Amasyalıdır. Şeyh Garîk Mahallesi eşrâfından olup 1041’de vefât eden Taşcızâde Mehmed Çelebi bin Ebûbekir Ağazâde el-Hâc Halîl Ağa’nın mahdûmudur. 1047’de sipâhî olup defterdâr Ebûbekir Paşa’nın ma’iyyetinde müstahdem olarak kendini sevdirdi; bu münâsebetle ona dâmâd, iki def’a Amasya kethüdâsı [268] ve 1056’da defterdâr kethüdâsı oldu. 1058’de Amasya mutasarrıfı Hüseyin Paşa ile kethüdâsı Sarı Mehmed Ağa’nın emvâl ü emlâkini zabda me’mûren Amasya’ya geldi.
1061’de kayınpederinin vefâtında Köprülü Mehmed Paşa’ya intisâb edib sadâretinde Sivas vilâyetini teftîşe me’mûr ve avdetinde kapıcılar kethüdâsı, 1078’de Galata voyvodası oldu. Bu me’mûriyyetini hüsn-i îfâ ederek Köprülüzâde Fâzıl Ahmed Paşa’ya kendisini beğendirmiş olduğundan 1083 senesi muharreminde kethüdâ-yı sadr-ı âlî, 1084’de Rumeli pâyesiyle Niğbolu muhâfızı oldu.
1088 senesi evâ’ilinde vezâretle Bosna vâlisi olarak Sadr-ı a’zam Merzifonî Kara Mustafa Paşa’nın mazhar-ı takdîri oldu. 1090’da Sivas, 1092’de Erzurum vâlisi olup 1094’de Viyana harbine me’mûren Rumeli’ne geçdi. Sene-i mezbûre zilka’desinde Viyana önünde şehîden vefât etdi. Şeci’, umûrunda mukdîm, müdebbir bir vezîr idi. Mahdûmları Mehmed, Ahmed Beylerdir. Ahmed Beyzâde Ebûbekir Bey olup bunlara “Bekir Paşazâdeler” dendi. [269]
In Modern English
He was a native of Amasya, the son of Taşcızâde Mehmed Çelebi bin Ebûbekir Ağazâde el-Hâc Halîl Ağa, one of the notables of the Şeyh Garîk quarter, who died in 1041 [1631-32]. In 1047 [1637-38] he became a sipahi and won favour by serving in the retinue of the defterdar Ebûbekir Pasha; through this closeness he became his son-in-law, was twice kethüda of Amasya, and in 1056 [1646] became kethüda of the defterdar. In 1058 [1648] he came to Amasya, charged with seizing the goods and property of the mutasarrıf of Amasya, Hüseyin Pasha, and of his kethüda Sarı Mehmed Ağa.
In 1061 [1651], on the death of his father-in-law, he attached himself to Köprülü Mehmed Pasha; under his grand vizierate he was charged with inspecting the province of Sivas, on his return became kapıcılar kethüdası, and in 1078 [1667-68] voyvoda of Galata. Because he performed this duty well and won the approval of Köprülüzâde Fâzıl Ahmed Pasha, in Muharrem 1083 [April-May 1672] he became kethüda of the grand vizierate, and in 1084 [1673-74], with the rank of beylerbeyi of Rumeli, guardian of Nikopol.
At the beginning of 1088 [March-April 1677], as governor of Bosnia with the rank of vizier, he won the appreciation of Grand Vizier Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Pasha. In 1090 [1679] he became governor of Sivas and in 1092 [1681] of Erzurum, and in 1094 [1683] he crossed into Rumeli, assigned to the Vienna campaign. In Zilkade of the same year [October-November 1683] he fell as a martyr before Vienna. He was a brave vizier, bold and prudent in his affairs. His sons were Mehmed Bey and Ahmed Bey. Ahmed Bey's son was Ebûbekir Bey, and they were called the "Bekir Paşazâdes."
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- ma'iyyet: those who are at the side, under the orders of a superior
- müstahdem: one employed in service
- dâmâd: son-in-law, one who takes someone's daughter
- emvâl ü emlâk: goods and property
- zabt: seizure, taking on behalf of the state (often confiscation)
- intisâb: entering the patronage, the door, of a great man
- kapıcılar kethüdâsı: the administrator of the palace's company of gatekeepers (kapıcılar)
- voyvoda: an administrator running the tax and public-order affairs of a place; here, the governor of Galata
- kethüdâ-yı sadr-ı âlî: kethüda of the grand vizierate, the grand vizier's deputy
- pâye: rank, grade; a title given without actually performing that post
- muhâfız: the commander guarding a fortress and border region
- mazhar-ı takdîr olmak: to win appreciation
- şecî': brave; mukdim: bold; müdebbir: prudent
The Taşçızâdes and Defterdar Ebûbekir Pasha
Ebûbekir Pasha stands at the common point of several entries linked together in Hüsameddin's book. Taşçızâde Ebûbekir Ağa, described in entry 300 of the same volume, was the son of Taşçı el-Hâc Mehmed Çelebi, one of the notables of Amasya; he became a sipahi young, several times kethüdâyeri of Amasya and mütesellim of Sivas and Amasya, and died in 1017 [1608] fighting the brigands. Hüsameddin writes that his lineage continued until recent times. The expression "Ebûbekir Ağazâde" in the name of el-Hâc Halîl Ağa, father of the pasha in our entry, suggests that the pasha was a grandson of this Ebûbekir Ağa; the pasha's own name must also have come from his great-grandfather. This is an inference made by comparing the two entries.
