Koçi Bey

In Modern English

He was the son of Bilan Bey, one of the Kurdish beys. For the merit he showed in wars, he became bey of Amasya in Shaban of the year 1000 [1591–92]. Deli Zülfikâr Ağa was the sipahi kethüdayeri, and the well-known Durak Ağa was the voivode of Köprü.

In Rajab of 1000, Deli İbrahim Pasha, the brother of Uzun Canfedâ Kadın, the steward of the harem (harem kethüdası) in the palace, came to Amasya in Shaban as beylerbeyi of Sivas and went on to Sivas.

Deli İbrahim Pasha was an ignorant man from among the converted Armenians of Malatya. In every province he went to, he was certain to be expelled for his very cruel and irrational behavior. Muhibbî, in his work "Hulâsatu'l-Eser," writes of his strange and cruel ways. He records that he was killed by an attack of the people of Diyarbekir.

It was this Deli İbrahim Pasha who most led the Turks astray and drove them to rebellion against the government. For around him there were many men from among the Armenians of Malatya. In Sivas and its surroundings they were doing business under Muslim names, sharing the vacated timars and zeamets and humiliating the Turks.

In Muharram of 1001 [1592–93], Koçi Bey was assigned to the Rumeli campaign and went with the Amasya troops, and the sipahi kethüdayeri Deli Zülfikâr Ağa had become mütesellim (deputy of the sanjak bey). Then in Shaban of the same year he too went to war, and the well-known Kanlı Ali Ağa became mütesellim in Amasya.

Although the Turks showered complaints on Istanbul about these converted Armenians, they could get no benefit because of the influence of Canfedâ. In the end a mültezim (tax farmer) from among the tanning masters, known as "Yaramaz Ahmed Ağa," could not bear the injustices he saw. He joined with Deli Mustafa Ağa, one of the tax farmers.

They were among the few stormy characters. They found a few hundred horsemen from among Turks with burning hearts. They left Amasya and began striking the villages around it. Many decrees were sent concerning their suppression and punishment to the beylerbeyilik of Sivas and Kastamonu and to the beys of Amasya, Çorum and Canik.

Likewise the converted Armenians attempted to debase the coins struck at the Amasya mint and to counterfeit or have counterfeited. In this counterfeiting they used Turks and Greeks as tools. They caused the issuing of many decrees about them.

The counterfeiters, as understood from the decrees, were these: "Kara Nefesoğlu Ahmed, Kağalalı Emîr, Hallaç Himmetoğlu Hacı Pîrî, Demirci Resûl, Camcı Hacı Mehmed, residents of Amasya, and, from the dhimmi (non-Muslim) community, Tozuna, Todori, Sevik."

These worked in the mint. When it was understood that they had attempted counterfeiting, they were imprisoned in the dungeon of Amasya Castle, and then broke out of the dungeon and fled. For this reason the Amasya mint was under suspicion because of the Armenians.

Deli İbrahim Pasha had greatly increased oppression and debauchery in and around Sivas. There was no limit to the extra revenues, windfall gains and fines he took. The law of the state had become in his eyes as if it consisted only of his own act and will. On the complaints of the people seething everywhere, he could be dismissed only with difficulty at the end of this year.

In Muharram of 1002 [1593–94], Ferhad Pashazade Mehmed Pasha came as beylerbeyi of Sivas. But Deli İbrahim Pasha's oppression and debauchery had increased the number of bandits and troublemakers, and uprisings had multiplied around Sivas.

On the fifth night of Jumada al-Awwal 1003 [1594–95], Sultan Murad III died, and his son Sultan Mehmed III came from Manisa in his place. It was announced everywhere that he had ascended the Ottoman throne.

Immediately after his accession, among the viziers, the sultan's son-in-law Cafer Pasha came as governor of Sivas, charged with supervising the Amasya mint. After investigating the mint's affairs and the mint officials and punishing the men whose names are written above, he went to Sivas.

In the high decree that came in Ramadan 1003, the Amasya mint was abolished and closed; coin minting in Amasya was ended. This mint had been operating since 925 [1519]. Also at this time, since the bey of Amasya, Koçi Bey, was martyred at the battle of Esztergom, Ali Bey was appointed in his place.

