AMASYA 05

Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar · İKİNCİ BÂB · BİRİNCİ FASIL

İbrâhim Âsım Bey — Yeğenzâde es-Seyyid el-Hâc

Encyclopedia · History of Amasya, Volume 6, p. 73–74 • Edited by: Doç. Dr. Recep Orhan ÖZEL - Doç. Dr. Metin HAKVERDİOĞLU

Original Text (Ottoman Turkish)

Amasya a’yânından es-Seyyid el-Hâc Ahmed İzzet Bey bin Ömer Paşa bin el-Hâc İbrâhim Bey bin Yeğen el-Hâc Ali Bey bin el-Hâc Ahmed Bey bin Küçük Ali Bey’in mahdûmudur. Amasya’da tevellüd ve neş’et, ulemâdan tahsîl-i ilm ü ma’rifet etdi.

Ba’dehû Amasyalızâde Hacı İbrâhim Efendi’ye intisâb edib mektubî-i sadâret kalemine girmişdi. 1222’de efendisinin şehâdeti üzerine ihtifâ ve kalemi terk ederek Amasya’ya geldi. 1234’de pederinin vefâtıyla Hâtuniyye evkâfına mütevellî oldu.

Benderlizâde es-Seyyid el-Hâc İbrâhim Paşa’ya dâmâd olduğundan 1236’da dergâh-ı âlî kapıcıbaşılığı ile baş-a’yân olup Amasya sancağını kabza-i idâresine aldı. 1239’da Yeniçeri-Talebe vak’asında Sivas’a kaldırıldı. Birkaç ay sonra afvıyla Hicâz’a gitdi.

1241 zilka’desinde yeniçerilerin Amasya’dan def’ ü ref’i vak’asında sâdıkâne hizmetiyle mîrâhûr-ı evvel pâyesiyle taltîf edilip 1242’de baş a’yân ve 1244’de Amasya mütesellimi oldu. İki yıl devam eden mütesellimliğinde [212] halkın şikâyetlerini da’vet eden ahvâline binâen 1246 senesi rebiülevvelinde azledildi.

Fakat tazminâtı i’ânesinde livânın yüzünü ağartacak mebâliğ ve ikdâmâtı görüldüğünden 1248 şevvâlinde sânîyen Amasya mütesellimi olduysa da halkın şikâyâtı üzerine sene-i mezbûre zilka’desi evâhirinde azliyle Bozca Ada’ya gönderildi.

1248 senesi ramazânında sadr-ı a’zam olan Mehmed Ra’uf Paşa kendisinin vaktiyle kalem arkadaşı olduğuna binâen 1249 senesi muharreminde afv ve ıtlak edilip İstanbul’a gelip bir müddet kaldı. Ba’dehû Amasya’ya gelip 1253’de mütesellim vekili oldu. 1254’de Birinci Doktor Vak’asında Samsun’a gönderildi.

Bu esnâda İstanbul’da Şûrâ-yı Bâb-ı âlî unvanıyla bir şûrâ-yı devlet meclisi teşkîl ve eyâlâtdan bu meclise a’zâ sıfatıyla ba’zı a’yânın celb eylemesi tekarrür eylediğinden 1255’de afv ve ıtlâk edilerek bu meclise a’zâ olmak üzere İstanbul’a da’vet edildi. [213]

Bu da’vet üzerine İstanbul’a gidip 1255 senesi ramazânında iftârı müte’âkip füc’eten vefât etdi. Mîr-i müşârün-ileyhi görüp tercemesini Tezkire-i Şu’arâ’sında yazan Fatin Efendi târîh-i vefâtını bu sûretle kayd ve Cihât Defterleri de bu kaydı te’yîd ediyor. Biz de bu kaydı tercîh ederek yazdık.

Amasya eşrâfından Saraczâde Yaşar Mehmed Efendi derdi ki: “Yeğenzâde Hacı İbrâhim Bey, Amasya’da meclis-i idâre a’zâsı iken 1269 senesinde vefât etdi. Ben cenâzesini gördüm. 1255 ramazânında İstanbul’da vefâtı sehv olmalıdır.”

