Ishak Pasha

Ishak Pasha (İshak Paşa; fl. 1469–1497) was a Croat who became an Ottoman general, statesman and later Grand Vizier. Halil Inalcik believes that Ishak Pasha is created by the confusion between several Ottoman Ishak Pashas (particularly Ishak bin Abdullah and Ishak bin Ibrahim) and Ishak Bey. The confusion can be illustrated with Beltaci's statement that Ishak Pasha was of Croatian or Greek origin and that he served three different sultans.

His first term as a grand vizier was during the reign of Mehmet II ("the Conqueror"). During this term, he transferred Turkmen people from their Anatolian city of Aksaray to newly conquered Constantinople in order to populate the city, which had lost a portion of its former population prior to the 1453 conquest. The quarter of the city where the Aksaray migrants was settled is now called Aksaray.

His second term was during the reign of Beyazıt II. He died in 1497 in Thessaloniki.

In popular culture

 * Ishak Pasha is referenced in the 2011 video game Assassin's Creed: Revelations, as the leader of the Assassin Brotherhood in the Ottoman Empire. Ishak Pasha's armor was hidden underneath the Hagia Sophia, and was later recovered by the protagonist Ezio Auditore da Firenze.
 * In 1951 film, İstanbul'un Fethi, Alev Elmas played Ishak Pasha.
 * Ishak Pasha is played by Yılmaz Babatürk in 2012 film Fetih 1453.