Gümüşlüdür. Gümüş kazâsında Keçi karyesi halkından bir kimsenin oğludur. Genç iken İstanbul’a gidip Şeyhülharem el-Hâc Ebûbekir Paşa’nın dâiresine girdi. Ba’dehû [172] müşârün-ileyhin itimâdını kazanıp vekîl-i harcı, selâm ağası, ba’dehû kethüdâsı olarak devr-i bilâd etdi.
Bu esnâda kapıcıbaşılık rütbesiyle taltîf edilip hayli servet ve yesâra mâlik ve irtihâlinde Gümüş Madeni Emîni ve kazâsı voyvadası olarak vatanına geldi. Maskat-ı re’si olan Keçi köyünde güzel bir câmi-i şerîf yaptırdı. 1184’de vefât etdi.
In Modern English
He is from Gümüş. He is the son of a man from the village of Keçi in the district of Gümüş. While still young he went to Istanbul and entered the service of the Şeyhülharem, Hacı Ebûbekir Pasha. He then won the trust of the said pasha and travelled the lands as his expense steward, selâm ağası and later his kethüda.
In the meantime he was honoured with the rank of kapıcıbaşı and came to possess considerable wealth and property, and upon the [Pasha's] death he came back to his homeland as Superintendent of the Silver Mine and voivode of the district. In Keçi village, his birthplace, he had a fine mosque built. He died in 1184 [1770-71].
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- Şeyhülharem: a title for the person in charge of duties connected with the Haram in Mecca and Medina
- vekîl-i harc: the official who managed his master's expenses
- selâm ağası: the ağa responsible for the selâm (reception) ceremonies
- kethüdâ: steward, deputy who runs a senior man's affairs
- devr-i bilâd: travelling around the lands
- müşârün-ileyh: the person just mentioned
- taltîf: honouring, rewarding
- yesâr: wealth, property
- voyvoda: the official responsible for taxes and order in a district
- maskat-ı re's: birthplace
The District and Mine of Gümüş
The Gümüş of the text is one of the two settlements that make up today's Gümüşhacıköy district; the other is Hacıköy. The district takes its name from the silver mines of the region, where mining goes back to the Early Bronze Age. In the Ottoman period Gümüş depended in the 16th century on the imperial mint administration of the province of Sivas; it was recorded with 16 neighbourhoods in the survey of 1520 and 19 in that of 1576, and its population rose from 3,589 to 6,602. An imperial decree of 1775 regulates the supervision of the mining works and measures to raise output. İsmâil Ağa's death in 1184 (1770-71) came a few years before that decree. The post of "Silver Mine Superintendent" in the text must relate to this mining enterprise, but the text does not explain the scope of the office.
The Title Şeyhülharem and the Rank of Kapıcıbaşı
Şeyhülharem is a title given to renowned scholars who taught in the Masjid al-Haram and the Prophet's Mosque, to those responsible for the staff serving there, and to those who took on the administration of Mecca and Medina. The identity and place of service of Hacı Ebûbekir Pasha, whom Hüsameddin names, could not be found in other sources, so it also could not be determined in which cities İsmâil Ağa travelled with him.
The kapıcıbaşı was a senior commander of the gatekeepers who served at the palace gates and in the imperial stirrup service. Their number rose to sixty in the first half of the 18th century and to 150 towards its end, and in the last centuries the offices of kapıcılar kethüdası and kapıcıbaşı also began to be granted as a rank or title, even to some notables. The text's "honoured with the rank of kapıcıbaşı" fits this practice: it does not mean İsmâil Ağa actually held the post at the palace, since the title was a reward.
The Mosque of Keçi Village
No information was found in other sources on the village of Keçi and its mosque as Hüsameddin describes them. The present name of the village and whether the mosque still stands could not be verified.
Bibliography
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 7, p. 316. amasya.bel.tr