Grand vizieral authority revisited: Köprülüs’ legacy and Kara Mustafa Paşa

Abstract

In response to the recently expanding ‘renewal of faith’ literature and religion-based approaches to the Ottoman seventeenth century, this article sources the many available Ottoman chronicles and European diplomatic reports to shed light on the accumulation of full executive power in the hands of Köprülü grand viziers, starting from 1656. I demonstrate that, by the time Kara Mustafa Paşa assumed the grand vizierate in 1676, the achievements of Köprülü Mehmed Paşa and, more remarkably, his son Fazıl Ahmed Paşa, had elevated the post of the grand vizierate to a practically unrivalled status in the Ottoman decision-making process. Further, I illustrate that Kara Mustafa Paşa had already established himself as a self-assured individual in Ottoman bureaucracy long before he became the grand vizier. In conclusion, the article directs readers to reconsider Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa Paşa’s ambitious undertakings – especially the siege of Vienna – as a combined outcome of the decision-making patterns established by the first two Köprülüs, coupled with the self-assurance that Kara Mustafa Paşa had attained long before his appointment as the sultan’s ‘absolute deputy’.