Kara Musa Pasha ("Musa

Pasha Pasha (; ; ) was a high rank in the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, generals, dignitary, dignitaries, and others. ''Pasha'' was also one of the highest titles in the 20th-century Kingdom of ...

the Courageous" in Turkish; died 1649)Süreyya, Bey Mehmet, Nuri Akbayar, and Seyit Ali. Kahraman. Sicill-i Osmanî. Beşiktaş, İstanbul: Kültür Bakanlığı Ile Türkiye Ekonomik Ve Toplumsal Tarih Vakfı'nın Ortak Yayınıdır, 1890. Print. was an Ottoman soldier and statesman of Bosnian origin who was named

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 ...

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 ...

Ibrahim 16 September 1647 after Nevesinli Salih Pasha's execution, holding the office for only five days until 21 September. He also held the office of

Kapudan Pasha The Kapudan Pasha (, modern Turkish: ), also known as the (, modern: , "Captain of the Sea") was the grand admiral of the Ottoman Navy. Typically, he was based at Galata and Gallipoli during the winter and charged with annual sailings durin ...

(''Grand Admiral of the

Ottoman Navy The Ottoman Navy () or the Imperial Navy (), also known as the Ottoman Fleet, was the naval warfare arm of the Ottoman Empire. It was established after the Ottomans first reached the sea in 1323 by capturing Praenetos (later called Karamürsel ...

'') in 1647. He was trained in

Enderûn (, from Persian language, Persian , ) was the term used in the Ottoman Empire to designate the "Inner Service" of the imperial court, concerned with the private service of the Ottoman sultans, as opposed to the state-administrative "Outer Service ...

.Uluçam, Müjdat, "Musa Paşa (Kara)" (1999) ''Yaşamları ve Yapıtlarıyla Osmanlılar Ansiklopedisi'', C.2 s.261, İstanbul:Yapı Kredi Kültür Yayıncılık A.Ş. ISBN 975-08-0071-01

Origins

Musa Pasha was born in the Bosnian village of Vikoč,

Foča Foča ( sr-Cyrl, Фоча, ) is a town and municipality in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina, located in the south-east on the banks of Drina river. As of 2013, the town has a population of 12,234 inhabitants, while the municipality has 1 ...

in what was then the

Sanjak of Herzegovina The Sanjak of Herzegovina (; ) was an Ottoman administrative unit established in 1470. The seat was in Foča until 1572 when it was moved to Taşlıca (Pljevlja). The sanjak was initially part of the Eyalet of Rumelia but was administrated int ...

. He hailed from the Bosnian family of Vehabegović.

Life in Ottoman politics

His first meeting with sultan

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 ...

was in 1630. Later on in his life, he became a member of

Sublime Porte The Sublime Porte, also known as the Ottoman Porte or High Porte ( or ''Babıali''; ), was a synecdoche or metaphor used to refer collectively to the central government of the Ottoman Empire in Istanbul. It is particularly referred to the buildi ...

Divan A divan or diwan (, ''dīvān''; from Sumerian ''dub'', clay tablet) was a high government ministry in various Islamic states, or its chief official (see ''dewan''). Etymology The word, recorded in English since 1586, meaning "Oriental cou ...

(the Ottoman government council) and was selected three times to serve as deputy of the

Budin Eyalet Budin Eyalet (also known as Province of Budin/Buda or Pashalik of Budin/Buda, ) was an administrative territorial entity of the Ottoman Empire in Central Europe and the Balkans. It was formed on the territories that Ottoman Empire conquered fro ...

. There in 1643, he reportedly received an endowment for the construction of the Musa-Pasha Mosque in Nova Kasaba,

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

. During the

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

war campaign, after the death of the previous incumbent Koca Musa Pasha, Kara Musa Pasha received the title of

in 1647. When he invaded the city of

Rethymno Rethymno (also Rethymnon; ) is a city in Greece on the island of Crete. It is the capital of Rethymno regional unit, and has a population of more than 35,000 inhabitants (nearly 40,000 for the municipal unit). It is believed to have been built ...

, he had a church there converted into a mosque, which still stands as "Kara Musa Pasha Mosque." However, because of lack of many successes, he was dismissed from the role of Kapudan Pasha soon afterwards. Also while he was fighting in the war, the imperial seal signifying his promotion to

was sent to him by sea. After having received the news of his promotion, but not having yet received the seal, he was passed over for grand vizier because of the influence of Hezarpare Ahmet Pasha over the sultan, who instead chose Hezarpare Ahmet Pasha as grand vizier. In the beginning of the same year of 1647, he had married Şekerpare Hatun, a

lady in waiting A lady-in-waiting (alternatively written lady in waiting) or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but ...

and a favorite of the sultan, which was the very reason for his appointment as Grand Admiral. In December 1647, Kara Musa Pasha was made the governor of Baghdad Eyalet. He held this post for just over a year until January 1649, when he was dismissed and returned to

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

. He was executed sometime that year on the orders of queen regent

Kösem Sultan Kösem Sultan (; 1589 – 2 September 1651), also known as Mahpeyker Sultan (;), was the Haseki sultan, Haseki Sultan as the chief consort and legal wife of the List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman Sultan Ahmed I, Valide sultan, Vali ...

, in turn upon the advice of her advisers and grand vizier.

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Musa Pasha, Kara 1649 deaths Pashas 17th-century grand viziers of the Ottoman Empire Year of birth unknown People from Foča Kapudan Pashas Executed people from the Ottoman Empire 17th-century executions by the Ottoman Empire People from the Ottoman Empire of Bosnian descent Ottoman governors of Baghdad Ottoman people of the Ottoman–Venetian Wars

Origins

Life in Ottoman politics

See also

Footnotes