Hızır Paşazâde Mehmed Paşa evlâdından Seydî Alî Beyzâde Ahmed Bey'in oğludur. Birâderleri Mustafa Paşa ile Kurd Mehmed Bey'dir. Alaybeyi iken 1015 senesi cumadelâhiresinin on birinci günü Amasya beyi oldu.
Sûret-i hafiyyede Alî Bey'e verilen fermânda İbrâhim Bey'in Amasya'dan suhûletle def'i ve mümkün olduğu takdîrde i'dâmı emr olunduğu hâlde İbrâhim Bey'e gelen fermânda Karahisâr-ı Şarkî beylerbeyi olduğu ve derhâl azîmeti bildirilmişdi.
Alî Bey, fermânı aldığı anda gizlice Köprü a'yânından mîrlivâ-yı sâbık Mü'ezzinzâde Ahmed Bey'le Murâd Çavuşoğlu Alî Ağa'ya haber uçurdu. Her ikisinden de cevâb-ı muvâfakat aldı. Çünkü bunlar hem Yıldızlı İbrâhim Bey'in düşmanlarıydı hem de erbâb-ı iktidârdan idi.
İbrâhim Bey, fermânı aldıkda hayli günler düşündü. Sonra Amasya'nın idâresini Alî Bey'e terk ederek hareket etdi. Taşâbâd'a doğru gitdi. Hâlbuki yollar tutulmuşdu.
Amasya Beyi Alî Bey, ma'iyyetine aldığı adamlarıyla İbrâhim Bey'i ta'kîb edib Amasya'nın şark boğazı nihâyetinde yetişdi. İki kuvvet arasında kalan İbrâhim Bey harben tutulup i'dâm edildi. Ma'iyyetinden hayli adamlar da kırıldı. [371]
İbrâhim Bey'in i'dâmında hizmetleri sebk eden Ahmed Bey'e Karahisâr-ı Şarkî sancağı verildi. Alî Ağa da Çorum sancağı beyi oldu. Hadd-i zâtında bunlar da İbrâhim Bey'in ayârında adamlardı.
1015 senesi şa'bânının sekizinci günü sadr-ı a'zam Bosnalı Dervîş Paşa müfsid ve gaddâr olduğunudan i'dâm edilip Rûmeli serdârı meşhûr Kuyucu Murâd Paşa sadr-ı a'zam oldu.
Bu esnâda Kalenderoğlu Mehmed Paşa, ma'iyyetinde bulunan otuz beş bin kadar eşkıyâ ile Saruhan ve Manîsâ taraflarına dehşetler veriyordu. Ramazân ayında Anadolu beylerbeyi Hüseyin Paşa, Anadolu'dan ma'zûl Ahmed Paşa, Saruhan beyi Hacı Kerîm Bey kuvvetleriyle harb ederek gâlib gelmişdi.
Koca Anadolu ülkesi derebeyleri arasında bayağı taksîmâta uğramışdı. Her hâlde bu âsî derebeylerine merâm anlatacak, Anadolu Türkleri'ni bunların işkencelerinden kurtaracak kuvvetli, tedbîrli bir er lâzımdı. Bunun için Kuyucu Murâd Paşa 1016 senesi muharreminin evâhirinde İstanbul'a gelip saferinde şark serdârı oldu.
Kuyucu Murâd Paşa, Hırvâd olup gâyet şecî', muktedir, mütedeyyin, tecrübe-dîde bir kumandân idi. Dâmâdı Amasyalı Kadızâde Alî Paşa olup kethüdâ-yı sadâreti eşkıyânın ahvâl ve husûsâtına gâyet vâkıf olan Amasyalı Yularkısdıoğlu Ömer Ağa idi.
Kalenderoğlu Mehmed Paşa'ya Ankara beylerbeyiliği verilmişdi. Bunun zıddı olan Tekeli Mehmed Paşa Kastamonu ve sâbık başdefterdâraltı Poğaçazâde Ahmed Paşa Sivas beylerbeyi idi. Kuyucu Murâd [372] Paşa 1016 senesi rebî'ulevvelinde Üsküdâr'dan kalkıp en azılı şakî olan Canpolâdoğlu Alî Paşa üzerine Haleb'e doğru gitdi.
Tekeli Mehmed Paşa, Ankara havâlîsinde icrâ-yı şekâvet eden Kalenderoğlu üzerine me'mûr olmuş, Karesi, Menteşe, Sivas eyâleti askeri de ma'iyyetine verilmişdi. Kalenderoğlu Mehmed Paşa, Tekeli Mehmed Paşa'yı püskürtdüğü hâlde serdârın kuvvet ve salâbetinden ürküp Sivas'a doğru yürüdü.
