Amasyalıdır. Esbak Anadolu vâlisi vezîr Ömer Paşazâde mîr-livâ el-Hâc Osmân Bey’in mahdûmudur. Amasya a’yânından ve dergâh-ı âlî kapıcıbaşılarından Sa’dullah Beyzâde Mehmed Bey’in kerîmesini alıp emvâl ü emlâkine vâris oldu. Sonra vüzerâdan Mustafa Paşa’nın dâmâdı ve kethüdâsı olup kapıcıbaşı, 1159’da bâ-rütbe-i mîr-i mîrânî Kara Hisâr-ı Şarkî sancağı mutasarrıfı oldu.
Bundan sonra mükerreren Amasya, Çankırı, Çorum sancaklarına mutasarrıf, 1167 şa’bânında Rumeli beylerbeyiliği pâyesiyle Ankara vâlisi, 1174’de Çankırı sancağı ile Bender ser-’askeri ma’iyyetine me’mûr oldu. Burada hüsn-i hizmetine binâen 1175 senesi şevvalinin beşinde Köstendil sancağıyla Hotin [284] muhâfızı oldu.
1178’de Rusların ağır kuvvetle muhacemât-ı şedîdesine karşı gayr-ı müsâ’id bir kuvvetle kaleyi müdâfa’aya mecbûr olduğundan esâretini intâc ederek kale sukût etdi. 1179’da fidye ile esâretden tahlis edilerek Amasya’da me’mûr-ı ikâmet olduğu hâlde 1181’de vefât etdi. Aşağı Pîrler mezarlığında medfûndur.
Kaleyi müdâfa’a edebilseydi vezâreti muhakkakdı. Mağlûben esâreti mahdûmu teşrifâtî-i divân-ı hümâyûn Âkif Mehmed Bey’i de fevkalâde müte’essir ederek sene-i mezbûrenin zilhiccesi gurresinde vefât etdi. Mehmed Âkif Bey’in evlâdı İstanbul’daki vakfına mütevellî olarak devâm etmektedir.
Ebûbekir Paşa, Amasya’da pederi el-Hâc Osmân Bey’in binâ eylediği dâru’l-hadîs ve mescid ve çeşmesi vakfının mütevellîsi olduğu münâsebetle dâru’l-hadîs Ebûbekir Paşa Medresesi unvânıyla iştihâr etdi. Birâderi Abdî Bey’in mahdûmu es-Seyyid el-Hâc Abdullah Bey vakf-ı mezkûre Ebûbekir Paşa’dan sonra mütevellî olmuşdu. Diğer mahdûmu Kâşif Ömer Bey olup [285] bunun mahdûmu Mehmed Sâlih Bey ve bunun mahdûmu Mustafa Rif’at Bey 1248’de İstanbul ricâlinden idi.
In Modern English
He was from Amasya. He is the son of Mirliva el-Hâc Osman Bey, son of Vizier Ömer Pasha, a former governor of Anatolia. He married the daughter of Sa'dullah Beyzâde Mehmed Bey, one of the Amasya ayan and one of the kapıcıbaşıs of the Exalted Porte, and inherited his goods and property. Then, as son-in-law and kethüda (steward) of Mustafa Pasha, one of the viziers, he became a kapıcıbaşı, and in 1159 [1746-47] he became mutasarrıf of the sanjak of Karahisâr-ı Şarkî with the rank of mîrimîran.
After this he repeatedly served as mutasarrıf of the sanjaks of Amasya, Çankırı and Çorum, and in Şaban 1167 [May-June 1754] became governor of Ankara with the rank of beylerbeyi of Rumelia; in 1174 [1760-61] he was assigned, with the sanjak of Çankırı, to the retinue of the seraskeri of Bender. In return for his good service there, on the fifth of Şevval 1175 [28 April 1762] he became warden (muhafız) of Khotyn together with the sanjak of Köstendil.
In 1178 [1764-65], because he had to defend the fortress with an insufficient force against the fierce attacks made by the Russians with heavy forces, this resulted in his being taken captive, and the fortress fell. In 1179 [1765-66] he was freed from captivity by the payment of a ransom; although he was ordered to reside in Amasya, he died in 1181 [1767-68]. He is buried in the Aşağı Pirler cemetery.
Had he been able to defend the fortress, his vizierate would have been certain. His defeat and capture had greatly grieved his son, the teşrifatçı of the Divân-ı Hümâyun Âkif Mehmed Bey, who died on the first day of the month of Zilhicce of the said year. The children of Mehmed Âkif Bey continue as trustees of his waqf in Istanbul.
