Amasyalıdır. Yeniçerilikden Bektâş oğlu el-Hâc Mehmed Ağa ibn-i el-Hâc Ömer Ağa bin Bektâş Ağa’nın oğludur. Amasya’da [186] yeniçeri olup okuyup yazma öğrendi. Biraz da ilm ü ma’rifet edindi. Sonra İstanbul’a gidip ba’zı hemşehrilerinin delâletiyle ocağa girip yazıcı olarak oldukça bir şöhret kazandı.
1206 zilka’desinde yazıcılıkla yeniçeri ağası olan Kâtipzâde Mehmed Sa’id Ağa’nın himmetiyle baş-yazıcılıkdan kethüdâyeri, ba’dehû muhzır ağası olarak dâhil-i katâr olup 1210 senesi şevvâlinde zağarcıbaşılıkdan kul kethüdâsı oldu.
Ancak yeniçeri ağası Tokatlı Mustafa Ağa’nın istirkâbına binâen 1211 senesi rebiülâhirinde tekâ’üde sevk edildi. Ba’dehû Hicâz’a gidip sene-i mezbûre zilhiccesi evâsıtında Mekke-i Mükerreme’de vefât etdi. Şeci’, müdebbir, okur, yazar bir zât idi. Mahdûmu el-Hâc Mehmed Ağa’dır.
In Modern English
He was from Amasya. He was the son of Bektaşoğlu Hacı Mehmed Ağa, who came from the janissaries; Mehmed Ağa was the son of Hacı Ömer Ağa, who in turn was the son of Bektaş Ağa. He became a janissary in Amasya and learned to read and write. He also acquired some learning and knowledge. Then he went to Istanbul, entered the corps through the mediation of some fellow townsmen, and won considerable renown as a scribe.
In the month of Zilkade 1206, through the efforts of Kâtipzâde Mehmed Sa'id Ağa, who had become janissary aga by way of the scribal service, he moved from chief scribe to kethüdâyeri and then to muhzır ağası, and joined the cadre. In the month of Şevval 1210, he became kul kethüdâsı from zağarcıbaşı.
But because of the suspicion of the janissary aga Tokatlı Mustafa Ağa, he was sent into retirement in the month of Rebiülâhir 1211. He then went to the Hejaz and died in Mecca in the middle of the month of Zilhicce of the same year. He was a courageous, prudent man who could read and write. His son is Hacı Mehmed Ağa.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- ocak: the janissary corps, the infantry organization of the sultan's slaves (kapıkulu)
- kethüdâ: deputy, steward; kul kethüdâsı: the deputy of the janissary aga
- himmet: effort, support
- tekâüt: retirement
- şeci': courageous; müdebbir: prudent, one who knows his business
- mahdûm: son
The Career Steps Given by the Text
The entry is the short life story of a scribe who went from Amasya to Istanbul and rose in the janissary corps. In Hüsameddin's record the sequence is as follows: scribe, chief scribe, kethüdâyeri, muhzır ağası (1206), zağarcıbaşı, kul kethüdâ (1210). That is, according to the book, he reached the office of kul kethüdâ within four years. The text links the first advancement with Kâtipzâde Mehmed Sa'id Ağa, and his retirement with the suspicion of Tokatlı Mustafa Ağa; it appears that positions within the corps changed as the aga changed.
His going to the Hejaz and dying there is, in the text's own words, the last stop after being sent into retirement; the place of death is recorded as Mecca. No information about this person was found in other sources.
Bibliography
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 65. amasya.bel.tr