Amasyalıdır. Esbak Amasya mütesellimi el-Hâc Mehmed Ağa bin Avkatlı İbrâhim Ağa’nın mahdûmudur. Sadr-ı esbak Zanalızâde es-Seyyid el-Hâc Ahmed Paşa’nın ağalarından olup Kars Seraskerliğinde dergâh-ı âlî kapıcıbaşılığı verildi.
Sadr-ı müşârün-ileyhin irtihâlinde Amasya‘ya gelip ikâmet ederek 1171’de hacıbaşı, 1173’de baş a’yân oldu. Ba’dehû İstanbul’a gidip 1176’da veznedârbaşı olduğu halde 1189 senesi muharreminin on yedisinde vefât etdi. Üsküdar’da medfûndur.
Nüfuz ve servet sâhibi bir hânedân idi. Oğulları [173] Mehmed, Ali, Abdülkerîm Ağalardır. Mehmed Ağazâde Hâsekî el-Hâc Mehmed Ağa’dır. El-Hâc Ali Ağa, Beyhân Sultân’ın Baltacılar Kethüdâsı olmuşdu.
In Modern English
He is from Amasya. He is the son of Hacı Mehmed Ağa, a former mütesellim of Amasya, who was the son of Avkatlı İbrâhim Ağa. He was one of the ağas of the former grand vizier Zanalızâde Seyyid Hacı Ahmed Pasha, and during the Kars command he was given the kapıcıbaşılık of the Sublime Porte.
On the death of the said grand vizier he came to Amasya and settled there, and became hacıbaşı in 1171 [1757-58] and chief notable in 1173 [1759-60]. He then went to Istanbul and, having become veznedarbaşı in 1176 [1762-63], died on the seventeenth of Muharram 1189 [1775-76]. He is buried in Üsküdar.
It was a household of influence and wealth. His sons are Mehmed, Ali and Abdülkerîm Ağa. Mehmed Ağazâde is Haseki Hacı Mehmed Ağa. Hacı Ali Ağa had been Baltacılar Kethüdâsı to Beyhân Sultan.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- mütesellim: an official who ran the administration of a sanjak or district on behalf of a governor
- sadr-ı esbak: former grand vizier
- seraskerlik: command of an army
- dergâh-ı âlî kapıcıbaşısı: head of the palace gatekeepers
- irtihâl: death
- hacıbaşı: as far as the text shows, the leading head of the pilgrims in Amasya
- baş a'yân: chief of the city's notables
- veznedarbaşı: head of the veznedars who weighed and checked money in the treasury
- hânedân: a noble, long-established family
- Baltacılar Kethüdâsı: steward of the baltacı corps
The Family and the Titles of the Period
The Zanalızâde Hacı Ahmed Pasha named in the entry is described as a grand vizier and a commander at Kars; however, no grand vizier or Kars commander of that name and those titles was found in other sources. For this reason the date at which İsmâil Ağa received the kapıcıbaşılık could not be determined. No record was found either on Avkatlı İbrâhim Ağa or on his son Hacı Mehmed Ağa's term as mütesellim of Amasya. The dates Hüsameddin gives set out İsmâil Ağa's posts in Amasya and Istanbul between 1171 and 1176.
The Posts of Veznedarbaşı and Kapıcıbaşı
In the Ottoman treasury the veznedar checked the money brought in, establishing whether it was counterfeit and whether the amount matched the records; the weighed coins were put into purses and placed in the treasury room. İsmâil Ağa's title "veznedarbaşı" shows that he stood at the head of the veznedars doing this work. The kapıcıbaşılık, for its part, came in the last centuries to be given also as a rank or title, and their number rose to 150 towards the end of the 18th century. His being called by this rank beside Zanalızâde suggests it was granted as a title rather than as a palace duty, but the text does not say so explicitly.
Üsküdar and Beyhân Sultan
The entry says İsmâil Ağa is buried in Üsküdar; his grave could not be located for now. Beyhân Sultan and the post of Baltacılar Kethüdâsı held by his son Hacı Ali Ağa could not be verified in another source either.
Bibliography