Amasyalıdır. Receb Mahallesi a’yânından ve esbak Amasya kethüdâyeri iken 1099’da vefât eden Kurşunlu Ali Ağa ahfâdından Amasya serdârı el-Hâc Ali Ağa bin Haseki Mehmed Ağa bin İsmâil Ağa bin Kurşunlu Ali Ağa’nın oğludur. Altıncı demekle meşhûr idi.
Pederinin hayâtında yeniçeri olup Rus muhârebelerinde ibrâz-ı liyâkatla 1218’de Amasya serdârı, 1224’de serdengeçtiler ağası olarak Rus harbine gitdi. Yine ibrâz-ı şecâat ederek Turnacıbaşılık rütbesiyle taltîf edildi.
1227’de Amasyalı Hacı Bakî oğlu Halil Hamîd Ağa’nın Yeniçeri Ağalığında İstanbul’da ağa kapısına yerleşip kesb-i kıdem ederek kethüdâyeri, 1236’da Zağarcıbaşı, 1237 senesi cumâdelûlâsı selhinde kul kethüdâsı ve şevvâlinin yedisinde yeniçeri ağası oldu. [197]
Üç aydan ziyâdece ağalık edib 1238 senesi muharreminin yirmi üçüncü günü azledildi. Kadıköyü’nde sahîlhânesinde mukîm olup 1241 senesi şevvâlinde Bâb-ı Âlî’den kendisine Seraskerlik arz olunmuşdu.
Sultân Mahmûd-ı sânî bu arzı kabûl etmediğinden başka Yeniçeri Ocağının ilgâsı akîbinde Kütahya’ya nefyedilip orada 1242 senesi rebiülâhirinde i’dâm edildi. Pek cesûr, zâbit, muktedîr bir zât idi. İktidârı Sultân Mahmûd’u ürküttü.
Mahdûmlarından Ali Ağa Ocak ağalarından olup pederinin nefyi esnâsında maktûlen vefât etdi. Diğer oğlu Mahmûd Ağa Üsküdar’da bir müddet ihtifâ ederek sonra gece kaçıp Amasya‘ya can atdı. Afv-ı umûmîde meydana çıktı. Bunun oğlu Ali Ağa’dır. Bunun oğlu İsmâil Ağa İstanbul’da yakın vakitlere kadar ber-hayât idi.
In Modern English
He is from Amasya. He is the son of Hacı Ali Ağa, serdar of Amasya, a notable of the Receb quarter and a descendant of Kurşunlu Ali Ağa, former kethüdayeri of Amasya, who died in 1099 [1687-88]; Hacı Ali Ağa was the son of Haseki Mehmed Ağa, son of İsmâil Ağa, son of Kurşunlu Ali Ağa. He was famous by the name "the Sixth".
In his father's lifetime he was a janissary; showing his ability in the Russian wars, he went to the Russian war as serdar of Amasya in 1218 [1803-04] and as serdengeçtiler ağası in 1224 [1809-10]. Showing courage again, he was rewarded with the rank of turnacıbaşı.
In 1227 [1812-13], during the janissary ağalık of Halil Hamîd Ağa, son of Hacı Bakî of Amasya, he settled at the ağa's gate in Istanbul, gained seniority, and became kethüdayeri, zağarcıbaşı in 1236 [1820-21], kul kethüdası at the end of Cemaziyelevvel 1237 [1822], and janissary ağa on the seventh of Şevval.
He held the ağalık for more than three months and was dismissed on the twenty-third day of Muharrem 1238 [1822]. Living in his waterside mansion at Kadıköy, he was offered the post of seraskar by the Sublime Porte in Şevval 1241 [1826].
Sultan Mahmud II did not accept this offer; and when the Janissary Corps was abolished, he was exiled to Kütahya and executed there in Rebiülâhir 1242 [1826]. He was a very brave, officer-like, capable man. His power frightened Sultan Mahmud.
Of his sons, Ali Ağa was one of the ocak ağas and was killed during his father's exile. His other son Mahmud Ağa hid for a while in Üsküdar and then fled by night and hurried to Amasya. He came into the open at the general amnesty. His son is Ali Ağa. His son İsmâil Ağa was living in Istanbul until recently.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- kethüdâyeri: the one who stands in for the kethüda, a deputy steward
- serdâr: commander; in the text the local head of the janissaries in Amasya
- serdengeçtiler ağası: head of the serdengeçtis
- turnacıbaşı: one of the six great ağas of the janissary corps
- zağarcıbaşı: head of the keepers of the zağar (hunting dogs) in the janissary corps
- kul kethüdâsı: deputy and representative of the janissary ağa
- seraskerlik: command of the army
- nefy: exile
- i'dâm: execution
- selh: the end of a month
- ihtifâ: hiding
Ranks of the Corps
The ladder that İsmâil Kurşunluoğlu climbed step by step follows the corps' own order. The turnacıbaşı is the lowest of the six great ağas of the corps; he ranks above the hasekibaşı and below the saksoncubaşı, and his main duty was to take part in the sultan's hunts. The zağarcıbaşı is head of the zağarcıs, who made up the 64th orta of the corps, and ranks below the kul kethüdası. The kul kethüdası is the deputy of the janissary ağa and, when needed, his representative; having been trained within the corps, he taught its procedures and rules to an ağa brought in from outside. From the second half of the 17th century kul kethüdas were made janissary ağa directly. The progression Hüsameddin lists, from zağarcıbaşı to kul kethüdası and from there to ağa, agrees with this order.
From the Ağalık to Execution
Mahmud II, in order to abolish the Janissary Corps, appointed Ağa Hüseyin in 1823 first to the post of kul kethüdası and then to the janissary ağalık. Ağa Hüseyin Pasha removed or sidelined, on one pretext or another, the corps notables hostile to reform. When the corps rose in revolt on 15 June 1826, the barracks were put under cannon fire and the Janissary Corps was abolished. Hüsameddin's statement that in Şevval 1241 [1826] the Sublime Porte offered İsmâil Ağa the post of seraskar could not be verified in the sources; the person made seraskar of the newly formed Asâkir-i Mansûre-i Muhammediyye that same year was Ağa Hüseyin Pasha. No information was found in other sources on İsmâil Ağa's end in Kütahya or on his family.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 7, p. 323–323. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies