1203 senesi cumâdelûlâsında vefât eden rikâb-ı hümâyûn defterdârı Amasyalı İsmâil Efendi bin İbrâhim Ağa’nın mahdûmudur. 1167 senesinde doğup İstanbul’da büyüdü. Genç iken mektûbi-i sadâret kalemine çırâğ olup ilm ü ma’rifet tahsîl ederek güzel bir terbiye gördü.
Re’isü’l-küttâb Amasyalı Bıçakçılar İmâmızâde el-Hâc Mustafa Efendi’ye dâmâd ve müte’âkiben kaleminde ser-halîfe olarak temâyüz edib 1199 senesi recebinin dördüncü günü mektûbi-i sadr-ı âlî oldu. Ancak kendisine kindâr olan Gürcü Koca Yûsuf Paşa 1200 rebiülevvelinde sadr-ı a’zam olup İstanbul’a geldikde ma’zûl olduysa da 1202 senesi muharreminde bâ-irâde-i seniyye sâniyen mektûbi-i sadr-ı âlî olarak ordu-yı hümâyûn ile beraber harbe gitdi.
Ancak 1203 senesi cumâdelûlâsında pederinin vefâtına binâen hem sadr-ı a’zamın ve ordu-yu hümâyunun ahvâlinden ma’lûmat almak, hem de sadr-ı müşârün-ileyhin su’i-kasdından hayâtını kurtarmak için sene-i mezbûre cumâdelâhiresi evâilinde Rusçuk meştâsından [195] celb edilip rikâb-ı hümâyûn kethüdâsı oldu.
1203 recebinin on birinci günü Sultân Selîm Hân-ı Sâlis cülûsunda mevki’ini muhâfaza edib 1204 rebiülevvelinde Cezâ’irli Gâzi Hasan Paşa sadr-ı a’zam oldukta orduda bulunması elzem olduğundan bahisle orduya gönderilmesini taleb etdi. Lâkin bu talebin tazammun etdiği su’i-kasd anlaşıldığından surre-i hümâyûn imâmetini ricâ ederek matlûbuna müsâde buyruldu. Bu sûretle hayâtını Hasan Paşa’nın pençe-i kahrından kurtardı.
Hicâz’dan avdetinde baş-muhâsebeci olup Koca Yûsuf Paşa’nın 1205 senesi cumâdelâhiresinde ikinci def’a sadr-ı a’zam olup İstanbul’a gelmesi üzerine 1206 rebiülevvelinde azledilip ramazânında Melek Mehmed Paşa mesned-i sadârete geldiğinden 1207 senesi muharreminin yirmi altısında kethüdâ-yı sadr-ı âlî ve 1208 şa’bânında baş-defterdâr ve Sultân Selîm’in fevkalâde teveccüh ve i’timâdını kazanıp mânen müsteşâr-ı saltanat oldu.
1209 senesi rebiülevvelinde mesned-i sadârete Za’ferânbolulu Mehmed İzzet Paşa gelince bunu istirkâb eylediğinden sene-i mezbûre zilka’desinin yedisinde defterdârlıkdan kaldırılıp [196] Zahîre Nazırı oldu. Nizâm-ı Cedîd askerinin ihdâsı ve neferâtın Amasya vilâyetinden tedârik ve celbi hakkında irâde-i seniyye istihsâl ederek¹² 1210 senesi ramazânının ikisinde sânîyen baş-defterdâr oldu.
Sadr-ı a’zam Mehmed İzzet Paşa’nın yine istirkâbını da’vet eylediğinden 1211’de rûz-nâme-i evvel ve 1212’de tersâne emîni ve hakîkat hâlde müsteşar-ı saltanat, mü’temen-i devlet olarak icrâ-yı nüfûz etdi. Amasya’dan celb edilen neferât ile Nizâm-ı Cedîd Ocağını açdırdı.
1213 senesi rebiülevvelinde İzzet Mehmed Paşa’nın azl ve i’zâmı üzerine Yûsuf Ziyâ Paşa mesned-i sadârete geldikde sene-i mezbûre zilka’desinin sekizinci günü îrâd-ı cedîd defterdârı olarak altı yıldan ziyâde bu mesnedini muhâfaza etdi.
