Hadım Sinan Pasha

Hadım Sinan Pasha (Hadım Sinan Paşa, "Sinan Pasha the Eunuch"; also known as Sinan Borovinić; died 22 January 1517) was an Ottoman grand vizier.

Origin and early life
He was a Christian slave, an eunuch, from the Sanjak of Bosnia, part of the Borovinić noble family from the village of Borovinići. Another source states that he was a devşirme, a slave (köle), from the Sanjak of Albania.

Career
In 1514, he was the Beylerbey (high governor) of Anatolia. In the battle of Chaldiran against Safavid Persia he was in charge of right flank. After the battle he was appointed as the beylerbey of Rumeli, a post more prestigious than his former post. His next mission was the conquest of the Dulkadirids, in what is now South Turkey. He was successful in both missions and Selim I appointed him as the grand vizier on April 25, 1516.

Sinan was Selim’s favorite grand vizier. He was active in the conquest of Syria and Egypt. On October 28, 1516 he defeated an Egyptian Mameluke army in Khan Yunis, near Gazza, Palestine. Next year, he fought in the Battle of Ridaniya in Egypt on January 22, 1517. In Ottoman battle tradition, the sultan was almost always in the central headquarters. But battle of Ridaniya was an exception. Selim I decided to encircle the Mameluks personally and assigned Sinan in the central headquarters. The plot was successful and the Mameluks were defeated. However, before the battle was over, a Mameluke cavalry (including Tuman bay II, the Egyptian sultan) raided Ottoman headquarters and killed Sinan, thinking he was the sultan. After the battle sultan Selim expressed his sorrow, saying, "We won the battle, but we lost Sinan."