Caniklidir. Canik muhassılı iken halk elinde⁷¹⁶ [121] Fatsalı Hacı Ahmed Ağa bin Süleymân Ağa bin Abdurrahmân Ağa'nın ikinci oğlu yâhud kaynıdır. 1186 rebî'ulevvelinin on ikinci günü Amasya mutasarrıfı ve kendisi Boğdan seraskeri yanında olduğundan baş a'yân Hacı İbrâhim Bey Amasya mütesellimi oldu.
Paşalıoğlu Alî Ağa'nın ocakdan gelmesi ve müte'âkiben Hacı Alî Bey gibi gâyet şedîd bir derebeyinin Amasya mutasarrıfı olması üzerine dâru'l-harbden gelen yeniçeriler ve firârîler toplanıp başbuğları Yüzbaşıoğlu Mustafâ Ağa'nın bayrağı altında Rûmeli'ne gitdiler.
Rebî'ulâhirin sonlarında arda kalan yeniçerileri de yine ocakdan gelen turnacıbaşı Seyfullâh Ağa başbuğları olan Alî Hocaoğlu Sâlih Ağa'nın bayrağı altında sevk etdi.
Bunlardan başka Amasya a'yânından sipâhîler kethüdâsı Kömüş Mehmedoğlu Hacı Yûsuf Ağa, Müjdecioğlu Hacı Abdulkâdir Ağa, Şehir Kethüdâsıoğlu Hacı İbrâhim Ağa, tedârik etdikleri gönüllü neferlerine başbuğ olup dâru'l-harbe gitdiler. Hindîoğlu Hacı Ahmed Ağa bin Alî Bey de dört yüz deve tedârik ederek zehâ'ir-i askeriyyenin orduya nakl ve teslîmine me'mûr oldu.
Şevvâl evâ'ilinde Amasya mutasarrıfı Hacı Alî Bey vezâretle Erzurum vâlîsi ve Kars [122] seraskeri olup Amasya'dan kuvvet istedi. Hayli Amasyalılar müşârün-ileyhin dâ'iresine girip hizmetler kabûl etdiler.
Bu esnâda Amasya a'yânından serdengeçdiler ağası Akhasanoğlu Hacı Halîl Ağa mîr-i mîrânlıkla Tutrakan muhâfızı ve diğer serdengeçdiler ağası Cebecioğlu Hacı Osmân Ağa da kapıcıbaşılıkla Hacı Halîl Paşa'nın yanına me'mûr oldu.
Zilka'de evâ'ilinde asker sürücülüğüne me'mûren ocakdan turnacıbaşı Amasyalı Taşçıoğlu Mehmed Ağa Amasya'ya geldi. Buna Amasya yeniçerileri "Emîr Taş" demişlerdi. Zilhicce ibtidâsında Şerîf Mehmed Efendi Amasya kadısı olup mahkeme kâtibi Hacı Mehmed Emîn Efendi nâ'ibi ve Çalık Mehmedoğlu Halîl Ağa da turnacıbaşılık pâyesiyle Valis Kalesi muhâfızı oldu.
1187 muharreminde Rahtuvân Paşazâde Hacı İbrâhim Bey Amasya mütesellimi, Türedioğlu Hacı Alî Ağa hacıbaşı, Göztaşoğlu Hacı Mustafâ Ağa, Hacı Alî Paşa'nın vekîl-i umûru oldu. Bu esnâda silahdâr ağası Amasyalı Hacı Feyzullâhoğlu Yeğen Alî Ağa bin Hacı Hüseyin Ağa, rikâb-ı hümâyûn kethüdâsı Amasyalı Hacı Kadiroğlu Hacı Hüseyin Ağa'nın sevk ve himmeti sâyesinde vezâretle Erzurum vâlîsi oldu. [123]
Saferde mütesellim Hacı İbrâhim Bey, Göztaşoğlu'nun nüfûzuna boyun eğemediğinden isti'fâ edip Rebî'ulevvelde sipâhîler kethüdâsı Deli Hüseyin Ağa Amasya mütesellimi ve Türedioğlu Hacı Alî Ağa baş a'yân oldu. Göztaşoğlu'nun her işe karışmasına Deli Hüseyin Ağa da dayanamadı. Şa'bân ibtidâsında çekilip baş a'yân Hacı Alî Ağa mütesellim oldu.
