Amasyalıdır. Amasya’da câmii ve medresesi ve türbesi ve evkâf-ı cesîmesi olan Amasya Beylerbeyi Seyfeddîn Torumtay evlâdından Abdurrahmân Ağa bin Mustafa Bey bin Dursun Bey’in mahdûmu ve yukarıdaki Eyyûb Bey’in yeğenidir.
Bevvâbân-ı dergâh-ı âlîden bulunan pederinin irtihâlinde kendisine kapıcılık ze’âmeti verildi. Enderûn sarâyında ta’lîm ve terbiye görüb tefeyyüz etdi. 1025 senesi muharreminin üçünü günü Amasya’da Sultân Bâyezîd evkâfı mütevellîsi olarak gönderildi.
1027 senesi zilhiccesinde Hâce-i Sultânî Amasyalı Ömer Efendi’nin himmetiyle İstanbul’a celb edilip Dîvân-ı hümâyûna [404] me’mûr oldu. 1033’de Sultân Murâd-ı Râbi’in dâyesini tezevvüc ederek kâtib-i serpâdişâhî olup Sultân-ı müşârün-ileyhe kendisini fevkalâde sevdirdi.
1040 senesi recebinde Nişâncı Yûsuf Paşa’nın azline binâen yerine efendilikle nişâncı olarak Dîvân-ı hümâyûn erkânından oldu. İki sene sonra Mostarî Mustafa Paşa nişâncı oldukda kâtib-i serpâdişâhî olarak mâbeyn-i hümâyûnda kaldı.
1043 senesi rebîülâhirinde sâniyyen vezâretle nişâncı olup teayyün etdi. 1046 senesi ramazânında kubbe-nişîn olan Lâdikli Kurt Ağazâde Bayrâm Paşa sadrâzam oldukda yerine kubbe-nişîn oldu.
1049 senesi şevvâlinde Sultân Murâd-ı Râbi’in irtihâli ve Sultân İbrâhim Hân’ın cülûsu üzerine azl ve tekâ’üd edildi. Ancak zevci olan Sultân Murâd’ın dâyesi Vâlide Sultân’a ricâ ve istirhâm eylediğinden 1052 senesi saferinde üçüncü defa nişâncı oldu.
Çünkü bâ’is-i azli Sadr-ı a’zam Kemânkeş Kara Mustafa Paşa [405] idi. Vâlide Kösem Sultân, sadrâzamın nüfûzunu kırabilmek için bunu Sultân İbrâhim’e nişâncı yaptırmış, sadr-ı müşârün-ileyhe karşı çıkarmışdı.
1053 senesi zilka’desinde Sadr-ı a’zam Kara Mustafa Paşa’nın i’dâmı üzerine bunun sadâreti kuvve-i karîbeye gelmiş iken Sultân İbrâhim’in arzusu galebe edib Civan Kapıcıbaşı demekle meşhûr Sultânzâde Mehmed Paşa sadrâzam olarak Şam’dan geldi.
1054 senesi saferinin on dördüncü günü sadrâzamın istirkâbı yüzünden Maksûd Paşa’nın yerine Mısır vâlisi olup gitdi. Amasya’da sâkin ve mukîm Bağdâdlı Mahmûd Çavûşzâde Mevkûfâtî Mehmed Efendi kâtib-i dîvânî olup kendisine refâkat etdi.
Çünkü sâhib-i tercemenin sarây-ı hümâyûnda büyük bir nüfûzu olup sadâret namzedi sayılırdı. Mehmed Efendi de Sultân Murâd’ın kızı Esmâ Hân Kaya Sultân’ın kethüdâlığında fevkalâde nüfûz ve şöhret kazanmışdı. Sadr-ı a’zam bu sûretle her ikisini de İstanbul’dan uzaklaşdırmış oldu. [406]
Tam iki yıl Mısır vilâyetini hüsn-i idâre etdiği sadr-ı müşârün-ileyhin nazar-ı dikkatini celb edib Mısır hazînesinin muhâsebesi İstanbul’da görülmek üzere 1056 senesi saferinin on sekizinci günü Mısır’dan azl ve da’vet edildi.
Sadr-ı a’zam Mısır hazînesinin muhâsebesi şayân-ı ehemmiyet olduğunu Sultân İbrâhim’e arzederek muhâsebe fermânını aldı. Ta’yîn edilen muhâsibler hesâbâtı tenkîd etdikleri esnâda bîçâre merâkından 1057 senesi evâ’ilinde vefât etdi.
