AMASYA 05

Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar · İKİNCİ BÂB · BİRİNCİ FASIL

İbrâhim Ağa — Bektâşoğlu el-Hâc

Encyclopedia · History of Amasya, Volume 6, p. 62 • Edited by: Doç. Dr. Recep Orhan ÖZEL - Doç. Dr. Metin HAKVERDİOĞLU

Original Text (Ottoman Turkish)

Amasya a‘yânından el-Hâc Bektâş Ağa bin el-Hâc Mehmed Ağa bin [176] el-Hâc Bektâş Ağa’nın oğludur. Yeniçeri olup İrân ve Rus muharebelerinde terakkî ederek mükerreren Amasya serdârı, serdengeçtiler ağası oldu. 1184’de Rus muharebesinde yararlık gösterip turnacı başılık pâyesini aldı. Sonra hâciyân meclislerine a’zâ olup 1195 sâlinden sonra vefât etdi. Cesûr, mücâhid, zî-servet idi. Mahdûmu es-Seyyid el-Hâc Bektâş Ağa ve birâderi el-Hâc Ahmed Ağa’dır.

Our Research Article Editor: Mevlüt Erdem Öztürk

In Modern English

He was the son of el-Hâc Bektâş Ağa, one of the notables of Amasya; Bektâş Ağa was the son of el-Hâc Mehmed Ağa, who was the son of el-Hâc Bektâş Ağa. Becoming a janissary and rising in the Iranian and Russian wars, he was several times Amasya serdar and ağa of the serdengeçtis. In 1184 [1770-71], for his services in the Russian war, he received the rank of turnacıbaşı. Then he became a member of the assemblies of the pilgrims and passed away after 1195 [1781]. He was a brave man, a ghazi, and wealthy. His son is es-Seyyid el-Hâc Bektâş Ağa, and his brother is el-Hâc Ahmed Ağa.

Notes and Research

Old Words in the Text

  • a'yân: the notables
  • serdâr: commander
  • serdengeçtiler ağası: the commander of the volunteer soldiers called serdengeçti
  • muharebe: war
  • terakkî: advancement
  • pâye: rank
  • turnacıbaşı: one of the high-ranking officers of the Janissary Corps
  • mücâhid: one who fights, a ghazi
  • zî-servet: possessing wealth

The Rank of Turnacıbaşı

The turnacıbaşı was the lowest-ranking of the six great ocak ağas of the Janissary Corps. The Turnacıs take their name from an event reported to have occurred when Mehmed the Conqueror, during a hunt, saw a greyhound catching cranes (turna); this is a tradition and is not based on a document. The turnacıbaşı's symbolic duty was to join the sultan on hunts and look after the greyhounds that followed the game. His real duty was to keep order in the orta he commanded and to serve as fortress guard and sentry in war. When he took up a post outside, he was generally sent to sanjaks of the Anatolian province such as Ankara and Kütahya.

In this entry Hüsameddin says "turnacıbaşılık pâyesi" (the rank of turnacıbaşı); that is, the title of this rank was given to İbrahim Ağa not as an actual office but in return for his services in war. The Amasya serdarship and the Russian wars in the text correspond to the war of 1768-1774. The family in the entry is a janissary and ayan family in which the name Bektaş Ağa recurs over three generations. No trace of this family in other sources could be found in the sources I read.

Bibliography

Volume 6 contents