Köprülüzade Fazıl Ahmed Pasha

Köprülüzade Fazıl Ahmed Pasha (كپرولى زاده فاضل احمد پاشا, Köprüli-zāde Fāżıl Aḥmed Paşa; Fazıl Ahmed Pashë Kypriljoti; 1635 – 3 November 1676) was a member of the renowned Köprülü family originating from Albania, which produced six grand viziers of the Ottoman Empire.

Life
He served as a grand vizier from 1661 to 1676 after he inherited the title from his father, Köprülü Mehmed Pasha, the founder of the Köprülü political family. Prior to this appointment, he served as the Ottoman governor of the Damascus Eyalet (1660 to 1661) and the Erzurum Eyalet (1659 to 1660).

He was dubbed Fazıl, meaning "wise" (from the Arabic fazilet, meaning "wisdom"), for reducing taxation and promoting education. On the other hand, he was brutal in war. He led the Ottoman army in the Austro-Turkish War (1663-1664). At the beginning of July 1664, he succeeded in destroying Novi Zrin Castle in northern Croatia after nearly a month-long siege. Although defeated in the Battle of Saint Gotthard, he was able to gain territory by the Treaty of Vasvar in 1664. Following this treaty, he concentrated on the Cretan War and captured Candia (present day Heraklion) from the Republic of Venice in 1669. At the end of the war against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, he signed the Treaty of Buchach in 1672 and the Treaty of Zurawno in 1676.

Contemporary European observers frequently remarked upon the atheistic tendencies of Fazıl Ahmed's inner circle of courtiers, and particularly those of Fazıl Ahmed himself. Nevertheless, his exact religious views remain unknown.

Fazıl Ahmed Pasha died on November 3, 1676 from complications resulting from his lifestyle of heavy drinking.