Kalenderoğlu Mehmed Paşa, uğradığı yerleri harâb ederek 1016 senesi şevvâlinde Zile'yi basdı. Yanında olan Trabzon toplarıyla döğmeğe başladı. Zile voyvodası çavuşândan Hayreddîn Ağa bir merd-i gayûr idi. Müdâfa'a ederek Zile'yi kurtardı. Bu esnâda Sivas beylerbeyiliğine Canikli Osmân Paşa ta'yîn olunup sür'atle geldi.
1016 senesi zilka'desinde Amasya müftüsü Köse Ahmed Efendi isti'fâya mecbûr olduğundan birkaç müderrise teklîf edilen Amasya fetvâsını ancak Selânikli İbrîz Mahmûd Efendi kabûl etmekle zilhiccesinde Amasya müftüsü ve Sultâniyye müderrisi olup geldi. Hâlbuki Amasya'da fuzalâdan Mü'eyyedzâde Pîrî Çelebi, Harşeneli İbrâhim Efendi, Dursunzâde Mehmed Efendi gibi erler vardı.
Amasya alaybeyisi Murâd Bey, sipâhî kethüdâyeri Haydar Ağa, yeniçeri serdârı Kara Hasan Ağa idi. Kibâr-ı zu'amâdan Yularkısdı Sinan Paşazâde İskender Bey, Kesdek Mustafa Bey, yeniçeri a'yânından serdâr-ı sâbık Çakaloğlu Hüseyin Ağa, Karabulutoğlu Ahmed Ağa meşhûr idi. [373]
Kuyucu Murâd Paşa, Haleb havâlîsinde Canpoladoğlu Alî Paşa'nın ve sâ'ir eşkıyânın cem'iyyetlerini târumâr ederek 1017 senesi muharremi gurresinde Sivas'a doğru yürümüşdü. İç Anadolu'da eşkıyâ, alabildiğine şekâvetler yapıyorlardı. Bunlardan yetişme ümerâ da bunlara uymuşlardı.
Eşkıyânın ve ümerânın ahvâl ve mezâlimini anlatmak için ahkâm defterlerinde Sivas beylerbeyine ve mülhakâtı kadılarına hitâben yazılan 11 muharrem sene 1017 târîhli fermân müsveddesi görülmekle buraya derc edildi:
"Rûm beylerbeyine ve eyâlet-i mezbûrede vâki' olan kadılara hüküm ki, Kastamonu ve Kangırı sancaklarında nâzır-ı emvâl olan Memi Çavuş dergâh-ı mu'allâma mektûb gönderip vilâyet-i mezbûreye birkaç senedir ki celâlî eşkıyâsı zuhûr edib ahâlî-i vilâyete ve âyende ve revende ve tüccâr ve züvvâra envâ'-ı zulm ü ta'addîleri hadden bîrûn olduğundan gayrı İskilib ahâlîsinden Kemerli Alî ve Pîrî ve Simre'den Hacı nâm bölükbaşı kendilerine tâbi' eşkıyâ ile gâh zorba sâhibi sancak beyleri ve gâh bi-nefsihî kendiler gezip eyâlet-i mezbûre ahâlîsinin emvâl ve erzâklarını nehb ü gâret ve davarlarını dahi sürüp vilâyetlerine alıp gidip dâ'imâ hareket ve tuğyân üzere olup bu def'a dahi Çorum sancağı beyi olan kıdvetü'l-ümerâ Alî dâme izzuhû⁶⁰⁹ gelip ahâlî-i vilâyetin evlerin basıp emvâl ve erzâklarını yağmâ ve talân edib bu âna değin ahâlî-i vilâyete eyledikleri zulüm ve ta'addîleri günden güne müştedd olmağla her biri yalnız oldukları kasaba ve nevâhî ve kurâda ahvâlleri [374] yerli yerinden hak üzere teftîş ve tefahhus olunup şer' ile haklarından gelinmesini arz etmeğin buyurdum ki ..."
Her tarafda eşkıyâ ve bunlardan yetişen ümerânın ahvâl ve mezâlimi bundan ziyâde idi, eksik değildi. Bütün Anadolu bu derebeylerin zulmünden bîzâr idi. Hiçbir tarafda huzûr ve emniyyet, verilen fermânların hükümlerini infâz edecek kuvvet yokdu.
