Ahmed Bey

In Modern English

He became sanjak bey while one of the well-known zeamet holders. He was the son of Yahya Bey, one of the Devatdar Pashazades living in the Üçler quarter of Amasya. He was called "Alacaatlı." At the beginning of Muharram 997 [1588–89] he became sanjak bey of Amasya. The sipahi Ali Ağa came, assigned to seize Mahmud Efendi, who had been the head of the madrasa students and had fled.

Ali Ağa was carrying the following decree, seen in the register of decrees (ahkâm defteri): "To the judges of Amasya, Mecidözü, Ortapâre, Zünnûnâbâd, Çorum, İskilip, Sorgun, Havza, Kavak, Ladik and Gümüş, the order is that, previously, a person named Ali from among the timar holders was assigned to seize the troublemaking student named Mahmud, known as Kalın Dudak, from the village called Gelik attached to the district of Mecidözü. I have commanded that ... Muharram 997."

There were also local janissaries who had sided with the madrasa students. Among them, Mustafa, one of the men of the sixty-seventh company (cemaat), had also fled. The subaşı Sinan Ağa, assigned to seize him, also came. His decree is this: "To the bey of Amasya, the order is that, because Mustafa, a troublemaker among the janissaries and the acemi oğlans (janissary recruits) in Amasya, followed the madrasa students, Sinan subaşı, of the has sekbans, has been assigned to seize them. I have commanded that ... Muharram 997."

Because of the previous year's uproar, the state revenues had not been collectible in any way. Mahmud Efendi, the former treasurer of Sivas, who had been assigned to collect the remaining debts and goods, came to Amasya at this time. He began collecting the balances.

Since the sanjak bey Ahmed Bey had been assigned to the Shirvan war, the sipahi Ali Ağa, charged with investigating the madrasa students, and the deputy of the sanjak bey, Deli Zülfikâr Ağa, endured considerable hardship. Yet the harsh investigations directed at the madrasa students were producing effects everywhere in favor of Turkishness.

In 998 [1589–90], a great number of villagers and sipahis had joined the Turkish hearth (Türk ocağı) that Gelikli Mahmud had founded outside, and this had spread everywhere. On the second day of Rajab of the same year, Arnavut Ayas Pashazade Mustafa Pasha had come as beylerbeyi of Sivas. Mustafa Pasha was the son of the grand vizier Koca Sinan Pasha's brother.

In the decree sent to Mustafa Pasha, it was ordered that the bandits be severely punished. The decree is this: "To the beylerbeyi of Rum and the judges of Bozok and Şarkî Pâre, the order is that Behram and Habil and Behlul and Gaffar and Hasan and Resul and Veli and Davud and Halil, müteferrika, from the Yörüks of Bozok and inhabitants of Süleymanlı, together with their men, have blocked the road of Muslims on the slopes and plundered their î'âb (!) and akçes," it is written. It was announced that they were to be severely punished.

At this time the city steward (şehir kethüdası) of Amasya was el-Hac Mansur Çelebi. The şehir kethüdası meant the municipal head who looked after all the affairs of the city of Amasya, that is, the city emin (şehir emini). The municipal heads called "şehir emini" in the time of the princes were later given the title "şehir kethüdası."

Also around this time the alaybeyi of Amasya, Budak Beyzade Hüseyin Bey, had shown considerable merit in the Shirvan war and had been promoted. Deli Zülfikâr Ağa was fighting selflessly in his retinue. For this reason Hüseyin Bey had become guardian of Erzurum Castle.

Although in Shaban 998 [1590] Hasan Bey was seen as sanjak bey of Amasya, his date of appointment and his identity could not be understood. But in Muharram 999 [1590–91], Hüseyin Bey, who was guardian of Erzurum Castle, became bey of Amasya, and Zülfikâr Ağa came as deputy of the sanjak bey.

Notes and Research

Old Words in the Text

• ahkâm defteri: register in which the sultan's orders (decrees) were recorded
• ahz u girift: seizure, arrest
• ehl-i fesâd: person who makes trouble, stirs things up
• sûhte: madrasa student
• cemâ'at: company, unit in the janissary corps
• acemî oğlanı: young man in training before being admitted to the janissary corps
• sekbân: a military class attached to the janissary corps
• subaşı: police official responsible for the security of a place
• mîrlivâ kâ'im-makâmı: deputy of the sanjak bey
• emvâl-i mîriyye: state revenues
• bekâyâ: unpaid debts, remaining amounts
• defterdâr: senior official responsible for the financial affairs of a province or the state
• tenkîl, te'dîb: punishment, teaching manners
• yörük: nomadic Turkmen community
• müteferrika: select class of officials in the sultan's retinue
• alaybeyi: head of the sipahi unit in a sanjak
• şehr emîni, şehir kethüdâsı: official resembling a mayor who conducted the city's administration

The Decrees and the Investigation

In this entry Hüsameddin gives two decree texts as he read them from the Amasya register of decrees, leaving the part beginning "I have commanded that ..." abbreviated. The first decree is for Ali Ağa, assigned to seize Gelikli Mahmud, whose affair was narrated in the previous entry; the second is for the subaşı Sinan Ağa, charged with seizing Mustafa, one of the janissaries who got mixed up in the quarrel. Both decrees are dated Muharram 997 [November–December 1588] and agree with the order of events Hüsameddin narrates.

These decrees show how a local incident was followed by the central administration. It is seen that the wanted person's name, village and epithet were written down to the decree, and that the decree was sent not only to Amasya but to eleven surrounding judgeships. This suggests that the possibility of the wanted men's fleeing to neighboring districts was taken into account; the decree does not say so openly.

The phrase "Turkish hearth" (Türk ocağı), which frames the decree and the events, describes the rebellion's finding support in a part of the local population, and even villagers and sipahis joining it. No record of this event or of Gelikli Mahmud was found in other sources; for this reason, about the scale of the event we have only Hüsameddin's account.

The Title of City Steward

One of the details that draw attention in the entry is Hüsameddin's explanation of the office of city steward. According to him, the city steward is the municipal head looking after the city's affairs; his name in the time of the princes was "şehir emini," and the title changed later. This explanation records that the naming of local administration changed between the era when Amasya was governed as a princely sanjak and after it. The Amasya Governorship's Ottoman-period page also notes that the city was a sanjak where princes served from the first half of the fifteenth century.

Persons

Alacaatlı Ahmed Bey is the son of Yahya Bey, one of the Devatdar Pashazades living in the Üçler quarter. For the present name and location of the Üçler quarter, no source could be reached within the scope of this entry. For Budak Beyzade Hüseyin Bey, the next entry is opened on its own. No information was found in other sources about Deli Zülfikâr Ağa, Ali Ağa, Mansur Çelebi and the Yörük names in the decree text (Behram, Habil, Behlul and the others).

Bibliography

• Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 3, pp. 516–517. amasya.bel.tr
• T.C. Amasya Valiliği, "Osmanlı Dönemi" page (amasya.gov.tr/osmanli-donemi).