Lâdiklidir. Mustafa oğludur. Genç yaşında İstanbul’a gelip Enderûn-ı hümâyûna girdi. Orada hıfz-ı Kur’ân edib ilm ü kitâbet öğrendi. İyi bir terbiyye gördü. Sonra Dâru’s-saâde Ağası Habeşî Mehmed Ağa’ya intisâb ederek mazhar-ı teveccühü olduğundan Kapıcıbaşı oldu. Burada “Türk Ahmed Ağa” demekle şöhret buldu.⁵³
1003 senesi cumâdelûlâsında Sultân Mehmed Hân-ı Sâlisin cülûsunda Dârus-sa’âde Ağası Osmân Ağa’nın sevkiyle Kapıcılar Kethüdâsı ve 1004 senesi şa’bânında mühr-i hümâyunu alıp Sadr-ı a’zam olan İbrâhim Paşa’ya teslim etmekle büyük Mirahor oldu. 1005 senesi evâ’ilinde Eğri seferine padişah ile beraber gitdi.
1005 senesi rebîülevvelinde Cağalazâde Sinan Paşa’nın sadâretine bâ’is olduğundan rebîulâhirinde İbrâhim Paşa [473] ikinci defa sadâretinde azledilerek kurb-ı pâdişâhîden uzaklaştırıldı. 1010’da İbrâhim Paşa’nın vefâtıyla yine eski mevkiine gelip Yemişci Hasan Paşa sadâretinde sâhib-i kelâm oldu. 1012 senesi rübîulâhirinde gayet şedîdüş-şekim ve müstebid olan sadr-ı müşârün-ileyhin elinden mühr-i hümâyûnı almağa me’mûr oldukta kemâl-i cesâretle îfâ-yı me’mûriyyet edib müte’âkiben Yeniçeri Ağası oldu.
Mukaddemen mühr-i hümâyunun tekrar Hasan Paşa’ya i’âde edilmesi için ayak basıb sarây-ı hümâyûna hücum eden Yeniçerileri tedâbîr-i âkılâne ve nasâyıh-ı mü’esirânesiyle itâat ve inkıyâd etdirip Yemişci Hasan’ın katl ve i’dâmını teshîl etdi.
Bundan dolayı a’yân-ı devlet ve halk arasında fevkalâde bir şöhret kazandı. Sene-i mezbûrenin recebinde Üçüncü Sultân Mehmed’in vefâtıyla şehzâdesi Sultân Ahmed Hân-ı Evvel cülûs edib Sadr-ı a’zam Yavuz Ali Paşa sadâretde ibkâ ve istiklâli te’yîd edildiğinden zilka’denin altıncı günü Yeniçeri Ağalığından azledildi. Ba’dehû vefât etdi.⁵⁴ [474]
Âkil, cesûr, sâdık idi. Koca Ahmed Ağa demekle de meşhûr idi. Herhalde Sivas, Diyârbekir, Anadolu Beylerbeyi olduğu ahkâm-ı dîvâniyye defterlerinde görülen Ahmed Paşa bu olmalıdır. Lâkin kestirilemedi.
Diğer sipahi kethüdâlarının müteneffizânından olan Amasyalı Kara Kethüdâ Ahmed Ağa Amasya Kethüdâyeri olup bu esnalarda vefât etdi. Diğeri Küçük Ahmed Ağa da sipâhî müteneffizânından olup 1014 hudûdunda vefât etdi. Diğer dergâh-ı âlî çavuşânından Sarı Ahmed Ağa da cizye muhassılı, defterdâr kethüdâsı oldu. Bu da 1015 hengâmesinde bulundu. Ba’dehû vefât etdi.
In Modern English
He was a native of Ladik, the son of Mustafa. While young he came to Istanbul and entered the Enderun-ı Hümâyun (the inner service of the palace). There he memorized the Qur'an and learned the sciences and the clerk's craft. He received a good education. Then, attaching himself to Habeşî Mehmed Ağa, the Chief Black Eunuch (Dârüssaâde Ağası), and winning his favour, he became kapıcıbaşı (head of palace gatekeepers). Here he became known by the name "Türk Ahmed Ağa."
In Jumada al-awwal 1003 [1595], at the accession of Sultan Mehmed III, he became kapıcılar kethüdası (steward of the gatekeepers) under the guidance of the Chief Black Eunuch Osman Ağa. In Sha'ban 1004 [1596], when he took the imperial seal and handed it to İbrahim Pasha, who became grand vizier, he became chief of the stables (büyük mirahur). In early 1005 [1596] he went with the sultan on the Eger campaign.
In Rabi' al-awwal 1005, because he had been the cause of Cağalazâde Sinan Pasha's coming to the grand vizierate, he was dismissed in Rabi' al-thani, when İbrahim Pasha became grand vizier for the second time, and was removed from the sultan's presence. In 1010 [1601], on the death of İbrahim Pasha, he returned to his former position and became a man whose word was heeded during the grand vizierate of Yemişçi Hasan Pasha. In Rabi' al-thani 1012 [1603], when he was charged with taking the imperial seal from this extremely harsh and domineering grand vizier, he carried out the task with great courage, and immediately afterwards became Janissary ağa.
By bringing to obedience, with prudent measures and effective counsel, the Janissaries who had risen beforehand and attacked the palace so that the seal would be given back to Hasan Pasha, he made the killing of Yemişçi Hasan easier.
For this reason he gained an extraordinary reputation among the statesmen and the people. In Rajab of the same year [1603], on the death of Sultan Mehmed III, his son Sultan Ahmed I ascended the throne. As Grand Vizier Yavuz Ali Pasha was left in office and his authority reinforced, Ahmed Ağa was removed from the Janissary agha-ship on the sixth day of Dhu al-Qa'dah [1604]. Later he died.
