Jezzar Pasha

Ahmed Pasha al-Jazzar (, c. 1720–30s7 May 1804) was the Acre-based Ottoman governor of Sidon Eyalet from 1776 until his death in 1804 and the simultaneous governor of Damascus Eyalet in 1785–1786, 1790–1795, 1798–1799, and 1803–1804. Having left his native Bosnia as a youth, he began a military career in Egypt in the service of mamluk officials, eventually becoming a chief enforcer for Ali Bey al-Kabir, Egypt's strongman ruler. Al-Jazzar fell out with Ali Bey in 1768 after refusing to take part in the assassination of another of his former masters. He fled to Syria, where he was tasked by the Ottomans with defending Beirut from a joint assault by the Russian Navy and Daher al-Umar, the Acre-based ruler of northern Palestine. He eventually surrendered and entered Daher's service before defecting from him.

After the Ottomans eliminated Daher, they appointed al-Jazzar as their garrison commander in Acre. He pacified the Galilee and Mount Lebanon, which had been dominated by Daher's kinsmen and the Druze forces of Yusuf Shihab, respectively. In 1776, he was appointed governor of Sidon with his capital at Acre, which he strongly fortified. In the following years, he defeated his erstwhile Shia Muslim ally, Nasif al-Nassar, consolidating his control over Jabal Amil (southern Lebanon). In 1785, al-Jazzar was appointed to his first of four terms as governor of Damascus, each time gaining more influence in the province's affairs in opposition to his rivals from the Azm family. In 1799, with the help of the British navy, al-Jazzar defended Acre from Napoleon, forcing the latter to withdraw from Palestine in disarray. His successful defense of Acre earned him prestige in the empire and made him well known in Europe.

Al-Jazzar died in office in 1804. He was ultimately succeeded in Acre by his mamluk Sulayman Pasha al-Adil; until his suppression of a mamluk revolt in 1789, al-Jazzar had appointed mamluks to senior posts in his military and administration. Al-Jazzar attempted to develop the areas under his control by improving road security and maintaining order. However, his domestic military expeditions and stringently enforced and exploitative taxation policies precipitated high emigration, although the cities of Acre and Beirut prospered. The former became a powerful regional center rivaling Damascus and until today contains many architectural works commissioned by al-Jazzar, such as its walls, the el-Jazzar Mosque and the Khan al-Umdan caravanserai.

Early life and career

Origins Al-Jazzar (possibly born 'Ahmed Pervan') was a Bosniak. He was born to a poor family in the Sanjak of Herzegovina. Native writers from Bosnia and Herzegovina hold that he was born in Fatnica to the Bosniak Pervan family, and thus claim that Ahmed Pervan was his birth name. Kosta Hörmann, founder and first editor of the Gazette of the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in his study of folk tales of the Bosniaks of Herzegovina, noted that the "old folk" of Stolac claimed that Ahmed was a Pervan from Fatnica. Hörmann noted that Ahmed likely never disclosed information about his family himself One source lists the year of his birth as 1720, but Philipp believes it is more likely that he was born in the 1730s.

At the age of 20, In al-Jazzar's biography by Volney in Voyage, al-Jazzar fled Bosnia at the age of 16 because he raped his sister-in-law, while in Olivier's account, al-Jazzar fled at age 17 after stabbing a woman who did not accede to his desires. According to Olivier, he then began work as a sailor and drifted throughout Anatolia before selling himself to a Turkish slave trader. Al-Jazzar subsequently converted to Islam in Egypt.

Service with the Mamluks of Egypt

In 1756, al-Jazzar departed Constantinople for Egypt with Hekimoğlu Ali Pasha as a barber in his entourage. Hekimoğlu Ali Pasha had been appointed beylerbey (governor) of Egypt Eyalet and al-Jazzar became a member of his household, serving Hekimoğlu Ali Pasha in the citadel. and al-Jazzar subsequently entered into Salih Bey's service. between 1760 and 1766.

During his time in Abdullah Bey's service, al-Jazzar learned how to speak Arabic, learned the skills and knowledge of the Mamluks and adopted their dress. When Abdullah Bey was later killed in an attack by Bedouin tribesmen, al-Jazzar decided to avenge his death. He proceeded to set a trap for the Bedouin and ambushed them, However, the respect and admiration he gained from the Mamluks of Egypt for his loyalty to his Mamluk master and the revenge he took on the Bedouin for his death earned him a welcome into the Mamluk ranks.