Katib, münşî, mizâc-gîr, gâyet müdebbir, hayırhâh bir vezîr idi. Emvâl ü emlâki müsâdere edilerek az bir kısmı mahdûmu Abdurrahmân Bey’e kaldı. Abdurrahmân Bey, mu’ahharan Amasya’ya gelip Torumtay evkâfına mütevellî oldu.
In Modern English
He was a native of Amasya. He was the son of Abdurrahman Ağa, son of Mustafa Bey, son of Dursun Bey, a descendant of Seyfeddîn Torumtay, Beylerbeyi of Amasya, who had a mosque, a madrasa, a tomb and large waqfs in Amasya; and he was the nephew of the Eyyûb Bey mentioned above.
On the death of his father, who was among the gatekeepers of the Sublime Porte, he was given the gatekeepers' zeamet. He received instruction and training in the Enderun palace and came to the fore. On the third day of Muharram 1025 [January-February 1616] he was sent to Amasya as the mütevelli (administrator) of the waqfs of Sultan Bayezid.
In Dhu'l-Hijja 1027 [November-December 1618], through the efforts of Ömer Efendi of Amasya, the Sultan's tutor, he was brought to Istanbul and assigned to the Imperial Council. In 1033 [1623-24] he married the nurse of Sultan Murad IV, became the sovereign's secretary (kâtib-i serpâdişâhî), and made himself extraordinarily beloved to the Sultan.
In Rajab 1040 [January-February 1631], on the dismissal of Nişâncı Yûsuf Pasha, he became nişancı in his place as an Efendi and was one of the members of the Imperial Council. Two years later, when Mostarî Mustafa Pasha became nişancı, he remained at the sovereign's side as the sovereign's secretary.
In Rabî' al-Âkhir 1043 [September-October 1633] he became nişancı a second time, with the rank of vizier, and came to prominence. In Ramadan 1046 [February-March 1637], when Ladikli Kurt Ağazâde Bayram Pasha became grand vizier, he succeeded to his place as a vizier of the dome.
In Shawwâl 1049 [February 1640], on the death of Murad IV and the accession of Sultan Ibrahim Han, he was dismissed and pensioned. But since the nurse of Murad IV, who was his wife, appealed and pleaded with the Valide Sultan, he became nişancı for the third time in Safar 1052 [April-May 1642].
For the cause of his dismissal had been Grand Vizier Kemankeş Kara Mustafa Pasha. The Valide Kösem Sultan, in order to break the grand vizier's influence, had him made nişancı to Sultan Ibrahim and set him against the grand vizier.
In Dhu'l-Qa'da 1053 [January-February 1644], when Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa Pasha was executed, his own succession to the grand vizierate was near, but Sultan Ibrahim's wish prevailed and Sultanzâde Mehmed Pasha, famous as Civan Kapıcıbaşı, came from Damascus as grand vizier.
On the fourteenth day of Safar 1054 [April 1644], because of the grand vizier's suspicion, he went as governor of Egypt in place of Maksud Pasha. Bağdâdlı Mahmûd Çavûşzâde Mevkûfâtî Mehmed Efendi, who lived in Amasya, accompanied him as secretary of the Council.
For the subject of this entry had great influence in the imperial palace and was regarded as a candidate for the grand vizierate. Mehmed Efendi, too, had gained extraordinary influence and fame as steward to Esmâ Han Kaya Sultan, the daughter of Sultan Murad. In this way the grand vizier had removed both of them from Istanbul.
His good governance of the province of Egypt for a full two years drew the grand vizier's attention, and on the eighteenth day of Safar 1056 [April 1646] he was dismissed from Egypt and summoned so that the accounts of the Egyptian treasury could be examined in Istanbul.
The grand vizier reported to Sultan Ibrahim that the accounts of the Egyptian treasury were of great importance and obtained the decree for the audit. While the appointed accountants were examining the accounts, the poor man died of grief in the early part of 1057 [early 1647].
