Abaza Pasha (d. 1634)

Abaza Pasha was an Ottoman official of the Abaza family, a name the encyclopaedia gives as the Turkish form for the Abazes, a people of the Caucasus. He was executed on 29 Safar 1044/24 August 1634. The encyclopaedia's entry on the family is signed by Cl. Huart. ¹

He was taken prisoner after the defeat of the rebel Djanbulad, whose treasurer he had been. Murad Pasha had him brought before him, and his life was spared through the intercession of Khalil, agha of the Janissaries, who later became kapudan pasha and gave him a galley. When Khalil became grand vizier, he gave Abaza the government of Marash, and later Abaza became governor of Erzurum. There he planned to destroy the Janissaries, who complained of him, and in 1032/1623 he was deposed but refused the order. He raised taxes and troops on the pretext of avenging the murder of the sultan 'Uthman II, marched on Ankara and Siwas, and took Bursa. ¹

The grand vizier Hafiz Pasha defeated him near Kayseri, at the bridge over the Kara-su, after the defection of Tayyar Pasha and the Turkomans. Abaza withdrew to Erzurum and obtained the governorship on condition that a Janissary guard be admitted to the fortress. In 1036/1627 he suspected that an expedition against Akhiska was aimed at himself, and he massacred many Janissaries in the army. The next year the grand vizier Khusrew Pasha besieged him and forced his surrender after a fortnight, and he was pardoned. He persecuted his enemies again, was deposed, went to Belgrade, and built the Abaza Koshki there. He was later sent to Widdin and commanded troops that invaded Poland in 1633. Murad IV honoured him, but reports against him estranged the sultan, who had him executed. ¹