Amasyalıdır. Mir-livâ Aydın Beyzâde Habîb Çelebi ahfâdındandır. Amasya Mütesellimi Kağnılı el-Hâc Ali Ağa’nın mahdûmudur. Pederinin hayatında sipâhî olup Karayazıcı Eşkiyâ harbinde yararlıklar gösterdi. Ancak bu muharebe esnâsında Sivas vâlisi Nasûh Paşa’yı gücendirmişdi.
1020’de Nasûh Paşa’nın sadâretinde kaçıp Mısır’a gitdi. Orada Çavuşlar Ocağına girip Mukâta’a Mültezimi, ba’dehû Gümrük Emîni oldu. 1027’de Sultân Osmân Hân-ı Sânî cülûsunda İstanbul’a gelip Hâce-i Sultânî Amasyalı Ömer Efendi’ye intisâb ederek 1028’de İsâkcı’da mübâyâcı ve 1029’da nüzul emîni, Lehistân harbinden avdetde sipâhîler kethüdâsı oldu. 1031 recebinde Sultân Osmân’ın şehâdeti vak’asında kaçıp Amasya’ya geldi. Bu esnâda Sultân Osmân’ın kanı için hurûc eden Erzurum vâlisi Abâza Mehmed Paşa nezdine birçok rüfekâsıyla [52] beraber gitdi. Abâza Paşa’nın ordusunda yararlık gösterdiğinden bölükbaşı ve paşanın mu’temedi oldu.
1034’de devlete ‘arz-ı mutâva’at eylediğinden dehâleti minnetle kabûl ve afv edilip kendisine ağır ze’âmet verildi. 1035’de Mısır vâlisi olan Lâdikli Kurdağazâde Bayram Paşa’nın ma’iyyetinde tekrâr Mısır’a gitdi. Paşa’nın mazhar-i teveccühü olup arz ü inhâsıyla 1036’da Habeş ve 1037’de Yemen beylerbeyi oldu.
Ancak Habeş iskelesinden kalkıp Hudeyde’ye vusûlunda meşâyih-i Zeydiyye ittifâk ve San’a’ya duhûlüne fi’len mümâna’at etmelerine hiddet edib San’a’ya cebren girdi. Usâtın te’dîbinde ibrâz-i şiddet edib isyâna müşâreket eden zenginler musâdere ve ifnâ etmekle şikâyetlere ma’rûz olduğundan 1038 senesi evâhirinde azledildi.
1039 senesinde halefi Kansu Paşa Hudeyde’ye geldikde Muha’ya çekilip oturmakda iken Kansu Paşa ref’-i rakîb, yâhud hırs-i mâl için Muha’ya ansızın hücûm ve harb ederek bî-çâreyi mağlûb ve ifnâ, emvâlini gasb ve yağma eylediyse de [53] kendisine de yaramayıp sonra o da maktûl oldu. Aydın Paşa gâyet cesûr, şedîd, zâbıt, müdebbir bir bahadır idi. Sülâlesi İltekin Gâzi kadar mazbût olup mahdûmu Ali Bey ve kerîmesi Emine Hanım olup dâmâdı Amasyalı Kara Sipâhî demekle meşhûr Mehmed Ağa’dır. Ali Beyzâde Habîb, Süleyman Beyler 1110 sâlinden sonra İstanbul’da vefât etmişlerdi.
Ceddi Mehmed Ağa bin Habîb Çelebi bin Mir-livâ Aydın Bey de Sipâhî meşâhîr indendi. Birâderi Mir-livâ Şeyh Mehmed Beyzâde Habîb Ağa sipâhîler ağası olup Girit harbinde şehîd oldu. Emîr Hasan Alânî, nâm-ı diğer Saz malikânesi bunların tasarruflarında idi.
In Modern English
He was a native of Amasya. He was a descendant of Habîb Çelebi, son of the mirlivâ (sanjak governor) Aydın Bey. He was the son of Kağnılı el-Hâc Ali Ağa, mütesellim (deputy governor, city administrator) of Amasya. In his father's lifetime he was a sipahi and showed merit in the war against the Karayazıcı bandits. During this war, however, he had offended Nasuh Pasha, governor of Sivas.
In 1020 [1611-12], during Nasuh Pasha's grand vizierate, he fled and went to Egypt. There he joined the Çavuşlar Corps and became a mukataa mültezimi (a person who leases state revenue), then a customs steward. In 1027 [1617-18], on Sultan Osman II's accession to the throne, he came to Istanbul and, attaching himself to Amasyalı Ömer Efendi, the Sultan's tutor, became in 1028 [1618-19] a mübayaacı (purchasing official) at İsakçı and in 1029 [1619-20] a nüzul emini (provisions steward); on returning from the Polish war he became kethüda of the sipahis. In the month of Receb 1031 [May 1622], at the killing of Sultan Osman as a martyr, he fled and came to Amasya. At this time he went, together with many companions, to Abaza Mehmed Pasha, governor of Erzurum, who had risen up to avenge Sultan Osman's blood. Since he showed merit in Abaza Pasha's army, he became a bölükbaşı (company commander) and a man the Pasha trusted.
In 1034 [1624-25], since he presented his obedience to the state, his taking refuge was gratefully accepted and he was pardoned, and a large zeamet (large military fief) was given to him. In 1035 [1625-26] he again went to Egypt in the retinue of Ladikli Kurdağazâde Bayram Pasha, who had become governor of Egypt. Gaining the Pasha's favor, by his letter and recommendation he became beylerbeyi of Habesh in 1036 [1626-27] and of Yemen in 1037 [1627-28].
