Amasya eşrâfından Ömer Paşa bin İbrâhim Bey bin Yeğen Ali Bey’in mahdûmu ve amcası İbrâhim Bey bin İbrâhim Bey’in dâmâdıdır. Amasya’da Ürgüblü el-Hâc Ahmed, Abdullah, Vecîh Efendilerden ikmâl-i tahsîl edib Kâtibzâde el-Hâc Mehmed Emin Efendi’den huttût-ı mütenevvi’âyı ahz ü temeşşuk eyledi. Bir müddet Amasya’da divân kâtibi olup sonra Amasyalızâde Hacı İbrâhim Efendi’nin himmeti ile Bâb-ı âlîde teşrifât kalemine girdi. Birkaç yıl sonra ser-halife ve 1210’da teşrifât-ı divân-ı hümâyûn oldu.
1213’de azlini müte’âkib Beyhan Sultân kethüdâsı, eyâletli nâzırı ve teşrifatçı vekili olup 1214’de vekâletle ma’zûl ve 1221’de defterdâr-ı şıkk-ı sânî ve 1222 rebîülevvelinde nizâm-ı cedîd defterdârı olarak nizâm-ı cedîd erkânından oldu. [718]
Bundan birkaç gün sonra Kabakçı Mustafa hâ’ilesinin zuhûrunda erkân-ı devlet-i Selîmîye şehîd edildiği hengâmede yeniçerilere ilticâ etdi. Evvelce yeniçeri kışlaları binâ emânetinde bulunup onlara i’nâm ve ikrâm etmiş idi. Bu sahâveti hayatını kurtardı. Dördüncü Sultân Mustafa’nın cülûsunda Amasya’ya gönderildi.
1223 senesi zilka’desinde devr-i Sultân Mahmûd-ı Sânîde sadr-ı a’zam olan Gürcü Yûsuf Ziyâ Paşa’nın ricâsıyla afv ve itlâk edilip 1224 senesi rebîülahirinde İstanbul’a gitdi. Senesi şevvâlinde sânîyen teşrifatî ve 1225 senesi saferinde kethüdâ-yı sadr-ı âlî oldu. Ancak üç ay kadar makâmında kalıp cumâdelâhiresinde azl ve 1226 senesi cumâdelûlâsında sânîyen Amasya’ya i’zâm edildi.
1227 senesi evâilinde Amasya’da Hâtunîye Vakfına mütevellî olup 1232 senesi recebinde Hicâz’a gitdi. Edâ-yı Hâc etdikten sonra sene-i mezbûre zilhiccesinde Mekke-i mükerremede dâr-ı na’îme irtihâl etdi. Âlim, devlet işlerine vâkıf, sahî, hânedân idi. Mahdûmları İbrâhim [719] Asım, Ömer, Abdî Beylerdir.
Emîr imâmzâde es-Seyyid Hâfız Ahmed Efendi bin es-Seyyid el-Hâc Ebûbekir Efendi bin Emîr İmâm Abdüllatîf Efendi bin el-Hâc Halîl Efendi de Suruklu el-Hâc Ali Efendi’den mücâz ve bir müddet Sultân Bâyezîd Mektebi mu’allimi ve ferâ’iz üstâdı olup 1233’de vefât etdi. İlm-i ferâ’izde mâhir, âlim, sâlih bir zât idi.
In Modern English
He was the son of Ömer Pasha, one of the notables of Amasya; Ömer Pasha was the son of İbrâhim Bey, who was the son of Yeğen Ali Bey. He was the son-in-law of İbrâhim Bey, the son of his uncle İbrâhim Bey. In Amasya he completed his studies under Hacı Ahmed of Ürgüp, Abdullah and Vecîh Efendi, and learned the various styles of calligraphy from Kâtibzade Hacı Mehmed Emin Efendi and perfected his handwriting. After serving for a time as divan scribe in Amasya, through the efforts of Amasyalızade Hacı İbrâhim Efendi he entered the protocol office (teşrifat kalemi) at the Sublime Porte (the central administration of the Ottoman state). A few years later he became chief clerk (başhalife) and in 1210 [1795-96] became protocol officer of the Imperial Divan.
After his dismissal in 1213 [1798-99], he became steward (kethüda) of Beyhan Sultan, provincial supervisor, and acting protocol officer; in 1214 [1799-1800] he was removed from the acting post, in 1221 [1806] he became defterdar of the second branch (şıkk-ı sânî), and in Rabi al-Awwal 1222 [1807] he became defterdar of the Nizâm-ı Cedîd, counted among the leading men of the Nizâm-ı Cedîd.
