Amasya yeniçerilerinden Kofu⁹⁰ Abdurrahman Ağa’nın [772] evlâdından İsmâil bin Hüseyin bin Kofu Abdurrahman Ağa’nın oğludur. Nalbant iken elekçi ve çingânelerin elebaşısı olup onların kazancından servet edindi. Ba’dehû iltizâm işlerine girişip büyük me’mûrları elde ederek gaddarâne harekâtıyla halkın canını yakdı. Evler, bağlar, bağçeler, tarlalar, hanlar kâşâneler edindi.
Nihayet 1320 senesi cumâdelâhiresinin on sekizinci salı günü Kapancızâde Medresesi altındaki dükkânların önünde iskemle üzerinde otururken gadr-ı dîdelerinden biri arkasından kafasının ortasına müthiş ve keskin bir balta indirip yere yuvarladı. Beş gün sonra müte’essiren ölüp gitdi. Halk elinden, dilinden ve fenâlığından kurtuldu.
Rahmetlik ezdâdı nefsinde cem’ etmiş bir adamdı. Gâyet mûsâlli, dindâr, Allah’tan korkar, vaz ü nasihât dinlerken ağlar idi. İki defa haccetdi. Rikkat-ı kalbi ziyâde, fukaraya sadakası boldu. Bununla beraber gaddar, fâsık, bed-zeban, şerîr, taş yürekli, paraya can verir, can alır, şehvetine pek mağlûb idi. Küçük oğlu Hâfız Mustafa Efendi [773] sulehâdan idi. Bu da 1336’da Zile Vak’asında dâmâdı Gevrekzâde Mehmed Efendi ile beraber vuruldu.
In Modern English
He is the son of İsmail, a descendant of Kofu Abdurrahman Ağa, one of the Janissaries of Amasya; İsmail was the son of Hüseyin, and Hüseyin the son of Kofu Abdurrahman Ağa. While a farrier he became the ringleader of the sieve-makers and the Gypsies and made a fortune from their earnings. Later he entered tax-farming, won over high officials, and tormented the people with his merciless conduct. He acquired houses, vineyards, gardens, fields, inns and mansions.
Finally, on Tuesday the eighteenth of Jumada al-Akhirah 1320 [1902], as he sat on a stool in front of the shops beneath the Kapancızâde Madrasa, one of those he had wronged brought a terrible, sharp axe down from behind onto the middle of his head and felled him to the ground. Five days later he died in agony. The people were rid of his hand, his tongue and his evil.
The late man was one who had gathered opposites within himself. He prayed much, was devout, feared God, and wept when he listened to sermons and admonitions. He made the pilgrimage twice. He was very tender-hearted, and his alms to the poor were plentiful. Yet he was also merciless, sinful, foul-mouthed, wicked, stone-hearted, would give his life for money and take life, and was greatly ruled by lust. His younger son, Hâfız Mustafa Efendi, was among the righteous. He too was shot in 1336 in the Zile Incident, together with his son-in-law Gevrekzâde Mehmed Efendi.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- kofu: according to Hüsameddin's footnote, an unfortunate, mischievous person whose affairs do not go well; the form "Kofuoğlu" is also used
- elekçi: one who makes and sells sieves
- elebaşı: head of a group
- iltizâm: undertaking the collection of state revenues for a fixed sum
- me'mûr: official
- gaddârâne harekât: merciless conduct
- gadr-ı dîde: a person who has suffered injustice, tearful in his wrong
- müte'essiren: in suffering, in grief
- ezdâd: opposites, things contrary to one another
- mûsâlli: one who prays much
- rikkat-ı kalb: tenderness of heart
- fâsık: one who habitually oversteps the bounds of religion, a sinner
- şerîr: wicked, evil
- sulehâ: righteous people
- vak'a: incident
An Account of a Killing
The entry is one of the harshest in this section of the book. In the entry for Ahmed Efendi (Sofu), Hüsameddin had recorded that faults should be written only when seen or established as true, as a lesson, and without malice. This entry can be read as an application of the same principle: after the heavy accusations are listed, the deceased's piety, his pilgrimages and his alms to the poor are set beside them. The name of the killer is not given; he is only called "one of those who had been wronged." Whether the incident reached a court and whether the killer was caught cannot be learned from the text, and no information on this killing was found in other sources.
The Kapancızâde Madrasa
The Kapancızâde Madrasa, named as the place of the killing, is one of the Amasya madrasas that in the nineteenth century were repaired and put back into service together with Halifet Gazi, Kâşifiye, Bekir Paşa and Benderli, and it is counted among the madrasas still teaching at the beginning of the twentieth century. According to Hüsameddin's description, "the shops beneath the Kapancızâde Madrasa," the madrasa had shops on its lower level; no information on its exact location in Amasya or its present state could be found in the sources examined. It should not be confused with the Büyük Ağa (Kapı Ağa) Madrasa; the two madrasas are listed under separate names in the sources.
The Zile Incident
Hüsameddin writes that Hâfız Mustafa Efendi was shot "in 1336 in the Zile Incident." During the National Struggle, a revolt in Zile in which the Aynacıoğulları were influential took place between 25 May and 21 June 1920; the effect of rebel movements in the region reached Yozgat, Amasya, Çorum, Tokat and their surroundings. Whether 1336 is counted as hijri or fiscal (mâlî) is not clear in the text: if hijri it corresponds to 1917-18, if fiscal to 1920. The fiscal count coincides with the events of 1920; but because the names of Hâfız Mustafa Efendi and his son-in-law Gevrekzâde Mehmed Efendi do not appear in the sources used for these events, this match could not be verified.
The Kofu Family
The family name "Kofu" is explained in Hüsameddin's footnote with the meanings "unfortunate, mischievous, one whose affairs do not go well," and "Kofuoğlu" is said to be the original form. The word looks like a nickname attached to Hacı Ahmed Ağa's ancestor; why the Janissary Abdurrahman Ağa was given this name is not known. Ahmed Ağa's move from farriery to leadership of the sieve-makers and the Gypsy community, and from there to tax-farming, shows the path of a man who rose by accumulating capital and building ties with officials. No information was found in other sources about the Kofuoğlu family.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 239–239. amasya.bel.tr
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, vol. 6, entry "Ahmed Efendi-Sofu", p. 237–238.
Academic studies
- Hasan Telli, "Meşîhat Arşivine Göre Amasya Müderrisleri", Kocatepe İslami İlimler Dergisi, 7/2 (2024), p. 732-758.
- A. Gündüz, "Millî Mücadele Döneminde Kırşehir'de Eşkıyalık Olayları (1921)", Ahi Evran Üniversitesi Kırşehir Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 7/2 (2006), p. 217-233.