AMASYA 05

Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar · İKİNCİ BÂB · BİRİNCİ FASIL

Ahmed Pasha — Sofuzâde

Encyclopedia · History of Amasya, Volume 6, p. 144 • Edited by: Doç. Dr. Recep Orhan ÖZEL - Doç. Dr. Metin HAKVERDİOĞLU

Original Text (Ottoman Turkish)

Amasyalıdır. Amasya Valisi Şehzâde Sultân Ahmed Han devrinde Çavuşbaşı olan Abdi Ağa bin Hüseyin Çelebi bin Ahmed Çelebi bin Mahmûd Çelebi bin Mu’allim-i Sultânî Sofu Bâyezîd Çelebi mahdûmudur. [452] Çaldıran Harbinden dönüşde Amasya’ya gelen Sultân Selîm Han’a tarif ve takdîm edilerek Enderun’a alındı.

Enderun-ı Hümayun’da hüsn-i terbiyye görüp Sultân Süleyman-ı Kanunî cülusunda sipahilikle taşra çıktı. Ba’dehû 933’de eşkıya vak’asında yararlıkları görülmekle sipahi ocağı kethüdâsı, ba’dehû sipahiler ağası oldu.

950’de İnebahtı Beylerbeyi olarak harbe me’mûr olup 951’de İstolni Belgrad Muhâfızı oldu. Bu esnada Çuka ve Endirin kal’alarını harben fethederek Belgrad, sonra Silistre Beylerbeyi oldu. 963’de ma’zûlen vefât etdi. Şeci’, muktedir bir zâtdı.

Our Research Article Editor: Mevlüt Erdem Öztürk

In Modern English

He was a native of Amasya. He was the son of Abdi Ağa, who was çavuşbaşı in the time of Prince Sultan Ahmed Han, governor of Amasya; Abdi Ağa was the son of Hüseyin Çelebi, son of Ahmed Çelebi, son of Mahmud Çelebi, son of Sofu Bayezid Çelebi, teacher of the sultan. Presented and introduced to Sultan Selim Han, who came to Amasya on his return from the Battle of Çaldıran, he was taken into the Enderun.

He received a good upbringing in the Enderun-ı Hümayun and, at the accession of Süleyman the Magnificent, went out to the provinces as a sipahi. Then, upon the merit he showed in the brigand incident of 933 [1526-27], he became kethüda of the sipahi corps and later ağa of the sipahis.

In 950 [1543-44] he was assigned to the campaign as beylerbeyi of Lepanto (İnebahtı), and in 951 [1544-45] he became garrison commander of İstolni Belgrad. At this time he conquered the fortresses of Çuka and Endirin by fighting; thereupon he became beylerbeyi first of Belgrade, then of Silistra. In 963 [1555-56] he died, having been dismissed from office. He was a valiant and capable man.

Notes and Research

Old Words in the Text

  • mahdûm: son
  • mu'allim-i sultânî: teacher of the sultan or of a prince
  • Enderun: the inner part of the palace; the palace school where statesmen were trained
  • hüsn-i terbiye: good upbringing, fine education
  • cülûs: accession to the throne
  • ba'dehû: after that
  • kethüdâ: second man of a corps or institution, deputy
  • muhâfız: commander in charge of guarding a fortress or city
  • ma'zûlen: having been dismissed from office
  • şeci', muktedir: valiant, strong and capable

The Return from Çaldıran and Amasya

The scene at the opening of the entry shows well Amasya's place in the early sixteenth century. Yavuz Sultan Selim, after defeating Shah İsmail at Çaldıran, had returned to Amasya with his army; the history defter Kemalpaşazâde devoted to Yavuz's time also ends its events at exactly this point, on the return from the Çaldıran campaign to Amasya. That the son of a family whose father was çavuşbaşı to Prince Ahmed was taken into the palace of Selim, who had defeated and killed Ahmed in the struggle for the throne, is a noteworthy detail. Hüsameddin relates this transition without adding any comment; it appears that the family's attachment to the prince's palace worked as a door to a career in the new sultan's time as well.

The First Years of İstolni Belgrad

Székesfehérvár in Hungary is called İstolni Belgrad in Ottoman sources. In Süleyman's campaign of 1543, after Esztergom, the people and remaining soldiers of the besieged city surrendered it to the Ottomans on 3 Jumada al-Thani 950 (3 September 1543), and the city was made a sanjak centre attached to Buda. Hüsameddin's showing Ahmed Pasha assigned to the campaign in 950 and garrison commander of İstolni Belgrad in 951 agrees exactly with this conquest. Only, present-day research names Yahyâpaşazâde Ahmed Bey as the first sanjak bey to come to the city. It is possible that two different Ahmeds served in the same city in the same years; the garrison commander and the sanjak bey need not be the same office. Nevertheless the possibility that the two pieces of information have been confused should not be ignored. For the present-day equivalents of the fortresses of Çuka and Endirin named in the text, no other source could be reached.

A Note on Titles

The titles "beylerbeyi of Lepanto" and "beylerbeyi of Silistra" used for Ahmed Pasha in the text need careful looking at. Silistra is recorded as a sanjak in an accounting register of 1542-43; the founding of the province called Özi or Silistra falls only around 1593. Therefore it is hard to speak of a beylerbeyilik in Silistra at a date before 963; it is more plausible that Ahmed Pasha was sanjak bey there, perhaps having been given the rank of beylerbeyi. The same may be thought of Lepanto. Since Hüsameddin uses the word beylerbeyi in many places also in the sense of rank, it is right to see this difference as a matter of naming rather than an error. Apart from this, no information on this person was found in other sources, including the genealogy reaching to Sofu Bayezid Çelebi, teacher of the sultan.

Bibliography

Primary sources

  • Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 144–144. amasya.bel.tr

Academic studies

Volume 6 contents