I. MOHAMMED KUPRILI (c. i586-1661) was the grandson of an Albanian who had settled at Kupri in Asia Minor. He began life as a scullion in the imperial kitchen, became cook, then purse bearer to Khosrev Pasha, and so, by wit and favour, rose to be master of the horse, "pasha of two tails," and governor of a series of important cities and sanjaks. In 1656 he was appointed gov ernor of Tripoli; but before he had set out to his new post he was nominated to the grand vizierate. He suppressed an emeute of orthodox Mussulman fanatics in Constantinople (Sept. 22), and put to death certain favourites of the powerful Valide Sul tana, by whose corruption and intrigues the administration had been confused. A little later (January 1657) he suppressed with ruthless severity a rising of the spahis ; a certain Sheik Salim, leader of the fanatical mob of the capital, was drowned in the Bosporus; and the Greek Patriarch, who had written to the voi vode of Wallachia to announce the approaching downfall of Islam, was hanged.
Having cowed the disaffected elements in the state, he turned his attention to foreign enemies. The victory of the Venetians off Chios (May 2, 1657) was a severe blow to the Turkish sea power, which Kuprili set himself energetically to repair. A second battle, fought in the Dardanelles (July 17-19), ended by a lucky shot blowing up the Venetian flag-ship; the losses of the Ottoman fleet were repaired, and in the middle of August Kuprili appeared off Tenedos, which was captured on the 31st and rein corporated permanently in the Turkish empire. Thus the Otto
man prestige was restored at sea, while Kuprili's ruthless enforcement of discipline in the army and suppression of revolts, whether in Europe or Asia, restored it also on land. But his haughty and violent temper broke the traditional friendly rela tions between Turkey and France. The French ambassador, de la Haye, had delayed bringing him the customary gifts; Kuprili was bitterly offended, and, on pretext of an abuse of the immunities of diplomatic correspondence, bastinadoed the ambassador's son and cast him and the ambassador himself into prison. A special envoy, sent by Louis XIV., to demand reparation, was treated with studied insult ; Mazarin therefore abandoned the Turkish alliance, and threw the power of France on to the side of Venice, openly assisting the Venetians in the defence of Crete.
Kuprili's restless energy continued to the last, exhibiting itself on one side in wholesale executions, on the other in vast building operations. By his orders castles were built at the mouth of the Don and on the bank of the Dnieper, outworks against the ever aggressive Tatars, as well as on either shore of the Dardanelles. His last activity as a statesman was to spur the sultan on to press the war against Hungary. He died on Oct. 31, 1661. Kuprili recommended the sultan to appoint his son as his successor, and so founded a dynasty of able statesmen who occupied the grand vizierate almost without interruption for half a century.