Köprülüdür. Köprü eşrâfından el-Hâc Ali Bey bin [91] el-Hâc Ağa’nın mahdûmudur. 1260’da doğdu. 1282’de asker olup zâbıtân-ı askeriyye silkine girdi. 1288’de mülâzım olup Gelibolu taburunda bulundu.
Ba’dehû yüzbaşı olup Tirebolu taburuna nakledildi. Ba’de’l-muhârebe 1294’de yüzbaşılıkdan istifâ edib Köprü’ye geldi. Burada mahkeme ve meclis idâre a’zâsı ve 1310’da Düyûn-ı Umumiyye me’mûru oldu. 1320’de vefât etdi.
Âkil, mütedeyyin, basîretkâr, ulemâya muhîb idi. Kerîmesi Nâdire Hânım’ı İstanbul müdderrislerinden Köprülü Zaîmzâde Fâzıl Mehmed Arif Efendi’ye verdi. Mahdûmu Mehmed Sami Bey polislerdendir.
In Modern English
He is from Köprü. He is the son of Hacı Ali Bey, of the notables of Köprü, who was the son of Hacı Ağa. He was born in 1260. In 1282 he became a soldier and entered the officer class. In 1288, as a mülâzım (lieutenant), he served in the Gelibolu battalion.
Then he became a captain and was transferred to the Tirebolu battalion. After the war, in 1294, he resigned from the captaincy and came to Köprü. Here he became a member of the court and of the administrative council, and in 1310 he became an official of the Düyûn-ı Umûmiye (Public Debt Administration). He died in 1320.
He was an intelligent, devout, far-sighted man who loved scholars. He gave his daughter Nâdire Hanım in marriage to Köprülü Zaîmzâde Fâzıl Mehmed Arif Efendi, one of the müderrises of Istanbul. His son Mehmed Sami Bey is among the police.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- eşrâf: those from the respected and long-established families of a place
- zâbıtân-ı askeriyye silki: the officer class
- mülâzım: an officer corresponding to the present rank of lieutenant
- ba'de'l-muhârebe: after the war
- mahkeme ve meclis idâre a'zâsı: member of the court and of the administrative council of the district
- Düyûn-ı Umûmiyye me'mûru: an official of the administration set up to pay the Ottoman foreign debts
- mütedeyyin: devout
- basîretkâr: far-sighted, prudent
- ulemâya muhîb: one who loves scholars
- kerîme: a daughter
- müdderris: a madrasa teacher
What the Düyûn-ı Umûmiye Administration Was
The post Hüsameddin calls "Düyûn-ı Umûmiyye official" belonged to the staff of the administration set up to pay the foreign debts of the Ottoman State. In 1875 the state had become unable to pay its internal and external debts, and in April 1876 it stopped payments. Negotiations with the representatives of the creditors ended in the Muharrem Decree of 20 December 1881; under it certain state revenues, such as the salt, silk, tobacco, alcohol, hunting and stamp revenues, were set aside for the debts, and the Düyûn-ı Umûmiye-i Osmaniye Vâridat-ı Muhassasa İdaresi was founded to collect them. At the head of the administration stood a council of seven members representing the creditors. To collect the revenues, branches were opened in various cities of the empire; among the branches before the Balkan War were Ankara, Sivas and Trabzon. Hüsameddin does not write to which branch the post in Köprü was attached; here only the meaning of the name can be given.
The War and the Resignation
Hüsameddin ties the resignation from the captaincy to "after the war" but does not write which war it was. The Ottoman-Russian War, known among the people as the 93 Harbi, began on 24 April 1877; since the year 1294 could fall right after this war, it comes to mind first, but this is an inference and is not confirmed in the text. In which unit Ali Bey took part in the war is not written either. About the duties of the Gelibolu and Tirebolu battalions in the war we found no information in the sources we examined.
Points to Note
The calendar of the years in the text is not stated. Since it is not known whether they are hijri or fiscal, no Gregorian equivalent is given in this entry. About Fâzıl Mehmed Arif Efendi, to whom he gave his daughter, and about his son Mehmed Sami Bey, no information could be found in other sources.
Bibliography
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 7, p. 292–292. amasya.bel.tr
- Hikmet Öksüz, Ahmet Köksal, "93 Harbi'ne Giden Yol: Tersane Konferansı ve Sonuçları", 1877-1878 Osmanlı-Rus Savaşı (93 Harbi) Uluslararası Sempozyumu Bildirileri, Türk Ocakları İstanbul Şubesi, 2019.