Ahmed-paša Budimlija: između legende i povijesne stvarnosti
Ahmed Pasha Budimlija: between folk tradition and historical reality

Summary/Abstract: Ahmed Pasha Budimlija is remembered in oral tradition as the greatest benefactor and founder of the main urban facilities and elements in Gračanica: the main mosque, the clock tower, the public bathhouse, probably a madrasah(Islamic school), and a han (inn), several trade and craft shops, warehouses and related buildings, and he also bequeathed a large number of plots of arable land, thus leaving behind an economically strong waqf (charitable endowment) from which his buildings and foundations were financed. According to oral folk tradition, Ahmed Pasha moved to Gračanica after the fall of Buda (1686), establishing his own endowment there. However, a newly discovered document from the Ottoman archives in Istanbul, dating from 1665, shows that Ahmed Pasha was not alive at that time, which means that his endowment was created no earlier than the mid-17th century, and perhaps much earlier. Based on available sources and existing knowledge, the author in this article considers several assumptions and possibilities related to the identity of Ahmed Pasha and the time of the creation of his waqf.

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