Bu esnâda Amasya fırkası ve a'yânı Rus harbinde oldukça yararlıklar gösterdiğinden Gürcüzâde Halîl Paşa, Yeğenzâde Ömer Paşa, Akhasanzâde Halîl Paşa vezâretle taltîf edildiler. Diğer Gürcüzâde Hacı Osmân Ağa mîr-i mîrânlıkla Çankırı ve Dalkılıç başbuğu ve serdengeçdiler ağası Cebecioğlu Osmân Ağa da mîr-i mîrânlıkla Alâ'iye mutasarrıfı ve serdengeçdiler kumandânı oldu.
Göztaşoğlu Hacı Mustafâ Ağa, Hacı Alî Paşa'ya vekâleti sâyesinde Amasya sancağının mâddeten mütesellimi ve âmiri mevki'inde idi. Ramazânın ibtidâsında İsmâ'il Es'ad Efendi Amasya kadısı olup fuzalâdan Ya'kûb Paşa müderrisi Gümüşhâneli Ebûbekir Efendi'yi nâ'ib ta'yîn etdi. Rusya harbi de hitâma erdi.
Zilka'denin sekizinci günü Üçüncü Sultân Mustafâ'nın vefâtıyla birâderi Birinci Abdulhamîd Han Osmanlı tahtına oturdu. [124]
Zilhiccenin yirmi birinci günü Kara Müftü İsmâ'il Efendi'nin azliyle Hacı Servahdî Mustafâ Efendi ikinci def'a Amasya müftüsü oldu.
1188 muharreminde Göztaşoğlu Hacı Mustafâ Ağa baş a'yân ve birâderi Hacı Ebûbekir Ağa hacıbaşı olup Hacı Alî Paşa'nın büyük oğlu Canik muhassılı Battâl Hüseyin Bey Amasya mütesellimi oldu. Beşinci günü haremeyn muhâsebe kâtibi Şerîf Mehmed Efendi evkâf-ı sultâniyye mütevellîsi olup geldi.
Muharremin on ikinci günü müftü Hacı Servahdî Efendi'nin azliyle Seküköylüoğlu Hacı Kâşif Mehmed Efendi Amasya müftüsü oldu. Safer evâ'ilinde mukaddemen esîr olan Sâdık Mehmed Paşa ile Yeğenzâde Ömer Paşa esâretden kurtuldu. Her ikisinin de vezâretleri alınıp Sâdık Mehmed Paşa Merzifon ve Ömer Paşa da Çorum'da ikâmete me'mûr oldu.
Çünkü muhârebe münâsebetiyle birçok zevâta vezâret verilmiş, bu vüzerâyı geçindirecek sancakların vâridâtı azalmış olduğundan vüzerâ tasfiyeye tâbi' tutulmuşdu. Bu esnâda vezâretleri alınan Amasyalılardan Akhasanzâde Hacı Halîl Paşa Erzurum'da, Gürcüzâde Halîl Paşa Amasya'da ikâme edildi.
Yine bu esnâda mahkeme başkâtibi Hacı Mehmed Emîn Efendi vefât eylediğinden oğlu [125] Ahmed Efendi kâtib ve Yörgüç Paşa müderrisi oldu. Rebî'ulevvelde Battâl Hüseyin Bey'e gelen Hacı Alî Paşa'nın şiddetli emri Köprü, Lâdik, Gümüş müftüleri ve ba'zı a'yânı nüfûz-ı hükûmete karşı koydukları, idâre işlerine karışdıkları bahânesiyle Amasya'ya celb ve habs edilerek ba'zılarından ağır fidye-i necât alındı, ba'zıları külliyen müsâdere ve ba'zıları da i'dâm edildi.
Lâdik müftüsü Hacı Mustafâ Efendi gâyet fakîh, zâhid bir pîr-i fânî idi. Hapishânede cefâya tahammül edemediğinden vefât etdi. Gümüş müftüsü Şeyh Mehmed Efendi, Merzifon müftüsü Hacı Alî Efendi ağır fidye-i necât verip yakalarını kurtardı. Köprü müftüsü Çelebizâde Hacı Abdullâh Efendi de para verip Köprü'ye giderek az sonra vefât etdi.
Bu esnâda Amasya sancağı müdhiş iki felâket içinde kıvranıyordu. Biri, kaht u gâlâ olanca şiddetiyle halkın üzerine çökmüşdü. Diğeri Hacı Alî Paşa'nın ve evlâd u etbâ'ının merhametsizce hareketleri, zulüm ve işkenceleri halkı canından bezdiriyordu.
