Amasya'nın Ziyâre Mahallesi ahâlîsinden "Baloğlu" demekle meşhûr sipâhî Mehmed Ağa bin Behlûl'ün oğludur. Amasyalı Budak Beyzâde Hüseyin Paşa'nın kethüdâsı ve Amasya mütesellimi olmuşdu. Hüseyin Paşa'nın felâketinde menkûb olmakla erbâb-ı ihtilâle karışdı. 1011 senesi recebinin beşinde ihtilâlciler tarafından Amasya beyi oldu.
Deli Zülfikâr Bey, gâyet milliyet-perver, fa''âl, cesûr, munsif adamdı. Ma'iyyetinde bulunan erbâb-ı ihtilâlin başbuğları şunlardı: Zu'amâdan Tâhir Bey, Sipâhîlerden Budakoğlu Alî Ağa, Çeribaşıoğlu Sarhoş Mehmed Ağa, Dündaroğlu Mustafa Ağa, Şeytânoğlu İbrâhim Ağa, Yardımoğlu Sefer Ağa.
Tâhir Bey, "Geldiklanlı" demekle meşhûr bir alay beyi idi. Budakoğlu Alî Ağa, Hüseyin Paşa'nın birâderi olup Zülfikâr Bey'in kethüdâsı ve mütesellimi olmuşdu. Yüz on üçüncü silahdâr bölüğünde mukayyed olup 1011 senesi recebinin on üçünde Gümüş kasabasında kâ'in Hacı Halîl Paşa Medresesi evkâfına mütevellî oldu.⁶⁰⁵ Buna "Aliç Bey" denmişdi. [357]
Yardımoğlu Sefer Ağa, "Sefer Şâh" demekle meşhûr olan sipâhîdir. Çeribaşıoğlu Mehmed Ağa, üçüncü silahdâr bölüğünde mukayyed olup 1011 senesi recebinin on ikisinde Amasya'da Bâyezîd Paşa evkâfına mütevellî olmuşdu. Aşağılarda "Sarhoş Mehmed Paşa" denilen beylerbeyi budur.
Bunlara karşı Amasya'yı müdâfa'a edenler, kaleye kapanıp dayanmışlardı. Kazâların a'yânları içinde erbâb-ı ihtilâle karşı Osmanlı devletini iltizâm ve kazâlarını müdâfa'a edenler çokdu. Bunlardan Lâdik voyvodası kâ'im-makâmı Yenioğlu Tayyâr Mustafa Ağa bin Hüseyin Ağa pek meşhûr idi.
Köprü voyvodası Durak Ağa da pek meşhûr idi. Köprü a'yânından Müftüoğulları Ahmed, Mehmed Ağalar'la Sinânoğlu Mustafa Bey bin Alî Bey, Mü'ezzinoğlu Hasan Ağa, kezâlik Mustafa Bey'in dâmâdı Arnavut Hüseyin Ağa ve birâderi Hasan Ağa, Durak Ağa'ya mu'în olmuşlardı. Köprü'ye musallat olan Türkmen Sarı Şa'bân Ağa'ya karşı Köprü'yü müdâfa'a ediyorlardı.
Merzifon voyvodası Hasımoğlu Yahyâ Ağa bin Ömer Çelebi ve "Çayırköylü" demekle meşhûr Ahmed Ağa, Havza voyvodası Hasan Ağa ve Gümüş voyvodası Ebû Bekir Ağa erbâb-ı ihtilâle karşı vatanlarını müdâfa'a ediyorlardı. Fakat gerek müdâfa'a edenler ve gerek musallat olanlar Türklüğe bir mevki' vermek da'vâsında beraberdiler. Müdâfa'a edenler erbâb-ı ihtilâle karışan eşirrânın nehb ü gâretlerinden vatanlarını kurtarmağa çalışanlardı. [358]
Köprü sipâhîlerinden Arnavut Hüseyin Ağa⁶⁰⁶ ibtidâ Durak Ağa tarafdârı olduğu hâlde sonradan erbâb-ı ihtilâle uyup Deli Zülfikâr Bey'in ma'iyyetinde Türklük da'vâsına iştirâk etmişdi. Arnavut Hüseyin Ağa, birinci silahdâr bölüğünde mukayyed olup 1011 senesi recebinin yedisinde Amasya'da Büyük Hüseyin Ağa evkâfına mütevellî olmuşdu.⁶⁰⁷
Erbâb-ı ihtilâlin Arnavut Sinan Paşazâde vezîr Mehmed Paşa'yı, Boşnak Husrev Paşa'yı, vezîr-i sâlis el-Hâc İbrâhim Paşa'yı münhezim ve Sokullu Mehmed Paşazâde vezîr Hasan Paşa'yı şehîd etdikden sonra kâ'im-makâm-ı sadr-ı âlî Arnavut vezîr Hâfız Ahmed Paşa'yı kaçırıp ordularını perîşân ve ağırlıklarını yağmâ etdikleri Üçüncü Sultân Mehmed'le gayr-i Türk vezîrlerini sarsmışdı.