He was intelligent, brave, and loyal. He was also known by the name "Koca Ahmed Ağa." The Ahmed Pasha who appears in the registers of imperial rulings (divan hükümleri) as beylerbeyi of Sivas, Diyarbekir, and Anatolia is very probably this person; but it could not be determined with certainty.
Among the other sipahi kethüdas whose word carried weight, Kara Kethüdâ Ahmed Ağa of Amasya, who was kethüdayeri of Amasya, died around this time. Another, Küçük Ahmed Ağa, was also one of those whose word carried weight among the sipahis and died around 1014 [1605-06]. Sarı Ahmed Ağa, one of the çavuşes of the Sublime Court, became collector of the cizye and kethüda of the defterdar. He too was alive around 1015 [1606-07]; later he died.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- Enderûn-ı hümâyûn: the inner section of Topkapı Palace; the palace school in which statesmen were trained
- hıfz-ı Kur'ân: memorizing the Qur'an
- ilm ü kitâbet: learning and writing, the knowledge of the clerk's craft
- intisâb: coming under someone's patronage, attaching oneself to him
- mazhar-ı teveccüh: one who has caught someone's eye and won his favour
- cülûs: accession to the throne
- mühr-i hümâyun: the seal of the grand vizierate; the symbol of the grand vizier's appointment and dismissal
- mirahor: the official in charge of the palace stables and horses
- kurb-ı pâdişâhî: the sultan's vicinity, his side
- sâhib-i kelâm: a person whose word is heeded, an influential person
- şedîdü'ş-şekîme, müstebid: harsh-tempered, domineering
- ayak basmak: to rise up and make demands of the sultan
- ibkâ: leaving in office
- ahkâm-ı dîvâniyye defterleri: the registers in which rulings issued by the Imperial Council were recorded
- müteneffiz: influential, one whose word carries weight
- cizye muhassılı: the collector of the poll tax levied on non-Muslims
His Epithet and Origin
Hüsameddin deduced from Ahmed Ağa's own signature that he was from Ladik. According to what he reports in a footnote, Ahmed Ağa, while in the service of the Chief Black Eunuch, signed at the end of books he copied in 991 [1583] with the words "Harrarahû el-fakîru ilâ rahmeti Rabbihi'l-kadîr Hâfız Ahmed bin Mustafa el-Lâdikî" (written by the poor one in need of the mercy of his all-powerful Lord, Hâfız Ahmed son of Mustafa of Ladik), and these books were seen in the Enderun library. Hüsameddin also ties the epithet "Türk" to the custom that converts trained in the Enderun (devshirme recruits who had become Muslim later) were known by their own nations; Ahmed Ağa, son of an Anatolian Muslim family, was for this reason called "Türk Ahmed Ağa." His having come from Ladik as the son of a man named Mustafa supports this explanation.
Habeşî Mehmed Ağa, to whom Ahmed Ağa attached himself, is the person who made the post on the harem side of the palace a separate office. Using the powers given to him in 982 [1574], he separated the Dârüssaâde agha-ship from the Bâbüssaâde agha-ship and was the first to take this title, and in 995 [1586-87] he also took over the supervision of the Haremeyn waqfs. Ahmed Ağa's rise in the palace rests on such a powerful patron.
The Seal Affair and the Janissary Agha-ship
The events Hüsameddin narrates largely coincide with present-day research based on the sources of the period. Cağalazâde Sinan Pasha became grand vizier on 27 October, at the proposal of the state dignitaries, right after the battle of Mezőkeresztes (Haçova) of 23-25 October 1596; this date corresponds to Rabi' al-awwal 1005 in the text. The fall of Yemişçi Hasan Pasha is also narrated in detail in the sources. The sultan was told that the grand vizier had come to an understanding with the Janissaries and would not hand over the seal even if it were asked back, and Mehmed III did ask for the seal back. Hasan Pasha gave up the seal but had the Janissaries imprison their aghas and stage a demonstration in his favour. When the Janissaries gave up their insistence, he was dismissed on 27 Rabi' al-thani 1012 (4 October 1603) and was killed on 10 Jumada al-awwal 1012 (16 October 1603) in his garden at Sütlüce.
The name put forward in these events in present-day research is Kasım Ağa, who was then Janissary agha; it was his suggestion that moved the sultan to take back the seal. The name of Ahmed Ağa as the person who took the seal from the grand vizier in person does not appear in these accounts. Nevertheless, in the lists of Janissary aghas, "İmrahor Türk Ahmed Ağa" appears right after Kasım Ağa in 1603, and his term is shown as 1603-1604. The title "İmrahor" (mirahor) agrees with the information on his chief stablemastership given by Hüsameddin, and the dates agree with the dismissal in Dhu al-Qa'dah 1012 [April 1604] in the text. In some lists his name appears as "Türk Koca Ahmed Ağa" and it is written that he passed from the agha-ship to the grand admiralty (kaptan-ı deryalık). Hüsameddin, however, says he does not know his life after the agha-ship; he also notes that there is no record on this period in Naîmâ's History. No detailed source confirming the information on the admiralty could be reached.
Hüsameddin adds in a footnote that the name Ahmed Pasha is seen in two places in the registers of rulings: an Ahmed Pasha who was beylerbeyi of Sivas in 1014 [1605-06] during the war against bandits, and one who was beylerbeyi of Anatolia in 1018 [1609-10]. He finds it "very probable" that these were Türk Ahmed Pasha, but does not speak with certainty. Since many pashas bore the same name in the period, this caution is appropriate.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 150–151. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
Other sources