Kuyucu Murâd Paşa, herkesin dört gözle beklediği bir halaskârdı. Serdâr Murâd Paşa'nın eşkıyâya karşı gösterdiği şiddetler, eşkıyânın halka karşı irtikâb etdikleri zulüm ve dehşetler yanında yine hafîf idi.
Kuyucu Murâd Paşa'nın Sivas'a doğru yürüdüğünü duyan Kalenderoğlu, Kara Sa'îd, Kepenekli Halîl, Kürd Haydar, Tokatlı Ağacdan Pîrî ve emsâli haramzâdeler yirmi bin eşkıyâ ile Göksun yaylağında serdârı karşıladılar.
Serdâr Murâd Paşa, büyük bir i'tidâl ve metânet ibrâz ederek eşkıyânın cem'iyyetlerini perîşân ve rast geldiği yerde eşkıyâyı kahr ve tedmîr etdi. Eşkıyâyı kuyular kazdırıp çukurlara gömdürdü. Bu sûretle Ankara vilâyetini tarayıp temizledi.
Ancak Göksun yaylağı muhârebesinde bozulup kaçan Kara Sa'îd, ma'iyyetinde olan on binden ziyâde eşkıyâ ile Amasya kalesini elde ederek tahassün etmek istedi. Kalenderoğlu Mehmed Paşa da başındaki haşerâtıyla Karahisâr-ı Şarkî kal'asına tahassün etmeğe koşdu.
1017 senesi rebî'ulâhirinde Kara Sa'îd, Amasya'yı her tarafdan [375] sardı. Darbzen toplarla döğmeğe başladı. Fakat Amasya a'yânı olan mîrlivâ Alî, alaybeyi Murâd, kal'a dizdârı Memî, zu'amâdan Mustafa ve İskender Beyler'le sipâhîlerden Topçu Mehmed, Cebecioğlu Mehmed, Köse Mehmed, Haydar, Velî ve yeniçerilerden Çakaloğlu Hüseyin, Kara Hasan, Lâdikli Kurd, Karabulutoğlu Ahmed Ağalar ve sâ'ir efendiler fevkalâde müdâfa'a etdiler.
Amasyalılar'ın fedâkârâne gayreti, Sivaslı Kara Sa'îd'i ve ma'iyyetindeki eşkıyâyı âdetâ çıldırtıyordu. Çünkü kendilerini ta'kîb eden Serdâr Murâd Paşa, Çorum'a gelip çadır kurmuşdu. Serdârın şiddetine ve paşaların kuvvetine karşı koyacak metîn bir yerden mahrûm oluyorlardı.
Kara Sa'îd, Amasya'yı zabt ve tahassün etmekden me'yûs olarak 1017 senesi cumadelûlâsının evâ'ilinde Amasya havâlîsinde icrâ-yı şekâvete koyuldu. Mezâlim ve hasârâtın envâ'ını yapıyor, her tarafı harâb ediyordu.
Ancak Amasya kadısı Mustafa Efendi erbâb-ı hamiyyetle beraber olup müdâfa'aya ikdâm etdiği hâlde Amasya müftüsü Mahmûd Efendi denâ'et-i tab' ve cehline binâ'en Amasya'yı Kara Sa'îd'e teslîm için uğraşıp birtakım sâde-dilânı iğfâl eylediğinden 1017 cumadelûlâsında azl edilip Köse Ahmed Efendi ikinci def'a Amasya müftüsü ve Sultâniyye müderrisi oldu.
Serdâr Murâd Paşa, Çorum ovasında kaldığı müddet zarfında o taraflarda icrâ-yı şekâvet eden Çorum beyi Murâd Çavuşoğlu Alî, Beyşehrî beyi Emîrşâh Beyler'i ve İskilib eşkıyâsını i'dâm ederek kalkıp [376] cumadelûlâsının yirmisinde Sivas'a geldi.
Üç gün kadar eğlenip Haleb beylerbeyi Hüseyin Paşa'yı ser-asker nasb ve ma'iyyetine Sivas beylerbeyi Canikli Osmân Paşa, Malatya mutasarrıfı Karakaş Ahmed Paşa, Kastamonu beylerbeyi Tekeli Mehmed Paşa ve Kefe'den ma'zûl Mehmed Paşa kuvvetlerini terfîk ederek Kara Sa'îd üzerine gönderdi. Kendisi de Kalenderoğlu üzerine gitdi.
