Amasyalıdır. Amasya’nın hânedân-ı kadîminden Kadızâde Seydî Ahmed Paşa ahfâdından Muslî Efendi bin İbrâhim Çelebi Muslî Ağa bin Seydî Ahmed Bey bin Muslî Çelebi bin İbrâhim Çelebi bin Abdurrahman Çelebi bin Seydî Paşa mahdûmudur.
Gençliğinde İstanbul’a gelip Amasyalı Sefer Ağazâde Mehmed Paşa’nın himmetiyle Bâb-ı âlîye girip orada terbiye gördü. Biraz sarışın olduğu münâsebetle “Boz Oğlan” diye iştihâr etdi. Kapıcızâde el-Hâc Ahmed Paşa’nın zamân-ı ikbâlinde kethüdâ kâtibi oldu.
1125 rebiülâhirinde Pazar Köylü Ali Paşa sadr-ı a’zam olup şeyhü’l-kurrâ Amasyalı Evliyâ Sâlih Efendizâde Hüseyin Ağa kethüdâ-yı sadr-ı âlî oldukta ona çatdı. Bunun sevk ü ta’rifi sâyesinde sadr-ı müşârün-ileyhin mazhar-ı i’timâdı oldu. Hüseyin Ağa’nın azlinde kethüdâ-yı sadr-ı âlî İbrâhim Ağa’ya da kendisini beğendirmişdi.
1128 senesi şevvâlinde Sadr-ı a’zam Ali Paşa şehîd ve kethüdâsı İbrâhim Ağa maktûl oldukta Belgrad’a celb ü habs edilip [145] sonra Tolçı’ya gönderildi. 1129’da afv u ıtlâk ederek İstanbul’a gelip Dâmâd İbrâhim Paşa’nın himmeti sâyesinde bâ-rütbe-i hâcegânî mâliye tezkirecisi oldu.
1137’de büyük tezkireci olduysa da birkaç ay sonra erbâb-ı nifâkın gamzıyla sânîyen mâliye tezkireciliğine i’âde edildi. Mu’ahharan gamzın nifâkdan ileri geldiği anlaşılıp 1139 rebiülevvelinde dâ’ire-i sadâretde tezkire-i sânî, 1140 rebiülâhirinde tezkire-i evvel ve şevvâlinde baş-defterdâr olarak parladı.
Fakat Patrona Halîl’in uyandırdığı 1143 rebiülâhiri hâ’ilesinde Dâmâd İbrâhim Paşa’nın ve rüfekâsının şehâdetlerinde infisâl ü ihtifâ edib 1144’de baş-muhâsebeci ve Amasyalı Hacı Feyzullahzâde Gül Ahmed Ağa kethüdâsı sadr-ı âlî oldukta eski ikbâline erip 1145 şa’bânında büyük rûz-nâmeci ve şevvâlinde ikinci def’a baş-defterdâr oldu.
1147 muharreminde Gül Ahmed Ağa vezâretle şeyhü’l-harem ve Cidde vâlisi oldukta Sadr-ı a’zam Hekîmzâde Ali Paşa’nın istirkâbından dolayı azl ve müte’âkiben Boğaz Hisarında habs edildiyse de kapıcılar kethüdâsı Zanalızâde es-Seyyid el-Hâc Ahmed [146] Ağa’nın tavassutu ve dâru’s-sa’âde ağası Hacı Beşîr Ağa’nın şefâ’ati sâyesinde afvıyla celb edilip 1148 senesi muharreminde defter emîni ve saferde Hekîmzâde’nin sadâretinden azline binâen receb gurresinde üçüncü def’a baş-defterdâr “Mâliye Nâzırı” oldu.
Sekiz buçuk ay kadar makâmında mekîn olduğu halde 1149 senesi rebiülevvelinde vefât etdi. Umûr-ı hesâbiyyede mâhir, müstakîm, gâyet mizâc-gîr bir racul-i devlet idi. 1148 târîhli vakfiyesinde pederinin adı Muslî Efendi ve Musliheddîn Mustafa Efendi diye mestûr ve ecdâdı müsecceldir.
