TRENDEFRAtlas of the Sultans · Glossary
Term · Army and navy
Also known as: grand admiral, kaptan-ı derya
The head and administrator of the Ottoman naval forces.
The fleet commander originally held the rank of a sanjak bey. In 1534 Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha was put at the head of the fleet with the rank of beylerbey; from then on the province of the Mediterranean Islands (Cezâyir-i Bahr-i Sefîd) was also placed under the kapudan pashas. They led the fleet in the naval wars and island conquests of the Mediterranean.
Open the map in 1534Source: TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, article “KAPUDAN PAŞA” (in Turkish); text condensed for the atlas.