Amasyalıdır. “Târîh-i Murâdî”de yazıldığı üzere Amasya’nın [587] Harşene Kalesi sükkânından Mehmed bin Mustafa mahdûmudur. Harşene’de 1040’da doğdu. Bir müddet Dizdâriyye Medresesinde mukaddimât-ı ulûmu gördükten sonra 1060’da Şam’a gitdi.
Orada Allâme Kemaleddîn Ahmed bin Yahyâ el-Dımeşkî dersine on beş yıl devam ve Şam Müftüsü eş-Şeyh İsmâil el-Ha’ik es-Şâmî’den usûl ü fürû’-ı fıkhıyyeyi vesa’ir ulûmu ahz ve ikmâl ederek 1075’de tedrîse mücâz, ders-i âm ve Müftü-i müşârün-ileyhe dâmâd ve eminü’l-fetvâ oldu.
Şam’da Benî Ümeyye Câmii’nde yıllarca tedrîs-i ulûm edib üstâzının irtihâlinde Şam Müftüsü olan eş-Şeyh Alâeddîn Ali el-İmâdîye de emînü’l-fetvâ olarak fevkalâde iştihâr etdi. 1115 senesi evâ’ilinde dâr-ı naîme irtihâl etdi. Gâyet fâzıl, ilm-i usûl ü furû’da mâhir, tefsîr ve hadîste kâmil, ilm-i ferâ’izde yegâne-i rûzigâr idi.
Ferâiz ulemâsının terâcim-i ahvâlini câmî “el-Kevâkîbü’l-muzıyye fî ferâizi’l-Hanefiyye” ve ferâ’izcilerin akvâl-i mu’teberesini, edille ve şevâhid-i şer’iyyesini ve ilm-i ferâ’izin usûl ü fürû’unu kâfil “el-Minahu’s-seniyye fî ferâizi’l-Hanefiyye” adlı iki eser-i bî-nazîr te’lîf etdi. [588]
Mahdûmu İsmâil Efendi de ulemâdandır. Bunun mahdûmları Ahmed Efendi Mora kudâtından olup 1164’de ve Es’ad Efendi de Şam ulemâsından olup 1183’de vefât etdiler. Bunların sülâlesi Şam’da kaldı. Ahmed Paşa-Çalık Lâdiklidir. Oranın eşrâfından Sarı Ali Beyzâde Mustafa Ağa’nın mahdûmudur. Buna “Sarı Ali oğlu” denir. İmâm-ı Sultânî Lâdikli Ali Efendi’ye ve ba’dehû Şeyhülislâm Lâdikli Mehmed Efendiye intisâb ederek Enderûn sarayına girdi.
Orada terbiye görüp 1099 muharreminde Sultân Mehmed Hân-ı Râbi’in hâl’ini müte’âkib taşra çıkarıldı. Birkaç gün sonra yeniçeri ocağında elli birinci bölüğe kaydedildi. 1101’de mezkûr bölük çorbacıbaşısı ve 1103’de Merzifonî Hacı Ali Paşa’nın sadâretinde kethüdâyeri, 1104 senesi evâ’ilinde muhzır ağası olarak dâhil-i katar oldu.
1105’de zağarcıbaşı, 1106’da kulkethüdâsı olup Çelebi Yûsuf Paşa yeniçeri ağası oldukta azl ve [589] tekâ’üde sevk edilerek Şehzâdebaşı’nda Kemal Paşa Türbesi Mahallesi’ndeki konağında ikâmet etdi.⁶⁸ 1109’da Amcazâde Hüseyin Paşa’nın sadâretinde sekbânbaşı olup 1111’de Şeyhülislâm es-Seyyid Feyzullah Efendi’nin arzusuyla ikinci defa azl ve tekâ’üd edildi.
Dört yıl kadar açıkta kaldığından Şeyhülislâma karşı fenâ bir intikâm hissiyâtını beslemekte idi. Zâten bütün ulemâ ve ocaklı olanlarda bu hissiyât daha fazla idi. Bu esnâda Sultân Mustafa Hân-ı Sânî sadr-ı a’zam Râmî Mehmed Paşa, Şeyhülislâm es-Seyyid Feyzullah Efendi, Yeniçeri Ağası Hasan Ağa Edirne’de düğünlerle meşgûl idi.
