Amasyalıdır. Amasya Hükümdârı Şehzâde Sultân Ahmed Hân’ın vezîri olan hamam sahibi Yularkısdı Sinan Paşa evlâdından Mirlivâ İskender Bey bin Mustafa Paşa bin Sinan Paşa’nın mahdûmudur. [470] Küçük yaşında züamâdan olup muhârebâta gitdi.
Ceddesi Gevher Hân-ı Sultân binti Sultân Ahmed Hân bin Sultân Bâyezîd Hân-ı Sânî olduğundan pederinin intikâlinde Hâtuniyye ve Sinan Paşa vakıflarına ve Hüseyin-âbâd mâlikânesine ber-vech-i meşrûtiyyet mütevellî oldu.
Pederi Şehzâde Sultân Bâyezîd’in ta’kibâtında vefât eylediğinden Sultân Selîm-i Sâninin mazhar-ı teveccühü olup Amasya Alaybeyi iken 968’de Amasya Sancağı Beyi oldu. 974’de Sultân Süleyman’ın cülûsundan sonra Beylerbeyi ve 976 rebîulevvelinde Sivas Beylerbeyi oldu.
Bundan sonra devr-i vilâyât ederek 1008’de sâniyen Sivas Beylerbeyi iken eşkıyâya temâyülü hissedildiğinden sene-i mezbûre zilka’desinde Erzurûm ve 1009 zilhiccesinde sâlisen Sivas Beylerbeyi oldu. 1010 muharreminde Karayazıcı fırkası Sivas’a hücûm eylediğinden mağlûben esîr olup Karayazıcı Abdulhalîm Bey’in yanında kaldı.
Kendisi zâhiren erbâb-ı ihtilâle mümâşa’at ve hafiyyen Bâb-ı âlî ile muhâbere etmekte idi. Bâb-ı âlî, bu muhâberesini câli [471] add eylediğinden Karayazıcı’ya esâreti iltihâk ve isyâna hamletmekte idi. Karayazıcı Bâb-ı âlî ile muhâberesini duyup kendisini i’dâm edeceği esnâda, Karayazıcı ordusunu gece basıp kargaşalıktan istifâde ederek kaçtı.
Bâb-ı âlî bu haline vâkıf oldukta kendisine itimâd ederek 1011 senesi şevvâlinde Vân Beylerbeyi oldu. Orada 1012 senesi recebinde vefât etdi. Edîb, âkil, müdebbir, şecî’ idi. Pek çok mehâlike marûz olduğu halde akıl ve şecâ’ati sayesinde kendisini kurtarmıştı.
Sultânzâde olduğu münâsebetle erbâb-ı ihtilâl arasında Karayazıcı’nın vefâtından sonra kendisine fırka riyâseti arz ve teklif edildiği halde reddetmişdi. Mahdûmları İskender, Mustafa Beyler ve kerîmesi Gevherhan Hanım’dır. Halk arasında “Yularkısdı oğlu” demekle meşhûr idi. Kapıkulu vezîrâne idi.
Müşârün-ileyhin kethüdâsı “Kozkıran” demekle meşhûr Amasyalı Çavuşoğlu Mehmed Ağa da eşidda ve şece’ân-ı rûzgârdan idi. Vekîl-i harcı ve hazînedârı Amasyalı Yahyâ Ağa’dır. [472] Karayazıcının eşkıyâ arasında paralanması, Ahmed Paşa’nın tedâbîr-i fitne-kârânesinden neş’et etdiği sonradan anlaşılmakla vefâtında mahdûmlarına ve etbâ’ına ağır zeâmetler verildi.⁵²
In Modern English
He was a native of Amasya. He was the son of the mirliva (sanjak governor) İskender Bey, son of Mustafa Pasha, son of Sinan Pasha, and a grandson of Yularkısdı Sinan Pasha, owner of a bath, who was vizier to Prince Sultan Ahmed Khan, the ruler of Amasya. At a young age he became a zeamet holder (zaim) and took part in wars.
Because his grandmother was Gevher Han Sultan, daughter of Sultan Ahmed Khan, son of Sultan Bayezid II, on his father's death he became steward, in accordance with the founder's stipulation, of the Hatuniye and Sinan Pasha waqfs and of the Hüseyin-âbâd farm.
Because his father died while pursuing Prince Sultan Bayezid, he won the favour of Sultan Selim II. While alaybeyi of Amasya he became sanjak governor of Amasya in 968 [1560-61]. In 974 [1566-67], after Sultan Suleiman's accession, he became beylerbeyi, and in Rabi' al-awwal 976 [1568-69] beylerbeyi of Sivas.
After this, going from province to province, in 1008 [1599-1600], while beylerbeyi of Sivas for the second time, he was sensed to be inclined towards the bandits and in Dhu al-Qa'dah of the same year he was sent to Erzurum; in Dhu al-Hijjah 1009 [1601] he became beylerbeyi of Sivas for the third time. In Muharram 1010 [1601], when the Karayazıcı band attacked Sivas, he was defeated and taken captive and remained with Karayazıcı Abdulhalim Bey.
Outwardly he went along with the rebels while secretly corresponding with the Sublime Porte (the Ottoman government). Since the Porte regarded this correspondence of his as open, it saw his capture by Karayazıcı as joining and inclining towards the revolt. When Karayazıcı heard of his correspondence with the Porte and was about to have him executed, he escaped by taking advantage of the confusion that arose when Karayazıcı's army was raided at night.
