Caniklidir. Canikli Osmân Paşazâde Hüseyin Paşa’nın mahdûmudur. 1086 senesi saferinin beşinci günü Amasya mutasarrıfı olup kendisi Rus aleyhinde serdâr olan Köprülüzâde Fâzıl Ahmed Paşa’nın ordusunda olduğundan kethüdâsı Mehmed Ağa’yı mütesellim gönderdi. [163]
Safer ortalarında Amasya a‘yânından Yörgüç Paşa Evkâfı Mütevellî kâ’im-makâmı Gürcüzâde Mütedeyyin Pîrî Bey vefât edib yerine Ahmed Ağa mütevellî kâ’im-makâmı oldu. Çünkü Yörgüç Paşa evlâdı arasında tevliyet nizâ’ı vardı.
Bu esnada mütesellim Canikli Mehmed Ağa vürûd edib Ömer Ağa’nın yerine Taşçızâde Ahmed Ağa şehir kethüdâsı oldu. “Saçlı Emîr” demekle meşhûr es-Seyyid Ömer Ağa’nın taşkın harekâtı bastırıldı.
Rebîülevvelde Saçlı Emîr’in muîni olan Alaybeyi Veliyyüddîn Bey’in ref‘iyle zu‘amâdan Derviş Beyzâde Derviş Bey Amasya alaybeyi ve cumâdelûlâda Ya’kûb Ağa’nın azlinden Beşinci İbrâhim Ağa yeniçeri serdârı oldu. Bu İbrâhim Ağa, “Apardı Ağa” demekle meşhûrdur.
Şevvâlde geçen büyük zelzelede yıkılmış olan Kal’a-i Enderûn’un meydan kapısı Nâzır Nasûh Ağazâde Hamza Ağa’nın himmetiyle arzan on ve tûlen seksen arşın yeri otuz kuruşa (!) ikmâl edildi.
Zilka’de gurresinde Amasya Kadısı Zühdî Mehmed Efendi’nin ba’zı ahvâlinden şikâyetler tevâli etmekle azledilip Vâsî Çelebizâde Habîb Efendi Amasya kadısı oldu.
Müteâkiben silahdâr ocağı kethüdâsı Amasyalı Ebûbekir Ağa ber-vech-i tekâüd Evkâf-ı Sultâniye mütevellisi olup geldi. Zilhiccenin selhinde Amasya Mutasarrıfı Sivas Beylerbeyi olduğundan Amasya sancağı eski Mar’aş Beylerbeyi es-Seyyid Mehmed Paşa’ya tevcîh edildi. [164]
In Modern English
He was from Canik. He was the son of Canikli Osmân Paşazâde Hüseyin Pasha. On the fifth day of Safar 1086 [1675] he became governor of Amasya. Since he himself was in the army of Köprülüzâde Fâzıl Ahmed Pasha, who was commander (serdar) against the Russians, he sent his kethüda Mehmed Ağa as mütesellim.
In the middle of Safar, Gürcüzâde Pîrî Bey, one of the notables of Amasya and a pious man, deputy trustee (mütevelli kaymakamı) of the Yörgüç Pasha Waqf, died, and Ahmed Ağa became deputy trustee in his place. The reason for this was that there was a dispute among the grandchildren of Yörgüç Pasha over the trusteeship.
At this time the mütesellim Canikli Mehmed Ağa came to Amasya; Taşçızâde Ahmed Ağa became city kethüda in place of Ömer Ağa. The excessive behavior of es-Seyyid Ömer Ağa, known as "Saçlı Emîr," was suppressed.
In Rabi' al-Awwal the alaybeyi Veliyyüddîn Bey, the backer of Saçlı Emîr, was dismissed, and Derviş Beyzâde Derviş Bey, one of the zeamet holders, became alaybeyi of Amasya. In Jumada al-Ula Ya'kûb Ağa was also dismissed and Beşinci İbrâhim Ağa became janissary commander. This İbrâhim Ağa is known by the name "Apardı Ağa."
In Shawwal, the Meydan Gate of the Inner Castle (Kal'a-i Enderûn), which had been destroyed in the great earthquake of the past, was completed, through the effort of the supervisor Nasûh Ağazâde Hamza Ağa, for thirty kuruş (!), over a stretch ten arshin wide and eighty arshin long.
On the first day of Dhu al-Qa'da, since successive complaints came about some of the conduct of the Kadı of Amasya Zühdî Mehmed Efendi, he was dismissed, and Vâsî Çelebizâde Habîb Efendi became kadı of Amasya.