Ancak 1220 senesi muharreminin dördüncü günü sadr-ı a’zam olan Hâfız İsmâil Paşa’nın akîb-i sadâretinde müşârün-ileyhin ibrâmıyla azledildi. Bir yıl kadar ma’zûl olduğu hâlde mihrimâne tedvîr-i umûr-ı devlet ederek 1221 senesi muharreminde Umûr-ı Bahriyye Nâzırı unvânıyla sânîyen tersâne emîni oldu. [197]
Fakat Nizâm-ı Cedîd Ocağı kuvvet bulup yeniçeri ocağının gayret-keşlerini kızdırmakda idi. 1221 senesi recebinde Hâfız İsmâil Paşa’nın azliyle yerine yeniçeri ağası İbrâhim Hilmî Ağa vezâretle sadr-ı a’zam nasb edilerek bu gayret-keşleri inzibât altında bulundurmaya çalışıldı.
Ne çâre ki 1222 senesi rebiülevvelinde isyân bayrağını açan Kabakcı Mustafa’nın şer zümre-i kalîlesi önünden Sadr-ı a’zam İbrâhim Hilmî Paşa’nın firârı üzerine mezkûr rebiülevvelin yirmi birinci günü Sultân Selîm Hân-ı Sâlîs hal’ ve sâhib-i terceme ile rüfekâsı da eşkiyâ elinde şehîd edildi. Eyüb’de Kâşgarî Dergâhı yolunda medfûndur.
Müşârün-ileyh fenn-i kitâbetde mâhir, tedbîr-i umûrda misli nâdir, gâyet fatîn, vakûr, sâhib-i temkîn, âlî-himmet, mahrem-i esrâr-ı devlet, zübde-i erkân-ı saltanat, teceddüt-perverlerin alemdârı, Nizâm-ı Cedîd’in emekdârı, nahîfü’l-binye bir zât-ı sütûde-simât idi. Amasya’ya ve Amasyalı ricâle ulûvi himmeti bâhir olup İbrâhim Afîf Efendi bunun yetiştirmesidir. Mahdûmu İsmâil Zühdü Bey ve birâderi Mehmed Efendi’dir. [198]
In Modern English
He was the son of Amasyalı İsmâil Efendi bin İbrâhim Ağa, defterdar of the imperial stirrup (rikâb-ı hümâyûn defterdarı), who died in Jumada al-Awwal 1203 [January-February 1789]. He was born in 1167 [1753-54] and grew up in Istanbul. As a young man he entered the grand vizier's secretariat (sadaret mektubî kalemi, the writing office of the grand vizierate) as an apprentice; he acquired learning and knowledge and received a good upbringing.
He became son-in-law to Hacı Mustafa Efendi, the reisülküttâb of Amasya, of the Bıçakçılar İmâmızâde family; he then rose to prominence in his office as serhalife (the chief clerk of the office), and on the fourth day of Rajab 1199 [13 May 1785] he became sadaret mektupçusu (secretary of the grand vizierate). But when Gürcü Koca Yûsuf Pasha, who bore him a grudge, became grand vizier in Rabi al-Awwal 1200 [January 1786] and came to Istanbul, he was dismissed. Even so, in Muharram 1202 [October-November 1787], by the sultan's will, he went to war with the imperial army as sadaret mektupçusu for the second time.
But when his father died in Jumada al-Awwal 1203, he was summoned from the winter quarters at Rusçuk to Istanbul in early Jumada al-Thani of that same year [February-March 1789], both to obtain information about the state of the grand vizier and the army and to save his life from the grand vizier's ill will toward him, and became kethüda of the imperial stirrup.
On the eleventh day of Rajab 1203 [7 April 1789] he kept his place at the accession of Sultan Selîm III. When Cezayirli Gazi Hasan Pasha became grand vizier in Rabi al-Awwal 1204 [November-December 1789], he argued that İbrâhim Efendi's presence with the army was necessary and asked for him to be sent to the army. But since it became clear that this request concealed an ill intention, İbrâhim Efendi asked to be imam of the imperial surre, and his wish was granted. Thus he saved his life from the claws of Hasan Pasha's wrath.
