Death of Etmekjí Zádeh Ahmed Páshá.
We lately left this man chagrined and sick, because of the repeated disappointments which he had met with. On his first appearance in public life he was employed as a collector of taxes at Adrianople, and by degrees rose to one of the most important offices in the state, that of lord high treasurer: which office he held for several years, till he was created káímakám of Constantinople. When Oghuz Mohammed Páshá, the emperor’s son-in-law, was deposed, and Khalíl Páshá, lord high admiral of the fleet, succeeded him in the premiership, Etmekjí Zádeh felt as if he had been neglected because that office had not been conferred on himself. When this same minister went afterwards on the expedition against the Persians, Etmekjí thought and expected he would again be made deputy of the Sublime Porte; but the appointment of Súfí Mohammed Páshá to this office showed him his expectations had been vain. The consequence was, that he became sorrowful and dangerously ill. His illness increased with his grief, and after giving a hundred yúks of money for the purpose of repairing the fortress of Uzí, and for erecting a fortification at Kilbúrún on the opposite side, and nominating the reverend mufti his executor for paying such sums of money as he had appropriated for pious purposes, he died about the beginning of the following year. A thousand yúks of money which had not been disposed of before his death were appropriated to the imperial coffers. He was interred in the tomb of the honourable Mahmúd Effendí of Scutari, who had performed the funeral service in Báyazíd’s mosque. A school in Constantinople, an inn in Adrianople, an unfinished edifice, besides several other buildings for benevolent purposes, are monuments of his generosity. He was one of the most celebrated men of his day.
On the state of the coin.
About the commencement of the month of Moharrem of this year a firmán was issued to coin new silver coin and the piece of ten aspres, and Beker Effendí, the second defterdár, was made inspector of the mint. By means of a sum of ten purses of gold he established other mints in other parts of the empire. After a certain time had elapsed, the new coin was ordered to be put in circulation, and the old condemned. The new coin having been discovered to be deficient, however, the old, which possessed full weight, was again allowed to come into use.
The seals of the premiership are again conferred on Mohammed Páshá, the emperor’s son-in-law.
Súfí Mohammed Páshá was, at the time of Sultán Osmán Khán’s inauguration, deputy of the Sublime Porte; but for some mismanagement of which he had been guilty at the ceremonies which took place on that occasion, and for the vast treasures he, for want of judgment, had expended at that time, was disgraced and turned out of office, and Mohammed Páshá, the emperor’s son-in-law, was made káímakám in his stead. The reverend mufti, who had been implicated in the affair of the late deputy, Súfí Mohammed Páshá, was removed by the emperor from being head of religion and science, whilst that distinguished honour was conferred on his own chaplain, Omar Khoaja: the reverend mufti, Isaád Effendí, retaining only the prerogative of issuing fetvás. About the beginning of the month of Sefer this year, Khalíl Páshá, in consequence of the want of skill and good generalship which he had manifested in the late war with the Persians, was formally deposed, and the káímakám or deputy of the Sublime Porte, Mohammed Páshá, the emperor’s son-in-law, was created grand vezír in his stead. When Khalíl Páshá reached Scutari on his way back, he was presented with the government of Syria, which, however, he declined: he preferred retiring with two domestics into a cell in Mohammed Effendí’s convent, alleging that he was an old man of the poor and indigent ancient sheíkhs, and wished for no new preferment. By Mohammed Effendí’s intercession in his behalf, however, his fault was overlooked.
The arrival of a Persian ambassador.
In the month of Jemadi I., the Persian ambassador, Búrún Kásim, sometimes called Kásim Beg, but in his credentials, Alí Sultán Khalífeh, arrived at Scutari with one hundred loads of silk, four elephants, and one rhinoceros, with other gifts for the emperor of the Ottomans. From Scutari he passed over to the imperial city, and was lodged in the palace of Pertev Páshá. His letter to the emperor specified, in all its various ramifications, the treaty signed by Khalíl Páshá.