Omar Pasha

Omer Pasha was born Mihajlo Latas (Serbian: Михајло Латас), an ethnic Serb and Orthodox Christian,^[1] in Janja Gora, at the time part of the Croatian Military Frontier of the Austrian Empire (Modern Plaški, Lika, Croatia).^[2]

His father served in the Austrian Army and was appointed lieutenant-governor of the Ogulin district.^[3] His uncle was an Orthodox priest.^[4] He developed a passion for the military from a young age, and on leaving school in Gospić, attended military school in Zadar, later being accepted as a cadet in his father's regiment. In 1823, he was accused of stealing 180 florins from an Austrian military safe, prompting him to flee across the frontier to Bosnia Eyalet.^[5]

Some years after his escape to Bosnia, Latas was offered a position as tutor to the children of a Turkish merchant,^{[citation needed]} on the condition that he converted to Islam and allowed himself to be circumcised. After his conversion, he took on the new name Omar Lufti. Eventually, he moved to Constantinople with the merchant's family,^{[citation needed]} and, by leveraging his value as a former Austrian soldier,^{[citation needed]} negotiated for himself a position as lecturer at the Imperial Ottoman Military Academy.^{[citation needed]} After serving in this position for some time, he was enlisted as aide-de-camp to Wojciech Chrzanowski, who was engaged in the re-organization of the Ottoman Army after the defeat of the Janissaries.^[6]

In this role, he collaborated with Chrzanowski, who smoothed the way for his introduction into Ottoman high society.^{[citation needed]} He thereby met and married Adviye Hanım, a daughter of Çerkes Hafız Mehmed Pasha, a political move which was integral to his rise in Ottoman military circles.^[6] He became writing-master to the Ottoman heir, Abd-ul-Medjid, and on the succession of the latter in 1839 was made a colonel.^{[citation needed]} He was shortly afterwards appointed Military Governor of Constantinople.^{[citation needed]} His only daughter, Saffet Hanım, married Mustafa Celalettin Pasha.

In 1840-41 he led a successful expedition to quell a revolt in Syria, and in 1842 was made Governor of the Tripoli Eyalet (Lebanon).^[6] He was involved in the expedition to the Van Eyalet of the Ottoman Empire after the Massacres of Badr Khan in 1846, which saw him soundly defeated and the Emirate of Bohtan brought under direct Ottoman control.^[6] Some time following the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, Omar Pasha was given command of the Ottoman forces in Moldavia and Wallachia.^[7]

There followed his command in Bosnia against Ali-paša Rizvanbegović, who had revolted against the Ottomans and begun to build up an independent power base.^[8] Omar commanded from his headquarters during this campaign, marking the beginning of his shift from frontline combat to broader strategic coordination.^[9] The campaign saw the respected historical aristocracy of the Muslim faith executed, plundered, and deposed in the interest of centralising Ottoman power in the region.^{[citation needed]} As the Governor of Bosnia, he ordered Ottoman forces in the region to invade the neighbouring Montenegro, a diplomatic blunter which led to Austrian intervention and the withdrawal of the Ottoman representative in Vienna.^{[citation needed]}

When the Crimean War broke out in 1853, his services were rendered as broader strategic commander for the Ottoman forces in the region.^[10] In 1853 he successfully led defenses during the Siege of Calafat.^[11] Soon after, he defeated a numerically superior Russian force under the indecisive and incompetent Russian General Peter Dannenberg at the Battle of Oltenița.^{[citation needed]}

In January 1854 he successfully persuaded Lord Raglan to keep his word by reinforcing Varna, while the French remained deeply skeptical of Omar's strategy to protect the Turkish army's flank on the Lower Danube.^{[citation needed]} His firm management of the British in Constantinople helped to stabilise the front in Crimea after January 1855, when finally transports arrived to ferry Turkish troops to Crimea.^{[citation needed]} On 17 February 1855, he faced off against roughly Russian troops under the command of Russian Lieutenant-General Stepan Khrulev during the Battle of Eupatoria^[11]. This was widely seen as a strategic blunder, although relatively minor.

Following this, he took a backseat during the war, mainly overseeing Ottoman positions, coordinating fortifications, and managing troop deployments.^{[citation needed]}

Although he had a reputation as a strict and ruthless disciplinarian, he was revered and respected by his men^{[citation needed]}