Early career in Syria Information about al-Jazzar between 1768 and 1770 is unclear; On 18 June, the Russians began to bombard Beirut, but Emir Yusuf paid them to end their assault on 28 June. Fearing that Daher would occupy Beirut, Emir Yusuf requested al-Wakil bolster Beirut's defenses. In response, al-Wakil dispatched al-Jazzar with a force of Maghrebi soldiers and appointed him muhafiz (garrison commander) of Beirut. Al-Jazzar upgraded Beirut's fortifications. However, instead of defending Emir Yusuf's authority, al-Jazzar used Beirut as his own power base, justifying his presence as being in defense of the Ottoman Empire.

Emir Yusuf rallied his Druze forces to dislodge al-Jazzar, but the latter was able, through bribes, to manipulate the deeply factional Druze clans against each other and stave off Emir Yusuf's attempts. Emir Yusuf then sought to form an alliance with Daher to oust al-Jazzar, Al-Jazzar initially refused to surrender despite the heavy naval bombardment. However, after the Russians managed to land artillery pieces near Beirut and cut the city off by land, al-Jazzar decided to surrender to Daher, Al-Jazzar entered into Daher's service, and the latter dispatched al-Jazzar and his men to help collect the miri (taxes designated for the annual Hajj caravan) from the area between Jaffa and Jerusalem. There, he used his charisma to gain the favor of sultans Mustafa III (r. 1757–1774) and Abdul Hamid I (r. 1774–1789). Later, in September, Sultan Abdul Hamid I appointed al-Jazzar muhafiz of Acre, According to historian William Harris, "al-Jazzar aimed to make himself indispensable, while respecting Ottoman sovereignty." Indeed, al-Jazzar's official justification for relocating the province's headquarters to Acre was to eliminate the remnants of Daher's realm still active in the city's hinterland. Meanwhile, Hasan Kapudan returned to Acre in the summer of 1776, To support Sayyid-Ahmad and Afandi's appointment, al-Jazzar departed for Beirut with his troops and from there he besieged Emir Yusuf at Jubail. During the months after Emir Yusuf was restored, he proceeded to eliminate many of his relatives, who were potential rivals to the emirate, and felt secure enough to withhold tax payments to al-Jazzar. As a consequence, al-Jazzar launched a punitive expedition against the Druze, which succeeded in deposing Emir Yusuf, albeit temporarily. In 1780, Nasif backed al-Jazzar in a military confrontation with al-Jazzar's principal regional enemy at the time, Muhammad Pasha of Damascus. Al-Jazzar dispatched one of his senior mamluk commanders, Salim Pasha al-Kabir, with 3,000 troops against Nasif and his Ali al-Saghir al-Wa'il clan. Al-Jazzar also managed to have one of his senior mamluks and treasurer, Salim Pasha al-Kabir, appointed wali of Sidon in his place, and another of his senior mamluks, Sulayman Pasha, appointed wali of Tripoli. On 8 May, al-Jazzar became aware of sexual relations between a number of his mamluks and women from his harem. On 9 May, al-Jazzar proceeded to purge his mamluks, arresting many, a number of whom were then executed, with the assistance of 30 Bosnian soldiers. In a last-ditch attempt to bolster Acre's defenses, al-Jazzar gathered and armed all of the city's government laborers and masons. and the end of the mamluks as a military institution during al-Jazzar's rule. This came following a revolt by imperial Janissaries from the Citadel of Damascus led by Ahmad Agha al-Za'faranji and aghawat (local commanders) from the southern quarter of al-Midan against Ibrahim Deli, which the latter was able to suppress. However, unlike his first term, al-Jazzar chose to remain in Acre and appointed one of his close advisers, Muhammad Agha, as mutasallim or qaimaqam (deputy governor) of Damascus to administer the internal affairs of the province on his behalf. The aghawat of al-Midan had likely joined the calls to dismiss al-Jazzar in 1786 due to the immediate financial harm they experienced with the establishment of the grain monopoly. on orders from al-Jazzar, and confiscated his properties. Dozens or hundreds of Damascenes, including numerous city notables, Muslim scholars and aghawat were executed during al-Jazzar's second term. Among the Muslim scholars who died in custody were three Hanafi muftis, who became the target of an uprising. Al-Jazzar was ultimately appointed to a post akin to caretaker governor of Damascus and his troops subsequently restored order in the city. where eventually laid siege to Jaffa. Jaffa was defended by al-Jazzar's troops, but they surrendered during the siege in return for French promises that they would not be killed. However, in custody al-Jazzar's troops were not given food or shelter, and after several days French forces marched them, 3,000 to the sand dunes of Jaffa's shore and executed them by bayonet over the course of several days. Al-Jazzar commanded his troops in Acre and personally scaled the town's walls and engaged in direct fighting with French soldiers. With access to the sea largely unfettered, he was able to secure supplies and reinforcements. specifically two men-of-war ships, also came to al-Jazzar's aid and bombarded Bonaparte's trenches through the course of the siege, and were "spared further military embarrassment" by al-Jazzar's successful defense of Acre, according to historian Bruce Masters. Al-Jazzar's victory significantly boosted his prestige. Mass celebrations in Damascus and Aleppo followed his victory,

