Abdülkerim Nadir Pasha

Who was Abdülkerim Nadir Pasha?

Abdi Pasha or Abdul Kerim Pasha was an Ottoman soldier, born in Chirpan, Stara Zagora Province, Ottoman Bulgaria. He graduated from the military academy in Istanbul and was sent to Vienna to continue his education. He was the commander of the Ottoman forces based in eastern Anatolia during the Crimean War where he led many assaults against the Russian forces based in Gyumri. He assumed the command of the fortress at Kars and won the Battle of Bayandir. But after a military failure by Ahmet Pasha, he was blamed and subsequently discharged from his position and replaced by Ahmet Pasha in January 1854. After the war he was appointed as the governor of Thessaloniki.

He was elected to the constitutional parliament in 1876 as a senator, though he retained his position in the army and dealt with several riots in Serbia in 1877. Because of his success in dealing with these riots, he was appointed as the commander of a division of the Danube forces during the Russo-Turkish War. After several command failures in this war, he was court martialed and exiled to the island of Rhodes, where he died.