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Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE Ayas Mehmed Paşa (764 words) Ayas Mehmed (Ayās Meḥmed) Paşa (b. c. 886–7/1482, d. 946/1539) was an Ottoman statesman and grand vizier in the reign of Süleyman (Süleymān) I (r. 926–74/1520–66). Born in Himarë (Ott. Khīmāre), on the southern coast of Albania, he was recruited into the Ottoman service through the devşirme (the system of “collecting” Christian boys from villages in the Balkans and Anatolia, converting them to Islam, and training them for military or administrative functions) in the period of Bayezid (Bāyezīd) II (r. 886–918/1481–1512). The Venetian bailo Pietro Bragadin (d. 1550) describes him as an illiterate man of little intelligence who rarely speaks, but one with a bellicose disposition, full of valour “to wage war and accomplish great deeds.” (Bragadin, 104–5) Ayas Paşa’s rst signi cant post was as ağa (āghā, head) of the Janissaries. In this role, he took part in the campaigns of Selim (Selīm) I (r. 918–26/1512–20) against the Ṣafavid Shāh Ismāʿīl I (r. 907–30/1501–24) and Alaüddevle (ʿAlāʾ al-Dawla, d. 921/1515), ruler of the principality of Dulkadir (Dhū l-Qādir), in 920–1/1514–5, as well as against the Mamlūks of Syria and Egypt in 922–3/1516– 7. He appears to have been beylerbeyi (beğlerbeği, governor-general) of Anatolia at the time of Süleyman’s accession. After helping to quell the revolt of Jānbardī al-Ghazālī (d. 927/1521) in Syria (926–7/1520–1) and serving brie y as governor of Damascus, he was named beylerbeyi of Rumeli, in which capacity he fought at the siege of Rhodes (928–9/1522). Ayas Paşa was promoted to the third vizierate in 929/1523, and he became second vizier in 935/1529. While serving in these posts, he took part in Süleyman’s campaigns in Hungary (932/1526), Austria (935/1529), Germany (938/1532), and Iraq and Iran (940–2/1534–5); however, his in uence over imperial policy remained rather slight because of Grand Vizier İbrahim (Ibrāhīm) Paşa’s (d. 942/1536) complete dominance of the government from 929/1523 to 942/1536 (Fulin, 110; Ludovisi, 29). His most important undertaking in this period was to direct the peace negotiations with the Habsburg ambassador Cornelius Schepper (d. 1555) in April-June 1534, after İbrahim’s departure from Istanbul for the Iranian campaign. Following İbrahim Paşa’s execution (22 Ramazan (Ramaḍān) 942/15 March 1536), Ayas Paşa was appointed grand vizier, and he retained this post until he died of the plague in 946/1539. Some of the most important events of his tenure include the war against Venice (944–7/1537–40), the Moldavian campaign (945/1538), and the expedition against the Portuguese in India (945– 6/1538–1539), led by the governor of Egypt, Süleyman (Süleymān) Paşa (d. 954/1547). Ayas Paşa had a mosque complex built in Saray (in modern-day Tekirdağ, Turkey), for which he endowed a pious foundation. His tomb (allegedly designed by the famous architect Sinan (Sinān), d. 996/1588) is located in Istanbul, in the courtyard of the Eyüp Sultan Mosque. Ebru Turan Bibliography Rinaldo Fulin, Itinerario di ser Piero Zeno oratore a Costantinopoli nel MDXXIII, Archivio Veneto 22 (1881), 106–36 Pietro Bragadin, Sommario della relazione di Pietro Bragadin bailo a Costantinopoli letta in Pregadi a’ 9 di giugno 1526, in Eugenio Albèri (ed.), Relazioni degli ambasciatori veneti al Senato durante il XVI secolo, ser. 3 (Florence 1842–55), 3: 99–112 Daniello de’ Ludovisi, Relazione dell’impero ottomano riferita in Senato dal secretario Daniello de’ Ludovisi a di 3 giugno del1 534, in Eugenio Albèri (ed.), Relazioni degli ambasciatori veneti al Senato durante il XVI secolo, ser. 3 (Florence 1842–55), 1: 3–32 Anton von Gévay (ed.), Bericht Cornelius Duplicius Scheppers an König Ferdinand I, in Urkunden und Actenstücke zur Geschichte der Verhältnisse zwischen Österreich, Ungarn, und der Pforte im XVI. und XVI. Jahrhunderte, 3 vols. (Vienna 1838–42), 2: 27–65 Mustafa Ali, Künhü’l-ahbâr (Kunh al-akhbār), Istanbul, Nuruosmaniye Library, MS no. 3409, fols. 120b–121a Osmanzade Ahmed Taib, Hadîkatü’l-vüzerâ (Ḥadīqat al-wuzarāʾ) (Istanbul 1271/1854–5), 26–7 Hüseyin G. Yurdaydın, Kanunî’nin cülusu ve ilk seferleri, Ankara 1961 Selâhattin Tansel, Yavuz Sultan Selim, Ankara 1969 M. Cavid Baysun, Ayas Paşa, İA 2:43–7 V. P. Parry, Ayās Pasha, EI2 Semavi Eyice, Ayas Paşa Camii, TDVİA 4:203 Semavi Eyice, Ayas Paşa Türbesi TDVİA 4:204–5. Cite this page Turan, Ebru, “Ayas Mehmed Paşa”, in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE, Edited by: Kate Fleet, Gudrun Krämer, Denis Matringe, John Nawas, Devin J. Stewart. Consulted online on 12 December 2023 <http://dx.doi.org.avoserv2.library.fordham.edu/10.1163/1573-3912_ei3_COM_27607> First published online: 2017 First print edition: 9789004335707, 2017, 2017-1