Hacı Alî Pasha

In Modern English

He was from Köprü. He was the son of Çomuluoğlu Hacı Mustafa Bey. In the Russian war he had been beylerbeyi and guardian of Sinop, and having suffered the malice of Canikli Hacı Ali Pasha, had fallen into straitened circumstances. On the seventeenth day of Şevval 1193 [1779] he came as mutasarrıf of Amasya.

Since a decree was issued for the execution of Hacı Ali Pasha, his sons Battal Hüseyin and Mikdâd Pashas and the governor of Sivas, Dağıstanî Ali Pasha, the Canikli fled to Crimea, took refuge with the Russian state and escaped execution.

By the hand of Mustafa Ağa, kethüda of the bostancıs sent from Istanbul, the governor of Sivas was executed, and in his place the vizier Yeğen Ali Pasha of Amasya became governor of Sivas for the second time. Sâdık Paşazâde İbrahim Bey of Merzifon also became Canik muhassıl. Since Çapanoğlu Mustafa Bey was summoned to Istanbul, his brother Süleyman Bey became kaymakam of Bozok.

The mutasarrıf Hacı Ali Pasha imprisoned Müjdecioğlu Hacı Abdülkadir Ağa, one of Mikdâd Pasha's men, and the Göztaşoğulları, and announced that those with claims should apply to the court.

In Zilkade, after the claimants had received their rights, Hacı Abdülkadir Ağa was exiled to Karahisâr-ı Şarkî and the Göztaşoğulları to Kastamonu, and the situation calmed to a degree. At this time a decree came on the return of the seized property of Millî Musa Bey, who had been killed, to his heirs, and it gladdened his sons Mustafa, Süleyman and Halil Beys and his daughters.

At the beginning of Zilhicce Çomulu Hacı Ali Paşazâde Mehmed Emîn Bey became alaybeyi. Uzun Süleyman Efendi, one of the scholars and müderris of the Yakub Pasha Madrasa, died, and his sons Mustafa and Abdullah Efendi became müderrises. They were called the "Uzun Müderrisoğulları".

In Muharrem 1194 [1780] the alaybeyi Mehmed Emîn Bey became mütesellim of Amasya. Bekir Beyzâde Hacı Abdullah Bey, who had withdrawn into his corner because of the Canikli's malice, became chief notable, Rahtuvân Paşazâde Hacı İbrahim Bey hacıbaşı, and Mustafa Efendi kadı of Amasya.

The court clerk and naib of Amasya Ahmed Efendi, who in Mikdâd Pasha's time had been much talked about as the mentor of the Göztaşoğulları, was removed and arrested; Fazlıoğlu Hacı Ahmed Efendi son of Hacı İsmâil Efendi became court clerk. The examination of the complaints against the former clerk began.

Notes and Research

Old Words in the Text

• mîr-i mîrân: the rank of beylerbeyi
• şer: evil, harm
• menkûb: struck by calamity, fallen into straitened circumstances
• ilticâ etmek: to take refuge
• ma'rifetiyle: by the hand of, through the agency of
• bostancılar kethüdâsı: the second chief of the palace bostancı corps
• Canik muhassılı: the official who conducted the tax and administrative affairs of the Canik (Samsun) region
• kâ'im-makâm: deputy administrator
• erbâb-ı hukûk: those with claims
• alaybeyi: commander of the timar-holding sipahis of a sanjak
• inzivâ etmek: to withdraw into one's corner, to keep away from affairs
• kafâdâr: mentor, guide, close friend
• tevkîf: arrest

The Çomuluoğulları of Köprü

The subject of the entry, Hacı Ali Pasha, should not be confused with the Canikli rival who bore his name. Hüsameddin presents him as "from Köprü", that is, today's Vezirköprü, and calls him the son of Çomuluoğlu Hacı Mustafa Bey. In the biographies section of the book there is a record on the family's later generation: Hâfız Hasan Ağa of Bayburt came to Köprü in his youth and, as silahdar of Çomuluzâde Hacı Ali Pasha and kethüda of his son Mehmed Emîn Bey, gained great wealth and fame, and in 1220 [1805] had Mehmed Emîn Bey removed by decree and became voivode of Köprü. According to this, Mehmed Emîn Bey, who appears in the entry as alaybeyi and mütesellim, is Hacı Ali Pasha's son, and the family held the voivodeship of Köprü until the beginning of the nineteenth century. Hüsameddin records in the next entry that Mehmed Emîn Bey was voivode of Köprü. No information was found in other sources on Hacı Ali Pasha's guardianship of Sinop and his suffering the Canikli family's tyranny; however, it is known from archival documents that Canikli Ali Pasha was active in and around Sinop in the 1770s, had galleons built there and kept part of his property there.