Erkân-ı devlet, bu cem'iyyet-i ihtilâliyyeyi bir an evvel inhilâle uğratmak çâresini düşündü. Türkler'e vezâret, ihtilâl başbuğlarına beylerbeyilik, mîrlivâlık vererek dağıtmayı tecrübe etdi. Karaman beylerbeyi Dârendeli Nûh Paşa'ya vezâretle Anadolu vâlîliğini, mîrâhûr Zeynelâbidîn oğlu Nasûh Paşa'ya Sivas beylerbeyiliğini verip gönderdi (1011).
Nûh Paşa, defterdârlıkdan yetişme bir Türk idi. 929 târîhinden beri bu âna kadar Türkler'e vezâretle Anadolu vâlîliği verildiği yokdu. Kezâlik Nasûh Paşa hâlis Türk idi. Ermenî dönmelerinden değildi. [359] Gayr-i Türkler'e mîrâhûrlukdan vezâret verildiği hâlde buna vezâret va'diyle beylerbeyiliği verilmişdi.
Deli Zülfikâr Bey, Amasya müdâfi'lerine emân verip erbâb-ı ihtilâlin makâsıdını anlatdı. Deli Zülfikâr'ın sözleri bütün a'yân-ı livâyı teshîr etdi. Herkes kendisine hak veriyor, beraber çalışacaklarını ta'ahhüd ediyordu. Deli Zülfikâr Bey, tenvîrât ile bütün Amasya ve mülhakâtını erbâb-ı ihtilâle râm etdi.
Şâyân-ı dikkatdir ki Anadolu'da meskûn erbâb-ı tımâr ve ze'âmetden olan gayr-i Türkler de erbâb-ı ihtilâlin da'vâlarına iştirâk etmişlerdi. Çünkü vezâret, sadâret, serdârlık gibi menâsıb-ı âliye bütün sarâylı gayr-i Türkler'e münhasır olduğundan bunlar da o meziyyetlerden Türkler gibi mahrûmlardı.
Enderûn denilen sarây devlet mektebinde Anadolu Türkleri yok değildi. Fakat bunlardan nâ'il-i vezâret olanlar yokdu. Bu Türkler'in nihâyet olacağı müteferrikabaşı, çavuşbaşı, ikinci derecede beylerbeyi idi. Vezâret ve sadâret, âdetâ Arnavutlarla Boşnaklara hâs bir mesned-i âlî idi.
Dârendeli Nûh Paşa, muvaffak olamadı. Çünkü ummadığı vezârete nâ'il olunca kendisine gurûr geldi. Türkler'e karşı cebr ve şiddet isti'mâl ederek işe başlamışdı. Hâlbuki erbâb-ı ihtilâl, bütün livâlara ta'yîn edilen sancak beylerini tenvîr ederek kendilerine râm etmişlerdi. Bir hamlede Nûh Paşa'nın cem'iyyetini târumâr etdiler.
Nasûh Paşa, erbâb-ı ihtilâlin damarını, makâsıdını pek güzel [360] bilirdi. Sivas beylerbeyi olup gelince bütün başbuğlara maksadlarını açık bir sûretde söylemelerini teklîf ve onlarla müzâkereler akd etdi. Sivas'dan kalkıp livâları devre çıkdı. 1012 senesi saferinde Amasya'ya geldi. Bütün kazâların a'yânını topladı.
Amasya'nın erbâb-ı nüfûz ve iktidârından Hacı ve Çelebi Efendiler'le kadı Bayrâm-zâde Mahmûd, kibâr-ı müderrisînden Dursunzâde Mehmed, Sinânzâde Şeyh Ya'kûb, Cum'azâde Hızır Efendiler'in tavassutu sâyesinde Deli Zülfikâr arz-ı inkıyâd ederek terfî'an Karahisâr-ı Şarkî beylerbeyiliğine ta'yîn edildi. Erbâb-ı ihtilâlden Deli Tâhir Bey, Amasya beyi oldu.
