Amasyalıdır. Devşirmelerden olup Amasya’dan İstanbul’a götürüldü. Acemiyân kışlasında terbiye edilip dergâh-ı âlî yeniçerilerinden oldu. 973’de bölükbaşı, ba’dehû terakkî ederek zağarcıbaşı, 985’de Doğan Ağa’nın yeniçeri ağalığında kul kethüdâsı olduğu tedkîk edilen yeniçeri defterlerinden anlaşıldı.
987’de ma’zûl, ba’dehû mîr-livâ olup sancakları [87] dolaştı. Estergon harbinde 1003’de vefât etdi. Oğulları Halîl, Ali Beylerdir. Halîl Beyzâde İbrâhim Ağa ve Ali Beyzâde mîr-livâ Mehmed Bey’dir. Bunun oğulları Halîl, Zor Abbâs, İbrâhim Ağalardır. Bunlara “Kuloğulları” dendi.
In Modern English
He was from Amasya. He was one of the devshirme recruits; he was taken from Amasya to Istanbul. Raised in the barracks of the acemioğlans, he became one of the Janissaries of the Sublime Porte. In 973 [1565-66] he became a bölükbaşı, then rose to become zağarcıbaşı; it was established from the Janissary registers examined that during the Janissary agha-ship of Doğan Agha in 985 [1577-78] he was the kul kethüdası.
In 987 [1579-80] he was dismissed from office; afterwards he became a mîr-livâ (sanjak bey) and went around the sanjaks. He died in the battle of Esztergom in 1003 [1594-95]. His sons were Halîl Bey and Ali Bey. Halîl Beyzâde İbrâhim Agha and Ali Beyzâde, the mîr-livâ Mehmed Bey, were their sons. Mehmed Bey's sons were also Halîl, Zor Abbâs and İbrâhim Aghas. These were called the "Kuloğulları."
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- devşirme: youths gathered from Christian families and taken into state service
- acemiyân kışlası: the acemioğlan corps, where the recruited youths were trained
- dergâh-ı âlî yeniçerileri: Janissary soldiers, the sultan's slaves of the Porte (kapıkulu)
- bölükbaşı: officer at the head of a Janissary company
- zağarcıbaşı: chief of the zağarcıs who looked after the hunting dogs in the Janissary corps, one of the higher ranks of the corps
- kul kethüdâsı: deputy of the Janissary agha
- ma'zûl: dismissed from office
- mîr-livâ: sanjak bey
An Amasyan of Kul Origin
The road into the Janissary corps led through the devshirme. The recruited boys were first placed with Turkish families, then trained in the barracks of the acemioğlans, and those judged suitable were enrolled as Janissaries. It may be supposed that Kul İbrâhim Bey was raised in this way in the mid-sixteenth century; the text does not give his year of birth, and this is an inference. His career, running from bölükbaşı to zağarcıbaşı, from there to kul kethüda and sanjak bey, shows the typical path of a kapıkulu rising within the corps.
The wars around Esztergom (Esztergom) were among the main theatres of the Ottoman-Habsburg war of the 1590s [1593-1606]. It was not possible to verify the information that İbrâhim Bey died there in 1003 [1594-95] from another source.
The Kuloğulları
The family that Hüsameddin calls "Kuloğulları" shows that administrators of kul origin formed an established lineage in Amasya. İbrâhim Agha, son of his son Halîl Bey, may be the same person as Kuloğlu İbrâhim Agha mentioned in entry 116 of the book; this is a conjecture. The word Kuloğlu was generally used in the Ottoman Empire for the sons of kapıkulu soldiers.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 36–36. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies