kapudan pasha

The Kapudan Pasha (Ottoman Turkish: قپودان پاشا, modern Turkish: Kaptan Paşa), also known as the Kapudan-ı Derya (Ottoman Turkish: قپودان دریا, modern: Kaptan-ı Derya, "Captain of the Sea") was the grand admiral of the Ottoman Navy. Typically, the Kapudan Pasha operated from a base at Galata and Gallipoli during the winter and conducted annual sailings during the summer months. The title of Kapudan Pasha itself is only attested from 1567 onwards; earlier designations for the supreme commander of the fleet include Derya Bey ("bey of the sea") and Re'is Kapudan ("head captain"). The Oxford English Dictionary regards the Ottoman Turkish word kapudan as a form of the Italian word capitano (English translation: "captain"); Ottoman Turkish pāšā or baša comes from Persian pādšāh – "padishah, prot...