A BOSNIAK: THE GREATEST WAQIF OF PALESTINE AND THE FIRST WHO DEFEATED NAPOLEON

In today's Palestine we have, besides a collective waqf, waqf of seven Bosniaks from the Ottoman period: Deli Husrev-pasha Sokolović, Damat Rustem-pasha Opuković, Behram-pasha Sokolović, Javuz Ali-pasha Malkoč the Bosniak, Ahmed-pasha Rizvanović Sokolović, Musa­-pasha Rizvanović Sokolović, Jazzar Ahmed-pasha the Bosniak. Certainly, the most significant and the greatest Bosniak waqfs in Palestine are those which were commissioned by Jazzar Ahmed-pasha the Bosniak (c. 1730–1804) in Akka, a city in the north of Palestine.

Ahmed-pasha was most probably born at Fatnica near Bileća, in the Muslim family of the Pervans. At the age of 18 he went to Istanbul, where he worked as a barber for several years and then, in 1757, entered the service of famous Ali-pasha Hećimović (Hekimoglu), then the new vali of Egypt, and went to Cairo with him. He there joined Mamlucs, a military class of freed slaves who dominated the Egyptian political scene. He stayed in Egypt until 1768, and from 1768 to 1772 he lived in Anatolia, Antakya, Sham and again in Egypt. He arrived in Sham in 1772, when his prosperous career began, mostly due to the fact that in this crisis period for the Ottoman Empire he always acted on behalf of the Ottomans. Thus, in 1775, he was granted the title of pasha and the sanjak-bey of Acre, a sanjak in Sidon Eyalet. The following year, 1776, he also became a wali of the whole Sidon Eyalet. He immediately moved his seat of power from Sidon to Acre. His governance over Sidon Eyalet lasted uninterruptedly until his death in 1804 (in periods 1782–1783, 1784–1788, 1790–1795, 1798–1799, 1803–1804 his officers governed the Sidon Eyalet in his name). As many as five times, for a total of 12 years, he was also the wali of Damascus (1782–1783, 1784–1788, 1790–1795, 1798–1799, 1803–1804). During almost the whole period of governance in Acre he also governed the Tripoli Eyalet through his representative.

 During Napoleon's invasion on Egypt and Sham in 1798–1799, as the most powerful and the most capable governor on a wide area, Ahmed-pasha was simultaneously the serasker (supreme commander) of Egypt and Sham, the commander (emir) of Sham hajji caravan, sanjak-bey of Jerusalem, begler-bey of Damascus, Sidon, Tripoli and Egypt. It was then that he defeated Napoleon at Acre in 1799. Ahmed-pasha thus became well-known as the first man who defeated Napoleon, and in this way saved the Ottoman Empire from certain capitulation. How important Ahmed-pasha's victory was at the global level is confirmed by Napoleon himself, who described, in 1805, what would have happened if he had been able to conquer Acre in 1799: “I would have put on a turban, dressed my soldiers in large Turkish pants and exposed them to battle only in cases of extreme urgency. I would have made them the Holy Battalion - my Immortals. I would have finished the war with Turks with the help of Arabic, Greek and Armenian troops. Instead of the battles in Moravia I would have won the Battle of Lissa, made myself the tsar of the East and returned to Paris via Constantinople” (Napoleon, 49).

Ahmed-pasha the Bosniak invested a lot into development of Acre economy. His almost thirty-year-long governance of Acre is considered its golden age in economic, military and architectural sense. Thus, during his governance, Acre was the largest Sham port, the third city by size and economic power in whole Sham, after Halep and Damascus, the military and political center of Sham and its best fortified city. Acre has been nicknamed Medinetul-Yazzar (Yazzar's city) exactly because of Ahmed-pasha's credit.

Ahmed-pasha is the greatest waqif of both Acre and Ottoman Palestine. He was personally interested in architecture and civil engineering, made building plans, drew designs and oversaw building. He modernized and expanded fortification of Acre, commissioned an aqueduct and a new water supply system, Han Umdan (the biggest and the best-preserved caravanserai in Palestine), the domed market, Big Hammam, shadirvani, madrasa, library, mausoleum, three mosques, 15 fountains, a divanhana (palace), shops, warehouses, hammams, mills, coffee houses, bakeries, waqf houses, city parks, army barracks etc. His mosque Nur Ahmedija is the biggest Ottoman mosque in Palestine, and the third biggest mosque in Palestine, after El-Aksa in Jerusalem (Masjid el-Aksa) and the Ibrahim Mosque (El-Harem el-Ibrahimi) in Hebron. According to some, it is the most beautiful mosque in Palestine.

Ahmed-pasha renewed and expanded fortification of Beirut. He was buried in the mausoleum next to his Nur Ahmedija.

References:

• Napoleon Bonaparte, On Religions, The Mind of Napoleon: A Selection from His Written and Spoken Words, ed. J. Christopher Herold, Columbia University Press, New York, 1955, p. 49.