Kara Mustafa Pasha

Lore & Background

Kara Mustafa Pasha was of Turkish origin. However, he was brought up in the Köprülü family, of Albanian origin. He was born in the village of Mirince/Marınca near Merzifon (now called Karamustafapaşa after him), the son of a sipahi (cavalry man). His father is said to have served under Köprülü Mehmed Pasha. Possibly as a way to increase his opportunities to pursue an administrative career, he was introduced into the Köprülü household, where he was educated by Köprülü Mehmed Pasha, and married into the Köprülü family. How he entered the family and the details of his marriage are unclear. Within the household's inner service (enderun), he held the positions of letter-carrier (telhisci, or assistant to the grand vizier) to Köprülü Mehmed Pasha, and of silahdar (armourer). He then entered the household of the Sultan as mirahor-i-sani (master of the horse). It is said that while growing up differently from his adoptive Köprülü brothers, he disliked alcohol, as well as Europeans and other non-Muslims. A contemporary French account says he had two children with the little Köprülü princess, who both died young, and that his wife died shortly after their death, at 31. He had four concubines (Fatma, Emine, Ayşe, Zeynep) and by them at least two sons: Yusuf and Mehmed. According to another contemporary report by Giovanni Benaglia, secretary of the Austrian ambassador in Istanbul, he divorced his "beloved Köprülü princess" after their engagement and after they had many children, and he gave her to a French renegade, one of his favourites. An account by a contemporary who visited his household, Claudio Angelo di Martelli, reports of three sons who survived his death: Yusuf, Mehmed and (the youngest) Ali. He conformed to the Islamic custom of not wearing silk and never wore silver or gold, which was a largely unenforced requirement. Europeans who met him (with few exceptions, such as Colyer, who initially described him as a man of "most agreeable nature") variously described him as greedy, humorous but terse, avid, intransigent, perfidious, covetous, unwilling to accept bribes yet concerned with improving his own well-being, and completely devoted to the Ottoman state. Later accounts by Giovanni Morosini di Alvise, Venetian bailo of Istanbul from 1675 to 1680, speak of a man "born in an obscure place of Asia, in Trebisonda, to castigate the nations" and describe him as "w

Reader's Guide

Kara Mustafa Pasha's legacy in modern Turkey is mixed. Whereas historians describe him as either a capable tactician or a reckless commander, Kemal Atatürk held a sympathetic view of the man. It is said that while attending a lecture at an Ankara institution in 1933 at which a professor spoke disparagingly of Kara Mustafa Pasha, Atatürk spoke up in favour of him by arguing that marching an army of 173,000 men from Constantinople to Vienna, the "heart of Europe", was a colossal undertaking for any commander and that the only other person who came close to such a feat was Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent himself. Kara Mustafa's birthplace near Merzifon district was renamed Karamustafapaşa in his honour.

Did You Know?

• Kara Mustafa Pasha was of Turkish origin, but was brought up in the Köprülü family, which was of Albanian origin.
• He launched the 1683 campaign against Vienna on his own initiative, and Sultan Mehmed IV was unaware of his plans.
• Because the siege of Vienna was unplanned, his army lacked heavy siege cannons.
• He conformed to the Islamic custom of not wearing silk and never wore silver or gold, a largely unenforced requirement.
• His last words before execution by strangulation with a silk cord were 'Am I to die?' and 'As God pleases.'