The Abdîzâdes are the Amasya family to which Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, author of the History of Amasya, belonged. The author signed every volume of his work as "Abdîzâde", yet instead of telling the story of his family in one place he scattered it across the volumes, in the entries of the people concerned. The short autobiography in the introduction to the first volume, the entry "Hüseyin Bey-Kara" in the ninth volume and the entry "Abdî Ağa-Kara Hüseyinoğlu" in the twelfth form the backbone of that story; what he says about his mother's side, his grandmothers and his in-laws survives in the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth volumes as single sentences added at the end of other people's biographies. This article gathers those scattered records together.

According to the lineage Hüsameddin gives, the family goes back to Kara Hüseyin Bey, who served as castle warden and as alaybey (commander of the provincial cavalry) at the end of the seventeenth century. Throughout the eighteenth century the family appears among the serdars (commanders) of the Amasya Janissaries under the name "Kara Hüseyinoğulları"; in the middle of the nineteenth century it began to be called "the sons of Abdî", and in the generation of the author's father, Hacı Mehmed Ağa, it was one of the wealthy households of the Çeribaşı quarter. The book contains three entries belonging directly to the family, seven entries on relatives on the mother's side and by marriage, and a series of notes in which the author refers to his own house and to his mother's grave. The author's life and work are told separately in the article on Hüseyin Hüsameddin Yasar.

The Name and Its Origins

The name "Abdîzâde" was given to more than one family in Amasya, and most of the entries bearing it in the History of Amasya have nothing to do with Hüsameddin's family. The descendants of Mevlânâ Abdî-i Amâsî, mufti of Amasya in the fifteenth century, such as the judges Sirâceddîn Mehmed Çelebi and İsmâil Efendi, were also called "Abdîzâde". The sons of Müderris Abdî Efendi, who compiled a biographical dictionary of poets in the seventeenth century, were known as the "Müderris Abdîzâdes", and the descendants of Şeyh Ali Efendi, of the same line, as the "Şeyh Alizâdes". Eşref Abdurrahman Efendi and the sons of Iydî Bayram Efendi, grandsons of the Merzifon poet Abdî Efendi, and Abdî Paşa, grandson of Âbidî Çelebi of the line of Şeyh Cûî, carry the same name as well. Hüsameddin draws no connection between any of these families and his own.

In the author's family the name "Abdî" was used in two generations for two different men, and in neither case was it the man's real name. Hüsameddin reports the words of his father: "My father's name was Abdurrahmân. Later he was called Abdî. His grandfather was Abdülkerîm. He too was called Abdî." Topçuzâde Münîb Bey, a friend of the family, linked the naming to the maternal grandfathers: in his account the author's grandfather Abdî Ağa was the son of a daughter of Topçuoğlu Hacı Abdurrahmân Ağa, serdar of Amasya, and was called Abdî though his name was Abdurrahmân; the first Abdî Ağa, likewise, was the son of a daughter of Hacı Paşazâde Abdülkerîm Bey. The two explanations complement each other: the children took the names of their maternal grandfathers, and these names were shortened in common speech to "Abdî". The family name "Abdîzâde" itself comes from "the sons of Abdî", the name used for the sons of the second Abdî Ağa.

For the earlier generations Hüsameddin gives a long lineage. Kara Hüseyin Bey was the son of Doğanoğlu Abdullah Bey, a resident of the Ahî Sâbıkeddîn quarter; Abdullah Bey was the son of Ömer Bey, and Ömer Bey the son of Doğan Bey, a sanjak governor (mirliva) who fell as a martyr on the Baghdad campaign. The author also writes that these men were descendants of Cebeci Devlethan Bey and of Baba İlyâs-ı Horasânî. He cites no document for anything above Doğan Bey, and records the link to Baba İlyâs only as family tradition. In the eighteenth-century annals of the book the author names Kara Hüseyin Bey, wherever he appears, as "my ancestor Doğan Beyzâde Kara Hüseyin Ağa", which shows that the name of Doğan Bey was kept alive in the family's memory.

