Amasya’nın Küpceğiz Mahallesi eşrâfından es-Seyyid el-Hâc İsmâil Ağa bin el-Hâc Hâfız Mehmed Ağa bin el-Hâc Mustafa Ağa bin el-Hâc Abdulkadir Ağa’nın mahdûmudur. Enderûn-ı Hümâyûna girip orada terbiye gördü.
1208’de taşra çıkıp Amasyalı Çiğdem Beyzâde Hâfız Seyyid Mehmed Paşa’nın kethüdâsı olarak devr-i bilâd edib 1219’da i’dâm edilen Amasya mütesellimi Mikdat Paşazâde Hasan Bey’in emvâlini kabza me’mûren geldi. Ba’dehû kapıcıbaşılarından olup devr-i hidemât ederek 1235 hudûdunda vefât etdi. Birâderi es-Seyyid Ali Paşa’dır. [720]
Yeniçeri zâbitanından “alemdâr” diye meşhûr diğer altıncı Ahmed Ağa mükerreren Amasya serdârı olup bu târîhlerde fevt oldu. Oğlu Abdullah Ağa da yeniçeridendir. Bunun evlâdına “Alemdâroğulları” ve tahfîfen “Alemoğulları” dendi. Bunlardan Ahmed Ağa sabâvetim zamanında ramazânlarda mehterbaşı idi.
In Modern English
He was the son of Seyyid Hacı İsmâil Ağa, one of the notables of Küpceğiz neighborhood in Amasya; İsmâil Ağa was the son of Hacı Hâfız Mehmed Ağa, who was the son of Hacı Mustafa Ağa, who was the son of Hacı Abdulkadir Ağa. He entered the Enderun-ı Hümâyun and was trained there.
In 1208 [1793-94] he went out to the provinces and traveled to various places as steward (kethüda) of Hâfız Seyyid Mehmed Pasha, son of Çiğdem Bey of Amasya. In 1219 [1804-05] he came to Amasya, commissioned to seize the property of Hasan Bey, son of Mikdat Pasha and mütesellim of Amasya, who had been executed. He later became one of the kapıcıbaşıs, served in various posts, and died around 1235 [1819-20]. His brother is Seyyid Ali Pasha.
Another (sixth) Ahmed Ağa, a Janissary officer known as "alemdar," was several times serdar of Amasya and died in those years. His son Abdullah Ağa was also a Janissary. His descendants were called "Alemdaroğulları," shortened to "Alemoğulları." One of them, Ahmed Ağa, was mehterbaşı during Ramadan in my childhood.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- eşrâf: leading, respected families
- Enderûn-ı Hümâyûn: the inner part of the palace; the section housing the palace school and its attendants
- taşra çıkmak: to go from the capital to a provincial post
- devr-i bilâd: traveling around the country, to various places
- mütesellim: a governor's deputy in the administration of a place
- i'dâm: execution
- emvâl, kabz: property, seizure
- hudûd: around, approximately
- alemdâr: standard-bearer, flag-bearer
- serdâr: commander, chief
- tahfîfen: in shortened form
- mehterbaşı: head of the mehter band
- sabâvet: childhood
A Family Returned from the Palace, the Janissary Corps, and the Alemdaroğulları
The first part of the entry describes an Amasya family that, like Yenicelizade Ahmed Ağa in entry 730, was trained in the Enderun and received the rank of kapıcıbaşı. That the title kapıcıbaşı was also granted as a rank in later centuries, and that kapıcıbaşıs were used in the provinces for tasks such as tax collection and inspection, rests on the encyclopedia. The second part concerns the Janissary officer Alemdar Ahmed Ağa and the naming of the family descended from him: the word "alemdar" means flag-bearer, and the family name "Alemdaroğulları" derives from it.
It is significant that Hüsameddin recalls his own childhood in these lines; the author saw one of the last members of the family with his own eyes as mehterbaşı on Ramadan nights. No separate source could be found for the execution in 1219 of Hasan Bey, son of Mikdat Pasha, and the seizure of his property, or for Çiğdem Beyzade Mehmed Pasha; this information rests solely on Hüsameddin.
Bibliography
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 223–223. amasya.bel.tr