{"id":190008,"date":"2025-10-11T14:13:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-11T12:13:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/?p=190008"},"modified":"2025-10-11T14:13:15","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T12:13:15","slug":"the-builder-of-the-bridge-on-the-drina-bajica-nenadic-was-the-vizier-of-three-sultans-and-one-of-the-most-powerful-men-in-the-history-of-the-ottoman-empire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/the-builder-of-the-bridge-on-the-drina-bajica-nenadic-was-the-vizier-of-three-sultans-and-one-of-the-most-powerful-men-in-the-history-of-the-ottoman-empire\/","title":{"rendered":"THE BUILDER OF THE BRIDGE ON THE DRINA: Bajica Nenadi\u0107 was the vizier of three sultans and one of the most powerful men in the history of the Ottoman Empire!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Although his exact date of birth is unknown\u2014only the year, 1506\u2014the life of Bajica Nenadi\u0107 from Sokolovi\u0107i took a new turn after he was taken away through the \u201cblood tax.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the Ottoman Empire, there existed a system for collecting healthy and strong boys. Its name was \u201cblood tax\u201d or \u201cdevshirme,\u201d and it involved taking Christian boys from newly conquered territories as a form of taxation to create infantry troops loyal to the Ottoman sultan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These were usually boys between the ages of 14 and 18, although sometimes they were much younger. However, regardless of age, they had to be intelligent, strong, and healthy\u2014which is why some mothers mutilated their sons. Over time, many shared the fate of being taken from their families and converted to Islam, after which they had to undergo certain training and adapt to a new way of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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One of them was Bajica Nenadi\u0107 from the village of Sokolovi\u0107i in Herzegovina, a boy of Orthodox faith who would later become known as Mehmed Pasha Sokolovi\u0107. At just 15 years old, he was taken through the \u201cblood tax\u201d into the Janissaries, and from that moment, his rise to the highest positions in the empire began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the death of Hayreddin Barbarossa in 1546, Mehmed Sokolovi\u0107 took his place and became the head of the navy, even though he had no previous maritime experience. Everything indicates that he had strong support from Rustem Pasha, as well as from the women of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent\u2019s harem\u2014most notably Suleiman\u2019s wife H\u00fcrrem and their daughter Mihrimah, who was also Rustem Pasha\u2019s wife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are Venetian sources that explain how he earned their trust:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHis reputation changed the moment he saved Sultan H\u00fcrrem from drowning thanks to his strong constitution, after her ship ran aground. The grateful sultana made sure from that moment on that he advanced from gatekeeper of the court to the position of grand vizier.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It took him less than three years to assume the role of Beylerbey of Rumelia, although no one could dispute his ability to command or his skill in conduct and warfare during the campaign from Erzurum to Nakhchivan, as well as in capturing several fortresses along the way. After returning from the front, Sultan Suleiman granted him the title of third vizier in 1555, thus bringing him into the imperial council\u2014the Divan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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