An Ottoman statesman in the 19th century: Mehmed Vecihi Pasha and the Ankara Governorship

The Ottoman Empire, which ruled over a wide geography for about six centuries; It is one of the rare states that made the most of itself in the political, administrative, military and cultural fields in world history. There is no doubt that many segments, from the sultan to the lowest-ranking civil servant, have a great share in the Ottomans talking about themselves so much. While sultans came to the fore more in the Ottoman Classical Age, since the second half of the XVII. century, with the prominence of the grand viziership authority, the grand viziers and, after them, the governor pashas have started to come to the fore. In the XIX. century, the Ottoman Empire faced various problems inside and outside; from the sultan at the beginning to the people at the bottom, each section was affected in its own way. When there was a change and transformation in the Ottoman state and social life in the XIX. century, there was a noticeable change in the provincial organization as well as the central organization. Mehmed Vecihi Pasha was among the prominent statesmen in the province during this period. The Pasha assumed important duties in the states/provinces where he served before and after the announcement of the Tanzimat Edict. These are; Cirmen, Samakovcuk, Varna, Thessaloniki, Belgrade, Bosnia, Konya, Diyarbakir, Haleb, Sayda, Mosul, Baghdad, Ankara, Erzurum, Hejaz and Abyssinia. He served in Ankara for a total of 5 years and 3 months in two separate terms, from 1264/1848 to 1267/1850 and from 1268/1852 to 1271/1855. Mehmed Vecihi Pasha, who was also given the rank of vizier, also served as a member of the Meclis-i Vâlâ for a while. In this study, subjects such as the life, duties, family and children of Mehmed Vecihi Pasha, who was also described as a talented, intelligent and just statesman in the sources of the period, were discussed in general; mainly focused on the governorship in the province of Ankara and the events that took place in the Ankara sanjak and even in the province of Ankara during this period. Among the problems that Mehmed Vecihi Pasha dealt with during his governorship in the province of Ankara, which was once called Bozok, the issue of the settlement of the tribes stands out. Pasha has taken an important role in the settlement of this issue. In addition to the sources such as Ottoman archive documents, Ankara court records, state documents and calendar of events (takvim-i vekayi) related to the subject of the period, a section of Mehmed Vecihi Pasha's life has been tried to be presented by taking advantage of the secondary studies that have been made. Ottoman based on the idea that it will contribute to understanding of the XIX. century, with the thought of the necessity of making biographical studies; the events, practices and persons of the period, from the outback, especially from the province of Ankara and over Mehmed Vecihi Pasha, were discussed and examined to some extent. Keywords: Vizier Mehmed Vecihi Pasha, Ankara Province, Ankara Province Governor, Bozok Province, XIX. Century Ottoman Empire, Tanzimat.