Amasya eşrâfından Sarac Mehmed Ağa bin Derviş Ahmed’in oğludur. Sipâhi meşâhirinden olup Amcazâde Hüseyin Paşa’nın dâiresine intisâb ederek ağalarından oldu. Müşârün-ileyhin sadâretten istifâsında Sivas vilâyeti cizyedârı oldu.
1118’de Amasya kethüdâyeri ve bade’l-azl 1121’de Evkâf-ı Sultâniyye mütevellîsi ve 1122 senesi muharreminde sâniyen kethüdâyeri ve müteâkıben Amasya Sancağı mütesellimi oldu. Sene-i mezbûre zilhiccesi gâyesinde ma’zûl ve 1124 recebinde sâlisen kethüdâyeri ve şa’bânında sâniyen Amasya mütesellimi oldu.
1124 zilka’desi gâyesinde ma’zûl olup 1125 senesi rebîülevvelinde Fazlızâde Fazlı Paşa tarafından Sivas mütesellimi olarak Sivas’a gitdi. Paşa’nın vürûdunda kethüdâsı olup 1126 senesi cumâdelâhiresinde Fazlı Paşa ile beraber maktûlen vefât etdi.
Şedîd, zâbit, müdebbir idi. Ancak Sivas’ın türedisi olan Ahî Mehmed Ağa’nın tezvirâtına kurban [151] olup gitdi. Nihâyet o zâlim de kardeşiyle beraber i’dâm edildi. Keskin İsmâil Ağa’nın oğulları Mehmed, Halil Ağalara ve evlâdına Keskinoğulları dendi.
In Modern English
He was the son of Saraç Mehmed Ağa, son of Derviş Ahmed, one of the notables of Amasya. A well-known sipahi, he entered the circle of Amcazâde Hüseyin Paşa and became one of his aghas. When the pasha mentioned resigned from the grand vizierate, he became jizya collector (cizyedar) of the province of Sivas.
In 1118 [1706-07] he became deputy steward (kethüda yeri) of Amasya; after being dismissed he became administrator of the sultan's waqfs in 1121 [1709-10]; in Muharram 1122 [1710-11] he became deputy steward for the second time and then deputy governor (mütesellim) of the sanjak of Amasya. At the end of Dhu'l-Hijja of the same year he was dismissed; in Rajab 1124 he became deputy steward for the third time and in Sha'ban deputy governor of Amasya for the second time.
At the end of Dhu'l-Qa'da 1124 he was dismissed, and in Rabi' al-Awwal 1125 [1713-14] he went to Sivas as deputy governor of Sivas under Fazlızâde Fazlı Paşa. When the pasha arrived he became his steward, and in Jumada al-Akhira 1126 [1714-15] he was killed together with Fazlı Paşa.
He was a stern, orderly and prudent administrator. But he fell victim to the slanders of Ahî Mehmed Ağa, an upstart of Sivas. In the end that tyrant was also executed with his brother. The sons of Keskin İsmâil Ağa, Mehmed and Halil Ağa, and their descendants came to be called Keskinoğulları.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- eşrâf: notables
- dâire: a pasha's circle, household and men
- müşârün-ileyh: the person mentioned
- cizyedâr: official who collected the jizya (tax on non-Muslims)
- kethüdâyeri: deputy steward, assistant
- Evkâf-ı Sultâniyye mütevellîsi: administrator of the sultan's waqfs
- mütesellim: deputy who governed a sanjak on a pasha's behalf
- bade'l-azl: after dismissal
- ma'zûl: removed from office
- sâniyen, sâlisen: for the second time, for the third time
- maktûlen: by being killed
- tezvîrât: lies and slanders
Amcazâde Hüseyin Paşa
Amcazâde Hüseyin Paşa, to whom Keskin İsmâil Ağa attached himself, was the son of Hasan Ağa, younger brother of Köprülü Mehmed Paşa, and became known as Amcazâde ("the uncle's son") during the grand vizierate of his cousin Fâzıl Ahmed Paşa. It is known that Fâzıl Mustafa Paşa, a member of the same family, was born in the Köprü district of Amasya (today's Vezirköprü); Amcazâde's own birthplace is not stated in the source read. How İsmâil Ağa entered the pasha's circle could not be traced either.
After the defeat at Zenta and the death of Grand Vizier Elmas Mehmed Paşa, it was decided on 13 September 1697 to appoint Hüseyin Paşa grand vizier; he received the seal from the sultan on 17 September. The two great treaties of the period fall in his time: the peace made at Karlowitz on 26 January 1699 with Austria, Poland and Venice, and the Treaty of Istanbul signed with the Russians on 13 July 1700. When he fell out with Şeyhülislam Feyzullah Efendi, tutor of Mustafa II, he could not withstand the pressure; on 4 September 1702 he sent the seal to the sultan, resigned, and withdrew to his farm at Kumburgaz, where he died on 22 September 1702.
Hüsameddin ties Keskin İsmâil Ağa's post as cizyedar of Sivas to this resignation. Since the resignation was in September 1702, this post must fall after that date and before the post of deputy steward of Amasya that Hüsameddin places in 1118 [1706-07].
What the Search Could Not Find
Searches turned up no record of the killing of Fazlızâde Fazlı Paşa at Sivas, the identity of Ahî Mehmed Ağa, or the Keskinoğulları family. The details of the events of 1126 [1714-15] therefore remain limited to Hüsameddin's account. No other source with information on Keskin İsmâil Ağa was found.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 7, p. 309–309. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies