Amasyalıdır. Beylerbeyilerden olup yukarıda tercemesi sebkeden Ahmed Paşa’nın mahdûmudur. Meşâhir-i züamâdan olup eşkiyâ muhârebelerinde ibrâz-ı hizmet eylediğinden mükerreren Amasya Alaybeyi olduğu halde 1020 senesi recebi evâ’ilinde vefât etdi. Mahdûmları Mustafa, Yûsuf Beylerle kızları Fahri, Gevher Hân hanımlardır. [107]
Ceddi Sinan Paşa ve ceddesi Bülbül Hâtun vâkıflarına mütevellî ve Hüseyin-âbâd mâlikânesine mutasarrıf idi. İrtihâlinde evlâdı bunlara mütevellî oldu. Fakat 1023 senesi cumâdelahiresinde İskender Bey’in birâderi Müteferrika Mustafa Bey de bâ-fermân-ı âlî müştereken mütevellî olmuşdu.
In Modern English
He is from Amasya. He was the son of Ahmed Pasha, one of the beylerbeyis, whose biography is given above. He was among the well-known zeamet holders, and after serving several times as Alaybeyi of Amasya for the service he rendered in the wars against brigands, he died in early Rajab 1020 [1611]. His sons were the beys Mustafa and Yûsuf, and his daughters were the ladies Fahri and Gevher Han.
He was trustee of the waqfs of his forebears Sinan Pasha and Bülbül Hatun, and held the mâlikâne of Hüseyin-âbâd. On his death his children became trustees of these. However, in Jumada al-Thani 1023 [1614] İskender Bey's brother Müteferrika Mustafa Bey had also become co-trustee by imperial decree.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- mahdûm: son
- meşâhir-i züamâ: well-known zeamet holders
- eşkıyâ muhârebeleri: wars against brigands; here the Celali rebellions are most likely meant
- ibrâz-ı hizmet: to render service
- alaybeyi: commander of the timar-holding sipahis in a sanjak
- ced, cedde: forefather, forebear; grandfather, grandmother, or ancestors of an earlier generation
- mütevellî: the person who administers a waqf
- mâlikâne: the right to operate part of the state revenue for life
- mutasarrıf: a person with the authority to use and operate a property
- müteferrika: a person chosen from among distinguished men at the imperial court and assigned various duties
- bâ-fermân-ı âlî: by imperial decree
The Alaybeyi and the Zeamet Holder
The alaybeyi was one of the commanders of the timar-holding sipahis; the sanjak bey was the superior of the subaşı, alay beyi, dizdar and sipahis of his district, and an alaybeyi who was promoted could also become a sanjak bey. According to records from the middle of the sixteenth century, sanjak beys were mostly appointed from among alaybeyis serving in the provinces, zaims, defter kethüdas and timar defterdars. A zeamet is a fief with an annual revenue between 20,000 and 99,999 akçe; its holder was called a zaim, and the plural züamâ, and was obliged to equip one cebelü, that is, one armed mounted soldier, for every 5,000 akçe. The phrase "meşâhir-i züamâdan" says that İskender Bey was a well-known member of this high-income class. That İskender Bey's brother Mustafa Bey is described as a "müteferrika" shows the family's closeness to the court circle: the müteferrika class also admitted the children of viziers, beylerbeyis and sanjak beys, and the children of the daughters of sultans and princes.
The Wars Against Brigands
İskender Bey's death in 1020 (1611) falls at the end of the period that one study places between 1000 and 1020 (1591-1611) under the name "Great Anatolian Rebellion." These rebellions, known as Celali, take their name from Bozoklu Şeyh Celâl, who appeared around Tokat in 1519; in time the people began to call every rebel who harmed the state a Celali. Some of the Celali leaders, such as Kalenderoğlu, had been in state service; when Kalenderoğlu, who was given the sanjak bey post of Ankara, could not actually take possession of that sanjak, he rebelled again, brought Manisa and its surroundings under his influence in 1607, and, unable to hold out against Kuyucu Murad Pasha, fled to Iran. The rebellions also affected Amasya, and according to the sources Celali brigands at times took control of the city; the bibliography of the article on the Celalis also points to the relevant pages of volume III of the Amasya Tarihi. Hüsameddin does not say in which wars İskender Bey took part; he says only that he served several times as alaybeyi of Amasya. For this reason it cannot be understood from the sources examined which rebellions he fought.
Family Waqfs
Hüsameddin shows the trusteeship of the waqfs of İskender Bey's forebear Sinan Pasha and of Bülbül Hatun, and the mâlikâne of Hüseyin-âbâd, as being in the family's hands. The same waqfs appear in entry 103; if the grandson who is described there as "Hafîdi İskender Bey de ümerâdandır" is this İskender Bey, Sinan Pasha would be his great-grandfather and the word "ced" denotes a forebear. Bülbül Hatun is called "the mother of his wife" there, and here "his cedde"; in other sources she appears as the mother of Prince Ahmed. How these accounts fit together cannot be understood from the sources examined. For the location of Hüseyin-âbâd and the scope of the mâlikâne no information was found in the sources examined.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 7, p. 296–297. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
Other sources