Öteden beri Amasya sancağının halkı, Amasya a'yânının himâye-i müşfikânesiyle mes'ûdâne yaşardı. Hacı Alî Paşa Amasya a'yânının elinden iş gelen büyüklerini Amasya'dan uzaklaşdırdı, küçüklerini de ya kendisine uydurdu yâhud [126] pençe-i kahrı altında sindirdi. Halka tahammülünden ziyâde yüklendi.
Bundan dolayı bunalan halk, Amasya ulemâsının umdesi, cesâret-i medeniyyesiyle meşhûr Amasya müftüsü Hacı Kâşif Mehmed Efendi'ye mürâca'at etmişlerdi. Hacı Kâşif Efendi ulemâyı topladı. Hacı Alî Paşa'nın ve Battâl Hüseyin Bey'in mezâlim ve seyyi'âtını ta'dâd ederek dîvân-ı hümâyûna bir mahzar-ı umûmî yazıp takdîm ve feryâd etdi.
Bunu haber alan Hacı Alî Paşa, pâdişâhı ve bâb-ı âlîyi birtakım yalanlarla kandırdı. Lâzım gelen yerlere atiyyeler, hediyyeler takdîm ederek her tarafı susdurdu. Recebde bîçâre müftüyü azl etdikden sonra ertesi gece hânesinden ansızın kaldırıp Bafra'ya gönderdi. Yerine Sultâniyye müderrisi Âkif Efendizâde Hacı İsmâ'il Kâmil Efendi'yi Amasya müftüsü yapdı. Bu da yetmedi, ramazânın yirmi yedinci kadir gecesinde sahur vakti fâzıl Hacı Kâşif Mehmed Efendi Bafra'da salben i'dâm edildiği gibi mahzarı yazan şehîd-i müşârün-ileyhin yeğeni İbrâhim Efendi de Amasya'da Battâl Hüseyin Bey'in emriyle bayram günü i'dâm edildi. İmzâ sâhibleri olan Amasya âlimlerini çilyavrusu gibi birer tarafa sürüp dağıtdı.
Bu zâlimâne hareketlerden dolayı Amasya ve mülhakâtında ulemâ ve a'yânın gizlice [127] İstanbul'a gönderdikleri şikâyetler ve feryâd-nâmeler yeni sadr-ı a'zam olan Amasya evkâf-ı sultâniyyesi mütevellîsi Bolulu İzzet Mehmed Paşa'ya takdîm ve Hacı Alî Paşa ile oğlunun canlar yakan mezâlimini arz ve Amasya sancağını bunların zulüm ve tasallutlarından kurtarılması ricâ edildi.
Bâb-ı âlî ve hâsseten Birinci Sultân Abdulhamîd Hacı Alî Paşa'dan bayağı yılar, isyân etmesinden korkar, bunun için müdârâyı iltizâm ederdi. Çünkü Hacı Alî Paşa'nın askerî kuvveti diğer vâlîlere nisbetle hem çok hem de muntazamdı.
1189 muharreminde Hacı Alî Paşa halkın şikâyet etdiği mütesellim Battâl Hüseyin Bey'i Amasya'dan kaldırıp yerine ikinci oğlu Mikdâd Ahmed Bey'i mütesellim gönderdi. Vusûlüne kadar Merzifon voyvodası Kavaklı Deli Alî Ağa gibi bir cür'etkâr geldi.
Göztaşoğlu Hacı Mustafâ Ağa baş a'yân olup kapıcıbaşılık rütbesiyle okşandı. Birâderi Hacı Ebûbekir Ağa hacıbaşı oldu. Müntesiblerden Handânoğlu Şîrîn Alî Efendi Sa'dî Çelebi evkâfına mütevellî ve Osmân Çelebi dâru'l-hadîsin müderrisi oldu.
Fakat Kâşif Mehmed Efendi'nin i'dâmı, şeyhü'l-islâm İbrâhim Bey'i pek sinirlendirmişdi. [128] Gâlibâ Hacı Alî Paşa Amasya müftüsü İsmâ'il Kâmil Efendi'den aldığı fetvâyı göstermiş olmalıdır ki müftü efendi azl edilip İstanbul'a kaldırıldı. Yerine sâbık müftü Kara İsmâ'il Efendi Amasya müftüsü ve selefi de Eyyüb'de ikâmete me'mûr oldu. Çünkü İsmâ'il Kâmil Efendi ulemâ-i resmiyyeden olup tedrîs ve iftânın ehli değildi.