Ancak benim tahkîkâtıma göre Yaşar Mehmed Efendi’nin yalanı yok, yanlışı vardır. 1269 senesinde vefât eden meclis-i idâre-i livâ a’zâsından Yeğenzâde es-Seyyid Halîl Bey’dir. Hacı İbrâhim Bey değildir. Halîl Bey’in dâmâdı olan Topçuzâde el-Hâc Sâlih Ağa’nın mahdûmu Halîl Efendi de büyük pederi Halîl Bey’in 1269’da vefât etdiğini beyân ederdi.

Mîr-i müşârün-ileyh el-Hâc İbrâhim Asım Bey, âkil, müdebbir, gâyet nâfizü’l-kelim, şâir, edîb, vakûr, [214] kerîm ü’t-tab’, servet ü yesâre mâlik, natûk, kâtib bir zât idi. Debdebe ve dârâtı düzgün, Eski Kethüdâ Mahallesi’ndeki konağı pek muhteşem, vezîrâne yaşar, emîrâne söyler, ulemâ ve fukarâyı severdi.

O zamanın a’yân-ı meşhûresinden Hacı Yûsuf Ağazâde es-Seyyid el-Hâc Ali Ağa, Fazlızâde es-Seyyid el-Hâc Mehmed Emîn Efendi, Ak Hasanzâde es-Seyyid el-Hâc Hâfız Hasan Ağa, Köprülü el-Hâc Mehmed Es’ad Ağa gibi zevâtın fevkinde olup Amasya’nın ‘aynu’l-a’yânı idi.

Mahdûmları es-Seyyid Ahmed Şâkir, Mustafa Hüsnî, Mehmed Ârif Beylerdir. Ahmed Şâkir Beyzâde Mustafa Hüsnî Bey, bunun mahdûmu Ahmed Bey ma’rûf idiler. Mîr-i müşârün-ileyhin Fatîn Efendi Tezkiresinden yazılan şu beytleri buraya nakledildi.

Gülşen-i hüsnüňde açmış lâle sünbül yâsemen
Gül cemâlüň fark olunmaz gülden ey nâzik beden
Ruẖlarıň gülden gülâb olmuş lebüňden bâde renk
Sâkiyâ peymâne devr etdiň mi Cem bezminde sen

Our Research Article Editor: Mevlüt Erdem Öztürk

In Modern English

He is the son of Seyyid Hacı Ahmed İzzet Bey bin Ömer Pasha bin Hacı İbrâhim Bey bin Yeğen Hacı Ali Bey bin Hacı Ahmed Bey bin Küçük Ali Bey, one of the ayan of Amasya. He was born and raised in Amasya and learned learning and knowledge from the scholars.

Later he entered the patronage of Amasyalızâde Hacı İbrâhim Efendi and entered the sadaret mektubî kalemi (the grand vizier's correspondence office). When his master was martyred in 1222 [1807] he went into hiding, left the office and came to Amasya. When his father died in 1234 [1818-19] he became mütevelli of the Hâtuniye waqfs.

Because he was son-in-law of Benderlizâde Seyyid Hacı İbrâhim Pasha, in 1236 [1820-21] he became chief ayan with the rank of kapıcıbaşı of the sublime court and took the administration of the sanjak of Amasya into his hands. In the Janissary-Student incident of 1239 [1823-24] he was sent to Sivas. A few months later he was pardoned and went to the Hejaz.

In Dhu al-Qa'da 1241 [June-July 1826], for his loyal service in the affair of purging and removing the Janissaries from Amasya, he was rewarded with the rank of mîrâhûr-ı evvel (first imrahor); in 1242 [1826-27] he became chief ayan, and in 1244 [1828-29] mütesellim of Amasya. Because of conduct during his two-year mütesellimlik that gave rise to complaints from the people, he was removed from office in Rabi al-Awwal 1246 [August-September 1830].

But since it was seen that, while helping with the payment of the indemnity, he had put forth money and efforts that brought honor to the sanjak, in Shawwal 1248 [early 1833] he became mütesellim of Amasya for the second time; but on complaints from the people he was removed from office at the end of Dhu al-Qa'da of the same year and sent to Bozcaada.

