As'ad Pasha al-Azm

As'ad Pasha al-Azm أسعد باشا العظم
Wali of Damascus
In office 1742–1757
Monarch	Mahmud I Osman III
Preceded by	Sulayman Pasha al-Azm
Succeeded by	Husayn Pasha ibn Makki
Wali of Egypt
In office 1757–1758
Monarch	Mustafa III
Preceded by	Hekimoğlu Ali Pasha
Succeeded by	Mehmed Said Pasha
Personal details
Died	March 1758 Mediterranean sea
Nationality	Ottoman
Relations	Al-Azm family
Children	Muhammad Pasha al-Azm
Parents	Ismail Pasha al-Azm (father)
Religion	Islam

As'ad Pasha al-Azm (Arabic: أسعد باشا العظم‎‎, died March 1758) was the governor of Damascus under Ottoman rule from 1742 to his deposition in 1757. He was responsible for the construction of several architectural works in the city and other places in Syria.

As'ad was the son of Ismail Pasha al-Azm, the founder of the prominent local Arab household, al-Azm, which controlled much the provinces of Ottoman Syria in 1725. One of his brothers was Sa'deddin Pasha al-Azm. As'ad governed Hama as a tax collector for a number of years, until his uncle, Sulayman Pasha al-Azm, governor of Damascus, died in 1743. In Hama, he built the Azm Palace where he resided.

As'ad Pasha succeeded his father as governor of Damascus in 1743. Throughout the first half of the 18th century, the Janissary corps in Damascus challenged the al-Azm family rule in Damascus, but in 1746, As'ad Pasha crushed the local Janissaries. This enabled him to secure his authority in the city.

He was favored by the Ottoman authorities in Istanbul because of his successes in protecting of the Syrian pilgrim caravan that annually left for Mecca and Medina during the Hajj. In his dealings with the Bedouin tribes along the caravan route in the Syrian Desert and the Hejaz, As'ad Pasha either utilized force to subdue them or bought them off. The security of the pilgrim caravan was of prime importance to the Ottoman sultan in his capacity as "Protector of the Two Holy Sanctuaries," especially after the consistent failure of the Janissaries to protect the caravan.

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