Ibrahim Pasha al-Azm (died 1746) was the Ottoman governor of

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis (from , meaning "three cities") may refer to: Places Greece *Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in the Pelasgiotis district, Thessaly, near Larissa ...

in 1728–1730 and

Sidon Sidon ( ) or better known as Saida ( ; ) is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast in the South Governorate, Lebanon, South Governorate, of which it is the capital. Tyre, Lebanon, Tyre, t ...

in 1737–1741 and 1742–1744.

Career

Governor of Tripoli

Ibrahim was a son of Ismail Pasha al-Azm, the founder of the Azm family's political prominence and ''

beylerbey ''Beylerbey'' (, meaning the 'commander of commanders' or 'lord of lords’, sometimes rendered governor-general) was a high rank in the western Islamic world in the late Middle Ages and early modern period, from the Anatolian Seljuks and the I ...

'' (provincial governor) of

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

in 1725. Ibrahim was appointed by the Ottoman imperial government as governor of

, while his father served in Damascus and his uncle,

Sulayman Pasha al-Azm Sulayman Pasha al-Azm (; ; died August 1743) was the governor of Sidon Eyalet (1727–33), Damascus Eyalet (1733–38, 1741–43), and Egypt Eyalet (1739–40) under the Ottoman Empire. He belonged to the prominent Al-Azm family and was the un ...

, governed

. Sulayman was Ibrahim's predecessor in Tripoli, and his father had held the post before his appointment to Damascus. Ibrahim appointed his son, Yasin Bey, as the ''

sanjakbey ''Sanjak-bey'', ''sanjaq-bey'' or ''-beg'' () was the title given in the Ottoman Empire to a bey (a high-ranking officer, but usually not a pasha) appointed to the military and administrative command of a district (''sanjak'', in Arabic '' liwa’' ...

'' (district governor) of

Latakia Latakia (; ; Syrian Arabic, Syrian pronunciation: ) is the principal port city of Syria and capital city of the Latakia Governorate located on the Mediterranean coast. Historically, it has also been known as Laodicea in Syria or Laodicea ad Mar ...

. Ibrahim established monopolies in the province which caused significant rises in the prices of commodities. Ibrahim was overthrown by a mass uprising of the armies, including the

janissaries A janissary (, , ) was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops. They were the first modern standing army, and perhaps the first infantry force in the world to be equipped with firearms, adopted du ...

, and residents of Tripoli, who viewed his rule as oppressive. The revolt coincided with the overthrow of the Azms' patron, Sultan

Ahmed III Ahmed III (, ''Aḥmed-i sālis''; was sultan of the Ottoman Empire and a son of sultan Mehmed IV (r. 1648–1687). His mother was Gülnuş Sultan, originally named Evmania Voria, who was an ethnic Greek. He was born at Hacıoğlu Pazarcık, ...

, and led to the temporary deposition of the other Azm governors in

Ottoman Syria Ottoman Syria () is a historiographical term used to describe the group of divisions of the Ottoman Empire within the region of the Levant, usually defined as being east of the Mediterranean Sea, west of the Euphrates River, north of the Ara ...

Governor of Sidon

Ibrahim was appointed the governor of Sidon in 1737, succeeding his relative Sa'd al-Din Pasha al-Azm. According to the historian Shimon Shamir, his "abuses and inefficiency brought

he province He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...

to the brink of bankruptcy". In November 1741, he was dismissed and replaced with his brother As'ad Pasha al-Azm, who settled the debts left by Ibrahim with the French merchants of

and mediated an end to the conflict between the

Druze The Druze ( ; , ' or ', , '), who Endonym and exonym, call themselves al-Muwaḥḥidūn (), are an Arabs, Arab Eastern esotericism, esoteric Religious denomination, religious group from West Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic ...

emirs instigated by Ibrahim. As'ad resigned in 1742, and after a brief stint by Ya'qub Agha, Ibrahim was reappointed to Sidon that same year and served until 1744, when he was replaced by Sa'd al-Din. He died in 1746.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * *{{cite journal , last1=Shamir , first1=Shimon , title=As'ad Pasha al-'Aẓm and Ottoman Rule in Damascus (1743–58) , journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies , date=1963 , volume=26 , issue=1 , pages=1–28 , jstor=611304 1746 deaths 18th-century people from the Ottoman Empire Al-Azm family Ottoman governors of Sidon Ottoman governors of Tripoli, Lebanon