Köprülüzade Numan Pasha

Köprülü Numan (or Nuuman) Pasha (died 1719) was the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire between June and August in 1710. He was a member of the Köprülü family.

Köprülü Numan Pasha was unsuccesfull to maintain peace with Russia and stabilize the political situation in Istanbul, which then led to the Russo-Turkish War of 1710-1711. However he continued his career in high offices both in civil and in military. His troops crushed Austrian army in Bosnia after Austria had conquered Belgrad in 1717. Afterwards on his own request he was installed in Crete as a governor, but got sick and died in Heraklion 1719.

Moldovian voivod Dimitrie Cantemir, who rebelled against the Ottoman rule in 1711 and exiled to Russia after loosing with his ally the Russo-Turkish War, wrote an amusing, although not very reliable anecdote of his enemy Numan Pasha in his history describing events, which led to his politivs. According to Cantemir Numan Pasha was bookish and pale of skin, also not of sound mind; his time in office was noted for an incident where he was insistent that there was always a fly landed upon his nose. He was only cured when during an examination, a French physician fed him juleps (lying that it was for medicinal purposes), and pretended to agree with him. The physician produced a knife and cut off the imaginary fly, and then showed Numan Pasha a dead one that was already hidden in his hand. This was later described by Samuel Butler in his satirical poem Hudibras..

See also

• Köprülü Era