The Strange Death of Sokullu Mehmed Pasha

From A New Look at Sokullu Mehmed Pasha, published at Miskatonic University.

The consensus of historians on the assassination of Grand Vizier Sokullu Mehmed Pasha on October 11, 1579 AD (or 20 Sha'ban 987 AH in the Islamic reckoning) is fairly well-known in our field. The Ottoman Sultan Murad III, alienated from the vizier who had served his father and grandfather so long and ably by his mother Narbanu Sultan and Venetian-born wife Safiye Sultan, took steps to reduce the vizier's influence on government. The vizier's allies were sent to faraway positions or assassinated. Ultimately, a mentally-unstable dervish talked his way into the vizier's office and stabbed him. This kind of intrigue was fairly common in the Ottoman Empire, especially during the period known as the Sultanate of Women.

However, some recent discoveries by Miskatonic University researchers of documents thought lost forever during the civil unrest that wracked Constantinople when the Janissaries were suppressed has shed new light on the circumstances of the vizier's assassination and an incident that took place in 1571.

These documents paint a far more sinister picture of the vizier. They include accusations of dealings with agents of Safavid Persia, with whom the vizier had counseled peace as opposed to the usual border wars, and even black magic. The documents accuse the vizier of, under the influence of an agent of Persian Shah Tahmasp I, acquiring a book of black magic from an Armenian merchant who had visited the long-vacant shrine of a corrupted Sufi order that had been destroyed by Turkish nomads not long before. The use of this book resulted in an incident in Constantinople that killed dozens of Ottoman soldiers, destroyed one war galley and forced the scuttling of a second, and caused significant damage to the Bayezit II mosque.

These accusations against Sokullu are not new, but have been long dismissed as the slanders from his political enemies. However, the mosque was damaged somehow, necessitating repairs by the famed Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan in 1573 and 1574. Furthermore, it is often said that converts make the best zealots. Safiye Sultan was a Catholic before she became a Muslim, while the most recent evidence suggests Narbanu was an Orthodox Greek from Corfu before her conversion. If Sokullu was involved in the dark arts, or was widely believed so, this could have provoked the ire of the Imperial women. They would not wish one so tainted to continue virtually ruling the Ottoman Empire in place of their son and husband. And the dervish orders might be willing to provide an assassin to dispose of the vizier, especially given his (tangential) connection to a Sufi order that had become warped by dark forces.

Of course, this is all just speculation. The documents describe how the soldiers killed in the incident were buried in a mass grave outside Constantinople that was given special attention by Muslim imams, Orthodox Christian priests, and even a Jewish rabbi, while the materials used by Sokullu in the incident were confiscated, burned, and abandoned in Persia. Should this mass grave or the dumping site be found, it would lend credence to the incident described in the documents.

So just why was the Grand Vizier assassinated, and is the author's theory about dark powers manifesting in Constantinople actually true? Read "The Beast of the Bosporus," available in the short story collection Flashing Steel, Flashing Fire.

"Beast of the Bosporus" Covers: What Might Have Been

One of the major hurdles facing would-be self-publishers is that they're responsible for all their own editing, marketing, cover art, etc. Between my own grammar-fascist tendencies and different writing groups I'm in, editing isn't a problem, and given my skill at networking, marketing isn't a problem either.

Cover art, however, is a different. I do like to draw with colored pencils, but other people can do it so much better. To put it in economics terms, comparative advantage.

For my third e-book, "The Beast of the Bosporus" I reached out to Alex Claw, who I know from my alternate-history message-board. He's done covers for former board member Christopher Nuttall and although his style is more cartoon-like than I prefer, he has been taking lessons to paint more realistically.

Since I believe in giving artists creative freedom, I sent him the text of the story and told him to come up with a cover based on what he read. Here's what he came up with:

I sent him back some suggestions, including removing Cthulhu (who is only incidentally related to the story), adjusting Sokullu Mehmed Pasha's face and fingernails a bit, and giving him a turban. After receiving my suggestions, Alex came up with this:

This cover is based on an actual scene from the story and the pasha is more distinctively Middle Eastern in look. I wrote "Beast" because I wanted to take Lovecraftian horror out of its typical rural New England setting and put it somewhere a bit more exotic.

(At the time, I'd forgotten about Robert E. Howard's short story "The Black Stone," which is set in the Balkans and includes Ottoman soldiers fighting an alien horror and its cult of rural inbred degenerates. It's a really good story, so if you want to read it, I recommend getting your hands on Nameless Cults: The Cthulhu Mythos Fiction of Robert E. Howard.It's awesome.)

Interview: don Joseph Nasi, Duke of Naxos

Today we'll be sitting down with Joseph Nasi, Duke of Naxos and a powerful court official under the Ottoman Sultan Selim.

(Nassi is tall and slender, with thin eyebrows above piercing brown eyes. He sits in a chair at a table rather than reclining on cushions as other Ottoman officials do.)

Me: So, Mr. Nasi, tell me more about yourself.

Nasi: Well, I was born in Spain in 1524. Although my family pretended to be Catholic, we secretly practiced our ancestral Jewish faith. Officially we were called "New Christians," but the more common term was Marrano. It's not flattering. We were always under suspicion and eventually found it a good idea to flee Spain to Portugal. That's why Mehmed always thinks of me as being Portuguese. He's not as knowledgeable as he likes to think.

Me: Mehmed?

Nasi: Sokullu Mehmed Pasha, the grand vizier. We have different opinions on foreign policy.

Me: What do you mean?