Hüseyin Paşa, Amasya sancağına girdiği anda Amasya müdâfi'leri kendisine iltihâk eylediğinden kuvvetlerini iki kola ayırdı. Canikli Osmân Paşa kolunu şarka me'mûr etdi. Kendisi garba doğru yürüdü. Bütün eşkıyâ paşaların önlerinden kaçıp Kara Sa'îd'e iltihâk ediyorlardı.
Hüseyin Paşa, Amasya sancağını güzel bir tarama hareketiyle bütün eşkıyâyı Merzifon ovasına topladı. Canikli Osmân Paşa kolu Lâdik'den kalkıp Merzifon ovasına geldiği gibi Hüseyin Paşa kolu da Gümüş havâlîsine gelip Kara Sa'îd'i burada buldu.
Merzifon ovasında iki kuvvet çarpışdı. Üç gün devâm eden kanlı muhârebede Kara Sa'îd fenâ hâlde bozuldu. Binlerce eşkıyâ kılıçdan geçdi. Kılıçdan arta kalan bin kadar eşkıyâ ile Kara Sa'îd canlarını güç kurtarıp şarka doğru kaçdılar. Paşalar da ta'kîb etdiler.
Bu muhârebede fedâkârâne çalışanlar, büyük mükâfâtlara erdiler. Bunlardan Çakaloğlu Hüseyin Ağa⁶¹⁰, Lâdikli Kurd Ağa⁶¹¹, sipâhî [377] Haydar Ağa, serdâr Murâd Paşa'nın nazar-ı dikkat ve teveccühünü kazandıkları cihetle ma'iyyetine kabûl edildiler. Berâber İstanbul'a gitdiler.
Münhezim olan Kalenderoğlu'yla Kara Sa'îd eşkıyâsını ta'kîb eden serdâr Murâd Paşa 1017 cumadelâhiresinin onuncu günü Bayburd civârında Sünür ovasına indi.
Serdâr Murâd Paşa, Trabzon eyâletine müstevlî olan "Murâdhanlı" demekle meşhûr Alî, Mustafa Paşalar'la Abdurrahmân Bey nâmında üç birâderi birer tarîk ile ele geçirip i'dâm ederek Trabzon eyâletini de temizledi.
Serdâr-ı a'zam Murâd Paşa, 1017 senesi recebinin onuncu günü Sünür ovasından kalkıp on dördüncü günü Tokat'a geldi. Burada iki gün kalıp on yedinci günü hareketle yirminci günü mu'azzam bir ihtifâl içinde Amasya'ya girdi. Amasya sancağını Sinan Paşazâde Mehmed Paşa'ya tevcîh ederek târîhî fetrete hitâm verdi. Fesübhâne men lâ-yezûlü mülkühû lâ ilâhe illâ hüve'l-aliyyü'l-hakîm.
Üçüncü cildin sonu.
In Modern English
He descended from Hızır Pashazâde Mehmed Pasha and was the son of Seydî Alî Beyzâde Ahmed Bey. His brothers were Mustafa Pasha and Kurd Mehmed Bey. While alaybeyi, on the eleventh day of Jumada al-akhira 1015 [1606-07] he became bey of Amasya.
Although the decree secretly given to Alî Bey ordered that İbrâhim Bey be easily removed from Amasya and, if possible, executed, the decree that reached İbrâhim Bey announced that he was beylerbeyi of Karahisâr-ı Şarkî and was to set out at once.
The moment he received the decree, Alî Bey secretly sent word to the former mirliva Mü'ezzinzâde Ahmed Bey, one of the notables of Köprü, and to Murâd Çavuşoğlu Alî Ağa. He received a favorable answer from both. For they were both enemies of Yıldızlı İbrâhim Bey and men of power.
When İbrâhim Bey received the decree he thought for days. Then, leaving the administration of Amasya to Alî Bey, he set out. He went toward Taşâbâd. Yet the roads had been seized.
Alî Bey, bey of Amasya, followed İbrâhim Bey with the men he had taken with him and caught up with him at the end of the eastern gorge of Amasya. Caught between the two forces, İbrâhim Bey was seized in battle and executed. Many of those with him were also killed.
Ahmed Bey, whose services were seen in the execution of İbrâhim Bey, was given the sanjak of Karahisâr-ı Şarkî. Alî Ağa became sanjak governor of Çorum. In fact these were men of İbrâhim Bey's own stamp.