1115 senesi rebîülevvelinde İstanbul kâ’im-makâmı Köprülüzâde Abdullah Paşa, sekbânbaşı Haşimzâde es-Seyyid Murteza Ağa idi. Mâh-ı mezkûrun beşinci salı günü Ayasofya civârında ibtidâ cebeciler sonra yeniçeriler kıyâm ederek ulûfe ve mevâcib istemek bahânesiyle Şeyhülislâmın aleyhinde dehşetli bir cemiyet-i ittihâdiyye meydana çıktı.⁶⁹ Kendilerine mu’ârız olan sekbânbaşı es-Seyyid Murteza Ağa’yı şehîd etdi. [590]
Perde-i hafa arkasında bu cemiyyeti idâre eden Çalık Ahmed Ağa, rebiülevvelin dokuzuncu günü meydana çıkıb kendisine teklif edilen Yeniçeri Ağalığını kabûl edemeyip cemiyyet-i ittihâdiyye tarafından sekbânbaşı oldu. Bu sûretle cemiyyetin başına geçti. Beş, on gün sonra da yeniçeri ağası oldu.
1115 senesi rebîülahirinin üçüncü günü taht-ı saltanâta cülûs eden Sultân Ahmed Hân-ı Sâlis tarafından yeniçeri ağalığı mesnedinde ibkâ ve rütbe-i vezâretle taltîf edilerek kadr-ı i’lâ buyruldu. Cumâdelûlânın yirmi üçüncü günü Ağa kapısına pâdişâhı davet edib teşrîf ve iltifât-ı şâhâneye mazhâr oldu.
Musâhabe esnâsında cülûs-ı hümâyûnlarına ba’is-i müstakil olduğunu yâd ü tahmîl-i minnet ederek mühr-i hümâyûna talebkâr olduğunu işrâb ve mesned-i sadâretin kendisine tevcihini niyâz etdiğinden dolayı gayz ü intikâm-ı şâhâneyi için için kaynatmıştı.
Sadr-ı a’zam Nişâncı Ahmed Paşa, sâhib-i tercemenin mühr-i hümâyûnu istediğini işittikte mevkî’ini te’mîn için telâşa düştü. [591] Padişâhın muvâfakatiyle kendi tertibi üzre cumâdelâhirenin beşinci günü vüzerâyı Revân köşküne davet edib sâhib-i terceme geldiğinden bir miktar sonra huzur-ı hümâyûnda Kıbrıs eyâleti uhdesine tevcih ve müte’âkiben Yalı Köşkü önünde hazırlanan çekdiriye irkâb ve Kıbrıs’a vusûlünde i’dâm edildi.
Müdebbir, âli-cenâb idiyse de diktatör olduğu esnâda hayli mezâlime ruhsât vermişdi. Mahdûmu el-Hâc Mustafa Bey 1155’de diğer mahdûmu Râcih Mehmed Bey de 1175’de vefât etdi. Hacı Mustafa Beyzâde Ahmed Bey de 1157’de vefât eyledi.
In Modern English
He was a native of Amasya. As written in the "Târîh-i Murâdî", he was the son of Mehmed, son of Mustafa, one of the inhabitants of the Harşene Fortress of Amasya. He was born in Harşene in 1040 [1630-31]. After studying the basic sciences for a time at the Dizdâriyye Madrasa, he went to Damascus in 1060 [1650].
There he attended for fifteen years the lessons of the great scholar Kemaleddîn Ahmed ibn Yahyâ ed-Dımeşkî. Receiving and completing from the Mufti of Damascus, eş-Şeyh İsmâil el-Ha'ik eş-Şâmî, the knowledge of the principles and branches of jurisprudence and the other sciences, he became authorized to teach in 1075 [1664-65] and became a teacher of general lectures; he became son-in-law and fatwa steward (emînü'l-fetvâ) to the said mufti.
