Ebûbekir Ağa — Taşcızâde

In Modern English

He was the son of Mustafa Ağa bin Halil Ağa, who was the brother and kethüda (steward) of Taşcızâde Ebûbekir Pasha of Amasya. He took part in campaigns as a sipahi registered in the 194th company. From 1141 [1728-29] he served several times as kethüdayeri of Amasya and voivode of Zile; in 1157 [1744] he fell as a martyr in the war with Nadir Shah. He was among the famous of the sipahis.

Notes and Research

Old Words in the Text

• birâder: brother
• kethüdâ: steward, a deputy who runs the affairs of a statesman
• mukayyed: registered
• sipâhî: mounted soldier
• kethüdâyeri: literally the deputy and substitute of the kethüda; in Hüsameddin it appears as the name of a post in the local administration of Amasya
• voyvoda: a person who carried out an administrative duty in a city or kaza similar to that of a sanjak mütesellim (deputy governor)
• şehîden vefât: to die as a martyr
• meşâhîr: the famous

His Uncle, Taşcızâde Ebûbekir Pasha

His uncle Taşcızâde Ebûbekir Pasha, whose name the subject of the entry bears, was a vizier whom Hüsameddin describes separately in the same volume. He was the son of Taşcızâde Mehmed Çelebi, from the notables of the Şeyh Garîk quarter of Amasya. He became a sipahi in 1047 [1637-38], entered the service of Defterdar Ebûbekir Pasha and became his son-in-law, attached himself to Köprülü Mehmed Pasha and rose to the kethüdaship of the kapıcıs, and in 1078 [1667-68] to the voivodeship of Galata. Under the grand vizierate of Köprülüzâde Fâzıl Ahmed Pasha he became sadaret kethüdası in 1083 [1672], guardian (muhafız) of Nikopol in 1084 [1673-74], governor of Bosnia with the rank of vizier in early 1088 [1677], governor of Sivas in 1090 and of Erzurum in 1092, and fell as a martyr before Vienna in 1094 [1683]. That the lists of Ottoman governors of Bosnia include a governor named "Hacı Ebûbekir Pasha" in the years 1676-1677 agrees with this information given by Hüsameddin. The father of the subject of the entry, Mustafa Ağa, was at this vizier's side as his kethüda.

The War with Nadir Shah and the Siege of Kars in 1744

Hüsameddin says that Ebûbekir Ağa fell as a martyr in the war with Nadir Shah in 1157. The year 1157 falls between February 1744 and February 1745, and the greatest clash on the Ottoman-Iranian front in these dates is the siege of Kars. Having failed before Mosul in 1743, Nadir Shah marched on Kars after the Ottomans supported Safî Mirza, a Safavid prince laying claim to the Iranian throne, and besieged the fortress on 29 July 1744. Şehlâ Ahmed Pasha, the former grand vizier who was the seraskeri of Kars, knowing Nadir Shah's tactic of leaving fortresses without water, had a wide and deep moat dug around the fortress and had the trenches reinforced with cannon. Ten general assaults made within one month were repulsed, the fiercest of them on 25 August 1744. Two months later, in early October, Nadir Shah was forced to lift the siege. The following year, on 23 Receb 1158 [21 August 1745], the Ottoman forces under Yeğen Mehmed Pasha were defeated at Kağaverd.

In which engagement Ebûbekir Ağa died is not stated in the text. If the death year of 1157 is correct, the most likely possibility is that he fell during the siege of Kars and the movements connected with it; but no document confirming this was found.

Kethüdayerlik and Voivodeship

The kethüdayerlik that Ebûbekir Ağa held repeatedly and the voivodeship of Zile are posts taken on in provincial administration by people from local families. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the voivodes, who served as sanjak mütesellims in the cities, had deputies called kethüda or vilâyet kethüdası. The city kethüdas, chosen to handle the people's affairs, could likewise be chosen from among members of the military class and the city's ayan, besides merchants and tradesmen. A sipahi combining going on campaign with holding a post in city administration is an arrangement seen in the lives of many of the Amasya ağas whom Hüsameddin mentions. No information on 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. 93. amasya.bel.tr
• Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, vols. 6-8, Amasya Belediyesi e-book, vol. 6, the entry "Ebûbekir Paşa-Taşcızâde".

Academic studies

• Azmi Özcan, "Nâdir Şah", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/nadir-sah--iran).
• Mehmet Canatar, "Kethüdâ", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kethuda).

Other sources

• "Kars Kuşatması (1744)", tr.wikipedia.org.
• "List of Ottoman governors of Bosnia", en.wikipedia.org.