The Family across the Generations

Kara Hüseyin Bey (d. 1139 [1726-27])

The first member of the family to appear on the historical stage is Kara Hüseyin Bey. For his services in the events of 1099 [1687-88] he received a zeamet (a large military fief), then joined the garrison of the upper castle of Amasya and rose step by step to become castle steward. In Şaban 1113 [1702] he became holder of the Moramol estate and warden (dizdar) of the upper castle. Alaybey of Amasya for the first time in 1121 [1709-10], Kara Hüseyin was dismissed in 1124 [1712], became alaybey again in 1127 [1715] and went to the Morea campaign. Dismissed once more in 1129 [1717], he became alaybey for the third time in Safer 1131 [1718] and, in Zilhicce of the same year, mütesellim (deputy governor) of Amasya. The annals of the governors of Amasya in the book confirm this date: when Ahmed Paşa of Sivas, a boy of fourteen, was appointed to the sanjak at the end of 1131, the alaybey Kara Hüseyin Ağa governed the sanjak as mütesellim until the pasha arrived.

During his term as mütesellim he left Abdülbâki Ağa as his deputy and set out to inspect the sanjak, returning in Zilhicce 1132 [1720] to resume his duties. When Ahmed Paşa, governor of Amasya, was dismissed in Cemaziyelâhir 1133 [1721], he too left office. In 1135 [1722-23] he became alaybey for the fourth time and the following year joined the Persian campaign. For his valour at the conquest of the fortress of Hamadan he was given the rank of mirliva together with the sanjak of Dergüzin and in 1137 [1724-25] was appointed commander of the fortress of Hamadan. According to the entry in the ninth volume he died there at the beginning of 1139; the record in the governors' annals, however, says that he fell as a martyr at Hamadan "while fighting". Hüsameddin counts him among the "brave and capable commanders".

Hacı Ali Ağa and the Janissary Serdars

Kara Hüseyin Bey's sons Hasan, Ali and Mustafa Ağa entered the Janissary corps. Of these, Hacı Ali Ağa was one of the leading Janissaries and a serdar known as "the son of Kara Hüseyin"; he died in 1161 [1748], leaving two sons, Abdülkerîm and Mustafa Ağa. In the governors' annals one also comes across "Kara Hüseyinoğlu Abdullah Bey of the fief-holders", who became alaybey in 1147 [1734-35]. His connection to the family is not explained in the entry; since his name is not counted among the sons of Kara Hüseyin, he cannot be placed with certainty.

The first "Abdî" of the family is Abdülkerîm Ağa, son of Hacı Ali Ağa. Known as "Hacı Abdî Ağa, serdar of Amasya", he appears under the name "Kara Hüseyinoğlu Abdî" among the Janissary serdars who set out for the Russian campaign in 1179 [1765-66]. The book gives his death date in two different forms. According to the family entry in the ninth volume he died in 1203 [1788-89]; a note added to the entry on Helvacıoğlu Abdî Ağa in the twelfth volume, however, reports that Kara Hüseyinoğlu Abdî Ağa went to the Russian war in 1202 [1787-88] as commander of the serdengeçti volunteers together with his son Mehmed Ağa and fell as a martyr in 1204 [1789-90]. His sons were Hüseyin, Mehmed and Veli Ağa.

Abdülkerîm Ağa's son el-Hâc Mehmed Ağa was, like his father, a serdar of Amasya. When the Russian war began in 1203, the name "Kara Hüseyinoğlu Mehmed Ağa" appears among those who led the battalions that left Amasya. Mehmed Ağa, who died in 1239 [1823-24], had four sons: Halîl, Hasan, Abdî and el-Hâc Ali Ağa. Hüsameddin writes that this whole generation was called "the sons of Kara Hüseyin". In the same years another member of the family, the Janissary officer Kara Hüseyinoğlu Hüseyin Ağa, escaped by going into hiding when the men of Hasan Bey, son of Mikdad Ahmed Paşa and mütesellim of Amasya, were executed in Muharrem 1219 [1804]; he died later, and his son was Mehmed Ağa. The book introduces this Hüseyin Ağa as "the son of Mehmed Ağa". In the family entry, however, Hüseyin is counted among the sons of Abdülkerîm Ağa, that is, as Mehmed Ağa's brother. Which of the two records is correct cannot be determined from the book.

