Mehmed Salih Vejihi Pasha according to Ottoman documents

Abstract

Mehmed Salih Vejihi Pasha (1798–1867) was an Ottoman statesman and one of the most important bureaucrats who held various high-ranking positions in the Ottoman state between 1828. and 1867. He performed a number of functions in the civil service in almost all the provinces of Anatolia and the Balkans, from Bosnia and Thessaloniki to Baghdad and Ankara. He participated in the implementation of the Tanzimat reforms throughout the Ottoman state. There is no doubt that he is an intriguing historical figure who was often accompanied by controversies. During his tenure as Muhafiz of Belgrade, Mehmed Salih Vejihi Pasha entered into active correspondence with the authorities of the Bosnian Eyalet, which made it much easier for him to assume the role of a wali after his appointment. After taking up his post as Wali of the Bosnian Eyalet, Mehmed Salih Vejihi Pasha announced the expected goals and benefits of the redif army, gave detailed explanations and called on all mutesellims to take over the documents of consent and the assumption of obligations. Trying to implement the provisions for the abolition of the Spahian army, he encountered the resistance of Bosnian champions who were ready to oppose the attempts to change the existing system by force of arms. A large number of revolts followed, especially in the area of Livno, Posavina and Bosanska Krajina, which the wali and his loyal detachments successfully suppressed. Then the wali abolished the institution of captains, and the frequent executions and the wali’s leadership enhanced a deep mistrust that Bosniaks had of the administration. However, the government was stronger and could influence the mood of the population, and a proclamation was issued to which the local population pledged to be faithful. Ottoman documents do not reveal that there were rebellions in the territory of Herzegovina at the time. In parallel to the aforementioned events within the Bosnian Eyalet, Ottoman documents also recorded incidents on the Austrian-Bosnian border as well as information that members of the raja were also involved in rebellions in the Bosnian Eyalet. Mehmed Salih Vejihi Pasha also attached importance to sacred architecture by carrying out repair work on the mosque of Bayezid Khan in Jajce, the Mewlewi tekke on Bentbaša in Sarajevo, the mosque in Bužim, and furthermore, he had a mosque built on Bentbaša, a mosque in Bijeljina and two inns next to the tekke on Oglavak near Fojnica. By the official act of Mehmed Vejihi Pasha, a new customs crossing was formed on the Bosnian-Austrian border, and it was ordered that customs contributions be deposited in the redif treasury from which calculations and payments would be made for summer military uniforms and ammunition for combat, and the costs of purchasing various ammunition produced in cannon casting workshops would be covered. Following the suppression of the Glodjo revolt, the governor condemned the leader of the revolt and the rebels and sent some of them to Istanbul. Taking into account previously received lawsuits from the Bosnian Eyalet as well as the knowledge of the latest developments, the central Ottoman authorities appointed a new wali Husrev Pasha in 1841. In March 1841, judicial process against Vejihi Pasha started. There were several reasons for filing a lawsuit on top of the criminal acts that the wali was charged with. Since all the decrees of the proclaimed tanzimat did not come to life in the Bosnian Eyalet, the wali, thanks to the documents and information he possessed, succeeded in getting the Supreme Council of Justice to exonerate him and declare him innocent. In this manner, all lawsuits that were brought from the Bosnian Eyalet, as well as the appeals of detained Bosniaks in Istanbul, were rejected to the disappointment of the population of the Bosnian Eyalet.