Because Ebûbekir Pasha was the trustee of the waqf of the darülhadis, mesjid and fountain that his father el-Hâc Osman Bey had built in Amasya, the darülhadis became known as the "Ebûbekir Pasha Madrasa". El-Hâc Abdullah Bey, son of his brother Abdî Bey, became trustee of this waqf after Ebûbekir Pasha. Ebûbekir Pasha's other son was Kâşif Ömer Bey, whose son was Mehmed Sâlih Bey, whose son Mustafa Rif'at Bey was in 1248 [1832-33] among the statesmen of Istanbul.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- mîr-livâ: the rank of sanjak bey
- kerîme: daughter
- emvâl ü emlâk: goods and properties
- bâ-rütbe-i mîr-i mîrânî: with the rank of beylerbeyi
- mutasarrıf: sanjak administrator
- ser-'asker: the commander-in-chief of the army on a front
- hüsn-i hizmet: good service
- muhâfız: commander charged with guarding a fortress and its surroundings
- muhacemât-ı şedîde: fierce attacks
- gayr-ı müsâ'id: unfavorable, insufficient
- intâc etmek: to produce a result, to bring about
- sukût: falling
- tahlîs: rescue
- me'mûr-ı ikâmet: one obliged to reside in a place
- medfûn: buried
- teşrifâtî-i divân-ı hümâyûn: the official in charge of ceremony and protocol at the Divân-ı Hümâyun
- gurre: the first day of the month
- dâru'l-hadîs: a madrasa set aside for teaching hadith
- mütevellî: waqf administrator
- ricâl: statesmen
Uncle and Nephew: Two Ebûbekir Pashas
The subject of this entry is the nephew of Bekir Beyzâde Ebûbekir Pasha, who bears the same name and was described a few entries earlier. Both belong to the Bekir Beyzâde family that Hüsameddin connects to the line of Şâdgeldi, ruler of Amasya, and both descend from Vizier Ömer Pasha, who died in 1112 [1700-01] as a former governor of Anatolia. The uncle Ebûbekir Pasha was Ömer Pasha's son, while the subject of this entry is his grandson.
His Father Osman Bey and the Years in Egypt
Hüsameddin describes his father Osman Bey in a long entry in the twelfth volume of his work. According to it, Osman Bey inherited his father's wealth, repeatedly became chief of the ayan (baş âyan) of Amasya from 1121 [1709-10], but, tired of the quarrels among the ayan, went to Egypt in 1135 [1722-23]. There he joined the Fikâriyye faction, in 1141 [1728-29] became head of this faction and mirliva of Egypt, carried on a long struggle against the rival Kâsımiyye faction, and was repeatedly Egyptian defterdar and emir of the pilgrimage (hac emiri). When the Kâsımiyye gained the upper hand, he returned to Istanbul with his family in 1158 [1745], described the situation of Egypt in the presence of Mahmud I, and his sons Mehmed and Ebûbekir Beys were granted the rank of mîrimîran. The appointment of the subject of this entry in 1159 to Karahisâr-ı Şarkî with the rank of mîrimîran is a continuation of this favor. Osman Bey settled in Amasya in 1159 [1746] and died in 1174 [1760-61]. His brother Abdî Bey also went to Egypt with their father, became mirliva on his return, and died in 1171 [1757-58].
The Bekir Pasha Madrasa
The story of the darülhadis named in the entry is told in two separate places of Hüsameddin. According to the list of madrasas in the first volume, the "Bekir Pasha Madrasa" stands on a street corner in the Köprübaşı quarter, east of the Greek Church; it was built as a darülhadis by Bekir Beyzâde el-Hâc Osman Bey of Amasya, the former mirliva of Egypt, in 1164 [1750-51], and its waqfs were arranged. The building, a fine masonry madrasa with an excellent lecture hall and library, fell into ruin around 1300 [1882-83], and in 1308 [1890-91] its front facade was torn down and it was repaired with shops built beneath and rooms above. The Alaca Hamam and a large two-gate han are the waqf of this madrasa. Because after the founder's death his son Ebûbekir Pasha became trustee, it was called the "Bekir Pasha Madrasa". In the twelfth volume, on the other hand, it is written that Osman Bey had a darülhadis and library built opposite his mansion next to the Alaca Hamam at the head of the Alçak Köprü, completed it in Ramazan 1165 [July-August 1752] and opened it with a great banquet. In the same place it is also recorded that he repaired the ruined Hasan Ağa mesjid in Köprübaşı and had a fountain and the two-gate Taş Han built. The one-year difference between the two records can be understood as construction having begun in 1164 and been completed in 1165.
On the present state of the madrasa the sources differ. In the twelfth volume, listing Osman Bey's waqfs, Hüsameddin says "unfortunately today the madrasa, han and hamam have been completely destroyed." By contrast, an encyclopedia entry writes that the Bekir Pasha Madrasa built by Bekir Beyzâde Hacı Osman has survived to the present. In official presentations, this building is not named among the madrasas standing in Amasya today. Whether the building exists today could not be verified.
