the next year. He remained at this post until 1727, when he returned to Bosnia for two years. In 1729 he was re-appointed to Rumeli, before being shifted back to Bosnia in 1730, and again to Rumeli in 1731. During this period, he eliminated the surviving supporters of the rebel Patrona Halil, who had taken refuge in the western Balkans, particularly Albania. On 10 September 1731, he was named Grand Vizier by Sultan Mahmud I. Although he served only for six months as Grand Vizier, he tried to enact reforms to stabilize the volatile situation in the capital, Istanbul, by stabilizing prices, restoring order and ensuring the city's supply with food. He also encouraged the efforts of the French army officer Claude Alexandre de Bonneval in reforming the humbaracı artillery corps after Western models. After his dismissal, Topal Osman served briefly as governor of the Trebizond Eyalet and of Tiflis, before being recalled and, as the Empire's most experienced soldier, appointed serasker of Anatolia in the Ottoman–Persian War of 1730–35. In July 1733 he dealt a decisive defeat on the Persians, who under Nader Shah had invaded Iraq and were besieging Baghdad, at a hard-fought battle just north of Baghdad. Aided by Topal Osman's clever stratagems, the Ottomans inflicted some 30,000 casualties on Nader Shah's army and forced it to withdraw, although they lost 20,000 in turn. It was the only time that Nader Shah ever lost a battle. In the next year, however, Nader Shah repeated his invasion. Topal Osman's army at Kirkuk had been weakened by the Ottoman government, with experienced men transferred west and replaced by low-quality levies, although he retained a numerical superiority over the Persians. In the ensuing battle near Kirkuk, Topal Osman was killed and his army routed. A Persian soldier cut off Topal Osman's head and brought it to Nader Shah, who, after ordering his opponent's corpse found, returned his remains to the Ottomans, out of deep respect for an adversary he considered to be worthy. They were buried with full honours in the Imam Qasim mosque in Kirkuk. Family His son, Ahmed Ratib Pasha, had married Ayşe Sultan, a daughter of Sultan Ahmed III. His great-grandson was the noted writer and Young Ottoman political activist Namık Kemal. References Sources 1663 births 1733 deaths 18th-century Grand Viziers of the Ottoman Empire Turks from the Ottoman Empire Ottoman military personnel killed in action People