On his return from the Hejaz he became chief accountant (başmuhasebeci). When Koca Yûsuf Pasha became grand vizier for the second time in Jumada al-Thani 1205 [February 1791] and came to Istanbul, he was dismissed in Rabi al-Awwal 1206 [November 1791]. In Ramadan of the same year [April-May 1792] Melek Mehmed Pasha came to the grand vizierate, and on the twenty-sixth of Muharram 1207 [13 September 1792] he became sadaret kethüdası, and in Shaban 1208 [March 1794] başdefterdar (chief treasurer). Having won Sultan Selîm's extraordinary favor and trust, he became in effect the counselor of the sultanate.
When Safranbolulu Mehmed İzzet Pasha came to the grand vizierate in Rabi al-Awwal 1209 [September-October 1794], he regarded İbrâhim Efendi as a rival, and so on the seventh of Dhu al-Qa'da of the same year [26 May 1795] he was removed from the treasurership and made Zahire Nâzırı (commissioner of grain supply). Having obtained the sultan's will for the establishment of the Nizâm-ı Cedîd troops and for bringing the soldiers from the province of Amasya, he became başdefterdar for the second time on the second of Ramadan 1210 [11 March 1796].
Because he again drew the rivalry of the grand vizier Mehmed İzzet Pasha, in 1211 [1796-97] he became rûznâme-i evvel and in 1212 [1797-98] tersane emini (arsenal superintendent); but in reality he wielded his influence as the counselor of the sultanate and a trusted man of the state. With the soldiers brought from Amasya he had the Nizâm-ı Cedîd Corps opened.
In Rabi al-Awwal 1213 [August-September 1798], when İzzet Mehmed Pasha was dismissed and removed from Istanbul, Yûsuf Ziyâ Pasha came to the grand vizierate; İbrâhim Efendi became îrâd-ı cedîd defterdarı on the eighth day of Dhu al-Qa'da of the same year [13 April 1799] and remained in this office for more than six years.
However, he was dismissed through the insistence shown by Hâfız İsmâil Pasha, who became grand vizier on the fourth day of Muharram 1220 [4 April 1805], immediately after taking the grand vizierate. Although he remained without office for about a year, he continued to run affairs of state from behind the scenes, and in Muharram 1221 [March-April 1806], with the title Umûr-ı Bahriyye Nâzırı (minister of naval affairs), he became tersane emini for the second time.
But as the Nizâm-ı Cedîd Corps grew stronger, it angered the partisans of the Janissary corps. In Rajab 1221 [September-October 1806] Hâfız İsmâil Pasha was dismissed and the Janissary agha İbrâhim Hilmî Ağa was made grand vizier with the rank of vizier, and by this means an attempt was made to keep the said partisans under discipline.
Alas, when in Rabi al-Awwal 1222 Grand Vizier İbrâhim Hilmî Pasha fled before the small band of mischief that had raised the banner of revolt under Kabakçı Mustafa, on the twenty-first day of the said Rabi al-Awwal [29 May 1807] Sultan Selîm III was deposed; and the man whose biography we are writing was martyred along with his companions at the hands of the brigands. He is buried on the road to the Kâşgarî Dervish Lodge in Eyüp.
