Amasyalıdır. Amasya‘nın aynü’l-ayânı Çelebi Efendi’nin kölesi ve Kal’a-i Bâlâ Dizdârı Memi Beyzâde İbrâhim Bey’in mahdûmudur. Sadr-ı esbak Bayburtluzâde Kara İbrâhim [145] Paşa süt birâderi olup Yeniçeri silkine girdi. Altmışyedi Cemâatı’ndan olup hayli muhârebâta iştirâk ederek 1078’de Amasya serdârı oldu.
Bu esnâda Girit harbine me’mûr edilip gösterdiği yararlıklara binâen İstanbul’a geldikde kullukçubaşı, ba’dehû evkâf’da kethüdâyeri, çavûşbaşı, 1088’de muhzır ağası, 1089’da zağarcıbaşı, 1094’de kul kethüdâsı oldu.
Merzifonî Kara Mustafa Paşa’nın Viyana inhizâmında Budin Ağası oldu. 1095 senesi gurre-i muharreminde Sadr-ı a’zam olan süt birâderi Kara İbrâhim Paşa’nın himmetiyle muharrem evâhirinde bâ-rütbe-i mîr-i mîrânî Köstendil mutasarrıfı oldu.
1095 senesi şevvâlinde Budin Serdârı Melik İbrâhim Paşa’nın maiyyetinde cansiperâne muhârebeler ederek yararlıklar gösterdiğinden Melik İbrâhim Paşa’nın ricâsıyla sene-i mezbûre zilka’desinde Rûmeli Beylerbeyi oldu.
1096 senesi evâilinde vezâret verilip Uyvar muhârebesine me’mûr oldu. Uyvar Kalesi’nin sukûtundan sonra serdâr Belgrad’a avdet edib şa’bânında Erat [146] Palangası muhâfızı oldu. Lâkin iki mâh sonra kış içinde Nemçelilerin baskınına uğrayıp esir oldu.
1097’de fidye ile tahlîs edilip orduya avdetinde sâniyen Köstendil mutasarrıfı, 1099’da yine vezâretle Sayda vâlisi, 1101’de Sakız muhâfızı, 1102’de Konya vâlisi olup harbe me’mûren Serdâr-ı Ekrem Köprülüzâde Fâzıl Mustafa Paşa ile Rûmeli’ye gitdi.
1103’de Anadolu vâlisi ve recebinde İstanbul kâim-makâmı olup zilka’desinde yeniçeri ağası olarak Edirne’ye da’vet edildi. 1104’de Şam, 1105’de Girit, 1106’da Mısır, 1109 rebîülâhirinde Bağdat vâlisi oldu.
1110 senesi rebîülâhirinde İrânîler ale’l-gafle hücûm ederek Kerbelâ’yı zapt etmeleri üzerine zilka’dede Basra iken, Van vilâyeti verilip hareketi emredildi. Ancak İstanbul’da Kapı Kethüdâsı’ndan aldığı mektubda kendisinin i’dâm edileceği ihsâs edilmekle 1112 şa’bânında havfından İran’a firâr eyledi. [147]
İran Devleti kendisini İsfahan’da ikâmete me’mûr edib 1114 recebinde hüzün ve keder içinde vefât etdi. “Sicill-i Osmânî”de “Müdebbir, muktedir idi” deniyor. 1058 tarihinden 1110 tarihine kadar tam elli iki yıl muhârebelerde fedâkârâne hizmet ve sadâkat göstermiş bir mücâhid idi. Mahdûmu İbrâhim Bey’dir. Diğer mahdûmu Mehmed Bey’dir.
In Modern English
He was a native of Amasya, a slave of Çelebi Efendi, one of Amasya's notables, and the son of İbrâhim Bey of the house of Memi, warden (dizdar) of the Upper Fortress. He was the foster brother of the former grand vizier Bayburtluzâde Kara İbrâhim Paşa and entered the Janissary corps. A member of the 67th company, he took part in many battles and in 1078 [1667-68] became commander (serdar) of Amasya.
He was then assigned to the Cretan war; on account of the services he rendered there, when he came to Istanbul he became in turn kullukçubaşı, then deputy steward (kethüda yeri) in the waqfs, and çavuşbaşı; in 1088 [1677-78] muhzır ağası, in 1089 [1678-79] zağarcıbaşı, and in 1094 [1683] kul kethüdası.
After Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Paşa's defeat at Vienna he became Ağa of Buda. Through the favor of his foster brother Kara İbrâhim Paşa, who became grand vizier at the start of Muharram 1095 [1683-84], he became governor (mutasarrıf) of Köstendil, with the rank of mîr-i mîrân, at the end of Muharram.
In Shawwal 1095, serving under Melik İbrâhim Paşa, commander of Buda, he fought with utter devotion and showed great valor, and at Melik İbrâhim Paşa's request he became Beylerbeyi of Rumelia in Dhu'l-Qa'da of the same year.
At the beginning of 1096 [1684-85] he was given the rank of vizier and assigned to the battle of Uyvar (Nové Zámky). After the fall of Uyvar Fortress, when the commander returned to Belgrade, he became warden of the Erat stockade in Sha'ban. Two months later, in the midst of winter, he was attacked by the Austrians and taken prisoner.
In 1097 [1685-86] he was ransomed and returned to the army, and became governor of Köstendil for the second time; in 1099 [1687-88], again with the rank of vizier, governor of Sidon; in 1101 [1689-90] warden of Chios; and in 1102 [1690-91] governor of Konya, and, assigned to the war, he went to Rumelia with the Commander-in-Chief (Serdâr-ı Ekrem) Köprülüzâde Fâzıl Mustafa Paşa.
In 1103 [1691-92] he became governor of Anatolia and, in Rajab, deputy of Istanbul (kâim-makâm); in Dhu'l-Qa'da he was summoned to Edirne as agha of the Janissaries. He became governor of Damascus in 1104 [1692-93], of Crete in 1105 [1693-94], of Egypt in 1106 [1694-95], and in Rabi' al-Thani 1109 [1697-98] of Baghdad.
In Rabi' al-Thani 1110 the Iranians attacked suddenly and took Karbala. In Dhu'l-Qa'da, while he was in Basra, he was given the province of Van and ordered to set out. But because a letter he received in Istanbul from the Kapı Kethüdası hinted that he would be executed, he fled to Iran in fear in Sha'ban 1112.
The Iranian state assigned him to reside in Isfahan, and he died in Rajab 1114, in sorrow and distress. The "Sicill-i Osmânî" says of him: "He was prudent and capable." For fifty-two full years, from 1058 to 1110, he was a fighter for the faith who gave devoted service and loyalty in wars. His son is İbrâhim Bey. His other son is Mehmed Bey.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- aynü'l-âyân: the foremost of the notables, a leading notable
- dizdâr: fortress warden
- mahdûm: son
- sadr-ı esbak: former grand vizier
- serdâr: commander
- kethüdâyeri: deputy steward, assistant
- muhzır ağası: head of the officials who summoned and brought persons to the court and the Divan
- zağarcıbaşı: head of the unit that kept the hunting hounds in the Janissary corps
- mîr-i mîrân: the rank of beylerbeyi
- mutasarrıf: sanjak administrator
- palanka: small fort, ditched defensive post
- Nemçeli: Austrian
- tahlîs: rescue, ransom
- kâim-makâm: deputy
- ale'l-gafle: unawares, suddenly
- i'dâm: execution
His Foster Brother Kara İbrâhim Paşa
Hüsameddin ties İsmâil Paşa's rise to his foster brother, "Bayburtluzâde" Kara İbrâhim Paşa. This pasha was born around 1620-21 in the village of Handevrek in the district of Kelkit, attached to Bayburt, the son of a villager named Katırcı Ahmed. In his youth he served as a levend soldier under Abaza Hasan, then fled to Iran for a time, and on his return served in the households of various statesmen. He finally attached himself to the steward of the grand vizier, Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Ağa, and rose through him.
When Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Paşa was executed after the defeat at Vienna, on 6 Muharram 1095 (25 December 1683), Kara İbrâhim Paşa became grand vizier in his place. İsmâil Paşa's appointment as governor of Köstendil at the end of Muharram fits this date. Kara İbrâhim Paşa served as grand vizier for about two years; in Rabi' al-Thani 1097 (March 1686) his property was confiscated and he was exiled to Rhodes. In the same years İsmâil Paşa is seen rising from Köstendil to the beylerbeyilik of Rumelia and then to the vizierate. That the two pashas were foster brothers is information given by Hüsameddin; it could not be verified in any other source read.
The Rumelian Campaign and Fâzıl Mustafa Paşa
The commander whom İsmâil Paşa accompanied to Rumelia in 1102, while governor of Konya, was Fâzıl Mustafa Paşa, son of Köprülü Mehmed Paşa. This pasha was born in the Köprü district of Amasya (today's Vezirköprü district of Samsun). He set out on his first campaign in Shawwal 1101 (July 1690) to drive back Austrian forces that had advanced as far as Skopje, and Belgrade was retaken in this operation. He fell as a martyr at the battle of Salankamen on 24 Dhu'l-Qa'da 1102 (19 August 1691). That İsmâil Paşa went to Rumelia with him looks consistent when Hüsameddin's date of 1102 is set beside these campaigns.
Details That Could Not Be Verified
The battle of Uyvar, his capture at the Erat stockade, his ransom, his governorships of Egypt, Baghdad and Basra, his flight to Iran and the date of his death in Isfahan could not be read in any other source and are therefore given as Hüsameddin gives them. Searches turned up no record of a flight to Iran by an İsmâil Paşa of Amasya. The "fifty-two years" in the text (1058-1110) is arithmetically consistent.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 7, p. 308–308. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies