Amasyalıdır. Sevincerli Ömer Paşa’nın mahdûmudur. Yeniçeri olup mükerreren Amasya serdârı, 1094’de yeniçeri eytâmına nâzır olup 1098’de ba’zı hidemâtından dolayı İstanbul’a gidip ocakda beytü’l-mâlci, 1099 senesi muharreminde zağarcıbaşı, rebiülevvelinin üçüncü günü kul kethüdâsı olarak parladı.
İki buçuk ay kadar mevki’inde kalabildi. Sene-i mezbûre cumâdelûlâsının on altıncı günü zorbaların ibrâmıyla azl ve müte’âkiben tekâ’üde sevk edildi. 1100 senesi evâ’ilinde Amasya’da görüldü. 1101 senesi muharreminde Köprülüzâde Fâzıl Mustafa Paşa sadr-ı a’zam oldukta saferinin dokuzuncu günü yeniçeri ağası oldu. ¹⁷
Ancak sadr-ı müşârün-ileyhin kendisine olan teveccühü ve i’timâdını selb edecek isnâdâta ma’rûz kaldığından 1101 senesi rebiülevvellinin on beşinci günü azledilip Amasya’ya gönderildi. Kendisine Tokat emvâlinden vazîfe-i tekâ’üd verilip 1113 senesi evâhirinde vefât etdi. [270]
Amasya’da bunun evlâdına “Ağaoğulları” dendi. Karasenir’de Ağaburnu denilen yer, bunun bağ ve bahçesi idi. Sevincer’de Ağa Çiftiliği de bunundu. Oğulları Ömer, Osmân, Ali Beylerdir.
In Modern English
He was a native of Amasya, the son of Ömer Pasha of Sevincer. A janissary, he was several times serdar of Amasya (the commander of the janissaries in the town), and in 1094 [1683] became overseer of the janissary orphans. In 1098 [1686-87], on account of certain services, he went to Istanbul and rose to prominence in the corps as beytülmalci; in Muharrem 1099 [November 1687] as zağarcıbaşı, and on the third day of Rebiülevvel of the same year [7 January 1688] as kul kethüdası.
In this office he could remain only about two and a half months. On the sixteenth day of Cemaziyelevvel of the same year [19 March 1688], at the insistence of the zorbas, he was dismissed and then retired. At the beginning of 1100 [November 1688] he was seen at Amasya. In Muharrem 1101, when Köprülüzâde Fâzıl Mustafa Pasha became grand vizier, on the ninth day of Safer [22 November 1689] he became janissary ağa.
However, since he was exposed to accusations that destroyed the grand vizier's favour and trust in him, on the fifteenth day of Rebiülevvel 1101 [27 December 1689] he was dismissed and sent to Amasya. A retirement pension was assigned to him from the revenues of Tokat, and he died at the end of 1113 [spring 1702].
At Amasya his descendants were called "Ağaoğulları." The place called Ağaburnu at Karasenir was his vineyard and garden. The Ağa Farm at Sevincer was also his. His sons were Ömer Bey, Osmân Bey and Ali Bey.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- serdâr: here, the head of the janissaries in a town
- yeniçeri eytâmı nâzırı: the official who looked after the affairs of the orphans of deceased janissaries
- hidemât: services
- beytü'l-mâlci: the official in the corps who handled the property of those who died without heirs
- zağarcıbaşı: the head of the zağarcı company, which raised hunting dogs, one of the senior ağas of the corps
- kul kethüdâsı: after the janissary ağa the most influential administrator of the corps, the "kethüda bey"
- ibrâm: insistence, pressure
- müte'âkiben: following upon
- isnâdât: accusations laid against someone
- emvâl: goods, here state revenues
- vazîfe-i tekâ'üd: retirement pension
- evâhir: the last days of a period of time
A Rise Within the Corps
Ebûbekir Ağa's rise in Istanbul follows the internal hierarchy of the Janissary Corps step by step. According to Abdülkadir Özcan's encyclopedia entries, the zağarcıbaşı was the head of the zağarcıs, who formed the sixty-fourth company (orta) of the corps, and a natural member of the janissary ağa's council; this post was generally given to the saksoncubaşı, and only rarely were appointments made from other officials. If a zağarcıbaşı was promoted within the corps he became kul kethüdası. The kul kethüdası, in rank, stood below the sekbanbaşı and above the zağarcıbaşı; but after the second half of the seventeenth century he had overtaken the sekbanbaşı in function and came to be promoted directly to the janissary ağalık. Since the kul kethüdası was always raised from within the corps, he knew the institution's procedures well and was an aide, even sometimes a deputy, to the janissary ağa brought in from outside. He was also the only official in the corps with the authority to arrest. All officers of the corps, including the sekbanbaşı and the janissary ağa, were wary of the kul kethüdası for fear that he could stir up the soldiers.
This rapid rise, which Hüsameddin describes as "parladı" (he shone), was completed with the passage from beytülmalcılık to zağarcıbaşılık and, two months later, to kul kethüdalık. The order of these steps as given in the book agrees exactly with the corps order described in the encyclopedia entries.