However, setting out from the port of Habesh and reaching Hudaydah, he was enraged that the Zaydi sheikhs had united and in effect prevented him from entering Sanaa, and entered Sanaa by force. Showing harshness in punishing the rebels, he seized the property of the rich who had joined the rebellion and destroyed them, and was subjected to complaints; he was dismissed at the end of the year 1038 [1629].
In 1039 [1629-30], when his successor Kansu Pasha came to Hudaydah, Aydın Pasha had withdrawn to Mocha and was living there. Kansu Pasha, either to remove a rival or out of greed for wealth, attacked Mocha suddenly and defeated and killed the helpless man, and although he seized and plundered his property, this did not profit him either, and he too was later killed. Aydın Pasha was an exceedingly brave, stern, orderly and prudent man. His lineage is as well recorded as the lineage of İltekin Gazi. His son was Ali Bey and his daughter Emine Hanım; his son-in-law was Mehmed Ağa of Amasya, known as Kara Sipahi. The sons of Ali Bey, Habîb and Süleyman Bey, died in Istanbul after 1110 [1698-99].
His ancestor Mehmed Ağa (son of Habîb Çelebi, a descendant of the mirlivâ Aydın Bey) was also among the famous sipahis. His brother Habîb Ağa, son of the mirlivâ Şeyh Mehmed Bey, became ağa of the sipahis and fell as a martyr in the Cretan war. The Saz property, also known as Emîr Hasan Alânî, was in their hands.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- mütesellim: the official who ran the administration of a city or district on behalf of the governor or beylerbeyi
- ahfâd: grandchildren, those descended from a lineage
- Çavuşlar Ocağı: one of the military corps in Egypt
- mukâta'a mültezimi: the person who buys the right to collect a state revenue (mukataa)
- mübâyâcı: the official who buys goods on behalf of the state
- nüzul emini: the steward charged with meeting the army's provision needs during a campaign
- sipâhîler kethüdâsı: the deputy administrator of the sipahi corps
- cülûs: the sultan's accession to the throne
- arz-ı mutâva'at: declaring obedience
- ma'iyyet: the staff serving with a commander
- musâdere: seizing property on behalf of the state
- azl: dismissal from office
- zâbıt, müdebbir: orderly, prudent and knowing his work
The Rise of a Provincial Sipahi to the Beylerbeyilik of Yemen
Aydın Pasha's life story is the path of a sipahi of Amasya who, between the Celali disorders of the early seventeenth century and the rebellion of Abaza Mehmed Pasha, tried to save himself and to rise. Hüsameddin lists it through successive posts: sipahi in Amasya, customs steward in Egypt, provisions steward and kethüda of the sipahis in Istanbul, company commander with Abaza Pasha, and finally beylerbeyi of Habesh and Yemen.
Karayazıcı in the text is the Celali ringleader known by the name Abdülhalim; the government at one point offered him the sanjak of Amasya, and the Amasya region was one of the targets of the bandit movements. Nasuh Pasha is the statesman who was sent to the beylerbeyilik of Aleppo in 1603 to suppress the Celalis and became grand vizier in August 1611 (1020 AH). Hüsameddin's expression "in 1020, during Nasuh Pasha's grand vizierate" agrees with this date. The details of the "offending" incident that caused Aydın Pasha's flight could not be found in another source in this research.
Abaza Mehmed Pasha is the beylerbeyi who rose in revolt in Erzurum in 1622, killing and expelling the janissaries after Sultan Osman II was killed by the janissaries. Although the central government dismissed him, he declared that he remained loyal, and he held most of eastern and central Anatolia. In 1628, after the campaign of Grand Vizier Hüsrev Pasha, he surrendered trusting in a pardon, and in 1634 he was executed by Murad IV.
Aydın Pasha in Yemen: Hüsameddin and the Yemen Sources
Aydın Pasha's adventure in Yemen appears in more detail in other sources and does not agree with the text at important points. According to the encyclopedia entry describing the Ottoman period of Yemen, the Zaydis took the north of Sanaa in 1626, Sanaa was besieged, and Aydın Pasha, who was beylerbeyi of Habesh, was appointed beylerbeyi of Yemen in 1037 [1628]. He had about three hundred soldiers and two ships with him; he crossed from Suakin to Mocha but could not enter the besieged city. In 1629 Haydar Pasha had to leave Sanaa to Imam al-Mu'ayyad, and Aydın Pasha sent him to the island of Kamaran.
Hüsameddin, however, writes that Aydın Pasha entered Sanaa by force and was dismissed. In the Yemen sources Aydın Pasha cannot enter besieged Mocha and there is no mention of his entering Sanaa; Hüsameddin writes that he entered Sanaa by force. Since it is not stated from which source Hüsameddin took this information, the discrepancy could not be resolved in this research.
On the end the two accounts agree: when Kansu Pasha came to Yemen in 1629 with more than twenty thousand soldiers, he sent his kethüda to Mocha and had Aydın Pasha killed. Hüsameddin's sentence "Kansu Pasha defeated and killed the helpless man" corresponds to this event. It is known that after his wars with the Zaydis Kansu Pasha left Yemen by agreement in 1633; for the expression "he too was later killed" no direct record was found in the sources at hand.
The Family and the Saz Property
The last two paragraphs of the entry trace the Aydın line in Amasya. The line is tied to Hasan Bey, who died at Varna (58), and to Ali Bey, who died at Çaldıran (60), and to his son Habîb Çelebi. According to Hüsameddin, the land called "Emîr Hasan Alânî" or the Saz property remained in the hands of this branch. No information was found in another source on Kara Sipahi Mehmed Ağa, mentioned in the entry as the husband of his daughter Emine Hanım.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 26–27. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies