![]() ![]() ![]() In 1659 he had become a governor of Silistria and subsequently held a number of important posts. As the Franco-allied wars ended, a preferential treatment of the Dutch became useless, and, as a result, Mustafa's relationship with Colyer grew troubled. He dealt differently with the Dutchmen for political reasons, and this resulted in Colyer's more positive account of him. Orlon explains that he worked to maintain the House of Osman's supremacy in their own territories, clashing with ambitious foreign ministers. Merlijn Orlon noted that his bad reputation doesn't do him justice. Even though his adoptive siblings also imposed notable avanias, their reputation with Europeans was not as bad. Later accounts by Giovanni Morosini di Alvise, Venetian bailo of Istanbul from 1675 to 1680, speak of a man "born in an obscure place of Asia, in Trebisonda, to castigate the nations," and describe him as "wholly venal, cruel and unfair." The English ambassador to Istanbul John Finch also describes him as greedy, and a "grievous oppressor of Christendom." He was particularly "unbearable to Europeans", especially for the heavy taxes he imposed (a "stream of avanias in the years 1676-1683"). Europeans who met him (with few exceptions, such as Colyer, who initially described him as a man of "most agreeable nature") variously described him as greedy, humorous but terse, avid, intransigent, perfidious, covetous, unwilling to accept bribes yet concerned with improving his own well-being, and completely devoted to the Ottoman state. He conformed to the Islamic custom of not wearing silk, and never wore silver or gold, which was a largely unenforced requirement. An account by a contemporary who visited his household, Claudio Angelo di Martelli, reports of three sons who survived his death: Yusuf, Mehmed, and the youngest Ali. According to another contemporary report by Giovanni Benaglia, secretary of the Austrian ambassador in Istanbul, he divorced his "beloved Köprülü princess" after their engagement and after they had many children, and gave her to a French renegade, one of his favorites. He had four concubines (Fatma, Emine, Ayşe, Zeynep), and by them at least two sons, Yusuf and Mehmed. A contemporary French account says he had two children with the little Köprülü princess, who both died young, and that his wife died shortly after their death, at 31. It is said that while growing up, differently from his adoptive Köprülü brothers, he disliked alcohol, as well as Europeans and other non-Muslims. ![]() He then entered the household of the Sultan as mirahor-i-sani ( master of the horse). Within the household's inner service ( enderun), he held the positions of letter-carrier ( telhisci, or assistant to the grand vizier) to Köprülü Mehmed Pasha, and of silahdar (armourer). How he entered the family and the details of his marriage are unclear. Possibly as a way to increase his possibilities to start an administrative career, he was introduced into the Köprülü household, where he was educated by Köprülü Mehmed Pasha, and married into the Köprülü family. His father is said to have served under Köprülü Mehmed Pasha. He was born in the village of Mirince/Marınca near Merzifon (now called Karamustafapaşa after him), the son of a sipahi, cavalry man. However, he was brought up in the Köprülü family, of Albanian origin. Kara Mustafa Pasha was of Turkish origin. The Ottoman northern frontier in the seventeenth century, where Kara Mustafa Pasha led his early campaigns. ![]()
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