Then Ebûbekir Ağa of Amasya, kethüda of the silahdar corps, came by way of retirement as trustee of the Sultan waqfs. On the last day of Dhu al-Hijja, since the Governor of Amasya became beylerbeyi of Sivas, the sanjak of Amasya was given to the former Beylerbeyi of Maraş, es-Seyyid Mehmed Pasha.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- serdâr: the person appointed commander of a campaign
- mütevellî kâ'im-makâmı: the deputy trustee who temporarily administers a waqf
- tevliyet nizâ‘ı: a dispute over the administration of a waqf
- vürûd: coming, arrival
- muîn: helper, backer
- zu‘amâ: holders of zeamets (large timars)
- yeniçeri serdârı: the ağa at the head of the janissaries in the provinces
- Kal'a-i Enderûn: the Inner Castle, the wall surrounding today's İçerişehir
- himmet: effort, aid
- arzan / tûlen: in width / in length
- tevâlî: coming one after another
- ber-vech-i tekâüd: by way of retirement
- selh: the last day of a lunar month
Canikli Ahmed Pasha and His Family
Hüsameddin introduces the new governor as the son of Canikli Osmân Paşazâde Hüseyin Pasha. Canikli Osman Pasha, who is understood to have been his grandfather, had according to an earlier entry of the work been appointed to the beylerbeyilik of Sivas in 1022 [1613]. No information was found on this family in other sources. The Canikli Hacı Ali Pasha family, best known in Ottoman history by the name "Canikli," is a separate and later dynasty; its founder Hacı Ali Pasha was born in 1133 [1720-21]. For this reason Ahmed Pasha should not be linked with that family.
That the Pasha did not come to Amasya but remained in Fâzıl Ahmed Pasha's army is explained by the conditions of war at the time. Grand Vizier Köprülüzâde Fâzıl Ahmed Pasha, after his successes against Poland in 1672, set out on campaign again when the fortress of Khotyn was lost in November 1673 and entered Ukraine against the Russians attacking Chyhyryn, the center of Ukraine under Ottoman protection. When, with the aid of Crimean forces, the Russians were driven out of Ukraine, he left the frontier affairs to the viziers, as his health had also deteriorated, and returned to Edirne. This is the campaign that Hüsameddin calls "serdar against the Russians"; this is why Ahmed Pasha could not come to his sanjak.
The Dispute at the Yörgüç Pasha Waqf
The waqf of the mosque, madrasa, imaret, and two baths that Yörgüç Pasha, the lala (tutor) of Murad II, had built in Amasya was in the seventeenth century too administered by his descendants. Hüsameddin also speaks in the earlier entries of trustees called "Yörgüç Paşazâde." That he gives here the disagreement among the grandchildren as the reason for the waqf's being run through a deputy trustee suggests that in this period the family waqf had become a source of income that could not be shared within the lineage. It is also known that in the sources there are differing genealogies of Yörgüç Pasha's descendants, and that their accuracy is doubtful.
Saçlı Emîr Ömer Ağa
Saçlı Emîr es-Seyyid Ömer Ağa, whose excesses were suppressed, is among the sayyids Hüsameddin mentions most often in these years. He was counted among Köprülü Mehmed Pasha's supporters in Amasya, was in later years several times appointed to the deputy nakîbü'l-eşrâf office and dismissed, and, in the time of Mirza Mehmed Pasha, was seized together with Koca Emîr and Mumcu Seyyid and imprisoned in the Upper Castle, and was then released by the Hüseyin Pasha who followed. In the biographical section of the work it is written that in 1101 the trusteeship of the Ya'kûb Pasha waqf was given to another "from the vacancy of Saçlı Emîr Ömer Ağa," that is, from the place left vacant by his death; this shows that his death occurred before this date.
The Meydan Gate of the Inner Castle
The most interesting record of the entry is the repair of the Meydan Gate of the Inner Castle. The lower part of Amasya Castle on the bank of the Yeşilırmak is the Inner Castle, also called the "Enderun Castle"; to its east is the Nerkis quarter, to its west the Sabekaddin area, to its south the river, and to its north Mount Harşena. It has four gates: the Helkis Gate facing Nerkis, the Saray Gate in front of the Alçak Bridge, the Midenos Gate in front of the İmaret Bridge, and the Meydan Gate near the İstasyon Bridge. The gate Hüsameddin speaks of is the last of these.
What is meant by "the great earthquake of the past" is the earthquake of 16 August 1668. In this earthquake the walls of Amasya Castle were also largely destroyed, and the castle was repaired in 1669 by Hoca Ahmed Paşazâde Ali Bey. That the Meydan Gate could be completed only in Shawwal 1086 [1675] shows that the repairs were spread over years. The exclamation mark Hüsameddin puts next to the cost of the repair conveys his astonishment that a stretch ten arshin wide and eighty arshin long was built for only thirty kuruş.
Ebûbekir Ağa's Trusteeship
The biography of Ebûbekir Ağa of Amasya, kethüda of the silahdar corps, who the end of the entry says retired and became trustee of the Sultan waqfs, is given somewhat differently in another volume of the work. There it is told that Ebûbekir Ağa, son of Ali, grew weak from the wounds he received in wars, was retired in 1089 with the trusteeship of the Hoca Sultan waqf and sent to Amasya, and died in 1093. In this entry the date is 1086 and the waqf is the Sultan waqfs. Hüsameddin will show the same person in 4-79, in 1091, again as trustee of the Sultan waqfs. These differences in the records point either to Ebûbekir Ağa's having held posts in more than one waqf at different dates or to a confusion among the records; which is correct cannot be understood from the text.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 4, p. 595–595. amasya.bel.tr
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, same edition, vol. 4, pp. 543–544 (Canikli Osman Pasha), pp. 581–582 (supporters of Köprülü), pp. 604–609 (the imprisonment and release of the sayyids); vol. 6, p. 89 (Silahdar Ebûbekir Ağa), p. 192 (Zanalı Ahmed Efendi).
Academic studies
Official sources