Çünkü Nasûh Paşa, hükûmet-i Osmâniyye tarafından erbâb-ı ihtilâlin her türlü şerâ'itini kabûle murahhasdı. Bu şerâ'it kabûl edilince Deli Zülfikâr Bey'in inâd ve mükâberesinde bir ma'nâ kalmazdı. Lâdik voyvodası Tayyâr Mustafa Ağa'nın akıl ve dirâyeti, nutuk ve şecâ'ati Nasûh Paşa'nın nazar-ı dikkatini celb etdiğinden mûmâ-ileyhi kendisine kethüdâ nasb etdi.
In Modern English
He was the son of Mehmed Ağa son of Behlûl, a sipahi known as "Baloğlu," from the people of the Ziyâre quarter of Amasya. He had been the steward (kâhya) of Budak Beyzâde Hüseyin Pasha of Amasya and the mütesellim (deputy administrator) of Amasya. When Hüseyin Pasha met his disaster and was sent into exile, he joined the rebels. On the fifth of Rajab 1011 [1602-03] he became bey of Amasya by the rebels' act.
Deli Zülfikâr Bey was an extremely patriotic, active, brave and fair-minded man. The ringleaders of the rebels with him were these: among the zeamet holders, Tâhir Bey; among the sipahis, Budakoğlu Alî Ağa, Çeribaşıoğlu Sarhoş Mehmed Ağa, Dündaroğlu Mustafa Ağa, Şeytânoğlu İbrâhim Ağa and Yardımoğlu Sefer Ağa.
Tâhir Bey was a regimental bey known as "Geldiklanlı." Budakoğlu Alî Ağa, the brother of Hüseyin Pasha, had become Zülfikâr Bey's steward and mütesellim. He was enrolled in the one hundred and thirteenth silahdar company; on the thirteenth of Rajab 1011 he became trustee of the waqfs of the Hacı Halîl Pasha Madrasa in the town of Gümüş. He was called "Aliç Bey."
Yardımoğlu Sefer Ağa is the sipahi known as "Sefer Shah." Çeribaşıoğlu Mehmed Ağa was enrolled in the third silahdar company; on the twelfth of Rajab 1011 he became trustee of the Bâyezîd Pasha waqfs in Amasya. He is the beylerbeyi called "Sarhoş Mehmed Pasha" below.
Those who defended Amasya against these men shut themselves in the castle and resisted. Among the notables of the districts there were many who stood with the Ottoman state against the rebels and defended their districts. Of these, Yenioğlu Tayyâr Mustafa Ağa son of Hüseyin Ağa, deputy of the voivode of Lâdik, was very famous.
Durak Ağa, the voivode of Köprü, was also very famous. Among the notables of Köprü, Müftüoğulları Ahmed and Mehmed Ağas, Sinânoğlu Mustafa Bey son of Alî Bey, Mü'ezzinoğlu Hasan Ağa, and Mustafa Bey's son-in-law Arnavut Hüseyin Ağa and his brother Hasan Ağa helped Durak Ağa. They were defending Köprü against the Turkmen Sarı Şa'bân Ağa, who attacked it.
Hasımoğlu Yahyâ Ağa son of Ömer Çelebi, the voivode of Merzifon, Ahmed Ağa known as "Çayırköylü," Hasan Ağa the voivode of Havza, and Ebû Bekir Ağa the voivode of Gümüş were defending their homeland against the rebels. But both the defenders and the attackers were united in the cause of winning a place for Turkishness. The defenders were those trying to save their homeland from the plunder and pillage of the vagabonds who had mixed in with the rebels.
Arnavut Hüseyin Ağa, one of the sipahis of Köprü, was first with Durak Ağa, but later followed the rebels and joined the Turkish cause at the side of Deli Zülfikâr Bey. Arnavut Hüseyin Ağa was enrolled in the first silahdar company; on the seventh of Rajab 1011 he became trustee of the Büyük Hüseyin Ağa waqfs in Amasya.
The rebels routed the vizier Mehmed Pasha, son of Arnavut Sinan Pasha, Boşnak Husrev Pasha and the third vizier el-Hâc İbrâhim Pasha, and martyred the vizier Hasan Pasha, son of Sokullu Mehmed Pasha. Next they put to flight the deputy of the grand vizier, the Albanian vizier Hâfız Ahmed Pasha, scattered their armies and plundered their baggage. These events shook the Third Sultan Mehmed and his non-Turkish viziers.