A few days later the Kabakçı Mustafa uprising broke out, and while the statesmen of Selim III's era were being killed, he took refuge with the Janissaries. He had earlier served as steward (emâneti) of the construction of the Janissary barracks and had given them gifts and hospitality. This generosity saved his life. On the accession of Mustafa IV he was sent to Amasya.
In Dhu al-Qada 1223 [1808-09], at the request of Gürcü Yûsuf Ziyâ Pasha, who became grand vizier in the time of Mahmud II, he was pardoned and released, and in Rabi al-Akhir 1224 [1809] he went to Istanbul. In Shawwal of the same year he became protocol officer for the second time, and in Safar 1225 [1810] kethüda of the grand vizier. But he remained in the post only about three months and was dismissed in Jumada al-Akhira, and in Jumada al-Ula 1226 [1811] he was sent to Amasya again.
At the beginning of 1227 [1812] he became trustee of the Hatuniye Waqf in Amasya, and in Rajab 1232 [1817] he went to the Hejaz. After performing the pilgrimage he died in Mecca in Dhu al-Hijja of the same year. He was a scholar, familiar with affairs of state, generous, and of a noble family. His sons are İbrâhim Asım, Ömer and Abdî Bey.
Emîr imâmzade Seyyid Hâfız Ahmed Efendi (his father Seyyid Hacı Ebûbekir Efendi, his grandfather Emîr İmâm Abdüllatîf Efendi, whose father was Hacı Halîl Efendi) also received a license from Hacı Ali Efendi of Suruklu, was for a time teacher at the Sultan Bayezid School and teacher of inheritance law, and died in 1233 [1818]. He was skilled in inheritance law, a scholar and a pious man.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- eşrâf: the leading, respected families of a place
- huttût-ı mütenevvi'a: various styles of writing (kinds of calligraphy)
- teşrifat kalemi, teşrifatçı: the office that organized state ceremonies and protocol, and the official in charge of it
- ser-halife: chief clerk of an office, the senior official at its head
- defterdâr-ı şıkk-ı sânî: defterdar of the second branch, head of one division of the treasury organization
- Nizâm-ı Cedîd: the reform program and new army that Selim III carried out under the name "New Order"
- hâ'ile: disorder, sedition, rebellion
- erkân-ı devlet: the leading men of the state
- emânet: the management of a construction project or task on behalf of the state, carried out as its trustee
- i'nâm ve ikrâm: gifts and hospitality
- sahâvet: generosity
- kethüdâ-yı sadr-ı âlî: steward of the grand vizier, that is, his deputy and the official in charge of internal affairs
- i'zâm: sending away
- dâr-ı na'îm: Paradise; "dâr-ı na'îme irtihâl" means to die
- ferâ'iz: the law of inheritance shares
- mücâz: licensed, authorized by a teacher
The Kabakçı Mustafa Uprising and the Nizâm-ı Cedîd
The entry tells Ahmed Bey's life through some of the most turbulent years of the Ottoman state. The Nizâm-ı Cedîd was a movement begun after the Russian war that ended with the Treaty of Jassy in 1792, to bring the army under discipline and renew it on European lines, and also aimed at restructuring the other institutions of the state. From 1805 on it met with opposition from the Janissaries and the ulema. The uprising began when the yamaks in the fortresses of the Black Sea Bosporus were to be brought into the Nizâm-ı Cedîd system; the rebels under Kabakçı Mustafa marched on Istanbul. According to the TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, the revolt led to the deposition of Selim III and the execution of the leading men of the Nizâm-ı Cedîd. Hüsameddin's phrase "a few days later" shows that Ahmed Bey's appointment as defterdar of the Nizâm-ı Cedîd (Rabi al-Awwal 1222 [May 1807]) came shortly before the revolt. The period after the Kabakçı Revolt was one of disorder in which the Janissaries interfered in affairs of state; the enthronement of Mustafa IV was its first step, and it ended with the intervention of Alemdar Mustafa Pasha and the accession of Mahmud II (28 July 1808).
What saved Ahmed Bey's life was the hospitality he had shown to the Janissaries during the construction of their barracks. Hüsameddin stresses this particularly; no confirmation of this detail was found in another source. Ahmed Bey's service as trustee of the Hatuniye Waqf in 1227 relates to the area of the Hatuniye Mosque in entry 731. No separate source was read on the grand vizierate of Gürcü Yûsuf Ziyâ Pasha or on Ahmed Bey's later stewardship; the information above rests solely on Hüsameddin.
Bibliography