He was a master of the art of clerkship, rarely matched in the conduct of affairs, extremely intelligent, dignified, cautious, of high zeal, a keeper of state secrets, an eminent figure of the sultanate's circle, the standard-bearer of the partisans of reform, a toiler for the Nizâm-ı Cedîd, of slight build and of praiseworthy character. His high generosity was open to Amasya and to statesmen from Amasya; İbrâhim Afîf Efendi was raised by him. His son is İsmâil Zühdü Bey, and his brother Mehmed Efendi.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- rikâb-ı hümâyûn defterdarı / kethüdası: officials who, when the army went on campaign, stayed in Istanbul with the sultan and conducted financial and grand-vizierial business
- mektubî-i sadâret: the grand vizierate's correspondence office; mektupçu: the head of this office
- çırağ: an apprentice clerk newly entering an office
- re'isü'l-küttâb: head of the Divan clerks, a high official who also conducted foreign affairs
- ser-halîfe: the senior chief clerk of an office
- kindâr: one who bears a grudge; ma'zûl: dismissed from office
- bâ-irâde-i seniyye: by the sultan's will
- meştâ: the winter quarters where the army spent the winter
- su'i-kasd: ill intent, a plan to harm someone
- surre-i hümâyûn: the sultan's gift sent every year to Mecca and Medina, and the caravan that carried it
- mesned-i sadâret: the grand vizierate
- istirkâb: regarding someone as a rival, envying
- zahîre nâzırı: the commissioner responsible for Istanbul's grain supply
- rûz-nâme-i evvel: head of the first daily-stipend register office in the treasury
- îrâd-ı cedîd: the new treasury established for the expenses of the Nizâm-ı Cedîd army
- mihrimâne: appears thus in the text; in the translation it is rendered "from behind the scenes". It is probably a misarrangement in place of mahremâne, meaning "secretly"; this is a guess
- gayret-keş: a partisan, supporter of a group
- hal': deposing the sultan
- sâhib-i terceme: the person whose biography is written
- fatîn: intelligent, perceptive; vakûr: dignified; sâhib-i temkîn: cautious
- teceddüt-perver: a partisan of renewal; nahîfü'l-binye: of slight build
Hacı İbrâhim Efendi, "Hidden Fever," in the Sources
In the title of the entry Hüsameddin calls this man "İbrâhim Reşîd Efendi". In present-day research, however, the same person appears as Hacı İbrâhim Efendi, Amasyalızâde Hacı İbrâhim Efendi, or, by the nickname the people gave him, İbrâhim Efendi "Gizli Sıtma" (Hidden Fever). There is no doubt about his identity: Yunus İnce's study of the Kabakçı Mustafa revolt states that this İbrâhim Efendi was the son of the rikâb defterdarı İsmâil Efendi, that while working in the mektubî office he built a close relationship with the reisülküttâb Mustafa Efendi and rose rapidly, and that he served as serhalife, mektupçu, kethüda of the imperial stirrup, chief accountant, sadaret kethüdası, defterdar, arsenal superintendent, îrâd-ı cedîd defterdarı and grain commissioner. This sequence matches exactly what Hüsameddin relates.
There is a confusion that the reader should note. Among those killed in the 1807 revolt was also Arabacızâde İbrâhim Nesîm Efendi, known as "İbrâhim Kethüda". In the list of eleven people the rebels demanded from the sultan, the two appear separately: in first place İbrâhim Nesîm Efendi, in second place "Bahriye Nazırı Hacı İbrâhim Efendi". The hero of our entry is the latter. The İbrâhim Nesîm Efendi who is named in Sabit Genç's study together with Tayyar Mahmud Pasha among the opponents of the Nizâm-ı Cedîd is a different person.
Hüsameddin's Dates and Present-Day Research
Hakan Erdem, in his articles on the authors of reform memoranda in the Nizâm-ı Cedîd era, gives İbrâhim Efendi's life with Gregorian dates. These largely agree with Hüsameddin's Hijri records: the secretaryship of the grand vizierate on 13 May 1785, the summons to the kethüdaship of the stirrup in February-March 1789, the sadaret kethüdalığı on 13 September 1792, the grain commissionership on 26 May 1795, the second başdefterdarlık on 11 March 1796, and the îrâd-ı cedîd defterdarlığı on 13 April 1799. According to Erdem this last post lasted until April 1805, that is, about five years; Hüsameddin says "more than six years". The Sicill-i Osmânî also records that in April 1806 he became tersane emini with the title "umûr-ı bahriye nâzırı" and that he was martyred in the Kabakçı affair on 29 May 1807.
