Jazzar Pasha

rdf:langString Jazzar Pasha

rdf:langString Ahmad Pasha al-Jazzar

rdf:langString أحمد باشا الجزّار

rdf:langString جزّار أحمد پاشا

rdf:langString Ahmad Pasha al-Jazzar

rdf:langString أحمد باشا الجزّار

rdf:langString جزّار أحمد پاشا

rdf:langString Acre

rdf:langString Portrait of Jazzar Pasha, 1775

rdf:langString Abdul Hamid I

rdf:langString Selim III

rdf:langString Wali of Damascus

rdf:langString Wali of Sidon

rdf:langString Abdullah Pasha al-Azm

rdf:langString Husayn Pasha Battal

rdf:langString Abdullah Pasha al-Azm

rdf:langString April 1804

rdf:langString May 1777

rdf:langString October 1790

rdf:langString March 1785

rdf:langString Wali of Damascus

rdf:langString Wali of Sidon

rdf:langString Ahmad Pasha al-Jazzar (Arabic: أحمد باشا الجزّار; Ottoman Turkish: جزّار أحمد پاشا; ca. 1720–30s – 7 May 1804) was the Acre-based Ottoman governor of Sidon Eyalet from 1776 until his death in 1804 and the simultaneous governor of Damascus Eyalet in 1785–1786, 1790–1795, 1798–1799, and 1803–1804. A Bosniak of obscure origins, he began his military career in Egypt in the service of various mamluk officials, eventually becoming a chief enforcer and assassin for Ali Bey al-Kabir, Egypt's practical ruler. He gained the epithet of al-Jazzar (the Butcher) for his deadly ambush on a group of Bedouin tribesmen in retaliation for the death of his master in a Bedouin raid. Al-Jazzar fell out with Ali Bey in 1768 after refusing to take part in the assassination of one of his former masters. He ultimately fled to Syria, where he was tasked with defending Beirut from a joint assault by the Russian Navy and Zahir al-Umar, the Acre-based ruler of northern Palestine. He eventually surrendered and entered Zahir's service before defecting from him and fleeing with stolen tax money. After the Ottomans defeated and killed Zahir, they appointed al-Jazzar as their garrison commander in Acre. He set about pacifying the Galilee and Mount Lebanon, which were dominated by Zahir's kinsmen and the Druze forces of Yusuf Shihab, respectively. In 1776 or 1777, he was appointed governor of Sidon, but relocated the provincial capital to Acre, which he strongly fortified. In the following years, he defeated his erstwhile Shia Muslim ally, Nasif al-Nassar, consolidating his control over Jabal Amil (modern southern Lebanon). In 1785, al-Jazzar was appointed to his first of four terms as governor of Damascus, each time gaining more influence in the province's affairs in opposition to his rivals from the Azm family. In 1799, with the help of the British navy, al-Jazzar defended Acre from Napoleon, forcing the latter to withdraw from Palestine in disarray. His successful defense of Acre earned him prestige in the empire and made him well known in Europe. Al-Jazzar died in office in 1804. He was ultimately succeeded in Acre by his mamluk Sulayman Pasha al-Adil; until his suppression of a mamluk revolt in 1789, al-Jazzar had appointed mamluks to senior posts in his military and administration. Al-Jazzar attempted to develop the areas under his control by improving road security and maintaining order. However, his domestic military expeditions and stringently enforced and exploitative taxation policies precipitated high emigration, although the cities of Acre and Beirut prospered. The former became a powerful regional center rivaling Damascus and until today contains many architectural works commissioned by al-Jazzar, such as its walls, the el-Jazzar Mosque and the Khan al-Umdan caravanserai.