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'''Koca Musa Pasha''' (usually referred to as just '''Musa Pasha'''; died 22 January 1647, near [[Euboea]]) was an [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] statesman. He served most prominently as [[Kapudan Pasha]] (1645–1647),<ref name="sicilli">{{citation|author=Mehmet Süreyya|editor1=Nuri Akbayar|editor2=Seyit A. Kahraman|title=Sicill-i Osmanî|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=btElAQAAMAAJ|year=1996|publisher=Türkiye Kültür Bakanlığı and Türkiye Ekonomik ve Toplumsal Tarih Vakfı|location=Beşiktaş, Istanbul|language=tr|orig-year=1890}}</ref> [[List of Ottoman governors of Egypt|Ottoman governor of]] [[Egypt Eyalet|Egypt]] (1630–1631),<ref name="sicilli" /><ref name="Öztuna1994">{{cite book|author=Yılmaz Öztuna|title=Büyük Osmanlı Tarihi: Osmanlı Devleti'nin siyasî, medenî, kültür, teşkilât ve san'at tarihi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pBGQMgAACAAJ|volume=10|year=1994|publisher=Ötüken Neşriyat A.S.|language=tr|isbn=975-437-141-5|pages=412–416}}</ref> Ottoman governor of [[Budin Eyalet]] (1631–1634, 1637–1638, 1640–1644),<ref name="sicilli" /> and Ottoman governor of [[Silistra Eyalet]] (1644–1645).<ref name="sicilli" /> He was also a [[vizier]].<ref name="France1796-70">{{cite book|title=Accounts and Extracts of the Manuscripts in the Library of the King of France|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_WJFAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA70|volume=2|year=1789|publisher=R. Faulder|page=70}}</ref>

==Background==
Musa Pasha was born into a [[Bosnia Eyalet|Bosniak]] family and attended the [[Enderun School|Enderun]] [[palace school]].<ref name="sicilli" />

==As governor of Egypt==
Musa Pasha's term as the [[List of Ottoman Wālis of Egypt|governor of Egypt]] was described as brutal and terror-inducing by multiple sources.<ref name="France1796-70" /><ref name="Art">d'Avennes, Prisse (1983) ''Arab art as seen through the monuments of Cairo from the 7th century to the 18th'' (translated from French by J.I. Erythrospis) Le Sycomore, Paris, page 61, {{ISBN|0-86356-000-8}}</ref> On the first day of holding [[divan]] (government), he had a man's head struck off and his property confiscated, following this with the crucifixion of the son of a local [[sharif]] chief.<ref name="France1796-70" /> After handing out the various government offices to his friends and servants and facing the displeasure of the [[sanjak-bey]]s, Mustafa Pasha returned the offices to their previous owners and blamed the incident on an [[Agha (Ottoman Empire)|agha]], confiscating his residence as ostensible punishment.<ref name="France1796-70,71">{{cite book|title=Accounts and Extracts of the Manuscripts in the Library of the King of France|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_WJFAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA70|volume=2|year=1789|publisher=R. Faulder|pages=70, 71}}</ref> During his governorship, Musa Pasha took on projects and plans to reform the salary system to his benefit and find methods to claim wealthy locals' inheritances.<ref name="France1796-71">{{cite book|title=Accounts and Extracts of the Manuscripts in the Library of the King of France|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_WJFAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA71|volume=2|year=1789|publisher=R. Faulder|page=71}}</ref>

===Murder of Kitas Bey===
In March 1631, [[Sultan of the Ottoman Empire|sultan]] [[Murad IV]] ordered Musa Pasha to send him troops for the expedition against [[Safavid dynasty|Persia]].<ref name="France1796-71" /> Musa Pasha gave command of these troops to emir Kitas Bey, who was of [[Circassians|Circassian]] origins, and imposed a tax on the land in order to pay for the camels to transport the troops to Persia. Musa Pasha then told Kitas Bey that funds were insufficient for the expedition and that it was canceled. When Kitas Bey protested, Musa Pasha had him killed; on Wednesday, July 9, 1631, the [[Day of Arafa]] and the day before [[Eid al-Adha]], a day when the emirs traditionally visited the governor's house to wish him well, Kitas Bey was in attendance despite having second thoughts because of his knowledge of his now-poor standing with the Pasha.<ref name="France1796-71" /> Suddenly, Musa Pasha had a group of men spring upon Kitas Bey, one man decapitating him with a single swing of an axe, while up to 40 others stabbed his body as the other emirs stood by in horror.<ref name="France1796-72">{{cite book|title=Accounts and Extracts of the Manuscripts in the Library of the King of France|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_WJFAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA72|volume=2|year=1789|publisher=R. Faulder|page=72}}</ref><ref name="HoltGray1975">{{cite journal|last1=Holt|first1=P. M.|last2=Gray|first2=Richard|editor1-last=Fage|editor1-first=J.D.|editor2-last=Oliver|editor2-first=Roland|title=Egypt, the Funj and Darfur|journal=The Cambridge History of Africa|location=London, New York, Melbourne|publisher=Cambridge University Press|volume=IV|year=1975|pages=14–57|doi=10.1017/CHOL9780521204132.003}}</ref>

