Peerless Among Princes by Kaya Sahin;

Author:Kaya ,Sahin;
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Oxford University Press USA
Published: 2022-06-15T00:00:00+00:00

The End of the Partnership: İbrahim’s Demise

İbrahim’s execution remains one of the biggest mysteries of Süleyman’s reign. Why did the sultan order the murder of his closest collaborator? Did İbrahim suspect anything when he went to the New Palace to spend the night? How did it reflect on Süleyman’s reputation to draw his grand vizier into a mortal trap? Was İbrahim strangled during his sleep, or did he fight with his executioners? Was his corpse thrown into the sea, or was he buried somewhere in Constantinople? Was the execution justified on the basis of the Sharia or the dynastic kanun? If he was buried, where is his tomb? A thick sediment of rumors and fantasies have accumulated over the centuries around these questions.

İbrahim’s reputation had been declining in the years before Süleyman’s first eastern campaign. Anti-İbrahim gossip was widespread in Constantinople. Since the early days of his grand vizierate, there had been stories about how he had undermined other officials to come to and remain in that position. Habsburg diplomats heard even more damning rumors in the first half of 1534, which claimed that İbrahim intended to deliver Süleyman to his Christian enemies; apparently, this is why he always advocated for campaigns on the European front, during which he might find a suitable occasion to do so. While the Habsburg diplomats found this difficult to believe, they felt that İbrahim had made too many enemies and could not remain grand vizier much longer.23 Guillaume Postel, who was in Constantinople with a French diplomatic mission at the time of the grand vizier’s execution, records similar speculations: İbrahim was secretly allied with Charles V; he was allied with Tahmasb; he was allied with Prince Mustafa, whom he wanted to make sultan in Süleyman’s place; he was a secret Christian.24 Like the Habsburgs, Postel found these rumors beyond belief and set out to refute them one by one in a work he published in 1560.25

Complementing the observations of the European visitors, many similar rumors are repeated in a popular work of Ottoman history completed around 1541–42. Written by an anonymous author who did not belong to the Ottoman elite, the work displays the negative image of İbrahim among the city’s middle and lower classes. İbrahim is blamed for the execution and dismissal of several officials, and their replacement by people like the second vizier Ayas, called a “bribe-taker” (rüşvethor). This popular history brims with enmity toward the grand vizier. He is described as “a mischievous man, of short stature, with the voice of a girl” (Bir kısa boylu kız avazlu fettandı). He took over the sultanate and manipulated Süleyman as he wanted.26 He had a secret agreement with the defenders of Vienna in 1529, and he tricked Süleyman to lift the siege. As they abruptly withdrew, thousands of Ottoman raiders were left behind in enemy territory, and many were killed or captured.27

These allegations about İbrahim probably reflected growing displeasure in the capital with the grand vizier’s ostentatiousness, as well as frustration with the uncertain outcomes of the military campaigns on the European front he had promoted.

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