AMASYA 05

Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar · İKİNCİ BÂB · BİRİNCİ FASIL

Ahmed Ağa — Güzel Sipâhi

Encyclopedia · History of Amasya, Volume 6, p. 144–145 • Edited by: Doç. Dr. Recep Orhan ÖZEL - Doç. Dr. Metin HAKVERDİOĞLU

Original Text (Ottoman Turkish)

Amasyalı Ali Çelebi oğludur. Güzel bir genç iken sipahi olup muharebelerde ibraz-ı şeca’at ve terakki’ ederek Amasya kethüdâyeri, ba’dehû Şehzâde Sultân Mustafa ma’iyyetinde Sipahiler Ağası oldu. 960 şevvalinde ma’zûlen Amasya’da mukim olup sonra mükerreren Amasya mütesellimi oldu. 965’de Amasya Valisi olarak gelen Şehzâde Sultân Bâyezîd’e intisap eylediğinden 966’da menkub olup sonra vefât etdi. Şeci’, gayyûr, talihsiz bir kimse idi.

Diğer Ahmed Ağa bin Hasan Ağa da yeniçerilerden olup Amasya serdârı olmuşdu. 968’de vefât etdi. Diğer Ahmed Ağa bin Hüseyin Ağa da Yeniçeri zabıtanından olup 972’de Amasya serdârı görüldü. Ba’dehû vefât [454] etdi. Bunlar zî-nüfuz adamlardı.

Our Research Article Editor: Mevlüt Erdem Öztürk

In Modern English

He was the son of Ali Çelebi of Amasya. He became a sipahi as a handsome youth; showing valour in battles and rising, he became kethüdayeri of Amasya, then ağa of the sipahis in the retinue of Prince Sultan Mustafa. In Shawwal 960 [September-October 1553] he was dismissed and settled in Amasya, and then several times became mütesellim of Amasya. Because he attached himself to Prince Sultan Bayezid, who came as governor of Amasya in 965 [1557-58], he fell from favour in 966 [1558-59] and died some time later. He was a valiant, zealous, unfortunate man.

Another Ahmed Ağa, son of Hasan Ağa, was of the Janissaries and had become serdar of Amasya; he died in 968 [1560-61]. Yet another Ahmed Ağa, son of Hüseyin Ağa, was among the Janissary officers and was seen as serdar of Amasya in 972 [1564-65]; he died later. These were influential men.

Notes and Research

Old Words in the Text

  • ibrâz-ı şecâat: showing valour
  • terakkî: rising, advancement
  • kethüdâyeri: the officer at the head of the kapıkulu cavalry stationed in the provinces
  • ma'iyyet: the body of attendants around a superior
  • mukîm: resident, settled
  • mütesellim: deputy who administers a sanjak in place of the sanjak bey
  • intisâb: entering someone's service, attaching oneself to him
  • menkûb: fallen from favour, struck by misfortune
  • gayyûr: very zealous
  • serdâr: the officer at the head of the Janissaries in a city
  • zâbitân: officers
  • zî-nüfûz: influential, whose word carries weight

A Sipahi Between Two Princes

The life of Güzel Sipahi Ahmed Ağa is intertwined with the two great princely dramas that took place in Amasya in the time of Süleyman. Prince Mustafa had been sent from Manisa to Amasya on 21 Safar 948 (16 June 1541) and lived here with his mother Mâhidevran. The sultan, setting out on campaign from Üsküdar on 18 Ramadan 960 (28 August 1553), pitched his camp at the place called Aktepe near Konya Ereğlisi, and Mustafa was strangled in his father's tent on 27 Shawwal 960 (6 October 1553). The "Shawwal 960" that Hüsameddin gives as the date of Ahmed Ağa's dismissal points exactly to this month; with the prince's death, the offices of the ağas in his retinue must also have ended.

Ahmed Ağa's second misfortune is his attachment to Prince Bayezid. To calm the quarrel among his sons, Süleyman on 6 September 1558 transferred Selim to Konya and Bayezid to Amasya; Bayezid regarded this appointment as going "from paradise to hell" and, after a journey of fifty-five days, reached Amasya on 21 December 1558. Hüsameddin's year 965 fits the date of the appointment; the prince's arrival in the city falls in early 966 hijri. In the spring of 1559 Bayezid marched before Konya with forces reaching 30,000, was defeated in a two-day battle, left Amasya with his sons on 7 July, and took refuge in Iran in mid-August. Ahmed Ağa's being "menkûb," that is, falling from favour, in 966 can be explained by the prosecution directed at the prince's supporters after this rebellion.

The Titles Kethüdâyeri and Serdar

The two military titles in the text call for attention. The provincial officers called "Janissary serdar" for the Janissaries and "kethüdâyeri" for the kapıkulu cavalry arose when the kapıkulus began to settle in the provinces. According to Coşkun Ünsal's research on the kethüdâyeri office, the appointment of these officers began from the 1570s and took a more regular form after the early seventeenth century. Ünsal also records that Hüsameddin gives information on many persons who served as kethüdâyeri of Amasya, who later passed to offices such as mütesellimlik and voyvodalık. Ahmed Ağa's being kethüdâyeri of Amasya before 960, that is, before 1553, falls somewhat earlier than this chronology. It is possible that Hüsameddin used the title with the habit of a later period, and equally possible that the institution was seen earlier in princely sanjaks like Amasya; no document that would settle this point was found. The same problem may be thought of for the other two Ahmed Ağas, mentioned as serdar of Amasya in 968 and 972.

Bibliography

Primary sources

  • Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 144–145. amasya.bel.tr

Academic studies

Volume 6 contents