Abaza Hasan Pasha
He launched two rebellions against the Ottoman government, the second and largest of which ended with his assassination in Aleppo on 16 February 1659 following a failed attempt to force the deposition of the Grand Vizier Köprülü Mehmed Pasha.
[1] Abaza Hasan first gained prominence in 1648 by defeating the Anatolian rebel Kara Haydaroğlu, for which he was rewarded with the rank of voyvoda (overseer) of the Yeni Il Türkmen.
Abaza Hasan's failure to depose Köprülü Mehmed enabled that family of viziers to continue administering the empire uninterrupted for another twenty-four years, until Kara Mustafa Pasha's execution following the unsuccessful Siege of Vienna in 1683.
[3] He first entered the historical record in 1648, serving Hacı Sinanzade Mehmed Pasha as his mütesellim (deputy-governor) in the Sanjak (sub-province) of Hamid, in southwest Anatolia.
There he earned a reputation for bravery and military prowess by defending the city of Isparta from the rebel Kara Haydaroğlu, who had been harassing nearby caravans and villages.
For his service, Abaza Hasan was given robes of honor and rewarded with the rank of voyvoda (overseer) of the Yeni Il Türkmen, at that time a lucrative post in Eastern Anatolia.
[6] Giving up on the legal means of recompense, he and his supporters left Istanbul and began gathering an army in Anatolia, demanding either the return of his office or 60,000 guruş (silver coins of foreign origin) in compensation.
When they together defeated the army assembled by the next challenger, Karaman Beylerbeyi Katırcıoğlu Mehmed Pasha, the government finally recognized its inability to suppress the rebellion.
The rebels reached an accommodation with the government whereby Abaza Hasan recovered his office of voyvoda of the Yeni Il Türkmen, while Ibşir Pasha became the governor of Aleppo.
The two of them played a decisive role in eastern Anatolian politics during this period: when Abaza Hasan's ally Hadım Karındaşı had his office revoked, they came to his aid and defeated the army of his replacement in battle.
When Ibşir finally achieved his desired appointment in October 1654, Abaza Hasan returned to Aleppo and accompanied him to Istanbul, acting as a trusted advisor for the duration of his tenure.
Kürd Mehmed took for himself Abaza Hasan's former post as voyvoda of the Yeni Il Türkmen, and subsequently sought to undermine Ibşir Pasha's other former supporters.
While Seydi was on his way to the provincial capital, Konya, Kürd Mehmed entered the city and convinced the population to resist the incoming governor, warning of his tyranny.
In particular, after his return to Edirne from the 1657 campaign to reconquer the islands of Bozcaada (Tenedos) and Limni (Lemnos), Köprülü Mehmed ordered a massacre of all the cavalry soldiers he suspected of disloyalty - in the words of one historian, strewing the banks of the Tunca River with corpses.
Along the way Abaza Hasan issued orders preventing his troops from looting the countryside in an attempt to establish his public image as a fighter for justice.
[18] Yet even when his army surrounded Bursa and occupied the nearby towns and villages, the sultan continued to decisively stand behind his grand vizier and reject the demands of the rebels, referring to them as the servants of the Devil.
As the grand vizier was away on campaign with the imperial army, command of the loyalist forces was assigned to Murtaza Pasha, who was at that time charged with the defense of the eastern frontier with the Safavids, with whom the Ottomans were at peace.
Simultaneously, the Şeyhülislâm Bolevi Mustafa Efendi issued a fatwa declaring Abaza Hasan to be saʿī bi-l-fesād, or "a formenter of corruption," thus sanctioning the death penalty for him.
[19] The Sultan also issued a general call for the populace to take up arms against the rebels, and Köprülü Mehmed was recalled from Transylvania, where he had successfully conquered the fortress town of Yanova (modern Ineu).
[28] Abaza Hasan's head was severed and stuffed with straw to be put on display in Istanbul, and his body was hung outside of one of Aleppo's city gates, serving as a public demonstration that the revolt had been crushed.
[27] Abaza Hasan was described in contemporary sources primarily in negative terms, as Ottoman writers sought to emphasize the suffering and oppression peasants and townspeople experienced at the hands of his troops.
The traveler Evliya Çelebi, who met Abaza Hasan on numerous occasions, described him as "the most courageous and brave of all the Abazan people; diligent, proud, a true hero.
[22] Thus Abaza Hasan's public image among contemporaries was highly variable, ranging from that of a messianic figure destined to bring about justice, to a cruel and oppressive bandit.
