Amasya şehir kethüdâsı iken 1119’da vefât eden Hüseyin Ağazâde el-Hâc Mehmed Ağa’nın oğludur. Vüzerâdan sadr-ı esbak Amasyalı Hatîpzâde Nâ’ili Abdullah Paşa dâiresine girip terbiye gördü. Müşarün ileyh vezâretinde selâm ağası oldu.
Bunun vefâtında sadr-ı esbak Köse Bâhir Mustafa Paşa’nın dâ’iresine girip sadâretinde kapıcılar kethüdâsı olmuşdu. [184] Çünkü Paşa’nın kethüdâsı da Amasyalı Mustafa Ağa idi. Ancak 1178’de efendisinin azl ü i’dâmında Amasya’ya geldi.
1182’de açılan Rus muhârebâtında mâlen ve bedenen hizmetler ederek topladığı askeriyle dârü’l harbe gitdi. Yararlıklar gösterip dergâh-ı âlî kapıcıbaşılığı rütbesiyle taltîf edildi. Avdetinde baş-a’yân ve birkaç ay Amasya mütesellimi oldu.
Fakat Caniklizâde Battal Hüseyin Bey’in Amasya mütesellimi olarak vürûdunda inzivâyı ihtiyâr etdi. 1193’de Bozok Mustafa Bey’in tarafdârı olarak Caniklizâdelere karşı harbi kabûl edib 1194’de meclis-i a’yân a’zâsı oldu. 1196’da Caniklizâde Mikdâd Ahmed Paşa’nın tekrâr avdetinde Bozok mütesellimi Cabbârzâde Süleyman Bey’in yanına gitdi. Mîr-i mûmâ ileyhin tarafından birkaç yıl Çorum mütesellimi ve Mikdâd Paşa’nın Amasya’dan def’ ü i’dâmı üzerine avdet edib 1208 senesi hilâlinde merhûm oldu. Meşâhîr-i a’yândan vatanına sâdık bir pîr idi. Mahdûmu el-Hâc Mahmûd Ağa’dır. [185]
In Modern English
He was the son of Hüseyin Ağazâde Hacı Mehmed Ağa, who died in 1119 [1707-08] while serving as city kethüda of Amasya. He grew up in the retinue of the former grand vizier Hatipzâde Nâilî Abdullah Pasha of Amasya, one of the viziers. During that pasha's vizierate he became selâm ağası.
After the pasha's death he entered the retinue of the former grand vizier Köse Bâhir Mustafa Pasha, and during his grand vizierate had become kapıcılar kethüdası. For the pasha's own steward (kethüda) was also Mustafa Ağa of Amasya. But in 1178 [1764-65], when his master was dismissed and executed, he came to Amasya.
In the Russian war that opened in 1182 [1768-69], serving with both his wealth and his person, he went to the battlefield with the soldiers he had raised. He showed valor and was rewarded with the rank of "kapıcıbaşı of the exalted court." On his return he became chief notable (baş-ayan) and, for a few months, mütesellim of Amasya.
But when Caniklizâde Battal Hüseyin Bey came as mütesellim of Amasya, he withdrew into seclusion. In 1193 [1779-80] he took his place beside Bozok Mustafa Bey and accepted battle against the Caniklizâdes; in 1194 [1780-81] he became a member of the council of notables (ayan). When Caniklizâde Mikdad Ahmed Pasha returned again in 1196 [1781-82], he went over to Cabbarzâde Süleyman Bey, mütesellim of Bozok. Under the said bey he was for a few years mütesellim of Çorum; when Mikdad Pasha was removed from Amasya and executed, he returned, and he died in early 1208 [1793]. He was one of the famous notables, an old man attached to his homeland. His son is Hacı Mahmud Ağa.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- şehir kethüdâsı: an assistant official in the administration of the city; the office that replaced the ayanlık in 1786
- sadr-ı esbak: former grand vizier
- dâ'ire: the circle, the retinue of a statesman
- selâm ağası: a palace official
- kapıcılar kethüdâsı: the name of an office in the organization of palace gatekeepers
- azl ü i'dâm: dismissal and execution
- dârü'l-harb: the place of war, the front
- mâlen ve bedenen: with wealth and with person
- baş-a'yân: the head of the notables
- vürûd: coming, arrival
- inzivâ: withdrawal into seclusion
- def' ü i'dâm: removal and execution
- mîr-i mûmâ ileyh: the aforementioned bey
- merhûm: the late, deceased
Köse Bahir Mustafa Pasha
Köse Bâhir Mustafa Pasha, whom Hüsameddin counts as the man's master, was born in Çorlu; he was the son of Sofu Abdurrahman Pasha. He was grand vizier three times: 1752-1755, 1756, and 1763-1765. His third term began on 1 November 1763 and ended with dismissal on 28 March 1765 (5 Şevval 1178). It is noted that the dismissal decree referred to his cruelty in Cyprus. He was exiled to Midilli (Lesbos) and strangled in Zilkade 1178 [May 1765]; his severed head was brought to Istanbul and buried in the Naqshbandi lodge he had built. Hüsameddin's phrase "in 1178, at his master's dismissal and execution" coincides exactly with these dates. Bahir Mustafa Pasha himself was from Çorlu and not from Amasya; the Amasya connection that Hüsameddin relays is made through the pasha's steward being from Amasya. The source does not name the steward, and this detail could not be verified.
Nâilî Abdullah Pasha
Nâilî Abdullah Pasha, referred to in the text as "Hatipzâde of Amasya," is given in one source as born in Istanbul. He was first reisülküttab, became grand vizier on 19 May 1755, and was dismissed by Osman III three months later, on 24 August 1755. He then became governor of Crete and then governor of Jidda, and died in Medina in August 1758. There is a discrepancy between Hüsameddin's "of Amasya" and this record: the pasha's family origin may be Amasya while his birthplace is Istanbul. His service as selâm ağası must have taken place during the pasha's brief grand vizierate or during the governorships noted in this record; the details could not be verified.
Amid the Canikli-Çapanoğlu Struggle
İbrahim Ağa's later life in the text is intertwined with the rivalry of the Canikli and Çapanoğlu families. Amasya was granted to Canikli Hacı Ali Pasha as a lifetime tax farm (malikâne) in 1772; his sons were also appointed to the region. In late 1778 the notables of Amasya, unable to bear the pressure of Mikdad Ahmed Pasha, took refuge with Çapanoğlu Mustafa Bey, mütesellim of the sanjak of Bozok. The man Hüsameddin calls "a partisan of Bozok Mustafa Bey" is this Çapanoğlu Mustafa Bey. "Cabbarzâde Süleyman Bey" is Çapanoğlu Süleyman Bey, the brother brought to the sanjak of Bozok after Mustafa Bey was killed in 1782; the family is also known as the Cebbarzâdes. Süleyman Bey's period is regarded as the most brilliant of the Çapanoğulları; their influence spread to many places, including Çorum and Amasya. İbrahim Ağa's becoming mütesellim of Çorum is a reflection of this expansion.
The fate of Mikdad Ahmed Pasha agrees in the sources with Hüsameddin's phrase "def' ü i'dâm": Mikdad Ahmed Pasha, while in exile in Filibe (Plovdiv), was executed in 1792 by Selim III. His giving İbrahim Ağa's death as 1208 [1793-94] falls in the year after.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 64–65. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
Other sources