Abdî Ağa: From Janissary to Regular Army Major

The author's grandfather Abdî Ağa, Abdurrahmân by his real name, was the son of the serdar el-Hâc Mehmed Ağa. He became a Janissary at a young age, was admitted to the corps for his valour in the Russian wars and rose to be agha of the ulûfeciyân-ı yemîn, one of the palace cavalry divisions. At this time he attached himself to Hüsrev Paşa and took part in the wars in Rumelia. When the Janissary corps was abolished in Zilkade 1241 [1826] he went into hiding and came to Amasya through Hüsrev Paşa's intervention. With the general amnesty proclaimed in 1245 [1829-30] he came out and married. His wife, Fâhime Hâtun, was the daughter of Hâfız Mehmed Efendi, imam of the Kayabaşı quarter, and the granddaughter of Çankırılı Hâce Hasan Efendi, teacher at the Hayriyye Madrasa. Hüsameddin's father, Hacı Mehmed Ağa, was born of this marriage.

Before the battle of Nizip he joined the army as a captain at the request of Hâfız Mehmed Paşa of Sivas; when his valour in the battle was seen, he was promoted to major in 1255 [1839-40] on Hâfız Paşa's recommendation. He was later retired. Hüsameddin reports that he used to say he had fought in more than twenty-five battles, both in the Janissary corps and in the regular army, and describes his grandfather as "brave, plain-spoken and very devout". His grave is in the Narlıbahçe cemetery, in line with the door of the tomb of Sultan Mesud. For his death date, too, the book has two records: the family entry in the ninth volume gives 1269 [1852-53], while the entry written under his own name in the twelfth volume gives Şevval 1279 [1863]. His sons were Ahmed, Mustafa, Osman and el-Hâc Mehmed Ağa, and all of them were called "the sons of Abdî". Ahmed Ağa died in 1293 [1876], leaving two sons, Ali and Mustafa Efendi; Mustafa and Osman Ağa lost their lives in military service.

Hacı Mehmed Ağa and His Children

The author's father, el-Hâc Mehmed Ağa, was in Hüsameddin's words "famous in Amasya for his wealth and comfort". Unlike his ancestors with their military careers, there is no record of any office or rank for him. He lived in the house adjoining the west side of the mosque in the Çeribaşı quarter and died in Recep 1331 [June 1913]. His first wife, Zâhide Hâtun, died on the twenty-first of Cemaziyelâhir 1297 [May 1880]. Hüsameddin notes, in the entry on Abdal Ağasızâde Hâfız İbrâhim Efendi, that this chief muezzin of the Sultan Bayezid Mosque, famous for his voice, died on the same day as his mother. The book also mentions a Fâtıma Hanım, referred to as "my stepmother". She was the daughter of Ahmed Rüştî Efendi of the Hacı Bekir Efendizâde family and the granddaughter of Hacı Ebûbekir Efendi, mufti of Amasya. That the father married her after Zâhide Hâtun's death is an inference; the book does not give the date of the marriage.

Hacı Mehmed Ağa's sons were Hâfız Halîl, Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn, Ahmed Hulûsî and Ali Şükrü Efendi; he also had a daughter named Fâtıma Hâtun. Hüsameddin writes that he was born a twin on the last Friday of Recep 1286 [November 1869], but does not name his twin. His brother Hâfız Halîl Efendi and his sister Fâtıma Hâtun are buried in the same place as their mother, beside the tomb of Hüseyin Dede in Çeribaşı. Nothing beyond their names is given for Ahmed Hulûsî and Ali Şükrü Efendi.

Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn and the Next Generation

Hüsameddin was given the name "Hüseyin" by his father and the epithet "Hüsâmeddîn" by his mother, out of her devotion to Hüsâmeddîn Halvetî, one of the saints of Kuba. The career of the author, who memorised the Qur'an at the Balcı school in his quarter, studied at a madrasa in Istanbul after secondary school and passed through an official career from deputy judge to the Ministry of Pious Foundations, is told in detail in the biographical article. What matters for the history of the family is that he was the first to carry this line, descended from Janissary serdars and alaybeys, into the learned profession.

