Amasya a’yânından el-Hâc Mehmed Ağa bin el-Hâc Ahmed Ağa’nın mahdûmudur. İstanbul’da defterdâr el-Hâc Yûsuf Efendi’ye [660] intisâb ederek dâ’iresinde perverde olup müşârün-ileyhe dâmâd oldu. Mektûbî-i defterî kalemine girip tefeyyüz ederek mektûbî-i defterî olarak hâcegân-ı divân-ı hümâyûnundan oldu.
1171 senesi saferinde Sultân Mustafa Hân-ı Sâlîsin cülûsunda masraf-ı şehriyârî olup 1176 senesi şevvâlinde naklen baş-muhâsebeci, 1178’de haremeyn muhâsebecisi oldu. 1180’de bundan azledilip 1181’de vefât etdi. Kudâtdan diğer Köprülü Ahmed Efendi de Kübceğiz kasabasında ma’zûlen 1181’de vefât etdi.
In Modern English
He is the son of Hacı Mehmed Ağa, one of the notables of Amasya, and the grandson of Hacı Ahmed Ağa. In Istanbul he attached himself to the defterdar Hacı Yûsuf Efendi, was brought up in his circle, and became his son-in-law. He entered the bureau of the defter mektupçusu and rose, becoming as defter mektupçusu one of the hocas of the Imperial Council (high-ranking clerks).
In Safer 1171 [1757], at the accession of Sultan Mustafa III, he became expenditure clerk; in Şevval 1176 [1763] by transfer chief accountant, and in 1178 [1764-65] accountant of the Two Holy Cities (Haremeyn). In 1180 [1766-67] he was dismissed from this post and died in 1181 [1767-68]. Among the judges, Köprülü Ahmed Efendi also died in 1181, dismissed from office in the town of Kübceğiz.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- defterdâr: the official at the head of the state's financial affairs
- intisâb: attaching oneself to someone
- perverde: raised, grown up under patronage
- müşârün-ileyh: the aforementioned person
- mektûbî-i defterî: the clerk at the head of the defterdar's correspondence
- hâcegân-ı divân-ı hümâyûn: the high-ranking clerks of the Imperial Council
- cülûs: the sultan's accession to the throne
- masraf-ı şehriyârî: a post concerned with recording the sultan's expenses
- baş-muhâsebeci: head of the accounting bureau
- haremeyn muhâsebecisi: the accountant overseeing the accounts of Mecca and Medina
- ma'zûl: dismissed from office
- kudât: judges
An Amasya Man in the Imperial Council Bureaus
The entry gives the path of a man who went from Amasya to Istanbul and rose in the finance bureaus: first entering the circle of the defterdar Hacı Yûsuf Efendi and becoming his son-in-law, then moving from the bureau of the defter mektupçusu into the hâcegân class, and then, around the accession of Mustafa III, becoming expenditure clerk, chief accountant and accountant of the Two Holy Cities. Being raised in a patron's circle and becoming his son-in-law may have played a part in this rise; this is an interpretation and is not stated in the text.
Mustafa III acceded to the throne on 16 Safer 1171 (30 October 1757); the "Safer of the year 1171" in the entry corresponds to this date. The death of Köprülü Ahmed Efendi at the end of the entry, dismissed from office in the town of Kübceğiz, concerns a separate person; the text draws no link between the two. No information was found in other sources about this person or the defterdar Yûsuf Efendi.
Bibliography