Çoban Mustafa Pasha


Çoban Mustafa Pasha was an Ottoman statesman. Likely born in Bosnia-Herzegovina or Serbian Sandzak, and collected through Devshirme to Janissaries, where he gradually raised through the ranks, he eventually served as kapıcıbaşı, vizier, and beylerbey for the Ottoman Empire during various parts of his life.
After serving as kapıcıbaşı for some time, Mustafa was appointed a vizier in 1511, and finally beylerbey of the Egypt Eyalet of the empire in 1522, serving for one year.
Mustafa Pasha participated in the Siege of Belgrade in 1521 and the Siege of Rhodes the next year, both of them decisive Ottoman victories under sultan Suleiman I. During the Siege of Rhodes, he was the Serdar-ı Ekrem.
At some point, Mustafa Pasha had a bridge built in Svilengrad in southern Bulgaria, and it was named after him as Mustafa Pasha Bridge.
Mustafa Pasha died in 1529 on the way to the Siege of Vienna. His mausoleum is in Gebze, Turkey, in a complex he had built himself and which was completed in 1522.