Ebubekir Pasha

Ebubekir Pasha ({{langx|ota|ابوبکر پاشا}}; {{langx|tr|Ebubekir Paşa}}; 1670 – 1759Tosun, Sevilay. [http://eskidergi.cumhuriyet.edu.tr/makale/1020.pdf "Ebubekir Paşa Ve Kıbrıs'taki İmar Faaliyetleri."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181005234503/http://eskidergi.cumhuriyet.edu.tr/makale/1020.pdf |date=2018-10-05 }} Cumhuriyet University Journal of Social Sciences 28.2 (2004): 205-13. Web. 14 Oct. 2013.), also referred to as Koca Bekir Pasha ({{langx|tr|Koca Bekir Paşa}}) and Abu Bakr Pasha or Abubakr Pasha ({{langx|sh|Ebu Bekir Paša}}; {{langx|el|Απού Μπεκίρ Πασάς}}), was an Ottoman statesman. He served as Kapudan Pasha (Grand Admiral of the Navy; 1732–33, 1750–51); as governor (beylerbey) of the provinces of Egypt, Jeddah, Cyprus, and Bosnia; and as head of the Imperial Mint. In 1740 he became the fourth and last husband of Safiye Sultan daughter of Sultan Mustafa II.

A great philanthropist, Koca Bekir Pasha was considered one of the most enlightened and productive statesmen of his time.Ebubekir Paşa ve Kıbrıs’taki İmar Faaliyetleri; Sevilay Tosun; C.Ü. Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi Aralık 2004 Cilt: 28 No:2 205-213

Background

Ebubekir was born in 1670 in Alaiye (modern-day Alanya, Turkey).Süreyya, Bey Mehmet, Nuri Akbayar, and Seyit Ali. Kahraman. Sicill-i Osmanî. Beşiktaş, İstanbul: Kültür Bakanlığı Ile Türkiye Ekonomik Ve Toplumsal Tarih Vakfı'nın Ortak Yayınıdır, 1890. Print. He was of Turkish origin.

Bekir Pasha (Kamares) Aqueduct

His most notable legacy is the still-standing Kamares Aqueduct, also known as the Bekir Pasha Aqueduct, built in 1746 or 1747Neoclis Kyriazis Kypriaca Chronica 1931, H vol 3, 175-187. during his tenure as the Governor of Cyprus, which he financed personally to aid the water supply to the area.

Realizing the difficulties of fresh water access for the poor in the city, Koca Bekir Pasha built this massive aqueduct to improve the water supply to Larnaca. Built in the Roman style, the aqueduct carried water from a source about {{convert|6|mi|km}} south of Larnaca into the town. The water supply works involved a long tunnel, 250 air wells, and three series of overland arches. It was completed by 1746.

Foreign travelers have often counted it as the most important monument constructed during the Ottoman period in Cyprus. In 1754, Alexander Drummond noted that:

{{quotation|For the honour of Ebu Bekir Paşa I must communicate an instance of the old gentlemen’s public spirit. While he was Paşa of this land, in the year 1747, he formed the noble design of bringing water from the river at Arpera, and occasional springs on the road about six miles from hence, to supply the people of Larnaca, Salines and the shipping. A work worthy of great and good man, which might have cost him above fifty thousand piasters of six thousand pounds.{{citation |last=Drummond |first=Alexander |year=1754 |chapter=Travels Through Different Cities of Germany, Italy, Greece, and Several Parts of Asia etc. |title=Excerpta Cypria: Materials for a History of Cyprus |editor-last=Cobham |editor-first=Claude Delaval |publisher=General Books LLC |isbn=1-154-94001-2 |page=252}}

}}

The aqueduct was repaired in 1856, and the renewed structure made it possible for the aqueduct to remain in active use until the 1950s.Ydadopromithia Larnacas: 4000 Years of History, Alexis Michaelides and Sophocles Christodoulides,Larnaca 2005 Relics of the aqueduct still stand outside Larnaca and are referred to as "The Kamares" ("The Arches") today. The aqueduct is illuminated at night.

Other work

His signature is found under many major construction and reconstruction projects in every city he served as a governor.

During his tenure as the Governor of Cyprus, he helped revitalise the local economy by having 23 shops built in Nicosia financed by his personal funds.

Death and legacy

Koca Bekir Pasha died in 1759 at the age of about 90 and was buried in Aksaray in Istanbul.

He donated his property to a foundation ({{langx|tr|vakıf}}) in his name and his will has been documented in detail.Claude Delaval Cobham, Laws and Regulations affecting Vakf property. Nicosia 1899

Footnotes

{{Note|1|a|Turkish for "Great" or "Old"}}

References

External links

[http://eskiweb.cumhuriyet.edu.tr/edergi/makale/1020.pdf Ebubekir Paşa ve Kıbrıs’taki İmar Faaliyetleri]{{Dead link|date=August 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

{{S-bef| before = {{Interlanguage link multi|Nişancı Mehmed Pasha|tr|3=Nişancı Mehmed Paşa}}}}

{{s-ttl| title = Ottoman Governor of Egypt

| years = 1727–1729}}

{{s-ttl| title = Ottoman Governor of Egypt

| years = 1735–1739}}

{{s-ttl| title = Kapudan Pasha

| years = 1732–1733}}

{{s-ttl| title = Kapudan Pasha

| years = 1751–1751}}

{{s-aft| after = {{Interlanguage link multi|Durak Mehmed Pasha|tr|3=Durak Mehmed Paşa}}}}

Category:1670 births

Category:1750s deaths