Melek Ahmed Pasha ("Ahmed Pasha the Angel"; 1604–1662) was an Ottoman statesman and grand vizier during the reign of Mehmed IV. Early years He was of Abkhaz (or Abazin) origin. According to one source, his father was a sea captain named Pervane. During the reign of Murad IV, he was appointed as the governor of Diyarbakır. During Ibrahim's reign, he was appointed to the governorships of Erzurum, Mosul, Aleppo and Damascus. In 1644, he married İsmihan Kaya Sultan, Murad's daughter, and gained the title damat (groom). But all of the provinces (even Erzurum a part of Turkey) he was assigned, were quite far from Istanbul, the capital, and during most of his assignments, his wife stayed in Istanbul. During the reign of Mehmed IV, he finally returned to Istanbul as a vizier. But in 1652, to the dismay of his wife, he was appointed as the governor of Baghdad, another post far from Istanbul. Kaya Sultan tried to persuade the regent, Turhan Sultan (Mehmed IV's mother) to revoke the decision, but she couldn't succeed. Nevertheless, before Melek Ahmed left Istanbul, the Grand Vizier Kara Murat Pasha resigned, complaining of the intrigues of the palace people. The queen regent offered the post to Melek Ahmed, who accepted the offer on the condition that the palace people would not meddle with the governance of the state. Kaya Sultan dead on 28 February 1658. He was the brother-in-law of the Haydarzade Mehmed Pasha, the Ottoman governor of Egypt from 1646 to 1647, who married his sister. Grand Vizier When Melek Ahmed took office, he realized that the empire was almost bankrupt. The Cretan War (1645–1669) was very costly, and tax revenues from Anatolia were much less than the expected amount because of the Jelali revolts. He attempted to balance the budget, but without a real knowledge of financial affairs, his economic measures worsened the economy instead of improving it. Among his measures was the debasing of coinage by reducing the gold content. This caused reactions among both the merchants and the soldiers, whose salaries were paid by the new coins. The sultan was forced to relieve him of his post on 22 August 1651. Later years After 1651, he was again assigned as a provincial governor, but this time in Silistra (now in Bulgaria), much closer to capital. Soon, he was able to return to Istanbul. In 1654, Mustafa İbşir Pasha had been