Amasya’nın Karatay Mahallesi eşrâfından ve züamâdan Usûlzâde Ömer Bey’in mahdûmudur. Bu da züamâdan olup Nadir Şâh muhârebâtında yararlıklar gösterdi. Hayli müddet damga mukata’ası mültezimi olarak servet ü sâmân kazanıb [662] “Damgacı Ağa” diye meşhûr oldu.
Ba’dehû hâc edib avdetde Meclis-i hâciyân ve a’yân azâsı, 1173’de şehir kethüdâsı olup 1175’de ma’zûl ve 1176 senesi rebiülevvelinde sânîyen şehir kethüdâsı ve 1179 şevvâlinde ma’zûl ve 1183’de merhûm oldu.
1174’de Sultân Bâyezîd Câmii şerîfine her Cuma günü takrîr-i hadîs ve tefsîr olunmak, Buharî ve Müslîm sahîhlerini okutmak üzere dersiyye vaz’ edib dış ormanda iki kıt’a bağını vakf ve dâmâdı meşâhîr-i muhaddisînden Sekü köylüzâde el-Hâc Hâfız Osmân Efendi’ye tevcih etdi. İçerişehir’de Şeyh mescidini yeniden yaptırdı.
Oğulları Hâfız Ömer, Mehmed, Osmân Ağalardır. Ömer Ağazâde el-Hâc Osmân Ağa ve Hâfız el-Hâc Mehmed Ağazâde Alemdâr Süleyman Paşa ile Hâfız Ömer, Ahmed Efendilerdir. Alemdâr Süleyman Paşazâde Mehmed Reşid Bey Selanik defterdârı oldu. Bunun mahdûmu Mehmed Ragıb Beyzâde Mahmûd Şevket Bey Çorum müdde-i umûmî muâvini iken 1325’de vefât etdi. Hoş-sohbet bir zât idi. [663] Evlâdına “Damgacızâdeler” dendi.
In Modern English
He is the son of Usûlzâde Ömer Bey, one of the notables of the Karatay quarter of Amasya and a zeamet holder. He too was a zeamet holder and rendered valuable services in the wars with Nadir Shah. For a long time, as tax farmer of the stamp-duty revenue, he acquired wealth and property and became famous as "Damgacı Ağa".
Then, on returning from the pilgrimage, he became a member of the Pilgrims' Council and of the council of notables. In 1173 [1759-60] he became city kethüda, in 1175 [1761-62] was dismissed, in Rebîülevvel 1176 [1762-63] became city kethüda for the second time, in Şevval 1179 [1765-66] was dismissed again, and died in 1183 [1769-70].
In 1174 [1760-61] he founded a lecture waqf at the Sultan Bayezid Mosque so that hadith and Qur'anic exegesis would be taught every Friday and the Sahih works of Bukhari and Muslim would be read; he endowed two plots of vineyard in the outer forest and gave this to his son-in-law, Hacı Hâfız Osman Efendi of Sekü village, one of the well-known hadith scholars. He rebuilt the Şeyh Mescidi in İçerişehir.
His sons are Hâfız Ömer, Mehmed and Osman Ağa. Ömer Ağazâde Hacı Osman Ağa, Hâfız Hacı Mehmed Ağazâde Alemdâr Süleyman Pasha, and the Ahmed Efendis, sons of Hâfız Ömer, are also of this line. Alemdâr Süleyman Paşazâde Mehmed Reşid Bey became defterdar of Salonica. His son Mehmed Ragıb Beyzâde Mahmud Şevket Bey died in 1325 [1907-08] while assistant public prosecutor at Çorum. He was a person of pleasant conversation. His children were called the "Damgacızades".
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- eşrâf: the respected, long-established families and persons of a place
- züamâ: zeamet holders; the sipahi class whose revenue was left to them as a tax share
- mahdûm: son
- damga mukata'ası: the revenue of the stamp duty, left by tender to a particular person
- mültezim: a person who undertakes the collection of a tax by tender
- Meclis-i hâciyân: the city council made up of persons who had made the pilgrimage
- ma'zûl: dismissed from office
- takrîr-i hadîs: having hadith read and explained
- dersiyye: revenue set aside for a teaching post
- müdde-i umûmî muâvini: assistant public prosecutor
The Offices Hüsameddin Lists
The text advances the man's life always by dates. The city kethüdaship appears in two separate periods: 1173-1175 and 1176-1179. Hüsameddin does not write the reason for the dismissals; the details of the city kethüdaship could not be found in the sources researched.
The Lecture Waqf at the Bayezid Mosque
Damgacı Ağa's waqf was founded in Amasya's largest complex, in the mosque built by Sultan Bayezid II. The complex is known to consist of a mosque, madrasa, soup kitchen-hospice and children's school; according to the mosque's inscription it was completed in Receb 891 [July 1486]. Hüsameddin asserts that construction began in Receb 886 [1481], but the inscription gives not this date but the date of completion. In the sources the professorship of the complex's madrasa is recorded as reserved for the muftis of Amasya. Damgacı Ağa's waqf is separate from this madrasa's staff, a weekly hadith and exegesis lecture held within the mosque. The text states explicitly that the teaching post was given to the founder's son-in-law.
The Trace of the Lineage
The text gives a family tree extending from Damgacı Ağa down to a descendant who died in 1325. From it one can understand that the line held posts in Amasya until the early twentieth century, that the name lived on as "Damgacızades", and that they held offices stretching from Salonica to Çorum. No information was found in other sources about the person or his family.
Bibliography
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 206. amasya.bel.tr