Yeniçerilerin ve Acemi Ocağı halkının maaş ve künyelerinin tutulduğu defterlere yeniçeri kalemi defterleri denir. Bu defterlerin tutulduğu “efendi dairesi” veya “yeniçeri mukâtaası kalemi”nde hassa bostancıları, yeniçeri sekbanları, solakan denilen padişahın muhafız bölüklerinin, teberdârân, Saray-ı Atik cemaatlerinin maaş ve diğer işlemleri de görülürdü. Bu kalemde toplam 1620 defter bulunmaktadır.¹¹³ Müellif askeri sınıfa ait malumat için yeniçeri orta defteri, yeniçeriyân defterleri, sekbân, sipâhiyân defterleri, süvârî defteri ve ayrıca cebeci ocağı defterlerini kullanmıştır.
Bunların dışında kadı, müderris ve müftü atamalarına ait kayıtlarlarla ilgili ilmiye sınıfına ait Vezaif Defterlerini,¹¹⁴ Küçük Ruznâmçe Kalemi veya Müşâhere-Horân da denilen bu Büyük Ruznâmçe Kalemi'nin yardımcısı olup bazı memurların maaş ve özlük bilgilerinin bulunduğu müşâherehorân defterlerini¹¹⁵, Osmanlı bürokrasisinde birtakım resmî tayinlerin kaydedildiği ruûs defterlerini¹¹⁶, merâsimlerin sırası, kabul günü ve saatlerini gösteren Teşrifât Defterlerini¹¹⁷ Amasyalı müftülerin adları, tayinleri, azilleri, görev yerleri ile ilgili malumat için Müftüyân Defterlerini tahvil ve hisse senetleri ile ilgili bilgi toplarken Eshâm defterlerini¹¹⁸ kullanmıştır.
Yine saraydaki görevliler ile ilgili bilgi aktarırken, saray ağası defterleri, saray-ı hümâyûn defterleri, enderûn defterlerini, çeşitli birimlerde görev yapan şahısların biyografisinde ta’yinât, tahkikat, telhisat, teşrifât-ı ilmiyye, tevcîhât, Tokat mâliye ve tekâüd, mütekâidîn, kapı ağaları, poliçe, zimmet, zeâmet defteri gibi pek çok defter koleksiyonunu inceleyerek bilgi toplamıştır.
In Modern English
The registers in which the pay and identity records of the janissaries and members of the Acemi Ocağı (the corps of recruits) were kept are called janissary office registers. In the "efendi dairesi" or "janissary mukâtaası office" where these registers were kept, the pay and other transactions of the sultan's guard corps, namely the hassa bostancıs, the janissary sekbans, the solaks, the teberdars and the communities of the Old Palace (Saray-ı Atik), were also handled. This office holds 1,620 registers in all. For information on the military class the author used the janissary orta register, the yeniçeriyân registers, the sekban and sipahiyân registers, the cavalry register and also the registers of the cebeci corps.
Apart from these, he used the Vezâif Registers of the ilmiye class concerning the records of the appointments of kadıs, müderrises and muftis; the müşâhere-horân registers, also called the Küçük Ruznâmçe Office, which was the assistant of the Büyük Ruznâmçe Office and holds the pay and personal details of some officials; the ruûs registers in which certain official appointments in the Ottoman bureaucracy were recorded; the Teşrifât Registers showing the order of ceremonies and the days and hours of audiences; the Müftüyân Registers for information on the names, appointments, dismissals and places of service of the muftis from Amasya; and the Eshâm registers when gathering information on tahvil and shares.
Again, when conveying information about palace officials he used the palace agha registers, the saray-ı hümâyun registers and the enderun registers; and for the biographies of persons who served in various units he gathered information by examining many register collections such as tayinât, tahkikat, telhisat, teşrifât-ı ilmiyye, tevcîhât, Tokat mâliye and tekaüt, mütekaidîn, kapı ağaları, poliçe, zimmet and the zeâmet register.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- künye: a person's identifying record (such as name, father's name and birthplace)
- Acemi Ocağı: the corps of novice boys preparing for the janissary service
- sekban, solak, teberdâr: names of janissary and palace guard units
- ilmiye: the class of learned and judicial officials such as kadıs, müderrises and muftis
- ruznâmçe: daily record book
- ruûs: official appointment records
- teşrifât: records concerning ceremonies and protocol
- eshâm: shares; the system of dividing state revenues into shares
- tekaüt: retirement
- zimmet, poliçe, zeâmet: a debt record, a draft, a type of large fief
The Janissary Office and the Efendi Dairesi
According to the Türkiye Diyanet Foundation Encyclopedia of Islam, the janissary clerk, also called the janissary efendi, was the head of the office in which the pay and esame records of the Janissary and Acemi corps were kept. As a member of the Ağa Divanı he also took on the task of judging cases there, and for this reason was regarded as being as important as the senior officers of the corps. The "efendi dairesi" in the text describes this office. Hüsameddin's use of the janissary, sekban, sipahi and cebeci corps registers was likewise for extracting from them the names, pay and service records of military officials.
The Appointment and Pay Registers
The vezâif registers on ilmiye appointments and the müftüyân registers are sources to be consulted for the biographies of scholars and muftis in particular in the history of Amasya. For the ruûs registers, Recep Ahıshalı's entry in the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam and Cahit Baltacı's article on the kadı-asker ruznamçes are cited in the footnotes. Which of these registers' records concerning Amasya were used by Hüsameddin can be learned not from the introduction but from the relevant entries of the book.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, Introduction, p. 66–67. amasya.bel.tr
- Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi Rehberi, Istanbul 2017, p. 76, 115, 157, 163.
Academic studies
Books
- Recep Ahıshalı, "Ruûs", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 35, Istanbul 2008, p. 272-273.
- Cahit Baltacı, "Kadî-asker Rûznâmçelerinin Tarihi ve Kültürel Ehemmiyeti", İslam Medeniyeti Mecmuası, vol. 4, no. 1, July 1979, p. 55-100.