Amasyalıdır. Gökmedrese Mahallesi ahâlîsinden Mehmed bin [158] Hasan oğludur. Genç iken Enderûn Sarayı’na girip Helvahâne-i Hâssa’ya çırağ edildi. Orada tâ’lim ve terbiye edilerek tefeyyüz edib Helvacılar kethüdâsı oldu.
Fakat Helvacıbaşı İbrâhim Ağa’yı gücendirdiğinden onun şikâyetiyle 1115’de cülûs vak’asını müteâkıb sipâhilik timârı verilerek Amasya‘ya gönderildi. Amasya a’yânından Müezzinbaşızâde el-Hâc Abdî Ağa’ya dâmâd olup 1122’de Rusya harbine gitdi.
Purut Muhârebesi’nde yararlığı görüldüğünden terakkîyâta mazhar olarak birkaç defa Amasya kethüdâyeri, 1127’de Zile ve 1129’da Tokat voyvadası ve Amasya beytü’l-mâl emîni oldu. 1131’de bade’l-azl Amasya’ya gelip 1132’de meclis-i a’yân a’zâsı oldu.
1135’de Merzifon voyvadası, 1139’da baş a’yân olup Amasya sancâğı idâresini kabzasına aldı. Sabık baş a’yân ve mütesellim Gürcüzâde el-Hâc İbrâhim Beyle araları açıldı. 1141’de bütün Sivas eyâleti cizyedârı oldu. [159]
1141 senesi gurre-i şevvâlinde Amasya Sancağı mütesellimi olup Gürcüzâde Hacı İbrâhim Beyle Yeğenzâde Osmân Bey’in muârazâtına ma’rûz kaldığından 1142 senesi saferinde bir takım şikâyetler üzerine ma’zûl ve Yeğenzâde Osmân Bey mütesellim oldu.
Bundan dolayı şu a’yân ile araları fevkalâde açılıp müdhiş ve kanlı bir münâzaa çıktı. Bu nizâın halli için Anadolu vâlisi Köprülüzâde Abdullah Paşa Amasya‘ya gelip tahkîkâta başladı.
1143 senesi evâilinde gelen fermân-ı âlî üzerine kanlı vak’aya sebebiyyet veren a’yânın herbiri birer tarîke nakledildiği esnâda Diyarbekir’e gönderildi. 1144’de afv ve ıtlâk edilerek Amasya’ya avdet etdi. 1145’de maiyyetine aldığı gönüllülere başbûğ olarak İran harbine gidip İrânîlerle muhârebe ederken 1147’de vefât etdi. Müdebbir, zâbit, şedîd bir hânedân idi. Oğulları Mehmed, Abdullatîf, Hasan Ağalara ve evlâdına Helvacıoğulları dendi. [160]
Mehmed Ağazâde Haseki İsmâil Ağa ve Abdî Ağa, Abdullatîf Ağazâde İsmâil Ağa, Hasan Ağazâde Hasekî Seyyid Hüseyin Ağa yeniçeri ricâlindendir. Abdî Ağa evlâdından Helvacızâde Hacı Abduş Efendi 1328’de vefât etdi. Mahdûmu Hasan Şevki Efendi’dir. Bu da 1351’de vefât etdi.
In Modern English
He was a native of Amasya, the son of Mehmed, son of Hasan, of the Gökmedrese quarter. As a young man he entered the Enderun Palace and was made an apprentice in the Imperial Halva Kitchen. Trained and brought up there, he rose to become kethüda of the halva-makers.
But because he offended Helvacıbaşı İbrahim Ağa, on the latter's complaint he was granted a sipahi timar after the accession in 1115 [1703-04] and sent to Amasya. He married the daughter of Müezzinbaşızâde Hacı Abdî Ağa, one of the notables of Amasya, and in 1122 [1710-11] went to the war with Russia.
Since his valor was noticed at the Battle of the Prut, he was promoted and several times served as kethüdâyeri of Amasya; in 1127 [1715-16] he became voyvoda of Zile, in 1129 [1716-17] voyvoda of Tokat, and also beytülmal emini of Amasya. After his dismissal in 1131 [1718-19] he came to Amasya, and in 1132 [1719-20] became a member of the council of notables.
In 1135 [1722-23] he became voyvoda of Merzifon; in 1139 [1726-27] he became baş a'yân and took the administration of the sanjak of Amasya into his hands. He fell out with Gürcüzâde Hacı İbrahim Bey, the former baş a'yân and mütesellim. In 1141 [1728-29] he became collector of the poll tax (cizyedâr) for the whole province of Sivas.
At the beginning of Shawwal 1141 [1729] he became mütesellim of the sanjak of Amasya, but, exposed to the hostility of Gürcüzâde Hacı İbrahim Bey and Yeğenzâde Osman Bey, he was dismissed in Safar 1142 [1729] on the strength of a number of complaints, and Yeğenzâde Osman Bey became mütesellim.
