Koca Davud Pasha
Albanian general and grand vizier of the Ottoman Empire from 1482 to 1497
Koca Davud Pasha (Turkish: Koca Davut Paşa; 1446–1498) was an Ottoman Albanian general and grand vizier of the Ottoman Empire from 1482 to 1497, during the reign of Bayezid II. He became a damat ("bridegroom") to the Ottoman dynasty by marrying an Ottoman princess, a daughter of Bayezid II whose name is unknown. They had a son, Sultanzade Mehmed Bey, who married his cousin Fatma Sultan, daughter of Şehzade Ahmed.
Early life
Davud Pasha was a converted Muslim who had been a Christian Albanian. During his childhood he lived in Istanbul and was conscripted into the Ottoman army—his family had sent him there to pursue a career—where he converted to Islam.
Military campaigns
In 1473, as Beylerbey of the Anatolian Eyalet, he was one of the commanders of the Ottoman army in the decisive victory against Ak Koyunlu at the Battle of Otlukbeli. In 1477, Sultan Mehmed II placed him in command of the army advancing toward Shkodër in Albania, directing him to besiege Krujë first. Davud Pasha captured the fortress, the League of Lezhë's last stronghold, thus ending the Ottoman–Albanian Wars. In 1479, he became governor (sanjakbey) of the Sanjak of Bosnia and, as commander of a large force of akıncı cavalry, carried out extensive attacks and raids against the Kingdom of Hungary.
As grand vizier, he led the Ottoman army in the 1487 campaign of the Ottoman–Mamluk War. Initially, Davud Pasha planned an all-out offensive expedition against the Mamluks, but Bayezid II canceled the plan and assigned him to attack the Turgutlu and Varsak tribes.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Koca Davud Pasha” as albanian general and grand vizier of the Ottoman Empire from 1482 to 1497. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the history & society register because the source frames it as albanian general and grand vizier of the Ottoman Empire from 1482 to 1497. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q247287. VIAF identifies the subject as 21146708279700842570. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1446, 1498, 1482 and 1497.
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This entry incorporates text from “Koca Davud Pasha” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.