Köprülü Mehmed Pasha

Koprulu Mehmed Pasha (* 1580 in Rojnik, Albania, according to Prokosch in Köprü, today Vezirköprü / Anatolia; † October 31, 1661 in Edirne ) was from 1656 until his death, Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire.

At first he was cooking in the Seraglio, was master of the horse, Beylerbey of Kyustendil in Bulgaria and Tripoli in Lebanon, deputy governor of Damascus, governor of Konya, vizier in 1650, then again Beylerbey of Tripoli. On September 15, 1656 ( according to the Islamic calendar the 26th Zilka'de 1072 ) he was appointed by Sultan Mehmed IV to the Grand Vizier, and equipped with additional powers. This ended a period of instability of the Ottoman Empire, in which it had been thirteen grand viziers from 1648 to 1656 and had an ongoing power struggle between sultan and military relaxed.

Upon his appointment, already high in the seventies, Grand Vizier Koprulu Mehmet Pasha was very successful. Domestically, he took drastic, 36,000 people are said to have been found at his command a violent death. In foreign policy, he won in 1657 in the Battle of the Dardanelles a victory against the Republic of Venice. In the years 1658-1660 he fought successfully against a disloyal vassals, the prince of Transylvania, George II Rákóczi and let him settle several times. Also suggested Mehmed Pasha innerosmanische down rebellions. As the most important here is the suppression of the revolt of Abaza Hasan, governor of Aleppo, to name in 1659.

Koprulu Mehmed Pasha began in 1656, some important reforms in transition: He fought the dominance of the Janissaries and the Harem, who had gotten more and more political participation rights ( Weiberherrschaft, Turkish Kadınlar saltanatı ), he fought corruption, initiated austerity measures and ensured that the troops were paid regular wages. However, its consolidations were not profound enough and too dependent on his personality in order to improve the political and social structures of the state fundamentally.

When Mehmed died on October 31, 1661 in Edirne and his son Koprulu Fazil Ahmed followed him as Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire had regained some of its former power and influence.

Koprulu is the Turkish spelling of the original Albanian name Qyprili.