Amasyalıdır. Tercemesi geçen Baltacılar Kethüdâsı Amasyalı el-Hâc İbrâhim Ağa’nın mahdûmudur. Amasya‘da tevellüd edib küçük yaşında pederiyle İstanbul’a geldi. Mâliye Mektubî Kalemi’ne girdi. Orada tefeyyüz ederek ser-halîfe oldu.
Halîfelikte uzun müddet kalıp Amasya‘da Saz Mâlikânesi mukâtaasını iltizâm ederek imrâr-ı hayât etdiği esnâda 1197’de Dârüssaâde Ağası olan İdrisî Ağa’ya intisâb etdi. 1200 senesi muharreminde bâ-rütbe-i Hâcegânî def’aten defterdâr-ı şıkk-ı evvel olarak mahsûd-ı akrân oldu.
1200 senesi rebîülevvelinde sadr-ı a’zam olan Koca Yûsuf Paşa’yı kendisinden memnun edemediğinden onun [183] ibrâmı üzerine sene-i mezbûre şevvâlinin yirmi sekizinde azledildi. Ancak bunun azli, Dârüssaâde Ağası İdris Ağa’nın nüfûzuna dokunduğundan 1201 senesi rebiülevvelinin sekizinde Rikâb-ı Hümâyun Defterdârı oldu.
1202 senesi şevvâlinde yine azledildiyse de zilhiccesinde Amasyalı es-Seyyid Mustafa Paşa Rikâb-ı Hümâyun Kâim-makâmı olarak İstanbul’a vürûdundan sonra 1203 senesi cumâdelûlâsında sâniyen Rikâb-ı Hümâyun Defterdârı olduğu halde ramazânında vefât etdi.
Kâtib, muhâsib, mukdim bir zât idi. Mahdûmları el-Hâc İbrâhim Reşid, Mehmed Efendilerdir. Müşârün-ileyhin kitâbeti derecesini ve Amasyalı olduğunu göstermek üzere Ayasofya mahzen-i evrâkında bulunup Amasyalı Çiğdem Beyzâde Hâfız es-Seyyid Mehmed Ağa’yı Anadolu Vâlisi Vezîr es-Seyyid Ali Paşa’ya tavsiye için yazdığı şu mektubu derc edildi:
“Veli nîmetim Efendim.
Mukaddemce dâire-i mekârim fâhire-i kerîmânelerine âsûde ve ni’am-ı celîleleriyle mütena’im olarak deavât-ı hayriyet ifâde-i destûrîlerini tezkâr ve ifâde-i [184] bezl-i cell-i miknet edib hakkında enzâr-ı rahîmâneleri nâşirü’l-envâr buyrulmak istid’âsıyla esbâl-i hâk-i pây kılınan bîrûn ağavâtından Hâfız Seyyid Mehmed Ağa¹²⁸ kullarının sığar-i sinninden berû etvâr ve ahvâl-i hamîdeti’l-hısâli derece-i evliyâullâha resîde ve sıdk ve istikâmeti tavsîfden baîde olup sadr-ı esbak Moldovânî Mehmed Paşa’nın ber-eyyâm-ı cümle-i mülkü ve ba’dehû yine sadr-ı esbak merhûm Şâhin Ali Paşa’nın nazar-kerde ve harem kethüdâsı ve mahdûmu müteveffâ Atâullah Paşa’nın lalası ve kapıcılar kethüdâsı olmak mülâbeseleri ile ömrü vüzerâ-yı izâm hazerâtı dâirelerinde herem-resîde ve bu takrîb-i kâr-âgâhî ve umûr-ı âşinâ bir bendeleri olduğundan fazla hem hemşehrî ve hem kapı yoldaşı ve hem mücerreb ve mu’temed çâkeri olmağla haline çesbân ve emr-i ulüvvi’ş-şânlarının icrâsı me’mûl kılınacak mehâmda istihdâmıyla terfiye hâline merhamet buyurulması ihtârı ta’cîz-i âcizâneme bâdî olmuşdur.
