AMASYA 05

Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar · İKİNCİ BÂB · BİRİNCİ FASIL

Emîn Mehmed Ağa, Danacızâde el-Hâc

Encyclopedia · History of Amasya, Volume 7, p. 364 • Edited by: Prof. Dr. Safi ARPAGUŞ- Prof. Dr. Ahmet Hakkı TURABİ

Original Text (Ottoman Turkish)

Köprülüdür. Oranın a’yânı el-Hâc Ahmed Ağa’nın oğludur. Birâderi Hacı İbrâhim Ağa’nın vefâtından sonra Köprü a’yânı oldu. 1241’de Yeniçeri Ocağının ilgâsında yararlığı görüldüğünden kapıcıbaşılığa nâil olup 1243’de Rus harbine gitdi. Oralarda vefât etdi.

Our Research Article Editor: Mevlüt Erdem Öztürk

In Modern English

He was from Köprü. He was the son of Hacı Ahmed Ağa, ayân of that place. After the death of his brother Hacı İbrâhim Ağa he became ayân of Köprü. In 1241 [1825-26], when his usefulness was seen at the abolition of the Janissary corps, he attained the rank of kapıcıbaşı, and in 1243 [1827-28] he went to the Russian war. He died there.

Notes and Research

Old Words in the Text

  • ayân: local notables, the influential men of a town
  • ilgâ: abolition, doing away with
  • Yeniçeri Ocağı: the Janissary corps, the regular infantry corps of the Ottoman state
  • kapıcıbaşılık: the rank of kapıcıbaşı
  • nâil olmak: to attain, to reach

The Abolition of the Janissary Corps

The Janissary corps was abolished on 17 June 1826 as one of the most important acts of the reign of Mahmud II; in the sources the event is usually called the "vak'a-i hayriyye" (the Auspicious Incident). A new army was set up in its place and the post of Janissary commander was replaced by that of serasker. The final blow to the corps is described as struck in four or five hours of fighting in Istanbul; according to an assessment made years after the event, the total loss was 1800 in Istanbul and 1200 in the provinces. Hüsameddin's record "abolition in 1241" agrees with this date as to the year. What the "usefulness" of the ayân of Köprü in this affair consisted of, whether he took a role against the Janissaries in the region or helped with the purge, could not be established from the sources read.

The Russian War

The year 1243 (1827-28) in the text is close to the years of the war that the source calls "the Russian war of 1828-1829"; the campaign Hüsameddin calls the "Russian war" should be this one, which is an inference. Hüsameddin does not write on which front or where Danacızâde died ("in those parts"). It is known that in the same war Mehmed Celâleddin Pasha of the Çapanoğlu family was held responsible for the fall of Yenikale; this cannot be tied to the ayân of Köprü and is mentioned only to show that the war was a campaign that also concerned provincial notables. No information was found in other sources on the Danacızâde family, Hacı Ahmed Ağa or Hacı İbrâhim Ağa.

Bibliography

Primary sources

  • Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 7, p. 364–364. amasya.bel.tr

Academic studies

Volume 7 contents