Turkey seemed to Mustafa 1622-1623, be at the point of dissolution.
Hafiz was surrendered, a voluntary martyr; other ministers were deposed; Mustafa Pasha, aga of the janissaries, was saved by his own troops.
During the Turco-Russian campaign of 1829 it was the headquarters of Mustafa Pasha of Skodra, and was occupied by the Russians for a few days.
This change of masters brought some relief to the unfortunate Cretans, who at least exchanged the licence of local misrule for the oppression of an organized despotism; and the government of Mustafa Pasha, an Albanian like Mehemet Ali, the ruler of the island for a considerable period (1832-1852), was more enlightened and intelligent than that of most Turkish governors.
In 1840 Crete was again taken from Mehemet Ali, and replaced under the dominion of the Turks, but fortunately Mustafa still retained his governorship until he left for Constantinople to become grand vizier in 1852.