[1] Silahdar was from Hama in central Syria, but his government career was made in the Ottoman capital, Istanbul.
He replaced Sulayman Pasha al-Adil as governor of Damascus and his appointment marked the permanent end of a trend whereby local rulers or non-local rulers who made their careers in Syria, such as the al-Azm family or Jazzar Pasha and his mamluk heirs in Acre, were appointed to the governorship.
After a siege of several days, Ali Agha surrendered, was executed and the remaining rebellious janissaries were allowed to leave the city unharmed.
[3] In 1813, Silahdar commissioned the Kurdish Dalat cavalry commander of Hama, Mullah Isma'il, to oversee that year's tax collection tour in the province.
[4] Silahdar was commended by the Damascene chronicler and Silahdar's contemporary, Hasan Agha al-'Abd, for successfully protecting and provisioning the Hajj caravans of 1813 and 1814 as part of his duty as amir al-hajj (commander of the Hajj caravan);[5] Al-'Abd accompanied Silahdar during the Hajj of 1813.