Amasya a’yânından el-Hâc Ömer Bey bin el-Hâc İbrâhim İlmî Bey bin el-Hâc Rahtuvân Mehmed Paşa’nın mahdûmudur. Hâciyân ve a’yân meclislerine a’zâ, 1183 senesi muharreminde baş-a’yân ve [182] recebinde Amasya mütesellimi oldu.
Rus muharebâtında zehâ’ir-i askeriyenin tedârik ve sevkinde sâdıkâne hizmetler ederek dergâh-ı âlî kapıcıbaşılığı rütbesiyle taltîf edilip mükerreren baş-a’yân ve Amasya mütesellimi oldu. 1206 senesinde vefât etdi. Mehmed Paşa Mezarlığında medfûndur. İlm ü ma’rifet, nukûd u servet sâhibi bir hânedân idi. Mahdûmu el-Hâc Ömer ve birâderi el-Hâc Osmân Beyler de meşâhîr-i a’yândan idiler.
In Modern English
He was the son of Hacı Ömer Bey, one of the notables (ayan) of Amasya; Ömer Bey was the son of Hacı İbrahim İlmî Bey, who was the son of Hacı Rahtuvan Mehmed Pasha. He became a member of the assemblies of pilgrims and of notables. In Muharrem of 1183 [1769] he became chief notable (baş-ayan), and in Recep [1769] mütesellim of Amasya.
For his sincere services in preparing and sending military provisions and materiel in the Russian wars, he was rewarded with the rank of "kapıcıbaşı of the exalted court"; he was chief notable and mütesellim of Amasya several times. He died in 1206 [1791-92]. He is buried in the Mehmed Pasha Cemetery. His was a family possessing learning and knowledge, money and wealth. His son Hacı Ömer and his brother Hacı Osman Bey were also among the famous notables.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- a'yân: the notables of a city or town
- baş-a'yân: the head of the notables; the person who conducted affairs between the people and the state
- mütesellim: an official who administered a sanjak as deputy
- zehâ'ir-i askeriyye: military provisions and materiel
- tedârik ve sevk: preparing and sending
- dergâh-ı âlî kapıcıbaşılığı: the palace office of kapıcıbaşı (head of palace gatekeepers); a title given to notables in the provinces as a rank
- taltîf: rewarding
- medfûn: buried
- nukûd u servet: cash and wealth
- hânedân: a noble family
- meşâhîr-i a'yân: famous notables
Who Was the Baş-Ayan
In Ottoman provincial administration, governors, mutasarrıfs, mütesellims, and voivodes were appointed from the center. Separately from these, every city and town had an ayan chosen from among its notables. This person, who mediated between the central government and the people, was called baş-ayan, reîs-i ayan, or official ayan. Ayan elections underwent frequent changes in this period. During the Russian war of 1768-1774, because the appointment of a successor to a deceased ayan took a long time, a procedure of electing the ayan by the people was introduced in January 1769; in 1779 the old procedure was restored, and in 1786 the Sublime Porte ended the office of ayan and replaced it with the city kethüda. İbrahim Bey's becoming baş-ayan in 1183 [1769] falls in the same years as these changes; which procedure he was chosen by cannot be understood from the text.
The Rahtuvan Family
In an earlier section of Hüsameddin's book, Şamlızâde Rahtuvan Mehmed Pasha is mentioned as the mutasarrıf of Karahisar-ı Şarkî (Şebinkarahisar), who was dismissed for failing to show valor in a battle and came to Amasya. The Taşhan in Amasya was built in 1699 by the mutasarrıf Rahtuvan Hacı Mehmed Pasha. It is a two-story han with a courtyard surrounded by arches; its restoration was completed at the end of 2012 and it began to be used as a hotel. No direct record was found that these pashas are the same person as Rahtuvan Mehmed Pasha, regarded as the ancestor of the family; the overlap of names and titles suggests such a link, but this is an inference. The phrase "a house of learning and wealth" in the text shows the family's presence and power in Amasya.
Which Mehmed Pasha the "Mehmed Pasha Cemetery," where İbrahim Bey is buried, belongs to cannot be understood from the text. In Amasya there is the complex and tomb of Mehmed Pasha, son of Hızır Pasha; its relation to the Rahtuvan family's cemetery could not be verified.
Bibliography
Primary sources
Academic studies
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