Since Mehmed Raûf Pasha, who became grand vizier in Ramadan 1248, had once been his colleague in the office, in Muharram 1249 [1833] he was pardoned and set free; he came to Istanbul and stayed for a while. Later he returned to Amasya and in 1253 [1837-38] became deputy mütesellim. In the First Doctor Incident of 1254 [1838-39] he was sent to Samsun.

At this time a state advisory council called the "Şûrâ-yı Bâb-ı Âlî" had been established in Istanbul, and it had been decided that some of the ayan from the provinces would be called to this council as members; for this reason in 1255 [1839] he was pardoned and set free and invited to Istanbul to be a member of this council.

Upon this invitation he went to Istanbul and died suddenly right after the iftar in Ramadan 1255 [November 1839]. Fatîn Efendi, who saw the said bey and wrote his life story in his Tezkire-i Şuarâ, recorded the date of death in this way; the Cihât Registers also confirm this record. We too have preferred this record and written accordingly.

Saraczâde Yaşar Mehmed Efendi, one of the notables of Amasya, used to say: "Yeğenzâde Hacı İbrâhim Bey died in 1269 [1852-53] while a member of the administrative council in Amasya. I saw his funeral. The information that he died in Istanbul in Ramadan 1255 must be wrong."

But according to my research Yaşar Mehmed Efendi is not lying but is mistaken. The one who died in 1269, a member of the sanjak administrative council, is Yeğenzâde Seyyid Halîl Bey, not Hacı İbrâhim Bey. Halîl Efendi, son of Topçuzâde Hacı Sâlih Ağa, the son-in-law of Halîl Bey, also used to say that his grandfather Halîl Bey died in 1269.

The said Hacı İbrâhim Âsım Bey was intelligent, prudent, of great influence, a poet, a man of letters, dignified, generous by nature, a man of wealth and means, a fine speaker, strong with the pen. His pomp and way of life were orderly; his mansion in the Eski Kethüda quarter was very magnificent. He lived like viziers, spoke like beys, and loved scholars and the poor.

He stood above such well-known ayan of that time as Hacı Yûsuf Ağazâde Seyyid Hacı Ali Ağa, Fazlızâde Seyyid Hacı Mehmed Emîn Efendi, Ak Hasanzâde Seyyid Hacı Hâfız Hasan Ağa and Köprülü Hacı Mehmed Es'ad Ağa, and was the ayanbaşı of Amasya.

His sons are Seyyid Ahmed Şâkir, Mustafa Hüsnî and Mehmed Ârif Beys. Ahmed Şâkir Bey's son Mustafa Hüsnî Bey and his son Ahmed Bey were well-known people. The following couplets of the said bey, taken from Fatîn Efendi's tezkire, are given here:

Gülşen-i hüsnüňde açmış lâle sünbül yâsemen
Gül cemâlüň fark olunmaz gülden ey nâzik beden
Ruẖlarıň gülden gülâb olmuş lebüňden bâde renk
Sâkiyâ peymâne devr etdiň mi Cem bezminde sen

Meaning in plain prose: In the rose garden of your beauty, tulips, hyacinths and jasmine have bloomed; O beloved of delicate body, your rose-like face cannot be told apart from the rose. Your cheeks have turned from rose into rose water, and the wine takes its color from your lips; O cupbearer, did you pass the goblet around in Cem's assembly?