Notes and Research

Old Words in the Text

• harem kethüdâsı: official in the palace responsible for the administration of the harem household
• mültezim: a person who buys from the state the right to collect a tax
• debbâğ: one who works hides, tanner
• tağşîş: debasing money by reducing the silver or gold in it
• kalpazan: a person who strikes false coin, counterfeiter
• darb-hâne: mint, place where coin is struck
• sikke: coin, metal money
• zımmî: non-Muslim subject in the Ottoman Empire
• tayyâre, bâdhevâ, cerîme: various extra revenues and fines that officials took outside the law or in excess of what the law provided
• azl: dismissal from office
• cülûs: accession to the throne
• kubbealtı vüzerâsı: the viziers who sat in the imperial council and took part in the council meetings called kubbealtı
• dâmâd-ı pâdişâhî: the sultan's son-in-law
• ref' ve ta'tîl: abolishing and stopping operation

Deli İbrahim Pasha

The person at the center of the tension in the entry is the beylerbeyi of Sivas, Deli İbrahim Pasha. Hüsameddin introduces him as the brother of Canfedâ Kadın. Canfedâ Hatun was a woman who had been raised from among the concubines of Nurbânû Sultan, mother of Murad III, and gained great influence as harem steward in Murad III's reign. According to encyclopedic records, one of the main subjects that troubled Canfedâ Hatun at the peak of her influence was the unsuccessful administration of her brother Deli (Divane) İbrahim Pasha. While beylerbeyi of Diyarbekir he had been dismissed and imprisoned following the people's complaint, but Canfedâ Hatun did not leave her brother alone and used her influence for him to be cleared and return to his post. That the pasha was reinstated despite all his failure is also in the same record. This information agrees with Hüsameddin's sentence that "despite the Turks' complaints no result was obtained because of Canfedâ's influence."

The encyclopedia entry says nothing about Deli İbrahim Pasha's origin. Hüsameddin, however, counts him among the "Armenian converts of Malatya" and writes that the officials around him were of the same origin. No other source was reached that confirms or refutes this claim. On his death Hüsameddin, relying on Muhibbî's work Hulâsatü'l-eser, writes that he was killed by an attack of the people of Diyarbekir; this too could not be separately verified. In this section the reader should distinguish between the author's transmission of a source and his own interpretation: the factual parts, such as the cruelty of the administration and the people's complaints, coincide with other records; the interpretation that a particular community deliberately corrupted the Turks, however, is the author's own assessment.

The Amasya Mint

According to the information Hüsameddin gives, the Amasya mint had been operating since 925 [1519] and was closed by the decree that came in Ramadan 1003 [1594–95]. An encyclopedic record narrating Ottoman monetary history writes that in the time of the sons of Bayezid the Thunderbolt coin was struck in Bursa, Amasya, Edirne, Serres and Ayasuluk; that is, minting activity in Amasya goes back to the very early period of the Ottomans. This record has no information about its closure in 1594–95; the date of closure rests only on Hüsameddin.

The counterfeiting narrative in the entry and the investigation of the mint can be read together with the background of the price-limit decree given in the previous entry: in a period when the akçe's standard was debased and the value of money fell, the Amasya mint came under suspicion. Hüsameddin lists the counterfeiters whose names appear in the decree texts; that they consist of Turkish and non-Muslim names shows that the list cannot be charged to a single community. The text, however, puts the blame first on the Armenians and says "they used the Turks and the Greeks as tools." This difference between the list transmitted as a decree text and the author's interpretation is notable. No information was found in other sources about any of the counterfeiters.

Yaramaz Ahmed Ağa and the Uprisings in the Region

The striking of the villages around Amasya by the tanning master Yaramaz Ahmed Ağa and Deli Mustafa Ağa with a few hundred horsemen, as Hüsameddin narrates it, can be read as a part of the general unrest of these years. In encyclopedic records it is written that after 1596 the uprisings called Celâlî in Anatolia increased rapidly and thousands of people fled to safe places. This entry, however, narrates the years 1592–93 and says nothing on whether the event was the beginning of the Celâlî movements. No information was found in other sources about Yaramaz Ahmed Ağa, Deli Mustafa Ağa, Kanlı Ali Ağa, Durak Ağa, Cafer Pasha, Ferhad Pashazade Mehmed Pasha and Koçi Bey.

The Death of Murad III

At the end of the entry, Hüsameddin places the death of Murad III on the fifth night of Jumada al-Awwal 1003 and Mehmed III's coming from Manisa and ascending the throne in the same period. In encyclopedic records the year of Murad III's death is given as 1595; this agrees with Hüsameddin's date of 1003. Canfedâ Hatun too, after this death, was removed from the influential circle of the palace and transferred to the Old Palace.

Bibliography

Primary sources

• Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 3, pp. 517–518. amasya.bel.tr

Academic studies

• Mehmet İpşirli, "Canfedâ Hatun", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, 1993 (islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/canfeda-hatun).
• "Darphâne", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/darphane).
• "Celâlî İsyanları", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/celali-isyanlari).