Muharremin onuncu günü Zeyneloğlu Hâfız Alî Efendi de azl edilip Sa'atçioğlu Sâlih Efendi şehir kethüdâsı ve cemâziyelevvel ibtidâsında Mehmed Efendi Amasya kadısı olup mahkeme başkâtibi Hacı Ahmed Efendi nâ'ibi oldu. Bu zât âlim, kâtib, şâ'ir olup Göztaş Oğulları'nın kafâdârı idi. Buna "Kafâdâr Efendi" denirdi.
Bu esnâda Mikdâd Ahmed Bey Amasya'ya gelip vekîli Merzifon'a gitdi. Mikdâd Ahmed Bey on altı yaşlarında bir genç olduğundan baş a'yân, mütesellim kâ'im-makâmı olup sancağı idâreye başladı.
Şevvâl evâ'ilinde Göztaşoğlu Hacı Mustafâ Ağa Amasya mütesellimi oldu. Mikdâd Ahmed Bey Samsun'a döndü. Hacı Alî Paşa'dan gelen emîr ve ta'lîmât üzerine ba'zı a'yân müsâdere ve nefy edilerek yine şikâyetler yükseldi.
Bu esnâda Sultân Bâyezîd kürsü şeyhi ve [129] şeyhü'l-muhaddisîn Seküköylü Hacı Hâfız Osmân Efendi vefât eylediğinden Çelebizâde Hacı Hüseyin Efendi şeyhu'l-muhaddisîn ve Abdulmuttalib Efendi bin Mustafâ Efendi de kürsü şeyhi oldu.
Hacı Alî Paşa, Sâdık Mehmed Paşa'yı şâkîleri tahrîk etmekle ittihâm ederek Merzifon'da i'dâm etdirdi. Meşhûr âlimlerden Hacı Servahdî Mustafâ Efendi, a'yândan miftâh ağası Mehmed Paşazâde Hacı Mustafâ Bey vefât etdi.
In Modern English
He was from Canik. While Canik muhassıl, among the people [...] he was the second son or the brother-in-law of Fatsalı Hacı Ahmed Ağa son of Süleyman Ağa son of Abdurrahman Ağa. On the twelfth day of Rebiülevvel 1186 [12 June 1772] he became mutasarrıf of Amasya; since he himself was with the seraskeri of Moldavia, the chief notable Hacı İbrahim Bey became mütesellim of Amasya.
When Paşalıoğlu Ali Ağa came from the corps and, right after him, an extremely harsh lord of the manor like Hacı Ali Bey became mutasarrıf of Amasya, the janissaries who had returned from the front, and the fugitives, gathered and went to Rumelia under the banner of their commander Yüzbaşıoğlu Mustafa Ağa.
At the end of Rebiülahir, the janissaries who remained behind were sent to the front by the turnacıbaşı Seyfullah Ağa, who also came from the corps, under the banner of their commander Ali Hocaoğlu Salih Ağa.
Besides these, among the notables of Amasya the sipahi kethüda Kömüş Mehmedoğlu Hacı Yusuf Ağa, Müjdecioğlu Hacı Abdülkadir Ağa and Şehir Kethüdasıoğlu Hacı İbrahim Ağa, placing themselves at the head of the volunteer soldiers they had gathered, went to the war zone. Hindîoğlu Hacı Ahmed Ağa son of Ali Bey was also charged with finding four hundred camels and carrying and delivering the army's provisions to the army.
In the first days of Şevval [December 1772] the mutasarrıf of Amasya Hacı Ali Bey became governor of Erzurum and seraskeri of Kars with the rank of vizier and asked for forces from Amasya. Many of the people of Amasya entered his household and took up service.
At this time Akhasanoğlu Hacı Halil Ağa, one of the notables of Amasya and ağa of the serdengeçtis, became guardian of Tutrakan with the rank of beylerbeyi; the other ağa of the serdengeçtis, Cebecioğlu Hacı Osman Ağa, was assigned to Hacı Halil Pasha with the rank of kapıcıbaşı.
In the first days of Zilkade Taşçıoğlu Mehmed Ağa of Amasya, turnacıbaşı of the corps, came to Amasya charged with driving soldiers out. The janissaries of Amasya called him "Emir Taş". At the beginning of Zilhicce Şerif Mehmed Efendi became kadı of Amasya, and the court clerk Hacı Mehmed Emin Efendi became his naib. Çalık Mehmedoğlu Halil Ağa also became guardian of Valis Castle with the rank of turnacıbaşı.
