Şirvanlı Mehmed Rüşdi Pasha

Şirvanlı Mehmed Rüşdi Pasha
Pasha
Şirvanlı Mehmed Rüşdi Pasha Pasha
	Şirvanlı Mehmed Rüşdi Pasha
Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire
	In office; 15 February 1874 – 15 April 1873
Monarch	Abdulaziz
Preceded by	Ahmed Esad Pasha
Succeeded by	Hüseyin Avni Pasha
Personal details
Born	1828; Amasya, Ottoman Empire
Died	23 September 1874; Taif, Hejaz vilayet, Ottoman Empire
Nationality	Ottoman

Şirvanlı Mehmed Rüşdi Pasha or Şirvanizade Mehmet Rüşti Pasha (born 1828 in Amasya – died; 23 September 1874 at Taif) was an Ottoman statesman. He was Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire from 15 April 1873 until 15 February 1874.^[1]

Early life, education and origin[edit]

His father was Ismail Siracuddin, one of the elders of the Khalidiyya sect and a scholar.^[2] His family was of Kurdish origin native to Kurdamir village,^[3] then Shirvan Khanate today‘s Azerbaijan and for this reason he was nicknamed Şirvanizade. His family migrated to Amasya in central Anatolia after the Russian Empire invaded Shirvan region. He started his education in Amasya. In 1850, he moved to Istanbul and continued his education at the Beyazıt Mosque madrasah in this city and received his ijazah by following the lessons of Vidinli Mustafa Efendi.^[2]

Career[edit]

He was appointed as the director of Amasya Foundations in 1853; but the following year he resigned from this position and returned to Istanbul. While he was teaching the son of Shaykh al-Islām Arif Efendi, he attracted the attention of this person with his intelligence and talents, and he took a position and started teaching. He was also appointed as the treasurer of the Foundations Inspection Court. For a while, he was a member of the land commission established under the chairmanship of Ahmed Cevdet Pasha. By being integrated into the office of Meşrepzade Mehmed Arif Efendi, he became close to state dignitaries, especially Mehmed Fuad Pasha. When Mehmet Fuad Pasha went to Syria on duty as the governor of Damascus, he wanted to have a scholar class official in his entourage, and Mehmet Fuad Pasha went to Syria with him on this mission. Keçecizade Fuad Pasha was very pleased with his diligent and talented work and recommended him to be appointed to one of the district judges. However, this recommendation met with the objection of Sadettin Efendi, the new sheikh al-Islam, and he was not appointed to this position. This time, with the recommendation of Keçecizade Fuad Pasha, he was appointed as a member of the "Parliamentary Vala" in 1851. In 1863, he was given the rank of vizier and became the governor of the Damascus province. In 1864, the new province of Syria was established by merging the provinces of Damascus and Sidon with the Sanjak of Jerusalem, and Şirvanlızade Mehmet Rüşdi Pasha was appointed as the governor of this new province.^[4]

He returned to Istanbul in 1865 and was appointed Minister of Foundations. In the same year, he was made Minister of Finance, and in 1868, the Ministry of Treasury was added to this position. In 1869, he was given the post of Minister of the newly established Ministry of Internal Affairs, with the Ministry of Treasury remaining with him. However, Şirvanizade Mehmet Rüşdi Pasha had a falling out with the grand vizier Mehmed Emin Âli Pasha due to his direct contact with the palace, his acting without consulting the grand vizier on some issues, and even his opposition to the grand vizier. Thereupon, in 1871, he was removed from his post as Minister of Internal Affairs and appointed as Minister of Finance for the second time. Some of the actions he carried out here were not liked by Sultan Abdülaziz and he was asked to be dismissed and sent into exile. However, Grand Vizier Mehmed Emin Âli Pasha did not tolerate the palace's interference in government affairs and did not accept this request of the sultan. However, he removed Şirvanizade Mehmet Rüşdi Pasha from the Ministry of Finance and appointed him as the Minister of Public Works. After 12 days, he was replaced by Ethem Pasha, who was the "Minister of the Court of Justice".^[2]

