Abaza rebellion

The Abaza rebellion is the name given to uprisings that occurred in the 17th century in the Ottoman Empire during the reigns of Mustafa I (1622–23) and Murat IV (1623–40). The name of the rebellion refers to Abaza Mehmet (or Abaza for short), an Ottoman pasha of Abkhazian origin. Sometimes, this event is considered as a part of the Jelali revolts. But unlike the other Jelali revolts the principal reason of the Abaza rebellion was the resentment towards the jannissary corps.

The Ottoman sultan Osman II (1618–22), who laid a siege on Khotyn (in modern Ukraine, then a part of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth), could not capture the city. He blamed the unruly jannissaries for the failure. The jannissaries, once elite troops of the Ottoman Empire, had been corrupted during the stagnation era of the empire. Osman planned to create a new army based on Turkmens of Anatolia. Energetic but young and inexperienced, Osman II revealed his intent. This caused a jannissary revolt in the capital İstanbul. Osman was imprisoned and later assassinated by the jannissary partizans on 20 May 1622. This assassination caused a great shock in the Ottoman lands.

Abaza Mehmet was the governor of Erzurum in Eastern Anatolia. According to historian Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall, he was a consultant of Osman II in his efforts to abolish the jannissaries. Shortly after hearing the news about the assassination, he began expelling and even killing the jannissaries on duty in his province. Although he was formally dismissed by the Ottoman Porte (government) on 17 November 1622, he continued to stay in Erzurum and claimed that he was loyal to the Porte but he was trying to punish those who were responsible for the assassination. The Turkmen people of Central Anatolia, who were also accusing the jannissaries, readily accepted his cause and soon he began controlling most of Eastern and Central Anatolia.

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