Amasyalıdır. A’yân-ı züamâdan Ali Ağa’nın mahdûmudur. Enderûn Sarayında bostancılar ocağına girdi. Orada terbiye görüp tefeyyüz ederek odabaşı 1182’de [693] hasekî olup 1187 cumâdelâhiresinde bostancıbaşı oldu.
Bir yıldan ziyâde zabtiyye nezâretinde bulunup 1188 recebinde azledildi. Ba’dehû surre emini olarak Hicâz’a gidip avdetde 1202’de tersâne emini oldu. 1203 recebinde Sultân Selîm-i Sâlisin cülûsunda ma’zûl olup 1204’de Ortaköy’deki sahîlhânesinde mukîm olduğu mukâta’a defterinde künyesi ile beraber görüldü.⁸⁶
1209 senesi rebîülevvelinde silahdâr-ı şehriyârî Lâdikli es-Seyyid Abdullah Ağa’nın himmeti ile baş-bâkîkulu olup 1210 senesi cumâdelâhirinde es-Seyyid Abdullah Ağa’nın azlinden üç ay sonra sene-i mezbûre şevvâlinde azledildi. 1212 senesi evâ’ilinde vefât etdi. Mahdûmu ricâlden Ali Bey ve birâderi Amasya eşrâfından el-Hâc Mehmed Ağa’dır. Bunun evlâdından Genç Ali Oğlu, Mustafa Ağa 1316’da vefât etdi.
In Modern English
He was from Amasya. He is the son of Ali Ağa, one of the ayans and zeamet holders. He entered the bostancı corps at the Enderun Palace. Trained and raised there, he became odabaşı in 1182 and then has bostancı; in Cemaziyelâhir 1187 he became bostancıbaşı.
He served more than a year as zaptiye nazırı and was dismissed in Receb 1188. Then he went to the Hejaz as surre emini; on his return he became tersane emini in 1202. In Receb 1203, on the accession of Selim III, he was dismissed. In 1204 he was seen, together with his künye, in the mukataa register, living in his waterside residence at Ortaköy.
In Rebîülevvel 1209, through the efforts of the silahdar-ı şehriyârî Ladikli Seyyid Abdullah Ağa, he became baş-bâkıkulu. In Cemaziyelâhir 1210, three months after Seyyid Abdullah Ağa's dismissal, he himself was dismissed in Şevval of the same year. He died in early 1212. His son is Ali Bey, one of the ricâl (men of state), and his brother is Hacı Mehmed Ağa, one of the notables of Amasya. From his descendants Genç Ali Oğlu Mustafa Ağa died in 1316.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- a'yân-ı züamâ: local notables and holders of zeamets (large timars)
- hasekî: a senior bostancı in the sultan's private service
- zabtiyye nezâreti: being at the head of security and public order
- surre emini: the official in charge of the annual aid (surre) procession sent to Mecca and Medina
- tersâne emini: administrator of the arsenal
- cülûs: the sultan's accession to the throne
- ma'zûl: dismissed from office
- sahîlhâne: a pavilion or waterside mansion on the seashore
- mukâta'a: the operation of tax revenue by tender
- baş-bâkıkulu: as it appears in the text, a rank of the kapıkulu; its details were not researched
From the Bostancı Corps to Higher Posts
The man in the entry is the son of an ağa of Amasya and began his career in the bostancı corps at the Enderun. According to the text, the bostancıbaşılık is a post connected with security and order; Hüsameddin's footnote reports that during his second bostancıbaşılık he worked for thirteen months to preserve public security (it began in Rebîülevvel 1205 and ended in Rebîülâhir 1206). Apart from this, his chain of posts includes the surre eminship to the Hejaz, the tersane eminship and finally the rank of bâkıkulu.
Hüsameddin attributes the rise of 1209 to the efforts of the silahdar-ı şehriyârî Seyyid Abdullah Ağa, himself from Ladik. This Abdullah Ağa is mentioned in the same office in the previous entry (Ahmed Ağa, Hâfız). Abdullah Ağa's dismissal three months later was followed in the same year by the dismissal of this man; the text draws no causal link between these two events.
The dates in the text are hijri; the year 1203 corresponds to about 1788-89. The man's dismissal coincides with the accession (cülûs) of Selim III.
No information was found in other sources on this person.
Bibliography
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 216–216. amasya.bel.tr