===Aftermath===
After the [[sanjak-bey]]s led by Kasım Bey held a funeral for Kitas Bey, they declared to the entire Egypt garrison that whoever would be present at Musa Pasha's [[Eid al-Adha|Eid]] feast that day would be punished by death.<ref name="France1796-72" /> Meanwhile, Musa Pasha waited for the guests to arrive, but when none did, he walked to the [[Al-Nasir Muhammad Mosque]] and prayed the Eid prayers, after which he sat down with the members of his household at the feast, distributing the rest amongst the poor of Cairo.<ref name="France1796-72" />

The leaders of the troops met at Kasım Bey's house and went to a local [[kazasker]] (high judge), employing him as their representative to go to Musa Pasha.<ref name="HoltGray1975" /> The representative asked Musa Pasha on behalf of the troops why he had committed a murder on such a holy day, if there were any orders from the [[Sultan of the Ottoman Empire|sultan]] from Constantinople, and to give up the men who had murdered Kitas Bey to the troops.<ref name="France1796-73">{{cite book|title=Accounts and Extracts of the Manuscripts in the Library of the King of France|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_WJFAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA73|volume=2|year=1789|publisher=R. Faulder|page=73}}</ref> Musa Pasha answered that he had done nothing outside the orders of the sultan but neither could he consent to any of the troops' demands.<ref name="France1796-73" /> Although this response garnered displeasure from the troops, they left without taking any action.<ref name="France1796-73" /><ref name="HoltGray1975" />

The troops then caught up with four of Musa Pasha's trusted men, killed them, and dispersed. Two days later, now Friday, July 11, 1631, the troops reassembled with all the sanjak-beys, the leading officers meeting in the [[Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan]].<ref name="France1796-73" /> They met with the same [[kazasker]] as before, the ''[[naqib al-ashraf]]'' (head of the [[ashraf]]), and the [[mufti]] of the mosque.<ref name="France1796-73" /> These representatives were once again sent to Musa Pasha, with the same list of demands, this time also naming eight of the assassins by name and demanding them to be turned over to the troops.<ref name="France1796-73" /> Musa Pasha replied that responsibility was solely his, and that the men were only following his orders, offering to give himself up and allow the soldiers to nominate a [[kaymakam]] (acting governor) in his place.<ref name="France1796-73" /> Although the troop leadership was divided on what action to take, with some factions claiming that they did not have the authority to replace the governor while others wishing to simply murder Musa Pasha and kidnap the eight men.<ref name="France1796-74">{{cite book|title=Accounts and Extracts of the Manuscripts in the Library of the King of France|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_WJFAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA74|volume=2|year=1789|publisher=R. Faulder|page=74}}</ref>

===Removal from office===
Eventually, the troops came to a consensus and chose to elect an acting governor, the elderly finance minister Hasan Bey.<ref name="France1796-74" /> Musa Pasha immediately wrote to sultan [[Murad IV]] to inform him of the effective coup, and the troops did the same, choosing to send a petition of their grievances and justifications for their actions; the soldiers wrote in [[Turkish language|Turkish]] while the ulemas sent an [[Arabic language|Arabic]] version.<ref name="France1796-74" /> Hasan Bey and the emirs demanded a large sum of money from Musa Pasha as restitution for the money he owed to the treasury, to pay for which he sold much of his animals and belongings.<ref name="France1796-74" /> The sultan replied by agreeing with the troops' decision, sending [[Halil Pasha]] to take Musa Pasha's place as governor.<ref name="HoltGray1975" /> On September 13, 1631, Halil Pasha's advisor arrived, while Hasan Bey continued to serve as acting governor until October, when Halil Pasha finally arrived.<ref name="France1796-74" />

==Death==
Only two years after his appointment as [[Kapudan Pasha]] (grand admiral) of the [[Ottoman Navy]], Musa Pasha died in battle with a [[Republic of Venice|Venetian]] fleet near the Greek island of [[Euboea]] in 1645 during the [[Cretan War (1645–69)]] (also known as the ''War of Candia'' or the ''Fifth [[Ottoman–Venetian Wars|Ottoman–Venetian War]]''). His body was brought to the [[Üsküdar]] district of [[Istanbul]] and buried there.<ref name="sicilli" />

==See also==
* [[List of Kapudan Pashas]]
* [[List of Ottoman governors of Egypt]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{S-start}}
{{S-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Tabanıyassı Mehmed Pasha]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Ottoman Governor of Egypt]]|years=1630–1631}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Halil Pasha]]}}
{{S-mil}}
{{s-bef|before=}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Kapudan Pasha]]|years=1645 – 22 January 1647}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Kara Musa Pasha]]}}
{{S-end}}

{{Seamen of the Ottoman Empire}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Musa Pasha, Koca}}
[[Category:1647 deaths]]
[[Category:Ottoman governors of Egypt]]
[[Category:People from the Ottoman Empire of Bosnian descent]]
[[Category:17th-century Ottoman governors of Egypt]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:Ottoman people of the Cretan War (1645–1669)]]
[[Category:Ottoman military personnel killed in action]]