The Wardenship of Khotyn and the Question of the Fortress's Fall
The most striking part of the entry is the account that Ebûbekir Pasha was taken captive by the Russians while defending the fortress of Khotyn. Khotyn is a fortress town on the Dniester, today within the borders of Ukraine; after 1713 it was taken under direct Ottoman administration and made a sanjak, and throughout the eighteenth century it stood at the front line of the Ottoman-Russian struggle. In this century the fortress suffered three Russian occupations: in 1739 the army of Field Marshal Münnich took the fortress, the warden Kolçak İlyas Pasha was captured with many soldiers, and the fortress was returned by the Treaty of Belgrade. In 1769 Prince Golitsyn captured the fortress, and when the Ottoman forces withdrew after the defeat of Grand Vizier Moldovancı Ali Pasha, the wardens abandoned the fortress. The third was the Austro-Russian occupation of 1788.
The dates Hüsameddin gives fit none of these events. The year 1178 falls between June 1764 and June 1765; in these years there was no war between the two states, and no information was found that Khotyn was besieged and fell. There was tension in this period: on 13 Safer 1178 [12 August 1764] Ottoman officials held a meeting with Russia's representative in Istanbul, asked the reason for Russia's threats against Khotyn and Bender, and raised in this connection a letter that had come to the warden of Khotyn from a Russian general. The war began only in 1768.
There is also a problem with the date of his appointment. Hüsameddin says Ebûbekir Pasha became warden of Khotyn on 5 Şevval 1175 [28 April 1762]. Yet according to other sources, in just these days, at the end of April 1762, the wardenship of the fortress of Khotyn was given, together with the sanjaks of Khotyn and Çorum, to Silahdar Mahir Hamza Pasha. Mahir Hamza Pasha moved to Vidin in 1763, in mid-August 1764 was appointed again warden of Khotyn together with the sanjak of Köstendil, and when he refused this appointment as a demotion, was dismissed in January 1765. That the combination "wardenship of Khotyn with the sanjak of Köstendil" that Hüsameddin mentions is also seen in this 1764 appointment is noteworthy. To whom the post that Mahir Hamza Pasha did not accept was given is not written in the sources read.
In this situation, which event the account of Ebûbekir Pasha's wardenship of Khotyn, his captivity and his release by ransom rests on could not be understood. It is within possibility that there is a shift in Hüsameddin's dates, or that an event at some other frontier fortress was attributed to Khotyn; but no document showing this was found. No information was found in other sources on his post in the retinue of the seraskeri of Bender or on his governorships of Çankırı, Çorum and Ankara.
Aşağı Pirler
The Aşağı Pirler cemetery, where Ebûbekir Pasha was buried, was in the Pîrler district of Amasya. His father Osman Bey too, according to Hüsameddin, is buried "around Aşağı Pîrler". In this district stands the Halvetî tekke built in 815 [1412] by Pazarlıoğlu Yakub Pasha, known popularly as the Çilehane. The Yukarı Pirler Tomb, which lies south of the Çilehane Mosque and today within the Pirler Park, was built in 1486 by Gümüşlüzâde Ahmed Bey for Şeyh Sücâeddin Pîr İlyas, renewed in 1688 by Gümüşlüzâde İbrâhim Pasha, and rebuilt after it collapsed in the 1895 earthquake. No information was found on whether the Aşağı Pirler cemetery exists today or on the graves of the Bekir Beyzâdes.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 94. amasya.bel.tr
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, vols. 1-4, Amasya Belediyesi e-book, vol. 1, p. 166 ("Bekir Paşa Medresesi").
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, vols. 9-12, Amasya Belediyesi e-book, vol. 12, the entries "Osmân Bey-Ebûbekir Beyzâde" and "Abdî Bey-Bekir Beyzâde".
Academic studies
- Ömer Bıyık, "Osmanlı-Rus Hududunda Bir Kale: XVIII. Yüzyılda Hotin", Tarih İncelemeleri Dergisi, XXIX/2 (2014), p. 489-513.
- Dariusz Kolodziejczyk, "Hotin", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/hotin).
- M. Baha Tanman, "Yâkub Paşa Tekkesi", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/yakub-pasa-tekkesi).
Official sources
- T.C. Amasya Valiliği, "Medreseler" (amasya.gov.tr/medreseler).
- Kültür Portalı, "Pir Sücaeddin İlyas Türbesi" (kulturportali.gov.tr).
Books
- "Amasya", Türk Maarif Ansiklopedisi (turkmaarifansiklopedisi.org.tr/amasya).
Other sources
- "Hotin Kuşatması (1769)", tr.wikipedia.org.
- "Silahdar Mahir Hamza Paşa", tr.wikipedia.org.