John George Caradja, also known by his regnal name Ioan Gheorghe Caragea (Greek: Ἰωάννης Γεωργίου Καρατζάς, romanized: Ioanni Georgiou Karatzas; pre-modern Romanian: Ioan Gheorghie Caragea, Cyrillic: Їωан Геωргïє Караџѣ; French: Jean Georges Caradja, Caradgea, or Caradgia; Italian: Giovanni Caradza, Caragia, or Caraggia; Turkish: Yoan Corc Karaca; 1754 – 27 December 1844), was a Phanariote Greek Prince of Wallachia, who reigned between August 1812 and September 1818. He was the second, and last, member of the Karatzas or Caradja family to ascend to the Wallachian throne, but one of several to have also held office as Great Dragoman of the Ottoman Empire. Caradja, whose life is relatively obscure up to that point, held two terms as Dragoman (1807–1808, 7–27 August 1812). Before 1800, he also embarked on a literary career, participating in the spread of Enlightenment literature throughout the Rum Millet, and becoming noted for his translations from Carlo Goldoni. His progeny included Rallou Karatza-Argyropoulos, who was famous in her own right as a pioneer of modern Greek theater.
Caradja's reign came at the apex of Phanariote influence in the Danubian Principalities, a time marked by political corruption, outside interference, and, increasingly, the affirmation of Romanian nationalism as an alternative to Greek hegemony. His candidacy in Wallachia was supported by Halet Efendi and the Austrian Empire, and made possible by large sums of money that Caradja intended to recover from taxes. He arrived in Bucharest just as Wallachia was recovering from a Russian occupation, and was involved in punishing those whom he regarded as Russophiles—his clampdown resulted in the death of Abdullah Ramiz Efendi and the expulsion of Manuc Bei; the latter spent his remaining years attempting to have Caradja deposed. Caradja was then involved in securing jobs for his Greek retinue or in trafficking high offices in exchange for bribes; in order to meet Ottoman fiscal demands, but also his own financial goals, he created an infamous system of spoliation which perplexed foreign observers and angered the Wallachian public. Having to deal with an outbreak of brigandage, Caradja became known for enforcing capital punishment, as well as torture and amputation.
