Kapudan Pasha in the context of "Catepanate"

Gedik Ahmed Pasha (Serbian: Гедик Ахмед-паша; died 18 November 1482) was an Ottoman statesman and admiral who served as Grand Vizier and Kapudan Pasha (Grand Admiral of the Ottoman Navy) during the reigns of sultans Mehmed II and Bayezid II.

Very little was known about Gedik Ahmed Pasha in primary sources until late in historiography. Serbia and Albania had both been proposed as geographical regions for his birthplace and Mükrimin Halil Yinanç had even claimed that he was descended from the Byzantine Greek Palaiologos dynasty based on unnamed Western sources Yinanç claimed to have access to. Later research in the Ottoman archives of Vranje (southeastern Serbia) by Aleksandar Stojanovski established that Gedik Ahmed Pasha was a member of the local Serbian feudal families of the area and was born in the village Punoševce.

The katepánō (Greek: κατεπάνω, lit. '[the one] placed at the top' or 'the topmost') was a senior Byzantine military rank and office. The word was Latinized as capetanus/catepan, and its meaning seems to have merged with that of the Italian "capitaneus" (which derives from the Latin word "caput", meaning head). This hybridized term gave rise to the English language term captain and its equivalents in other languages (Capitan, Kapitan, Kapitän, Capitán, Capitano, Kapudan Pasha, etc.)

The Eyalet of the Islands of the White Sea (Ottoman Turkish: ایالت جزایر بحر سفید, romanized: Eyālet-i Cezāyir-i Baḥr-i Sefīd, lit. 'Eyalet of the Islands of the White Sea') was a first-level province (eyalet) of the Ottoman Empire. From its inception until the Tanzimat reforms of the mid-19th century, it was under the personal control of the Kapudan Pasha, the commander-in-chief of the Ottoman Navy.

Ottoman Tunisia — also known as the Eyalet of Tunis or the Regency of Tunis — was a semi-autonomous territory of the Ottoman Empire, that existed from the 16th to the 19th century, located roughly in present-day Tunisia (and parts of what is now eastern Algeria.)

The Ottoman presence in the Maghreb began with the conquest of Algiers in 1516 by the Ottoman Turkish corsair, Beylerbey Aruj Barbarossa (Oruç Reis). In 1534, the Ottoman Navy under the command of Kapudan Pasha Hayreddin Barbarossa, Aruj's younger brother, captured Tunis from the Hafsid dynasty. Less than a year later, in 1535, the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V sent a multinational invasion force to wrest control of Tunis, overwhelming the Ottoman garrison. Following the final Ottoman reconquest of Tunis from Spain in 1574, the Ottomans maintained control of Tunis for over three centuries. Ottoman rule came to an end following the French conquest of Tunisia in 1881.

Ottoman Tunisia — also known as the Eyalet of Tunis or the Regency of Tunis — was a semi-autonomous territory of the Ottoman Empire, that existed from the 16th to the 19th century, located roughly in present-day Tunisia (and parts of what is now eastern Algeria.)

The Ottoman presence in the Maghreb began with the conquest of Algiers in 1516 by the Ottoman Turkish corsair, Beylerbey Aruj Barbarossa (Oruç Reis). In 1534, the Ottoman Navy under the command of Kapudan Pasha Hayreddin Barbarossa, Aruj's younger brother, captured Tunis from the Hafsid dynasty. Less than a year later, in 1535, the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V sent a multinational invasion force to wrest back control of Tunis, overwhelming the Ottoman garrison. Following the final Ottoman reconquest of Tunis from Spain in 1574, the Ottomans maintained control of Tunis for over three centuries. Ottoman rule came to an end following the French conquest of Tunisia in 1881.

Hayreddin Barbarossa (Arabic: خير الدين بربروس, romanized: Khayr al-Dīn Barbarūs; Turkish: Barbaros Hayrettin Paşa), also known as Hayreddin Pasha, Hızır Hayrettin Pasha, and simply Hızır Reis (c. 1466/1483 – 4 July 1546), was an Ottoman corsair and later admiral of the Ottoman Navy. Barbarossa's naval victories secured Ottoman dominance over the Mediterranean during the mid-16th century.

Born on Lesbos, Khizr began his naval career as a corsair under his elder brother Oruç Reis. In 1516, the brothers captured Algiers from Spain, with Oruç declaring himself Sultan. Following Oruç's death in 1518, Khizr inherited his brother's nickname, "Barbarossa" ("Redbeard" in Italian). He also received the honorary name Hayreddin (from Arabic Khayr ad-Din, "goodness of the faith" or "best of the faith"). In 1529, Barbarossa took the Peñón of Algiers from the Spaniards.

The Imperial Council or Imperial Divan (Ottoman Turkish: ديوان همايون, romanized: Dîvân-ı Hümâyûn), was the de facto cabinet of the Ottoman Empire for most of its history. Initially an informal gathering of the senior ministers presided over by the Sultan in person, in the mid-15th century the Council's composition and function became firmly regulated. The Grand vizier, who became the Sultan's deputy as the head of government, assumed the role of chairing the Council, which comprised also the other viziers, charged with military and political affairs, the two kadi'askers or military judges, the defterdars in charge of finances, the nişancı in charge of the palace scribal service, and later the Kapudan Pasha, the head of the Ottoman Navy, and occasionally the beylerbey of Rumelia and the Agha of the Janissaries. The Council met in a dedicated building in the Second Courtyard of the Topkapi Palace, initially daily, then for four days a week by the 16th century. Its remit encompassed all matters of governance of the Empire, although the exact proceedings are no longer known. It was assisted by an extensive secretarial bureaucracy under the reis ül-küttab for the drafting of appropriate documents and the keeping of records. The Imperial Council remained the main executive organ of the Ottoman state until the mid-17th century, after which it lost most of its power to the office of the Grand Vizier. With the Tanzimat reforms of the 19th century, it was eventually succeeded by a Western-style cabinet government, the Council of Ministers.

Reis (Ottoman Turkish: رئيس raʾīs; sometimes spelled rais) was a military rank in the Ottoman Empire, akin to that of a naval captain or (in the Levant) a commodore, which was commonly added to the officer's name as an epithet during the Ottoman Empire. Examples include:

• Piri "Reis"
• Turgut "Reis"
• Uluç Ali "Reis"
• Hizir "Reis"
• Seydi Ali "Reis"
• Oruç "Reis"

The rank Reis Pasha referred to an Admiral, while the Kapudan Pasha (akin to Grand Admiral; literally "Captain Pasha") title referred to the commander-in-chief of the Ottoman Navy fleet.