Amasyalıdır. Kayabaşı Mahallesi zu‘amâsından Pehlivânzâde Mehmed Bey bin Ahmed Bey’in mahdûmudur. Amasya’da “Kayalı” ve İstanbul’da “Örümcek, Ankebût” demekle meşhûr idi. 1054 senesi şa’bânının yirmi üçüncü günü Amasya beyi olup geldi.
Ramazân evâilinde Mirlivâ Ahmed Bey Girit Harbi’ne me’mûr olup Amasya vücûhundan Derviş Beyzâde Ebûbekir Bey Amasya mütesellimi ve Hoca Paşazâde Mustafa Bey Amasya alaybeyi oldu.
Şevvâlin gurresinde Kadı Mehmed Efendi’nin azline binâen Lâdikli Şeyh Muharrem Efendizâde mevâlîden Mustafa Efendi Amasya kadısı ve zilka’de gurresinde Şemsi Paşazâde Ahmed Paşa sâniyen Sivas beylerbeyi ve çavûşân-ı dergâh-ı âlîden Gazzâz Ahmed Bey evkâf-ı Sultâniyye mütevellîsi oldu. [91]
Hızır Paşa Evkâfı Mütevellîsi Kurd Mustafa Bey Girit Harbi’ne me’mûr olup Nâzenîn Hanım zevci Zülfikâr Beyi mütevellî kâ’im-makâmı nasb etmişdi. Mehmed Paşa evkâfı mütevellisi Seydî Beyzâde Kurd Mehmed ve Abdullah beyler Zülfikâr Bey’in aleyhine tevliyet davası ikâme ederek Kadı Müctebâzâde’nin azline bâis olmuşlardı.
Bu defa davayı kazanıp Kurd Mustafa Bey’i Hızır Paşa Vakfı tevliyetinden azl ve ref‘ine muvâfık olduklarına binâen her ikisi de Hızır ve Mehmed Paşa’lar evkâfına müştereken mütevellî oldular.
Bu esnada Mimâr Kâsım Ağa, Gelibolu’dan ma‘füvven gelip yine mimârbaşı olarak tâyin etdi. Kezâlik Amasyalı “Ayna Göz” demekle meşhûr Ebûbekir Efendi musâhib-i şehriyârî ve Girit Serdârı olan Kaptân-ı Deryâ Yûsuf Paşa’nın imâmı ve muallim ve mahrem-i hâssı idi.
Zilka’de evâilinde Bâlî Bey’in istifasıyla Bağdatlıoğlu “Osmân Ağa” yine şehir kethüdâsı olup, zilhicce sonlarında Girit Harbi’nde yararlıklar gösteren Amasya Beyi Ahmed Bey’e Sivas Eyâleti ve Anadolu Seraskerliği verildi.
Fakat Amasya sancağı, garâib-i zamâniyeden olarak Sultân İbrâhim’in gözdelerinden “Hümâ Şâh Kadın” adlı cariyesine⁶⁴⁷ tevcîh edildiğinden beyliği Ebûbekir Bey’e ilzâm edildi. [92]
In Modern English
He was a native of Amasya. He was the son of Pehlivânzâde Mehmed Bey son of Ahmed Bey, one of the zeamet holders of the Kayabaşı quarter. In Amasya he was known as "Kayalı", and in Istanbul as "Örümcek" or "Ankebût" (spider). On the twenty-third day of Şaban 1054 [1644] he came as bey of Amasya.
At the beginning of Ramazan the Mirliva (sanjak governor) Ahmed Bey was assigned to the Cretan War. Derviş Beyzâde Ebûbekir Bey, one of the notables of Amasya, became mütesellim (deputy governor) of Amasya, and Hoca Paşazâde Mustafa Bey became alaybeyi of Amasya.
On the first day of Şevval, with the dismissal of Kadı Mehmed Efendi, Mustafa Efendi, son of Şeyh Muharrem Efendi of Lâdik, one of the high-ranking members of the learned class, became kadı of Amasya. On the first day of Zilkade Şemsi Paşazâde Ahmed Pasha became beylerbeyi of Sivas for the second time, and Gazzâz Ahmed Bey, one of the çavuşes of the Exalted Court, became mütevelli of the Sultanic waqfs.
When Kurd Mustafa Bey, mütevelli of the Hızır Pasha Waqf, was assigned to the Cretan War, he had appointed Zülfikâr Bey, husband of Nâzenîn Hanım, as acting mütevelli. Kurd Mehmed and Abdullah Beys, sons of Seydî Bey and mütevelli of the Mehmed Pasha waqf, had brought a suit over the administration of the waqf against Zülfikâr Bey, which led to the dismissal of Kadı Müctebâzâde.
