Abstract
Abstract: From 1797 until 1802, the Ottoman ayan (notable) Pasvanoǧlu Osman Pasha was mentioned in the Times of London over one hundred times, more than any other Ottoman apart from the sultan himself. While the historic Pasvanoǧlu was seen by the Ottoman state as a brigand, rebel, and traitor, the Times saw him reimagined as an oriental Robin Hood-esque hero whose actions, although destructive, were for the greater good of those under his authority against the "tyrannical" rule of the sultan. It was in this vain that the author of a letter to the editor published on 26 March 1819, twelve years after Pasvanoǧlu's death, using the nom de plume Pasvanoǧlu, protested the elimination of the democratic selection of vestry representatives in the Parish of St. Pancras. In order to emphasize his irritation at his loss of rights and the tyranny of the government, the author invoked the romantic rebel of yesteryear.