The Disorder of 1688 and His Dismissal
The months in which Ebûbekir Ağa was kul kethüdası fall in the turbulent days following Süleyman II's accession to the throne. The list of janissary ağas of Süleyman II's reign in Şeyhî Mehmed Efendi's Vekâyi'u'l-Fuzalâ clearly reflects the atmosphere of those days: Harputlu Ali Ağa, brought from the sekbanbaşılık to the ağalık, was killed in an attack by the rebels on 27 Rebiülâhir 1099, and Zorba el-Hâc Ali Ağa, made ağa from an ordinary private at the demand of the rebels, was murdered a day later. Hüsameddin's writing that Ebûbekir Ağa was dismissed in Cemaziyelevvel 1099 "at the insistence of the zorbas" is part of this disorder.
The Janissary Ağalık: Hüsameddin and Şeyhî
Ebûbekir Ağa's janissary ağalık is a point at which Hüsameddin's record can be verified one-to-one by a contemporary source. In the same list of Şeyhî there is this record: "Ebû Bekr Ağa, kethüdâ beylikten mütekâid iken yeniçeri ağası olup ba'dehu ma'zûl oldı. Fî 15 Rebîü'l-evvel sene 1101." That is, while retired from the kul kethüdalık he became janissary ağa and was dismissed on 15 Rebiülevvel 1101. This date is identical to the dismissal date Hüsameddin gives. In the section where Şeyhî narrates events day by day, it is written that on Wednesday 26 Muharrem 1101 Tekirdağlı Mustafa Pasha was dismissed and the grand vizier's seal was given to Köprülüzâde Mustafa Pasha, and that the same day Janissary Ağa Mahmûd Ağa was appointed serasker to the plain of Sofia and Ebû Bekr Ağa was made janissary ağa in his place. In the list, the sending of Mahmûd Ağa as serasker is dated 9 Safer 1101; the date Hüsameddin gives as "the ninth day of Safer" coincides with this. It is possible that the decision was taken on 26 Muharrem and the change of office completed on 9 Safer.
Şeyhî also reports who came in Ebûbekir Ağa's place: Arabacı Ali Ağa of Ohrid, while kethüda of the grand vizierate to Köprülüzâde Mustafa Pasha, became janissary ağa in Rebiülevvel 1101 in place of Ebû Bekr Ağa, and later rose to the kaymakamlık of the imperial stirrup and to the grand vizierate. Ebûbekir Ağa's falling out of the grand vizier's favour thus coincides with the grand vizier's wish to place his own kethüda in this post. It is also related in the sources that during Fâzıl Mustafa Pasha's grand vizierate he reformed the janissary corps and made savings on salaries.
In today's lists this short ağalık appears in different forms. In some lists he is mentioned under the name "Ebubekir Ağa/Pasha" in 1689-1690 and is said to have been promoted to the governorship of Nikopol; in others, after Koca Mahmud Ağa the succession passes directly to Arabacı Ali Ağa and Ebûbekir Ağa does not appear at all. The records of both Hüsameddin and Şeyhî show that he left not by promotion but by dismissal. Hüsameddin also notes in a footnote that another Ebûbekir Ağa, a janissary ağa named in Şeyhî's supplement, should not be confused with this man. Indeed, in the part of Şeyhî's list belonging to the reign of Ahmed III, two more Ebû Bekr Ağas appear: one, while sekbanbaşı, became janissary ağa and was sent to the province of Bosnia on 14 Şevval 1125; the other, while kethüda bey, became ağa and was dismissed on 7 Safer 1128. It is likely that these ağas bearing the same name have been confused with one another in today's lists.
Sevincer and the Ağaoğulları
Ebûbekir Ağa's father is Ömer Pasha of Sevincer, and the family's Ağa Farm is also at Sevincer. Sevincer today is a village in the central district of Amasya and has borne the same name since 1928. No information was found in the sources read about the Ağaburnu locality at Karasenir or about the family called "Ağaoğulları" at Amasya. No information was found in other sources about his father Ömer Pasha or his sons Ömer Bey, Osmân Bey and Ali Bey either.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 90. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
- Abdülkadir Özcan, "Kul Kethüdâsı", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kul-kethudasi).
- Abdülkadir Özcan, "Zağarcıbaşı", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/zagarcibasi).
Books
- Şeyhî Mehmed Efendi, Vekâyi'u'l-Fuzalâ: Şeyhî'nin Şakâ'ik Zeyli, ed. Ramazan Ekinci, Türkiye Yazma Eserler Kurumu Başkanlığı, İstanbul 2018, vol. 3, pp. 1880-1881, 1903, 2001-2002, 2826-2827.
Other sources
- "List of Janissary Aghas" (en.wikipedia.org) and "Yeniçeri ağaları listesi" (tr.wikipedia.org), accessed 2026.
- "Fâzıl Mustafa Paşa (ö. 1691)", ADEMDER (ademder.org.tr/blog/osmanli-tarihi/osmanli-devlet-adamlari/fazilmustafapasa).
- "Sevincer" (tr.wikipedia.org), accessed 2026.