Notes and Research

Old Words in the Text

  • tevellüd ve neş'et: being born and growing up
  • mektubî-i sadâret kalemi: the office that conducted the grand vizier's official correspondence
  • şehâdet: being martyred, being killed
  • ihtifâ: hiding
  • mütevellî: waqf administrator
  • baş-a'yân: the official ayan, the head of the ayan
  • kabza-i idâre: administration in one's hand, in one's grip
  • def' ü ref': removal, clearing away
  • mîrâhûr-ı evvel pâyesi: the rank of first imrahor (head of the palace stables); here an honorary grade
  • i'âne: aid; mebâliğ: sums of money; ikdâmât: efforts
  • afv ve ıtlak: pardoning and setting free
  • füc'eten: suddenly
  • sehv: mistake, error
  • nâfizü'l-kelim: one whose word carries weight
  • kerîmü't-tab': generous by nature
  • servet ü yesâr: wealth and abundance
  • natûk: a fine speaker
  • debdebe ve dârât: pomp and manner of life
  • aynu'l-a'yân: foremost of the ayan, ayanbaşı
  • tezkire-i şu'arâ: a work giving brief life stories of poets and samples of their poetry

The Yeğenzades and the Hâtuniye Waqf

İbrâhim Âsım Bey is the most brilliant representative of the Yeğenzâde family, who had served as ayan in Amasya since the eighteenth century. The chain of descent Hüsameddin gives extends six generations back to Küçük Ali Bey; in the annual events section of the book too it is recorded that at the beginning of 1148 [1735] "Yeğenzâde Hacı İbrâhim Bey" became chief ayan. That the stewardship of the Hâtuniye waqfs passed from father to son must have been one of the important supports of his wealth and standing.

His father Yeğenzâde Ahmed Bey is also described in a separate entry in the book and sheds light on his son's life. Ahmed Bey too had entered the Sublime Porte through the support of Amasyalızâde Hacı İbrâhim Efendi, became kethüda of Beyhan Sultan in 1213 [1798-99], and in Rabi al-Awwal 1222 took part in Selim III's reform cadre as defterdar of the Nizâm-ı Cedîd. A few days later, when the Kabakçı Mustafa revolt broke out and the statesmen of Selim's period were killed, he saved his life thanks to having done them favors earlier in the construction of the Janissary barracks, and was sent to Amasya. He later served briefly as sadaret kethüdası, became mütevelli of the Hâtuniye waqf in 1227 [1812], and died in Mecca during the pilgrimage in Dhu al-Hijja 1232 [1817]. In this entry it is written that his son passed to the stewardship in 1234 "on the death of his father"; there is a two-year difference between the two entries.

The Kabakçı Revolt and Amasyalızâde Hacı İbrâhim Efendi

The event that ended İbrâhim Âsım Bey's career in Istanbul at a young age is the Kabakçı Mustafa revolt of 1807. The revolt, which began in May 1807 with the rising of the yamaks in the Bosphorus fortresses, spread quickly to Istanbul; the rebels had a list prepared of the leading names of the Nizâm-ı Cedîd and demanded their execution, Selim III sacrificed these people, and in the end he himself was deposed (29 May 1807). This is the event Hüsameddin calls "the martyrdom of his master"; for the year 1222 is the year of this revolt, and in the entry of his father Ahmed Bey too it is related that the "pillars of the Selimian state" were martyred in those same days.

Amasyalızâde Hacı İbrâhim Efendi, according to the book's entry on Amasyalı Hacı İbrâhim Ağa, is the son of the defterdar Hacı İsmâil Efendi, and the family is called the "Amasyalızades". In the list of eleven people whose execution the rebels demanded in the Kabakçı revolt, in second place is the name "Bahriye Nazırı Hacı İbrâhim Efendi". It is possible that Hüsameddin's Amasyalızâde Hacı İbrâhim Efendi is this person; but since it is not clearly written in the sources we read that Bahriye Nazırı Hacı İbrâhim Efendi was from Amasya, this remains a guess.

The Echo of the Vaka-i Hayriyye in Amasya

The two events named in the entry show the provincial counterpart of the great transformation at the center. The "Janissary-Student incident" of 1239 is one of the conflicts between the Janissaries and madrasa students in Amasya; from other entries of the book it is understood that a "first Janissary-student incident" had also taken place in 1232. The "def' ü ref'" (purging) of the Janissaries from Amasya in Dhu al-Qa'da 1241 comes right after the event in Istanbul: the Janissary corps had been abolished with the suppression of the revolt that began on 9 Dhu al-Qa'da 1241 [15 June 1826]. İbrâhim Âsım Bey's receiving the rank of first imrahor for the "loyal service" he showed at this time indicates that in the purge of the Janissaries in Amasya the local ayan acted together with the state.