The father-in-law who started the pasha's career is Murâd Beyzâde Ebûbekir Pasha of entry 303. According to Hüsameddin, this man began as a sipahi, clerk of the beytülmal trust and collector of the cizye, from 1035 repeatedly served as defterdar of Sivas, Trabzon and Erzurum, as army defterdar, and as beylerbeyi of Mosul and Sivas, and died at the end of 1061; at the end of that entry Hüsameddin also mentions the hero of our entry as "his son-in-law Taşçızâde Ebûbekir Pasha." The date 1061 agrees in the two entries. Taşçızâde's being "kethüda of the defterdar" also relates to his father-in-law's defterdar posts.
Rise in the Era of the Köprülüs
His attaching himself to Köprülü Mehmed Pasha after his father-in-law's death recalls the old tie between Amasya and the Köprülü family. As noted in Abdülkadir Özcan's entry on Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Pasha, Köprülü Mehmed, during the years he was sanjak governor of Amasya, also took Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa under his patronage and raised him together with his sons. Taşçızâde's life also advances within this network of patronage: the Sivas inspection under Köprülü Mehmed Pasha's grand vizierate, the kethüdalık of the grand vizierate and the guardianship of Nikopol under Fâzıl Ahmed Pasha's, and the vizierate and the governorships of large provinces under Kara Mustafa Pasha's. Kara Mustafa Pasha had become grand vizier on 28 Şaban 1087 (5 November 1676) on the death of Fâzıl Ahmed Pasha; Taşçızâde's being sent to Bosnia with the vizierate a few months later, in early 1088, is among this new grand vizier's first appointments.
In the lists of Ottoman governors of Bosnia, between Mehmed Pasha in 1674-1676 and Defterdar Cebeci Ahmed Pasha in 1677-1678 a governor named "Hacı Ebu Bekir Pasha" appears, with years of service given as 1676-1677. The date is very close to Hüsameddin's record; it is therefore probable that the Hacı Ebûbekir Pasha in the list is Taşçızâde. However, Hüsameddin does not mention the pasha making the hajj, and no other information about the governor's identity is found in the list read; this identification is not certain. No separate record of the pasha's governorships of Sivas and Erzurum was found in the sources read.
The Vienna Campaign and His Death
The 1683 campaign in which Ebûbekir Pasha took part is the siege of Vienna led by Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Pasha as serdâr-ı ekrem. According to Özcan, the army arrived before Vienna on 19 Receb 1094 (14 July 1683), and when the siege passed two months, weariness and food shortage began among the soldiers. In the battle of 12 September 1683 against the allied army under the command of King Jan Sobieski of Poland, first the right and then the left wing collapsed; the grand vizier, after holding out for five or six hours, took the sacred banner and withdrew to Yanıkkale. About 300 cannon, nearly 15,000 tents and the army treasury were left behind.
The rout did not end there. After Kara Mustafa Pasha withdrew to Buda, on 5 October 1683 he sent a force of thirty thousand under the command of Kara Mehmed Pasha against the attacks directed at Komorn and Esztergom; in these engagements many valuable commanders fell as martyrs, and shortly afterwards the fortresses of Párkány (Ciğerdelen) and Esztergom also fell into Austrian hands. Kara Mustafa Pasha himself was executed at Belgrade on 6 Muharrem 1095 (25 December 1683).
This chronology requires dwelling on the date Hüsameddin gives. Hüsameddin writes that Ebûbekir Pasha fell as a martyr "before Vienna" in Zilkade 1094. In the Hijri calendar the great battle of 12 September 1683 corresponds to the twentieth of Ramazan 1094; Zilkade 1094 is approximately 22 October-20 November 1683. So if the date is right, the pasha must have lost his life not in the main battle before Vienna but in the engagements continuing in Hungary after the rout; the phrase "before Vienna" may be a general expression describing the whole campaign. If the date is wrong, it is also possible that he died in the battle of 12 September. Since no other record of the pasha's death was found in the sources read, this question remains open.
No information was found in other sources about his sons Mehmed Bey and Ahmed Bey, whom Hüsameddin mentions, or his grandson Ebûbekir Bey, or about the family's continued existence under the name "Bekir Paşazâdes."
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, pp. 89–90; also in the same volume the entries "Ebûbekir Ağa-Taşçızâde" (p. 87) and "Ebûbekir Paşa-Murâd Beyzâde" (p. 88). amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
- Abdülkadir Özcan, "Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Paşa", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/merzifonlu-kara-mustafa-pasa).
Other sources
- "List of Ottoman governors of Bosnia" (en.wikipedia.org), accessed 2026.