Trying to escape an embassy to the Habsburg court cost Hamdî Mehmed Efendi, according to Hüsameddin, both his post as chief accountant (başmuhasebeci) and an exile to Rhodes: appointed envoy in 1109 (1697-98), he asked to be excused from the mission and was dismissed and sent to Rhodes for it. The son of Ali Ağa of Merzifon, this scribe had risen as expense clerk to his fellow townsman Grand Vizier Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Paşa, the commander of the siege of Vienna, fallen from favour with the pasha's execution, and then reached one of the highest offices of the treasury, the chief accountancy. Pardoned and allowed to return, he died around 1115 (1703-04). In the words of Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar's Amasya Tarihi, he was "kâtib, şâir, müteharrik bir zât", a secretary, a poet and a restless man.

Hüsameddin's Account

Merzifonlu Ali Ağa'nın mahdûmudur. 1087'de muhâsebe kalemine şâkird olup orada tefeyyüz ederek hulefâdan ve 1087 senesi şa'bânında sadrâzam olan Merzifonî Kara Mustafa Paşa'ya kâtib-i masraf ve 1093'de tezkere-i sânî-i sadâret oldu. 1095 senesi muharreminde Kara Mustafa Paşa'nın i'dâmını müteâkib azl ve nekbete uğradı. 1098'de baş-muhâsebeci ba'dehû Merzifonî Hacı Ali Paşa'nın sadâretinde sânîyen tezkere-i sadr-ı âlî oldu. Müşârün-ileyhin azlinde yine ma'zûl olup sonra sânîyen baş-muhâsebeci oldu.
1109'da Amcazâde Hüseyin Paşa'nın sadâretinde Almanya devleti nezdine elçi tayin edildi. Hüseyin Paşa'nın himâyesine mağrûren, affını ricâ eyledikde baş-muhasebeden azliyle Rodos'a nefyen gönderildi. Ba'dehû ma'fûven avdet edib 1115 târihlerinde vefât etdi. Kâtib, şâir, müteharrik bir zât idi.

In English: He was the son of Ali Ağa of Merzifon. In 1087 he entered the accounts office as an apprentice, advanced there to the rank of senior clerk, and became expense clerk to Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Paşa, who was made grand vizier in Şaban 1087, and in 1093 second tezkireci (memorandum secretary) of the grand vizierate. In Muharrem 1095, after the execution of Kara Mustafa Paşa, he was dismissed and fell into disgrace. In 1098 he became chief accountant, then once again tezkireci to the grand vizier under the grand vizierate of Merzifonlu Hacı Ali Paşa. When that pasha was dismissed he too lost his post, and later became chief accountant a second time. In 1109, under the grand vizierate of Amcazâde Hüseyin Paşa, he was appointed envoy to the German state. Relying on Hüseyin Paşa's protection, he asked to be excused, whereupon he was dismissed from the chief accountancy and exiled to Rhodes. He was later pardoned, returned, and died around 1115. He was a secretary, a poet and a restless man.

Life

The first two dates in the entry are the same, and this creates a difficulty: entering the office as an apprentice, rising to senior clerk and becoming the grand vizier's expense clerk all within one year hardly seems possible. The first "1087" is probably another year misprinted in the edition or miswritten in Hüsameddin's notes, but the correct date is not known. The second date is firm: according to Abdülkadir Özcan's article in the TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, Kara Mustafa Paşa became grand vizier on 28 Şaban 1087 (5 November 1676).

The expense clerk kept the accounts of the grand vizier's household; the tezkireci drew up the papers submitted to and issued by the grand vizier. Hamdî Mehmed's appointment to these two posts beside a grand vizier from his own town is one example of the place men of Merzifon held in the pasha's household. The pasha's execution at Belgrade in Muharrem 1095 (December 1683), after the defeat at Vienna, brought about his own dismissal as well. The word "nekbet" covers more than the loss of office: it means a fall into misfortune.

Three years later, in 1098 (1686-87), he became chief accountant. The chief accountancy was among the most respected of the treasury offices that audited the state's revenue and expenditure. Hüsameddin then writes that under the grand vizierate of "Merzifonî Hacı Ali Paşa" he served a second time as the grand vizier's tezkireci. Here too the record runs along the line of common origin: beside a grand vizier from Merzifon we again find a secretary from Merzifon. When the pasha was dismissed, he lost his post as well, and later returned to the chief accountancy.

The Embassy and Exile to Rhodes

Amcazâde Hüseyin Paşa became grand vizier in September 1697, after the defeat at Zenta, and set about seeking peace as his first task; that search ended with the Treaty of Karlowitz on 26 January 1699. Hamdî Mehmed's appointment in 1109 as envoy to the "German state", that is, the Habsburg empire, falls in this period. According to Hüsameddin, he relied on the grand vizier's protection and asked to be excused from the mission, but the outcome was not what he expected: he was dismissed from the chief accountancy and exiled to Rhodes. Why he shrank from the post, who was sent in his place and how long the exile lasted are not stated in the entry.

Ties to Amasya

Hamdî Mehmed Efendi's tie to Amasya runs through Merzifon: Hüsameddin introduces him as "the son of Ali Ağa of Merzifon". Merzifon at that time belonged to the sanjak of Amasya. Although his whole career was spent in Istanbul and in the offices of the state, Hüsameddin placed him among the poets raised by Amasya and kept his bond with his fellow townsmen visible throughout the entry.

Poetry

No poem of his is known. Beyond Hüsameddin's "kâtib, şâir" there is no trace of his verse; in Metin Hakverdioğlu's survey of the poets his name appears as "Hamdi Mehmed Efendi-Kâtib-i Masraf". A "Hamdî" couplet of unknown origin could belong as well to any of the other Amasya men who bore that pen name; the secretary Hamdî Ahmed Efendi, who died about a century before him, is only one of them. The original text of the entry is given separately as Hamdi Mehmed Efendi-Kâtib-i Masraf.

Chronology

28 Şaban 1087 (5 November 1676): Kara Mustafa Paşa becomes grand vizier; Hamdî Mehmed becomes his expense clerk.

1093 (1682): He becomes second tezkireci of the grand vizierate.

Muharrem 1095 (December 1683): He is dismissed after Kara Mustafa Paşa's execution.

1098 (1686-87): He becomes chief accountant; later, under Hacı Ali Paşa, tezkireci to the grand vizier once more.

1109 (1697-98): He is appointed envoy; on asking to be excused he is dismissed and exiled to Rhodes.

Around 1115 (1703-04): He dies after being pardoned and returning.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Academic studies

Online sources