Amasyalıdır. Kudât u ulemâ-yı Mısriyyeden İsmâil Efendi bin Mahmûd Efendi bin Şa’bân Efendi bin el-Hâc Bayrâm Efendi’nin mahdûmu olup pederi İsmâil Efendi ile küçük yaşında Mısır’a gitdi. Gidip orada sipâhî ocağına girdi. Terakkî edib Mısır sipâhîler ağası oldu.
1069’da hazîne-i Mısriyyeyi İstanbul’a getirip teslîm ederek sipâhî ocağının kethüdâsı olup İstanbul’da kaldı. [264]
1074 senesi şa’bânında vezâretle Mısır vâlisi olan Amasyalı Hacı Efendizâde Ömer Paşa’nın kethüdâsı olarak yine Mısır’a gitdi. Orada 1079 senesi cumâdelûlâsının gurresinde vefât etdi.
In Modern English
He was a native of Amasya. He was the son of İsmâil Efendi bin Mahmûd Efendi bin Şa'bân Efendi bin el-Hâc Bayrâm Efendi, one of the judges and scholars of Egypt, and as a child went to Egypt with his father İsmâil Efendi. There he entered the sipahi corps. Rising, he became ağa of the sipahis of Egypt.
In 1069 [1658-59] he brought the Egyptian treasury to Istanbul and delivered it, and remained in Istanbul as kethüda of the sipahi corps.
In Şaban 1074 [February-March 1664] he went again to Egypt as kethüda (deputy, the man who ran his affairs) of Hacı Efendizâde Ömer Pasha of Amasya, who became governor of Egypt with the rank of vizier. There he died on the first day of Cemaziyelevvel 1079 [7 October 1668].
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- kudât u ulemâ-yı Mısriyye: the judges and scholars serving in Egypt
- mahdûm: son
- sipâhî ocağı: the institution of mounted soldiers; here, the cavalry units in Egypt
- terakkî etmek: to rise, to advance
- hazîne-i Mısriyye: the tax treasury sent every year from Egypt to Istanbul (irsaliye)
- kethüdâ: the assistant who ran affairs in a corps or at the side of a vizier, steward
- vezâretle: with the rank of vizier conferred
- gurre: the first day of a lunar month
The Egyptian Treasury and the Sipahis
What Hüsameddin calls the "hazîne-i Mısriyye" is the money, known as the irsaliye, sent to Istanbul each year after the expenses of the province of Egypt had been deducted. Since Egypt was the first Ottoman province with a fixed annual salary system (sâlyâne), this treasury was of great importance to the centre. The treasure was weighed in the Egyptian divan, put into purses, sealed by the defterdar, and handed over in the presence of the beylerbeyi and the members of the divan to the official who would carry it. Delivered generally by land via Gaza, Damascus and Aleppo to Istanbul, the treasure was accompanied by senior soldiers from the seven military corps of Egypt. Ebûbekir Ağa's bringing the treasury to Istanbul while ağa of the Egyptian sipahis fits this procedure exactly. When the treasury was delivered in full, it was customary to send a robe of honour to the beylerbeyi of Egypt; that the ağa who brought the treasury should also move to a post in Istanbul is therefore not surprising.
Ebûbekir Ağa's passage from Egypt to the kapıkulu sipahi corps in Istanbul is likewise not contrary to the rules of the period. According to research on the kapıkulu cavalry, besides those who had shown merit in war, men from the Baghdad, Yemen and Egypt companies could also be admitted to this corps.
Hacı Efendizâde Ömer Pasha and the Governorship of Egypt
In the lists of Ottoman governors of Egypt, the vizier who governed Egypt in 1664-1667 appears under the name "Silahdar Ömer Pasha." The date Şaban 1074 (February-March 1664) given by Hüsameddin coincides with the starting year in these lists; it is therefore highly probable that the Ömer Pasha whom Hüsameddin calls "Hacı Efendizâde of Amasya" and the Silahdar Ömer Pasha of the lists are the same person. However, since no record in the sources read states that this Ömer Pasha was from Amasya or bore the nickname Hacı Efendizâde, this identification remains an inference.
A noteworthy point is that, according to the lists, Ömer Pasha's governorship of Egypt ended in 1667. Ebûbekir Ağa, however, according to Hüsameddin died in Egypt on 1 Cemaziyelevvel 1079, that is, in October 1668. So he stayed in Egypt for some time even after his pasha left office. For a man who spent his youth in Egypt and was raised in the corps there, this is nothing to be surprised at.
A Note on the Bayramzâdes
The entry traces Ebûbekir Ağa's lineage back to el-Hâc Bayrâm Efendi. That a family of ulema known at Merzifon and Amasya as the "Bayram family" descended from Seyyid Ahmed-i Kebîr er-Rifâî, believed to be buried at Ladik, is written in the Arabic work of a member of this family who lived in the early nineteenth century. Sadi Bayram relays this record in his article narrating the family history. Whether the Bayramzâdes Hüsameddin mentions have any link with this family could not be determined from the sources read; it must be noted that there is no evidence going beyond the similarity of names. No information about Ebûbekir Ağa himself was found in other sources.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 88. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
- Seyyid Muhammed es-Seyyid, "İrsâliye", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/irsaliye).
- Erhan Afyoncu, "Sipahi", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/sipahi).
Other sources
- "Osmanlı Mısır valileri listesi" and "List of Ottoman governors of Egypt" (tr.wikipedia.org; en.wikipedia.org), accessed 2026.
- Sadi Bayram, "Ladik ve Seyyid Ahmed-i Kebir Er-Rifai Hazretleri" (samsunarsivi.blogspot.com/2006/05/ladik-ve-seyyid-ahmed-i-kebir-er-rifai.html).