Gedik Ahmed Pasha
|
Gedik Ahmed Pasha |
|
|---|---|
| Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire | |
|
In office 1474–1477 |
|
| Monarch | Mehmed II |
| Preceded by | Mahmud Pasha Angelovic |
| Succeeded by | Karamanlı Mehmet Pasha |
| Personal details | |
| Died | 18 November 1482 Adrianople, Ottoman Empire |
| Nationality | Ottoman |
| Religion | Sunni Islam |
| Origins | Unknown; thought to be Albanian, Greek, Italian, or Serbian |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Ottoman Empire |
| Service/branch |
 Ottoman Army Ottoman Navy
|
| Rank | Kapudan Pasha (Grand Admiral) |
| Battles/wars |
Siege of Rhodes (1480) Invasion of Otranto |
Gedik Ahmed Pasha (died 18 November 1482) was an Ottoman statesman and admiral who served as Grand Vizier and Kapudan Pasha (Grand Admiral of the Ottoman Navy) during the reigns of sultans Mehmed II and Bayezid II.
His background remains largely unknown. Some sources claim that he was of Albanian descent and others that he was of Greek or Serbian descent. He undertook virtually all of his construction enterprises in Anatolia.
Leading the Ottoman Army, he defeated the last Anatolian Turkish beylik (principality) resisting Ottoman expansion in the region, the Karamanids. The Karamanids had been the strongest principality in Anatolia for nearly 200 years, even stronger than the Ottomans in the latter's beginning. They effectively succeeded the Sultanate of Rûm in the amount of possessions they held, among them the city of Konya, the former Selçuk capital. Gedik Ahmed Pasha's victory against the Karamanids in 1471, conquering their territory as well as the Mediterranean coastal region around Ermenek, Mennan and Silifke, proved crucial for the future of the Ottomans..
Gedik Ahmed Pasha also fought against Venetians in the Mediterranean and was dispatched in 1475 by the Sultan to aid the Crimean Khanate against Genoese forces. In Crimea, he conquered Caffa, Soldaia, Cembalo and other Genoese castles as well as the Principality of Theodoro with its capital Mangup and the coastal regions of Crimea. He rescued the Khan of Crimea, Meñli I Giray, from Genoese forces. As a result of this campaign, Crimea and Circassia entered into the Ottoman sphere of influence.
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