In Damascus he taught for years in the Umayyad Mosque. On the death of his teacher, he also gained great renown as fatwa steward to eş-Şeyh Alâeddîn Ali el-İmâdî, who became Mufti of Damascus. He passed to the hereafter at the beginning of 1115 [1703-04]. He was very eminent, a master of the principles and branches of the science, mature in Quranic exegesis and hadith, and in the science of inheritance (ferâiz) the one man of his age.
He wrote two unparalleled works: "el-Kevâkibü'l-müzıyye fî ferâizi'l-Hanefiyye", which collects the biographies of the scholars of ferâiz, and "el-Minahu's-seniyye fî ferâizi'l-Hanefiyye", which contains the reliable opinions of ferâiz scholars, their legal proofs and witnesses, and the principles and branches of the science of ferâiz.
His son İsmâil Efendi was also among the scholars. Of the latter's sons, Ahmed Efendi was among the kadıs of the Morea and died in 1164 [1750-51], and Es'ad Efendi was among the scholars of Damascus and died in 1183 [1769-70]. Their line remained in Damascus.
Ahmed Pasha-Çalık was a native of Lâdik. He was the son of Mustafa Ağa, son of Sarı Ali Bey, one of the notables of that place. He is called "Sarı Ali oğlu". Attaching himself to the sultan's imam Ali Efendi of Lâdik, then to the Şeyhülislam Mehmed Efendi of Lâdik, he entered the Enderûn Palace.
Raised there, in Muharrem 1099, after the deposition of Sultan Mehmed IV, he was sent out to the provinces. A few days later he was enrolled in the fifty-first company of the janissary corps. In 1101 [1689-90] he became çorbacıbaşı of this company; in 1103, during the grand vizierate of Merzifonlu Hacı Ali Pasha, kethüdâyeri; and at the beginning of 1104 he entered the ranks of the ağas as muhzır ağası.
In 1105 he became zağarcıbaşı, and in 1106 kul kethüdası. When Çelebi Yûsuf Pasha became janissary ağa, he was dismissed and sent into retirement, and lived in his mansion in the Kemal Paşa Tomb quarter in Şehzâdebaşı. In 1109, during the grand vizierate of Amcazâde Hüseyin Pasha, he became sekbanbaşı. In 1111, at the request of Şeyhülislam es-Seyyid Feyzullah Efendi, he was dismissed and retired for the second time.
Since he was left out of office for about four years, he harboured a bitter feeling of revenge against the Şeyhülislam. This feeling was in any case even stronger among all the scholars and members of the corps. At this time Sultan Mustafa II, the grand vizier Râmî Mehmed Pasha, Şeyhülislam es-Seyyid Feyzullah Efendi and the Janissary Ağa Hasan Ağa were occupied with wedding festivities in Edirne.
In Rebîülevvel 1115 the kaymakam of Istanbul was Köprülüzâde Abdullah Pasha, and the sekbanbaşı was Haşimzâde es-Seyyid Murteza Ağa. On the fifth Tuesday of the said month, around Hagia Sophia, first the cebecis, then the janissaries rose up and, under the pretext of demanding their ulûfe and pay, formed a fearsome union against the Şeyhülislam. They killed the sekbanbaşı es-Seyyid Murteza Ağa, who opposed them.
Çalık Ahmed Ağa, who directed this union from behind the scenes, appeared on the ninth day of Rebîülevvel and did not accept the janissary ağalık that was offered to him; by the union he became sekbanbaşı. Thus he took the head of the union. Five or ten days later he also became janissary ağa.
He was kept in the janissary ağalık by Sultan Ahmed III, who ascended the throne on the third day of Rebîülâhir 1115, and was rewarded with the rank of vizier and shown high esteem. On the twenty-third day of Cemâziyelevvel he invited the sultan to the Ağa Kapısı and honoured it, and gained the sultan's favour.
During the conversation, reminding the sultan that he himself was the real reason for his accession and thereby laying him under obligation, he hinted that he desired the imperial seal (mühr-i hümâyun, the grand vizier's seal) and asked for the grand vizierate to be given to him. For this reason the sultan's anger and feeling of revenge were seething inwardly.
When the grand vizier Nişancı Ahmed Pasha heard that this man wanted the imperial seal, he fell into a panic to secure his post. With the sultan's approval, according to his own plan, on the fifth day of Cemâziyelâhir he summoned the viziers to the Revân Pavilion. Some time after this man came, in the presence of the sultan the province of Cyprus was given to him, then he was put aboard a galley prepared before the Yalı Pavilion, and when he reached Cyprus he was executed.