Colleagueship with Raûf Pasha

Mehmed Emin Raûf Pasha, who secured his release from the Bozcaada exile, is a statesman who was trained in the Sadâret Mektûbî Kalemi and became serhalife in 1806 and sadaret mektupçusu the next year. This information confirms Hüsameddin's phrase "colleague in the office": İbrâhim Âsım Bey too had worked in the same office until 1807. Raûf Pasha was brought to the grand vizierate for the second time on 18 February 1833, when Grand Vizier Reşid Mehmed Pasha was defeated and taken prisoner by the Egyptian forces; this date falls in the last days of Ramadan 1248 in the Hijri calendar and agrees exactly with the date Hüsameddin gives.

The Debate over the Date of Death

In this entry Hüsameddin gives the date of death as Ramadan 1255, relying on Fatîn Efendi's tezkire and the Cihât Registers, and refutes Saraczâde Yaşar Mehmed Efendi's claim of 1269 by showing that the one who died was in fact Yeğenzâde Halîl Bey. This is a good example of Hüsameddin's method of comparing oral tradition with documents.

A present-day biographical entry based on Fatîn Efendi's tezkire, however, places İbrâhim Âsım Bey's death in 1254 [1838-39] and writes that he is buried in Amasya. The difference between the two dates may arise from different readings of the tezkire. What is noteworthy is the date of the council Hüsameddin mentions: the Dâr-ı Şûrâ-yı Bâbıâli was functioning in 1838, the year the Meclis-i Vâlâ was established, and because of the confusion of jurisdiction between the two councils it was abolished on 12 August 1839, its members being transferred to the Meclis-i Vâlâ and the Meclis-i Nâfia. Since Ramadan 1255 falls in November 1839, when İbrâhim Âsım Bey reached Istanbul this council no longer existed. This makes the date 1254 seem more plausible; but without seeing Fatîn's text directly no definite judgment can be given. It is known that Fatîn Efendi was born in 1229 [1814], went to Cairo in 1243, and completed his tezkire in 1269 [1853]; where and when he saw İbrâhim Âsım Bey is uncertain.

The First Doctor Incident

The details of the 1254 event Hüsameddin calls the "First Doctor Incident" are not in the text. The best-known event in Amasya against the quarantine practice is the killing of the quarantine physician Paldi by the people on 4 August 1840, when he wanted to examine women's corpses on suspicion of plague; after the event there was serious disorder in the city, and those thought to be instigators were sent to Istanbul and tried in the Meclis-i Vâlâ. This event falls in 1256 and is after İbrâhim Âsım Bey's death. Hüsameddin's use of the adjective "first" suggests that more than one event concerning doctors took place in Amasya and that the 1254 event was the first of them.

The Poet Âsım

İbrâhim Âsım Bey also wrote poetry under the pen name "Âsım". Fatîn Efendi assesses him as a middling poet. It is not known whether any work of his exists. The four lines Hüsameddin quotes are the first two couplets of a five-couplet ghazal in Fatîn's tezkire. In the continuation of the ghazal in the sources, it is related that the fragrance of the beloved's lock perfumes the horizons, and in the pen-name couplet the poet likens himself to a Majnun wandering from door to door on the path of love. In the first line of the second couplet that Hüsameddin quotes it says "gülâb olmuş lebüňden bâde renk", while the present-day edition has the reading "gül-âb almış lebinden bâdenin"; the difference must arise from a divergence between manuscripts or between readings.

No information was found in the sources on whether the magnificent mansion in the Eski Kethüda quarter stands today.

Bibliography

Primary sources

  • Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, pp. 73–74. amasya.bel.tr
  • Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, entry "Ahmed Bey-Yeğenzâde es-Seyyid el-Hâc", vol. 6, p. 223; entry "İbrâhim Ağa-Amasyalı el-Hâc", vol. 6, p. 59; vols. 1-4, events of the year 1148 (e-book p. 646).

Academic studies

Books

Volume 6 contents

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