Ayaşlı Ismail Pasha Explained

Honorific-Prefix:Nişancı Ayaşlı
İsmail Kemalettin
Honorific-Suffix:Pasha
Office1:Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire
Monarch1:Süleyman II
Term Start1:2 March 1688
Term End1:2 May 1688
Predecessor1:Abaza Siyavuş Pasha
Successor1:Bekri Mustafa Pasha
Birth Date:1620
Birth Place:Ayaş, Ottoman Empire
(now in Turkey)
Birth Name:İsmail Kemalettin
Death Place:Rhodes, Ottoman Empire
(now in Greece)
Nationality:Ottoman

Ayaşlı İsmail Pasha (also known as Nişancı İsmail Kemalettin Pasha; 1620 – April 1690) was a short-term Ottoman grand vizier in 1688.

Early years

He was of Turkish origin.[1] He was born in Ayaş (in modern Ankara Province, Turkey) in 1620. After working as a bureaucrat in various posts, he retired from being the Ottoman governor of Rumelia Eyalet (eastern Thrace). However, he returned to government service in 1678 as a nişancı.[2] He was described as mild-mannered, an anachronistic quality in that era of the Ottoman Empire.

As a grand vizier

The Ottoman Empire was engaged in a long and costly war against Holy Alliance countries in the so-called Great Turkish War. After a series of military failures, Constantinople, the capital of the empire, fell into chaos. The grand vizier Abaza Siyavuş Pasha was killed by the rebels, and Ayaşlı İsmail Pasha became the acting grand vizier for one week. On 2 March 1688, he was appointed as full grand vizier by the sultan Süleyman II. His term, however, was very short (only spanning 61 days). During this term, he attempted to stem corruption, gaining him many enemies in the palace. His main enemy was Köprülü Fazıl Mustafa Pasha (a future grand vizier), who was the brother-in-law of the late grand vizier Abaza Siyavuş Pasha. After the intensive efforts of Fazıl Mustafa Pasha, İsmail Pasha was dismissed from office by sultan Süleyman II on 2 May.[3]

Death

İsmail Pasha was imprisoned in Kavala (in modern Greece) and then exiled to the island of Rhodes (in modern Greece). Now grand vizier, Köprülü Fazıl Mustafa accused Ayaşlı İsmail Pasha of seizing Abaza Siyavuş Pasha's fortune and asked for the fortune in return for pardon. Ayaşlı İsmail Pasha denied all accusations, and Fazıl Mustafa Pasha had him executed him later that year, in April 1690.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Danişmend, İsmail Hâmi (1971),Osmanlı Devlet Erkânı, İstanbul: Türkiye Yayınevi.
  2. http://ayasankara.tripod.com/Egitim.html Ayaş page
  3. Ayhan Buz: Osmanlı Sadrazamları, Neden Kitap, İstanbul, 2009,