Halil Pasha () was an Ottoman statesman who served as the governor of

Ottoman Egypt Ottoman Egypt was an administrative division of the Ottoman Empire after the conquest of Mamluk Egypt by the Ottomans in 1517. The Ottomans administered Egypt as a province (''eyalet'') of their empire (). It remained formally an Ottoman prov ...

from 1631 to 1633. He was known for his "gentle, impartial, and prosperous administration"d'Avennes, Prisse (1983) ''Arab art as seen through the monuments of Cairo from the 7th century to the 18th'' (translated from French by J.I. Erythrospis) Le Sycomore, Paris, page 61, which was in large contrast to the "rapacious" administration of his predecessor, Koca Musa Pasha. In Shawwal 1041 AH (May 1632 CE), while governor, he sent an expeditionary force to the

Hejaz Hejaz is a Historical region, historical region of the Arabian Peninsula that includes the majority of the western region of Saudi Arabia, covering the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, Tabuk, Yanbu, Taif and Al Bahah, Al-B ...

to retake

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

from

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

i troops who had seized the city in the name of a pretender to the Sharifate.Holt, P. M. (1961) "The beylicate in Ottoman Egypt during the seventeenth century" ''Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies'' 24(2): pp. 214–248, page 242,

Governorship

Halil Pasha assumed office by arriving in

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 ...

in October 1631.

Mecca war

On 17 March 1632, he received intelligence that Arab armies had been on their way from

to Ottoman-held

with intentions to conquer it, and that they had indeed successfully conquered it and sacked it, killing the

Sharif of Mecca The Sharif of Mecca () was the title of the leader of the Sharifate of Mecca, traditional steward of the Holiest sites in Islam, Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina. The term ''sharif'' is Arabic for "noble", "highborn", and is used to desc ...

, among others. When Halil Pasha told this news to his troops in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

, one emir, Kasım Bey, volunteered to lead an expedition to Mecca to take the city back from the Yemenis. Halil Pasha agreed, further assigning him assistants and organizing the troop officers and ranks for the war. He made emir Ridwan Bey al-Zulfiqar the head of the land-based troops to Mecca and the ''

amir al-hajj ''Amir al-hajj'' ( or ; plural: ) was the position and title given to the commander of the annual Hajj pilgrim caravan by successive Muslim empires, from the 7th century until the 20th century. Since the Abbasid Caliphate, Abbasid period, there w ...

'' ("leader of the hajj caravan"), making him responsible for the food and water of the pilgrims' animals en route to Mecca. As the Ottoman army of Kasım Bey approached that of the Yemenis in Wadi Fatimah valley, a scout for the Yemenis, Kör Mahmud, scoped out the Ottoman army from behind a mountain. Seeing that it was too numerous to overcome, the Yemeni army retreated to Wadi Abbas valley and hid in a fort named ''Turbet''. Meanwhile, Kasım Bey's Ottoman army entered Mecca, finding only 100 enemy troops who had not fled in time. After summarily executing them, the Ottoman army performed the ceremonies of

Hajj Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...

, and then set out in search of the Yemeni army. In the same fashion, the Ottoman troops sailing to

Jeddah Jeddah ( ), alternatively transliterated as Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; , ), is a List of governorates of Saudi Arabia, governorate and the largest city in Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia, and the country's second largest city after Riyadh, located ...

found it deserted of enemy troops and took the city without resistance. After seven days of trekking, Kasım Bey's army located the Yemeni army's tents at the foot of the ''Turbet'' fort and engaged them in combat, in which the Yemenis lost about 100 men. The next day, Kasım Bey ordered his troops to attack the Yemenis by hiding at the wells that supplied their army with water. This plan proceeded successfully, causing the Yemenis over 200 casualties that day, most from thirst. The Yemenis finally capitulated and surrendered, meeting Kasım Bey's requests for them to turn over to him Kör Mahmud and his brother. Kasım Bey allowed the Yemenis to leave the fort; only 300 of the original 1000 remained alive. Returning to Mecca, the four chiefs of the Yemeni troops were put to death. This was followed by seven days of celebration, and when the Ottoman troops returned home to

in August 1632, five more days of celebration occurred.

After the war

Halil Pasha's rule was reported to be a time of plenty for Egypt, with the price of corn falling 75%. One of Halil Pasha's acts was to put to death a Jew named Yakub, who had allegedly been putting stress on the populace with his

usury Usury () is the practice of making loans that are seen as unfairly enriching the lender. The term may be used in a moral sense—condemning taking advantage of others' misfortunes—or in a legal sense, where an interest rate is charged in e ...

. When Halil Pasha left office on 1 April 1633, the shops in

were closed for a week in mourning of the end of his term.

Later life

After Halil Pasha returned to

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 ...

Sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

Murad IV Murad IV (, ''Murād-ı Rābiʿ''; , 27 July 1612 – 8 February 1640) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1623 to 1640, known both for restoring the authority of the state and for the brutality of his methods. Murad I ...

confiscated his fortune and exiled him to

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

, but he later changed his mind and allowed him to continue his career as a statesman. He was made governor of

Ottoman Cyprus The Eyalet of Cyprus (, ''Eyālet-i Ḳıbrıṣ'') was an eyalet/province of the Ottoman Empire made up of the island of Cyprus, which was annexed into the Empire in 1571. The Ottomans changed the way they administered Cyprus multiple times. It ...

until his death in 1639.

Notes

{{s-end Ottoman governors of Egypt 17th-century Ottoman governors of Egypt

Governorship

Mecca war

After the war

Later life

See also

Notes