Amasyalıdır. Bostancılar kethüdâsı Gözdaşoğlu Yakup Ağa bin Gözdaş Mehmed Ağa’nın mahdûmudur. Enderûn sarayına girip kilâr-ı hâssada terbiye gördü. 1125’de Amasyalı el-Hâc Ahmed Paşa’nın [632] İstanbul kâim-makâmlığında kilâr-i hâssa kethüdâsı oldu.
1132’de Nevşehirli Dâmâd İbrâhim Paşa’nın tesâhubıyla küçük evkâf muhâsebeciliğiyle çerağ edilip silk-i hâcegân-ı divân-ı hümâyûna girdi. 1136’da Revân ordusu defterdârı olup ser-asker ve Tiflis vâlîsi Arifî Ahmed Paşa nezdine gitdi.
1138 senesi zilka’desinde Mısır’da asi beylerin emlâkini zapt ve idâreye me’mûren rüfekâsıyla Mısır’a gidip avdetinde birkaç yıl ma’zûl kaldı. 1143 senesi rebîülevvelinde Sultân Mahmûd Hân’ın cülûsu ile nâil-i teveccüh olup Sivas defterdârı oldu.
1145 senesi şevvâlinde cizye muhâsebecisi, 1148’de piyâde mukabelecisi olup manâsıb-ı hâcegânı devrederek 1155’de Anadolu muhâsebecisi 1156’da şıkk-ı sâlis defterdârı olduğu halde 1157’de vefât etdi. Eğrikapı’da medfûndur. Şa’ir, nakşibendîden müstahlef idi. Mısır’daki harekâtı kendisine olan teveccühata nakîsa vermişdi. Birâderleri el-Hâc Ebûbekir, Mustafa Ağalardır. [633]
In Modern English
He was a native of Amasya. He was the son of Gözdaşoğlu Yakup Ağa, kethüda of the Bostancıs, who was the son of Gözdaş Mehmed Ağa. He entered the Enderûn palace and was raised in the Hâssa Kiler (the Privy Larder). In 1125 [1713], during the Istanbul kaymakamlık of Hacı Ahmed Pasha of Amasya, he became kethüda of the Hâssa Kiler.
In 1132 [1719-20], under the patronage of Nevşehirli Damat İbrâhim Pasha, he was made assistant to the small waqf accountant and entered the ranks of the clerks of the imperial divan (hâcegân). In 1136 [1723-24] he became defterdar of the Revan army and went to the side of Arifî Ahmed Pasha, seraskier and governor of Tbilisi.
In Zilkade 1138 [1726], charged with seizing the property of the beys who had revolted in Egypt and putting the administration in order, he went to Egypt with his colleagues; on his return he remained without office for several years. In Rebîülevvel 1143 [1730], with the accession of Sultan Mahmud Han, he received favor and became defterdar of Sivas.
In Şevval 1145 he became cizye accountant, and in 1148 piyade mukabelecisi. Leaving the clerkly posts, he became Anatolian accountant in 1155 and, in 1156, third defterdar (şıkk-ı sâlis), and died in 1157 [1744]. He is buried at Eğrikapı. He was a poet; he had become a khalifa of the Naqshbandi order. His Egyptian expedition harmed the regard shown to him. His brothers are el-Hâc Ebûbekir and Mustafa Ağas.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- kilâr-ı hâssa: the palace larder, the unit that looked after the sultan's kitchen and table
- kâim-makâm: deputy, kaymakam
- çerağ edilmek: to be given an assistant to an official, to be taken into a post as a candidate (meaning inferred from the text)
- silk-i hâcegân-ı dîvân-ı hümâyûn: the class of clerks of the imperial divan
- defterdâr: head of financial affairs
- ma'zûl: dismissed from office
- mukabeleci: financial official in charge of comparing records with their originals
- şıkk-ı sâlis: third defterdar (şıkk: section, the third of the sections of the defterdarlık)
- müstahlef: one chosen as khalifa in an order, put in a successor's place
- nakîsa: deficiency, harm
The Career the Text Describes
The entry counts, year by year, the rise of a man of Amasya, raised in the Enderun, through registry and finance posts. The years run as follows: in 1125 kethüdalık in the palace larder, in 1132 small waqf accountantship, in 1136 defterdarlık of the Revan army, in 1143 defterdarlık of Sivas, between 1145 and 1156 cizye, piyade mukabele and Anatolian accountantship, and in 1156 third defterdarlık.
Hüsameddin says that the Egyptian assignment damaged Ahmed Efendi's standing at the palace. He gives neither the detail of the assignment nor its source. No information on Ahmed Efendi or on his pen name "Merâmî" was found in other sources; his poems could not be found either.
Bibliography
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 196–197. amasya.bel.tr