Sultanzade Mehmed Pasha

Sultanzade Mehmed Pasha (1 January 1603 – July 1646) was a 17th-century Ottoman grand vizier. The epithet Sultanzade means son of a sultana.

Biographies

He was born on January 1, 1603. His father, Yemişçi Hasan Pasha, was executed on 16 October 1603, and his mother, Ayşe Sultan, a daughter of Murad III and Safiye Sultan, died on 15 May 1605. So he was a little orphan boy of two years, adopted by the grandson of Mihrimah Sultana, "Abdurrahman Bey", and grew up in his family.

Early years

In 1637, he was appointed as the governor of Egypt. Three years later, during the reign of İbrahim, he returned to İstanbul as a vizier in the Ottoman divan. In 1641, he was appointed as the governor of Özü (modern Ochakiv in Ukraine) and tasked with capturing the fort of Azak (modern Azov in Russia), which had recently been lost to the Cossacks. He was successful in recapturing the fort. In 1643, he was appointed as the governor of Damascus (in modern Syria). This appointment was probably due to the secret power struggle between him and the grand vizier, Kemankeş Mustafa Pasha.

As Grand Vizier

In 1644, he succeeded the grand vizier Kemankeş Mustafa Pasha, who was executed. Kemankeş Mustafa Pasha was a victim of palace intrigues and a quack hodja named Cinci Hoca. Well aware of hodja’s influence on the sultan and the tragedy of the previous grand vizier, he was too cautious in governance and became an ineffective grand vizier. He became a yes man of the sultan. According to Lord Kinross, one day the sultan asked why he never opposed any opinion to which he replied, "Every opinion of the sultan has a deep aphorism even if subjects are unable to understand." Although he was against declaring war on the Republic of Venice, his cautious objections were not taken into consideration and the Cretan War (1645–1669) soon began in 1645, which was financially disastrous to both sides.

Later years

In 1645, Sultan Ibrahim deposed him. His next mission was on the island of Crete (in modern Greece), which was the theatre of the recently started war as the commander of the army (Turkish: serdar) but he soon died of natural causes.