Murad Agha (, 1480 – 1556) was a Sicilian-born Ottoman eunuch and military officer who was the first Beylerbey of Tripoli. He held this position from the capture of the city from the

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there ...

in August 1551 until he was replaced by

Dragut Dragut (; 1485 – 23 June 1565) was an Ottoman corsair, naval commander, governor, and noble. Under his command, the Ottoman Empire's maritime power was extended across North Africa. Recognized for his military genius, and as being among "the ...

in 1553/1554. He was also the ruler of the nearby town of

Tajura Tajura (), also spelt ''Tajoura'', is a town in north-western Libya, and baladiyah in the Tripoli District, Libya, Tripoli Muhafazah, on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast east of Tripoli, Libya, Tripoli. From 2001 to 2007 Tajura wa ...

, where he commissioned the construction of the

Murad Agha Mosque The Murad Agha Mosque () is a mosque in Tajura, Libya. Its construction was commissioned by Murad Agha, the first Ottoman Empire, Ottoman Pasha of Tripoli, ''Beylerbey'' of Tripoli, in the 1550s. The mosque's minaret was built in the 20th century ...

Biography

Murad Agha was of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

origin. He was born in around 1480 in

Ragusa, Sicily Ragusa (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Ragusa, on the island of Sicily, with 73,778 inhabitants as of 2025. It is built on a wide limestone hill between two deep valleys, Cava San Leonardo ...

, and at a young age he was captured and enslaved by Turkish pirates. He was taken to the Ottoman capital

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 ...

, where he was sold to a keeper of the

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 ...

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 was given the name "Murad". He was castrated 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 ...

, and he became the personal slave of the sultan's

favourite A favourite was the intimate companion of a ruler or other important person. In Post-classical Europe, post-classical and Early modern Europe, early-modern Europe, among other times and places, the term was used of individuals delegated signifi ...

, Zulima. At some point he converted from Christianity to Islam. Murad's military career began after Zulima's death in 1521. He became a

corsair A corsair is a privateer or pirate, especially: * Barbary corsair, Ottoman and Berber privateers operating from North Africa * French corsairs, privateers operating on behalf of the French crown Corsair may also refer to: Arts and entertainme ...

and joined 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 ...

, where he attained an officer's rank. He also gained the title of Agha in recognition of his bravery as a military leader. In 1538,

Hayreddin Barbarossa Hayreddin Barbarossa (, original name: Khiḍr; ), also known as Hayreddin Pasha, Hızır Hayrettin Pasha, and simply Hızır Reis (c. 1466/1483 – 4 July 1546), was an Ottoman corsair and later admiral of the Ottoman Navy. Barbarossa's ...

sent Murad to

in North Africa to organise local resistance against the

who at the time ruled the nearby city 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 ...

. By the following year, Murad was in control of Tajura, and over the next decade there were regular hostilities between the forces of Tajura under Murad's command and the Hospitallers. In the 1540s, Murad requested assistance from

in order to oust the Hospitallers from the city. Around this time,

Jean Parisot de Valette Fra' Jean "Parisot" de (la) Valette (; – 21 August 1568) was a French nobleman and 49th Grand Master of the Order of Malta, from 21 August 1557 to his death in 1568. As a Knight Hospitaller, joining the order in the , he fought with distin ...

– who had been appointed as

Governor of Tripoli The Governor of Tripoli was an official who was responsible for the administration of Tripoli, Libya, Tripoli in the first half of the 16th century, when the city was under Spanish Tripoli, Spanish and later Hospitaller Tripoli, Hospitaller rule. ...

– proposed moving the headquarters of the Hospitaller Order from

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

to Tripoli. Murad likely informed Ottoman sultan Suleiman I of these plans, and the latter appears to have been motivated to take Tripoli so as to prevent this from occurring. In 1551, a large Ottoman force led by admiral

Sinan Pasha Koca Sinan Pasha (, "Sinan the Great", ; c. 1506 – 3 April 1596) was an Albanian-born Ottoman Grand Vizier, military figure, and statesman. From 1580 until his death he served five times as Grand Vizier. Early life Sinan Pasha, also known ...

, governor of Algiers

Salah Rais Salah Rais () ( 1488 – 1568) was the 7th King of Algiers, an Ottoman privateer and admiral. He is alternatively referred to as ''Sala Reis'', ''Salih Rais'', ''Salek Rais'' and ''Cale Arraez'' in several European sources, particularly in Sp ...

, and Dragut was assembled at Constantinople with the aim of capturing Tripoli, and after attacking Sicily, Malta and Gozo the Ottoman fleet landed in Tripolitania. The residents of Tajura under Murad's command fought alongside the Ottomans in the subsequent

siege of Tripoli The siege of Tripoli lasted from 1102 until 12 July 1109. It took place on the site of the present day Lebanese city of Tripoli, Lebanon, Tripoli, in the aftermath of the First Crusade. It led to the establishment of the fourth crusader state, t ...

, which began on 8 August 1551. During negotiations between the besiegers and defenders, Murad urged Sinan to ease the terms of surrender as he was eager to take over the city, and the Hospitallers surrendered Tripoli on 14 August. Sinan subsequently appointed Murad as Beylerbey of Tripoli. This led to a dispute with Dragut, who had also been promised governorship over the city before he had joined the expedition. Upon Murad's appointment, Dragut left North Africa in protest and sailed to the

Tyrrhenian Sea The Tyrrhenian Sea (, ; or ) , , , , is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy. It is named for the Tyrrhenians, Tyrrhenian people identified with the Etruscans of Italy. Geography The sea is bounded by the islands of C ...

and later to Constantinople with the rest of the Ottoman ships, whose crews had declared that they would only accept him as their commander. In order to placate him, Suleiman offered Dragut governorship of Karlieli instead, and instructed Sinan Pasha to follow Dragut's orders. Murad successfully consolidated Ottoman control over the region of Tripolitania, made improvements to Tripoli's fortifications, and oversaw the city's economic resurgence. In 1552 he repelled a Hospitaller raid on

Zuwarah Zuwarah, Zuwara, or Zwara ( ); () is a coastal city in north-western Libya. Zuwara is primarily inhabited by indigenous Berber people of Libya. The local Berber dialect, known locally as Zuwari, is commonly spoken as a first language by the inh ...

. Despite these successes, Murad's governorship was short-lived as in 1553–1554, Dragut was appointed as ''beylerbey'' in his place. Murad nominally retained the title of

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 ...

and returned to Tajura, where he commissioned the construction of the

. The exact date of his death is unknown, but he likely died in around 1556. Murad was buried in a tomb outside the mosque he built; this tomb was deliberately destroyed by an explosion in 2013.

Biography

Notes

References

Further reading