On the eighth day of Shaban 1015 the grand vizier Derviş Pasha of Bosnia, being a troublemaker and a tyrant, was executed, and the famous commander of Rumelia Kuyucu Murâd Pasha became grand vizier.
At this time Kalenderoğlu Mehmed Pasha, with about thirty-five thousand bandits with him, was spreading terror around Saruhan and Manisa. In the month of Ramadan Hüseyin Pasha, beylerbeyi of Anatolia, Ahmed Pasha, dismissed from Anatolia, and Hacı Kerîm Bey, bey of Saruhan, fought with their forces and prevailed.
The whole broad land of Anatolia had been almost divided up among local lords. In any case a strong and prudent man was needed who would make these rebellious lords heed him and save the Anatolian Turks from their torments. For this reason Kuyucu Murâd Pasha came to Istanbul at the end of Muharram 1016 [1607] and in Safar became commander of the East.
Kuyucu Murâd Pasha was of Croatian origin, an extremely brave, strong, devout and experienced commander. His son-in-law was Kadızâde Alî Pasha of Amasya, and his chief of staff of the grand vizierate was Yularkısdıoğlu Ömer Ağa of Amasya, who knew the situation and affairs of the bandits very well.
Kalenderoğlu Mehmed Pasha had been given the beylerbeyilik of Ankara. His opponent Tekeli Mehmed Pasha was beylerbeyi of Kastamonu, and the former assistant chief defterdar Poğaçazâde Ahmed Pasha was beylerbeyi of Sivas. In Rabi' al-awwal 1016 [1607] Kuyucu Murâd Pasha set out from Üsküdar and went toward Aleppo against the fiercest bandit, Canpolâdoğlu Alî Pasha.
Tekeli Mehmed Pasha was charged against Kalenderoğlu, who was committing banditry around Ankara, and the troops of Karesi, Menteşe and the province of Sivas were placed under his orders. Although Kalenderoğlu Mehmed Pasha drove Tekeli Mehmed Pasha back, frightened by the commander's strength and solidity he marched toward Sivas.
Kalenderoğlu Mehmed Pasha, ruining the places he passed, raided Zile in Shawwal 1016 [1608]. He began to batter it with the Trabzon cannons he had with him. The voivode of Zile, Hayreddîn Ağa, one of the çavuşes, was an ardent brave man. By defending it he saved Zile. At this time Canikli Osmân Pasha was appointed to the beylerbeyilik of Sivas and arrived quickly.
In Dhu al-Qa'dah 1016, since the mufti of Amasya Köse Ahmed Efendi was obliged to resign, the fatwa office of Amasya, offered to several müderrises, was accepted only by İbrîz Mahmûd Efendi of Salonica, who came in Dhu al-Hijjah as mufti of Amasya and müderris of the Sultâniyye. Yet in Amasya there were scholars such as Mü'eyyedzâde Pîrî Çelebi, Harşeneli İbrâhim Efendi and Dursunzâde Mehmed Efendi.
The alaybeyi of Amasya was Murâd Bey, the sipahi kethüdâyeri Haydar Ağa, and the janissary commander Kara Hasan Ağa. Among the large zeamet holders Yularkısdı Sinan Paşazâde İskender Bey and Kesdek Mustafa Bey, and among the janissary notables the former commander Çakaloğlu Hüseyin Ağa and Karabulutoğlu Ahmed Ağa were well known.
Kuyucu Murâd Pasha, having scattered the bands of Canpoladoğlu Alî Pasha and the other bandits around Aleppo, marched toward Sivas at the beginning of Muharram 1017 [1608]. In Central Anatolia the bandits were committing banditry without limit. The beys raised from among them had also followed them.
A draft decree dated 11 Muharram 1017, written in the registers of rulings addressed to the beylerbeyi of Sivas and the kadıs of its dependencies to describe the condition of the bandits and the beys and their oppression, was seen and is therefore included here:
"To the beylerbeyi of Rum and the kadıs in the said province, a decree: Memi Çavuş, mal nazırı (superintendent of state property) in the sanjaks of Kastamonu and Kangırı (Çankırı), sent a letter to the exalted court that for several years Celâlî bandits had arisen in the said province, and that, besides committing every kind of tyranny and injustice beyond measure against the people of the province, travelers, merchants and visitors, Kemerli Alî and Pîrî of the people of İskilip and the company commander named Hacı from Simre, with the bandits attached to them, at times with sanjak governors who held power by bullying, and at times on their own, roamed about plundering and pillaging the goods and food of the people of the said province and driving off their animals to take them to their own provinces, ever intent on excess; and that this time too Alî, the choice of the beys (may his glory endure), who is bey of the sanjak of Çorum, raided the houses of the people of the province and plundered and pillaged their goods and food; and that the tyranny and injustice they have done to the people of the province up to today increases from day to day. He has therefore petitioned that, with their conduct investigated and inquired into properly and according to the truth in the towns, nahiyes and villages where each of them alone is, they be dealt with according to the sharia. I have commanded that ..."
Everywhere the condition of the bandits and the beys raised from among them and their oppression was more than this, not less. All Anatolia was weary of the oppression of these local lords. There was nowhere peace and security; there was no power to enforce the provisions of the decrees issued.
Kuyucu Murâd Pasha was a savior whom everyone awaited with eager eyes. The harshness that Commander Murâd Pasha showed toward the bandits was still light beside the oppression and terror the bandits wrought against the people.
Hearing that Kuyucu Murâd Pasha was marching toward Sivas, Kalenderoğlu, Kara Sa'îd, Kepenekli Halîl, Kürd Haydar, Tokatlı Ağacdan Pîrî and similar rascals met the commander with twenty thousand bandits on the Göksun plateau.
Commander Murâd Pasha, showing great moderation and steadfastness, scattered the bands of bandits and, wherever he met them, crushed and destroyed them. He had wells dug for the bandits and had them buried in the pits. In this way he swept and cleansed the province of Ankara.
But Kara Sa'îd, routed and fleeing in the battle of the Göksun plateau, wanted to seize Amasya castle with more than ten thousand bandits with him and take refuge there. Kalenderoğlu Mehmed Pasha, with the rabble under him, ran to take refuge in the castle of Karahisâr-ı Şarkî.
In Rabi' al-akhir 1017 Kara Sa'îd surrounded Amasya on all sides. He began to batter it with darbzen cannons. But the notables of Amasya, the mirliva Alî, the alaybeyi Murâd, the castle dizdar Memî, among the zeamet holders the Beys Mustafa and İskender, and among the sipahis Topçu Mehmed, Cebecioğlu Mehmed, Köse Mehmed, Haydar and Velî, and among the janissaries the Ağas Çakaloğlu Hüseyin, Kara Hasan, Lâdikli Kurd and Karabulutoğlu Ahmed, and the other Efendis, made an extraordinary defense.
The self-sacrificing effort of the people of Amasya all but drove Kara Sa'îd of Sivas and the bandits with him mad. For Commander Murâd Pasha, following them, had come to Çorum and pitched his tent. They were left without a solid place from which to resist the commander's harshness and the strength of the pashas.
When Kara Sa'îd gave up hope of taking Amasya and taking refuge there, at the beginning of Jumada al-awwal 1017 he set to banditry around Amasya. He committed every kind of tyranny and damage and ruined everything.
But although the kadı of Amasya, Mustafa Efendi, was with men of zeal and tried to defend the city, the mufti of Amasya, Mahmûd Efendi, because of his base nature and ignorance, tried to surrender Amasya to Kara Sa'îd and deceived some simple people; in Jumada al-awwal 1017 he was dismissed, and Köse Ahmed Efendi became mufti of Amasya and müderris of the Sultâniyye for the second time.
For as long as Commander Murâd Pasha remained on the plain of Çorum, he executed Murâd Çavuşoğlu Alî, bey of Çorum, who was committing banditry in those parts, Emîrşâh Bey, bey of Beyşehir, and the bandits of İskilip, and then departed; on the twentieth of Jumada al-awwal he came to Sivas.
After resting about three days he appointed Hüseyin Pasha, beylerbeyi of Aleppo, as chief commander; adding to him the forces of Canikli Osmân Pasha, beylerbeyi of Sivas, Karakaş Ahmed Pasha, mutasarrıf of Malatya, Tekeli Mehmed Pasha, beylerbeyi of Kastamonu, and Mehmed Pasha, dismissed from Kefe, he sent them against Kara Sa'îd. He himself went against Kalenderoğlu.
The moment Hüseyin Pasha entered the sanjak of Amasya, the defenders of Amasya joined him, so he divided his forces into two columns. He assigned the column of Canikli Osmân Pasha to the east. He himself marched westward. All the bandits were fleeing before the pashas and joining Kara Sa'îd.
Hüseyin Pasha passed through the sanjak of Amasya in a fine sweeping movement and gathered all the bandits on the plain of Merzifon. Just as the column of Canikli Osmân Pasha set out from Lâdik and came to the plain of Merzifon, Hüseyin Pasha's column came to the vicinity of Gümüş and found Kara Sa'îd here.
The two forces clashed on the plain of Merzifon. In a bloody battle lasting three days Kara Sa'îd was badly routed. Thousands of bandits were put to the sword. With the thousand or so bandits left over from the sword, Kara Sa'îd barely saved their lives and fled eastward. The pashas pursued them too.
Those who worked selflessly in this battle received great rewards. Among them Çakaloğlu Hüseyin Ağa, Lâdikli Kurd Ağa and the sipahi Haydar Ağa, having won the attention and admiration of Commander Murâd Pasha, were taken into his retinue. They went together to Istanbul.
Following the routed bandits of Kalenderoğlu and Kara Sa'îd, Commander Murâd Pasha encamped on the tenth day of Jumada al-akhira 1017 on the plain of Sünür near Bayburt.
Commander Murâd Pasha cleansed the province of Trabzon as well, by catching and executing by separate ways the three brothers who had seized it, known as the "Murâdhanlı," Alî and Mustafa Pashas and Abdurrahmân Bey.
The serdâr-ı a'zam (commander-in-chief and grand vizier) Murâd Pasha set out from the plain of Sünür on the tenth day of Rajab 1017 and on the fourteenth day came to Tokat. Staying here two days, he set out on the seventeenth and on the twentieth entered Amasya with a great ceremony. He gave the sanjak of Amasya to Sinan Paşazâde Mehmed Pasha and brought the period of historical turmoil to an end. The Arabic phrase meaning "I glorify God, whose dominion never ends; there is no god but Him, the Exalted, the Wise."
End of the third volume.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- erbâb-ı ihtilâl: rebels
- şekâvet, şakî: banditry; bandit
- ümerâ: beys, emirs
- derebeyi: a person who has gained independent power in his area
- ser-asker: commander-in-chief
- tahassün: taking refuge in a castle or a strong place
- müdâfa'a: defense
- darbzen: large cannon
- kul kethüdâsı: a high-ranking official in the janissary corps
- sekbânbaşı: an officer title in the janissary corps
- nâzır-ı emvâl: superintendent of property, the official responsible for state property
- nehb ü gâret: plunder and pillage
- mütekâ'id: retired
- tevcîh: assigning to a post, appointment
- ibtidâr: undertaking
Kuyucu Murad Pasha
Kuyucu Murad Pasha was of Croatian origin, was taken into the palace through the devshirme, and was a statesman who had passed ninety at his death. Hüsameddin's calling him "Hırvâd" agrees with the encyclopedia entry. According to the entry, Murad Pasha was for a time also assigned the sanjak of Karahisarışarkî, took part in the Battle of Mezőkeresztes, and served as commander in Hungary at the time the Treaty of Zsitvatorok was made. The information Hüsameddin gives about the son-in-law is also correct: Kadızâde Ali Pasha is mentioned as his son-in-law and is among those who conducted the Zsitvatorok negotiations. It is written that after his death his steward Ömer was also killed.
Hüsameddin ties Murad Pasha's grand vizierate to the eighth day of Shaban 1015. The encyclopedia entry, however, writes that he was brought in place of Derviş Pasha on 10 Shaban 1015 [11 December 1606]. The two-day difference is small; which is taken as the basis may vary from source to source. Hüsameddin's "arrival in Istanbul at the end of Muharram 1016, commander of the East in Safar" also agrees in general with the entry's "set out in Rabi' al-awwal 1016 [July 1607]."
Göksun, Alaçayır and Kara Hasan Pass
Hüsameddin writes that Kalenderoğlu and Kara Sa'îd met Kuyucu on the Göksun plateau. The encyclopedia entry records that Kalenderoğlu took position on the Göksun plateau and was defeated in the battle at the place called Alaçayır in Rabi' al-akhir 1017 [August 1608]. According to the entry, Murad Pasha pursued Tavil Halil, who was active around Amasya, and his brother Meymun for six days and six nights, caught them at Kara Hasan Pass in the sanjak of Karahisarışarkî and destroyed most of them. Hüsameddin does not mention this event; his own account turns to the siege of Amasya and the battle on the plain of Merzifon. Because Kara Sa'îd's siege of Amasya, the three-day battle on the plain of Merzifon and Hüseyin Pasha's role could not be found in the general sources, they could not be verified.
