Merzifonîdur. “Çayır Köylü” demekle meşhûrdur. Çayır Köyü’nde câmiî olan Mirza Beyzâde Mustafa Bey’in torunu ve Mehmed Bey’in oğludur. 1033 senesi zilhiccesinde Amasya mutasarrıfı olup geldi. Abazalıları tahkîk ve tenkile me’mûr oldu.
Tayyar Mehmed Paşa da Abaza Paşa’yı tâkip ederek Sivas’a gidip eyâleti Abazalılar’dan kurtardı. Abaza’nın vâlisi olan Seyyid Hân Paşa maktûl oldu.
Kezâlik Abazalı olan Köprü a‘yânından Müezzinoğlu kardeşi Hasan ve Yanık Kadıoğlu Şeyh Mehmed ağalar ile kırkar ellişer kadar sekbanlarını [46] te’dîb ve tenkiyle Mandalar Ağası iftihârü’l-emâcîd ve’l-ekârim Hasan Ağa ile yeğen kıdvetü’l-emâsil ve’l-akrân Mehmed Ağa⁶³⁰ me’mûr olmuşdu.
Kurban Bayramı’nı müteâkip Amasya Müftüsü Tâceddîn Efendi dûçâr-ı azl olup yerine “Kuloğlu” demekle meşhûr Ferrûh Efendi, Amasya müftüsü ve Sultâniyye müdürü oldu. Tâceddîn Efendi, Alaca Hamamı mütevellîsi olduğundan tevliyeti uhdesinden ref‘ edilmeye kıyâm edilmişdi. Kadı mâni oldu.
Hatta zilhiccenin yirmisinde Abdullah Paşa Câmii Hatîbi Şeyh Yâkup Efendizâde Sinan Efendi de hitâbeti mahdûmu Nasûh Çelebi’ye ferâgat ve kasr-ı yed etmeye mecbûr olmuşdu. Çünkü bunlar, Abazalı sayılmışlardı. Gerek Tâceddîn Efendi ve gerek Sinan Efendi, ünlü ulemâdan idiler.
1034 senesi gurre-i muharreminde Kadı es-Seyyid Mehmed Bahâeddîn Efendi de azl olunup yerine kibâr-ı kudâttan Şeyh el-Hâc Veliyyüddîn Efendi Amasya kadısı ve Hacı Abdünnebi Ağa’nın yerine de Himmetoğlu Osmân Ağa sipâhi kethüdâsı oldu.
Köprü a‘yânından sipâhi Yûsuf Ağa, Mandalar Ağası Hasan ve yeğeni Mehmed Ağalara muîn olup Abazalı olan Hasan ve Şeyh Mehmed Ağalar’ın ve emsâlinin kâr ve nüfûzunu hitâma erdiğinden muharreminin onunda Amasya’da evkâf-ı Sultâniyye mütevellîsi oldu.
Lâkin Müftü Ferrûh Efendi, ekser ulemâyı ve a‘yânı Abazalı sayacak derecede işi azıttığından saferin onuncu günü kendisi de azle [47] giriftâr olup mevâlîden Sandukîzâde Abdülhalil Efendi Amasya müftüsü ve Sultâniyye müderrisi oldu. Kardeşi Abdülkerim Paşa İstanbul’da vezâretle baş defterdâr olmuşdu.
Amasya mutasarrıfı Ahmed Paşa’nın Abazalılar aleyhindeki tahkîkat ve tenkilâtı ifrâta varmış, hayli bîçâreler kılıçtan geçmiş ocakları sönmüşdü. Kadı Mehmed Efendi ifrâta mâni‘ olduğundan ve Müftü Ferrûh Efendi de Ahmed Paşa’ya uyduğundan azle uğramışlardı.
Rebîülevvelde Kadı Veli Efendi, hastalandığından mahkeme başkâtibi İsmâil Efendi Amasya nâibi oldu. Rebîülâhirin yirmi altıncı günü kadı vefât edib Cumâdelûlâ gurresinden itibaren Amasyalı Çavuşzâde el-Hâc Mehmed Efendi, Amasya kadısı oldu.
Ahmed Paşa’nın harekât-ı şedîdesi de a‘yân ve halkı şikâyetlere mecbûr eylediğinden Cumâdelâhire’de Irak Seferi’ne memûren Şehr-i Zor beylerbeyi olup Amasya sancağı sâbık Ardahan Beyi Mehmed Bey’e tevcîh edildi.
In Modern English
He was from Merzifon. He is known as "Çayır Köylü" (of Çayır Village). He was a grandson of Mirza Beyzâde Mustafa Bey, who had a mosque built in Çayır Village, and a son of Mehmed Bey. In Zilhicce 1033 [1623–24] he came as mutasarrıf (governor administering the sanjak) of Amasya. He had been charged with investigating and punishing the Abazalıs (supporters of Abaza).
Tayyar Mehmed Pasha, following Abaza Pasha, also went to Sivas and delivered the province from the Abazalıs. Seyyid Han Pasha, Abaza's governor, was killed.
In the same way, to bring to heel and punish the Abazalı notables of Köprü, namely the brother Hasan of Müezzinoğlu and Şeyh Mehmed ağa son of Yanık Kadı, and their forty or fifty sekbans, Hasan Ağa, Mandalar Ağası (ağa of the Mandalar), distinguished among the great and the noble, and his nephew Mehmed Ağa, foremost among his like and peers, had been assigned.
After the Kurban Bayramı (Feast of the Sacrifice), Mufti Tâceddîn Efendi of Amasya was dismissed; in his place Ferrûh Efendi, known as "Kuloğlu," became mufti of Amasya and müderris (madrasa professor) of the Sultâniyye. Since Tâceddîn Efendi was mütevelli of the Alaca Bath, an attempt had been made to take the trusteeship from his hands. The kadı prevented this.
Indeed, on the twentieth of Zilhicce, Sinan Efendi, son of Şeyh Yakup Efendi and preacher of the Abdullah Pasha Mosque, was also forced to leave the preachership to his son Nasuh Çelebi and withdraw from his post. For these men had been counted as Abazalıs. Both Tâceddîn Efendi and Sinan Efendi were among the well-known scholars.
On the first day of the month of Muharrem 1034 [1624–25], Kadı Seyyid Mehmed Bahâeddîn Efendi was also dismissed and in his place Şeyh el-Hâc Veliyyüddîn Efendi, one of the great kadıs, became kadı of Amasya. In place of Hacı Abdünnebi Ağa, Osman Ağa son of Himmet became sipahi kethüda.
Yusuf Ağa, a sipahi among the notables of Köprü, had helped Hasan, Mandalar Ağası, and his nephew Mehmed ağas. Since the power and influence of the Abazalı Hasan and Şeyh Mehmed ağas and their like had come to an end, on the tenth of Muharrem Yusuf Ağa became mütevelli of the sultanic waqfs in Amasya.
But since Mufti Ferrûh Efendi had carried things so far as to count most of the ulema and notables as Abazalıs, on the tenth day of the month of Safer he himself was dismissed. Abdülhalil Efendi son of Sandukî, one of the mevâlî (members of the high madrasa ranks), became mufti of Amasya and müderris of the Sultâniyye. His brother Abdülkerim Pasha had become chief defterdar in Istanbul with the rank of vizier.
The investigations and punishments directed at the Abazalıs by Ahmed Pasha, mutasarrıf of Amasya, had gone to extremes; a good many poor wretches had been put to the sword and their hearths extinguished. Kadı Mehmed Efendi was dismissed because he stood in the way of the excess, and Mufti Ferrûh Efendi because he went along with Ahmed Pasha.
In Rebîülevvel, since Kadı Veli Efendi fell ill, İsmail Efendi, chief clerk of the court, became naib (deputy judge) of Amasya. On the twenty-sixth day of Rebîülâhir the kadı died; from the first day of Cemaziyelevvel el-Hâc Mehmed Efendi son of Çavuş, a native of Amasya, became kadı of Amasya.
Because Ahmed Pasha's harsh measures drove the notables and the people to complain, in Cemaziyelâhir he was assigned to the Iraq Campaign and made beylerbeyi of Şehr-i Zor; the sanjak of Amasya was given to Mehmed Bey, former Bey of Ardahan.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- mutasarrıf: a governor who administers a sanjak
- tahkîk ve tenkil: investigation and punishment
- a'yân: the notables of a city or town
- kasr-ı yed: withdrawing one's hand, withdrawal from office
- ferâgat: relinquishing a right or office to another
- ifrât: excess
- mevâlî: members of the high-ranking madrasa and scholarly (ilmiye) class
- mahdûm: son
- nâib: deputy of the kadı
The Problem of Punishing the Abazalıs
After the defeat of Abaza Mehmed Pasha near Kayseri in 1624, the state set about punishing those who were, or were thought to be, connected with the revolt. Hüsameddin describes the face of this investigation in Amasya. Ahmed Pasha's insistence went as far as counting even persons of the scholarly class as "Abazalı." Mufti Tâceddîn Efendi and the preacher Sinan Efendi were, in the author's words, "among the famous ulema." The dismissal of Kadı Mehmed Efendi for opposing the excess shows whom this practice troubled.
According to the biography of Tayyar Mehmed Pasha, Sivas was taken from Abaza in 1622, and Abaza later marched on the city again. The report in the text that Seyyid Han Pasha was killed as Abaza's governor is the last link in this exchange of hands.
Abdülkerim Pasha
Abdülkerim Pasha, named in the text only as "the brother," appears in detail in the next entry. According to Reşad Ekrem Koçu, in his youth he came to Istanbul to study and was among the madrasa students who ate from the Bayezid İmâret. Because of his greed his companions gave him the nickname "Yahnikapan" (stew-grabber). For a long time he served as preacher at the Bayezid Mosque. He had attached himself to the chief defterdar Ekmekçizâde Ahmed Pasha and benefited the treasury through his skill in tax collection. According to Koçu, in 1625 (1034) he became chief defterdar after Baki Pasha. Since no other source gives information on the Amasya origin of this pasha, whom Hüsameddin calls "from Amasya," this connection rests only on Hüsameddin.
Ahmed Pasha's Appointment and the Iraq Campaign
The "Iraq Campaign" to which Ahmed Pasha, taken from the sanjak of Amasya and made beylerbeyi of Şehr-i Zor, was assigned is part of the preparations that began after Baghdad fell into Safavid hands. Hâfız Ahmed Pasha, appointed serdar to retake Baghdad, set out in 1625 with the army gathered at Çermik and began the siege on 13 November 1625. The siege lasted seven months and twenty days and ended in failure on 3 July 1626. No information was found in another source that Ahmed Pasha took part in this campaign as beylerbeyi of Şehr-i Zor.
There is an account, relying on Peçuylu İbrahim, that Hâfız Ahmed Pasha communicated secretly with Abaza. According to the account, when Abaza turned his aim directly against the government, Hâfız Ahmed left him alone.
The Document the Author Relied On
In a footnote Hüsameddin notes that the name "Mehmed Ağa" is written thus in the Ahkâm Defteri (register of decrees). That is, in recounting events the author relied not only on chroniclers but on records in the archive. No information was found in other sources on the administration of the Alaca Bath and the Abdullah Pasha Mosque in this period.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 4, p. 551–552. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
Books