Hak âlim ve dânâdır ki mû’mâ-ileyhin muîn-i sulehâ ve emr-i Bârî’nin icrâsında vücûd ifnâ eder olduğu meczûmum ve sâik-i takdîr-i Rabbâniyy-i ızdırâba giriftâriyetle şâyeste-i merhamet ve âtıfet olduğu mâ’lûmum olmasa ta’rîf ve tavsiyesine [185] adem-i mübâderet edeceğim karîn-i ilm-i re’fet ve şefkat şumûlleri buyuruldukda iyâl ve evlâdı ve ahvâl-i pûr-melâli ve niyâz-ı kemterâneme müsâadeleri der-kârıyla âmmeye mebzûl bahr-ı şefkât ve merhametleri mûmâ-ileyhin hakkında dahi cârî ve sârî buyurulup refâh-ı hâline inâyet ve merhamet buyurulmak bâbında ihsân-ı hazret-i merâhim-şân velîyyü-n-nîmet efendimindir. Bende-i atebe-i İsmâil.”¹²⁹
In Modern English
He was a native of Amasya, the son of Amasyalı Hacı İbrâhim Ağa, Kethüda of the Baltacılar, whose biography has appeared earlier. Born in Amasya, he came to Istanbul with his father at a young age and entered the Maliye Mektubî Kalemi (the finance correspondence office). There he advanced and became ser-halîfe (head of the senior clerks).
While he stayed a long time in the post of halîfe and made his living by taking on the tax-farm of the Saz Mâlikânesi mukâtaa in Amasya, in 1197 [1782-83] he attached himself to İdrisî Ağa, who had become Chief Black Eunuch (Darüssaade Ağası). In Muharrem 1200 [1785-86], with the rank of Hâcegân, he suddenly became first-rank defterdar (şıkk-ı evvel) and was envied by his peers.
Because he could not satisfy Koca Yûsuf Paşa, who had become grand vizier in Rebiülevvel 1200, he was dismissed on the twenty-eighth of Şevval of the same year at the Pasha's insistence. But since this dismissal touched the influence of the Chief Black Eunuch İdris Ağa, on the eighth of Rebiülevvel 1201 he became Defterdar of the Imperial Stirrup (Rikâb-ı Hümâyun).
In Şevval 1202 [1787-88] he was dismissed again, but in Zilhicce, after Amasyalı Seyyid Mustafa Paşa arrived in Istanbul as Deputy of the Imperial Stirrup, he became Defterdar of the Imperial Stirrup for the second time in Cemâziyelevvel 1203 [1788-89], and died in Ramadan of the same year.
He was a clerk, a man of accounts, and a bold man. His sons are Hacı İbrâhim Reşid and Mehmed Efendi. To show the subject's skill in writing and that he was an Amasyan, the following letter is included here. It was found in the document store at Hagia Sophia and was written by him to recommend Amasyalı Çiğdem Beyzâde Hâfız Seyyid Mehmed Ağa to the governor of Anatolia, Vizier Seyyid Ali Paşa:
"My benefactor, my lord.
Having earlier found refuge in your generous and munificent household, enjoyed your great favours, voiced prayers for your well-being, and, hoping that your merciful and radiant gaze might be turned upon him, laid his face in the dust at your feet, your servant Hâfız Seyyid Mehmed Ağa, one of the outer-service ağas, has from his early youth been of such conduct and praiseworthy character that it has reached the rank of the saints, and his honesty and uprightness are beyond description. During all the days of the former grand vizier Moldovanî Mehmed Paşa, and then as the favourite and harem kethüda of the former grand vizier, the late Şahin Ali Paşa, as tutor to his late son Atâullah Paşa, and as kethüda of the kapıcıs, he has spent his life in the mansions of great viziers. Through this, besides being a servant experienced and familiar with affairs, he is also our fellow townsman, our companion at the gate, and your tried and trusted servant. I have been moved, in my humble importunity, to remind you to take pity on his condition, to employ him in posts where your lofty commands are hoped to be carried out, and so to look mercifully upon his state.
