Tahir Pasha (governor)

Tahir Pasha, (Albanian: Tahir Pashë Krajani, died 1913[1]) was an Ottoman Brigadier General (mirliva) who originated from the region of Krajë, now in modern Montenegro and he was an Albanian.[2] He served as governor of Mosul and Bitlis toward the latter years of his life.[3][1]

Background

Tahir Pasha entered the service of the Ottoman crown prince prior to 1876 and became his confidant.[2] After the prince became sultan Abdul Hamid II he remained with him until the end of his reign.[2] While Abdul Hamid II was in power, Tahir Pasha headed the palace guard and attained the rank of marshall, due to the growth of his protection force and responsibilities.[2] Tahir Pasha served as a vali or governor of Mosul in the Ottoman Empire[3] from 1910 to 1912. Prior to that he was the vali of Van and Bitlis, Turkey.[1]:27, 37

Cevdet Bey, his first son, was a leader of the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) and was also vali of Van.[1]:30, 112 Cevdet's brother-in-law was Enver Pasha, who established a department whose mission was to "free all the Islamic lands from foreign influence". Governors of "frontier provinces", like Van and Mosul, were specially picked for their positions and worked in conjunction with this department established as part of the Ministry of War. The goals was to create "free and independent Muslim states".[1]:112

Prior to 1918, Enver Pasha was the Young Turks political movement leader.[4]

Pasha kept a library of journals, newspapers and books about Islam, Ottoman culture, current affairs, astronomy, mathematics, geology, geography, history, chemistry, physics, and philosophy. He was a mentor or teacher, organizing contests on subjects like mathematics.[1]:28 One of his students, Molla Said, dressed haphazardly and refused Pasha's offer that, if Said would dress as a religious scholar, Pasha would allow him to wed his daughter and give him a house and 1000 gold liras.[1]:30

Pasha was quite upset by a newspaper article that mentioned his concern about Europe's intentions towards Muslims and a quote that in order to dominate people of the Muslim faith, they must either change their religion convictions or take them away from them.[1]:30,1

Career

Tahir Pasha transferred from Van to Bitlis about the time of the Turkish Tax Revolts of 1906–1907.[5] The previous vali, Salim Pasha, was considered "able and energetic" and Tahir had made financial decisions that were not previously under the governor's domain. For instance, he was ignoring "depredations" against the Kurdish people. His time was sent on diverting funding from Armenian schools elsewhere. There was also an increase in murders during his rule. Repeated calls to fire Tahir were made to the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) by the Kurdish and Armenian communities, particularly the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF), and governmental personnel. Having originally believed that Pasha was a constitutionalist (wanting restoration of the Ottoman constitution of 1876), by March 1910 CUP was in agreement that a change in leadership was necessary.[6]:66 In July it was announced that Tahir's replacement would be Ismael Hakki, who was vali of Isgeti.[6]:67

See also

References
  1. Sukran Vahide (16 February 2012). Islam in Modern Turkey: An Intellectual Biography of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi. SUNY Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-8297-1.
  2. Gawrych, George (2006). The Crescent and the Eagle: Ottoman rule, Islam and the Albanians, 1874–1913. London: IB Tauris. p. 83. ISBN 9781845112875.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  3. William Warfield (1916). The Gate of Asia: A Journey from the Persian Gulf to the Black Sea. G. P. Putnam's Sons. p. 147.
  4. Seymour Becker (2 August 2004). Russia's Protectorates in Central Asia: Bukhara and Khiva, 1865-1924. Routledge. p. 237. ISBN 978-1-134-33583-1.
  5. Aykut Kansu (1997). The Revolution of 1908 in Turkey. BRILL. p. 340. ISBN 90-04-10791-6.
  6. Dikran Mesrob Kaligian (31 December 2011). Armenian Organization and Ideology under Ottoman Rule: 1908-1914. Transaction Publishers. ISBN 978-1-4128-4834-3.

Further reading
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