Osman Nuri Paşa

Born in 1832 in Lower Adjara, Osman Nuri Paşa was the son of Mehmed Dursun Bey, sanjak bey of Acarateyn. His family came from the old Muslim Georgian bey families of the Batum-Adjara region.

During the Ottoman-Russian War of 1877-1878, he served with the rank of mirliva as commander of the General Auxiliary Forces of Batum. The Asâkir-i Muâvene were auxiliary forces recruited from the local population in Batum and its surroundings; Ottoman archival documents state that these units were largely formed from the Muslim Georgians and Laz of the region.

After the war, Batum, Kars and Ardahan were ceded to Russia by the Treaty of Berlin, and large migration movements began from the Batum-Adjara region into Ottoman lands. During this period Osman Nuri Paşa worked in the transport section of the Commission for Immigrants, taking part in the post-war questions of migration and settlement.

Osman Nuri Paşa served in Dersim in 1883 and was appointed governor of Mosul in 1886. In 1893 he returned to Istanbul and was honored with the pâye of Rumelian beylerbeyi. In the Ottoman administrative system, a pâye often signified the rank and prestige corresponding to an office rather than the actual performance of that office.

Osman Nuri Paşa died on 23 Rabi al-Awwal 1312 (24 September 1894) and was buried in the Fatih Mosque Cemetery.