He was a prudent, noble-minded man; but during the time he was dictator he had allowed many acts of oppression. His son el-Hâc Mustafa Bey died in 1155 [1742], and his other son Râcih Mehmed Bey in 1175 [1761-62]. Hacı Mustafa Beyzâde Ahmed Bey died in 1157 [1744].
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- sükkân: inhabitants, residents
- mukaddimât-ı ulûm: the basic sciences, first-level lessons
- usûl ü fürû'-ı fıkıh: the basic principles and detailed rulings of jurisprudence
- ders-i âm, tedrîs: general lecture, teaching
- emînü'l-fetvâ: the mufti's assistant who wrote and arranged fatwas
- ferâiz: inheritance law, the science of the division of inheritance
- terâcim-i ahvâl: biographies
- vâlide, mahdûm: mother, son
- kudât: kadıs
- Enderûn: the sultan's inner palace of service and education
- çorbacıbaşı: commander of a janissary company
- kethüdâyeri: one of the senior officers of the janissary corps
- muhzır ağası: one of the senior officers of the janissary corps
- zağarcıbaşı: head of the zağar (hunting dog) company in the janissary corps
- kul kethüdâsı: deputy of the janissary ağa, the senior officer who came after the ağa
- sekbânbaşı: commander of the sekban units of the janissary corps
- tekâüd: retirement
- cebeci: the military class that made and carried arms and munitions
- ulûfe, mevâcib: the soldiers' quarterly pay, salaries
- mühr-i hümâyûn: the sultan's seal, the symbol of the grand vizierate
- çekdirî: oared warship, galley
- i'dâm: execution
The Scholar Ahmed Efendi of Harşene
The first part of the entry gives the life outline of a scholar who came out of Amasya, settled in Damascus, and won fame there as the Mufti's son-in-law and fatwa steward. Hüsameddin bases his information about him on the "Târîh-i Murâdî", and then lists his two works: el-Kevâkibü'l-müzıyye, which collects the biographies of ferâiz scholars, and el-Minahu's-seniyye, which explains the sources and proofs of ferâiz. That a child of Harşene went to Damascus and became there the mufti's son-in-law and fatwa steward is a point worth noting. Still, no information was found in other sources on this person born in Harşene and his works; his name and works could not be verified in this study.
According to Hüsameddin, Harşenî's line remained in Damascus: his son İsmâil Efendi is a scholar; of his grandsons, Ahmed Efendi was among the kadıs of the Morea and died in 1164, and Es'ad Efendi was among the scholars of Damascus and died in 1183.
Çalık Ahmed Pasha and the Event of 1703
The second half of the entry describes Çalık Ahmed Ağa, one of the leading figures of the 1703 uprising known in Ottoman history as the Edirne Incident or the Feyzullah Efendi Incident. The event had arisen from the discontent accumulated in state circles and among the people of Istanbul because of Sultan Mustafa II's long absorption in hunting in Edirne and the interference in government of Şeyhülislam Seyyid Feyzullah Efendi, who had great influence over him. At the head of the opposition were Moralı Damad Hasan Pasha, who had long been waiting in the second vizierate, Söhraplı Ahmed Pasha, Firarî Hasan Pasha and the janissary ağa Çalık Ahmed Ağa. The uprising began in Istanbul in the summer of 1703, and a force of around sixty thousand made up of janissaries, cebecis, gunners, bostancıs and tradesmen marched on Edirne. When Silivri was reached, it was decided to put Mustafa II's brother Ahmed on the throne. Feyzullah Efendi was captured at Pravadi, brought to Edirne and killed; Ahmed III ascended the throne.
