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{{Short description|Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (1544–1553, 1555–1561)}}
{{for|the 19th/20th Century Ottoman diplomat|Ahmet Rüstem Bey}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{family name hatnote|Rüstem|Pasha|Opuković|lang=Ottoman Turkish}}
{{more citations needed|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[Damat]]
| name = Rüstem Opuković
| honorific-suffix = [[Pasha]]
| image = Ruestem presumably.jpg
| caption =
| office1 = [[List of Ottoman Grand Viziers|32nd]] [[Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire]]
| term_start1 = 28 November 1544
| term_end1 = 6 October 1553
| monarch1 = [[Süleyman the Magnificent|Süleyman I]]
| predecessor1 = [[Hadım Süleyman Pasha]]
| successor1 = [[Kara Ahmed Pasha]]
| office2 =
| term_start2 = 29 September 1555
| term_end2 = 10 July 1561
| monarch2 = [[Suleiman the Magnificent|Süleyman I]]
| predecessor2 = [[Kara Ahmed Pasha]]
| successor2 = [[Semiz Ali Pasha]]
| office3 =
| term_start3 =
| term_end3 =
| monarch3 =
| predecessor3 =
| successor3 =
| office4 =
| term_start4 =
| term_end4 =
| monarch4 =
| predecessor4 =
| successor4 =
| succeeding =
| birth_date = {{circa|1505}}
| birth_place = [[Skradin]]<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.enciklopedija.hr/clanak/rustem-pasa-hrvat|title=Rustem-paša Hrvat | encyclopedia = [[Croatian Encyclopedia]] | publisher = [[Lexicographical Institute Miroslav Krleža]] | year = 2020}}</ref> or [[Sarajevo]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/rustem-pasa|title=RÜSTEM PAŞA – TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi|website=TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi}}</ref> or [[Makarska]] or elsewhere<ref name="Ahcil-2015-p16">{{cite web | url = https://www.academia.edu/6617807 | page = 16 | title = State and Government in the Mid-Sixteenth Century Ottoman Empire: The Grand Vizierates of Rustem Pasha (1544-1561) | first = Zahit | last = Ahcil | publisher = [[University of Chicago]] / UMI Dissertation Publishing {{!}} ProQuest LLC | year = 2015}}</ref>
| death_date = {{death date and age|1561|07|10|1505|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Ottoman Constantinople|Constantinople]], [[Ottoman Empire]] (now [[Istanbul]], Turkey)
| blank1 =
| data1 =
| party =
| spouse = {{marriage|[[Mihrimah Sultan (daughter of Suleiman I)|Mihrimah Sultan]]|1539}}
| children = [[Ayşe Hümaşah Sultan]]<br/>
Sultanzade Osman Bey
| relations = [[Sinan Pasha (Ottoman admiral)|Sinan Pasha]] (brother)
| residence =
| alma_mater =
| occupation =
| profession =
| resting_place = [[Şehzade Mosque]]
| signature =
| website =
| footnotes =
}}
'''Rüstem Pasha''' ({{IPA|tr|ɾysˈtæm pa.ʃa}}; {{langx|ota|رستم پاشا}}; {{circa}} 1505 – 10 July 1561) was an [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] statesman who served as [[Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire|Grand Vizier]] to Sultan [[Suleiman the Magnificent|Süleyman the Magnificent]]. Rüstem Pasha is also known as Damat Rüstem Pasha (the epithet ''[[damat]]'' meaning 'son-in-law') as a result of his marriage to the sultan's daughter, [[Mihrimah Sultan (daughter of Suleiman I)|Mihrimah Sultan]], in 1539. He is regarded as one of the most influential and successful grand viziers of the [[Ottoman Empire]].

Rustem Pasha was taken as a child to [[Constantinople]] (modern-day [[Istanbul]]), where he built a military and bureaucratic career under the protection of [[Roxelana|Hürrem Sultan]], Süleyman's favorite and legal wife and Mihrimah's mother. His brother [[Sinan Pasha (Ottoman admiral)|Sinan Pasha]] was an Ottoman grand admiral.

