Abaza Siyavuş Pasha I

Who is Abaza Siyavuş Pasha I?

Abaza Siyavuş Pasha I was an Ottoman grand vizier.

He was of Abazin origin and a manservant of Abaza Mehmet who was a rebel leader of the Ottoman Empire in the 17th century. Upon the execution of his master, he entered the service of the palace in İstanbul. In 1638 he was promoted to be a vizier and in 1640, he was assigned as the kapudan pasha. In 1642 he was tasked with recapturing the fort of Azov from the Cossacks. But he failed. He was then assigned to various cities as the governor including Erzurum, Diyarbakır and Silistra. On 5 March 1651, he was promoted to be a grand vizier during one of the most chaotic period of the empire which usually known as sultanate of women. That period was marked with palace intrigues and he couldn't succeed to cope with palace people. On 27 September, almost a month after his appointment he was expelled from his post and he was about to be executed when the valide sultan Kösem intervaned to save his life. He was appointed as the governor of Bosnia. Although, Abaza Siyavuş was again promoted to be the grand vizier on 5 March 1656, he soon died on 25 April.