AMASYA 05

Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar · İKİNCİ BÂB · BİRİNCİ FASIL

Emîrtâş Mehmed Ağa-Taşçıoğlu

Encyclopedia · History of Amasya, Volume 7, p. 354 • Edited by: Prof. Dr. Safi ARPAGUŞ- Prof. Dr. Ahmet Hakkı TURABİ

Original Text (Ottoman Turkish)

Amasya Yeniçerilerinden Alemdâr es-Seyyid Mehmed Ağa olup tercemesi aşağıda “Mehmed Ağa, Emîrtâş” diye gelir. Evlâdına “Emîrtâş Oğulları” dendi. Evlâdından Amasya serdârı es-Seyyid Emîn Mehmed Ağa pek meşhûr olup tercemesi aşağıda gelir. [298]

Our Research Article Editor: Mevlüt Erdem Öztürk

In Modern English

He was es-Seyyid Mehmed Ağa, a standard-bearer (alemdâr) of the Janissaries of Amasya; his life story appears below under the heading "Mehmed Ağa, Emîrtâş." His descendants were called "Emîrtâş Oğulları" (the Emîrtâş family). Among his descendants, es-Seyyid Emîn Mehmed Ağa, commander (serdâr) of Amasya, was very famous; his life story appears below.

Notes and Research

Old Words in the Text

  • alemdâr: an official who carries the standard, standard-bearer
  • serdâr: the local commander of the Janissaries of Amasya; in the text "Amasya serdarı" is used in this sense
  • evlâd: children, descendants
  • meşhûr: famous, well known

The Taşçıoğlu Family

The entry gives Mehmed Ağa the surname Taşçıoğlu. In other entries of the book a family called Taşçıoğlu appears, which served in the Janissary organization of Amasya. One of them is Sun'ullah Ağa: he became a Janissary, rose through his valor in wars to be commander of Amasya, and died in 1040 [1630-31] in the Baghdad war; his son was Abdüllatîf Ağa and his brother Mehmed Çelebi. Abdüllatîf Ağa too, as a Janissary, showed valor in the Rumelian wars, became commander of Amasya, was dismissed and reappointed several times, and died after 1058 [1648]. Elsewhere it is also written that at the end of 1052 [1643], on the dismissal of Taşçıoğlu Sun'ullah Ağa, Gözdâş Mehmed Ağa became commander of Amasya; this record does not agree with the entry stating that Sun'ullah Ağa died in the Baghdad war in 1040. Either two persons of the same name are involved or one of the two records is wrong; Hüsameddin does not explain the contradiction. From the same line, es-Seyyid İsmâil Ağa, son of Ömer, one of the Janissaries of Amasya, showed valor in battles, was standard-bearer, for a time commander in the countryside and then commander of Amasya, and died around 1237 [1821-22].

The name Taşçıoğlu also appears in records of the 18th century. In 1136 [1723-24] Taşçıoğlu Hacı Ahmed Ağa is mentioned as the sipahi kethüda; in Şevvâl 1141 [1729] a person of the same name is recorded as having become deputy governor (mütesellim) of Amasya. The record of 1186 [1772-73] is more important: at the beginning of Zilkade the turnacıbaşı of the corps, Taşçıoğlu Mehmed Ağa of Amasya, came to Amasya on duty to dispatch soldiers, and the Janissaries of Amasya called him "Emîr Taş."

The Nickname Emîrtâş

This last record may point to the origin of the nickname "Emîrtâş" in entry 330: the nickname would be the way the surname Taşçıoğlu was pronounced as "Emîr Taş." However, the book does not present the standard-bearer Mehmed Ağa of entry 330 and the turnacıbaşı Mehmed Ağa of 1186 as the same person; moreover, one is called alemdâr and the other turnacıbaşı. This pairing is an inference. According to the TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, the turnacıbaşı was one of the senior ağas of the Janissary corps, and among his duties was collecting recruits in Rumelia and Anatolia; this fits the duty of "driving soldiers" in the record of 1186. The years in which Emîn Mehmed Ağa lived and what he did are not written in this entry; in volume 7 of the book there are other entries under the name Emîn Mehmed Ağa, but the name Emîrtâş or Taşçıoğlu was not seen in any of them.

Searches on the Amasya branch of the Janissary corps, the commandership of Amasya and the Taşçıoğlu family found no source apart from Hüsameddin's book.

Bibliography

Primary sources

  • Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 7, p. 354–354. amasya.bel.tr
  • Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, vol. 7, entry "İsmâil Ağa-Taşçıoğlu es-Seyyid Alemdâr," p. 322.
  • Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, vol. 11, entry "Sun'ullah Ağa-Taşçıoğlu," p. 448.
  • Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, vol. 12, entry "Abdüllatîf Ağa-Taşcıoğlu," p. 579.
  • Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, vol. 4, entry "Ahmed Paşa," p. 567.
  • Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, vol. 4 Supplement (Bakiyye), entry "Hacı Alî Bey," p. 664–666; entries "İbrâhim Paşa" (p. 637) and "Hacı Hüseyin Paşa" (p. 640–641).

Academic studies

Volume 7 contents