The life and the political fight of the son-in-law Mehmed Ali Pasha (1813-1868)

In this dissertation, the biography of Mehmed Ali Pasha who is the husband of Âdile Sultan and the last Kapudan Pasha of the Ottoman Empire was dealt with. The Pasha had been in supreme chairs of Ottoman Empire Bureaucracy as a Commander of Arsenal of Artillery, as Kapudan Pasha, as the Minister of War, as a Commander of Mâbeyn-i Hümâyûn, as a the Minister of Imperial Treasury, as a member in several councils and also as a Grand Vizier during the Holy Land Issuse which caused the CrimeanWar. Apart from these, the most distinctive feature of Mehmed Ali Pasha making him a remarkable figure is his being the biggest political opponent of Mustafa Reşid Pasha. The cutthroat rivalry between the leading figure of Conservative-Palace wing Mehmed Ali Pasha and the leader of the reformist side Mustafa Reşid Pasha caused both the birth of its own cliques in the imperial layout and influenced the process of the incidents by marking the era both inside and outside of the Empire. In this regard, the biography of Mehmed Ali Pasha is far beyond from being a narration of the private life of a statesman, it is presented a wholeness which cannot be avaluated apart from the political and the social events of the said period. Especially, takes an important place to present and enlighten the background of Sultan Abdülmecid's reign. Keywords: Tanzimat Era, Son-in-law Mehmed Ali Pasha, Âdile Sultan, Mustafa Reşid Paşa, Political Fight.