Esbak Amasya mütesellimi Amasyalı Telhîsîzâde Mustafa Ağa bin Mehmed Ağa’nın mahdûmudur. 1123’de çavuşân-ı dergâh-ı âlî silkine dâhil ve üç bin akçe ze’âmete nâ’il olarak dâru’s-saâde ağası Hasekisi olan Zanalı Ca’fer Ağa’ya dâmâd oldu.
1137 senesi cumâdelûlâsının altıncı günü pederi Mustafa Ağa’nın vefâtı ile bir müddet kayın-birâderi Mirza Ali Paşa’nın kethüdâsı ve mutasarrıf olduğu sancakların mütesellimi oldu. Sonra diğer kayınbirâderi es-Seyyid Ahmed Paşa’nın devr-i ikbâlinde hazinedârı ve sadâretinde kapıcıbaşı oldu.
Ancak sadr-ı müşârün-ileyhin azline bâ’is olan irtikâbât buna nisbet edildiğinden 1155 senesi saferinde es-Seyyid el-Hâc Ahmed Paşa’nın azlinde menkûb olup 1160’da vefât etdi. Üsküdar’da Karaca Ahmed Sultân mezârlığında medfûndur. Mahdûmları; el-Hâc Mehmed, Mustafa Ağalardır.
In Modern English
He was the son of Telhîsîzâde Mustafa Ağa of Amasya, a former mütesellim of Amasya, and the grandson of Mehmed Ağa. In 1123 [1711] he entered the class of palace çavuşes and became the holder of a zeamet (large military fief) of three thousand akçe. He became son-in-law to Zanalı Ca'fer Ağa, the haseki of the chief of the harem eunuchs (darüssaade ağası).
On the death of his father Mustafa Ağa on the sixth day of Cumâdelûlâ 1137 [January 1725], he became for a time kethüda to his brother-in-law Mirza Ali Pasha and mütesellim of the sanjaks Ali Pasha held as mutasarrıf. Then, during the rising fortune of his other brother-in-law es-Seyyid Ahmed Pasha, he became his hazinedar, and during his grand vizierate his kapıcıbaşı.
But since the bribery and misdeeds that caused the said grand vizier's dismissal were laid on this man too, he met disaster at the dismissal of es-Seyyid el-Hâc Ahmed Pasha in Safer 1155 [April 1742], and he died in 1160 [1747]. He is buried in the Karaca Ahmed Sultan Cemetery in Üsküdar. His sons are el-Hâc Mehmed and Mustafa Ağas.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- mütesellim: official who conducts affairs in a sanjak on behalf of the governor or sanjak bey
- çavuşân-ı dergâh-ı âlî: palace çavuşes
- ze'âmet: military fief of high annual revenue
- kethüdâ: steward, deputy
- hazinedâr: official who runs the treasury
- kapıcıbaşı: head of the palace gatekeepers; in the text, the grand vizier's kapıcıbaşı
- irtikâbât: misdeeds, unlawful gains
- menkûb: one struck by disaster, fallen into ruin and hardship
- medfûn: buried
The Link with the Grand Vizier Ahmed Pasha
The es-Seyyid Ahmed Pasha in the text is the Ahmed Pasha who became grand vizier in 1153 [1740]; he is the Hubyarlı Ahmed Pasha who is also named in entry 648. In the encyclopedia sources he appears as Şehlâ Ahmed Pasha. He became grand vizier on 22 June 1740, stayed in this post nearly two years, and was dismissed on 28 April 1742 on charges of neglecting the border fortifications, of not attending to affairs of state, and of bribery and corruption, and was exiled to Rhodes. Hüsameddin's text says that Telhîsîzâde Ahmed Ağa was someone on whom those charges were laid as well, and that he too met disaster in the Pasha's fall. This agrees with the dates given in the sources for the same years; but Ahmed Ağa's name does not appear in that encyclopedia entry, and what happened to Ahmed Ağa is not described.
In entry 648 Hüsameddin also writes separately that Hubyarlı Ahmed Pasha's brother-in-law was Telhîsîzâde Ahmed Ağa; thus the two entries meet in this family tie. The same entry proves with documents that Mirza Ali Pasha was also the Pasha's brother. The expression "haseki of the darüssaade ağası" used in the text for Zanalı Ca'fer Ağa is not clear; in translation the word has been left as "haseki" without touching it. No information on the Telhîsîzâde family or on Ahmed Ağa himself was found in other sources.
Bibliography
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 197–198. amasya.bel.tr
- Feridun Emecen, "Ahmed Paşa, Şehlâ", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 2, 1989. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/ahmed-pasa-sehla