Hadim Ibrahim Pasha (, meaning in English "Ibrahim Pasha the Eunuch") (1473 – 1563) Necipoĝlu (2005), p.391 was a 16th-century Ottoman statesman of Bosnian origin.

Life

Born in the

Sanjak of Bosnia Sanjak of Bosnia (, / Босански санџак) was one of the sanjaks of the Ottoman Empire established in 1463 when the lands conquered from the Bosnian Kingdom were transformed into a sanjak and Isa-Beg Isaković was appointed its fi ...

, he became Chief White Eunuch of the

Topkapı Palace The Topkapı Palace (; ), or the Seraglio, is a large museum and library in the east of the Fatih List of districts of Istanbul, district of Istanbul in Turkey. From the 1460s to the completion of Dolmabahçe Palace in 1856, it served as the ad ...

Harem A harem is a domestic space that is reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A harem may house a man's wife or wives, their pre-pubescent male children, unmarried daughters, female domestic Domestic worker, servants, and other un ...

under Sultan

Suleyman the Magnificent Suleiman I (; , ; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the Western world and as Suleiman the Lawgiver () in his own realm, was the Ottoman sultan between 1520 and his death in 1566. Under his adminis ...

. He was appointed Governor of

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

, and in 1544 was nominated fourth

Vizier A vizier (; ; ) is a high-ranking political advisor or Minister (government), minister in the Near East. The Abbasids, Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was at first merely a help ...

. In 1548–9, during the Second campaign of the Ottoman-Safavid War, he got the position of lieutenant Governor of

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, reaching the rank of third Vizier.Necipoĝlu (2005), p.392 Appointed second Vizier in 1553, after the assassination of the crown prince

Şehzade Mustafa Şehzade Mustafa (; – 6 October 1553) was an Ottoman prince, son of sultan Suleiman I and his concubine Mahidevran Hatun. He was Suleiman's oldest survived son, the governor of Manisa from 1533 to 1541 and of Amasya from 1541 to 1553, whe ...

on behalf of the Sultan, he was sent by Suleyman - then stationing in

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

- to

Bursa Bursa () is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the Marmara Region, Bursa is one of the industrial centers of the country. Most of ...

to strangle the sons of Mustafa. Appointed again lieutenant Governor of the Capital from 1553 to 1555, after the comeback of the Sultan to Istanbul he was forced to retire because of his old age. Ibrahim Pasha died in 1562. He followed a modest lifestyle and was among the few Court Eunuchs who enjoined unanimously a high reputation. In 1562, he married Fatma Sultan, a daughter of Sultan

Selim I Selim I (; ; 10 October 1470 – 22 September 1520), known as Selim the Grim or Selim the Resolute (), was the List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1512 to 1520. Despite lasting only eight years, his reign is ...

and full-sister of Sultan

Süleyman I Suleiman I (; , ; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the Western world and as Suleiman the Lawgiver () in his own realm, was the Ottoman sultan between 1520 and his death in 1566. Under his admini ...

, but he died shortly after, in 1563.

Legacy

In 1551 he commissioned Court Architect ()

Sinan Sinan (Arabic: سنان ''sinān'') is a name found in Arabic and Early Arabic, meaning ''spearhead''. The name may also be related to the Ancient Greek name Sinon. It was used as a male given name. Etymology The word is possibly stems from th ...

to erect his funerary mosque in Istanbul, in the neighborhood of the Gate of Silivri (). On January 21, 1562, he established an endowment (), which was entitled to administer several institutions in the western part of Istanbul. These were: his Friday mosque with an elementary school in the Silivrikapı neighborhood ; another school near Silivrikapı; a Byzantine church which he had converted into a mosque, with an attached

medrese Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes Romanization of Arabic, romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any Educational institution, type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whet ...

and an elementary school (also erected by Sinan) near the Isakapı Gate;Müller-Wiener (1977), p. 118. another elementary school near the

Column of Arcadius A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

and a water well for travellers outside

Yenikapı Yenikapı () is a port and a quarter in Istanbul, Turkey, in the metropolitan district of Fatih on the European side of the Bosphorus, and along the southern shore of the city's historically central peninsula. Yenikapı is notable for the ongoing ...

Gate. The endowment was to be financed through villages donated by the Sultan, fields, shops and mills in

Rumelia Rumelia (; ; ) was a historical region in Southeastern Europe that was administered by the Ottoman Empire, roughly corresponding to the Balkans. In its wider sense, it was used to refer to all Ottoman possessions and Vassal state, vassals in E ...

, and buildings in

Edirne Edirne (; ), historically known as Orestias, Adrianople, is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the Edirne Province, province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, Edirne was the second c ...

and Istanbul. The Waqf was administered by the Chief white eunuch of Topkapi. The location of these establishments in sparsely settled neighborhoods along

the Walls The Walls are an Irish rock band. They were formed in 1998 by two members of The Stunning – brothers Steve and Joe Wall. Their debut album ''Hi-Lo'' was released in 2000 and included the singles "Bone Deep", "Something's Wrong" and "Some K ...

, where the population was predominantly Christian, shows his desire of pursuing a policy of islamization of the city.

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hadim Ibrahim Pasha 16th-century people from the Ottoman Empire Pashas Bosnian Muslims from the Ottoman Empire Slavs from the Ottoman Empire Suleiman the Magnificent 1473 births 1562 deaths Eunuchs from the Ottoman Empire 15th-century slaves in the Ottoman Empire 16th-century slaves in the Ottoman Empire