There are differences on two further points. Erdem places the first başdefterdarlık on 20 April 1793 and notes that in this office İbrâhim Efendi succeeded Mehmed Şerif Efendi, one of the memorandum authors; Hüsameddin, however, gives Shaban 1208 [March 1794]. Erdem also places the first arsenal superintendency about a year after this; Hüsameddin shows this office in 1212 [1797-98]. The second difference concerns the Hejaz journey. Hüsameddin writes that he asked for the "surre imamlığı"; Erdem, relying on Cevdet Pasha, says he obtained the "surre-i hümâyûn eminliği" (the office of surre commissioner). Cevdet's description of Cezayirli Gazi Hasan Pasha as İbrâhim Efendi's "hasm-ı canı", that is, mortal enemy, confirms Hüsameddin's account. Hüsameddin's two footnotes are also important: one points to a meşâhere (monthly stipend) register dated 1191 [1777-78] that he saw among the papers in the Hagia Sophia cellar, the other to copies of the decrees concerning the collection of the Nizâm-ı Cedîd soldiers from Amasya; the author states that he saw these copies both in the Hagia Sophia cellar and in the Amasya court registers.
A Reform Memorandum
İbrâhim Efendi is one of the authors of the reform memoranda that Selim III requested from statesmen at the end of the war of 1789-1792. According to Erdem, he wrote his memorandum in November 1791, before he was dismissed from the chief accountantship. Although a third of the text is devoted to military subjects, the weight lies on provincial administration and the condition of the people. İbrâhim Efendi asks that a competent governor be appointed to every province, that no money be demanded from governors except a small gift once a year, that a governor stay at his post at least three years, and that governor transfers be made between nearby places. He proposes that the apportionment registers showing provincial expenses be shown not only to administrators and the ayan but also to the elders of the locality summoned to court, that a copy of the register be sent to the capital, and that the ayan's accounts be examined at the sharia court at the end of every year. It is noteworthy that he asks for the abolition of the distinction between the people of the has and waqf villages and the other reaya, and for equal treatment of all the reaya in taxes, and that he opposes the collection of exorbitant jizya.
Erdem finds that some of these proposals entered the Vüzera Kanunnamesi issued in 1792 in almost the same words, and in this context explains why the chronicler Âsım Efendi and Cevdet Pasha call İbrâhim Efendi "Nizâm-ı Cedîd'in müdîr ü müdebbiri", that is, its prudent manager. Cevdet Pasha praises him as a master of clerkship, unmatched in conducting affairs, intelligent, dignified and cautious; the adjectives at the end of Hüsameddin's entry also largely recall these expressions. The same sources do not hide that among the people he was reviled for cruelty and mercilessness and was called by the nickname "Gizli Sıtma". Erdem compares the fates of İbrâhim Efendi and his colleague and rival Çelebi Mustafa Reşid Efendi: the two often succeeded and preceded one another in the same offices; in 1807 the Janissaries did not touch Mustafa Reşid, saying "Maşallah Efendi Baba", while they killed İbrâhim Efendi with insults. Indeed, after his death Mustafa Reşid Efendi was appointed to the arsenal superintendency.
The Nizâm-ı Cedîd in Amasya and İbrâhim Efendi's Share
Hüsameddin's sentence "he had the Nizâm-ı Cedîd Corps opened with the soldiers brought from Amasya" finds detailed correspondence in Sabit Genç's study, which relies on archival documents and on other volumes of Hüsameddin's book. With the decree announcing the establishment of the Nizâm-ı Cedîd in September 1793, first Kayalı Paşazâde Kâşif Ömer Ağa was sent to Amasya, followed by Uzun Hâfız Mehmed Efendi, one of the accounting khalifas, and Mahmud Efendi, one of the khalifas of the grand vizierate's mektubî office. Genç records that Hâfız Mehmed Efendi's family was related to the famous calligrapher Râsih Mehmed Efendi bin İbrâhim Ağa, İbrâhim Efendi's uncle. The decree was read before the ulema, the ayan and the people; the kadı of Amasya, Hacı Rıfkı Efendi, also supported this work. After the letter written by the sadaret kethüdası Amasyalızâde Hacı İbrâhim Efendi to the chief ayan Hacı Süleyman Bey and the explanations of the officials who came, a great many of Amasya's young men and Janissaries were enrolled in the new corps.
