Köprülüdür. “Müezzinzâdelikle” meşhûr olan esbak Amasya beyidir. 1022 senesi Şa’bânının on dördüncü günü ikinci defa Amasya mutasarrıfı olup kethüdâsı olan Arnavut Hüseyin Ağa’yı Amasya’ya Köprü’den mütesellim gönderdi.
Şevvâlinde Mütesellim Hüseyin Ağa’nın kayınpederi olan Köprülü Sinan Beyzâde Mustafa Bey Amasya alaybeyi olup geldi. Sâbık alaybeyi Gürcü Ali Bey de mirlivâ olup gitdi.
1023 senesi muharreminde kibâr-ı kudâttan Hakâlalızâde es-Seyyid Bahâeddîn Mehmed Efendi Amasya’da Mehmed Paşa Medresesi müderrisliğiyle nakîbü’l-eşrâf kâ’im-makâmı oldu. Rebîülâhirinde Amasya Müftüsü Abdullah Efendi’nin azline binâen yine Malkaralı Köse Ahmed Efendi Amasya müftüsü [25] olup geldi. Fakat bu tâyin, Amasya ulemâsını fenâ halde sinirlendirmişdi.
Çünkü ihtilâl târihinden beri Amasya beyleri, kadıları, mütesellimleri, alaybeyleri yerli zevâttan nasb edildiği halde yalnız Amasya Müftülüğü’ne ilmen ve ahlâken Amasya ulemâsının pek dûnunda bulunan zevâtı, İbrîz Mahmûd gibi cühelâ-yı İstanbul’dan tâyin edib göndermek, Amasya fuzalâsının gücüne gidiyordu.
Zâten Köse Ahmed Efendi’nin mükerreren Amasya Müftülüğüne gelip gitdiği cihetle ahvâl u ahlâkı Amasya ulemâsının ma‘lûmu bulunuyordu. Bu son geliş, Amasya ulemâsına ağır geldi. Geldiği günden şikâyetler başladı. Şeyhülislâm Efendi’ye bu cihetler etrafıyla yazıldı.
Bu esnada kubbenişîn-i vüzerâdan Gürcü Mehmed Paşa Nasûh Paşa’nın garezkârâne si‘âyeti yüzünden vezâretten azl edilip Amasya sancağı müşârün-ileyh ber-vech-i arpalık hâss tâyin edildi. Amasya Mutasarrıfı Ahmed Paşa da Batum beylerbeyi oldu.
In Modern English
He was from Köprü. He was the former Bey of Amasya, famous for the "Müezzinzâde" name. On the fourteenth day of the month of Şa'bân 1022 [1613–14], becoming governor (mutasarrıf) of Amasya for the second time, he sent his steward Arnavut Hüseyin Ağa from Köprü to Amasya as mütesellim.
In the month of Şevvâl, Köprülü Sinan Beyzâde Mustafa Bey, father-in-law of the mütesellim Hüseyin Ağa, came as alaybeyi of Amasya. The former alaybeyi Gürcü Ali Bey left as a mirliva.
In the month of Muharrem 1023 [1614–15], Hakâlalızâde es-Seyyid Bahâeddîn Mehmed Efendi, one of the great kadıs, became deputy nakîbü'l-eşrâf together with the professorship of the Mehmed Pasha Madrasa in Amasya. In Rebîülâhir, upon the dismissal of the Mufti of Amasya, Abdullah Efendi, Malkaralı Köse Ahmed Efendi again came as mufti of Amasya. But this appointment extremely angered the scholars of Amasya.
For since the period of disorder the beys, kadıs, mütesellims and alaybeyis of Amasya had been appointed from among local people, and only for the muftiship of Amasya were persons far below the scholars of Amasya in learning and morals, such as İbrîz Mahmûd, from among the ignorant of Istanbul, appointed and sent; this stung the pride of the learned men of Amasya.