God sees and knows that I am certain of his helping the righteous and wearing himself out in carrying out God's command. Had I not known that, by divine decree, he has fallen into distress and deserves mercy and compassion, I would not have undertaken to introduce and recommend him. When knowledge of your mercy and compassion reaches him, may the sea of compassion and mercy that you pour out so abundantly on all flow and spread over the person named, with the acceptance of the plight of his wife and children and of my humble request, and may kindness and mercy be shown for his welfare; this is the favour of my merciful benefactor, my lord. The servant of your threshold, İsmâil."
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- mahdûm: son
- Mâliye Mektubî Kalemi: the office handling the finance department's correspondence
- ser-halîfe: head of the senior clerks, called halîfe, in the offices
- mukâtaa: a unit of state revenue let out for collection
- iltizâm: undertaking a revenue source for a fixed sum and collecting its taxes
- imrâr-ı hayât: making one's living
- intisâb: attaching oneself, coming under someone's patronage
- Hâcegân: the rank given to senior officials of the divan offices
- defterdâr-ı şıkk-ı evvel: first-rank defterdar
- mahsûd-ı akrân: one envied by his peers
- ibrâm: insistence
- kâim-makâm: deputy
- mukdim: bold, forward
- muhâsib: one who knows accounts
- kitâbet: clerkship, the art of writing
- mahzen-i evrâk: document store
- velî nîmet: benefactor, patron
- lala: tutor who raised princes and the children of viziers
- mû'mâ-ileyh: the person named
The Office of Defterdar of the Imperial Stirrup
In the Ottoman state there was at first a single defterdar; as financial affairs grew, their number increased, and defterdars came to be called by rank, as "şıkk-ı evvel" and "şıkk-ı sânî." A general encyclopedia entry on the defterdar explains this ranking, but no record could be found defining the office called "Defterdar of the Imperial Stirrup" or its sphere of duty at the end of the eighteenth century. The imperial stirrup (rikâb-ı hümâyun) appears as a term for the service of the kapıcıs in attending the sultan outside the palace, especially when he mounted. The dates given for İsmâil Efendi's tenure in this post and his dismissals could not be verified in another source.
Koca Yûsuf Paşa and Şahin Ali Paşa
According to the sources, the grand vizier named in the text, Koca Yûsuf Paşa, was a man raised by Cezayirli Hasan Paşa and was appointed to the grand vizierate on 24 January 1786 upon the dismissal of Şahin Ali Paşa. Hüsameddin's "Rebiülevvel 1200" agrees with this date. Yûsuf Paşa's first term lasted until 7 June 1789, a period that includes the Ottoman-Russian war that began in 1787. Şahin Ali Paşa, named in the letter, served as grand vizier from 31 March 1785 to 24 January 1786. That the letter calls this Pasha "late" shows it was written after his death; the exact date of the letter is not known.
The Person in the Letter
According to Hüsameddin's footnote, Hâfız Seyyid Mehmed Ağa, recommended in the letter, is "the renowned Çiğdem Beyzâde Hâfız Seyyid Mehmed Paşa." The letter's calling him "our fellow townsman and companion at the gate" suits its aim of documenting that İsmâil Efendi was himself an Amasyan. Searches for Çiğdem Beyzâde turned up no further information. The footnote also notes that the seal was drawn in the letter exactly as seen. Since the letter itself was seen in the document store of Hagia Sophia, it could not be verified apart from Hüsameddin's account.
The Kethüda of the Kapıcıs
The letter says that Mehmed Ağa was kethüda of the kapıcıs. This office was the senior commander of the kapıcıs; he attended the talks between the sultan and the grand vizier, acted as go-between, carried the reports and brought back the replies. In later centuries the office was also given as a rank or title, and was even conferred on some notables (a'yân).
Bibliography