==Early life==
Rustem is referred to as a Bosnian by Tayib Osman-zade Ahmed, author of ''Hadikatul vuzara'' and the Turkish encyclopedia ''Kamus-ul-alam''.<ref name="hamdija">{{Cite web|url=http://www.ibn-sina.net/images/pdf/znakovi/82/45_Hamdija_Kre%C5%A1evljakovi%C4%87___znakovi_82.pdf|title=Hamdija Kreševljaković, Veliki vezir Rustem-paša, Znakovi Vremena • Sarajevo • 2018|page=47|website=ibn-sina.net|url-status=dead|access-date=22 November 2019|archive-date=1 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201201203949/https://ibn-sina.net/images/pdf/znakovi/82/45_Hamdija_Kre%C5%A1evljakovi%C4%87___znakovi_82.pdf}}</ref> He is also referred to as a Bosnian by the Turkish historiographer [[Mustafa Âlî]]. However, other sources suggest different Croatian, Bosnian or Serbian birthplaces.<ref name="Ahcil-2015-p16">{{cite web | url = https://www.academia.edu/6617807 | page = 16 | title = State and Government in the Mid-Sixteenth Century Ottoman Empire: The Grand Vizierates of Rustem Pasha (1544-1561) | first = Zahit | last = Ahcil | publisher = [[University of Chicago]] / UMI Dissertation Publishing {{!}} ProQuest LLC | year = 2015}}</ref> In a diplomatic contact with [[Antun Vrančić]] he called his maternal language as Croatian indicating his Croat origin.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Tunjić |first=Andrija |date=21 November 2019 |title=Mario Grčević – Hrvatski studiji postat će fakultet već ove akademske godine |url=https://www.matica.hr/vijenac/671/hrvatski-studiji-postat-ce-fakultet-vec-ove-akademske-godine-29699/ |language=hr |magazine=[[Vijenac]] |location=Zagreb |publisher=[[Matica hrvatska]] |access-date=5 September 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor=Zrinka Blažević, Anđelko Vlašić |date=2018 |title=Carigradska pisma Antuna Vrančića: Hrvatski i engleski prijevod odabranih latinskih pisama |trans-title=The Istanbul Letters of Antun Vrančić: Croatian and English Translation of Selected Latin Letters |url=http://oguzaydemir.com/CF/CD/Antun%20Vrancic.pdf |language=hr, en |location=Zagreb, Istanbul |publisher=[[HAZU]] |isbn=978-9752439061 |pages=42, 87 |quote=On another occasion, Vrančić and Zay were able to talk with Rüstem Pasha more cordially because they started to talk in Croatian language. Croatian was Vrančić's mother tongue, while Zay had learned it. Croatian was Rüstem Pasha's mother tongue too, as it is believed that he was born in a Croatian family in the vicinity of the Croatian town of Skradin. 29 29 Hammer-Purgstall, Historija, sv. 1, 465. Matković, „Putovanja po Balkanskom poluotoku“, 3. Tardy, Beyond the Ottoman Empire, 174-175. ... So, while Vrančić during the conversation instructed the interpreter on what to respond to the Pasha, the Pasha turned around to Zay: "Do you speak Croatian?" he asked. "I do", he replied. "And your colleague?" He responded: "He does too." Then he asked where he and Vrančić were from. Zay replied that he was Hungarian, while Vrančić was Dalmatian. The Pasha was astonished by the fact that Zay speaks Croatian so well.}}</ref>

Wherever he was born, Rustem Pasha was a man of very humble origins. He was forcibly recruited through the [[Devshirme|Devşirme]] system from Christian parents in the [[Balkans]] and brought to Constantinople as a child. There he studied in the [[Enderun]], an institute for the education/indoctrination of talented boys. By the time they graduated, the boys were able to speak, read and write at least three languages, were able to understand the latest developments in [[science]] and [[finance]] and were able to excel in military leadership as well as in [[close combat]] skills.

An extremely ambitious man, Rüstem owed the success of his career to the support of [[Hurrem Sultan]], the wife of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent. In 1526, he took part in the [[Battle of Mohacs]] as a [[silahdar]] (a weapon bearer in an elite cavalry division of the [[Ottoman army]]). A few years later he advanced to [[mirahur-i evvel]] ''ağa'' (chief supervisor of the sultan's stables) and then [[rikab-dar]] (the [[stirrup holder]] when the sultan mounted his horse). The [[mirahur]] accompanied the Sultan during his travels, so the Süleyman knew Rüstem for a long time before he appointed him – possibly inspired by Hürrem – to be a tutor to his sons. In making this decision, he was surely influenced by Rüstem's character. Most historical sources describe Rüstem as a calm and reasonable man with a keen intellect, who always kept a cool head, and who was devoted to his ruler.

==Political career==
Rüstem Pasha was a [[Sanjak-bey|sanjak bey]] who was promoted to become Beylerbey of [[Diyarbakir]]. By the time he married [[Mihrimah Sultan (daughter of Suleiman I)|Mihrimah Sultan]], he was already a vizier. [[Suleiman the Magnificent|Süleyman the Magnificent]] appointed him grand vizier for the first time in 1544 but in 1553 he was dismissed, only to recover the position in 1555 and hold on to it until his death in 1561.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LE9QAAAAMAAJ&q=Rustem+pasa+power|title=Architecture, Ceremonial, and Power: The Topkapi Palace in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries|last=Necipoğlu|first=Gülru|date=1991|publisher=Architectural History Foundation|isbn=9780262140508|language=en}}</ref>

As a diplomat, Rüstem initiated many trade agreements with European countries and India. His biggest success was the agreement, signed in 1547, with King [[Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor|Ferdinand I]] and the Emperor [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]], which confirmed, without firing a shot, the western border of the Ottoman Empire for more than fourteen years. Ferdinand renounced his claim to the [[Kingdom of Hungary (1526–1867)|Kingdom of Hungary]] and agreed to pay a tax of 30,000 gold ducats a year to the Ottoman treasury. The Emperor's ambassador Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq wrote that Charles tried to revise the unfavourable agreement, several times but that Rüstem always resisted. Rüstem also worked on the agreement with the [[Safavids]], which, in 1544, ended the long-standing Ottoman-Safavid wars, and secured the eastern borders of the Ottoman Empire.

In 1536 Süleyman had his grand vizier [[Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha]] executed for complicated reasons (for example, he used a seal saying 'Sultan Ibrahim' and retained most of the confiscated property of Süleyman's 'minister of finance' [[İskender Çelebi]], whose execution he ordered, etc.). Ibrahim was replaced with [[Ayas Mehmed Pasha]], followed in turn by [[Lütfi Pasha]] and [[Hadım Suleiman Pasha]]. Rüstem Pasha became Grand Vizier eight years after Ibrahim's death.

=== The death of Şehzade Mustafa ===
Later Hurrem and Rüstem conspired against the ambitious crown prince [[Şehzade Mustafa]], the son of Süleyman by [[Mahidevran|Mahidevran Hatun]], in favour of [[Şehzade Mehmed]], his son by Hürrem. Mustafa made the mistake of frequently receiving foreign ambassadors and Ottoman commanders without his father's knowledge, and was regarded by them as an important ally against Süleyman. The Austrian ambassador [[Ghiselin de Busbecq]] (visiting Mustafa before Süleyman), informed his ruler: "Mustafa will be an excellent sultan, receptive and open to talks." And the Papal ambassador Navagero said: "Mustafa lives with his mother. She says that people adore him." Understanding the danger of the situation, Süleyman remembered how his father [[Selim I]] had dethroned his grandfather [[Bayezid II]] (who was killed only a month after his abdication in 1512). Officers loyal to the sultan warned him that a part of the army was getting ready to put Mustafa on the throne. In 1552, while preparing a campaign against Persia, Süleyman appointed Rüstem [[Serasker]] (commander-in-chief) of the campaign. But soldiers assembled in the military camp in [[Karaman]] (in Central Anatolia), rejected the appointment and insisted that Rüstem should be replaced by Mustafa (as admiral of the [[Ottoman fleet]] during the Tripolis siege Rüstem's brother [[Sinan Pasha (Ottoman admiral)|Sinan Pasha]] faced much the same problem although he still won many victories before his death in 1553).

