Baltacı Mehmet Pasha

Baltacı Mehmet Pasha (1662 Osmancık - 1712 Lemnos) was an Ottoman grand vizier. (Also called Pakçamüezzin Baltacı Mehmet Pasha)

Early years

Mehmet was born in Osmancık, near Çorum (modern Turkey). He was of Turkish origin^[1]. He travelled to North Africa, which was then Ottoman territory. He then came to Istanbul, the capital of the empire, where he found a job as a baltacı (palace employee) in the palace of the sultan which earned him the epithet Baltacı. He also worked as a secretary and muezzin (person who calls others to prayer in Islamic tradition) and earned the nickname pakçemuezzin. Soon he was promoted to be the chief stableman (imrahor) and then Grand Admiral (Kapudan Pasha) in 1704. On 25 December 1704 he became the grand vizier.^[2][3]

First term as Grand Vizier and governor

There are no remarkable feats in his first term as Grand Vizier, and in 1706 he was dismissed. In just four years he was appointed three times to widely remote provinces, namely Erzurum, the island Chios (Turkish: Sakız) and Aleppo (Turkish: Halep) as a governor. On 18 August 1710 he began his second term as Grand Vizier.

Second term as Grand Vizier

His second term is quite well known. In 1709, during the Great Northern War, Charles XII of Sweden had been defeated by the Russians in the battle of Poltava and took refuge in Ottoman territory, with Peter I of Russia in pursuit. The Ottoman Empire declared war on Russia. Baltacı Mehmet was named the commander (serdar) of the army. He was able to encircle the Russian army near the Pruth River (now forming the border line between Romania and Moldova) when Peter sued for peace. The Treaty of Pruth stipulated the return of the fortress Azov, which had been annexed by Russia by the treaty of Karlowitz, to the Ottomans; several Russian fortresses were to be demolished; and Peter I promised not to interfere into affairs of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Charles XII was given a free passage to his country.^[4]

From Istanbul to Lemnos

Although the initial reaction of Sultan Ahmet III to the treaty was affirmative, Baltacı Mehmet’s political rivals as well as Charles XII and Devlet II Giray, the vassal Crimean khan, were dissatisfied with the terms. He was accused of accepting a bribe from Catherine I of Russia and was dismissed from his post in 20 November 1711. Baltacı was exiled to the islands of Lesbos (Midilli) and later Lemnos (Limni), where he died the next year (July 1712).

References

1. ^ İsmail Hâmi Danişmend, Osmanlı Devlet Erkânı, Türkiye Yayınevi, İstanbul, 1971, p. 52. (Turkish)
2. ^ Biography of Baltacı Mehmed (Turkish)
3. ^ Ayhan Buz: Osmanlı Sadrazamları, Neden Yayınları, İstanbul, 2009 ISBN 978-975-254-278-5 p 165
4. ^ Prof. Yaşar Yüce-Prof. Ali Sevim: Türkiye tarihi Cilt III, AKDTYKTTK Yayınları, İstanbul, 1991 p 259-262