Famous Ottoman court poet active during the reigns of Meḥmed II and Bāyezīd II. Born probably in
Edirne (Adrianople), Aḥmed Paşa was the son of the
ḳāḍī ʿaskerVelīyyü’d-dīn b. İlyās. He served as mudarris at the madrasa of
Murād II in Bursa, and as ḳāḍī of Edirne. After the ascension of Meḥmed II, he became ḳāḍī ʿasker, the ruler’s tutor, and finally,
vizier. After his fall from grace with the sultan, Aḥmed Paşa was briefly in
custody, or possibly imprisoned. He was later pardoned and appointed as mütevellī of the madrasas of Orḫān and Murād in
Bursa. He subsequenty served as
sancaḳ beyi of Sultanönü, Tire and Ankara. After
the ascension of Bāyezīd II,
he was appointed as sancaḳ beyi of Bursa. He died in Bursa in 902 AH [1496-1497 CE]. Aḥmed
Paşa’s fame and poetry spread all through Anatolia, Rumelia and beyond during his lifetime. He was imitated by many 15th century [1400-1499 CE] and
16th century [1500-1599 CE]
poets. Bibliographical dictionaries describe him as the greatest Ottoman poet to
have lived between the days of Şeyḫī and
Necātī.
Compiled upon the order of Bāyezīd II,
Aḥmed Paşa’s Dīvān includes
laudatory poetry for Bāyezīd II,
Meḥmed II, and Cemʿ Sulṭān. In addition to his
poems in Turkish, Aḥmed Paşa
also has poems in Arabic and Persian, as well as a couplet in Greek.
