 1676 after he inherited the title from his father. Prior to this appointment, he served in Ottoman Syria as the Ottoman governor of the Damascus Eyalet (1660 to 1661) and the Erzurum Eyalet (1659 to 1660).[6]

He was dubbed Fazıl, meaning "wise" (from the Arabic fazilet, meaning "wisdom"), for reducing taxation and promoting education. On the other hand, he was brutal in war. He led the Ottoman Army in the Austro-Turkish War (1663–64) in which he intended to subdue Austria and to finally conquer Vienna itself. At the beginning of July 1664, he succeeded in destroying the fortress of Novi Zrin in the northern part of the Kingdom of Croatia after nearly a month-long siege. Although defeated in the Battle of Saint Gotthard, he was able to gain territory by the Peace of Vasvár in 1664.

Following this treaty, he concentrated on the Cretan War and captured Candia (present-day Heraklion) from the Republic of Venice in 1669. At the end of the Polish–Ottoman War (1672–1676) against the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, he signed the Treaty of Buchach in 1672 and the Treaty of Żurawno in 1676.

Köprülü Fazıl Ahmet Pasha, regarded as one of the most capable Grand Viziers of the Ottoman Empire, did not die in battle. He died from a severe illness on November 3, 1676, at the age of 41. According to historical records, his health began to decline after returning from the military campaign in Poland. While accompanying Sultan Mehmed IV on a journey to Edirne, his condition worsened significantly, preventing him from continuing. He was taken to a nearby location known as the Karabiber farm (Karabiber Çiftliği) near the Ergene River, where he ultimately succumbed to his illness.

Historians attribute his premature death to extreme exhaustion and the immense attrition his body suffered from his relentless work ethic and continuous military leadership. During his 15-year tenure as Grand Vizier, he spent nearly 9 years on active military campaigns. This grueling pace took a heavy toll on his health.

His death was considered a great loss for the Ottoman Empire, as he had secured major victories such as the final conquest of Crete (Candia) and the capture of strategic fortresses like Uyvar (Nové Zámky) and Kamaniçe (Kamianets-Podilskyi). He was succeeded by his brother-in-law, Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Pasha. [7]


Köprülü Fazıl Ahmet Pasha was a Muslim, adhering to the Sunni Islam sect, which was the official state religion of the Ottoman Empire. The claim suggesting he was an atheist is historically baseless, anachronistic, and impossible within the context of his time and position. Here are the definitive arguments that confirm his religious identity:

The Prerequisite of His Office: The Ottoman Empire was an Islamic Caliphate, and the Sultan held the title of Caliph, the religious leader of Sunni Muslims. The Grand Vizier (Sadrazam) was the Sultan-Caliph's absolute deputy and the head of the government. It was structurally and legally impossible for a non-Muslim to hold this position. The idea of an atheist Grand Vizier would have been as unthinkable as an atheist Pope in the Vatican. His Education and Upbringing: Fazıl Ahmet Pasha received the best possible education for a future statesman of his era, which was fundamentally Islamic. He was trained in madrasas where he studied Islamic sciences, including fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) and kalam (Islamic theology). His entire worldview and administrative philosophy were shaped by this education. Absence of Any Contradictory Historical Evidence: No credible academic historian or contemporary source has ever claimed that he was anything other than a Muslim. The assertion of atheism is a modern fabrication with no historical evidence to support it. All historical accounts document his life and career as that of a Muslim statesman serving an Islamic empire. [8]

See also

References

  1. ^ The New Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica. 2002. p. 955.
  2. ^ Selcuk Aksin Somel (2010). The A to Z of the Ottoman Empire. Scarecrow Press. p. 157. ISBN 978-1-4617-3176-4.
  3. ^ Encyclopedia of the Ottoman Empire By Gábor Ágoston, Bruce Alan Masters, [1]
  4. ^ Suraiya Faroqhi; Bruce McGowan; Sevket Pamuk (2011). An Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire. Cambridge University Press. p. 671. ISBN 978-0-521-57455-6.
  5. ^ Kenan, Seyfi; Aksin Somel, Selçuk (2021). Dimensions of Transformation in the Ottoman Empire from the Late Medieval Age to Modernity: In Memory of Metin Kunt. Brill. p. 73. ISBN 978-90-04-44235-1. daughter of a certain Yusuf Ağa, a notable originally from the Kayacik (village) of Havza (town) at Amasya. Yusuf Ağa was the voyvod[a] of Kadegra, a district of Amasya, where Mehmed was sancakbey in 1634, kadegra was named Köprü [from which the Köprülü get their name] after a bridge that Yusuf Ağa constructed
  6. ^ Mehmet Süreyya (1996) [1890], Nuri Akbayar; Seyit A. Kahraman (eds.), Sicill-i Osmanî (in Turkish), vol. 1, Beşiktaş, Istanbul: Türkiye Kültür Bakanlığı and Türkiye Ekonomik ve Toplumsal Tarih Vakfı, p. 209, ISBN 978-975-333-041-1
  7. ^ Türek, Ahmet; Özcan, Abdülkadir (2002). "Köprülü Fâzıl Ahmed Paşa". TDV Encyclopedia of Islam. Vol. 26. pp. 261–263.
  8. ^ Uzunçarşılı, İsmail Hakkı. Ottoman History. Vol. III, Part 1. Turkish Historical Society Press.
allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_K%C3%B6pr%C3%BCl%C3%BC