Hüsameddin married the daughter of es-Seyyid Mehmed Ağa bin es-Seyyid Osman Ağa, of the Pelîdoğlu family, notables of the Üçler quarter. In the entry on Pelîdoğlu Hacı İsmâil Ağa he says that this Mehmed Ağa died in 1305 [1887-88] and adds, "he is my father-in-law". His wife's name does not appear in the book. Taking the surname "Yasar" after the Surname Law, the author died in Istanbul on 10 February 1939. According to the research in the introduction to the 2022 edition, his death notice named two sons, Cemal, a former district governor of Kemaliye, and Kemaleddin, a lieutenant, and two daughters, Aliye and Naciye, both teachers, and listed Major Ziya Gücer as his son-in-law. In a letter he wrote to Atatürk in 1936 the author spoke of six children. In the contract concluded with the Municipality of Amasya in 1978 the heirs listed include Cemal, Serpil and Kemaleddin Yasar, together with Doğan and Altan Gücer; from this the editors conclude that Serpil was one of the author's children and that Doğan and Altan Gücer were his grandchildren.

The Mother's Side and Ties by Marriage

Hüsameddin's mother, Zâhide Hâtun, was the daughter of Hâfız el-Hâc Osman Efendi. Osman Efendi's father, Kuru İmâm Hâfız el-Hâc Halîl Efendi, was the son of Mustafa of the village of Gulam in the district of Köprü. He came to Amasya in his youth, memorised the Qur'an, studied the science of recitation and the Arabic sciences and became chief Qur'an reciter (şeyhülkurrâ). He headed the Qur'an school beneath the Çeribaşı Mosque and became imam of the mosque. The year in which he became imam appears in two forms in the book: 1231 [1815-16] in his own entry, and 1227 [1812] in the entry on Küleklizâde Hâfız Emîn Mehmed Efendi, whom he succeeded. Called "the Lean Imam" because of his frail build, Halîl Efendi lived in his house adjoining the west side of the mosque, made the pilgrimage three times and died in Zilkade 1246 [1831].

Kuru İmâm's wife, Halîme Hâtun, was the daughter of Cebecizâde es-Seyyid el-Hâc Mehmed Ağa, one of the notables of Çeribaşı; she died in 1251 [1835-36] and was buried in the Uzunyol cemetery, opposite the door of the tomb of the Nakşibendî Aziz Mehmed Ârif Efendi. Zâhide Hâtun's mother, Fatıma Hâtun, is likewise presented in the book as a daughter of the same Mehmed Ağa. This would mean that Kuru İmâm and his son Osman Efendi married two sisters; it is equally possible that one of the records contains a confusion, and the book does not explain the point. Mehmed Ağa's father, Cebecizâde es-Seyyid el-Hâc İbrâhim Efendi, was the son of the Janissary serdar Cebecioğlu Hacı Mehmed Ağa and the brother of es-Seyyid Osman Paşa; he served several times as deputy head of the descendants of the Prophet (nakîbüleşrâf) and died in 1218 [1803].

One branch of the mother's side reaches back further, to the fifteenth century. In the entry on Ulubeyli Bâyezîd Ata, who founded a dervish lodge in the village of Efte in the İnepazarı district and died in 871 [1466-67], Hüsameddin writes that his mother's mother, Fatıma Hâtun, was a descendant of this sheikh and for that reason received a share of the pious endowment formed from Bâyezîd Ata's farm at Efte. On the author's mother's side, then, a seyyid family, the Cebecizâdes, meets the Ulubeyli sheikhs, who traced themselves to Baba İlyâs.

The maternal branches on the father's side can also be followed in the book. The grandfather of Fâhime Hâtun, wife of the author's grandfather Abdî Ağa, was Çankırılı Hâce Hasan Efendi, who came to Amasya from Çankırı, was trained in the lessons of Horuk Hâfız el-Hâc Ali Efendi, became teacher of the Hayriyye Madrasa in 1218 and died at the end of 1232 [1817]. Abdî Ağa's mother, according to Münîb Bey, was a daughter of Topçuoğlu Hacı Abdurrahmân Ağa. This Abdurrahmân Ağa, a Janissary serdar who commanded the serdengeçti volunteers on the Russian campaign of 1202 and died in 1215 [1800-01], rebuilt the ruined Ömer Bey Mosque in Aşağıpazar on a larger scale and endowed two shops beside it. This is the building known locally as the "Crooked Mosque" (Eğri Câmi). Elsewhere in the book, however, it is said that Abdurrahmân Ağa, who had no son, bequeathed a third of his property for the repair of the mosque and that his nephew Mehmed Ağa built it with this money; the list of quarters in the first volume, for its part, attributes the building to "Topçuzâde el-Hâc Abdurrahmân Abdî Ağa" with the date 1218.

