Bosnalı İbrahim Paşa Tomb
About the Person:
- Bosnalı (Bosnian) İbrahim Paşa was one of the important grand viziers of the reign of Ottoman Sultan Murad III (1574–1595). He was originally from Bosnia and was trained in Enderun.
- He served as Janissary Agha, governor of Diyarbakır (1574), Damascus (1581) and Egypt (1583) respectively.
- In 1584, he married Ayşe Sultan, the daughter of Sultan Murad III, and became a son-in-law in the palace. He then became Kaptan-ı Derya (Grand Admiral) in 1586, Second Vizier in 1587, and Grand Vizier in the same year. He served as Grand Vizier three times, in 1595, 1596, and 1598.
- During his last term as Grand Vizier, he participated in the Austrian campaign as Serdar-ı Ekrem (highest rank of the army) and conquered the Kanije Castle together with Tiryaki Hasan Pasha. He died during the Belgrade campaign in 1601 and his body was brought to Istanbul and buried in the place where his tomb is today.
About the Tomb:
Construction Year: 1603
Ordered by: Diver Ahmet Aga
Architect: Chief Architect Ahmed Aga
Prominent Features:
- The tomb has an octagonal plan on the outside and a hexagonal plan on the inside thanks to the cabinet niches placed between every two windows. Its dome is placed directly on the walls. The structure is built entirely of cut stone.
- On the north side, there is a flat-eaved portico supported by six muqarnas-capped columns, four of which are freestanding and two embedded in the wall. The entrance door is a low-arched, made of ebony and inlaid with mother-of-pearl, and has panels decorated with plant motifs on both sides. The verse “I have believed in Allah and His Angels…” is on the right panel, and the 84th verse of the Surah al-Qasas is on the left. The “Kelime-i Şehadet”* is written on the door.
*en: I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah and His servant. - Except for the entrance facade, there is a window on each side, one above and one below. The lower windows are flat, the upper ones have pointed arches. Marble plaques with Ayat al-Kursi are placed between these windows.
- Inside the tomb, there are İznik tiles surrounding the walls between the lower and upper windows, and the seven cabinet niches between the windows are also decorated with these tiles. The Surah al-Mulk are written on the tiles. The dome is decorated with the Malakari decorations of the period.
- There are three marble sarcophagi in the tomb, one of which has a turban on it. One of the sarcophagi belongs to İbrahim Paşa, and the other two belong to his daughter and son, who died at a young age.
- The tomb is currently closed to visitors, but it can be reopened with simple repairs.