The intrigue continued. Mustafa's often-cited correspondence with the [[Safavid]]s signed 'Sultan Mustafa' (and kept today in the archives) may or may not have been relevant. It might have been authentic; it might have been a Safavid or a Hürrem-Rüstem deception, or it might have been Süleyman's attempt to calm down public opinion after Mustafa's death. Various reports describe Mustafa's death in the [[Ereğli, Konya|Ereğli]] valley. According to one, Rüstem Pasha asked Mustafa to join his father's army and at the same time warned Süleyman that Mustafa was coming to kill him. According to another, it was Süleyman himself who summoned his son to Ereğli, and Mustafa came, "confident that the army would protect him".

Only Rüstem appears as the antagonist in all the versions. Even the report of the Austrian ambassador de Busbecq, who claims to have received an account from an eyewitness, had the same origin. Suspended and banished, Rüstem was fair game for taking the blame. No one dared to criticize the Sultan himself. Probably realizing this, Süleyman recalled Rüstem to his post two years later.

Rüstem's scapegoating as the seemingly dominant figure in the 'conspiracy against Mustafa' radically changed public opinion. And so the Rüstem, who had been extolled as the 'pillar of the Ottoman Empire,' as a brilliant economist and a sophisticated statesman, was forgotten along with all his great projects and charitable foundations. Instead he became reviled as Rüstem the 'black heart, the murderer of the loved Prince Mustafa.'. Rumors spread about his 'dirty' origin and about possible bribe-taking, and he was slurred as 'the louse of fortune.'. Some foreign ambassadors, like [[Ghiselin de Busbecq]] or [[Bernardo Navagero]], repeated these slurs in their reports. However, Jean Chesneau, the secretary of the French ambassador, still wrote, 'The grand vizier is a man of humble origin who, thanks to his talent and will, worked his way up from nothing. He is an agreeable companion, engaging your interest with his acute faculty of judgment, an insightful way of thinking, and magnanimous manners. During the negotiations, he is calm and dispassionate, although in his views determined.'

Taşlıcalı Yahya Bey's elegy, the reports of ambassadors, administrative dossiers, foundation charters and some private documents like Hurrem's and Mihrimah's plea to Süleyman when Rüstem was expelled to [[Üsküdar]], are the only contemporary sources reporting on Rüstem's life. They were also the basis of the oft-cited İbrāhīm Peçevī's work 'Tārīḫ-i Peçevī', published eighty years after Rüstem's death.

==Marriage==
[[Mihrimah Sultan (daughter of Suleiman I)|Mihrimah Sultan]] was married to Rüstem, the governor of [[Diyarbakır]], in 1539.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.dailysabah.com/feature/2014/03/11/notable-life-of-mihrimah-sultan|title=Notable life of Mihrimah Sultan|work=DailySabah|access-date=2017-10-13}}</ref> By then Rüstem was already a wealthy man and had, since 1538, a splendid career as Governor of Anatolia, one of the two most important administrative regions in the Ottoman Empire, and a post seen as a stepping-stone on the way to becoming Grand Vizier. Mihrimah already knew Rüstem for as the mentor of her brothers and the adviser of her father. After their marriage, he was nominated to the vizierate in November 1544.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Casale |first=Giancarlo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xf3h3Z1YQtIC&q=Rustem&pg=PA88 |title=The Ottoman Age of Exploration |date=2010-02-25 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=9780199798797 |language=en}}</ref>

Rüstem supported Mihrimah's charitable foundations including the Mihrimah Sultan İskele Camii ([[Mihrimah Sultan Mosque (Üsküdar)|Mihrimah Sultan Mosque in Üsküdar]] where her brother-in-law [[Sinan Pasha (Ottoman admiral)|Sinan Pasha]] was buried in 1553). He was also Mihrimah's ally, particularly concerning political and financial decisions. His will offers evidence of his confidence in his wife. Rüstem and Mihrimah had a daughter, [[Ayşe Hümaşah Sultan]] (1541–1598), firstly married in 1557 to [[Semiz Ahmed Pasha]], and at least one son, Sultanzade Osman Bey (1546–1576, buried in his father's [[türbe]], in the [[Şehzade Mosque]]).

