Havzalıdır. Havza’nın Dere köyünden Mehmed oğludur. [526] Sipâhi meşâhîrinden olup muhârebelerde şecâ’atıyla kendisini ve yararlığını tanıtdı. Bu sûretle terakkî ederek Havza voyvodası ve ba’dehû evlâdiyyet üzere Sultân Mes’ûd-ı Selçukî ve Gâzi Çelebi evkâfına mütevellî oldu.
Tûl-i müddet Havza kazâsını idâre etdiği esnâda Köprülü Mehmed Paşa ile araları açılmıştı. 1066 senesi zilka’desinde Köprülü Mehmed Paşa sadr-ı a’zam oldukta azledildi. 1068’de Abaza Hasan Paşa’ya uyar düşüncesiyle sânîyen Havza voyvodası oldu.
Bu da Köprülü Mehmed Paşa’dan can korkusuna düşüp Abaza Hasan Paşa’nın davetine icâbet ederek kıyâm ve isyânına iştirâk etdiği töhmetiyle 1069 senesi cumâdelahiresinin sonlarında gelen fermân-ı âlî üzerine Havza’da i’dâm edildi. Şeci, müdebbir, idâreli bir sipâhi idi.
In Modern English
He was from Havza; he was the son of Mehmed of the village of Dere in Havza. He was one of the well-known sipahis; through the courage he showed in wars he made himself and his usefulness known. Rising in this way, he became voivode of Havza, and then mütevelli (waqf administrator) of the waqfs of the Seljuk Sultan Mes'ûd and of Gazi Çelebi, on the condition that the post pass from child to child.
While he governed the district (kaza) of Havza for a long time, he fell out with Köprülü Mehmed Pasha. When Köprülü Mehmed Pasha became grand vizier in Zilkade 1066 [1656], he was removed from his post. In 1068 [1657-58], with the idea that he would follow Abaza Hasan Pasha, he became voivode of Havza for the second time.
He too, falling into fear for his life from Köprülü Mehmed Pasha, was accused of having answered Abaza Hasan Pasha's call and joined his rising and rebellion, and upon the sultan's decree that arrived at the end of Cemaziyelahir 1069 [1659] he was executed in Havza. He was a brave, prudent and thrifty sipahi.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- meşâhîr: the well-known, the famous
- şecâ'at: courage, bravery
- terakkî etmek: to rise, to advance
- evlâdiyyet üzere: on condition of passing from father to son
- mütevellî: waqf administrator
- tûl-i müddet: a long time
- sânîyen: for the second time
- kıyâm ve isyân: rising and rebellion
- töhmet: accusation, charge
- fermân-ı âlî: the sultan's decree
- müdebbir: prudent, far-sighted
Köprülü and the Voivode of Havza
Hüsameddin does not say why Dereli Pehlivan fell out with Köprülü Mehmed Pasha, but geography offers a clue. In his youth Köprülü had gone to the town of Köprü in the sanjak of Amasya (today's Vezirköprü), married there and taken his name from that town; before becoming grand vizier he had twice been sanjak bey of Amasya, and in the years he was out of favor he withdrew again to Köprü. Havza and Köprü were neighboring districts; the friction of two powerful local men in the same area is not surprising. That Ahmed Ağa was dismissed when Köprülü became grand vizier on 26 Zilkade 1066 (15 September 1656) matches the date in the text exactly.
The Revolt of Abaza Hasan and the Purge That Followed
When Abaza Hasan Pasha, in the summer of 1658, did not obey Köprülü's summons to the Transylvanian campaign and demanded of the sultan the grand vizier's dismissal, the largest Celâlî rebellion in Ottoman history began in Anatolia. Many high-ranking officials fleeing Köprülü's harsh measures had also gone over to Abaza. Although Abaza defeated Murtaza Pasha at Ilgın, he was seized through a plot in Aleppo, where he had withdrawn to pass the winter, and on 23-24 Cemaziyelevvel 1069 (16-17 February 1659) was killed together with the pashas in his retinue. After this a Celâlî and firearms inspection was begun in Anatolia; thousands of people were killed, some 80,000 firearms were collected from the population, and contemporary historians sharply criticized Köprülü for this.
Dereli Pehlivan's execution at the end of Cemaziyelahir 1069, about a month after Abaza's killing in Aleppo, shows that he was one of the victims of this wave of purge. That in the same days in Amasya the property of Hoca Ahmed Pasha was seized, and that Kassâb Ahmed Ağa came as mütesellim and put the Abazacıs to the sword (in the immediately following entries of the book), are the echoes of these events in the sanjak of Amasya.
The Waqfs of Sultan Mes'ûd and Gazi Çelebi
The waqfs of which Ahmed Ağa was mütevelli belong to Gıyâseddin Mes'ûd II, one of the last Seljuk sultans, and to his son, Prince Tâceddin Altunbaş, known as Gazi Çelebi. According to local research that examined the waqf records, the tomb of Sultan Mes'ûd is in the village of Tatar Kalesi, now part of Vezirköprü, and the tomb of Gazi Çelebi is in the Şeyh Safi (Şeyh Savcı) neighborhood of Havza; the revenues of several villages in and around Havza were endowed on the condition that they be given to those who read juz at the tombs. The most important of these waqfs is the Gazi Çelebi waqf deed dated 740 AH. Elsewhere in his book Hüsameddin, relying on official records, places the same tombs in the nahiye of Simre in Havza.
No separate information was found in other sources about Ahmed Ağa himself; the date and reason of his execution rest solely on Hüsameddin's record.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 165–165. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
Other sources