Amasya a’yânından es-Seyyid el-Hâc Mehmed Efendi bin el-Hâc Bilâl Ağa bin el-Hâc Osmân Ağa bin Hâfız Bilâl Efendi bin Mehmed’in mahdûmudur. Hızır Paşa Hatîbi olan Ahmed Efendi’nin 1234’de vefâtı ile Hızır Paşa hâtibi ve cüz-hânı oldu.
Pederinin vefâtından sonra ta’ayyün edib 1236’da şehir kethüdâsı ve 1237 zilhiccesinde eniştesi olan Amasyalı es-Seyyid İsmâil Paşa vezâretle Sivas vâlîsi [733] olup geldikte 1238 senesi baş-a’yân ve ilâveten şehir kethüdâsı oldu.
1239 senesi muharreminde şehir kethüdâlığında kalıb 1240 vak’asında azledilip Samsun’a gönderildi. Ve eniştesi es-Seyyid Hakkı Paşa da ma’zûlen Amasya’da me’mûr-ı ikâmet oldu.
1241’de avdetle eniştesinin hazînedârı olarak Şam’a gitdi. 1244 saferinde es-Seyyid Hakkı Paşa yine Sivas vâlîsi olup geldikte Amasya muhassılı, ba’dehû kapıcıbaşı olarak ba’zı bilâda mütesellim ve muhassıl oldu. 1247’de avdet ve Amasya’da ikâmet edib uhdesinde bulunan cihâtı evlâdına kasr-ı yed ederek 1255’de vefât etdi. Acem Ali Mahallesi eşrâfından bir hânedân idi. Mahdûmları es-Seyyid Bilâl, Mustafa Efendilerdir.
In Modern English
He was the son of es-Seyyid el-Hâc Mehmed Efendi, a notable (ayan) of Amasya; Mehmed Efendi was the son of el-Hâc Bilâl Ağa, who was the son of el-Hâc Osmân Ağa, son of Hâfız Bilâl Efendi, son of Mehmed. When Ahmed Efendi, the preacher (hatib) of Hızır Pasha, died in 1234 [1818-19], he became hatib and cüz-hân (reciter of the Quran's sections) of Hızır Pasha.
After his father's death he rose to prominence and in 1236 [1820-21] became city steward (şehir kethüdası). When his brother-in-law, es-Seyyid İsmâil Pasha of Amasya, came as governor of Sivas with the rank of vizier in Zilhicce 1237 [1822], in 1238 [1822-23] he became head of the notables (baş ayan) and in addition city steward.
In Muharram 1239 [1823] he remained city steward; in the incident of 1240 [1824-25] he was dismissed and sent to Samsun. His brother-in-law es-Seyyid Hakkı Pasha was likewise removed from office and made to reside in Amasya.
In 1241 [1825-26] he returned and went to Damascus as treasurer of his brother-in-law. When es-Seyyid Hakkı Pasha came again as governor of Sivas in Safer 1244 [1828], he became collector (muhassıl) of Amasya and then, as kapıcıbaşı, mütesellim and collector in several districts. In 1247 [1831-32] he returned and settled in Amasya, handed the revenues in his charge over to his sons, and died in 1255 [1839-40]. His family was among the notables of the Acem Ali Quarter. His sons are es-Seyyid Bilâl Efendi and Mustafa Efendi.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- a'yân: notables, leading men of a place
- hatîb: the preacher who gives the Friday sermon at a mosque
- cüz-hân: the officer who recites sections (cüz) of the Quran at a mosque
- ta'ayyün etmek: to come to prominence
- şehir kethüdâsı: city steward, an officer chosen to look after the affairs of the townspeople
- enişte: husband of one's sister or of one's wife's sister
- baş-a'yân: head of the notables
- azl: dismissal
- ma'zûlen me'mûr-ı ikâmet: dismissed and ordered to reside in a given place
- hazînedâr: treasurer, the officer in charge of money and valuables
- muhassıl: tax collector
- kapıcıbaşı: head of the palace gatekeepers
- kasr-ı yed etmek: to withdraw one's hand, to hand over
- cihât: waqf revenues and posts
City Steward and Head of the Notables
The city steward (şehir kethüdâsı) is an officer chosen to look after the affairs of the people. The office of city notable was abolished in 1786 and replaced by city stewards who came to office by election. In this way the center loaded onto these stewards the work that the notables had carried out. That Mehmed Efendi was city steward in 1236 and both head of the notables and city steward in 1238 shows that the two offices could be held by one man. The elections for notables, and the post of head of the notables, were from the late eighteenth century an area of contention among governors, mütesellims and the people; the rules changed from time to time.
Ties to Governors and the Kapıcıbaşı Title
Mehmed Efendi's rise depended on the governorships of his brothers-in-law: he became head of the notables when İsmâil Pasha came as governor of Sivas, and he went through ups and downs with the removal and return of Hakkı Pasha. Among those who governed Sivas in the same years was also Hazînedârzâde Osman Pasha (1827-28 and 1832-33). In the nineteenth century mütesellim posts were often given to the kapıcıbaşıs of the Sublime Porte; that Mehmed Efendi served "as kapıcıbaşı as mütesellim and collector" agrees with this practice. This Amasya-based circle shows an age in which provincial administration worked through ties of kinship.
The event Hüsameddin calls the "incident" of 1240 could not be identified here. The abolition of the Janissary corps took place in 1826 (1241), a date different from Hüsameddin's 1240. The Hızır Pasha Mosque is a fourteenth-century building that still stands today. It is the place where Mehmed Efendi served as preacher and cüz-hân.
No information on Mehmed Efendi, on his brothers-in-law (İsmâil Pasha and Hakkı Pasha) or on the Acem Ali Quarter was found in other sources.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 227–228. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
Other sources