He was a secretary, a stylist, a reader of men's characters, a most prudent and benevolent vizier. His goods and property were confiscated, and only a small part remained to his son Abdurrahman Bey. Abdurrahman Bey later came to Amasya and became mütevelli of the Torumtay waqfs.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- mahdûm: son
- bevvâbân-ı dergâh-ı âlî: gatekeepers of the Sublime Porte
- irtihâl: death
- kapıcılık ze'âmeti: the large military revenue assigned to the kapıcıbaşıs
- mütevellî: administrator of a waqf
- Hâce-i Sultânî: the sovereign's tutor
- Dîvân-ı hümâyun: the highest governing council of the state
- dâye: wet nurse, nanny, nurse
- tezevvüc: marrying
- kâtib-i serpâdişâhî: the sovereign's secretary
- nişâncı: the official who affixed the sultan's tuğra to decrees, head of state correspondence
- kubbe-nişîn: one seated among the viziers of the dome at Council meetings
- tekâ'üd: retirement
- i'dâm: execution
- istirkâb: suspicion
- muhâsebe: auditing, examining accounts
- bîçâre merâk: poor man, out of anxious grief
- mizâc-gîr: one who understands human temperament
- müsâdere: confiscation of property on behalf of the state
The Rival Parties at Court
Eyyûb Pasha's third term as nişancı falls in the palace of Sultan Ibrahim, who came to the throne after Murad IV. The Valide Sultan Kösem could not use her powers as she wished during her son Ibrahim's reign, and from time to time lived through anxious days because of the unrest in the palace that began with the execution of Kemankeş Kara Mustafa Pasha (1644). One reason for the rift with Kemankeş was Kösem Sultan's wish to marry Kaya Sultan, the daughter of Murad IV, to Silâhdar Mustafa Pasha, while the grand vizier regarded Silâhdar Mustafa Pasha as a rival. The reform Kemankeş wanted to carry out in the treasury also gave rise to complaints, and the wearing down of the grand vizier suited Kösem Sultan. Hüsameddin's presentation of Eyyûb Pasha as the man Kösem Sultan set against the grand vizier is consistent with this struggle; but since Eyyûb Pasha's name does not appear in the sources we read, this information could not be verified. The Kaya Sultan in the text is the daughter of Murad IV.
Sultanzâde Mehmed Pasha and the Dispatch to Egypt
Kemankeş Kara Mustafa Pasha was executed on 21 Dhu'l-Qa'da 1053 (31 January 1644). The seal of the grand vizierate was sent to Sultanzâde Mehmed Pasha, who had been removed from the centre as beylerbeyi of Damascus; the Pasha arrived in Istanbul on 1 Muharram 1054 (10 March 1644) and took up his duties. It is recorded that he is also known in the sources by the nickname Civan Kapıcıbaşı. It is written that as soon as he took office he removed from Istanbul the powerful viziers who could shake his own power; as for Maksud Pasha, the governor of Egypt who had been considered for the vizierate, it is stated that he had him fall from the sultan's favour and had him killed. Hüsameddin's account of Eyyûb Pasha being sent to Egypt "in place of Maksud Pasha" because of the grand vizier's suspicion agrees with this picture. In a list of the governors of Egypt, too, Maksud Pasha appears as 1642-1644, Eyüp Pasha as 1644-1646 and Haydarzâde Mehmed Pasha as 1646-1647; Hüsameddin's dates of 1054 and 1056 [1644-1646] agree with this list. That the Eyüp Pasha in the list is Nişâncı Eyyûb Pasha is an inference and rests on the similarity of names.
Where Hüsameddin Differs
The same record that lists the governors of Egypt writes of Eyüp Pasha that he restored order and, after his term, gave up all his property in order to become a dervish. Hüsameddin, by contrast, describes him as a vizier who was summoned from Egypt, died of grief while the treasury accounts were being examined, and had his property confiscated. The two accounts differ; which is correct, or whether the same person is meant, cannot be understood from the sources we read.
A further contradiction appears in the dates. Hüsameddin gives Eyyûb Pasha's recall from Egypt as 18 Safar 1056, that is, the spring of 1646, and ties it to the "grand vizier" who reported the treasury accounts to Sultan Ibrahim; in the text this grand vizier is Sultanzâde Mehmed Pasha. Yet Sultanzâde Mehmed Pasha was dismissed by the sultan in the council on 28 Shawwâl 1055 (17 December 1645). That is, at the time of the event Hüsameddin describes, the Pasha was no longer grand vizier. The reason for this inconsistency may be a confusion of date or person on Hüsameddin's part; as an inference, it is also possible that the recall from Egypt took place in the time of a grand vizier after Sultanzâde Mehmed Pasha.
The Torumtay Line and the Amasya Waqfs
Hüsameddin traces Eyyûb Pasha to the line of Seyfeddîn Torumtay, Beylerbeyi of Amasya, and writes that his son Abdurrahman Bey returned to Amasya and became mütevelli of the Torumtay waqfs. The present condition of the mosque, madrasa, tomb and waqfs belonging to Torumtay, and the link of Eyyûb Pasha's lineage to this family, could not be verified in the sources we read. No information was found in other sources on Ömer Efendi of Amasya, Bağdâdlı Mahmûd Çavûşzâde Mevkûfâtî Mehmed Efendi, or Eyyûb Pasha's son Abdurrahman Bey, who are mentioned in the text.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 7, p. 385–386. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
Other sources