Abdi Pasha the Albanian

Abdurrahman Abdi Pasha the Albanian (Arnavut Abdurrahman Abdi Paşa; 1616–1686) was an Ottoman politician and military leader of Albanian descent, who served as the last Pasha of the Budin Eyalet.

Early life
Abdurrahman Abdi Arnavud Pasha joined the Ottoman army and became aga (commander) of the janissaries corps in 1667. In 1673, he became the governor of Baghdad. He was made governor of Egypt in 1676 and of Bosnia in 1680.

Military leadership
He took over the military leadership of Buda in 1682 and became the governor of Turkish-occupied Hungary in 1684. In 1684, the Holy League was established with the objective of ending the Ottoman threat to Europe by ousting the Turks from Hungary, which they had been occupying for 145 years. On the initiative and financial support of Pope Innocent XI, the Holy Roman Emperor, the King of Poland and the Republic of Venice sent 60,000 troops into Buda, and Hungary. The army was composed of Saxon, Bavarian, Brandenburg and Swedish troops, with lesser numbers of Italy, England, France and Spain, and some 15,000 Hungarians. The armies were led by Prince Charles of Lotharingen (Lorraine), Bavarian elector Maximillian Emmanuel II, Marquis of Baden Maximillian Wilhelm Ludwig and Prince Eugene of Savoy, all eminent military leaders of the time.

In June, 1686, the Christian army laid siege to Buda. The city was well stocked with food, water and gunpowder, but only 8000 soldiers were garrisoned within; although the Ottomans had promised 50,000 troops, they had not yet arrived.

Death
The relief forces of Grand Vizier Suleiman never arrived to support the troops within Buda. After more than 2 months of bombardment and a series of unsuccessful attacks, the city was reduced to ashes in the first days of September. 3000 of his troops survived, but Abdurrahman pasha himself was killed in the first lines when on September 2, the troops of the Habsburg emperor breached the northern walls ending 145 years of Turkish occupation of Buda.

A memorial to the late commander, the last vizier of Buda, stands on the Anjou bastion of the Buda castle, half way between the Military History Museum and the Becsi Kapu (Viennese Gate). The memorial was erected in 1932 by the descendants of Gyorgy Szabo, who was a Hungarian soldier of the liberating army and also fell on this spot on September 2. The inscription, in Hungarian and Turkish, says: "The last governor of the 145 year long Turkish occupation of Buda, ABDURRAHMAN ABDI ARNAVUT PASHA fell at this place on September 2, 1686, when he was 70 years old. He was a heroic enemy, may he rest in peace."