Military man
and writer (b. 1838, İstanbul – d. 1892, Baghdad).
He graduated from the Military Academy (1859) and served in Yenipazar (Bosnia), Herzegovina and Shkodra. Due to his
success in crushing the Crete Rebellion (1867), he was promoted to lieutenant
colonel, appointed as Director of Literature at the Military Academy,
promoted to brigadier general and appointed as the Minister of Military Schools
(1873). He left İstanbul on his appointment as the Commander of Bosnia-Herzegovina
with the title of marshal by Abdülhamit II, who had taken into consideration
his important role in the dethroning of Sultan Abdulaziz. During his duty, he
crushed the Montenegro Rebellion and defeated the Russian army in Şıpka.
However, in the Ottoman-Russian War, in which he served as the
Commander-in-Chief of the Danube and Balkan
Armies, the Ottoman Army was defeated.
He stood trial
on the demand of Abdülhamid II and was charged because of his responsibility
for the defeat. He was demoted and he lived for fourteen years in Baghdad, to where he had
been exiled (1878) and died there. In the Tanzimat Period, Süleyman Paşa
defended Turkism against Ottomanism and gave his view in the areas of history
and language. An extensive commentary on his life and his trial are in the
work, Süleyman Paşa'nın Muhakemesi
(The Trial of Süleyman Paşa, 1912) that his son wrote.
MAIN WORKS:
Mebâniü'l-İnşa (Literature Knowledge, 2 volumes, 1874), Tarih-i Âlem (World History, from the
first Humans to Islam, 1874), İlm-i
Sarf-ı Türkî (Turkish Grammar, 1875),
Umdetü'l-Hakâyık (Basis of the Truth, The Ottoman-Russian War, 6 volumes,
1828), Hisse-i İnkılab (Lessons from
Revolution, the Dethroning of Abdulaziz, 1908).