Hüsameddin draws Çalık Ahmed's role in these events carefully. He says that he was the person who "directed the union from behind the scenes", that he first did not take the janissary ağalık that it was wished to give him and accepted the sekbanbaşılık, and that a few days later he became janissary ağa. A local encyclopedia entry written on account of Çalık Ahmed Pasha's mosque in Izmit also writes that on 20 July 1703 he was appointed sekbanbaşı by the rebels, and shortly afterwards janissary ağa, and that at the meeting held in his tent at Silivri it was decided to put Ahmed III on the throne in place of Mustafa II. According to the same source, when Çalık Ahmed Ağa moved to the ağalık he successfully brought the janissaries under obedience, secured the safety of the people of Istanbul, and prevented the rebels' plunder. Sultan Ahmed III kept him as janissary ağa on 22 August 1703 with the rank of vizier.
The Feast to Which the Sultan Was Invited, and Exile
Hüsameddin writes that Çalık Ahmed Pasha hosted the sultan at the Ağa Kapısı and asked in that conversation for the grand vizier's seal. The date in the other source is 2 November 1703; it is also recorded that he presented the sultan with various gifts. According to the same source, this feast given without the grand vizier's permission, and his weight over the janissaries, disturbed the grand vizier and the other viziers. Çalık Ahmed Pasha wanted the grand vizierate; the sultan wanted to be rid of this pressure. On 10 November 1703 he was apparently appointed Beylerbeyi of Cyprus and had a robe of honour put on him.
According to Hüsameddin, Çalık Ahmed was executed when he reached Cyprus. According to the local encyclopedia entry, however, he was first sent to Rhodes on a ship prepared for him, was asked there for a thousand purses of akçe for the sultan, and when he refused he was strangled on 26 January 1704 and his severed head sent to Istanbul. The two accounts differ as to the place of execution: one says Cyprus, the other Rhodes. Hüsameddin gives the day the viziers gathered as the fifth of Cemâziyelâhir, while the other source ties the appointment to 10 November 1703; whether these two dates coincide exactly could not be verified. It is also stated in the same source that Çalık Ahmed Pasha's house was sealed and that more than 200 purses of gold were found in his house.
Who Was He? The Dispute over His Origin
Hüsameddin writes that Çalık Ahmed was a native of Lâdik, that his father was "Sarı Ali Beyzâde Mustafa Ağa", and that he was called "Sarı Ali oğlu". Lâdik was a district belonging to the sanjak of Amasya; this is why Çalık Ahmed Pasha finds a place in Hüsameddin's book. The local encyclopedia entry, however, presents him as a devshirme recruit from Serbia. It reports that he was educated in Topkapı Palace, served in Izmit as kul kethüdası in the Kapıkulu corps, and was called "İznikmidli Ahmed Ağa" among his comrades. On the question of origin these two sources are not reconcilable; which is right could not be resolved in this study. The same source relates that he was an epileptic and that Naîmâ wrote that he wished to abolish the sultanate order and have a rule resembling a republic, like the Tunis and Algiers corps.
Other Persons in the Entry
Nişancı Ahmed Pasha, named in the entry, is the person known as "Kavanoz Ahmed Pasha", who during the Edirne Incident was brought by the rebels to the grand vizier's deputyship and then the grand vizierate. According to Hüsameddin he was raised around an Amasya family (for this family's connection in Amasya see entry 589). About a week after the day Çalık Ahmed was appointed Beylerbeyi of Cyprus, on 17 November 1703, his seal was taken from him and he was dismissed. It is also reported that Şeyhülislam İmâm-ı Sultânî Mehmed Efendi told the sultan that Kavanoz could not do justice to the grand vizierate. The person Hüsameddin calls "Şeyhülislam Mehmed Efendi of Lâdik" is İmâm-ı Sultânî Mehmed Efendi, born in Lâdik.
According to Hüsameddin's footnote, Çalık Ahmed's name was seen written in the records of 1101 as "Çalık Ahmed Ağa" and "Ahmed Mustafa Lâdik". The beginning of the third volume of the "Râşid Efendi Vekayînâmesi" is cited as the source that narrates the incident in detail.
The Çalık Ahmed Ağa (Yalı) Mosque in Kocaeli is the building that carries his name to the present day. He willed that the mosque whose construction he had begun in Izmit be finished, and the soldiers had the mosque built with money collected from the people. The building, destroyed in the 1766 earthquake, was rebuilt in 1774, took its final form after the 1894 earthquake, and was renovated after 1999.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 183–184. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
Books