However, a few months after starting this new position, on September 7, 1871, the grand vizier Mehmed Emin Âli Pasha, who was protecting himself, died and Mahmud Nedim Pasha was appointed as the grand vizier. Mahmud Nedim Pasha dismissed Şirvanizade Mehmet Rüşdi Pasha, whom he saw as his opponent, from the ministry and exiled him to Amasya. On July 31, 1872, Mahmud Nedim Pasha was dismissed from the position of grand vizier and Midhat Pasha was appointed as grand vizier. Mithat Pasha pardoned him from exile and appointed him as the minister of the "Ministry of Forestry and Mining" when he returned to Istanbul. In 1873, he was given the post of Minister of Foundations. However, he did not stay in this position for long and was appointed as the Minister of Finance for the third time in the same year.^[2]

When the Grand Vizier Sakızlı Ahmed Esad Pasha was dismissed on 15 April 1873, Şirvanizade Mehmet Rüşdi Pasha was appointed as grand vizier. The most important problem he addressed during his time as Grand Vizier was related to the administration of Egypt. Since 1841, Egypt was governed as a headman government by specially privileged governors called "Hedives" from the Kavalalı Muhammad Ali of Egypt family, based on two edicts given by the Ottoman Empire, with various decrees. In 1873, Ismail Pasha, the Khedivate of Egypt, came to Istanbul again to get more autonomy. He wanted a decree that would enable him to gain full autonomy to govern Egypt. A credible biographical encyclopedia puts it this way:^[2]

It is recorded that in order to obtain this edict, he distributed significant amounts of bribes and gifts to the dignitaries, and Hüseyin Avni Pasha, Şirvanizade Mehmet Rüşdi Pasha and other dignitaries gave more than the khedive requested in return for the tips they received.

With the 1873 edict, the autonomy granted to Egypt through separate edicts was based on a single document, and Egypt gained a completely autonomous administration from the Ottoman state.

It is claimed that it was for a similar reason that Şirvanizade Mehmet Pasha personally changed some articles of a draft agreement with Iran in favor of the Persians.^[2]

It is reported that before Şirvanizade Mehmet Rüşdi Pasha became the grand vizier, he talked to prominent statesmen such as Mithat Pasha, Mehmed Sadık Pasha and Hüseyin Avni Pasha and agreed to dethrone Abdulaziz. However, when he became grand vizier, Şirvanizade gave up implementing this agreement. Thereupon, it is claimed that Hüseyin Avni Pasha sent a series of notices to the palace against the grand vizier and that Şirvanizade Mehmet Rüşdi Pasha was dismissed for this reason.^[2] Şirvanizade Mehmet Rüşdi Pasha was dismissed on 15 February 1874 and Hüseyin Avni Pasha was appointed as grand vizier.

Death[edit]

On 27 May 1874, Şirvanizade Mehmet Rüşdi Pasha was appointed as the governor of Aleppo. However, Şirvanizade Mehmet Rüşdi Pasha did not like this place and asked to be appointed as governor to another province. On July 25, 1874, it was accepted that he would replace the then-Governor of Hejaz and become the Governor of Hejaz. When Şirvanizade Mehmet Rüşdi Pasha reached Taif in the Hejaz for this mission, he died of Typhoid fever, which he had been suffering from for a while. He was buried there.^[4]

In Amasya, there is the Tomb of Şirvanlı İsmail, which he had built in the name of his father in 1870.^[4]

Evaluation[edit]

Some historians report that he received gifts and bribes. On the other hand, Sicill-i Osmani evaluates it as follows:^[4]

He was a medium-sized, stocky, cheerful person. ... He was scholarly, virtuous, generous, intelligent, generous, harmonious and moderate.

References[edit]

^ "Countries T".
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Özcan, Tahsin "Mehmed Rüşdî Paşa (Şirvanîzade)" (1999) Yaşamları ve Yapıtlarıyla Osmanlılar Ansiklopedisi, İstanbul:Yapı Kredi Kültür Sanat Yayıncılık A.Ş. C.2 s.179-180 ISBN 975-08-0072-9
^ "İSMAİL SİRÂCEDDİN ŞİRVÂNÎ, RİSÂLELER MÜCEDDİDÎ-HÂLİDÎ NAKŞİLİĞİN ESASLARI // Akademik İslâm Araştırmaları Dergisi". Archived from the original on 14 October 2019. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Mehmed Süreyya (haz. Nuri Akbayar) (1996), Sicill-i Osmani, İstanbul:Tarih Vakfı Yurt Yayınları ISBN 975-333-0383 C.II s.385 [1]