Sufi Ali Pasha

Müezzinzade Ali Pasha (Turkish: Müezzinzade Ali Paşa; also known as Sofu Ali Pasha or Sufi Ali Pasha or Meyzinoğlu Ali Pasha; died 7 October 1571) was an Ottoman statesman and naval officer. He was Kapudan Pasha (Grand Admiral) in command of the Turkish fleet at the naval Battle of Lepanto, where he was killed in action. He also served as the governor of Egypt from 1563 to 1566.

He was the son of a muezzin, hence his epithet Müezzinzade ("son of a muezzin"). He was a favorite of Sultan Selim II and of the women of the seraglio who admired his voice as a muezzin, and he married one of Selim II's daughters.

From 1563 to 1566, Ali Pasha served as the Ottoman governor of Egypt. He was reportedly a very ascetic Sufi man, wearing only "coarse woolen clothes" and paying many visits to the tombs of saints in the City of the Dead necropolis in Cairo.

Ali Pasha, with a fleet eventually numbering 188 galleys, fustas, transports and other ships, carried the main land force, commanded by Lala Mustafa Pasha, for the Ottoman invasion and conquest of Cyprus from Constantinople on 16 May 1570 to Cyprus, where they landed on 3 July. While Lala Mustafa commanded the eventual capture of the island from Venice, Ali Pasha took the bulk of his fleet to Crete and then to Morea, thereby effectively preventing any Christian relief fleet from coming to the aid of the besieged defenders of Cyprus.

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