Following Napoleon's withdrawal, al-Jazzar requested from the Sublime Porte to be appointed commander-in-chief of Egypt and lead the Ottoman reconquest of the province. Sultan Selim III's military advisers considered al-Jazzar's request, but ultimately decided that appointing al-Jazzar to Egypt would only empower him further and make him difficult to remove from the province. In defiance of the Sublime Porte, al-Jazzar sought to oust Abu Maraq and immediately besieged Jaffa, which al-Jazzar considered to be of immense strategic importance to his rule in Acre despite the city being in the jurisdiction of the Damascus Eyalet. Consequently, the Ottomans issued a firman condemning al-Jazzar as a rebel. Al-Jazzar assigned Shaykh Taha al-Kurdi and his Kurdish units to oversee Damascus on his behalf. Al-Jazzar also launched another siege against the Jarrar sheikhs of Sanur, but was again unable to oust them. Al-Jazzar had Sulayman Pasha command the Hajj caravan of 1803–04 as amir al-hajj in his place. Al-Jazzar died on 7 May 1804. Prior to the dissolution of his mamluk household in 1789, mamluks served as al-Jazzar's personal bodyguards and political advisers, as well as his subordinate administrators in the other cities and areas of his realm. Al-Jazzar had an emotional attachment to his mamluks and when his first mamluk, Salim Pasha al-Kabir, died in 1786 from the plague, al-Jazzar "cried like a child", according to the French consul in Acre. At one point, al-Jazzar dismissed and arrested Farhi and had his eye gouged, and his ears and nose cut. In effect, they became responsible for running prisons and carrying out the torture and execution of individuals. The unit commanders were also typically from the same ethnic origin as the rest of the unit and were better placed to ensure a level of intra-unit discipline. Al-Jazzar also owned three trading ships that routinely traveled between Acre and Damietta, a port city in Egypt. Al-Jazzar acquired his income from a variety of means, namely taxes, commerce, tolls and extortion. He successfully suppressed marauding Bedouin tribes and thus increased security and maintained order in his territories. Commenting on his method of rule, al-Jazzar wrote "In order to govern the people of this land, one cannot be too severe. But if I strike with one hand, I recompense with the other. This is how I maintained for thirty years, in spite of everybody, complete possession of all [the land] between the Orontes and the estuary of the Jordan". According to Olivier, al-Jazzar would have "constantly enormous pots of rice in his palace for the destitute and the old" and had "money distributed to them every week with the greatest regularity". French Orientalist Pierre Amédée Jaubert visited Acre in 1802 and wrote that al-Jazzar maintained a well-guarded prison whose doors he kept open so that residents could view the incarcerated prior to their torture or execution.

According to the contemporary chronicler Mikha'il Mishaqah, "even in the worst of his infamy, he maintained equal treatment of his subjects of different religions, for he would imprison Muslim ulema, Christian priests, Jewish rabbis and Druze elders alike." However, unlike during Daher's reign when Muslims and Christians lived harmoniously, al-Jazzar did not attempt to put a stop to incidents of harassment against Christians in Nazareth by Muslim peasants who entered the town during Friday prayers. Following the French occupation and withdrawal from Palestine in 1799, local Muslim anger was directed at local Christians, with the Catholics of Ramla in particular being killed, plundered and forced to flee. Al-Jazzar did not make an effort to end these attacks and instead took advantage of popular anger to order attacks against the Christians of Nazareth and Jerusalem.