Amasyalıdır. 1122 senesi muharreminin gurresinde Amasya mutasarrıfı olup Sefer Ağazâde Mehmed Paşa kethüdâlığından türeyen Sarı Beyzâde Keskin İsmâ'il Ağa Amasya mütesellimi, Fazlızâde Hacı Alî Efendi baş a'yân ve Avkatlı İbrâhim Ağa da Amasya alaybeyi oldu.
Rebî'ulevvel sonlarında vüzerâdan Çerkes Mehmed Paşa Sivâs vâlîsi harbe me'mûr oldu. Amasya mutasarrıfı Kaya Alî Paşa gelip işe başladı. Rebî'ulâhirin on dokuzuncu günü fuzalâ-yı şu'arâ ve mevâlîden esbak Amasya müftüsü Bayram Iydî Efendi bin [9] Mustafâ Efendi bin Abdî Efendi Konya mollâsı olup giderken Eskişehir'de vefât etdi. Mahdûmları Âtıf Mehmed, Âkif Mustafâ, Râ'if Mehmed, Seyyid Abdurrahîm Efendiler de meşâhîr-i ulemâ ve şu'arâdan idiler.
Ancak şehir kethüdâsı ve nakîb kâ'im-makâmı Emîr Hacı Abdullatîf Ağa, mutasarrıfı kendisine imâle ve bayağı teshîr ederek sancak işlerini elde etdiğinden a'yân ve halkın şikâyetlerine bâ'is oldu. Bu yüzden mutasarrıf Kaya Alî Paşa cemâziyelâhirde azl edilip Amasya sancağı selefi Ahmed Paşa'ya verildi.
In Modern English
He was a native of Amasya. On the first day of Muharrem 1122 [March 1710] he became mutasarrıf of Amasya. Sarı Beyzâde Keskin İsmail Ağa, who had risen in the service of Sefer Ağazâde Mehmed Pasha as his kethüda (steward), became mütesellim of Amasya, Fazlızâde Hacı Ali Efendi chief notable, and Avkatlı İbrahim Ağa alaybeyi of Amasya.
Toward the end of Rebîülevvel, the vizier Çerkes Mehmed Pasha was assigned to the war as governor of Sivas. The mutasarrıf of Amasya, Kaya Ali Pasha, arrived and took up his duties. On the nineteenth day of Rebîülâhir, Bayram Iydî Efendi bin Mustafa Efendi bin Abdî Efendi, a former mufti of Amasya, one of the poet-scholars and one of the great judges, became mulla (judge) of Konya, but died at Eskişehir on his way to his post. His sons Âtıf Mehmed, Âkif Mustafa, Râif Mehmed and Seyyid Abdurrahîm Efendi were also among the famous scholars and poets.
However, the city kethüda and deputy of the naqib, Emîr Hacı Abdüllatif Ağa, drew the mutasarrıf to his side, held him almost in the palm of his hand and took over the affairs of the sanjak, which gave rise to complaints from the leading men and the people. For this reason the mutasarrıf Kaya Ali Pasha was dismissed in Cemâziyelâhir, and the sanjak of Amasya was given to the earlier mutasarrıf, Ahmed Pasha.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- kethüdâlık: the office of steward to a statesman, managing his affairs
- türemek: to be raised, to rise and emerge
- fuzalâ-yı şu'arâ: learned poets
- mevâlî: scholars who had reached the rank of great judgeships
- mollâ: judge of a major city
- meşâhîr-i ulemâ: renowned scholars
- imâle: inclining someone to one side, drawing to oneself
- teshîr: bewitching and bringing under one's influence, holding in the palm of one's hand
- bâ'is olmak: to be the cause
The Iydîzâdes: A Family of Scholars and Poets in Amasya
The most enduring record in the entry concerns the former mufti Bayram Efendi, who died on the road, and his sons. Bayram Efendi wrote poetry under the pen name "Iydî"; he was a poet with a divan and a learned man who served as müderris (madrasa professor) at the Bayezid II Madrasa in Amasya. The family's being called "Iydîzâdes" comes from his pen name. Of his sons, Âkif Mustafa Efendi has a separate entry in Turkish literary biographical dictionaries. According to these, Âkif was born in Amasya in 1098 [1687], served as mufti of Amasya, withdrew from the muftiship late in life to teach at the Bayezid II Madrasa, and died in Amasya in 1173 [1759-60]. He has an arranged divan and a work called Bedî'a, made up of thirty-two maqamat and modeled on Harîrî's Makâmât. The tezkires agree in praising both his scholarship and his poetry; he was regarded as accomplished in prose as well as in Arabic and Turkish verse. His brother Âtıf was also a poet and müderris.
A small difference in names needs attention here. In this entry Hüsameddin calls Bayram Efendi's son "Âtıf Mehmed"; in a later entry of the bakiyye he gives the same person as "the poet Iydîzâde Âtıf Ahmed Efendi." Literary dictionaries also use the name "Âtıf Ahmed." In that case the "Mehmed" in this entry is very probably a mistake. In addition, one tezkire records Âkif as "Abdîzâde" instead of "Iydîzâde"; the presence of an Abdî Efendi in the genealogy Hüsameddin gives (Bayram Efendi bin Mustafa Efendi bin Abdî Efendi) may explain why the two designations were confused. Whether there is a link between Bayram Efendi's grandfather Abdî Efendi and Hüsameddin's own "Abdîzâde" lineage cannot be understood from this entry.
Between the Mutasarrıf and the Notables
No record about Kaya Ali Pasha was found other than what Hüsameddin gives. The reason for his dismissal, however, sums up provincial administration of the period very well. In the Ottoman provinces the chief notable (baş âyan) was the person who mediated between the people and the state and the direct counterpart of the governor and the kadı. From the 1680s on, the office of âyan had become one determined by election, requiring a mahzar (petition) from the people, an ilam (certificate) from the kadı and a buyuruldu (order) from the governor. In the years of war and fiscal crisis lasting from 1683 to 1718, the power of the âyan, who collected taxes, lent money to the state and met the needs of campaigns, grew rapidly. The contests over the chief notableship, the city kethüdaship and the deputy naqibship, seen in nearly every entry of this bakiyye, show how sharp this struggle for power was in Amasya as well. That Emîr Hacı Abdüllatif Ağa brought the mutasarrıf under his influence and in effect ran the sanjak, and that this led to the dismissal of a governor, is a vivid example of how fragile administrators appointed from the center could be before local centers of power.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, 4. Cildin Bakiyyesi, p. 629–629. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
Books