== Wealth and legacy ==
{{Unreferenced section|date=October 2022}}
[[File:Rustem Pasha Mosque.JPG|thumb|175px|[[Rüstem Pasha Mosque]]]]
As Grand Vizier, Rüstem amassed vast wealth and he was the first Grand Vizier in the history of the [[Ottoman Empire]] who contributed to the development of the state from his own funds. According to most contemporary testimonies (excluding Taşlıcalı Yahya Bey's ''[[Şehzade Mustafa]]'' ''Mersiyesi''), he was one of the few state dignitaries who didn't take bribes. He was very wealthy even before his marriage to [[Mihrimah Sultan (daughter of Suleiman I)|Mihrimah Sultan]]. In his will (a part of an endowment charter from 1561), Rüstem left a complete inventory of his property in the hope of securing his great foundation projects after his death. His testament determined exactly which part of his property belonged to the state, to his foundations, to [[Hurrem Sultan]]'s foundation and to Mihrimah's foundations, as well as what he left to his wife Mihrimah and to their daughter [[Ayşe Hümaşah Sultan]]. In an act of faith in her abilities, he nominated his wife Mihrimah Sultan as executor of his will and his daughter as the executor and administrator of his foundations.

Most historians emphasise how hard [[Rüstem]] worked to consolidate and improve the troubled economy of the Ottoman Empire which had been impoverished by excessive spending on wars and the lavish lifestyle of the court. Contemporary documents say that he also financed this upswing from his own resources. Toll-free bridges, roads, covered bazaars, granaries, baths, hospices, caravanserais, convents, schools and various other establishments were built on his lands for the public benefit. Their funding was largely secured by the leasing of Rüstem's estates. He supported agriculture, founded new trading centres, like the bazaar in [[Sarajevo]], and established silk factories in [[Bursa]] and [[Istanbul]], and assorted social and educational institutions. He developed the domestic economy by encouraging major public works projects such as water distribution systems in [[Istanbul]], [[Mecca]] and [[Jerusalem]].

He also found enough money to finance the building of the [[Süleymaniye Mosque]] (1550–57) as well as other monumental architectural projects designed by the architect [[Mimar Sinan]]. To reduce protectionism in the state administration, an official instalment fee was introduced, and confiscated when an official abused his authority. However, his reform of the military remained unfinished. At the time of his death in Constantinople on 10 July 1561, his personal property included 815 plots of land in [[Rumelia]] and [[Anatolia]], 476 mills, 1700 slaves, 2,900 war horses, 1,106 camels, 800 gold embroidery Holy Qur'ans, 500 books, 5000 [[caftan]]s, 130 pieces of armours, 860 gold embroidered swords, 1500 silver tolga (helmets), 1000 silver balls, 33 precious jewels etc.

==Death==
Rüstem Pasha died of [[hydrocephalus]] on 10 July 1561. He was buried in the [[Sehzade Mosque]] (which was dedicated to Süleyman and Hürrem's son, [[Sehzade Mehmed|Şehzade Mehmed]]) because his dream project, the [[Rüstem Pasha Mosque]], had not yet been built. His tomb sits alongside that of Şehzade Mehmed.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Yale|last2=Tonguç| first1=Pat|first2=Saffet Emre |title=Istanbul The Ultimate Guide |publisher=Boyut |year=2010 |isbn=9789752307346 |edition=1st |location=Istanbul |pages=103 |language=English}}</ref>

=== Rüstem Pasha Mosque ===
After her husband's death, Mihrimah completed his work including the construction of the eponymous [[Rüstem Pasha Mosque]] ([[Turkish language|Turkish:]] ''Rüstem Paşa Camii)'' which can be found in the Hasırcılar Çarşısı (Strawmat Weavers Market) in Tahtakale in the Fatih district of Istanbul. It was designed by the Ottoman imperial architect [[Mimar Sinan]] and built between 1561 and 1563. With its tiled interior and exterior, it is widely regarded as one of Sinan's most beautiful mosques.

