Amasyalıdır. Dergâh-ı âlî çavuşânından Amasyalı Mehmed Ağa bin Murâd Bey bin Mehmed Çelebi bin Hamza Bey bin Kâsım Bey bin el-Hâc Hamza Bey’in mahdûmudur. Amasya’da mescid ve mahallesi olan Hacı Hamza Bey’in vakfına mütevellî, yüz dokuzuncu bölükde mukayyed sipâhî, beytü’l-mâl emâneti kâtibi, cizye muhassılı olarak 1035’de Sivas defterdârı oldu.
1038’de Hüsrev Paşa’nın serdârlığında ordu-yu hümâyûn defterdârı 1041’de yine Sivas, ba’dehû Trabzon, [262] Erzurum, sâlisen Sivas, 1057 şevvâlinde Teke sancağı beyi ve Adana defterdârı, 1058 şevvâlinde Musul beylerbeyi ve muhassılı, ba’de’l-azl Sivas beylerbeyi olup 1061 senesi evâhirinde vefât etdi.
Kâtib, mukdim, muhâsib, zî-servet bir zât idi. Mahdûmları Hamza, Murâd, Ahmed ve köleleri Kâsım, Fîrûz Beylerdir. Dâmâdı Taşçızâde Ebûbekir Paşa ve yeğeni de Ebûbekir Bey’dir. Kölesi Kâsım Bey Zile voyvodası iken maktûl oldu.
In Modern English
He was a native of Amasya, the son of Mehmed Ağa of Amasya, one of the çavuşes of the Imperial Council, bin Murâd Bey bin Mehmed Çelebi bin Hamza Bey bin Kâsım Bey bin el-Hâc Hamza Bey. He served as mütevelli of the waqf of Hacı Hamza Bey, who had a mosque and a quarter named after him in Amasya, as a sipahi registered in the 109th company, as clerk of the beytülmal trust and as collector of the cizye; then in 1035 [1625-26] he became defterdar of Sivas.
In 1038 [1628-29], under the command of Hüsrev Pasha, he became defterdar of the imperial army; in 1041 [1631-32] he was again defterdar of Sivas, then of Trabzon and Erzurum, and a third time of Sivas. In Şevval 1057 [1647] he became sanjak governor of Teke and defterdar of Adana, in Şevval 1058 [1648] beylerbeyi and muhassıl of Mosul, and after his dismissal beylerbeyi of Sivas, and he died at the end of 1061 [1651].
He was a clerk, an enterprising man, expert in matters of accounts and wealthy. His sons were Hamza, Murâd and Ahmed; his slaves were Kâsım Bey and Fîrûz Bey. His son-in-law was Taşçızâde Ebûbekir Pasha, and his nephew was Ebûbekir Bey. His slave Kâsım Bey was killed while voyvoda of Zile.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- dergâh-ı âlî çavuşları: palace officials used in the Imperial Council for carrying orders and messages
- mütevellî: the administrator of a waqf
- bölükte mukayyed sipâhî: a salaried mounted soldier registered in one of the kapıkulu cavalry companies
- beytü'l-mâl emâneti kâtibi: the clerk of the office that recorded unclaimed inheritances on behalf of the state
- cizye muhassılı: the collector of the cizye tax levied on non-Muslims
- defterdâr: the official who managed the finances of a province or an army
- ordu-yu hümâyûn: the army that went on campaign in the sultan's name
- sâlisen: for the third time
- evâhir: the end, the last days
- mukdim: enterprising, brave; muhâsib: skilled in accounts; zî-servet: wealthy
- maktûl olmak: to be killed
The Family of Hacı Hamza Bey
El-Hâc Hamza Bey, Ebûbekir Pasha's ancestor of the fifth generation, was an Ottoman bey who gave his name to a quarter in Amasya. According to Hüsameddin, this man was the lala and adviser of Prince Bayezid (Bayezid II) during his governorship of Amasya, and the place where he lived was called by his name until 873 [1468-69]. In his quarter he had a mosque built, with a school and a fountain beside it. In another entry Hüsameddin relates that in 875 [1470] Hamza Bey defended Tokat against the attack of Uzun Hasan, that in 876 he was defeated and taken prisoner, and that he died in 877 [1472-73]. Hüsameddin writes that he saw the waqf deed drawn up by Hamza Bey's sons in 881 [1476-77] in the hands of the waqf's mütevelli, Bakkal Ömer Efendi. That Ebûbekir Pasha served as mütevelli of this waqf shows that two centuries later the family was still managing its ancestor's waqf.
His Rise as a Financial Official
The campaign on which Ebûbekir Pasha became army defterdar in 1038 [1628-29] was the eastern campaign led by Grand Vizier Hüsrev Pasha as serdar. Hüsrev Pasha became grand vizier on 1 Şâban 1037 [6 April 1628], and was ordered first to punish Abaza Mehmed Pasha, who had rebelled at Erzurum, and then to march on Iran. Erzurum was besieged on 7 Muharrem 1038 [6 September 1628], and Abaza Pasha surrendered on 23 Muharrem 1038 [22 September 1628]. Hüsrev Pasha set out again to the east in the summer of 1629, reached Mosul on 1 Cemâziyelevvel 1039 [17 December 1629] and marched from there on Baghdad. Ebûbekir Pasha managed the army's finances during these exhausting campaigns.
This path, beginning in provincial defterdarlıks and extending to the beylerbeyilik, is an example of how financial experience opened the door to military and administrative advancement in the seventeenth century. In Hüsameddin's book, the men who grew up around Ebûbekir Pasha can be seen following the same path. His son-in-law Taşçızâde Ebûbekir Pasha became a sipahi in 1047 [1637-38], became his son-in-law by working in the retinue of the defterdar Ebûbekir Pasha, and in 1056 [1646] became kethüda of the defterdar. After his father-in-law's death in 1061 he attached himself to Köprülü Mehmed Pasha and later rose to the vizierate. That the year 1061 agrees in the two entries also shows the consistency of Hüsameddin's records.
In another entry giving the same chain of descent, Hüsameddin introduces a janissary named Hamza Ağa as "the brother of the defterdar of Sivas, Ebûbekir Efendi." This Hamza Ağa, who served as serdar of Amasya and field serdar, and as ulûfeciler ağası under the grand vizierate of İbşir Pasha, was executed in 1069 [1659], his property seized, on the rumour that he had sided with Abaza Hasan Pasha.
No information about Ebûbekir Pasha's defterdarlık and beylerbeyilik posts was found in other sources.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 88. amasya.bel.tr
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, vol. 1 (Introduction: Hacı Hamza Bey Mahallesi); vol. 6, "Ebûbekir Paşa-Taşcızâde" and "Ahmed Ağa-Sarı, el-Hâc"; vol. 9, "Hamza Bey-Şarâbdâr el-Hâc" and "Hamza Ağa-Murâd Beyzâde" entries.
Academic studies
- Halil İnalcık, "Hüsrev Paşa", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/husrev-pasa).