Nasi: He would have the Sublime State ally with Venice against Spain, in order to more efficiently prosecute the wars in North Africa. That is all well and good, but Venice controls Cyprus, right next door to us. Should relations take a turn for the worse, Venetian Cyprus would be a major threat to southern Anatolia, Syria, and Palestine. And although the Venetians paid us tribute to ensure Cyprus's security, they also shelter Christian pirates who have attacked pilgrims to Mecca.


Paying the Sublime State tribute all while harboring active enemies? Who have attacked Muslims on the Hajj no less? That's an extraordinarily bad idea. I thought the Venetians smarter than this. Of course, given how they mistreat the Orthodox Cypriots, I would expect short-sightedness. They clearly don't remember how Ottomans were welcomed in much of Greece because of how the Italian Catholic lords abused the Orthodox peasants.

(Shakes his head)

From an outside perspective, this feuding between the Catholics and Orthodox is absolutely absurd. It seems to me the Bishop of Rome has a massive ego problem. It seems much of northern Europe shares my opinion. Look at what my friend William the Silent is up to these days. There's more to the split between the Catholics and these "Protestants" than there is to feud between the Catholics and Orthodox, but I digress.

Me: You're friends with the prince of Orange?

Nasi: Yes. I have extensive trading contacts with Europe and we met through mutual friends. Mehmed thinks I'm too focused on Venice, but even though I don't share Mehmed's ideas of creating an Islamic version of Mare Nostrum, I recognize the threat Spain represents. These "Protestants" are quite useful for the Sublime State. The more Spain is kept occupied on its own borders, the less it has to spend on the Mediterranean.

Me: This is all very interesting, but didn't the Ottoman war with the Venetians over Cyprus bring about the Battle of Lepanto? That wiped out most of the Ottoman fleet.

(Nasi winces)

Nasi: That is true. I did not anticipate such a massive turnout by Catholic Europe in support of the Venetians. It was like one of the Crusades of old. Fortunately, the Sublime State was able to replace its losses in ships fairly easily. We also won the land war on Cyprus. The Venetians are still fighting, but if they keep this up, we can expand the war into Dalmatia. That would threaten Venice itself, not just its colonies.

(Nasi smiles)

Mehmed wants an alliance with the Venetians against the Spanish. Forcing the Venetians into vassalage and joining their fleet to ours just might get him that. On our terms, of course.

What consequences might the rivalry between Sokullu Mehmed Pasha and don Joseph Nasi have, especially once dark supernatural forces come into play? Find out in "The Beast of the Bosporus."

Interview: Sokullu Mehmed Pasha

Today we'll be sitting down for an interview with Sokullu Mehmed Pasha, the grand vizier of the Ottoman Empire.

(The Pasha, a tall man with a dark beard wearing a white turban, leans back on some pillows. A page enters bringing two cups of hot Turkish coffee, one for me and one for him. The page serves me first, then the Pasha.)

Me: So, tell me something about yourself, Pasha.

Sokullu: I was born in the Bosnian town of Sokolac in 1506, as you Christians reckon it. When I was ten years old, I was taken by the devshirme, the Padishah's levy of Christian youth from the Balkans. "Christian" for a certain value of Christian, given the pagan superstitions still prevalent at the time. I was introduced to the true worship of God soon enough.

Me: So how did you become grand vizier?

Sokullu: It took a long time. By 1541, I was Imperial Chamberlain and overseer of the squires of Padishah Suleiman, who taught me a great deal. After serving him in peace and in war, I became third vizier in 1555. That year did not start out well--I had to quell a rebellion by some lowlife pretending to be one of the Padishah's sons--but my brother from Bosnia did visit me and I made some improvements to the Orthodox Church in the area. I became second vizier in 1561 and the Padishah honored me greatly with a marriage to his granddaughter. In 1565, I became the grand vizier. That year began the war with the Hapsburgs, the war in which the Padishah died.

Me: Suleiman?

Sokullu: Yes. It was at a most inconvenient time, so I had to permanently silence the witnesses. It was not until over a month later that I formally announced his death.

Me: Why?

Sokullu: When an Imperial prince becomes a new sultan, he typically puts his brothers and half-brothers to death. The bowstring, to avoid spilling royal blood. That provides an unfortunate incentive for the other sons of the sultan to contest the succession. In the worst case, you end up with something like the Interregnum in which several sons of the Padishah fought for power. Better a few sons of royal blood get the bowstring than thousands die on the battlefield. Power comes at a price.

Me: Perhaps the sultan shouldn't father so many children.

Sokullu: And risk the spread of rumor that he is impotent? That would invite a challenge to his authority. If the Padishah favors a particular son, he will place him in a position where he can easily take the throne. This gives his sons incentive to work hard, to earn his favor. Enough of this subject.

Me: So you ensured Selim became the new emperor?

(Sokullu nods)

Sokullu: I did, although it was a rather touch-and-go process. Everyone was demanding favors, higher wages and the like. Eventually I tired of their insolence and broke some heads.

Me: How has the Empire fared since then?

Sokullu: For the most part well. The Padishah gives me a great deal of latitude to ensure the stability of the Sublime State and the victories of its armies. Unfortunately, the Latin states have recently inflicted on us a fairly substantial bloody nose, something it has taken a great expenditure of resources to repair.

Me: You're referring to the Battle of Lepanto?

(Sokullu smiles)

Sokullu: The very one. We just finished replacing all the ships lost in the engagement. Replacing the experienced sailors lost will be harder still. And the spice trade is beginning to pass from the land routes we control to the sea routes the Latin states dominate, which is threatening our tax revenue. Dealing with the situation may require...drastic measures.

Me: What sort of drastic measures?

(Sokullu tents his fingers)

Sokullu: One of my agents has recently made a suggestion I've found very interesting. I will look into it further.

Want to see what Sokullu's "drastic measures" entail? If so, check out "The Beast of the Bosporus."