Sofu Mehmed Pasha (died August 1649), also known as Mevlevi Mehmed Pasha, was an Ottoman statesman 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 ...

and defterdar (finance minister).

Early years

He was a chamberlain/deputy (''

kethüda (; ; ), often corrupted to or in daily speech, was an Ottoman Turkish title meaning "steward, deputy, lieutenant". It derives from the Persian word ("master of a household", later "chieftain, headman"). The term originated in medieval Persia ...

'') of a '' defterdar'' (the head of the treasury). During the reign of

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 ...

in 1636, he was appointed as the defterdar and served until 1639. During his retirement, he became a member of

Mevlevi Order The Mevlevi Order or Mawlawiyya (; ) is a Sufi order that originated in Konya, Turkey (formerly capital of the Sultanate of Rum) and which was founded by the followers of Jalaluddin Muhammad Balkhi Rumi, a 13th-century Persian poet, Sufi ...

gaining the title Mevlevi or Sofu. During the turbulent events taking place just before the dethronement of Ibrahim in 1648, the previous grand vizier Hezarpare Ahmet Pasha had been lynched by an angry mob, and the

Janissary 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 dur ...

leaders forced the sultan to appoint Sofu Mehmed Pasha as the grand vizier. The sultan reluctantly agreed on 8 August 1648. Nevertheless, the sultan was dethroned five days after his appointment. Despite this dethronement, Sofu Mehmed Pasha was still afraid of the former sultan, as there was a possibility of the Janissaries re-enthroning him. To Sofu Mehmed Pasha's relief, Ibrahim was executed ten days after his dethronement.Prof. Yaşar Yüce-Prof. Ali Sevim: ''Türkiye tarihi'' Cilt III, AKDTYKTTK Yayınları, İstanbul, 1991 pp. 100-102 Sofu Mehmed Pasha is thought to have been personally present during the execution.M.Fatih Ertürk: ''Osmanlı İmparatorluğu Tarihi'', Kalipso yayınları, İstanbul, p.172

Grand Vizierate

A great problem for Sofu Mehmed was the economy. His top priority in the government was the treasury. He limited expenditures, but this policy caused reactions among the

sipahi The ''sipahi'' ( , ) were professional cavalrymen deployed by the Seljuk Turks and later by the Ottoman Empire. ''Sipahi'' units included the land grant–holding ('' timar'') provincial ''timarli sipahi'', which constituted most of the arm ...

troops, leading them to revolt. Sofu Mehmed saved his life by taking refuge behind the power of the Janissary troops. Although this saved his life, the Janissaries gained an excess of power from the incident, and soon, the commander of the Janissary

Kara Murat Pasha Kara Murat Pasha, or Kara Dev Murad Pasha, lit. ''Courageous Giant Murat Pasha'' in Ottoman Turkish; (1595 – 1655), was an Ottoman Albanian statesman and military officer. He served as Kapudan Pasha and twice as Grand Vizier. His epithet ''K ...

took sides against Sofu Mehmed. The defeat of the Ottoman navy in the Battle of Focchies on 12 May 1649 was a further blow to Sofu Mehmed Pasha.

Death

On 21 May 1649, he was replaced by Kara Murat Pasha. He was exiled to

Malkara Malkara () is a municipality and district of Tekirdağ Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,243 km2 (the largest in Tekirdağ Province), and its population is 50,988 (2022). It is located at 55 km west of Tekirdağ and 190 km from Ist ...

(a town in European

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

), and soon, Kara Murat Pasha had him executed there in August 1649.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mehmed, Sofu 17th-century grand viziers of the Ottoman Empire Pashas Defterdar Executed people from the Ottoman Empire 1649 deaths 17th-century executions by the Ottoman Empire Year of birth unknown Ottoman governors of Damascus Turks from the Ottoman Empire

Early years

Grand Vizierate

Death

See also

References