Ebûbekir Ağa — Pazarbaşızâde es-Seyyid el-Hâc

In Modern English

He was the son of Hacı Mustafa Ağa of Amasya, son of Pazarbaşı Hacı Ebûbekir Ağa, who was surre-i hümayun emini (superintendent of the imperial gifts to the Holy Cities) and died in Rebiülevvel 1201 [December 1786 – January 1787]. On his father's death he was granted a zeamet (large military fief) of 61,271 akçe in the sanjaks of Amasya and Bolu; in Cemaziyelevvel of the same year [February–March 1787] a müteferrika post was added to it. Moving among offices, he became one of the palace kapıcıbaşıs (heads of palace gatekeepers); he became superintendent of the crown estates of the sanjak of Amasya and then voyvoda of Tokat. In Cemaziyelevvel 1222 [July–August 1807] he went to Istanbul having been dismissed from office, and he died in Ramazan 1223 [October–November 1808]. He is buried in Üsküdar.

Notes and Research

Old Words in the Text

• surre-i hümâyûn emîni: the person in charge of carrying and distributing the money and gifts the sultan sent each year to the people of Mecca and Medina
• pazarbaşı: the person responsible for order in the bazaar and market
• irtihâl: death
• ze'âmet: a revenue assignment (dirlik) larger than a timar and with high income
• uhdesine tevcîh: being assigned to someone
• sene-i mezbûre: the said year
• müteferrika gediği: one of the limited number of posts giving the right to serve at the palace as a müteferrika
• ilhâk: addition, annexation
• devr-i hidemât: serving in various posts in turn
• hâssa emîni: the official who collected the crown-estate (has) revenues of the state or the sultan
• ma'zûlen: having been dismissed from office
• medfûn: buried

A Zeamet and a Gedik Passed from Father to Son

The most striking information in the entry is that on his father's death Ebûbekir Ağa received both his zeamet and his müteferrika gedik (post). Müteferrika was the general name for those selected from persons distinguished by lineage and standing in the Ottoman palace, and assigned not to a particular task but to various services. According to Erhan Afyoncu, from the late sixteenth century the müteferrika posts were limited by the "gedik" system; in 1713, by an order of Ahmed III, the number of müteferrikas was fixed at 200, and it remained fixed afterwards. To take up a post among the gedikli müteferrikas, a gedik had to fall vacant; if a gedikli müteferrika died, his zeamet was divided among his sons, while the müteferrika gedik was given to the eldest son. The information Hüsameddin gives, with the zeamet and the gedik passing to the son a few months after Hacı Mustafa Ağa's death, fits this rule exactly. It can also be inferred from this that Ebûbekir Ağa was the eldest son.

That an exact figure such as 61,271 akçe is given suggests that Hüsameddin drew here on an appointment (tevcih) record or a zeamet register. That the zeamet lay in both the sanjak of Amasya and that of Bolu shows that the father had earlier acquired revenue assignments in two different regions in return for service.

Surre Emini Hacı Mustafa Ağa

The surre superintendency held by his father Hacı Mustafa Ağa was one of the most prestigious offices of the Ottoman state ceremonies. According to Ş. Tufan Buzpınar, the surre ceremony in Istanbul was organized by the Dârüssaâde ağası, who also administered the waqfs of the Two Holy Cities; preparations began with the appointment of the surre emini, who was responsible for the security of the surre along the road and for its distribution once it reached the Haremeyn. At the ceremony attended by the sultan, the imperial letter (nâme-i hümayun) written to the emir of Mecca, the surre purses and registers were handed over to the surre emini, and the surre procession, including the camel bearing the mahmil, left the palace. In another entry Hüsameddin states that Mustafa Ağa died "on the pilgrimage road" in Rebiülevvel 1201; accordingly he must have died while carrying out his duty or on the return journey.

An Inconsistency within the Book

In this entry Hüsameddin presents Mustafa Ağa as the son of "Pazarbaşı Hacı Ebûbekir Ağa." In the same volume it is written that Pazarbaşı Hacı Ebûbekir Ağa son of Ali, a member of the councils of pilgrims and notables, died after 1167 [1753–54], and that his sons Hacı Ali and Mustafa Ağa and their descendants were called "Pazarbaşıoğulları," in short "Pazaroğulları." However, in the entry for the mütesellim of Amasya Hacı Efendizâde Hacı Ahmed Ağa, Hüsameddin mentions the surre emini Hacı Mustafa Ağa as Ahmed Ağa's brother, adding that he died on the pilgrimage road in Rebiülevvel 1201 and that his son Seyyid Hacı Ebûbekir Ağa was among the statesmen. Hacı Efendizâde Ahmed Ağa, in turn, is the son of the kapıcıbaşı Hacı Ebûbekir Ağa son of Mustafa Ağa son of Sarı Mehmed Ağa. In this case the book shows two different Ebûbekir Ağas as the father of the surre emini Mustafa Ağa. That the death dates and the son's name are the same suggests that the two records belong to the same person; which one is correct could be settled only with court registers. In this research no information on this person was found in other sources.

The Voyvodalık of Tokat

Ebûbekir Ağa's last post, the voyvodalık of Tokat, was in the early nineteenth century under the control of the great notable families of the region. According to Mehmet Beşirli's study of the Tokat voyvodalık, Cabbârzâde Süleyman Bey, mutasarrıf of Bozok, administered the Tokat voyvodalık mukataa (tax farm) as a mâlikâne between 1214 and 1222 [1799–1807] and during this period appointed the voyvodas himself. For the year 1222/1807 the mukataa was again awarded to Süleyman Bey, who appointed İlbaşıoğlu Ahmed Ağa as voyvoda. Hüsameddin's statement that Ebûbekir Ağa was dismissed in Cemaziyelevvel 1222 coincides with this date. Accordingly it is probable that Ebûbekir Ağa was one of the voyvodas serving in Tokat on behalf of Cabbârzâde Süleyman Bey; this is an inference, since his name does not appear in the study in question. The same study also lists "Hasha-i Amasya" among the mukataas sold separately by the capital when the Tokat voyvodalık was established. The superintendency of the hâssa revenues of the sanjak of Amasya, which Ebûbekir Ağa had held earlier, was a post concerned with collecting such crown revenues; his move to the voyvodalık can in this respect be seen as continuing the same financial affairs over a wider area.

Bibliography

Primary sources

• Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 99–99. amasya.bel.tr

Academic studies

• Erhan Afyoncu, "Müteferrika", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/muteferrika
• Ş. Tufan Buzpınar, "Surre", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/surre
• Mehmet Beşirli, "Tokat Voyvodalığı (1774-1842)", Belleten, 69/254, 2005. https://belleten.gov.tr/eng/full-text/3505/tur