In Muharrem 1187 [March-April 1773] Rahtuvan Paşazade Hacı İbrahim Bey became mütesellim of Amasya, Türedioğlu Hacı Ali Ağa hacıbaşı, and Göztaşoğlu Hacı Mustafa Ağa deputy conducting the affairs of Hacı Ali Pasha. At this time the silahdar ağası Hacı Feyzullahoğlu Yeğen Ali Ağa son of Hacı Hüseyin Ağa of Amasya, through the guidance and efforts of the sadaret kethüdası Hacı Kadiroğlu Hacı Hüseyin Ağa of Amasya, became governor of Erzurum with the rank of vizier.
In Safer the mütesellim Hacı İbrahim Bey resigned because he could not bow to Göztaşoğlu's influence. In Rebiülevvel the sipahi kethüda Deli Hüseyin Ağa became mütesellim of Amasya, and Türedioğlu Hacı Ali Ağa chief notable. Deli Hüseyin Ağa too could not endure Göztaşoğlu's interference in everything; he withdrew at the beginning of Şaban, and the chief notable Hacı Ali Ağa became mütesellim.
At this time, since the Amasya unit and notables had shown considerable usefulness in the Russian war, Gürcüzade Halil Pasha, Yeğenzade Ömer Pasha and Akhasanzade Halil Pasha were rewarded with the rank of vizier. The other Gürcüzade, Hacı Osman Ağa, became mutasarrıf of Çankırı with the rank of beylerbeyi and commander of the Dalkılıç, and Cebecioğlu Osman Ağa, ağa of the serdengeçtis, became mutasarrıf of Alaiye with the rank of beylerbeyi and commander of the serdengeçtis.
Göztaşoğlu Hacı Mustafa Ağa, thanks to being Hacı Ali Pasha's deputy, was in effect in the position of mütesellim and master of the sanjak of Amasya. At the beginning of Ramazan [November 1773] İsmail Es'ad Efendi became kadı of Amasya and appointed as naib Ebubekir Efendi of Gümüşhane, one of the virtuous scholars and müderris of the Yakub Pasha Madrasa. The Russian war also ended.
On the eighth day of Zilkade [21 January 1774], upon the death of Sultan Mustafa III, his brother Abdülhamid Khan I took his seat on the Ottoman throne.
On the twenty-first day of Zilhicce, with the dismissal of Kara Müftü İsmail Efendi, Hacı Servahdî Mustafa Efendi became mufti of Amasya for the second time.
In Muharrem 1188 [March-April 1774] Göztaşoğlu Hacı Mustafa Ağa became chief notable and his brother Hacı Ebubekir Ağa hacıbaşı; Battal Hüseyin Bey, eldest son of Hacı Ali Pasha and Canik muhassıl, became mütesellim of Amasya. On the fifth day of the month Şerif Mehmed Efendi, accounting clerk of the Haremeyn, came as steward of the sultan's waqfs.
On the twelfth day of Muharrem, with the dismissal of the mufti Hacı Servahdî Efendi, Seküköylüoğlu Hacı Kâşif Mehmed Efendi became mufti of Amasya. At the beginning of Safer Sâdık Mehmed Pasha and Yeğenzade Ömer Pasha, who had earlier fallen captive, were freed from captivity. The vizierate of both was taken away; Sâdık Mehmed Pasha was obliged to live at Merzifon and Ömer Pasha at Çorum.
For many persons had been given the vizierate because of the war, the revenues of the sanjaks to support these viziers had diminished, and the viziers were subjected to a culling. Among the men of Amasya who had the vizierate taken from them at this time, Akhasanzade Hacı Halil Pasha was obliged to live at Erzurum and Gürcüzade Halil Pasha at Amasya.
Also at this time, since the chief court clerk Hacı Mehmed Emin Efendi died, his son Ahmed Efendi became clerk and müderris of the Yörgüç Pasha Madrasa. In Rebiülevvel a harsh order came to Battal Hüseyin Bey from Hacı Ali Pasha. By this order the muftis of Köprü, Lâdik and Gümüş and some notables were brought to Amasya and imprisoned on the pretext that they had opposed the government's authority and meddled in the administration. From some a heavy ransom for their release was taken, the whole property of some was confiscated, and some were executed.
The mufti of Lâdik, Hacı Mustafa Efendi, was an extremely learned jurist, withdrawn from the world, a very aged man. He could not endure the torment inflicted in prison and died. The mufti of Gümüş, Şeyh Mehmed Efendi, and the mufti of Merzifon, Hacı Ali Efendi, saved themselves by paying heavy ransoms. The mufti of Köprü, Çelebizade Hacı Abdullah Efendi, also paid money and returned to Köprü and died soon afterward.
