Özdemiroğlu Osman Pasha

Özdemiroğlu Osman Pasha (Osman Pasha, the son of Özdemir) (1527–1585) was an able statesman and a commander of the Ottoman Empire who had also been the grand vizier for one year. He was a remarkable statesman who worked both in the southernmost and in the northernmost territories of the empire with a latitude difference of more than 35°.

Origin
After the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1517, the former Mameluk elite (Turks and Circassians) had accepted the Ottoman domination and became the part of Ottoman bureaucracy and military. Özdemir Pasha, Osman’s father was one of them. After the Indian Ocean campaigns, he was appointed as the beylerbey (high governor) of Habeşistan (meaning Ethiopia, but actually the coastal strip of Eritrea and Sudan.)

Early years
Osman was appointed to various posts in Egypt by the porte. After his father’s death in 1561, Osman continued as the beylerbey of Habeşistan for seven years. In 1569 he was appointed as the beylerbey of Yemen and in 1573 as the beylerbey of Diyarbakır (in south east Turkey).

Battles
While in Diyarbakır he was assigned to join the army during the Ottoman–Safavid War (1578–1590). His troops fought well and contributed much to the victory during the Battle of Çıldır. After the battle, he was assigned to organize the newly conquered territories in Caucasus. While establishing an effective Ottoman administration, he also had to fight against Persians who were trying to regain their losses. In 1583, he fought against a Persian army in Baştepe a location in North Caucasus ( modern Dagestan Republic of Russia) in a three days clash named Battle of Torches, (named so because the battle continued during the night). He defeated the Persian army and secured Ottoman presence in Caucasus ( modern Azerbaijan, Armenia and most of Georgia)

His next mission was dethroning the Crimean khan Mehmet II Giray who was an unreliable vassal and enthroning a new khan in which he was also successful. Then from Crimea he sailed to İstanbul, the capital where he was praised by the sultan Murat III.

Last years
In 28 May 1584 he was promoted to be the grand vizier, keeping the title the high commander of the army (serdar) Next year, he was again at the battle front. He conquered Tebriz, West Iran. But a few weeks later, he fell ill and died (29 October 1584). He was buried in Diyarbakır.