Amasyalı Hacı Feyzullah Efendi’nin dâmâdı olduğundan kayınpederinin hafîdi olan Gül Ahmed Paşa’dan mu’âvenet gördü. Mahdûmları Feyzullah Efendi, Mehmed Râkım Paşa’dır. Mahdûmu Mehmed Râkım Paşa da Amasyalı Hocazâde es-Seyyid Abdulganî Paşa’nın dâmâdı olup mahdûmu es-Seyyid Abdulganî Bey’dir. Feyzullah Efendi de hâcegândan olup surre-i hümâyûn emîni olduğu halde 1168’de Mekke-i Mükerreme’de vefât etdi. Sâhib-i tercemenin birâderi kibâr-ı müderrisînden [147] Ahmed Efendi de aşağıda gelir.
In Modern English
He was a native of Amasya. He was one of the old families of Amasya, a descendant of Kadızâde Seydî Ahmed Pasha. His line of descent is as follows: Muslî Efendi was the son of İbrâhim Çelebi Muslî Ağa; he was the son of Seydî Ahmed Bey; he of Muslî Çelebi; he of İbrâhim Çelebi; he of Abdurrahman Çelebi; and he in turn was the son of Seydî Pasha.
In his youth he came to Istanbul and, with the help of Mehmed Pasha, son of Sefer Ağa of Amasya, entered the Sublime Porte and was trained there. Because he was somewhat fair-haired he became known as "Boz Oğlan." In the period when Kapıcızâde el-Hâc Ahmed Pasha rose, he became kethüda clerk.
In Rabiulâhir 1125 [1713], when Pazarköylü Ali Pasha became grand vizier and Hüseyin Ağa, son of Evliyâ Sâlih Efendi of Amasya and şeyhü'l-kurrâ (head of the Quran reciters), became kethüda of the grand vizier, he drew close to him. Thanks to the latter's guidance and introduction, he won the confidence of that grand vizier. When Hüseyin Ağa was dismissed, he had also won the favor of the grand vizier's kethüda İbrâhim Ağa.
In Shawwal 1128 [1716], when Grand Vizier Ali Pasha fell as a martyr and his kethüda İbrâhim Ağa was killed, he was brought to Belgrade and imprisoned, then sent to Tolçı. In 1129 [1716-17] he was pardoned and released and came to Istanbul; thanks to the help of Damad İbrâhim Pasha he became finance tezkireci with the rank of hâcegân.
In 1137 [1724-25] he became the chief tezkireci, but a few months later, because of a denunciation by hypocrites, he was returned to the finance tezkirecilik. Later, when it was understood that the denunciation had arisen from hypocrisy, he shone: in Rabiulevvel 1139 [1726] as second tezkireci in the grand vizierate office, in Rabiulâhir 1140 [1727] as first tezkireci, and in Shawwal as başdefterdar.
But in the events of Rabiulâhir 1143 [1730] begun by Patrona Halil, when Damad İbrâhim Pasha and his companions were killed, he left office and went into hiding. In 1144 [1731-32] he became başmuhasebeci; when Hacı Feyzullahzâde Gül Ahmed Ağa of Amasya became kethüda of the grand vizier, he regained his former position, and in Sha'ban 1145 [1732-33] he became chief ruznamçeci and in Shawwal başdefterdar for the second time.
In Muharram 1147 [1734], when Gül Ahmed Ağa became şeyhülharem and governor of Jeddah with the rank of vizier, he was dismissed because Grand Vizier Hekimzâde Ali Pasha held him in contempt, and was then imprisoned at Boğaz Hisarı. But thanks to the intervention of the kapıcılar kethüdası Zanalızâde es-Seyyid el-Hâc Ahmed Ağa and the intercession of the darüssaade ağası Hacı Beşîr Ağa, he was pardoned and summoned. In Muharram 1148 [1735] he became defter emini; in Safar, when Hekimzâde was removed from the grand vizierate, at the beginning of Rajab he became başdefterdar for the third time, that is, "Minister of Finance."
After remaining in his post for about eight and a half months, he died in Rabiulevvel 1149 [1736]. He was a statesman skilled in accounts, honest, but touchy in temperament. In his waqf deed of 1148 his father's name is written as Muslî Efendi and Musliheddîn Mustafa Efendi, and his ancestors are also recorded.
