AMASYA 05

Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar · İKİNCİ BÂB · BİRİNCİ FASIL

İsmâil Ağa, Kurşun Koroğlu

Encyclopedia · History of Amasya, Volume 7, p. 322 • Edited by: Prof. Dr. Safi ARPAGUŞ- Prof. Dr. Ahmet Hakkı TURABİ

Original Text (Ottoman Turkish)

Amasya‘nın Şamice Mahallesi’nde câmii olan Serdengeçti ağası el-Hâc Halil Ağa bin Osmân Ağa’nın oğludur. Pederinin hayâtında Rus ve Mısır muhârebâtında bulunarak Serdengeçtiler ağası, mükerreren Amasya serdârı olup 1234’de vefât etdi. Buna Otuz bir denirdi. Cesûr, zâbit bir kimse idi.

Our Research Article Editor: Mevlüt Erdem Öztürk

In Modern English

He is the son of Hacı Halil Ağa, son of Osman Ağa, the serdengeçti ağası who had a mosque in the Şamice quarter of Amasya. In his father's lifetime he took part in the Russian and Egyptian wars, became serdengeçtiler ağası and several times serdar of Amasya, and died in 1234 [1818-19]. He was called "Thirty-One". He was a brave officer.

Notes and Research

Old Words in the Text

  • serdengeçti: a volunteer soldier who risks his life in the foremost fighting
  • serdengeçtiler ağası: head of the serdengeçtis, one who had earned the right to the special turban adorned with feathers
  • serdâr: commander; in the text the local head of the janissaries in Amasya
  • muhârebât: wars
  • zâbit: officer
  • cesûr: brave

The Serdengeçtis

Serdengeçti is the name given to the devoted volunteers who, first among the akıncıs and later among the janissaries, plunged into the enemy ranks or were first to enter a besieged fortress. From the 16th century the serdengeçtis, mostly volunteer janissaries, were organised under a "flag" in units of one hundred and twenty men. Those who came back alive from these battles had their pay raised and were given the right to wear a special headdress adorned with valuable feathers, called the serdengeçti turban; those who wore it were called "serdengeçti ağası" and were held in respect among the other soldiers. Halil Ağa and his son in the text are men who bore this title. It is noted that from the end of the 16th century serdengeçtis began to be recruited from timar holders in the provinces as well.

The Şamice Quarter

The quarter that Hüsameddin calls "Şamice" may be the Şamlar (Şamlılar) quarter of Amasya, where the Ayas Ağa Complex, made up of a mosque, a madrasa and a boys' school, stands; this is our own assumption, as the text does not make the link. The complex was built at the end of the 15th century by Ayas Ağa, one of the gate ağas of the time of Bayezid II; Hüsameddin gives its date as 900 [1494-95], and since it has no inscription the date rests on his record. It is related that a Şamlar Mosque, a charity of the Danishmendid Emir Gazi, had earlier stood on the site. The mosque of the complex is still open for worship today.

No information was found in the sources we read on Halil Ağa's mosque, on İsmâil Ağa Kurşun Koroğlu, or on the nickname "Thirty-One". The text also gives no date for the "Russian and Egyptian wars".

Bibliography

Volume 7 contents