Besides, because Köse Ahmed Efendi had come and gone as Mufti of Amasya many times, his conduct and character were known to the scholars of Amasya. This latest arrival weighed heavily on the scholars of Amasya. From the day he arrived, complaints began. These matters were written in detail to the Şeyhülislam Efendi.
At this time Gürcü Mehmed Pasha, one of the dome viziers, was removed from the vizierate through Nasûh Pasha's spiteful efforts, and the sanjak of Amasya was given to the said pasha as an arpalık. Ahmed Pasha, Governor of Amasya, became beylerbeyi of Batum.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- esbak: former, previous
- mutasarrıf: the administrator governing a sanjak
- mütesellim: deputy of the sanjak governor
- alaybeyi: commander of the sipahis in a sanjak
- mirlivâ: the rank of sanjak governor
- nakîbü'l-eşrâf kâ'im-makâmı: the city deputy of the nakîbü'l-eşrâf, who looked after the affairs of the descendants of the Prophet
- cühelâ: the ignorant
- fuzalâ: scholars, the learned
- mükerreren: repeatedly
- garezkârâne si‘âyet: malicious slander, denunciation
- arpalık: the right of administration and income granted in lieu of a salary
- kubbenişîn vezîr: a vizier who took part in the dome-chamber meetings
To Whom the Muftiship of Amasya Should Have Gone
The striking aspect of this entry is the reaction to the muftiship appointment. Hüsameddin writes that while in Amasya the beys, kadıs, mütesellims and alaybeyis were appointed from local people, only for the muftiship were persons seen as low in learning and morals sent from Istanbul. He describes this as a practice that "stung the pride of the scholars of Amasya". From the language of the text it is clear that this reaction was strong; it is also stated that the complaint was written to the Şeyhülislam. What finally happened with the appointment is not written in this entry.
In searches on the muftis Köse Ahmed Efendi and Ebrîz Mahmûd Efendi, no other source on these persons was found.
Gürcü Mehmed Pasha's Arpalık at Amasya
The "dome vizier Gürcü Mehmed Pasha" in the text is very probably the statesman of Georgian origin, trained in the Enderun, who became grand vizier in 1622; the sequence of posts in the sources fits the period Hüsameddin gives. According to the sources, when Nasuh Pasha became grand vizier he regarded Gürcü Mehmed Pasha as a threat to his own position and wanted to remove him from Istanbul with the beylerbeyilik of Erzurum, and the pasha kept his vizierate through the sultan's intervention. The same source writes that after Nasuh Pasha's execution (17 October 1614) and Damad Mehmed Pasha's becoming grand vizier, Gürcü Mehmed Pasha was brought "again to the second vizierate". The word "again" suggests that he had been removed from his vizierate in the interval; this agrees with Hüsameddin's lines describing his dismissal from the vizierate through Nasûh Pasha's efforts and the granting of the sanjak of Amasya to him as an arpalık. However, this dismissal and the Amasya arpalık are not explicitly mentioned in the sources; the agreement is an inference.
The Mehmed Pasha Madrasa
The Mehmed Pasha Madrasa, whose professor Hakâlalızâde es-Seyyid Bahâeddîn Mehmed Efendi was, is part of the Mehmed Pasha Complex. The complex was built by Hızır Paşazâde Mehmed Pasha (d. 1495), vizier of Sultan Bayezid II and lala of Prince Ahmed, and the mosque was completed in Muharrem 891 (January 1486). Of the complex, which consisted of a mosque, madrasa, imaret, tomb, tabhane, zaviye, fountain and cemetery, only the mosque, the wing spaces attached to it, and the tomb have survived. The mosque and tomb were damaged in the 1939 earthquake and were repaired by the General Directorate of Foundations.
Köprülü Mustafa Bey and Ahmed Pasha
On Köprülü Müezzinzâde Ahmed Pasha, his steward Arnavut Hüseyin Ağa, and his father-in-law Köprülü Sinan Beyzâde Mustafa Bey, no information was found in any source other than Hüsameddin.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 4, p. 544–544. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies