Husayn Pasha

Ḥusayn Pasha ibn Ḥasan ibn Aḥmad ibn Riḍwān ibn Muṣṭafā ibn ʿAbd al-Muʿīn Pasha (Arabic: حسين باشا بن حسن رضوان) (died 1662 or 1663) was the Ottoman governor of Gaza Sanjak, a district which extended from Jaffa and Ramla in the north to Bayt Jibrin in the southeast and Rafah in the south, with Gaza as its capital. Husayn belonged to the Ridwan family, who long held the governorship of Gaza. Husayn Pasha became governor in 1644 after succeeding his father 'Arab Hasan Pasha. He served, with a brief interruption by his son Ibrahim in 1660, until his imprisonment in 1662. Husayn Pasha also served intermittent terms as governor of Nablus and Jerusalem and as amir al-hajj (commander of the Hajj caravan). Gaza prospered under Husayn Pasha and its political importance rose so much so that the French consul considered it to be the virtual capital of Palestine. Husayn Pasha maintained friendly relations with the Bedouin tribes of the region, local Christian communities and the French. In 1662, Husayn Pasha was imprisoned by the Ottoman imperial authorities and executed in Damascus later that year or in Constantinople in 1663.