Gedik Ahmed Pasha
Encyclopedia
Gedik Ahmed Pasha was an Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 grand vizier as well as an army and navy commander during the reigns of sultans Mehmed the Conqueror
Mehmed II
Mehmed II , was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire for a short time from 1444 to September 1446, and later from...

 and Beyazid II.

His background remains largely unknown. Some sources claim that he was of Albanian
Albanians
Albanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Albania and neighbouring countries. They speak the Albanian language. More than half of all Albanians live in Albania and Kosovo...

 descent and others that he was of Serbian
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...

 descent. He undertook virtually all of his construction enterprises in Anatolia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...

.

Leading the Ottoman Army, he defeated the last beylik (principality) resisting Ottoman expansion in Anatolia, the Karamanids. The Karamanids had been the strongest principality in Anatolia for nearly 200 years, even stronger than the Ottomans in the latter's beginning. They effectively succeeded the Anatolian Seljuk Sultanate
Sultanate of Rûm
The Sultanate of Rum , also known as the Anatolian Seljuk State , was a Turkic state centered in in Anatolia, with capitals first at İznik and then at Konya. Since the court of the sultanate was highly mobile, cities like Kayseri and Sivas also functioned at times as capitals...

 in the amount of possessions they held, among them the city of Konya, the former Selçuk capital. Gedik Ahmed Pasha's victory against the Karamanids in 1471, conquering their territory as well as the Mediterranean coastal region around Ermenek
Ermenek
Ermenek is a town and district of Karaman Province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. According to 2000 census, population of the district is 42,643 of which 15,509 live in the town of Ermenek.-Name:...

, Mennan and Silifke
Silifke
-Antiquity:Located a few miles from the mouth of the Calycadnus River, Seleucia was founded by Seleucus I Nicator in the early 3rd century BCE, one of several cities he named after himself. It is probable that there were already towns called Olbia and Hyria and that Seleucus I merely united them...

, proved crucial for the future of the Ottomans
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

.

Gedik Ahmed Pasha also fought against Venetians in the Mediterranean and was dispatched in 1475 by the Sultan to aid the Crimean Khanate
Crimean Khanate
Crimean Khanate, or Khanate of Crimea , was a state ruled by Crimean Tatars from 1441 to 1783. Its native name was . Its khans were the patrilineal descendants of Toqa Temür, the thirteenth son of Jochi and grandson of Genghis Khan...

 against Genoese
Republic of Genoa
The Most Serene Republic of Genoa |Ligurian]]: Repúbrica de Zêna) was an independent state from 1005 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast, as well as Corsica from 1347 to 1768, and numerous other territories throughout the Mediterranean....

 forces. In Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...

, he conquered Caffa, Soldaia, Cembalo
Balaklava
Balaklava is a former city on the Crimean peninsula and part of the city of Sevastopol which carries a special administrative status in Ukraine. It was a city in its own right until 1957 when it was formally incorporated into the municipal borders of Sevastopol by the Soviet government...

 and other Genoese castles as well as the Principality of Theodoro
Principality of Theodoro
The Principality of Theodoro , also known as Gothia , was a small principality in the south-west of Crimea from the 13th through 15th centuries. Its capital was Doros, which was also sometimes called Theodoro and is now known as Mangup...

 with its capital Mangup
Mangup
Mangup also known as Mangup Kale is a historic fortress in Crimea, located on a plateau about 9 miles due east of Sevastopol . In medieval times it was known as Doros, later it was given the Kipchak name Mangup .- History :The settlement dates back to the 3rd century CE and was fortified by...

 and the coastal regions of Crimea. He rescued the Khan of Crimea, Meñli I Giray
Meñli I Giray
Meñli I Giray , also spelled as Mengli I Giray, was a khan of the Crimean Khanate and the sixth son of the khanate founder Haci I Giray....

, from Genoese forces. As a result of this campaign, Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...

 and Circassia
Circassia
Circassia was an independent mountainous country located in the Caucasus region of Eurasia and was the largest and most important country in the Caucasus. Circassia was located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea...

 entered into the Ottoman sphere of influence.

In 1479, Sultan Mehmet II ordered him to lead the Ottoman Navy in the Mediterranean Sea as part of the war against Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

 and Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

. During his campaign, Gedik Ahmed Pasha conquered the islands of Santa Maura (Lefkada)
Lefkada
Lefkada, or Leucas or Leucadia , is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea on the west coast of Greece, connected to the mainland by a long causeway and floating bridge. The principal town of the island and seat of the municipality is Lefkada . It is situated on the northern part of the island,...

, Kefalonia
Kefalonia
The island of Cephalonia, also known as Kefalonia, Cephallenia, Cephallonia, Kefallinia, or Kefallonia , is the largest of the Ionian Islands in western Greece, with an area of . It is also a separate regional unit of the Ionian Islands region, and the only municipality of the regional unit...

 and Zante (Zakynthos)
Zakynthos
Zakynthos , also Zante, the other form often used in English and in Italian , is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the third largest of the Ionian Islands. It is also a separate regional unit of the Ionian Islands region, and the only municipality of the regional unit. It covers an area of ...

. Since he had conquered Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

 in 1453, Mehmed II saw himself as the inheritor of the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

 and seriously considered the conquest of Italy to reunite Roman lands under his dynasty. As part of this plan, Gedik Ahmed Pasha was sent with a naval force to the heel of the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 peninsula.

After a failed attempt to conquer Rhodes
Siege of Rhodes (1480)
In 1480 the small Knights Hospitaller garrison of Rhodes withstood an attack of the Ottoman Empire.-Preparation:In 1470, the island of Tilos was evacuated to Rhodes because they were susceptible to attacks from the Ottoman Empire...

 from the Knights of St. John he took the harbor city Otranto in 1480. But due to lack of food, he had to return with most of his troops to Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...

 in the same year, planning to continue the campaign in 1481.

The death of Mehmed II
Mehmed II
Mehmed II , was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire for a short time from 1444 to September 1446, and later from...

 prevented this. Instead he sided with Beyazid II in the struggle for who would succeed the Sultan. However Beyazid II did not fully trust Gedik Ahmed Pasha and had him imprisoned and later killed on November 18, 1482 at Adrianople.
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