The Wells and the Violence
Hüsameddin counts Kuyucu's harshness as light beside the oppression the bandits inflicted on the people. The encyclopedia entry, however, writes that Murad Pasha went to excess in eliminating the Celâlîs, that according to the account he killed some sixty or seventy thousand Celâlîs and filled them into deep wells he had dug where he encamped. Two accounts are reported for the nickname "Kuyucu" ("the Well-digger"): one is his filling the rebels into wells, the other is that in the 1585 Tabriz campaign he fell into a well with his horse and was captured. Hüsameddin's sentence "he had wells dug and had them buried in the pits" agrees with the first account.
At the end of 1608 the pasha entered Istanbul with about four hundred Celâlî banners; then in 1609 he issued a justice decree (adaletname), trying to ensure that state officials did not oppress the people and that those who had abandoned their homelands returned. Kuyucu Murad Pasha died at Cülek on 5 August 1611. Hüsameddin's decree text is, for its part, separately valuable as an example documenting the situation before this adaletname, that is, the condition Anatolia was in at the beginning of 1017 [1608]: in this decree text it is plainly told that in the area of Çankırı, Kastamonu and İskilip the people's houses were raided and their animals driven off.
Kalenderoğlu
Kalenderoğlu Mehmed is a Celâlî ringleader who served as çavuş and mütesellim. He made Manisa his base, was offered the sanjak governorship of Ankara, but withdrew when the kadı of Ankara resisted. Defeated by Kuyucu Murad Pasha at Göksun in 1608, Kalenderoğlu crossed into Iran and joined Shah Abbas's armies, and fell ill and died a year later. Hüsameddin's account of his "raiding Zile," the defense by the voivode of Zile Hayreddîn Ağa and Canikli Osmân Pasha's appointment to Sivas could not be found in other sources.
Kara Sa'îd and Amasya
Kara Sa'îd's name appears, in the documents Akdağ reports, for the year 1604 as "Karasait Zorbası" ("Karasait the Bully"), ravaging between Akşehir and Kütahya; Akdağ thinks he, like very many, had grown up from among the people of the Altı Bölük (the six regiments). Hüsameddin's description "of Sivas" could not be verified in other sources. In the sources of the period it is told that many towns in the area of Amasya, Tokat, Karahisarışarkî and the Yeşilırmak were besieged by large bands of bandits and held out for months without food or water. The names of the defenders Hüsameddin gives carry down to today the recorded names of those who took part in this resistance.
The End of the Period
After this intense phase of the Celâlî revolts, the foundation of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul was laid on 9 October 1609; the encyclopedia entries write that this building symbolizes the end of the storm of revolt that had lasted about twenty years. Kuyucu Murad Pasha was among those who struck the first pickaxe at the same ceremony. Hüsameddin's closing the historical turmoil with the grand vizier's ceremonial entry into Amasya in Rajab 1017, saying "End of the third volume," determines the end of events in Amasya; across Anatolia in general the turmoil continued after this date; Akdağ argues that the uprisings after 1608 had a new character and should not be given the name Celâlî.
From the Footnotes
Footnote 609 states that Alî, bey of the sanjak of Çorum in the decree text, is "the famous Murâd Çavuşoğlu Alî Bey." According to footnote 610, Çakaloğlu Hüseyin Ağa rose in the janissary corps to the post of kul kethüdâsı and later became sekbânbaşı. According to footnote 611, Lâdikli Kurd Ağa also rose in the corps and became kul kethüdâsı, retired in Dhu al-Hijjah 1023, and, going on the pilgrimage, died on the return in Dhu al-Hijjah 1024; it is said "he is the father of the former grand vizier Bayrâm Pasha," and the Ahkâm Defteri is cited as the source.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 3, p. 529–532. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
- Ömer İşbilir, "Kuyucu Murad Paşa", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 26, Ankara 2002, p. 507-508. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kuyucu-murad-pasa
- Ömer İşbilir, "Nasuh Paşa", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 32, İstanbul 2006. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/nasuh-pasa
- Mustafa Akdağ, "Celâlî İsyanlarında Büyük Kaçgunluk 1603-1606: I", Tarih Araştırmaları Dergisi, II/2-3, 1964. https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/782881
- Abdulkasim Gül, Kuyucu Murad Paşa, master's thesis, Atatürk University (scanned, not read in detail). https://eski.atauni.edu.tr/yuklemeler/cf8387e55ead3cc0c1b705194b82f7a7.pdf
Official sources