Because of this his relations with these notables grew extremely bad, and a terrible and bloody clash broke out. To settle this dispute the governor of Anatolia, Köprülüzâde Abdullah Pasha, came to Amasya and began an investigation.
On a sultan's firman that arrived at the beginning of 1143 [1730], while each of the notables who had caused the bloody affair was being sent off on a separate road, he was sent to Diyarbekir. In 1144 [1731-32] he was pardoned and released and returned to Amasya. In 1145 [1732-33], as commander of the volunteers he had gathered around him, he went to the war with Iran and died in 1147 [1734-35] while fighting the Iranians. He was a prudent, orderly and disciplined, stern man of noble family. His sons Mehmed, Abdüllatif and Hasan Ağa, and their children, were called the Helvacıoğulları.
Haseki İsmâil Ağa and Abdî Ağa, sons of Mehmed Ağa, İsmâil Ağa, son of Abdüllatif Ağa, and Haseki Seyyid Hüseyin Ağa, son of Hasan Ağa, were among the leading men of the janissaries. Among Abdî Ağa's descendants, Helvacızâde Hacı Abduş Efendi died in 1328 [1910]. His son was Hasan Şevki Efendi. He too died, in 1351 [1932-33].
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- Enderûn: the inner palace in which palace servants were trained
- Helvahâne-i Hâssa: the part of the palace kitchen where halva and sweets were made (the Imperial Halva Kitchen)
- çırağ: apprentice
- cülûs vak'ası: the accession of a sultan
- sipâhilik timârı: source of income given to a sipahi in return for military service
- a'yân: the leading men of a place
- kethüdâyeri: one of the senior officers of the janissary corps; understood here as an officer of the janissary organization in Amasya
- voyvoda: official in the provinces who looked after the administration and taxes of a district
- beytü'l-mâl emîni: official who managed estates and property that passed to the state
- bade'l-azl: after being dismissed
- meclis-i a'yân: assembly, council of notables
- mütesellim: deputy of a governor; official who governed a sanjak
- cizyedâr: official who collected the poll tax
- muârâza: opposition, hostility
- ma'zûl: dismissed
- nizâ': dispute, quarrel
- başbûğ: commander
- müdebbir, zâbit: prudent, one who keeps order
The Prut Campaign
The "war with Russia" in which İsmâil Ağa took part in 1122 [1710-11] is the Prut Campaign of 1711. The army, for which Grand Vizier Baltacı Mehmed Pasha was appointed commander (19 February 1711), left Istanbul on 9 April 1711, met the Russian forces near the marshes of the Prut River on 18 July 1711, fought for about four days, and an agreement between the sides was made on 22 July 1711. This is the event of which Hüsameddin says "his valor was noticed at the Battle of the Prut." The "accession" Hüsameddin mentions in 1115 corresponds to the period after the Edirne Event of 1703, when Ahmed III came to the throne.
The Quarrel of the Amasya Notables
The main weight of the entry is the quarrel among the notables of Amasya between 1139 and 1143. İsmâil Ağa became baş a'yân in 1139 and fell out with Gürcüzâde Hacı İbrahim Bey, one of his predecessors; he became mütesellim in 1141, and when he was dismissed in 1142 in favor of Yeğenzâde Osman Bey, a "bloody dispute" broke out. In entry 166 (Kara Ders-i âm) this affair is called the "İmaret Arkası incident," and there too people sent to Diyarbekir in 1143 are mentioned. It is likely that the two entries point to the same event and speak of people sent to Diyarbekir in the same year; since the text does not say so explicitly, this should be read as an inference. No other information about this quarrel among Gürcüzâde, Yeğenzâde and the Helvacıoğulları was found in the sources read; the details and causes of the event could not be verified.
Köprülüzâde Abdullah Pasha
Hüsameddin writes that "the governor of Anatolia, Köprülüzâde Abdullah Pasha" came to Amasya to settle the quarrel. Abdullah Pasha, son of Köprülü Fazıl Mustafa Pasha, is the commander who was killed at Yeghevard in 1735 against Nâdir Shah. A source that gives his list of posts records him as governor of Egypt between 1729 and 1731 and as sanjak governor of Konya between 1733 and 1734/35; the Anatolia province does not appear in this list. For this reason the year and capacity of the post Hüsameddin mentions could not be verified from the sources read. The list being incomplete, or a confusion of person or date, may be among the causes.
The Iranian War
The war in which İsmâil Ağa took part in 1145 [1732-33] with a volunteer force and in which he died in 1147 [1734-35] is the Ottoman-Iranian War (1730-1735). Abdullah Pasha, mentioned above, also died in this war in 1735. Hüsameddin does not give the place of his death.
What the Search Could Not Find
Searches on Gürcüzâde Hacı İbrahim Bey, Yeğenzâde Osman Bey, Müezzinbaşızâde Hacı Abdî Ağa, Helvacıbaşı İbrahim Ağa and the Helvacıoğulları found no information. No other source with information on this person was found.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 7, p. 312–312. amasya.bel.tr
Books
Other sources