Yeniçeri zâbitânından olup mükerreren Amasya Serdârı, Hacı Ali ve Mikdat Ahmed Paşalara intisâb ederek her meclise a’zâ oldu. Meydandaki bağı ve önünde yaptırdığı dolap “Kepçe Ahmed bağı”, “Kepçe Ahmed dolabı” diye zamanımıza kadar meşhûr oldu.
1201 hudûdunda vefât etdi. Her işe karışır, sözünü yürütür, iş-güzâr bir yeniçeri idi. Oğlu el-Hâc Mehmed Ağa da kendisi ayârında bir serdâr idi. Amasya kalesi dizdârı el-Hâc Ahmed Ağa da sipâhi meşâhîrinden olup 1198’de dizdârlıktan azledilerek bu esnâlarda vefât etdi.
Diğer Köprü eşrâfından Hacı Kâsımoğlu el-Hâc Ahmed Ağa bin Dedezâde el-Hâc Kâsım Ağa da yeniçeri serdârı ve [683] Rus harbinde serdengeçtiler ağası olup 1202’de vefât etdi. Dedebaşı mezârlığında medfûndur. Köprü a’yânından idi. Birâderi el-Hâc Mehmed Ağadır.
In Modern English
He was one of the Janissary officers. He served as serdar of Amasya many times; attaching himself to Hacı Ali Pasha and Mikdat Ahmed Pasha, he sat as a member in every council. His vineyard on the square and the waterwheel he had built in front of it remained famous down to our own time as "Kepçe Ahmed's vineyard" and "Kepçe Ahmed's waterwheel."
He died around the year 1201 [1786-87]. He was a Janissary who meddled in everything, whose word carried weight, and who knew his business. His son Hacı Mehmed Ağa was also a serdar, like himself. Hacı Ahmed Ağa, the dizdar of Amasya Castle, was likewise among the leading sipahis; he was removed from the post of dizdar in 1198 [1783-84] and died around this time.
Another notable of Köprü, Hacı Ahmed Ağa, son of Hacı Kâsım, that is, the son of Dedezâde Hacı Kâsım Ağa, was also a Janissary serdar. In the Russian war he became the ağa of the serdengeçtis (volunteer shock troops) and died in 1202 [1787-88]. He is buried in the Dedebaşı Cemetery. He was one of the ayans of Köprü. His brother is Hacı Mehmed Ağa.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- zâbitân: officers
- serdâr: the local head and commander of the Janissary corps in a settlement
- intisâb: attaching oneself to a person, becoming his man
- a'zâ: members
- iş-güzâr: one who knows his business and carries it out
- ayâr: measure, equal
- dizdâr: castle commander
- serdengeçtiler ağası: head of the volunteer units that risked their lives by rushing to the front
- medfûn: buried
Amasya in This Period
The entry shows how much say the Janissary serdars of Amasya had in the affairs of the town. The Hacı Ali Pasha named in the text is Canikli Hacı Ali Pasha; the sanjak of Amasya was granted to him as a mâlikâne on 30 May 1772, and the sanjak of Amasya was later attached to his younger son Mikdad Ahmed Pasha as an arpalık (revenue grant). The sources record that the ayans of Amasya, unable to bear the pressure of Mikdad Ahmed Pasha, took refuge with Çapanoğlu Mustafa Bey in late 1778. The text does not say which side Kepçe Ahmed took in these conflicts; Hüsameddin says only that he was attached to both pashas.
The "Russian war" in the text is the Ottoman-Russian war that began in 1768; the date 1202 given by Hüsameddin, however, falls in the later war period that began in 1787. Which one is meant cannot be established with certainty from the text.
No information was found in other sources on Kepçe Ahmed's vineyard and waterwheel or on the Dedezâde family.
Bibliography
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 213–213. amasya.bel.tr