Jazzar Pasha

Ahmad Pasha al-Jazzar
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
Religion	Islam

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.