Özdemiroğlu Osman Pasha () was a grand vizier of the Ottoman Empire (1584–1585) and a military commander who became celebrated in his country's history as the conqueror of the Caucasus ().
Osman Pasha was the son of the Circassian Mamluk Özdemir Pasha (one of the Ottoman historians, Mustafa Selaniki, indicated that he was a Circassian from Dagestan) and a noble Arab woman. After the conquest of the Mamluk Sultanate by the Ottoman sultan Selim I in 1517, Osman's father, Özdemir, entered Ottoman service and distinguished himself in the campaign to conquer the Abyssinian Empire. Osman began his career at the age of 14 in Cairo, and following his father's death in 1560, he took his place as the beylerbey of Habesh Eyalet. His next place of service was Yemen, in the conquest of which his father had also participated. During the Yemeni campaign of 1568–1570, in the conflict between Koca Sinan Pasha and Lala Mustafa Pasha, Osman sided with the latter, which led to his disgrace and nearly cost him his life. In 1578, Lala Mustafa Pasha, who was appointed serdar of the Iranian expedition, took Osman Pasha with him, which became a turning point in his career. Osman Pasha played a pivotal role in the Ottoman victory on August 9, 1578, in the Battle of Çıldır and in September 1578 in the Battle of Koyun Gecidi on the Alazani River, and then volunteered to become the beylerbey of Shirvan. At the same time, he received the post of vizier. In 1583, by order of Murad III, Osman Pasha arrived in the Crimean Khanate to . On July 28, 1584, after executing the sultan's assignment, Osman Pasha was appointed grand vizier. After Özdemir Pasha subjected Dagestan, he ambushed and annihilated the Russians who intended to seize the army's treasury on the banks of the Terek River, He broke the ambush, and moved across the frozen rivers crossed the Koban River on the outskirts and reached kefe, to replace Khan Mehmed II Giray, who since 1579 had refused to send troops against the Safavids in Caucasus, with his brother İslâm II Giray.AHMET RASIM OSMANLI TARIHI page 148 In 1585, he returned to the Transcaucasus and captured Tabriz, shortly after which he died.
Gelibolulu Mustafa Âlî praised Osman Pasha as "the greatest Ottoman pashazade (his father was also a pasha) and grand vizier."
Biography
Origin and Early Years After the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1517, representatives of the former Mamluk elite (Kipchaks and Circassians) recognized the supreme authority of the Ottoman sultan, joining the ranks of the military-bureaucratic apparatus of the Ottoman Empire. Among them was Özdemir Pasha, who for his merits received the nicknames "conqueror of Sanaa" () and "subjugator of Abyssinia" (). By origin, Özdemir Pasha was a Circassian Mamluk (one of the Ottoman historians, Mustafa Selaniki, specified that he was a Circassian from Dagestan) and a relative of the last Mamluk sultan Qansuh al-Ghawri, while his wife came from the Abbasid dynasty. Their son, Osman, was born in 1527 in Egypt, where his childhood was also spent. He began his service from a young age; treasury records preserve entries regarding payments assigned to him starting from the age of 14. Initially, Osman held minor posts, receiving the rank of sanjakbey only in 1560. In the same year (or the previous one), his father, Özdemir Pasha, died, having captured a part of the Abyssinian Empire and thereby laying the foundation for Habesh Eyalet. Following Özdemir's death, the Ottomans were driven out of most of the territories he had captured; the Abyssinian army captured and destroyed Debarwa, which had previously been turned into a fortified city by Özdemir. Ottoman troops retreated to Massawa and Arkiko, holding onto them with difficulty. Everything changed when, in 1561, Osman Pasha was appointed to his father's former post as beylerbey in Habesh. By January 1562, Debarwa and its surroundings fell back under Ottoman control, and on April 20, 1562, exploiting the rivalries of local rulers, Osman defeated the Emperor of Ethiopia Minas at a locality called Enderte in the Tigray region (corresponding to the modern province of the same name). Within a short period, the new beylerbey subjugated all the lands previously captured by his father and expanded the eyalet's territory, establishing Ottoman rule in areas that had not been conquered before. Afterward, Osman Pasha erected a mosque with a tomb in Massawa in memory of his father, which Evliya Çelebi saw a century later. Osman returned to Cairo in August 1567 (though he remained the beylerbey of Habesh until January 16, 1568).
Yemen
In 1567, news of the death of Sultan Suleiman I reached Yemen. The Zaidi Emir decided that the time had come to shake off Ottoman rule and rose against them. The new sultan, Selim II, ordered the suppression of the rebellion and appointed Lala Mustafa Pasha as the serdar of the declared campaign.
In the winter of 1567/1568, Yemen was divided into two eyalets: Yemen and Sanaa. Osman was appointed beylerbey of Sanaa, while Murad Pasha became the beylerbey of Yemen. Murad Pasha was soon killed by the rebels, resulting in Osman Pasha taking charge of the unified eyalet. In mid-1568, Osman departed for his destination with a significant military contingent.
