The mausoleum of the Çandarlı family in Iznik

The Çandarlı family (Ottoman Turkish: چاندارلی عائله سی; Turkish: Çandarlı ailesi) was a prominent Turkish political family which provided the Ottoman Empire with five grand viziers during the 14th and 15th centuries. At the time, it was the second most important family after the Ottoman dynasty itself.

Background and history

In contrast to other European monarchies, aside from the Ottoman dynasty, the Ottoman Empire had no aristocracy. There was no difference between the noble birth and the humble birth and everybody had equal chance to reach high ranks. The only prerequisite for an official appointment was conversion to Islam. However, families like the Çandarlı (or, for example, the Köprülü) were able to gain favor with the royal family, creating multi-generational political dynasties and amassing large amounts of wealth.

The roots of the family can be traced back to the village of Çandar (now called Cendere, part of Ankara Province, Turkey) in Central Anatolia. The family was of Turkoman nomadic Turkish origin.[1] After the foundation of the Ottoman beylik (the precursor to the Ottoman Empire), the family settled in İznik (ancient Nicaea; today in Bursa Province, Turkey).[2] They were the members of Ahi tradition and in the early years of the beylik, one member of the family became kadı (judge) of Bilecik in 1326. Between 1365 and 1499, five members of the family became grand viziers. In a period of 88 years (during the first four between 1365 and 1453), the Çandarlı family held the post for 64 years, a feat unparalleled in Ottoman history.

Kara Halil Hayreddin Pasha was first judge of Bursa[3] and then the family's first Grand Vizier.[4]

In the early 15th century, Çandarlı Halil Pasha the Younger a member of the family, had a castle for sultan Murad II built in Aegean sideside town occupying the site of the ancient Greek city of Pitane, renaming it Çandarlı after his family. Çandarlı is now a resort town in İzmir Province of Turkey.

Decline in 1453

Sultan Mehmed II disliked his late father's grand vizier Çandarlı Halil Pasha the Younger, whom he had inherited from his father Murad II upon his succession to the throne in 1451. After conquering Constantinople (Istanbul) in 1453, he had Halil executed, making him the first of many grand viziers to be executed. After Halil, four of his grand viziers were of devşirme (i.e. non-Turkish and non-Muslim) origin. There was indeed a rise in slave administrators,[5][6] who were much easier to control.[6]

Later years

Although a fifth member of the Çandarlı family (Çandarlı Ibrahim Pasha the Younger) was able to reach the post of grand vizier during the reign of Bayezid II in 1498, the family never fully recovered from the shock of 1453. In later years, two other members of the family also worked for the empire; İsa Pasha (d. 1549) and Halil Bey (d. 1568) served in the imperial bureaucracy, but they were unable to become part of the Sublime Porte, the central imperial government.[7]

List of Grand Viziers from the family

Name Term of office Sultan(s)
Çandarlı Kara Halil Hayreddin Pasha 1364–1387 Murad I
Çandarlızade Ali Pasha 1387–1406 Murad I, Bayezid I, Süleyman Çelebi (Ottoman Interregnum)
Çandarlı Ibrahim Pasha the Elder 1421–1429 Murad II
Çandarlı Halil Pasha the Younger[Note 1] 1439–1453 Murad II, Mehmed II
Çandarlı Ibrahim Pasha the Younger 1498–1499 Bayezid II

Notes

  1. ↑ The first grand vizier to be executed

References

  1. ↑ Nicolle, David (2010). Cross and Crescent in the Balkans The Ottoman Conquest of Southeastern Europe (14th - 15th Centuries). Pen & Sword Military. p. 325. ISBN 9781844159543. The Çandarlı family was, however, of Turcoman nomadic Turkish origin.
  2. ↑ İznik page (in Turkish)
  3. ↑ Aytürk, Nihat (2020). Karye-i Darıca'dan Darıca ilçesine bir sahil kasabası ve bir yaşam... Astana Yayınları. p. 325. ISBN 9786057857019. Çandarlı Kara Halil Hayreddin, who came from the village of Cenderli and from a family of Turkish origin, was the judge of Bursa at the death of Orhan Gazi (1360).
  4. ↑ Aksin Somel, Selcuk (2010). The A to Z of the Ottoman Empire. Scarecrow Press. p. 67. ISBN 9780810875791.
  5. ↑ Kolcuoğlu, Mutlu Kerem (2013). Karye-i Darıca'dan Darıca ilçesine bir sahil kasabası ve bir yaşam... Cinius Yayınları. ISBN 9786051277745. The Çandarlı Family, of Turkish origin, took Çelebi Mehmed into its sphere of influence under the administration of the re-established Ottoman union. Turkishness and the Turkish phenomenon in the Ottoman Empire again
  6. 1 2 Aksin Somel, Selcuk (2010). The A to Z of the Ottoman Empire. Scarecrow Press. p. 67. ISBN 9780810875791. The disappearance of this dynasty [ Çandarlı family ] was symptomatic with the rise of the class of slave administrators, who were much easier for the sultan to control than free administrators of noble origin.
  7. ↑ Çandarlı page (in Turkish)

Sources

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