Amasyalıdır. Gümüş Kasabası’nda medresesi olan sadr-ı esbak Halîl Paşa ahfâdından Amasya serdârı Mehmed Ağa bin Hızır Çelebi bin İskender Çelebi bin Sülûkî Mehmed Çelebi bin Hamza Çelebi bin Abdullah Çelebi bin Muhyiddîn Mehmed Çelebi bin İskender Bey bin Halîl Paşa’nın oğludur. [523]
Küçük yaşında İstanbul’a gidip Enderûn sarayına girdi. Orada baltacılar ocağına kaydedilerek iyi terbiye gördü. Okuyup yazma öğrendi. Tahsil-i meârif ve tefeyyüz ederek 1053’de baltacılar kethüdâsı oldu.
1054 zilka’desinin onbeşinde kapıcıbaşı olarak taşra çıkarıldı. Hidemât ile devr-i bilâd ederek Silahdâr Kara Mustafa Paşa’ya çatıp kethûdâsı oldu. 1066 senesi recebinde Mısır vâlîsi oldukta beraber gitdi. Paşa’nın Köprülü Mehmed Paşa ile araları açıktı.
1067 senesi şa’bânında Kara Mustafa Paşa’nın azl ve firârı üzerine açıkta kaldı. 1068’de Şam’a gelip Vali Lâdikli Tayyar Paşazâde Ahmed Paşa’nın yanına sığındı. Bunun da kethüdâsı ve tarafından Şam mütesellimi oldu. Ancak Ahmed Paşa, Abaza Hasan Paşa’ya uyup Köprülü Mehmed Paşa’nın aleyhine kıyâm eylediğinden 1069 senesi cumâdelâhiresinde maktûl oldukta bu da yok yere ifnâ edildi. Birâderi Halîl Paşa’dır.
In Modern English
He was from Amasya. He was the son of Mehmed Ağa, serdar of Amasya, a descendant of the former grand vizier Halîl Paşa, who had a madrasa in the town of Gümüş. Mehmed Ağa was the son of Hızır Çelebi; Hızır Çelebi was the son of İskender Çelebi, İskender Çelebi of Sülûkî Mehmed Çelebi, he of Hamza Çelebi, he of Abdullah Çelebi, he of Muhyiddîn Mehmed Çelebi, he of İskender Bey, and İskender Bey was the son of Halîl Paşa.
At a young age he went to Istanbul and entered the Enderûn Palace. There he was enrolled in the corps of the baltacıs and received a good upbringing. He learned to read and write. Increasing his knowledge and advancing, in 1053 he became kethüda (steward) of the baltacıs.
On the fifteenth of Zilkâde 1054 he was sent out to the provinces as kapıcıbaşı (head of palace gatekeepers). While traveling through the country on duties, he drew close to Silahdâr Kara Mustafa Pasha and became his kethüda. In Receb 1066, when Mustafa Pasha became governor of Egypt, he went with him. The Pasha was on bad terms with Köprülü Mehmed Pasha.
In Şaban 1067, when Kara Mustafa Pasha was dismissed and fled, he was left without a post. In 1068 he came to Damascus and took refuge with the governor, Ahmed Pasha Tayyar Paşazâde of Lâdik. He became his kethüda as well, and was appointed by him mütesellim (deputy governor) of Damascus. But when Ahmed Pasha followed Abaza Hasan Pasha and rose against Köprülü Mehmed Pasha and was killed in Cemâziyelâhir 1069, this man too was destroyed without cause. His brother is Halîl Paşa.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- sadr-ı esbak: former grand vizier
- ahfâd: grandchildren, descendants
- serdâr: commander, commander-in-chief
- mahdûm: son
- Enderûn: the inner part of the palace, the palace school
- baltacılar ocağı: the corps of baltacıs (halberdiers) in palace service
- kethüdâ: steward, deputy who runs affairs
- kapıcıbaşı: head of the palace gatekeepers
- hidemât ile devr-i bilâd: traveling through the country on duties
- mütesellim: deputy governor, person who takes over the administration of a place
- ifnâ: destroying, killing
- birâder: brother
The Halîliye Madrasa at Gümüş
Halîl Paşa, at the head of the line, is the man who had the Hacı Halil Paşa (Halîliye) Madrasa built in the Gümüş district of Gümüşhacıköy. According to what M. Baha Tanman reports, the madrasa was built between 816-818 (1413-1415); Halil Pasha was the son of Kadı Ahmed of the Kutlubeyzâde family of Amasya, was appointed in 1403-1404 by Çelebi Sultan Mehmed to the stewardship (eminlik) of the Gümüş mine, and received the rank of beylerbeyi in 1413. The source does not give him the title of grand vizier; the basis of Hüsameddin's phrase "sadr-ı esbak" is therefore uncertain. Halil Pasha's waqf deed has not survived, but a court record of 1662 states that some lands around Gümüş and İskilip were endowed as a waqf for the madrasa's expenses. The madrasa has a plan with a closed courtyard and domes, and the construction year 816 (1413) is written in its entrance inscription. In the late Ottoman period it lost its original function and was used as a tekke; today it is in need of repair and has the character mostly of a place of visitation. Hüsameddin's phrase "who had a madrasa in the town of Gümüş" points to this building.
No source was found that verifies every link of the long genealogical line. Whether the Halil Pasha at the head of the line is the same person as the Kutlubeyzâde Halil Pasha given by Tanman cannot be determined with certainty from Hüsameddin's words; the place name, the madrasa and the Amasya origin strongly suggest it.
Kara Mustafa Pasha and Köprülü
Ahmed Ağa's master, Silahdâr Kara Mustafa Pasha (most probably the same person as the Kara Mustafa Pasha mentioned in the archival study), became governor of Egypt in Receb 1066 (April-May 1656) and was dismissed in 1067. In the archival study on Köprülü Mehmed Pasha, it is related that in 1657 Köprülü ordered the killing of Kara Mustafa Pasha, governor of Egypt, that this pasha was an enemy of Seydi Ahmed and Abaza Hasan, and that he fled overland to Anatolia. The period Hüsameddin describes as "he was left without a post" corresponds to this flight.
Damascus and the Revolt of Abaza Hasan
Ahmed Pasha Tayyar Paşazâde, with whom Ahmed Ağa took refuge, was governor of Damascus. Among the circle that demanded Köprülü's dismissal around Abaza Hasan in 1658, according to Nihâdî's account, there was a demand that Tayyaroğlu Ahmed Pasha, governor of Damascus, be made grand vizier. After suppressing the revolt, Köprülü severely punished the local kul organization in Damascus and sent janissary units there. The judgment that Ahmed Ağa "was destroyed without cause" belongs to Hüsameddin; this detail of the event could not be found in other sources.
In Other Sources
No information was found in other sources about Serdârzâde Ahmed Ağa and his father Mehmed Ağa. No additional information could be found about Halîl Paşa, who is mentioned as his brother at the end of the text.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 164–165. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
- Christopher Whitehead, "The Early Career of Köprülü Mehmed Pasha: An Archival Reconstruction", Review of Middle East Studies, 57/1, 2024.
- Birol Gündoğdu, "Ottoman Approach to the Rebels in the Examples of Katırcıoğlu Mehmed and Abaza Hasan in the Middle of Seventeenth Century", Cumhuriyet Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 48/1, 2024, p. 47-65.
- Müctebâ İlgürel, "Köprülü Mehmed Paşa", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 26, Istanbul 2002. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/koprulu-mehmed-pasa