At this time the sanjak of Amasya was writhing in two terrible calamities. First, famine and high prices had descended on the people with all their severity. Second, the merciless conduct, the tyranny and the tortures of Hacı Ali Pasha and his children and men were driving the people to despair.
From of old the people of the sanjak of Amasya had lived in peace under the compassionate protection of the notables of Amasya. Hacı Ali Pasha removed from Amasya the great men among the notables who were able to act, and either bound the lesser ones to himself or cowed them under his pressure. He loaded the people with burdens beyond their strength.
The people, worn down because of this, appealed to the mufti of Amasya Hacı Kâşif Mehmed Efendi, who was the support of the Amasya scholars and known for his civil courage. Hacı Kâşif Efendi gathered the scholars; enumerating one by one the tyranny and evils of Hacı Ali Pasha and Battal Hüseyin Bey, he wrote and submitted to the Imperial Council a collective petition of complaint and cried out.
Learning of this, Hacı Ali Pasha deceived the sultan and the Sublime Porte with a number of lies. By offering gifts and presents to the necessary places he silenced everyone. In Receb, after having the poor mufti dismissed, he the following night suddenly had him taken from his home and sent to Bafra. In his place he made the müderris of the Sultaniye, Âkif Efendizade Hacı İsmail Kâmil Efendi, mufti of Amasya. Even this was not enough; on the twenty-seventh of Ramazan, the Night of Power, at the time of sahur [end of November 1774], the virtuous Hacı Kâşif Mehmed Efendi was hanged and executed at Bafra. The nephew of the said martyr, İbrahim Efendi, who had written the petition, was also executed at Amasya on the feast day by Battal Hüseyin Bey's order. The Amasya scholars who had signed it he drove and scattered each to a different side like partridge chicks.
Because of these cruel acts, the letters of complaint and outcry that the scholars and notables in Amasya and its dependent districts secretly sent to Istanbul were presented to Bolulu İzzet Mehmed Pasha, the new grand vizier, who was at the same time steward of the sultan's waqfs in Amasya. The heart-rending tyranny of Hacı Ali Pasha and his son was related, and it was requested that the sanjak of Amasya be rescued from their tyranny and domination.
The Sublime Porte, and especially Sultan Abdülhamid I, was rather wary of Hacı Ali Pasha, feared that he would rebel, and therefore preferred to manage him. For Hacı Ali Pasha's military force was both greater and better organized than that of the other governors.
In Muharrem 1189 [March 1775] Hacı Ali Pasha took the mütesellim Battal Hüseyin Bey, of whom the people complained, from Amasya and sent in his place his second son Mikdad Ahmed Bey as mütesellim. Until he arrived, a reckless man such as Kavaklı Deli Ali Ağa, voivode of Merzifon, came to act as deputy.
Göztaşoğlu Hacı Mustafa Ağa became chief notable and was placated with the rank of kapıcıbaşı. His brother Hacı Ebubekir Ağa became hacıbaşı. Among those attached to the Pasha, Handanoğlu Şirin Ali Efendi became steward of the Sa'dî Çelebi waqfs and müderris of the Osman Çelebi Darülhadis.
But the execution of Kâşif Mehmed Efendi had greatly angered Şeyhülislam İbrahim Bey. Hacı Ali Pasha must surely have shown the fatwa he had obtained from the mufti of Amasya İsmail Kâmil Efendi, for the mufti efendi was dismissed and taken to Istanbul. In his place the former mufti Kara İsmail Efendi became mufti of Amasya; the mufti before him was obliged to live at Eyüp. For İsmail Kâmil Efendi, although he bore an official ilmiye rank, was not qualified to give lessons or issue fatwas.
On the tenth day of Muharrem Zeyneloğlu Hafız Ali Efendi was also dismissed, and Saatçioğlu Salih Efendi became city kethüda. At the beginning of Cemaziyelevvel Mehmed Efendi became kadı of Amasya, and the chief court clerk Hacı Ahmed Efendi became his naib. This person was a scholar, a clerk and a poet; he was a bosom friend of the Göztaş Oğulları. For this reason he was called "Kafadar Efendi".
At this time Mikdad Ahmed Bey came to Amasya, and his deputy returned to Merzifon. Since Mikdad Ahmed Bey was a youth of about sixteen, the chief notable began to govern the sanjak as deputy mütesellim.
In the first days of Şevval [November 1775] Göztaşoğlu Hacı Mustafa Ağa became mütesellim of Amasya, and Mikdad Ahmed Bey returned to Samsun. Upon orders and instructions from Hacı Ali Pasha, the property of some notables was confiscated and some were exiled; complaints rose again.