This time, since they won the suit and had Kurd Mustafa Bey removed from the mütevelliship of the Hızır Pasha Waqf, the two of them together became joint mütevelli of the Hızır Pasha and Mehmed Pasha waqfs.
At this time Mimar Kâsım Ağa was pardoned, returned from Gallipoli and was appointed chief architect again. Likewise Ebûbekir Efendi of Amasya, known as "Ayna Göz" (Mirror Eye), was the imam, teacher and closest confidant of Kaptan-ı Derya Yûsuf Pasha, the sultan's musahib (companion in conversation) and Serdar of Crete.
At the beginning of Zilkade, with the resignation of Bâlî Bey, Bağdatlıoğlu Osmân Ağa again became city kethüda. At the end of Zilhicce the province of Sivas and the seraskership of Anatolia were given to Ahmed Bey, Bey of Amasya, who had shown valour in the Cretan War.
But, as one of the oddities of the time, since the sanjak of Amasya was given to one of Sultan İbrâhim's favourites, his concubine called "Hümâ Şâh Kadın", the beylik of the sanjak was left to Ebûbekir Bey. It was seen in the mukataa registers that the sanjak of Amasya was recorded in the name of "Fourth Haseki Hümâ Şâh Sultan" and was given to her.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- zuamâ: holders of zeamets (large timars)
- mîrlivâ: sanjak governor
- vücûh: notables
- mevâlî: members of the high ranks of the madrasa and judiciary
- sâniyen: for the second time
- tevliyet: administration of a waqf, the office of mütevelli
- kâ'im-makâm: deputy
- ikâme-i dava: bringing a suit
- müştereken: jointly
- musâhib-i şehriyârî: the sultan's companion in conversation, his nedim
- mahrem-i hâss: the closest confidant
- serasker: commander-in-chief of the forces on a front or in a region
- garâib-i zamâniye: oddities of the time
- ilzâm: leaving an office or revenue to someone, assigning it to him
Ankebût Ahmed Pasha
The man introduced in this entry as "Ahmed Bey" is the statesman of Amasya who in later years would be known as "Ankebût Ahmed Pasha". Hüsameddin tells his life at length in his biographies of the emirs. According to him, because he was a sturdily built wrestler and a good archer, he was taken into the has ahır (imperial stables) service at a young age by Murad IV, learned reading and writing in the Enderun, became kethüda of the has ahır under the grand vizierate of Bayram Pasha, and in 1049 second mirahur. Through the jealousy of the great mirahurs he was removed from the palace in Şaban 1054 with the mirlivalık of Amasya; this is the "removal of the second mirahur Ahmed Ağa from Istanbul" in the text. According to the rest of the biography, Ahmed Pasha served repeatedly as beylerbeyi of Sivas and Konya, seraskeri of Anatolia, guardian of the Straits and governor of Buda; in 1067, when Köprülü Mehmed Pasha went to the Dardanelles as serdar, he was made grand vizier's deputy, but on the rumour that he was trying to obtain the grand vizierate he was dismissed in the same year and sent to Konya. In 1071 he went to Hanya as serdar and guardian of Crete, took part in the conquest of Candia, and in 1089, while holding the governorship of Amasya for the sixth time, he died at Resmo (Rethymno) on 21 Muharrem 1092 and was buried at the foot of the minaret of the mosque he had built there. Hüsameddin records that he had mosques, schools and waqfs in Hanya, Candia and Resmo, and that in his native Kayabaşı too he built a mosque and a school and endowed them with his mansion in Kayabaşı.
His Place in the Cretan Campaign and the Problem of Dates
Ahmed Pasha's role in Crete is seen in the Ottoman chronicles too. According to a record transmitted in Hasan Ali Cengiz's study based on Ottoman sources, at the beginning of 1055 orders were sent to the sanjak governors of the provinces of Anatolia, Karaman and Sivas; all of them, including the beys of Sivas, Çorum, Amasya and Bozok, were ordered to arrive at the landing of Çeşme opposite Chios and to be with "their serdar, the former mirahur, Ahmed Pasha, Bey of Amasya." That is, the former mirahur Ahmed Pasha was placed at the head of the forces gathered from Anatolia. After the conquest of Hanya too, according to the Tevârîh-i Cezîre-i Girid of Yeniçeri Kâtibi Hasan Efendi, on the third day after the conquest, when the repair of the fortress was being apportioned, "Ahmed Pasha, Bey of Amasya" was given the repair of the arches that brought water to Hanya, and the work was finished in sixty days.
These records confirm Ahmed Pasha's place in the campaign, but do not agree exactly with Hüsameddin's dates. The orders for the Cretan campaign were sent at the beginning of 1055 (spring 1645), the fleet set out in June 1645, and Hanya was taken on 22 August 1645. Hüsameddin, however, writes that Ahmed Bey was sent to Crete in Ramazan 1054 (November 1644) and received the beylerbeyiship of Sivas for his services in the war at the end of Zilhicce 1054 (February 1645). The assignment can be placed in the preparation period; but the services shown in the war fall before the war. Taken together with similar shifts in the earlier entries, it appears that in this section Hüsameddin moves the events concerning Crete about a year earlier.
Yûsuf Pasha and Kâsım Ağa
Kaptan-ı Derya Yûsuf Pasha, whose imam and teacher Ebûbekir Efendi was, was by origin a Croat from Dalmatia. Sultan İbrahim made him silahdar in 1643, then he became his musahib, and in 1644, on the death of Ebubekir Pasha, he was made kapudan pasha. In the Cretan campaign, as serdar of both the land and naval forces, he took Hanya and was called "the conqueror of Hanya". His contest with Grand Vizier Sultanzâde Mehmed Pasha first led to the grand vizier's dismissal, but Yûsuf Pasha too was executed shortly afterwards, on 5 Zilhicce 1055 / 22 January 1646, by order of the sultan. No information on Ebûbekir Efendi of Amasya was found in other sources.
Mimar Kâsım Ağa's return, on the other hand, agrees with other sources. The architect, exiled to Gallipoli in August 1644, was pardoned through the mediation of Cinci Hoca and returned to Istanbul, and when it became clear that the stable the sultan had had built by the Hassa architect Mustafa Ağa cost three times as much as his own earlier buildings, he became chief architect again in 1055 (1645).
The Hızır Pasha and Mehmed Pasha Waqfs
The mütevelli suit, told at length in the entry, concerns two of the oldest great waqfs of Amasya. Hızır Pasha, with his waqf deed of 870 (1465), endowed lands, vineyards and gardens in Suluova, Doğantepe, Lâdik and the centre of Amasya, together with two hans and a bath, and built a madrasa and a mosque. His son Mehmed Pasha, vizier of Bayezid II and lala (tutor) of Şehzade Ahmed, added to his father's waqf in 1493 thirteen villages, two mezras, seven mills and a shop. The inscription of Mehmed Pasha's mosque near the Yeşilırmak gives Muharrem 891 (January 1486). Since the waqfs of father and son were so closely bound together, it is not surprising that the two waqfs passed into the joint administration of a single branch of the family. The Mehmed Pasha Mosque still stands today in the Mehmed Paşa quarter.
Hümâşâh and the Sanjak of Amasya
What Hüsameddin calls "one of the oddities of the time" is a known practice of the reign of Sultan İbrahim. Feridun Emecen, relying on the contemporary historian Vecîhî, writes that the sultan made eight of his favourite concubines hasekis, assigned them heavy hass revenues, and distributed select provinces and sanjaks to them as paşmaklık (pin-money revenue). When a sanjak's revenue was set aside for a haseki, its administration was left to a bey on the spot; the beylik of Ebûbekir Bey is of this kind.
There is also a difference in dates among the sources. In encyclopedia records Hümâşâh Sultan appears as the eighth haseki and the only lawfully wedded wife of Sultan İbrahim; she was called "Telli Haseki", and her marriage with the sultan was concluded in 1647. In the mukataa register that Hüsameddin used, however, the sanjak of Amasya in 1054 (1644-45) is recorded in the name of "Fourth Haseki Hümâ Şâh Sultan." It is possible that Hümâşâh was among the sultan's favourites before the marriage as well; but the difference between the descriptions "fourth" and "eighth" haseki, and the dates, leave it disputed whether the person in the register is the same Hümâşâh.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 4, pp. 568–569. amasya.bel.tr
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, vols. 6-8, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, entry "Ahmed Paşa-Ankebût", e-book pp. 176-177.
Academic studies
- Hasan Ali Cengiz, "Osmanlı Kaynaklarında Girit Seferi", Trakya Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, 9/17, 2019, pp. 105-133.
- Metin Menekşe, "17. Yüzyılda Osmanlı Devleti'nde Makbul İken Maktul Olan Bir Devlet Adamı: Kaptan-ı Derya Silahdâr Yusuf Paşa (1604-1646)", Stratejik ve Sosyal Araştırmalar Dergisi, 5/3, 2021.
- Feridun Emecen, "İbrâhim", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/ibrahim--padisah
- Semavi Eyice, "Kâsım Ağa", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kasim-aga
- Ebru Karakaya, "Mehmed Paşa Külliyesi", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/mehmed-pasa-kulliyesi
- "Hızır Paşa Vakıfları ve Amasya Hızır Paşa Medresesi", İtkan Akademik Araştırmalar Dergisi (abstract). https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/itkan/issue/91336/1652232
Other sources