Statesman,
grand vizier (B. 1527, Cairo – D. 1585, Acısu, Azerbaijan). He was from a
Circassian Mameluke family. He was the son of Çerkez Özdemir Paşa, the
conqueror of Habeşistan(today’s Ethiopia) and Yemen and daughter of last
Abbasid caliphate in Cairo. It was rumored that he couldn’t speak until he was
6 years old and then he did speak very little even though he could. He went to
Enderun Mektebi (Palace School).When he was fourteen years old, he became the
head of Egypt Kulluk Ağası (T.N. Slavery Aga of Egypt), and after his success
there he got promoted to Mirliva (colonel) when he was nineteen years old. Upon
his father’s death (1561), he became the Beylerbeyi (T.N. Lord of Lords,
provincial governor) of Habeşistan with the rank of Vizier. He stayed there for
seven years and after he was dismissed of his duty there, he went back to
Cairo/Egypt (1567). He was first appointed as the Governor of Sana after Yemen
got out of Ottoman’s control and Ottoman lost control of the whole region
except the Zebit vicinity. At the end of the same year, he was appointed as the
Governor of Sara and Yemen, which were united under one beylerbeyi
administration. Afterwards, he was sent to repress
the uprising in Yemen and he showed great usefulness there with Koca Sinan Pasha.
Özdemiroğlu
Osman Pasha became the Beylerbeyi of Yemen, Habeş, and Diyarbekir. He joined
the army for Ottoman-Persian wars in the charge of Lala Mustafa Pasha and
became the Beylerbeyi of Shirvan. With the help of Crimean Khan Mehmet Giray,
he conquered all northern Azerbaijan until Karabakh, Mugan and Kızılağaç. He
asked the Crimean Khan to go further but Giray Khan did not accept it and
turned back to Crimea.
When
he returned to Istanbul after the uprising of Yemen, he was appointed to a Sanjak
(T.N. District governor) in Anatolia and then he was appointed to Niğde
Sancakbeyliği (Sanjak lord). In 1573 he became the Beylerbeyi of Diyarbekir.
After he remained there four years, he joined the army commanded by Serdar-ı
Ekrem (T.N. Grand Vizier, greatest minister of the Sultan ) Lala Mustafa Pasha.
Perfection of his troop units and his valor in the Battle of Çıldır led him
become the Beylerbeyi of Shirvan, conquered in 1578. On 9th
September 1578, he defeated the Persian army, which tried to drive Ottomans
back from Persia, in the Koyun Geçidi Battle.
Özdemiroğlu
spent five years in Caucasus fighting against the Persians. He strengthened the
Ottoman rule in Shirvan, Northern Azerbaijan, Daghistan and Georgia. On 8th
May 1583, he crushed the Persian army of seventy thousand soldiers in three
days and three nights in the Battle of Torches. With this victory, it was then
easier to conquer the southern parts of Kura River, which hadn’t been conquered
up to then. At the same time, he dethroned the Crimean Khan Mehmet Giray and
enthroned a new Khan, İslâm Giray, then he went to Istanbul on the ship of
Kaptan-ı Deryâ (T.N. Captain of the Sea, Admiral of the Navy) Piyâle Pasha(1583).
Osman Pasha appeared before the Sultan III Murat Han and presented the keys of the
seventeen castles he conquered in Shirvan. When he told the Sultan about his
victories against Persians and how he defeated Crimean Khan Mehmet Giray with a
small force, he got the Sultan’s compliments and blessing: “In both worlds,
have no cause to be ashamed and may God be pleased with you.”
Osman
Pasha was first appointed as the Second Vizier and on 28th July
1584, he was appointed as the Grand Vizier in Doğu Serdarlığı (T.N. Eastern
Division of the Empire). In September, 1584 he went to a campaign against the
rising in Crimea. He spent the winter in Kastamonu as it got cold. In April
1585 he went to Erzurum and completed his preparations there and moved to
Tabriz. Tabriz surrounded after a small resistance and got under the control of
Ottoman. He left Tabriz on 27th October 1585 due to his illness. Since
his illness got worse, he was moved in sedan chair until Şenb-i Gazan. The
night he reached there, he died and was brought to Diyarbekir by his will and
buried there.
Özdemiroğlu
Osman Pasha, who spent more than forty years of his life alongside the borders,
was a good commander and a unique administrator. It was very important that the
reasons for why he maintained the Ottoman power in Habeşistan and he fought
against the Persians were not reputation and fame, but the belief in holiness
of serving the Empire. A lasting faith, a strong will, valor in commanding and
dispatching his armies and steadfastness in hard times
were his major characteristic features.