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Al-Jazzar

Ahmad Pasha al-Jazzar
Jezzar Pasha, cropped.jpg
Portrait of Jazzar Pasha, 1775
Wali of Sidon
In office
May 1777 – April 1804
Monarch Abdul Hamid I
Selim III
Preceded by Zahir al-Umar
Succeeded by Sulayman Pasha al-Adil
Wali of Damascus
In office
March 1785 – 1786
Monarch Abdul Hamid I
Preceded by Husayn Pasha Battal
In office
October 1790 – 1795
Monarch Selim III
Preceded by Ibrahim Deli Pasha
Succeeded by Abdullah Pasha al-Azm
In office
1798–1799
Monarch Selim III
Preceded by Abdullah Pasha al-Azm
Succeeded by Abdullah Pasha al-Azm
In office
1803 – April 1804
Monarch Selim III
Preceded by Abdullah Pasha al-Azm
Succeeded by Ibrahim Pasha Qataraghasi
Personal details
Born ca. 1720s – 1730s
Stolac, Bosnia Eyalet
Died 7 May 1804
Acre, Sidon Eyalet
Resting place Acre

Ahmad Pasha al-Jazzar (Arabic: أحمد الجزار‎‎; Turkish: Cezzar Ahmet Paşa; ca. 1720–30s – 7 May 1804) was the Acre-based Ottoman governor of Sidon from 1776 until his death in 1804. During this period, he also simultaneously served four terms as the governor of Damascus, a total of nine years.

Al-Jazzar was a Bosnian of obscure origins. He began his military career in Egypt in the service of various Mamluk officials, eventually becoming a chief enforcer and assassin working for Ali Bey al-Kabir, Egypt's effective ruler. He gained the epithet of al-Jazzar (the Butcher) for his deadly ambush on a group of Bedouin tribesmen in retaliation for the death of his master in a Bedouin raid. Al-Jazzar fell out with Ali Bey in 1768 after refusing to take part in the assassination of one of his former masters. He ultimately fled to Syria, where he was tasked with defending Beirut from a joint assault by the Russian Navy and the forces of Zahir al-Umar. He eventually surrendered and entered Zahir's service before defecting from him and fleeing with stolen tax money.

He was appointed as garrison commander of Acre following the Ottomans' defeat of Zahir. He set about pacifying Galilee and Mount Lebanon, which were dominated by Zahir's kinsmen and the Druze forces of Emir Yusuf Shihab, respectively. In 1776/77, he was appointed governor of Sidon, but relocated the province's capital to Acre, which he strongly fortified. In the following years, he defeated the forces of his erstwhile Shia Muslim ally, Nasif al-Nassar, consolidating his control over Jabal Amil. In 1795, al-Jazzar was appointed to his first of four terms as governor of Damascus, each time gaining increasing influence in the province's affairs in opposition to his rivals from the Azm family. In 1799, with the help of the British navy, al-Jazzar defended Acre from the forces of Napoleon Bonaparte, forcing the latter's army to withdraw from Palestine in disarray. His successful defense of Acre earned him prestige in the empire and made him well known in Europe.


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