Matters did not go easily. In February 1794 a crowd incited by the Janissaries stormed the court and tore up the register containing the particulars of those enrolled in the Nizâm-ı Cedîd; in the investigation the mufti Ürgüplü Hacı Ahmed Efendi was removed from office, and the alaybeyi and the Janissary serdar were sent into exile. The register was drawn up anew and the soldiers were sent to Istanbul; in February 1797 the Nizâm-ı Cedîd barracks was opened in the Hızır Pasha quarter on a large vineyard plot donated by the tax collector Bozoklu Süleyman Bey. Genç notes that the barracks stood on the site known today as the Station land, and that a transfer correspondence of 1944 contains the phrase "Nizâm-ı Cedîd Kışlası arazisi". In 1805 it was decided to set up a twelve-company orta in Amasya, and in August 1806 53 officers and 411 men were being trained in this orta. A few days after İbrâhim Efendi's death, by a decree dated 4 June 1807, the Nizâm-ı Cedîd was abolished in Amasya too, the demolition of the barracks was ordered, and the goods in the barracks were counted and brought to the Amasya Bedesten.
His Death
The Kabakçı Mustafa revolt was begun by the Bosphorus fortress auxiliaries (yamaks) on 25 May 1807 and, within four days, ended in the deposition of Selim III. According to the information Yunus İnce gives by comparing the letter of an eyewitness with the chronicles of the period, when the yamaks crossed into Istanbul, Hacı İbrâhim Efendi went from the Sublime Porte to the arsenal and from there took refuge in Vâhid Efendi's waterside mansion in Eyüp. Not feeling safe here either, he put a shawl over his head and crossed in the boat of an old boatman to his house near the Beylerbeyi landing, and hid in the cellar. When it was talked about in a coffeehouse that he had given the boatman far more money than necessary, the rebels returned to his house, tortured the gardener to learn his whereabouts, and brought him out of the cellar.
Kaymakam Musa Pasha, who did not want blood to be shed in the first days of the new sultan, said İbrâhim Efendi would not be harmed and placed him in the quarters of the çavuşbaşı. According to what İnce relates, however, Musa Pasha in fact wanted his death and had sent word to Kabakçı Mustafa that "Gizli Sıtma" had been caught. A few rebels stormed the çavuşbaşı's room and took İbrâhim Efendi away; on the road they plucked out his beard and distributed it to passersby, saying "This is called hidden fever; whoever it grips has no escape; but a hair of his beard makes up for his own harm". When they had come to the slipper-makers on the Beyazıt side, İbrâhim Efendi, who had no strength left, was killed with the sword, and his severed head was taken to the Et Meydanı. Most sources give the location of the event thus; in some it appears as Çömlekçilerbaşı, in others as in front of the Dülbentçiler. The information Hüsameddin gives about the grave on the road to the Kâşgarî Dervish Lodge in Eyüp was not found in the sources read.
No information could be found in other sources about his son İsmâil Zühdü Bey and his brother Mehmed Efendi, whom Hüsameddin mentions. For İbrâhim Afîf Efendi, who is said to have been raised by him, see entry 229 of this volume and Hüsameddin's biography under the letter "ayn".
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, pp. 68–69. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
- Yunus İnce, "Bir Görgü Tanığının Gözünden Kabakçı Mustafa İsyanı", Türkiyat Araştırmaları (dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/641010).
- Sabit Genç, "Nizam-ı Cedid'in Amasya Sancağındaki Yansımaları", Karamanoğlu Mehmetbey Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, 8/2 (2025), pp. 335-362.
- Kemal Beydilli, "Selim III", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/selim-iii).
Books
- Hakan Erdem, "Hiç Değilse Vergide Eşitlik", Karar, 12 October 2019.
- Hakan Erdem, "Bu da Nizam-ı Cedid'in Mustafa Reşid'i", Karar, 5 October 2019.