At this time, since Seküköylü Hacı Hafız Osman Efendi, kürsü sheikh of the Sultan Bayezid Mosque and head of the hadith scholars, died, Çelebizade Hacı Hüseyin Efendi became head of the hadith scholars, and Abdülmuttalib Efendi son of Mustafa Efendi became kürsü sheikh.
Hacı Ali Pasha, accusing Sâdık Mehmed Pasha of inciting bandits, had him executed at Merzifon. The renowned scholar Hacı Servahdî Mustafa Efendi and the notable anahtar ağası Mehmed Paşazade Hacı Mustafa Bey died.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- derebeyi: here, a harsh and arbitrary provincial ruler who relied on his own power even against the state
- turnacıbaşı: an officer rank in the janissary corps
- zehâ'ir-i askeriyye: the army's food and fodder provisions
- serasker: commander-in-chief of a front
- dâ'ire: the household and retinue of a pasha
- vekîl-i umûr: the deputy who conducted someone's affairs in his name
- taltîf: rewarding with rank or favor
- vüzerâ: viziers
- fidye-i necât: ransom paid for deliverance
- müsâdere: confiscation of property by the state
- pîr-i fânî: a very old person
- evlâd u etbâ': his children and men
- mahzar: a collective petition submitted with the signatures of many persons
- mezâlim ve seyyi'ât: tyrannies and evils
- salben i'dâm: execution by hanging
- çilyavrusu gibi dağıtmak: to scatter in every direction like partridge chicks
- tasallut: tyrannical imposition, domination
- müdârâ: managing, behaving gently while keeping someone's heart pleased
- kafâdâr: bosom friend, confidant
- iftâ: issuing fatwas
- şeyhü'l-muhaddisîn: head of the scholars who taught hadith
The Origins of Canikli Hacı Ali Pasha
Hüsameddin presents Ali Bey as the "second son or brother-in-law" of Fatsalı Hacı Ahmed Ağa; Mehmet Arslan, who prepared the book for publication, also notes at the beginning of the sentence that some lines may have been omitted in printing. Present-day research resolves this hesitation. According to Özcan Mert and Yücel Özkaya, Ali Bey was born in Istanbul in 1133 [1720-21] and is the younger son of Fatsalı Ahmed Ağa, one of the kapıcıbaşıs of the imperial threshold. Because of the oppressions his father committed around Terme and Fatsa, he was exiled with him to Ankara in 1741, and some time after his father died in 1748 returned to Canik with his elder brother Süleyman Pasha. Ali Bey, who contended with his brother over the Canik mukataa, in 1762 won the trust of the Sublime Porte by helping the governor of Çıldır in suppressing an uprising in Georgia, and became Canik muhassıl. His going on the pilgrimage also increased his standing in the region. This is the person Hüsameddin calls "Hacı Ali Bey".
The Serasker Posts and the End of the War
Hüsameddin places Ali Bey's becoming governor of Erzurum and seraskeri of Kars with the rank of vizier in Şevval 1186, that is, the end of 1772. Studies based on archival documents show these appointments as later. According to Özkaya, in March 1773 Ali Bey was still Canik muhassıl and mutasarrıf of Amasya with the rank of kapıcıbaşı; his being made seraskeri of Crimea with the vizierate took place at the end of 1773, and the province of Erzurum and the seraskerlik of Kars on 24 March 1774. Özcan Mert also gives the date 3 December 1776 for the seraskerlik of Kars; Ali Pasha must have received this post several times. Hüsameddin's record "the Russian war also ended" falls in Ramazan 1187, that is, November 1773. Yet when Abdülhamid I acceded on 21 January 1774, the war was still going on; the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca was signed only on 21 July 1774. In contrast, the date 8 Zilkade 1187 that Hüsameddin gives for Abdülhamid I's accession is correct.
The Execution of the Mufti Kâşif Mehmed Efendi
The gravest page of the entry is the hanging at Bafra of the mufti of Amasya, Seküköylüoğlu Kâşif Mehmed Efendi, for conveying the people's complaint to Istanbul. No other source on this event was found; but the framing information in Hüsameddin's account agrees with present-day research. The "new grand vizier" to whom the complaints were presented, Bolulu İzzet Mehmed Pasha, according to Fikret Sarıcaoğlu became grand vizier on 10 August 1774 and was dismissed on 7 July 1775; the mufti's execution (end of Ramazan 1188, end of November 1774) falls exactly in this period. The "Şeyhülislam İbrahim Bey" angered by the execution is İvazpaşazade İbrahim Beyefendi, whom Mehmet İpşirli examines. This man, who served as şeyhülislam from 29 September 1774 to 29 July 1775, was, in Ahmed Vâsıf Efendi's words, a man of chastity and piety who took care that sharia rulings be valid in politics too. His sharp reaction to a mufti's being hanged over a petition of complaint is consistent with this character.