When the Porte learned of his situation it trusted him and in Shawwal 1011 [1603] made him beylerbeyi of Van. There he died in Rajab 1012 [1603-04]. He was a man of letters, intelligent, prudent, and brave. Although he had fallen into many dangers, he had saved himself through his intelligence and courage.
Because he was a sultanzade (descended from the sultan's line), after the death of Karayazıcı he had refused the leadership of the band, which the rebels offered him. His sons were İskender and Mustafa Beys, and his daughter Gevherhan Hanım. Among the people he was known as "the son of Yularkısdı." His household (the people of his gate) was in an order befitting viziers.
His kethüda, Çavuşoğlu Mehmed Ağa of Amasya, known as "Kozkıran," was also brave and one of the heroes of the age. His vekilharc and treasurer (haznedar) was Yahyâ Ağa of Amasya. Because it was learned afterwards that the breaking up and scattering of Karayazıcı among the rebels had come from Ahmed Pasha's seditious measures, great zeamets were given to his sons and men at his death.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- züamâ: sipahis who held a zeamet (a large timar)
- mirlivâ: sanjak governor
- alaybeyi: the official at the head of the military units in a sanjak
- ber-vech-i meşrûtiyyet: in accordance with the condition set by the founder of the waqf
- mütevellî: administrator of a waqf
- sâniyen, sâlisen: for the second time, for the third time
- erbâb-ı ihtilâl: rebels, those who cause disorder
- mümâşa'at: going along with, keeping company
- muhâbere: correspondence, communication
- i'dâm: execution
- sultânzâde: descended from the sultan's line
- vekîl-i harc: the steward who conducted matters of expenditure
- hazînedâr: the official who looked after property and money
- zeâmet: a timar with a high annual revenue
The Yularkısdı Family and Prince Ahmed
Ahmed Pasha's great-grandfather Yularkısdı Sinan Pasha was one of the well-known viziers of Prince Ahmed's period in Amasya. According to Hüsameddin's own account, Sinan Pasha became guardian of Amasya in 925 [1519] and went in pursuit of bandits. A study on the eastern campaign and the Kızılbaş movements relates that Prince Ahmed sent his chief vizier Yularkıstı Sinan Pasha with an army to suppress the uprising that Nur Ali Halife had begun against him, and that the pasha was defeated and fled on a single horse. A waqf of a mosque, inn, school, and bath built by Sinan Pasha at Hacıhamza in the Kargı district of Çorum is known. The epithet "son of Yularkısdı" ties Ahmed Pasha to this family.
The Hatuniye waqf in the text concerns the mosque, boys' school, and imaret complex that Prince Ahmed's mother Bülbül Hatun had built on the bank of the Yeşilırmak. Ahmed Pasha's family tie rests on the dynastic kinship that led him to the administration of these waqfs: his grandmother Gevher Han Sultan is, according to the text, the daughter of Prince Ahmed. This name does not appear in the list read among the prince's children; Hüsameddin's information could therefore not be verified with another document.
A Bey in the Celali Turmoil
The sequence of events in the text takes place in the first great period of the Celali revolts in Anatolia. Karayazıcı Abdülhalim, coming out of the Urfa region, was enrolled as a cavalryman in a company of six, and then, while a sanjak deputy, raised the banner of revolt. In the sources he is mentioned as the first Celali to proclaim sovereignty, with the title Halim Shah. His army defeated the government forces on the plain of Kayseri in 1009 [1600]; afterwards Sokulluzâde Hasan Pasha routed him at Sepetli near Elbistan in 1010 [1601]. Karayazıcı withdrew wounded to the mountains; there are two accounts of his death: either he was killed by men with whom he had fallen out, or he died of his wounds. The revolt of his brother Deli Hasan, who succeeded him, was pacified by giving him a beylerbeyiship. Researchers also point out that Karayazıcı's claim to sovereignty did not target the dynasty and that his real aim was to obtain a sanjak governorship or beylerbeyiship.
Ahmed Pasha's position in this turmoil is two-sided. According to what Hüsameddin relates, while beylerbeyi of Sivas he fell into the hands of the rebels, remained among them, but secretly corresponded with the government. In the end he escaped, won the government's trust, and was appointed to Van. His refusal of the rebels' offer of leadership is attributed to his descent from the sultan's line. The text also says that Ahmed Pasha's measures had a share in the breaking up of Karayazıcı; according to the footnote, this information was taken from the registers of the Rumelian chief military judgeship and the books of rulings (ahkâm defterleri) in the archive. This claim was not found in any other source.
The meaning of one sentence in the text is not certain in the original: the part saying that the Porte regarded Ahmed Pasha's correspondence as "open" can be read in two ways regarding how it interpreted the pasha's capture. In the translation the reading closest to the words has been given.
Difference from the Author's Own Account
Hüsameddin writes in the third volume that at the beginning of 1012, when Nasuh Pasha went to Aleppo, Yularkısdızâde Ahmed Pasha became beylerbeyi of Sivas. In this entry, however, it is said that the pasha was appointed to Van in 1011 and died there in Rajab 1012. How the two accounts are reconciled cannot be understood from the text.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 149–150. amasya.bel.tr
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, vol. 3 (Celali period, account of the beylerbeyiship of Sivas).
Academic studies
Other sources
- "Celâlî", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (general entry on the Celali revolts).
- Mehmet Emin Üner, "Osmanlı İstimâlet Uygulaması Bağlamında Yavuz Sultan Selim'in Doğu Seferi ve Sonrası".
- Çorum-Kargı study on the waqf and bath of Yularkıstı Sinan Pasha (article on the Sinan Pasha Bath, Ayar et al., 2014).
- "Şehzade Ahmed (son of Bayezid II)", Wikipedia (English).