Beylerbeylerinden Amasyalı Hacı Beyzâde Mehmed Paşa bin Velî Paşa bin İlyas Bey’in mahdûmudur. Züamâdan iken eşkiyâ muhârebâtında mîr-livâ oldu. 1032’de Abaza Mehmed Paşa’ya uyduğundan bir müddet menkûbâne kaldı.
Sonra mazhar-ı afv-ı pâdişâhî olup Harput, Bâyezîd, Ardahan gibi sancaklara mîr-livâ ve 1044’de Revân Harbinde mecrûh olduğundan mütekâ’id olup 1049’da vefât etdi. Mahdûmu Köprülü Mehmed Paşa ağalarından Halîl Ağa ve biraderi Mustafa Bey’dir. Halîl Ağazâde [500] Ahmed Paşa’nın tercemesi aşağıda gelir.
In Modern English
He was the son of Hacı Beyzâde Mehmed Pasha of Amasya, one of the beylerbeyis, son of Velî Pasha, son of İlyas Bey. While still one of the zeamet-holding sipahis he became sanjak bey in the wars against the brigands. In 1032 [1622-23], because he joined Abaza Mehmed Pasha, he remained for a time out of favor.
Then, having incurred the sultan's pardon, he served as sanjak bey in sanjaks such as Harput, Bâyezîd and Ardahan. In 1044 [1634-35], because he was wounded in the Revan war, he was retired, and he died in 1049 [1639-40]. His sons are Halîl Ağa, one of the ağas of Köprülü Mehmed Pasha, and his brother Mustafa Bey. The life of Halîl Ağazâde Ahmed Pasha will come below.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- mahdûm: son
- züamâ: sipahis holding large livelihoods called zeamets
- eşkıyâ muhârebâtı: wars fought against brigands, that is, the Celâlî rebels
- mîr-livâ: sanjak bey
- menkûbâne: fallen from favor, in a state of misfortune
- mazhar-ı afv-ı pâdişâhî: one who has gained the sultan's pardon
- mecrûh: wounded
- mütekâ'id: retired
- terceme: life story, biography
An Amasya Family of Amirs
The Hacı Beyzâdes are an Amasya family of amirs who appear across generations in Hüsameddin's book. Elsewhere the author writes that Hacı Beyzâde Velî Pasha came to Amasya in 949 [1542] as beylerbeyi of Ankara and guardian of Anatolia, and that his son Mehmed Bey, after showing merit in the Iran wars, became sanjak bey of Amasya and then beylerbeyi of Sivas. Ahmed Bey is the third generation of this line. Such families, settled in the provinces and carrying on sanjak and province administration from generation to generation, are among the clearest examples of the weight of Amasya under Ottoman rule.
The Abaza Rebellion
The turning point in Ahmed Bey's life is his joining the rebellion of Abaza Mehmed Pasha. Abaza, who was beylerbeyi of Erzurum, declared the janissaries "regicides" when Osman II was killed by the janissaries in 1622, and with the sekbans he gathered around him began to have the members of the corps in Erzurum killed. He appointed his own men to the sanjaks, soon reached a force of 30,000, took Şebinkarahisar and Sivas and besieged Ankara. The army of Grand Vizier Hâfız Ahmed Pasha defeated him near Kayseri; the rebellion ended only in 1628 with Hüsrev Pasha's Erzurum campaign, and Abaza was pardoned. Considering that Amasya was a sanjak neighboring Sivas and that the rebellion found widespread support in central Anatolia, it is not surprising that an Amasya zaim like Ahmed Bey went over to Abaza's side. Hüsameddin's saying that he was pardoned "after a time" is consistent with the general dissolution in which Abaza himself was pardoned.
The Revan Campaign
Murad IV's first Iran campaign is called the Revan campaign after the fortress he conquered. The army set out from Üsküdar on 9 Şevval 1044 [28 March 1635], arrived before Revan on 10 Safer 1045 [26 July 1635], and the fortress surrendered after eleven days of resistance on 23 Safer 1045 [8 August 1635]. After the army withdrew, the city passed again into Safavid hands on 1 April 1636. The year 1044 that Hüsameddin gives for the wounding fits the start of the campaign; the siege itself falls within the year 1045.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 158–158. amasya.bel.tr
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, vol. 3, entries "Sultân Mustafa", "Arslan Bey" and "Mustafa Bey", p. 504–515.
Academic studies