Ahmed Ağa — Karaca Dizdâr

In Modern English

He was one of the slaves of Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror; at his accession the Conqueror freed him. In 860 [1455-56] he came to Amasya on duty in the retinue of Sultan Bayezid II. From the command of the azaps (ağalık of the azaps) he became dizdar of the upper castle and remained for years as the guardian of Amasya Castle. In 890 [1485] he had a madrasa built in the upper castle, in the vicinity of the Bey Mosque; it was called the "Dizdâriye Madrasa." He died around 895 [1489-90]. His sons are Muhyiddîn Mehmed Çelebi, one of the scholars, and Mustafa Pasha, one of the beylerbeyis. They were called the "Karacazâdes." Mustafa Pasha organized and expanded the madrasa's waqfs. He (Mustafa Pasha) was also called "Karagöz."

Notes and Research

Old Words in the Text

• bende-gân: slaves, persons of slave origin in the ruler's service
• i'tâk: freeing, releasing from slavery
• ma'iyyet: the body of attendants accompanying a great person
• azabân ağalığı: command of the azap soldiers serving in castles and the navy
• kal'a-yı bâlâ: the upper castle
• dizdâr: castle commander
• muhâfız: guardian, castle commander
• evkâf: waqfs; tanzîm ve tevsî': organizing and expanding

Amasya Castle and the Office of Dizdar

Amasya Castle, which Karaca Dizdar Ahmed Ağa guarded for years, stands on Harşena Mountain, which drops steeply to the Yeşilırmak north of the city, and is also known by the mountain's name. From the bank of the Yeşilırmak to the summit where the castle is built there are eight defensive tiers; the inner castle is also known as the "Enderun Castle." The Seljuk Sultan Mesud I had the inner castle repaired in 1146 and made Amasya his center, building a mosque, a madrasa, a bathhouse, and a palace here. The castle was repaired many times in the Seljuk and beylik periods and under Ottoman rule. At the beginning of the sixteenth century there were in the castle a dizdar, a kethüda (steward), and fifty-seven guard soldiers; inside the castle there were mud-brick houses where the castle staff lived. Evliya Çelebi, who came to the castle in 1640, writes that there were palaces, arsenals, provision stores, and water cisterns inside it. Ahmed Ağa's dizdarship coincides with a period when Amasya was a princely sanjak and the castle kept its importance in controlling the Samsun-Tokat road.

The date of 860 [1455-56] given by Hüsameddin also fits this frame. Bayezid, son of Mehmed the Conqueror, was born in Dimetoka in 1448 and was sent to the sanjak governorship of Amasya at the age of seven. Ahmed Ağa's coming to Amasya in the prince's retinue suggests that persons trusted by the palace were placed beside the young prince.

The Dizdâriye Madrasa

Almost all that we know about the Dizdâriye Madrasa comes from Hüsameddin. In the first volume of his work Hüsameddin writes that, as understood from old register records, the castle dizdar Kara Ahmed Ağa had a madrasa built in 890 [1485] near the mosque under the name "Dizdâriye," and that his son Mustafa Pasha added a mektep (school) to it in 917 [1511-12] and organized its waqfs. In the same section it is also noted that in 847 [1443-44] Bahâeddîn Muhammed Halvetî founded a Khalwati zaviye in the upper castle.

Other entries of Hüsameddin show that the madrasa remained active for a long time. İbrâhim Efendi, who died in 1029 [1620], was appointed to the müderrisship of the Dizdâriye in the upper castle as a retirement post and was at the same time sheikh of the Bey Mosque. In 1161 [1748] Pîr Mehmed Efendi, at the invitation and request of the people of the Kal'a-i Bâlâ, was appointed to the müderrisship of the Dizdâriye near the Bahâeddîn Tekke and to the teachership of the mektep, and for fifteen years gave sermons and lessons at the Bey Mosque. Seyyid Hüseyin Efendi, who died in 1173 [1759-60], is also mentioned as müderris of the Dizdâriye and preacher of the Bey Mosque. Accordingly the madrasa, together with its mektep and the neighboring Bey Mosque, was the center of learning and worship for the people living in the upper castle and survived until the middle of the eighteenth century. No information was found that the madrasa stands today or that its remains have been identified. The Dizdariye Madrasa of the same name in the Fatih district of Istanbul is a completely different building.

Karacazâde Mustafa Pasha

The year 917 [1511-12], in which Ahmed Ağa's son Mustafa Pasha, a beylerbeyi, added a mektep to the madrasa, corresponds to the year 1511 mentioned among the repair dates of Amasya Castle. The castle was repaired in 1511 by Mustafa Bey, emir of Prince Ahmed. It comes to mind that Karacazâde Mustafa Pasha, who was the son of the castle dizdar and who did charitable works in the castle in the same years, and this Mustafa Bey are the same person; but no record confirming this was found. Whether the nickname "Karagöz" in the last sentence of the text belongs to Mustafa Pasha or to the madrasa is also not understood with certainty from the wording; the order of the sentence suggests Mustafa Pasha.

Bibliography

Primary sources

• Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 125. amasya.bel.tr
• Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, vol. 1, Mukaddime (buildings inside the castle); vol. 6 ("İbrâhim Efendi-Kal'alı Hoca"); vol. 7 ("Pîr Mehmed Efendi-Mu'allim Hâfız"); vol. 9 ("Hüseyin Efendi-Kal'a Vâ'izi es-Seyyid") entries.

Official sources

• "Amasya Kalesi", Amasya Belediyesi Kent Rehberi (kentrehberi.amasya.bel.tr) and Amasya Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism (amasya.ktb.gov.tr).

Books

• İlhan Şahin - Feridun Emecen, "Amasya", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 3, 1991, p. 1-4.
• Şerafettin Turan, "Bayezid II", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 5, 1992, p. 234-238.

Other sources

• "Dizdariye Medresesi" (Istanbul), Kültür Envanteri (kulturenvanteri.com).