In the walled cemetery on the qibla side of the Bafra Great Mosque there are nineteen graves, including the graves of the Canikli family. A local study that read the stones of these graves also lists a grave of "Muhammed Kâşif Efendi" dated 1775. The date is very close to the execution date Hüsameddin gives, and it is highly probable that the grave belongs to the mufti of Amasya hanged at Bafra; but since the stone's full inscription has not been published, this cannot be said with certainty. In the same cemetery there is also the grave (1776) of Havva Hanım, wife of Ali Pasha and mother of Battal Hüseyin Pasha, called "daughter of the great mufti of the vicinity".
Ali Pasha's Power in Istanbul
Hüsameddin's saying that Ali Pasha silenced everyone by offering gifts to the necessary places and that the sultan was wary of him also finds a counterpart in other sources. Özkaya notes that Ali Pasha was skilled in drawing important men to his side by sending gifts to the necessary persons. According to Özcan Mert, after the annexation of Crimea by Russia, Abdülhamid I wanted him eliminated, but Grand Viziers Yeğen Mehmed Pasha and Halil Hamîd Pasha dissuaded the sultan from this decision. A striking detail is that in exactly these years, in his treatise Tedâbîrü'l-gazavât, which Ali Pasha began after returning from Crimea in 1774 and finished on 25 November 1776, he criticized the disorders of the reigns of Mustafa III and Abdülhamid I and listed proposals on how to reform the state order. For this reason Özcan Mert characterizes him as "an enlightened tyrant ruler" among the governors and commanders of his age.
Battal Hüseyin, Mikdad Ahmed and the End of the Family
The two sons named in the entry also hold an important place in the later history of the Canikli family. That Mikdad Ahmed Bey, whom Hüsameddin calls "about sixteen" in 1189 [1775], was, according to Özcan Mert, eighteen when he was made governor of Sivas in 1778 shows that the two sources confirm each other on this point. The notables of Amasya, unable to bear the pressure of Mikdad Ahmed Pasha, took refuge in the late months of 1778 with Çapanoğlu Mustafa Bey at Bozok; when the Canikli lost the conflict between the two families, Amasya passed into Çapanoğlu's hands in 1779, and Ali Pasha and Battal Hüseyin Bey fled to Crimea. In 1781, during İzzet Mehmed Pasha's second grand vizierate, the family was pardoned and its property returned, and the sanjak of Amasya was again appointed to Mikdad Ahmed Pasha as arpalık. Ali Pasha died at Erzurum in mid-1785.
In the reign of Selim III the family's fortune reversed. Mikdad Ahmed Pasha was executed in 1792 while in exile at Plovdiv, while Battal Hüseyin Pasha fell captive to the Russians at Anapa in 1790 and remained nine years in Russia. Battal Hüseyin Pasha, pardoned in 1799 at the request of the Russian tsar Paul I, became governor of Trabzon, and his son Tayyar Mahmud Bey was given the sanjaks of Canik and Amasya. Battal Hüseyin Pasha died in 1801 and was buried in the cemetery of the Bafra Great Mosque, where his mother Havva Hanım also lies.
Sâdık Mehmed Pasha, recorded at the end of the entry as executed, is the pasha who rose from the Merzifon voivodeship to the vizierate in entries 58 and 59; no information was found in other sources on this end of his. No other record was found either on Göztaşoğlu Hacı Mustafa Ağa, Deli Hüseyin Ağa and Hacı Ahmed Efendi, called "Kafadar Efendi", named in the entry.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, Supplement to Volume 4, p. 664–666. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
- Özcan Mert, "Canikli Hacı Ali Paşa Ailesi", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, 1993, https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/canikli-haci-ali-pasa-ailesi
- Yücel Özkaya, "Canikli Ali Paşa", Belleten, 36/144, 1972, https://belleten.gov.tr/tam-metin/453/tur
- Fikret Sarıcaoğlu, "İzzet Mehmed Paşa", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/izzet-mehmed-pasa
- Mehmet İpşirli, "İbrâhim Beyefendi, İvazpaşazâde", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/ibrahim-beyefendi-ivazpasazade
- M. Münir Aktepe, "Abdülhamid I", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/abdulhamid-i
Other sources