Mehmed Rıza Paşa

Mehmed Rıza Paşa, whose date of birth has not been identified, was one of the statesmen who served as governor of sanjaks in the Ottoman provincial administration.

Mehmed Rıza Paşa was the son-in-law of Müşir Gözlüklü Mehmed Reşid Paşa, who died while serving as governor of Baghdad. Gözlüklü Reşid Paşa had been trained in the circle of Koca Hüsrev Paşa and was one of the nineteenth-century Ottoman paşas who held high military-administrative posts such as the Imperial Arsenal, the Hassa Army, the Anatolian müşirlik and the governorship of Baghdad. He is also known for his initiatives in transportation and river transport in Baghdad. Mehmed Rıza Paşa’s daughter married Ferik Mehmed Servet Paşa, president of the Council of Military Education.

These family ties place Mehmed Rıza Paşa among the Ottoman military-administrative elite of the nineteenth century. On one side stood the family of Gözlüklü Reşid Paşa, and on the other a kinship tie with Ferik Mehmed Servet Paşa, who served in the military education organization; together these links show his circle’s connection with high state and military figures.

Mehmed Rıza Paşa died on 5 Safar 1322, corresponding to April 1904, and was buried in the Fatih Mosque Cemetery.