Antoni Aleksander Iliński

Mehmet Iskender Pasha (orig. Antoni Aleksander Ilinsky) (1814-1861). Ottoman Genaral of Polish origin.

Took part in the independance struggles of Poles and Hungarians against the Austrian-Russian alliance. Converted to Islam in 1844. Served in various commanding posts during the reign of Abdul Mejid I (1839-1861) in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Danube, Crimea and Baghdad. Was promoted as Pasha (General) during the Crimean War (1855).

Early life and Conversion to Islam

Born in the Galician town of Žilina (Ilina), in Slovakia. Took part in the November 1830 Uprising as a young officer of the Lithuanian Legion. Joined the movement of Polish exiles led by Prince Adam Jerzy Czartoryski from Paris. Worked under Jósef Bem in his abortive Portugese Legion attempt (1833), and in further struggles to form Polish legions in Spain, France and elsewhere.

In 1844 he was arrested in Istanbul upon Russia’s request, for allegedly working to organise Ukrainian Cossack legions under Michał Czajkowski’s “Eastern Agency”. The Ottoman authorities were indifferent, but Russia was pressuring for his handover for trial. To escape this trap, he consented to an offer to convert to Islam and assumed Ottoman nationaliy under the new name of Mehmet Iskender. He was immediately accepted as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Ottoman Army as “Iskender Beg”.

In the Ottoman Army

He served in the Army of Roumelia under Omar Pasha. He was a prominent figure in the military campaign that deposed and eventually executed the Herzegovina Vizier Ali-paša Rizvanbegovićin 1851.

When the Crimean War broke out in 1853, he was charged with organizing and training the irregular troops (thebashi-bazouks) along the Danube. In the following year, Iskender Beg’s fierce and daring style in commanding successful cavalry raids on Russians brought him acclaim and he was soon promoted as Colonel.

Early 1855 he was posted in the Eupatoria Garrison in Crimea commanding a 400-strong cavalry regiment. His unit made a critical contribution in successfully repulsing a strong Russian assault on the town, which was threatening the rear of the Allied army besieging Sebastopol. This victory brought him a second promotion in a year, making him a Pasha (General), (specifically a Mirliva, equivalent of a Brigadier General).

Same year he commanded the advance guard of an expedition army under Omar Pasha which landed at Sukhumi, in the hope of relieving the Eastern Anatolian fortress-city [Kars]] from a Russian siege. The city fell to the Russians, however, before the two armies could engage.

In 1857 he was again called to duty by Omar Pasha, who was appointed as the Governor and General Commander of Baghdad. He went to Baghdad and was active in the repression of tribal uprisings around Basra and in the Nejd area.

On his return to Istanbul in 1861, he fell suddenly ill after an official banquet and died on June 2nd 1861. He was buried in Edirnekapi Military Cemetary in İstanbul.

References

In English:

BARHAM, John: “Bono, Johnny Turk!” article in suite101

BLAKE, R.L.V.ffrench: The Crimean War, Sphere Books Ltd., London, 1971. s.137.

The London Times: various issues between 1851-1856 (nos. 20745, 20774, 20780, 21530, 21757, 21816, 21822, 22223, 22260, 22263, 22284, 22299,22498)

In Turkish:

EREN-GRIFFE, Mirgül: Osmanlı’nın Hizmetkarı, Babil Yayıncılık, İstanbul 2005, ss.125-129.

DROZDZ, Jerzy : (article originally posted and then removed from Polish Embassy (Ankara) website, cited in:) http://maviboncuk.blogspot.com/2004/06/xix-yzyl-osmanl-ordusunda-polonyallar.html

HIDAYET BEY (Iskender Pasha’s Grandson): Unpublished personal notes.

In Polish:

LATKA, Jerzy: Adampol, Polska Wies Nad Bosforem, Krakow, 1981.
LATKA, Jerzy: Lew Nasz, Lew Polski: Pasza Iskender (Antoni Ilinski), Krakow-Gdansk, 1996.