Koca Musa Paşa

Koca Musa Pasha (usually referred to as just Musa Pasha; died 22 January 1647, near Euboea) was an Ottoman statesman. He served most prominently as Kapudan Pasha (1645–1647), Ottoman governor of Egypt (1630–1631), Ottoman governor of Budin Eyalet (1631–1634, 1637–1638, 1640–1644),

Background Musa Pasha was born into a Bosniak family and attended the Enderun palace school. On the first day of holding divan (government), he had a man's head struck off and his property confiscated, following this with the crucifixion of the son of a local sharif chief. During his governorship, Musa Pasha took on projects and plans to reform the salary system to his benefit and find methods to claim wealthy locals' inheritances.

Murder of Kitas Bey In March 1631, sultan Murad IV ordered Musa Pasha to send him troops for the expedition against Persia.

Aftermath After the sanjak-beys led by Kasım Bey held a funeral for Kitas Bey, they declared to the entire Egypt garrison that whoever would be present at Musa Pasha's Eid feast that day would be punished by death. Musa Pasha answered that he had done nothing outside the orders of the sultan but neither could he consent to any of the troops' demands.

Removal from office Eventually, the troops came to a consensus and chose to elect an acting governor, the elderly finance minister Hasan Bey. Musa Pasha immediately wrote to sultan Murad IV to inform him of the effective coup, and the troops did the same, choosing to send a petition of their grievances and justifications for their actions; the soldiers wrote in Turkish while the ulemas sent an Arabic version. Hasan Bey and the emirs demanded a large sum of money from Musa Pasha as restitution for the money he owed to the treasury, to pay for which he sold much of his animals and belongings. The sultan replied by agreeing with the troops' decision, sending Halil Pasha to take Musa Pasha's place as governor. On September 13, 1631, Halil Pasha's advisor arrived, while Hasan Bey continued to serve as acting governor until October, when Halil Pasha finally arrived.

Death Only two years after his appointment as Kapudan Pasha (grand admiral) of the Ottoman Navy, Musa Pasha died in battle with a Venetian fleet near the Greek island of Euboea in 1645 during the Cretan War (1645–69) (also known as the War of Candia or the Fifth Ottoman–Venetian War). His body was brought to the Üsküdar district of Istanbul and buried there.