To Whom the Sanjak of Amasya Was Given

Archival documents draw a picture different from Hüsameddin's on to whom the sanjak of Amasya was given in this period. According to the orders Yücel Özkaya relays, the sanjak of Amasya, taken from Canikli Ali Pasha because of his rebellion, was given to "Hüseyin Pasha of Amasya, of the mîr-i mîrân". The same author also relays from the documents that toward the end of December 1779 the sanjak of Çorum was given to "İbrahim Pasha, mutasarrıf of the sanjak of Amasya". In the list based on Ahmet Önal's appointment registers, the sanjak of Amasya was given on 9 Zilhicce 1193 [18 December 1779] to the governor of Sivas İzzet Mehmed Pasha, and on 17 Rebiülevvel 1194 [23 March 1780] to the new governor of Sivas Dağıstanî Ali Pasha, added to his province. Hüsameddin's appointment record dated 17 Şevval 1193 [end of October 1779] appears in none of these documents. This discrepancy between the record of the author who made use of the Amasya registers and the appointment registers of the center suggests that in those turbulent months the sanjak changed hands at short intervals, or that the person actually doing the work was seen in local records while the official mutasarrıf was seen at the center; with the sources available, which is correct cannot be said with certainty.

The Flight of the Canikli to Crimea

That the Canikli family fled to Crimea is confirmed in all the sources. According to Özcan Mert, Hacı Ali Pasha and his son Battal Hüseyin Bey fled to Crimea, their ranks and titles were taken back, their property was sent to Istanbul, and they are called in the documents about them by the epithets "fugitive" and "traitor"; Mikdâd Ahmed Pasha, however, did not flee and was taken into custody at Bursa. Hüsameddin's saying that the three Canikli pashas fled together should in this respect be corrected. His interpretation that the flight was a "taking refuge with the Russian state" is partly true: Crimea was at this time under the administration of Şahin Giray, supported by Russia, and Ali Pasha, after staying there about two years, was pardoned through Şahin Giray's mediation. Özkaya shows with documents that even after his flight the possibility of Ali Pasha's returning to Canik long made Istanbul uneasy, that the holding of the roads and landings from Kavak to Rize was ordered, and that the Pasha's property at Bafra, Samsun and Sinop was listed one by one and carried to Istanbul.

The Execution of Dağıstanî Ali Pasha

Hüsameddin writes that a decree was issued for the execution of the governor of Sivas Dağıstanî Ali Pasha together with the Canikli, and that he was executed by the hand of the kethüda of the bostancıs who came from Istanbul. The information Ahmet Önal gives on the basis of the appointment registers and the chronicler Enverî reveals a different sequence and reason. Dağıstanî Ali Pasha became governor of Erzurum in October 1779, moved to Sivas in March 1780, and was left in his post in the general appointments of 4 Şevval 1194 [3 October 1780]. Because despite repeated warnings from Istanbul he did not prevent the tyranny of his men, he was executed at Sivas Castle, and his severed head was brought to Istanbul on 8 Zilkade 1194 [5 November 1780]. That is, the execution took place not immediately after the Kavak battle as Hüsameddin sets it out, but a year later, and its reason was not partnership with the Canikli but tyranny in his own administration. According to Enverî, after the execution, "taking pity on the state of the people of Sivas", the province of Sivas was given to Darendeli İbrahim Pasha, of the mîr-i mîrân; that Yeğen Ali Pasha, whom Hüsameddin mentions, became governor of Sivas for the second time at this date does not appear in Önal's list. Yeğen Ali Pasha's first governorship of Sivas falls in the list in 1776-1777. In some sources it is recorded that Dağıstanlı Ali Pasha had a family tomb built, next to the Sultan Murad Mosque in Skopje, in today's North Macedonia, for his wife Zeynep Hanım, who died in 1774, and his daughter Ayşe Hanım, and that he died in 1194 [1780] while governor of Sivas; this small domed tomb with a hexagonal plan stands today.

Çapanoğlu and Canik

Hüsameddin's information that Çapanoğlu Mustafa Bey was summoned to Istanbul could not be confirmed in other sources. According to the documents Özkaya relays, the sanjak of Canik was first given as a malikâne to Kaptan-ı Derya Gazi Hasan Pasha, but toward the end of December 1779 the task of staying in Canik and protecting the coast and its surroundings and ensuring public order was left to Cebbârzâde Mustafa Bey, who was asked not to return to Bozok until a decree was issued. Among those assigned to seize Ali Pasha's property the name "Canik muhassıl Mehmed Emin" also appears. No information was found in other sources on Sâdık Paşazâde İbrahim Bey of Merzifon, whom Hüsameddin mentions as Canik muhassıl. The exile of Müjdecioğlu Hacı Abdülkadir Ağa and the Göztaşoğulları and the return of Millî Musa Bey's property are known only from Hüsameddin's record.

Bibliography

Primary sources

• Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, Supplement to Volume 4, p. 668–669. amasya.bel.tr
• Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 8 (entry "Hasan Ağa-Bayburdlu Hâfız").

Academic studies

• Yücel Özkaya, "Canikli Ali Paşa", Belleten, XXXVI/144, October 1972, https://belleten.gov.tr/tam-metin/453/tur
• Özcan Mert, "Canikli Hacı Ali Paşa Ailesi", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, VII, https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/canikli-haci-ali-pasa-ailesi
• Ahmet Önal, "Sivas Eyaleti Valileri ve Beylerbeyileri (1753-1792)", Tarihin Peşinde, 21, http://www.tarihinpesinde.com/dergimiz/sayi21/M21_02.pdf

Other sources

• "Dağıstanlı Ali Paşa Türbesi", Kültür Envanteri, https://kulturenvanteri.com/en/yer/dagistanli-ali-pasa-turbesi/