Meanwhile, the campaign of serdar Lala Mustafa against the Zaidis was delayed: the sultan ordered that the necessary forage, equipment, and provisions for the campaign be provided from the treasury of Egypt, which led to a conflict between Lala Mustafa and the beylerbey of Egypt, Koca Sinan Pasha. Both sent endless complaints and denunciations against each other to Istanbul. Lala Mustafa interpreted the instructions received from the divan as permitting him to take everything necessary for the campaign from the treasury in Cairo, but Sinan Pasha considered this an offensive violation of his rights. As a result, the dispatch of the army to Yemen was delayed for more than nine months. It is possible that the beylerbey of Yemen, Osman Pasha, and serdar Lala Mustafa Pasha, who were responsible for suppressing the Yemeni rebellion, delayed the expedition to cast a shadow on Koca Sinan Pasha, or perhaps Lala Mustafa was unwilling to risk his life and fortune in the Yemeni highlands. In any case, he claimed he lacked sufficient troops for a dangerous expedition against the Zaidis. Consequently, time was lost, and the positions of the rebels grew stronger. In his reports, Lala Mustafa accused Koca Sinan of withholding funds for the campaign, while Sinan accused Mustafa of delaying it. Furthermore, Koca Sinan Pasha accused Lala Mustafa of organizing a conspiracy: allegedly, Lala Mustafa Pasha intended to poison Sinan and hand Egypt over to his own son, Mehmed Bey, a maternal great-grandson of the last Mamluk sultan, Qansuh al-Ghawri. In this conflict, Grand Vizier Sokollu Mehmed Pasha, who was on hostile terms with Lala Mustafa, supported Koca Sinan Pasha, whereas Osman (also a relative of Qansuh al-Ghawri) sided with Lala Mustafa, thereby gaining one influential patron and two high-ranking adversaries.
Ultimately, in late 1568 or early 1569, Lala Mustafa Pasha was recalled to Istanbul and stripped of his posts as serdar and vizier, and the sultan appointed Sinan Pasha himself as the new serdar of the expedition. Having received information about the arrival of his adversary in Egypt, Osman Pasha prudently left for Yemen, and shortly thereafter, officials (chawushes) arrived in Cairo to investigate the events surrounding the delay of the campaign. According to an eyewitness of the events, the historian Gelibolulu Mustafa Âlî, they carried an order for the execution of Osman Pasha should they find him in Egypt. Sinan Pasha utilized the very supplies and troops he had previously denied to Lala Mustafa and set out for Yemen. The Ottoman army routed al-Mutahhar's forces near Taiz, after which the citadel of Taiz capitulated. After several months of skirmishes, advances, and retreats, al-Mutahhar sued for peace, and Sinan Pasha agreed, bringing the suppression of the rebellion to a close.
During the Yemeni campaign, Sinan Pasha attempted to eliminate Osman Pasha. He went so far as to commit forgery, issuing an order for Osman's execution on one of the blank forms bearing the sultan's tughra that he possessed as serdar. Osman Pasha managed to save himself only by fleeing Yemen via Mecca to Istanbul. However, another enemy awaited him in Istanbul—Grand Vizier Sokollu Mehmed Pasha, who refused to let Osman and his men into the capital. Some historians attribute this not to their confrontation, but to a plague epidemic in Istanbul. Osman allegedly lived in a tent outside the fortress wall near Topkapi due to quarantine. Sokollu supported Sinan Pasha's accusations and insisted that Osman Pasha deserved execution for disobedience. However, his friend and ally Lala Mustafa Pasha (who retained influence as the lala of Sultan Selim II) prevented his destruction. Ultimately, thanks to the intercession of his patron, Osman was appointed to the post of beylerbey of Al-Hasa in 1571, and after some time, on August 9, 1573, he was transferred to a similar position in Basra. In this position, he attempted to prevent the Portuguese from establishing themselves in the region by undertaking several raids into the Strait of Hormuz. On June 2, 1576, Osman was appointed to the post of beylerbey of Diyarbekir, without having managed to expel the Portuguese from the Persian Gulf, just as his father had previously driven them from the Red Sea.
Iranian Campaign
Beginning of the Campaign. From Kars to Tiflis In 1576, Shah Tahmasp I died; his heirs squandered the accumulated wealth, and animosity between rival emirs fragmented the country and scattered its forces. Two years later, Sultan Murad III decided that the proper time had come to resume hostilities. Grand Vizier Sokollu Mustafa Pasha was opposed, but his influence had already weakened. In 1578, the Ottoman–Safavid War began, with Lala Mustafa Pasha appointed as serdar. On April 3, 1578, he called upon the beylerbey of Diyarbekir, Osman Pasha, to accompany him; Osman agreed and arrived at the army in Erzurum with a force of 1,000 men.
Before the start of combat operations, Lala Mustafa Pasha restored several fortresses in Kars and its surroundings, which was a clear violation of the Peace of Amasya of 1555. The campaign began in August (on the 9th or 7th) of 1578, when the army advanced eastward from Erzurum, followed by the capture of several small fortresses. On August 9, on the plain near Lake Çıldır, a battle took place, which Ibrahim Peçevi termed "great". The battle began when a 30,000-strong Persian army under the command of Imamquli Khan and Kara Khan clashed with the advanced detachments of the Ottoman army. At a critical moment, the beylerbey of Erzurum, Behram Pasha, and Osman Pasha—who, according to Peçevi, "displayed heroism"—managed to arrive to assist the vanguard. The hand-to-hand battle lasted until the following morning; due to heavy rain, neither side could utilize firearms. Ultimately, the Safavid forces were routed, and the Ottomans captured rich booty, with both sides suffering heavy losses. The crushing defeat of the Qizilbash was brought about by internal strife among the emirs, the defection of the Kurds to the Ottoman side, and the mistake of Tokhmaq Khan Ustajlu, who believed that the Ottoman army numbered no more than 40,000 men. When it became clear to him that he had engaged only the advanced detachments and that the main army was much larger, Tokmaq Khan began to retreat.