The men of state thought of ways to disperse this band of rebels as soon as possible. They tried to disperse it by giving the Turks viziership, and the ringleaders of the revolt beylerbeyilik and mirlivalık (sanjak governorship). They sent Dârendeli Nûh Pasha, the beylerbeyi of Karaman, with viziership and the governorship of Anatolia, and Nasûh Pasha son of Zeynelâbidîn, the mîrâhûr (chief of the stables), with the beylerbeyilik of Sivas (1011).
Nûh Pasha was a Turk who had risen from the post of defterdar. From the year 929 [1522-23] until this time, viziership with the governorship of Anatolia had not been given to Turks. Nasûh Pasha too was a pure Turk; he was not among the Armenian converts. Although non-Turks were given viziership from the office of master of the stables, this man was given a beylerbeyilik with the promise of viziership.
Deli Zülfikâr Bey granted safe-conduct to the defenders of Amasya and explained the aims of the rebels. Deli Zülfikâr's words affected all the notables of the sanjak. Everyone agreed with him and promised to work together. Through this enlightening work Deli Zülfikâr Bey bound all Amasya and its dependencies to the rebels.
It is noteworthy that those of the timar and zeamet holders living in Anatolia who were not Turks also joined the rebels' cause. For since the high offices such as viziership, grand viziership and commandership-in-chief were reserved for all the non-Turks of the palace, these too were deprived of those privileges just as the Turks were.
It was not that there were no Anatolian Turks in the palace state school called Enderûn. But none of them had reached viziership. The furthest these Turks could go was müteferrikabaşılık, çavuşbaşılık, and beylerbeyilik of the second rank. Viziership and grand viziership were almost a high office reserved for Albanians and Bosnians.
Dârendeli Nûh Pasha did not succeed. For when he reached the viziership he had never expected, pride came over him. He began his work by using force and harshness against the Turks. Yet the rebels had enlightened the sanjak beys appointed to all the sanjaks and bound them to themselves. In a single stroke they scattered Nûh Pasha's host.
Nasûh Pasha knew the pulse and aims of the rebels very well. When he came as beylerbeyi of Sivas, he proposed to all the ringleaders that they state their aims openly, and held talks with them. He set out from Sivas and toured the sanjaks. In Safar 1012 [1603-04] he came to Amasya. He gathered the notables of all the districts.
Thanks to the mediation of Hacı and Çelebi Efendis, men of influence and power in Amasya, the kadı Bayrâm-zâde Mahmûd, and among the great müderrises Dursunzâde Mehmed, Sinânzâde Şeyh Ya'kûb and Cum'azâde Hızır Efendis, Deli Zülfikâr submitted; his rank was raised and he was appointed beylerbeyi of Karahisâr-ı Şarkî. Of the rebels, Deli Tâhir Bey became bey of Amasya.
For Nasûh Pasha was authorized, in the name of the Ottoman government, to accept every kind of condition of the rebels. Once these conditions were accepted, Deli Zülfikâr Bey's stubbornness and arrogance would have no meaning. Since the intelligence and foresight, the eloquence and courage of Tayyâr Mustafa Ağa, voivode of Lâdik, drew Nasûh Pasha's attention, he appointed the said man as his steward.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- mütesellim: a deputy who carries out the administration in place of the sanjak governor
- kethüdâ: steward, the chief assistant of a higher official
- menkûb: struck by disaster
- sipâhî: an official who lives on timar income and fields cavalry in war
- zu'amâ: zeamet holders, the higher-income ones among timar holders
- silahdâr bölüğü: one of the six companies of the kapıkulu cavalry; the sipahi and silahdar companies are the most often mentioned
- voyvoda: an official responsible for taxes and order in a district
- evkâf, mütevellî: waqfs; the person who manages a waqf's affairs
- nehb ü gâret: plunder and pillage
- mîrâhûr: the official in charge of the sultan's stables, chief of the stables
- tenvîr: enlightening, persuasion
- arz-ı inkıyâd: submission
- mîrlivâ: sanjak governor
Hüseyin Pasha and His Steward
"Budak Beyzâde Hüseyin Pasha" in the text is a well known name of the Celâlî revolts. It is written that this pasha, who for a time served as beylerbeyi of Habeş and was appointed sanjak governor of Amasya in October 1590, left Amasya to Zülfikâr Ağa as his deputy because he was also charged with the defense of Erzurum. It is told that he was dismissed in 1599 and thrown into the dungeon at Amasya, escaped four months later and returned to Karaman, then rebelled and made Konya his base. It is told that the state, because he was its highest-ranking rebel, preferred to move against him first; that the pasha, who had joined Karayazıcı, was in the end handed over by Karayazıcı and executed in Istanbul in February 1600. It is stated that after his death his brother Aliç Bey and his steward Zülfikâr Ağa joined the rebels, and that Zülfikâr seized Amasya. Hüsameddin's sentence, "Budakoğlu Alî Ağa was the brother of Hüseyin Pasha... he was called Aliç Bey," agrees with this account.
On the pasha's origin the sources differ. Venetian documents present him as an Albanian or Bosnian; Hüsameddin, by contrast, asserts that he was a Turk from Amasya, the son of Budak Bey and of the Şâdgeldi line. According to Hüsameddin, the revolt is a reaction against non-Turkish viziers holding the offices of state.
On the Interpretation of Turkishness
Hüsameddin's interpretation in these pages reads the rebels' demand as Turkish and Anatolian anger against an order in which "viziership and grand viziership were left only to Albanians and Bosnians." This interpretation reflects the conception of history of the period in which the book was written. Present-day research explains the event with different causes. Behind the Celâlî revolts lie population growth, the debasement of the coinage, sipahis who lost their livelihoods during the long wars, the suhtes made up of madrasa students, and bands of idle levends. Although the aim and character of the revolts changed from period to period, the common feature is the pressure on the people, the collection of tribute, and plunder. That Dârendeli Nûh Pasha, named in the text, is said to have failed "although he was a Turk" also shows that this framework alone is not sufficient.
Nasûh Pasha
The Nasûh Pasha in the text is the man who will later rise to the grand vizierate and be executed in 1614. Hüsameddin writes that he was a "pure Turk." The encyclopedia entry, however, writes that he was born in Gümülcine, that according to one account he was the son of a Greek priest from Drama and was brought to Istanbul at a young age, and that in some sources he is also shown as of Albanian origin; that is, there is uncertainty about his origin, and this information does not support Hüsameddin's sentence. The same entry records that Nasûh Pasha for a time, as voivode of Zile, managed the personal revenues of the Valide Sultan; so Nasûh Pasha is seen to have had an earlier connection with the Amasya region.
On dates, the two accounts differ. Hüsameddin places Nasûh Pasha's appointment as beylerbeyi of Sivas in 1011 and writes that he came to Amasya in Safar 1012. The encyclopedia entry says that Nasûh Pasha was sent from kapıcıbaşılık to the beylerbeyilik of Aleppo in 1012 [1603], and was appointed beylerbeyi of Sivas in Shawwal 1012 [March 1604]. These two records as they stand do not agree; which is correct could not be determined here. The description "mîrâhûr, son of Zeynelâbidîn" given by Hüsameddin is also not found in the encyclopedia.
Waqfs and the Köprü Area
In the footnotes it is stated that the trusteeships of Budakoğlu Alî, Çeribaşıoğlu Mehmed and Arnavut Hüseyin were taken from records such as the "kuyûd idâresi," the "zîr-i muhâsebe-i atîk defteri" and the "akîk muhâsebe defteri." According to the text, the leaders of the revolt were given the trusteeship of the Hacı Halîl Pasha Madrasa at Gümüş and of the Bâyezîd Pasha and Büyük Hüseyin Ağa waqfs in Amasya; that is, waqf administration was also among the means used to bind the leaders to the state order. Akdağ's findings that the Celâlî chieftains were made sanjak governors in their own regions while their men were enrolled in the silahdar and sipahi companies describe the same practice; Hüsameddin's count giving company numbers is a local example of this finding.
Footnote 606 reports, as "established by record," that Arnavut Hüseyin Ağa was the father of Köprülü Mehmed Pasha, the famous grand vizier of the following century. The encyclopedia entry, however, writes that Köprülü Mehmed Pasha was born in the village of Rudnik in the sanjak of Berat in Albania and was recruited through the devshirme, and that he was called Köprülü because he came later to the town of Köprü and married Ayşe Hanım there, and it gives no father's name. These two pieces of information could not be reconciled with these sources; the record Hüsameddin relied on could not be verified.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 3, p. 524–525. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
- Ömer İşbilir, "Nasuh Paşa", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 32, İstanbul 2006. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/nasuh-pasa
- "Köprülü Mehmed Paşa", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/koprulu-mehmed-pasa
- Levent Kaya Ocakaçan, "The Reconquest of Ottoman Fiefs: The Karayazıcı Rebellion in Venetian Documents (1598-1602)", Journal of Turkish Studies, 53, 2020 (via the Hüseyin Paşa entry). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hüseyin_Pasha_(Celali_rebel)
- 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
Official sources