AMASYA 05

Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar · İKİNCİ BÂB · BİRİNCİ FASIL

Ebûbekir Ağa — Kasâb Bekiroğlu el-Hâc

Encyclopedia · History of Amasya, Volume 6, p. 100 • Edited by: Doç. Dr. Recep Orhan ÖZEL - Doç. Dr. Metin HAKVERDİOĞLU

Original Text (Ottoman Turkish)

Amasya serdârı Abdullah Ağa’nın oğludur. Yeniçeri, birinci bölüğünün alemdârı, ba’dehû Amasya serdârı olarak temâyüz etdi. 1223’de serdengeçdiler ağası olup Rus harbine gitdi. Avdetde yine Amasya serdârı olup turnacı-bâşı pâyesi aldı. Hâciyân meclîsine a’zâ da olup 1235 hudûdunda vefât etdi.

Our Research Article Editor: Mevlüt Erdem Öztürk

In Modern English

He was the son of Abdullah Ağa, serdar of Amasya. A janissary, he came to the fore as standard-bearer of the first company and later as serdar of Amasya. In 1223 [1808–09] he became serdengeçtiler ağası (commander of the serdengeçti volunteers) and went to the war with Russia. On his return he again became serdar of Amasya and received the rank of turnacıbaşı. He was also a member of the council of pilgrims and died around 1235 [1819–20].

Notes and Research

Old Words in the Text

  • serdâr: (here) the head of the janissaries in the town, the janissary serdar
  • bölük: one of the units of the Janissary Corps
  • alemdâr: standard-bearer, the one who carries the banner
  • temâyüz etmek: to stand out, to come to the fore
  • serdengeçdiler ağası: the commander of the volunteer units that fought in the very front line in battle
  • pâye: a rank and title granted without actually taking up the post
  • turnacıbaşı: one of the six great ağas of the Janissary Corps
  • hâciyân meclisi: the council of the town's notables bearing the title of hacı

Another Branch of the Kasap Bekiroğlus

This entry belongs to the same family as Haseki Bekir Ağa, whose biography is given on the previous page, the line of Kasap Hacı Ebûbekir Ağa from the Hacı İlyas quarter of Amasya. According to what Hüsameddin gives on the family, Kasap Hacı Ebûbekir Ağa, who may be regarded as the family's founder, was a janissary who distinguished himself in the Prut war, became serdar of Amasya and serdengeçti ağası in the Persian war, and died in early 1159 [1746]. The descendants of his sons Mehmed, Abdülfettâh and Abdülbâkî Ağa were called "Kasap Bekiroğulları." Hüsameddin counts Abdullah Ağa among the sons of Abdülfettâh Ağa and adds that the son of "Serdar Abdullah Ağazâde Ebûbekir Ağa" was Ârif Mehmed Ağa. Accordingly the Hacı Ebûbekir Ağa of this entry is the son of the grandson of the family's founder and took his name from his grandfather's father. According to Hüsameddin, his son was Ârif Mehmed Ağa and his grandson Abdülhalîm Ağa. No information on this person was found in other sources.

That the family held the serdarship of Amasya over four generations shows how the provincial janissary serdarship became a family profession in the eighteenth century. According to Abdülkadir Özcan, the janissary serdar was the leading officer of the senior and retired janissaries known as "korucu" and "oturak," appointed by the janissary ağa to small places for order and policing. A study of a similar notable (âyân) family in Menteşe likewise notes that district serdars were chosen in the eighteenth century largely from among the serdengeçti ağas. That Hacı Ebûbekir Ağa was both serdengeçti ağası and serdar fits this arrangement.

The Serdengeçtis and the Campaign of 1808

Serdengeçti was the name given in Ottoman wars to the devoted fighters who plunged into the enemy ranks or were first into a besieged fortress. According to Özcan, from the sixteenth century the serdengeçtis, generally made up of volunteer janissaries, were organized under the name "bayrak" (banner) in units of 120 men each, and because they fought in the very front line they were also called "men of death." Those who came back alive had their salaries raised and were granted the right to wear on their heads the "serdengeçti kavuk" (turban cap) decorated with feathers. In time serdengeçtis also began to be enrolled from the provinces.

The war in which Hacı Ebûbekir Ağa took part as serdengeçti ağası is the Ottoman-Russian war of 1806–1812; the year 1223 falls between February 1808 and February 1809. According to Mehmet Mert Sunar's study, this war was fought at a time when the Ottoman state was shaken by internal disorders, and the process of raising troops did not differ from that of the wars of the second half of the eighteenth century. To bring the provincial janissaries into the campaign, turnacıbaşıs assigned by the Corps were sent to the provinces, and efforts were made to ensure that the janissaries called "yerli kulları" (local slaves of the Porte) joined the army on the fixed dates. In the districts the kadıs, together with the notables and leading men, were obliged to gather and send the required number of soldiers. In a period when many notables avoided going on campaign for fear of their own region falling into the hands of rivals, it is noteworthy that the serdar of Amasya went to the front in person as serdengeçti ağası.

The Rank of Turnacıbaşı

The turnacıbaşı rank he received on returning from the campaign belonged to one of the upper ranks of the Janissary Corps. According to Özcan, the turnacıbaşı was the lowest in rank of the six great ağas called the ocak ağas; within the Corps he stood above the hasekibaşı and below the saksoncubaşı. His main duty was to keep order in the orta he commanded and, as a devshirme official, to collect recruits. The title Hacı Ebûbekir Ağa bore was a paye, that is, the prestige of the rank. That another member of the same family, Haseki Bekir Ağa, likewise received the rank of haseki shows that the Kasap Bekiroğlus crowned their wartime service with titles derived from the Corps hierarchy in Istanbul.

Bibliography

Primary sources

  • Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 100–100. amasya.bel.tr

Academic studies

Volume 6 contents

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