Dervísh Páshá Is Murdered — Murád Páshá Is Made Grand Vezír
Ferhád Páshá, we have seen, was sent to take the command of the war in the east, and Dervísh Páshá, the grand vezír, remained at home. In consequence of his utter want of the talents and skill of a general, and his total unfitness, in every respect, for the important office assigned him, Ferhád failed most deplorably in obtaining the least advantage; on the contrary, his conduct was productive of the most serious evils. Kilmamemkila, the son of Kalander, a noted rebel, during the time Ferhád was commander-in-chief, entered into Aydin and Sarúkhán (sanjáks of Anatolia), where he committed the most dreadful outrages and violence. A number of the inhabitants hastened to Constantinople and complained bitterly to the emperor against Ferhád and his adventurers, who, they said, tyrannized over them and oppressed them. These evils, of course, were attributed, in the first instance, to the maladministration of the grand vezír, who, instead of having taken upon himself the charge of the expedition, had sent Ferhád, of whom we have heard so much, to supply his place. The eyes of the people began to be opened to see and to appreciate the conduct of the prime minister, and in their hearts they became totally opposed to him, and those who had the nearest approach to his majesty’s ear began to urge his removal. The late reverend mufti, Siná-allah Effendí, who, for having spoken his mind freely and openly, the reader will remember, had been turned out of the muftiship, was now again, a third time, installed into that high office, which Abulmeymín Mustafa Effendí had scarcely enjoyed three months. Things now began to wear a new aspect. The maladministration of the grand vezír could no longer be concealed or connived at. The excesses of Dervísh Páshá and his wicked government were represented to his majesty, who had hitherto favoured his minister. These things, with the complaints which had reached him from Anatolia, greatly excited his displeasure; and so clear and evident did his minister’s guilty conduct appear, that he became as much opposed to him as he had previously been swayed by his advice. The emperor, now thoroughly satisfied of the maladministration of his minister, summoned the reverend mufti and the reverend professors, in order to converse with them respecting the grand vezír’s conduct and mismanagement, and to consult with them as to the person most competent to fill the office of premier. This consultation, as might easily have been foreseen, terminated unfavourably to the interests of the grand vezír, who soon afterwards expiated his crimes by the forfeiture of his life. A hare’s sleep (i.e. a false promise) having been given to him, he was, for a short time, flattered and caressed, until he was one day called to the royal palace, when he was suddenly assassinated by the bostánjís. It is said that he was first strangled with a tent-rope, but a short time after a movement being perceived in his feet, the emperor drew his dagger and cut his throat.