Hain Ahmed Pasha Explained

Hain Ahmed Pasha (Ahmed Pasha 'the Traitor'; died 1524), was an Ottoman governor (beylerbey) and a statesman, who became the Ottoman governor of Egypt Eyalet in 1523.

Early life

Ahmed Pasha was of Georgian origin. He was educated in the Enderun palace school.

Declaring himself the sultan of Egypt

Hain Ahmed Pasha wanted to become the grand vizier, to become the grand vizier, Hain Ahmed Pasha tried to persuade Suleiman the Magnificent to dismiss Piri Mehmed Pasha, using the old age of Piri Mehmed Pasha as an excuse, and ultimately succeeded. His rival Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha was then appointed (June 1523) instead as grand vizier, so Hain Ahmed Pasha offered Suleiman I. to make him the governor of Egypt Eyalet, which got accepted by Suleiman I. When Hain Ahmed Pasha went to Egypt, he declared himself the sultan of Egypt, independent from the Ottoman Empire.^{[1] [2]} He struck coins with his own face and name in order to legitimize his power and captured Cairo Citadel and the local Ottoman garrisons in January 1524.^[3]

Death

After surviving an assassination attempt in his bath by two emirs that he had previously sacked, he fled Cairo. Ottoman authorities finally captured him and executed him by decapitation.^[4] His rebellion occasioned a short period of instability in the nascent Egypt Eyalet. After his death, his rival Pargalı İbrahim Pasha visited Egypt and reformed the provincial military and civil administration.^{[5] [6]}

Family

Ahmed married Ilaldi Sultan, a daughter of Sultan Bayezid II.They had at least a son and a daughter:^[7]

• Sultanzade Koçî Bey. He married his cousin Hanzade Hanımsultan, the daughter of Selçuk Sultan (daughter of Bayezid II) and had a son, Ahmed Çelebi.
• Şahzade Aynişah Hanımsultan (died in 1570). She married Abdüsselâm Çelebi and had a daughter, Ümmihan Hanım.

See also

• List of Ottoman governors of Egypt

Notes and References

1. Holt. P. M.. Gray. Richard. Fage. J.D.. Oliver. Roland. Egypt, the Funj and Darfur. The Cambridge History of Africa. London, New York, Melbourne. Cambridge University Press. IV. 1975. 14–57. 10.1017/CHOL9780521204132.003. 9781139054584.
2. Book: Kaya Şahin. Empire and Power in the Reign of Süleyman: Narrating the Sixteenth-Century Ottoman World. 29 March 2013. Cambridge University Press. 978-1-107-03442-6. 54.
3. 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.
4. Yayın Kurulu "Ahmet Paşa (Hain)", (1999), Yaşamları ve Yapıtlarıyla Osmanlılar Ansiklopedisi, İstanbul:Yapı Kredi Kültür Sanat Yayıncılık A.Ş. volume 2, p.146
5. Book: Raymond, André. Willard Wood. Cairo: City of History. Harvard. 2001. American University in Cairo Press. Cairo, Egypt; New York, New York. 978-977-424-660-9. 191.
6. Book: Şahin . Kaya . 2013 . The Secretary's Progress (1523-1534): An Ottoman Grand Vizier in Action: The Egyptian Inspection . Empire and Power in the Reign of Süleyman: Narrating the Sixteenth-Century Ottoman World . Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization . reprint . Cambridge . Cambridge University Press . 2013 . 55–56 . 9781107034426 . 3 February 2020 . [İbrahim Pasha] reached Cairo on April 2 [1525]. He immediately set out to secure control of the province through a mixture of violence and charity. [...] However, İbrahim wanted to leave a larger impact on Egypt, and his next step was to lay down the grounds for a viable ottoman administration..
7. Gökbilgin, M. Tayyib (1952). XV-XVI. asırlarda Edirne ve Paşa Livası: vakıflar, mulkler, mukataalar . Üçler Basımevi. p. 380.