Tsar Alexandr I (1801-1825) maintained the politic of state which inherited from him predecessors Peter I and Catherine II. The essence of the Russian classical policy can be summarized as basically expanding against the Ottoman State. The most crucial part of this policy, which will lead to the Russian progress in a wide geography from the Balkans to the Caucasus, is the strategy of opening to the Mediterranean over the Black Sea and the Straits. The military operation which launched, unilaterally and without any official declaration of war by Russia over the Ottoman Balkan Lands in 1806, is a natural result of this policy that summarized above. The beginning of the war, coincided with a weak period of the Ottoman State. In that period Sultan Selim III could not established his central authority and multi-faceted opposition against sultan’s reforms reached its climax. In this situation, defending Balkans against Russian attacks was up to the local notables that reigning there. As the main topic of this article, Pehlivan (wrestler) İbrahim Agha, is one of these local notables. He could hardly taken a place among local authority owners in Rumelia and became notable of Dobruca Region in 1804. Pehlivan İbrahim Agha who excelled with combative and brave personality, initially was tasked with the protection Izmail Fortress against Russian Army attacks. About four years that starting with the guarding of Izmail and lasting until he captured in June 1810, among the Turks, Pehlivan İbrahim Agha became the most important hero of the Ottoman-Russian War in the Balkans. Untill that time he was recognized only in a local, limited circle; but after that he gained a great fame under the name “Baba Pasha” among the people that lived in all over Ottoman lands. The “Chronicle of Baba Pasha” which basically upon him narratives as a kind of war diary is one of the most important Turkish monographic sources. Writing of this manuscript book was completed in 1820. In our article, the mentioned manuscript will be analyzed in a comparison way with unpublished Ottoman archival documents and other published main sources belong that time. Thus, it is aimed to provide the possbility of detailed evaluation about Ottoman-Russian relations based on the role played by Pehlivan İbrahim Agha or in him other name Baba Pasha.
Ottoman-Russian War Chronicle, Balkans Pehlivan (wrestler) İbrahim Agha Baba Pasha
Osmanlı – Rus Savaşı Vakayi‘-nâme Balkanlar Pehlivan İbrahim Ağa Baba Paşa
Birincil Dil | Türkçe |
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Bölüm | Araştırma Makaleleri |
Yazarlar | |
Yayımlanma Tarihi | 30 Haziran 2020 |
Yayımlandığı Sayı | Yıl 2020 Sayı: 3 |