Semiz Ahmed Pasha (Ottoman Turkish: سيمز أحمد پاشا; 1492 – 27 April 1580)[1] was an Ottoman statesman who served as Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire[2][3][4] from 13 October 1579 until his death on 27 April 1580.[1]

Semiz Ahmed
36th Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire
In office
13 October 1579 – 27 April 1580
SultanMurad III
Preceded bySokollu Mehmed Pasha
Succeeded byLala Mustafa Pasha
Personal details
Born1492
Died27 April 1580(1580-04-27) (aged 87–88)
Constantinople, Ottoman Empire (modern Istanbul, Turkey)
NationalityOttoman
Spouse
(m. 1557)
ChildrenView below
Alma materEnderun School
Military service
Allegiance Ottoman Empire
Branch/service Ottoman Army
Years of service1518 – 1580
Battles/warsOttoman–Venetian War (1570–73)
Ottoman–Hungarian Wars
Russo-Crimean War (1571)
Croatian-Ottoman Wars
Ottoman–Safavid War (1532–55)
Ottoman–Safavid War (1578–90)

Life

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Although not much is known about Semiz Ahmed Pasha's early life, born in 1492, he was reported to have been of Albanian origin.[1]

He succeeded Sokollu Mehmed Pasha as Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire on 13 October 1579.[1][2][5]

Marriage and issue

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On 27 November 1557, Semiz Ahmed Pasha married Ayşe Hümaşah Sultan,[1][4] daughter of Ottoman grand vizier Rüstem Pasha and Mihrimah Sultan,[4][6][7] the only daughter of Suleiman the Magnificent and Hürrem Sultan.[4][6][7]

They had ten children, five sons and five daughters.

Sons

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Daughters

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  • Saliha Hanımsultan (1561–1580) married Cığalazade Yusuf Sinan Pasha in October 1576, where it was reported that Mihrimah Sultan spent 70,000 gold coins on the wedding. They had a son, Mahmud Pasha (who in 1612 married Hatice Sultan, daughter of Sultan Mehmed III), and a daughter, Ayşe Hanım (who married her maternal uncle Sultanzade Abdurrahman Bey and had a son, Semiz Mehmed Pasha).
  • Safiye Hanımsultan, married Cığalazade Yusuf Sinan Pasha in March 1581 following her sister's death in 1580.[10] They had two sons,Mehmed Bey and Hüseyin Bey, and a daughter.
  • Hatice Hanımsultan, married Kapıcıbaşı Mahmud Bey in December 1584. Mahmud was initially supposed to marry Ayşe Sultan, granddaughter of his patroness Nurbanu Sultan, but after Nurbanu's death in 1583, the bride's mother, Safiye, married him to Hatice instead, so that he could marry her daughter to a candidate of her choice.
  • Ayşe Hanımsultan
  • Fatma Hanımsultan, married Yemenli Hasan Pasha in March 1596. She had two sons and a daughter.

Death

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Semiz Ahmed Pasha died on 27 April 1580 and was buried at Mihrimah Sultan Mosque, Edirnekapı.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "SEMİZ AHMED PAŞA". TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (in Turkish). Retrieved 2023-08-18.
  2. ^ a b "Türkçe Bilgi: Semiz Ahmed Paşa". Türkçe Bilgi (in Turkish). Retrieved 2023-08-16.
  3. ^ "Osmanl Vezirleri - Birografi.net". www.biyografi.net. Retrieved 2023-08-19.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Haskan, Mehmet Nermi (2001). Yüzyıllar Boyunca Üsküdar (in Turkish). Üsküdar Belediyesi. p. 532. ISBN 978-975-97606-2-5.
  5. ^ Gerlach, Stephan (2015). 1577-1578: 2. cilt. Türkiye Günlüğü (in Turkish). İstanbul: Kitapyayınevi. ISBN 978-975-6051-47-4.
  6. ^ a b Dumas, Juliette (2013). Les perles de nacre du sultanat. Les princesses ottomanes (mi-XVe – mi-XVIIIe siècle) (in French).
  7. ^ a b Öztuna, Yilmaz (2006). Kanuni Sultan Süleyman (in Turkish). Babıali Kültür Yayıncılığı. ISBN 9789758486991.
  8. ^ a b "SEMİZ AHMED PAŞA". TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi (in Turkish). Retrieved 2021-04-26.
  9. ^ a b c Gábor Ágoston (22 June 2021). The Last Muslim Conquest: The Ottoman Empire and Its Wars in Europe. Princeton University Press. pp. 249, 569 n. 57. ISBN 978-0-691-15932-4.
  10. ^ Biçer, Merve (2014). Cigalazade Yusuf Sinan Pasha: A 16th Century Ottoman Comvert in the Mediterranean World (Master Thesis). Department of History İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University, Ankara. pp. 48–49.


Political offices
Preceded by Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire
13 October 1579 – 27 April 1580
Succeeded by