Because he was the son-in-law of Hacı Feyzullah Efendi of Amasya, he received help from Gül Ahmed Pasha, his father-in-law's grandson. His sons were Feyzullah Efendi and Mehmed Râkım Pasha. His son Mehmed Râkım Pasha was in turn the son-in-law of Hocazâde es-Seyyid Abdulganî Pasha of Amasya, and his son was es-Seyyid Abdulganî Bey. Feyzullah Efendi was also of the hâcegân and, while surre emini, died in Mecca in 1168 [1754-55]. The brother of the subject of this biography, the great müderris Ahmed Efendi, comes below.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- hânedân-ı kadîm: an old and well-rooted family
- Bâb-ı âlî: the Sublime Porte, the grand vizier's office
- kethüdâ kâtibi: clerk who handles the kethüda's writing business
- şeyhü'l-kurrâ: head of the Quran reciters
- tezkireci: senior finance clerk who drew up writings called tezkere
- başdefterdâr: official at the head of the state's financial affairs
- rûz-nâmeci: finance official who kept the daily income and expenditure register
- başmuhâsebeci: head of the finance accounts
- defter emîni: official responsible for the record registers
- erbâb-ı nifâk: hypocritical, mischief-making persons
- gamz: secret denunciation, slander
- mizâc-gîr: touchy in temperament, easily offended
- mestûr: written, recorded
- hafîd: grandson
- istirkâk: contempt, belittling
The Rise of a Finance Official
İbrâhim Efendi's life course is a good example, in the Ottoman bureaucracy of the early eighteenth century, of persons who came from the provinces and rose through the clerical path. A member of an Amasya family, he came to Istanbul, entered the Sublime Porte with the help of another Amasya statesman (Sefer Ağazâde Mehmed Pasha), and then became in turn kethüda clerk, tezkireci and başdefterdar. Most of the patrons named in the text are also from Amasya; this suggests a network in which persons from the same town looked after one another at the center of the state. This interpretation rests on the book's narrative: Hüseyin Ağa, Gül Ahmed Ağa, Sefer Ağazâde and his father-in-law Hacı Feyzullah Efendi are all referred to as "of Amasya."
The rises and falls in the narrative are intertwined with the politics of the time. Damad İbrahim Pasha became grand vizier on 8 Jumada al-Akhirah 1130 [9 May 1718]; Hüsameddin ties İbrâhim Efendi's becoming finance tezkireci in 1129 to Damad İbrahim Pasha's help; at that time Damad İbrahim was kaymakam of the sultan with the rank of vizier (October 1716), and his grand vizierate was to come two years later. The date on which Damad İbrahim Pasha was killed in the Patrona rebellion of 1730 is, according to the TDV, 18 Rabi al-Awwal 1143 (1 October 1730). Hüsameddin places the event in Rabiulâhir; there is a small difference of one month. İbrâhim Efendi "disappeared" in this event and later returned to his former position.
İbrâhim Efendi's son Mehmed Râkım Pasha is a divan poet and calligrapher referred to in the sources as "the son of defterdar-ı şıkk-ı evvel İbrahim Efendi, known as Boz Efendi." This "Boz Efendi" is most likely the same person as the one Hüsameddin describes with the nickname "Boz Oğlan." Râkım was born in Istanbul, learned the sülüs and nesih scripts, began as a clerk of the Divan-ı Hümayun and passed through various finance posts, and in 1176 [1763] became defterdar-ı şıkk-ı evvel. In 1180 [1767] he was appointed governor of Egypt with the rank of vizier and then governor of Jeddah, and he died in Jeddah in 1183 [1769]. Hüsameddin ties Râkım's becoming a son-in-law to Abdulganî Pasha and gives his son's name as Abdulganî Bey; this agrees with the source that says Râkım's son was Abdülganî Bey.
The Muslî family in the line of descent Hüsameddin lists is an old dynasty in Amasya. This circle, referred to by the names Kadızâde and Muslihîzâde, also appears in the sources at the end of the fifteenth century during Prince Ahmed's governorship of Amasya: at that time Muslihzâde Celaleddin Abdurrahman Efendi was appointed kadı of Amasya. The appearance of Abdurrahman Çelebi in Hüsameddin's line of descent may be a link with this family; the book does not say this explicitly.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 53–54. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
Other sources