Hadân Suleiman Pasha

:"For other uses, see" Suleiman Pasha (disambiguation)

Hadân Suleiman Pasha (Hadım Süleyman Paşa) ruled as the Beylerbeyi of Rumelia during the reign of Mehmed II.

The cognomen 'Hadım', for Suleiman Pasha, in Turkish means eunuch and it is reported that he was a eunuch. [Angiolello, Giovanni Maria, Turkish History] In 1474, he besieged the Iskenderiye fortress (Shkodër), now in Albania — back then under Venetian control. The fortress was defended by one Antonio Loredano. The Ottoman troops managed to damage parts of the fortress, but ultimatelly failed [Orudj bin Adil, The Chronicles of the House of Osman] and Suleiman had to satisfy himself with his pillage. [Hoca Sadeddin Efendi, Crown of Histories] He was then ordered to march against Moldavia, as Stephen the Great refused to pay homage to the Sultan. Suleiman was reluctant in marching against Moldavia, as his troops were exhausted from the failed siege and as winter was approaching, but he couldn't dare to question the Sultan's decision. [Hoca Sadeddin Efendi, Crown of Histories] In December 1474, he began his march from Sofia to Moldavia with troops numbering up to 120,000, and, on January 10, 1475, confronted Stephen at the Battle of Vaslui. His Ottoman forces suffered a major defeat with casualties rising up to 45,000.

Footnotes

References

* Angiolello, Giovanni Maria. "Turkish History" ("Historia Turchesca").
* Orudj bin Adil, "The Chronicles of the House of Osman" ("Tevarikh-i al-i Osman")
* Hoca Sadeddin Efendi, "Crown of Histories" ("Tadj al-tevarikh")