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KUPRILI
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KUPRILI , spelt also KOPRILI, KOEPRULU, KEUPRULU, &C., the name of a See also:family of See also:Turkish statesmen. r. MAIIOMIIED KUPRILI (c. 1586–1661) was the See also:grandson of an Albanian who had settled at Kupri in See also:Asia See also:Minor. He began See also:life as a scullion in the imperial See also:kitchen, became See also:cook, then See also:purse-hearer to Khosrev See also:Pasha, and so, by wit and favour, See also:rose to be See also:master of the See also:horse, " pasha of two tails," and See also:governor of a See also:series of important cities and sanjaks. In 1656 he was appointed governor of See also:Tripoli; but before he had set out to his new See also:post he was nominated to the See also:grand vizierate at the instance of powerful See also:friends. He accepted See also:office only on See also:condition of being allowed a See also:free See also:hand. He signalized his See also:accession to See also:power by suppressing an enzeazte of orthodox Mussulman fanatics in See also:Constantinople (See also:Sept. 22), and by putting to See also:death certain favourites of the powerful Valide Sultana, by whose corruption and intrigues the See also:administration had been confused. A little later (See also:January 16J7) he suppressed with ruthless severity a rising of the See also:spahis; a certain Sheik Salim, See also:leader of the fanatical See also:mob of the See also:capital, was drowned in the See also:Bosporus; and the See also:Greek See also:Patriarch, who had written to the See also:voivode of Wallachia to announce the approaching downfall of See also:Islam, was hanged. This impartial severity was a foretaste of Kuprili's See also:rule, which was characterized throughout by a vigour which belied the expectations based upon his advanced years, and by a ruthlessness which in See also:time See also:grew to be almost See also:blood-lust. His See also:justification was the new life which he breathed into the decaying bones of the See also:Ottoman See also:empire. Having cowed the disaffected elements in the See also:state, he turned his See also:attention to See also:foreign enemies. The victory of the Venetians off See also:Chios (May 2, 16J7) was a severe See also:blow to the Turkish See also:sea-power, which Kuprili set himself energetically to repair. A second See also:battle, fought in the See also:Dardanelles (See also:July 17–19), ended by a lucky shot blowing up the Venetian See also:flag-See also:ship; the losses of the Ottoman See also:fleet were repaired, and in the See also:middle of See also:August Kuprili appeared off Tenedos, which was captured on the 31St and reincorporated permanently in the Turkish empire. Thus the Ottoman See also:prestige was restored at sea, while Kuprili's ruthless enforcement of discipline in the See also:army and suppression of revolts, whether in See also:Europe or Asia, restored it also on See also:land. It was, however, due to his haughty and violent See also:temper that the traditional friendly relations between See also:Turkey and See also:France were broken. The See also:French See also:ambassador, de la Haye, had delayed bringing him the customary gifts, with the See also:idea that he would, like his predecessors, speedily give See also:place to a new grand See also:vizier; Kuprili was bitterly offended, and, on pretext of an abuse of the immunities of See also:diplomatic See also:correspondence, bastinadoed the ambassador's son and See also:cast him and the ambassador himself into See also:prison. A See also:special See also:envoy, sent by See also: This was: never to pay attention to the advice ofwomen, to allow nobody to grow too See also:rich, to keep his See also:treasury well filled, and himself and his troops constantly occupied. Had he so desired, Kuprili might have taken See also:advantage of the revolts of the See also:Janissaries to place himself on the See also:throne; instead, he recommended the sultan to appoint his son as his successor, and so founded a See also:dynasty of able statesmen who occupied the grand vizierate almost without interruption for See also:half a See also:century.
2. FAZIL AHMED KUPRILI (1635–1676), son of the preceding, succeeded his See also:father as grand vizier in 1661 (this being the first instance of a son succeeding his father in that office since the time of the Chenderelis). He began life in the clerical career, which he See also:left, at the See also:age of twenty-three, when he had attained the See also:rank of muderris. Usually humane and generous, he sought to relieve the See also:people of the excessive See also:taxation and to secure them against unlawful exactions. Three years after his accession to office Turkey suffered a crushing defeat at the battle of St Gothard and was obliged to make See also:peace with the Empire. But Kuprili's See also:influence with the sultan remained unshaken, and five years later Crete See also:fell to his arms (1669). The next war in which he was called upon to take See also:part was with See also:Poland, in defence of the See also:Cossacks, who had appealed to Turkey for See also:protection. At first successful, Kuprili was defeated by the Poles under See also: He was a liberal See also:protector of See also:art and literature, and the kindliness of his disposition formed a marked contrast to the See also:cruelty of his father; but he was given to intemperance, and the cause of his death was See also:dropsy brought on by alcoholic abuse. 3. ZADE MUSTAFA KUPRILI (1637–1691), surnamed Fazil, son of Mahommed Kuprili, became grand vizier to See also:Suleiman II. in 1689. Called to office after disaster had driven Turkey's forces from Hungary and Poland and her fleets from the Mediterranean, he began by ordering strict See also:economy and reform in the taxation; himself setting the example, which was widely followed, of voluntary contributions for the army, which with the See also:navy he reorganized as quickly as he could. His See also:wisdom is shown by the prudent See also:measures which he took by enacting the See also:Nizam-ijedid, or new regulations for the improvement of the condition of the See also:Christian rayas, and for affording them See also:security for life and See also:property; a conciliatory attitude which at once See also:bore See also:fruit in See also:Greece, where the people abandoned the Venetian cause and returned to their See also:allegiance to the See also:Porte. He met his death at the battle of Salankamen in 1691, when the See also:total defeat of the Turks by the Austrians under See also:Prince Louis of See also:Baden led to their See also:expulsion from Hungary. 4. HussEiN KUPRILI (surnamed AMUJA-ZADE) was the son of See also:Hassan, a younger See also:brother of Mahommed Kuprili. After occupying various important posts he became grand vizier in 1697, and owing to his ability and energy the Turks were able to drive the Austrians back over the See also:Save, and Turkish fleets were sent into the See also:Black Sea and the Mediterranean. The efforts of See also:European See also:diplomacy succeeded in inducing See also:Austria and Turkey to come to terms by the treaty of Carlowitz, whereby Turkey was shorn of her See also:chief conquests (1699). After this event Hussein Kuprili, surnamed " the See also:Wise," devoted himself to the suppression of the revolts which had broken out in See also:Arabia, See also:Egypt and the See also:Crimea, to the reduction of the Janissaries, and to the institution of administrative and See also:financial reform. Unfortunately the intrigues against him drove him from office in 1702, and soon afterwards he died. 5. NUMAN KUPRILI, son of I\Iustafa Fazil, became grand vizier in 1710. The expectations formed Of him were not fulfilled, as although he was tolerant, wise and just like his father, he in-judiciously sought to take upon himself all the details of administration, a task which proved to be beyond his See also:powers. He failed to introduce See also:order into the administration and was dismissed from office in less than fourteen months after his See also:appointment, 6. ABDULLAH KUPRILI, a son of Mustafa Fazil Kuprili, was appointed Kaimmakam or locum tenens of the grand vizier in 1703. He commanded the See also:Persian expedition in 1723 and captured See also:Tabriz in 1725, resigning his office in 1726. In 1735 he again commanded against the Pelsians, but fell at the disastrous battle of Bagaverd, thus emulating his father's heroic death at Selankamen. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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