The House in Çeribaşı and the Family Graves

The family lived in a house adjoining the west side of the mosque in the Çeribaşı quarter. Hüsameddin writes that he was born in this house. The entry on Kuru İmâm Halîl Efendi likewise states that the imam lived in his house adjoining the west side of the mosque. Since the two descriptions point to the same place, one may suppose that the house passed to the family from the mother's side, from Kuru İmâm; this is an inference and is not stated in the book. The author also describes the buildings near the house in relation to his own home. He writes that the tomb of Büyük Çeribaşı Emîneddîn Mehmed Çelebi, who gave the quarter its name, stood "on a terrace adjoining our house", and that Burakzâde Şâh Rûze Hâtun, who died in 871, was buried in a tomb next to their home. He also records that a copy of the En'âm prayers written in 991 [1583] by the calligrapher Dede Çelebizâde Hüseyin Efendi had been an ornament of their house, but had burned.

Another house of the family stood in Kağnılı Pazarı. When Sofuzâde Hulûsî Mehmed Efendi, mufti of Amasya, died childless in 1303 [1886], his house, the outer part of which served as the mufti's office, later passed to Hüsameddin. It is known that in his letter to Atatürk the author said that two fires he had suffered, in Amasya and in Istanbul, had burned all his possessions. The notes "alas, it burned" found in many places in the book show that some of the manuscripts and family belongings in his hands were lost in these fires.

The family graves are scattered over several places. Kara Hüseyin Bey remained at Hamadan; the grandfather Abdî Ağa was buried in the Narlıbahçe cemetery, in line with the door of the tomb of Sultan Mesud. His mother Zâhide Hâtun, his brother Hâfız Halîl Efendi and his sister Fâtıma Hâtun lie in the garden southeast of the Çeribaşı Mosque, to the east of the grave of the Halvetî preacher Hüseyin Dede. Hüsameddin himself was buried in Istanbul, in the Feriköy cemetery.

Family Tree

The tree below is built from the information Hüsameddin gives in the first, ninth and twelfth volumes. Dates are given as they appear in the book, and conflicting records are shown in brackets.

  • Doğan Bey (mirliva, martyred on the Baghdad campaign)
    • Ömer Bey
      • Abdullah Bey (Doğanoğlu)
        • Kara Hüseyin Bey (alaybey, mütesellim, commander of Hamadan; d. 1139 [1726-27])
          • Hasan Ağa
          • Mustafa Ağa
          • Hacı Ali Ağa (serdar; d. 1161 [1748])
            • Mustafa Ağa
            • Abdülkerîm Ağa, "Hacı Abdî Ağa" (serdar; d. 1203 [1788-89] or 1204 [1789-90])
              • Hüseyin Ağa
              • Veli Ağa
              • el-Hâc Mehmed Ağa (serdar; d. 1239 [1823-24])
                • Halîl Ağa, Hasan Ağa, el-Hâc Ali Ağa
                • Abdî Ağa (Abdurrahmân; major; d. 1269 [1852-53] or 1279 [1863]) and his wife Fâhime Hâtun
                  • Ahmed Ağa (d. 1293 [1876]); his sons Ali and Mustafa Efendi
                  • Mustafa Ağa and Osman Ağa (died in military service)
                  • el-Hâc Mehmed Ağa (d. 1331 [1913]) and his wife Zâhide Hâtun
                    • Hâfız Halîl Efendi
                    • Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar (1869-1939); his children Cemal, Kemaleddin, Aliye, Naciye, Serpil
                    • Ahmed Hulûsî Efendi
                    • Ali Şükrü Efendi
                    • Fâtıma Hâtun

Mother's side: Zâhide Hâtun was the daughter of Hâfız el-Hâc Osman Efendi and Fatıma Hâtun; Osman Efendi was the son of Kuru İmâm Hâfız el-Hâc Halîl Efendi and Halîme Hâtun. Fatıma Hâtun and Halîme Hâtun are both recorded as daughters of Cebecizâde es-Seyyid el-Hâc Mehmed Ağa.

Family Members in Hüsameddin

Bibliography

Primary sources

Academic studies

Online sources