Ayas Mehmed Pasha

Ayas
Mehmed
Pasha
Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire
In office
14 March 1536 – 13 July 1539
Monarch Suleiman I
Preceded by Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha
Succeeded by Lütfi Pasha
Personal details
Born 1483
Himarë, Albania, Ottoman Empire
Died 1539 (aged 56)
Istambul, Ottoman Empire
Nationality Ottoman
Spouse(s) Beyhan Sultan
Children Esmehan Sultan
Leyla Sultan
Religion Islam
Ethnicity Albanian

Ayas Mehmed Pasha (1483–1539) was an Ottoman statesman. He was an Albanian born in Himare region[1] (between Vlore and Delvina) in Albania and was grand vizier of the Ottoman Empire from 1536 to 1539.[2] His father was from city of Shkodra, in the north of Albania, and his mother was from Vlora, in the south of Albania. He was taken to Istambul under the Devşirme practice, and was trained to serve as an aga with the janissaries. He participated in the Battle of Chaldiran (1514), and Ottoman–Mamluk War (1516–17). During 1520-1521 he was beylerbey of Anatolia and governor of Damascus. During the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, he served as beylerbey of Roumelia and was made a vizier after the Ottoman conquest of Rhodes in 1522. He also participated in the Battle of Mohács, Siege of Vienna, and the war in Iraq (1534-1535).[1]

He became grand vizier in 1536 after the execution of Pargali Ibrahim Pasha and kept this position until his death in 1539. Under his administration, the Ottomans performed the Corfu campaign (1537) and war on Habsburgs in Vienna (1537-1540), his native Vlore region was put in full Ottoman control, and the Sandjak of Delvina was created. Died of plague in Istambul and was buried in the Eyüp Sultan Mosque.[1]

Depictions in literature and popular culture

In the TV series Muhteşem Yüzyıl, Ayas Mehmed Pasha is played by Turkish actor Fehmi Karaarslan.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Elsie, Robert (2012), A Biographical Dictionary of Albanian History, I. B. Tauris, p. 21, ISBN 978-1780764313
  2. ↑ İsmail Hâmi Danişmend, Osmanlı Devlet Erkânı, Türkiye Yayınevi, İstanbul, 1971, p. 15. (Turkish)
Political offices
Preceded by
Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha		 Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire
14 March 1536 – 13 July 1539 		Succeeded by
Lütfi Pasha