Istanbul Mesih Mehmed Pasha Mosque Courtyard in 2015 9138

Hadim Mesih Pasha (; died 1589) was an Ottoman

statesman A statesman or stateswoman is a politician or a leader in an organization who has had a long and respected career at the national or international level, or in a given field. Statesman or statesmen may also refer to: Newspapers United States ...

who served as

Grand Vizier Grand vizier (; ; ) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. It was first held by officials in the later Abbasid Caliphate. It was then held in the Ottoman Empire, the Mughal Empire, the Soko ...

under

Murad III Murad III (; ; 4 July 1546 – 16 January 1595) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1574 until his death in 1595. His rule saw battles with the Habsburg monarchy, Habsburgs and exhausting wars with the Safavid Iran, Safavids. The long-inde ...

from 1 December 1585 until 15 April 1586. Masih Pasha was born in Bosnia to a Christian family. As a

eunuch A eunuch ( , ) is a male who has been castration, castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2 ...

he served as chief of the inner pantry and treasury of the imperial palace. In 1574 he was sent to Cairo as governor-general of

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. During his time in Egypt, he was known for his eagerness in enforcing the law, including with the use of capital punishment. He was also close to a

Shafi'i The Shafi'i school or Shafi'i Madhhab () or Shafi'i is one of the four major schools of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), belonging to the Ahl al-Hadith tradition within Sunni Islam. It was founded by the Muslim scholar, jurist, and traditionis ...

teacher (''

shaykh Sheikh ( , , , , ''shuyūkh'' ) is an honorific title in the Arabic language, literally meaning "elder (administrative title), elder". It commonly designates a tribal chief or a Muslim ulama, scholar. Though this title generally refers to me ...

'') named Nur al-Din Abi al-Hasan 'Ali al-Qarafi al-Ansari. As pasha, he commissioned the construction of a

madrasa 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 a religious complex to which he appointed Nur al-Din as ''shaykh''. Dated to 1575, the remaining portion of this complex is known today as the Mosque of Messih Pasha. On his return to the capital in 1581 he became the third vizier. He was promoted to second vizier in July 1584 and in November 1585 he substituted for

Özdemiroğlu Osman Pasha Özdemiroğlu Osman Pasha (; ; 1526 – 29 October 1585) was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman statesman and military commander who also held the office of Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire, grand vizier for one year. Origin Osman's father, Özdemir ...

when Osman Pasha left the capital on a campaign against the

Safavids The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the begi ...

. On Osman Pasha's death Masih Pasha was appointed as

on 1 December 1585, a post he only held until 15 April 1586. He died in 1589 and was buried in a tomb next to the mosque that he had commissioned in Istanbul.

References

Sources

* * 1589 deaths Devshirme Converts to Sunni Islam from Christianity 16th-century grand viziers of the Ottoman Empire 16th-century Ottoman governors of Egypt Ottoman governors of Egypt Eunuchs from the Ottoman Empire 16th-century slaves in the Ottoman Empire {{Ottoman-bio-stub

See also

References

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