Other buildings in Istanbul that bear the grand vizier's name are the Rüstem Paşa Medresesi (1550, another work of [[Mimar Sinan]]) in [[Cağaloğlu|Çağaloğlu]], and the Rüstem Paşa Han (1544–1550, also by [[Mimar Sinan]]) in [[Karaköy]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Yale |last2=Tonguç |first1=Pat |first2=Saffet Emre |title=Istanbul The Ultimate Guide |publisher=Boyut |year=2010 |isbn=9789752307346 |edition=1st |location=Istanbul |pages=222 |language=English}}</ref>

==Popular culture==
In the acclaimed Turkish television series ''[[Muhteşem Yüzyıl]] (The Magnificent Century)'', Rüstem Pasha is portrayed by actor [[Ozan Güven]].

== See also ==
* [[List of Ottoman grand viziers]]
* [[Rüstem Pasha Caravanserai (Erzurum)|Rüstem Pasha Caravanserai]], Erzurum
* [[Rüstem Pasha Caravanserai (Edirne)]], Edirne
* [[Rüstem Pasha Caravanserai (Ereğli)]], Ereğli, Konya
* [[Rüstem Pasha Medrese]], Fatih, Istanbul
* [[Rüstem Pasha Medrese (Kütahya)]]
* [[Rustem Pasha Mosque]]

== References ==

=== Footnotes ===
{{reflist}}

=== Bibliography ===
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite book |last=Lybyer|first=Albert Howe|title=The government of the Ottoman empire in the time of Suleiman the Magnificent |url=https://archive.org/details/governmentottom01lybygoog|year=1913 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |publisher=Harvard University Press |oclc=1562148}}
*{{cite book
| last = Denny
| first = Walter B.
| year = 2005
| title = Iznik: The Artistry of Ottoman Ceramics
| publisher = Thames & Hudson
| isbn = 0-500-51192-6
}}
*{{cite book
| last = Faroqhi
| first = Suraiyah
| year = 2005
| title = Subjects of the Sultan: Culture and Daily Life in the Ottoman Empire
| publisher = I B Tauris
| isbn = 1-85043-760-2
}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category-inline}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{succession box|title=[[Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire]]|before=[[Hadım Süleyman Pasha]]|after=[[Kara Ahmed Pasha]]|years=28 November 1544 – 6 October 1553}}
{{succession box|title=[[Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire]]|before=[[Kara Ahmed Pasha]]|after=[[Semiz Ali Pasha]]|years=29 September 1555 – 10 July 1561}}
{{s-end}}

{{Organisation of the Ottoman Empire}}
{{Grand Viziers of Ottoman Empire}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rustem}}
[[Category:1500s births]]
[[Category:1561 deaths]]
[[Category:Croatian Muslims]]
[[Category:Government of the Ottoman Empire]]
[[Category:Pashas]]
[[Category:Military personnel of the Ottoman Empire]]
[[Category:16th-century grand viziers of the Ottoman Empire]]
[[Category:Devshirme]]
[[Category:Suleiman the Magnificent]]
[[Category:Grand viziers of Suleiman the Magnificent]]
[[Category:Converts to Sunni Islam from Roman Catholicism]]
[[Category:Damats]]
[[Category:People from the Ottoman Empire of Croatian descent]]
[[Category:16th-century slaves in the Ottoman Empire]]

Rüstem Pasha - Revision history

imported>Aciram: added Category:16th-century slaves in the Ottoman Empire using HotCat