Merzifon Zoğuludur. 1175 zilka'desinin birinci günü Amasya mutasarrıfı olup ma'iyyetinde bulunan kuvvetden istifâde emeliyle Millîoğlu Mûsâ Bey'i Amasya mütesellimi yapdı. Bununla birleşip eşkıyâ üzerine gitdi. Hacı Alî Bey yine mütessellim vekîli oldu. Ancak Süleymân Paşa âr-ı firârı gidermek için bütün varlığıyla eşkıyâ üzerine atıldı.
Cevher Paşa, Kutluca Köyü civârında eşkıyânın kurduğu bir pusuya düşüp bozuldu. Ma'iyyeti başından dağılıp Mecidözü kasabasında Avkatlıoğlu Hacı Ağa'nın yanına gitdi.
Fakat Turhal tarafında bulunan Sarıbeyzâde Mehmed Bey, Cevher Paşa'yı bozan eşkıyâyı günlerce izledi. Deli Pehlivân'ın medâr-ı kuvveti olan Acar Mustafâ'yı bezl etdiği para, dil, rütbe kuvvetiyle kendisine celb ederek bunun yardımıyla eşkıyâyı târumâr etdi. Acar Mustafâ'yı bölükbaşı yapdı. [104]
In Modern English
He was from Zoğ of Merzifon. On the first day of Zilkade 1175 [1762] he became mutasarrıf of Amasya. In order to benefit from the force in his retinue, he made Millîoğlu Musa Bey mütesellim of Amasya and, joining with him, marched against the bandits. Hacı Ali Bey again became deputy mütesellim. Meanwhile Süleyman Pasha too threw himself upon the bandits with all his strength in order to wipe out the shame of his flight.
Cevher Pasha fell into an ambush set by the bandits near the village of Kutluca and was routed. His retinue scattered at once; he himself went to the town of Mecitözü, to Avkatlıoğlu Hacı Ağa.
But Sarıbeyzade Mehmed Bey, who was in the direction of Turhal, followed for days the bandits who had routed Cevher Pasha. Through the money he spent, sweet words and the promise of rank, he drew over to his side Acar Mustafa, who was the real source of strength of Deli Pehlivan, and with his help scattered the bandits. He also made Acar Mustafa a bölükbaşı.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- ma'iyyet: the retinue, the men in the company of a person of rank
- âr-ı firâr: the shame of fleeing
- medâr-ı kuvvet: source of strength, support
- bezl: spending generously
- celb: drawing to oneself
- târumâr: utterly scattered
A Mutasarrıf's Short Term
Cevher Pasha is among the Amasya mutasarrıfs with the shortest terms. If we recall that in the previous entry Hüsameddin counted him, as mutasarrıf of Çorum, among those assigned to pursue the bandits, it is understood that the Pasha was brought to Amasya as well in order to unite forces against the bandits. One month after his appointment, at the beginning of Zilhicce 1175, the sanjak of Amasya was given to Sarıbeyzade Mehmed Pasha. According to the information Ahmet Önal gives on the basis of the appointment registers, the date of the official appointment to Amasya of Sarızade Mehmed, alaybeyi of Sivas, is 10 Muharrem 1176 [1 August 1762]. This date is a few weeks after Hüsameddin's record and suggests that Cevher Pasha's mutasarrıflık was so short that it left no trace in the official records. No information was found in other sources on Cevher Pasha.
Undoing the Bandits from Within
The most striking aspect of the entry is the dispersal of the bandits by winning over the right-hand man of their ringleader. Sarıbeyzade Mehmed Bey brought Deli Pehlivan's kethüda İbeklioğlu Acar Mustafa over to his side with money, words and the promise of rank, scattered the band with his help, and took him into his retinue by making him bölükbaşı. According to what Hüsameddin related earlier, Acar Mustafa was the son of a notable who had fled Zaralıoğlu's tyranny and taken to the mountains. Mücteba İlgürel explains that forces such as the sekban and sarıca kept at the doors of viziers and beylerbeyis were left masterless when their lords died or were dismissed, and that in the sources these are called "kapısız levent" (levends without a door). According to İlgürel, the state from time to time tried to secure calm by incorporating the levends, whom it called the "party of mischief", into the army. Acar Mustafa's being taken into a pasha's household as bölükbaşı is an example in Amasya of this path. Acar Mustafa would receive the reward for this service a few months later, becoming silahdar ağası, as recounted in entry 53.
The location of the village of Kutluca, where the ambush was set, is not given in the text. Today there is a Kutluca village attached to the central district of Çorum; it is possible that the event took place in this region between Mecitözü and Çorum, but since other villages bear the same name, no definite identification can be made. Millîoğlu Musa Bey, according to Hüsameddin, had earlier shown usefulness in fighting the levend bandits and had served as mütesellim in 1171; no information was found on him in other sources.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, Supplement to Volume 4, p. 658–658. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
Other sources