Hassan Pasha (Mamluk)

Ḥassan Pasha (Arabic: حسن باشا, Georgian: ჰასან ფაშა, 1657–1723) was the governor of Baghdad from 1704 until his death in 1723 and the founder of the Mamluk state of Iraq.

[2] By the beginning of the 18th century, Baghdad under Ottoman rule had an extremely disorganized political system and order.

The Janissaries were effectively the masters of the city with various Arab tribes controlling the surroundings of Ottoman Iraq.

[9] After this, Hassan began building houses and schools and provided new job opportunities for Baghdadi Sunni Muslim scholars to study in them.

In Baghdad, he trained and introduced both Circassian and Georgian Mamluk troops to keep the janissaries in check and protect the city from possible Iranian threats.

[13] The Iraqi Mamluk dynasty is a rare example in history of slaves rising to power with the succession.

[5] Hassan Pasha purchased hundreds of Georgian slave children, educating them for civil service to the Ottoman Empire.

[7] This included Sulayman Abu Layla, who later married Hassan Pasha's granddaughter Adila Khatun and became governor of Baghdad.