Devr-i Selîm-i evvelde defterdâr-ı evvel olan Fenârîzâde Şemsî Bey bin Mehmed Bey'in oğludur. Ma'iyyet-i seniyyede ordu defterdârı iken 961 senesi gurre-i şa'bânında Amasya beyi oldu. Mahzûnen Amasya'da kaldı. Kaya Bey de terakkî gördü.
Şâyân-ı dikkatdir ki Rüstem Paşa, mevki'-i sadâreti elde etmek için kendi öz kardaşı olan sadr-ı a'zam Kara Ahmed Paşa'yı çirkin iftirâlar îcâd ederek 962 senesi zilka'desinde katl etdirip yerine [315] geçdi. Hattâ diğer kardaşı olan kapudân Sinan Paşa'yı da katl etdirmişdi.
962 zilhiccesi gurresinde Amasya kadısı Muzaffer Efendi azl edilip yerine Amasyalı Muhaşşî Sinan Efendizâde Hüsâmeddîn Hüseyin Efendi Amasya kadısı olarak geldi. Buna "Kara Hüseyin Efendi" denirdi. Kadı-i sâbık da Amasya'da Mehmed Paşa Medresesi'yle tekâ'üd etdi.
963 senesinde Amasya fuzalâsından Hakalalı es-Seyyid Muhyiddîn Mehmed Efendi vefât etdi. Mûmâ-ileyh nakîbü'l-eşrâf kâ'im-makâmı idi. Vefâtında Bağdâd'dan gelen ulemâ-yı sâdâtdan es-Seyyid Muhyiddîn Mehmed Hûzevî Amasya nakîbü'l-eşrâf kâ'im-makâmı oldu. Bu sene Alî Paşa Sivas beylerbeyi olup geldi. Ferruh Bey de Amasya sancağı beyi oldu.
In Modern English
He was the son of Fenârîzâde Şemsî Bey ibn Mehmed Bey, who had been chief treasurer (defterdar) in the reign of Selim I. While serving as the army's treasurer in the sultan's retinue, he became bey of Amasya at the beginning of Shaban in the year 961. He remained in Amasya in sorrow. Kaya Bey, for his part, received a promotion.
It is worth noting that Rüstem Pasha, in order to seize the office of grand vizier, had his own full brother, the grand vizier Kara Ahmed Pasha, put to death through vile slanders in Dhu al-Qada of 962 [1555] and took his place. He had even had his other brother, the captain of the fleet Sinan Pasha, killed as well.
At the beginning of Dhu al-Hijja 962, Muzaffer Efendi, the judge of Amasya, was dismissed, and in his place Hüsâmeddin Hüseyin Efendi, son of Muhaşşî Sinan Efendi of Amasya, came as judge of Amasya. He was known as "Kara Hüseyin Efendi." The former judge retired in Amasya with the Mehmed Pasha Madrasa.
In the year 963 [1555–56], one of the scholars of Amasya, es-Seyyid Muhyiddin Mehmed Efendi of Hakala, died. He had been the deputy of the head of the descendants of the Prophet (nakîbü'l-eşrâf). Upon his death, es-Seyyid Muhyiddin Mehmed Hûzevî, one of the sayyid scholars who had come from Baghdad, became deputy head of the descendants of the Prophet in Amasya. In this year Ali Pasha came as beylerbeyi of Sivas. Ferruh Bey became bey of the sanjak of Amasya.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- defterdâr-ı evvel: chief treasurer, first treasurer
- ma'iyyet-i seniyye: the sultan's retinue, those in his company
- mahzûnen: sorrowfully
- terakkî: advancement, promotion
- mevki'-i sadâret: the office of grand vizier
- iftirâ: slander, fabricating a charge
- kapudan: commander of the fleet
- kadı-i sâbık: the former judge
- tekâ'üd: retirement
- nakîbü'l-eşrâf: head of the descendants of the Prophet
Rüstem Pasha, Kara Ahmed Pasha and Sinan Pasha
The most striking sentence in the entry is the claim that Rüstem Pasha had his "full brother" Kara Ahmed Pasha killed through slanders and that he also had another brother, Captain Sinan Pasha, killed. The encyclopedia entry on Kara Ahmed Pasha states plainly that some sources report him as Rüstem Pasha's brother, but that this information is not correct. Kara Ahmed Pasha was the husband of Fatma Sultan, the sister of Süleyman the Magnificent. Rising from the post of agha of the Janissaries, he became grand vizier after the killing of Prince Mustafa; on 13 Dhu al-Qada 962 (29 September 1555), as he came to the imperial council, he was suddenly strangled. The cause of his death is not known with certainty: the contemporary historian Celâlzâde cites his administrative incompetence, while a German envoy reports two different rumors, that the pasha was killed either because he was attached to the prince or to clear the way again for Rüstem Pasha. Another historian ascribes the event to a plot by Hürrem Sultan and Mihrimah Sultan. Rüstem Pasha's return to the grand vizierate took place immediately after this death. Hüsameddin's interpretation of "slander" is close to one of these rumors, but the information about "brotherhood" is mistaken.
As for Captain Sinan Pasha, Sinan Pasha, known to have been Rüstem Pasha's brother, served as grand admiral (kaptan-ı derya) between 1550 and 1553 and died on 21 December 1553, that is, two years before Kara Ahmed Pasha's death. The sources available to us contain no record that he died by murder. Hüsameddin's statement "katl etdirmişdi" (had him killed) could therefore not be verified. It is written that Sinan Pasha left a great fortune, and that his inheritance passed to Mihrimah Sultan.
Inconsistency in Dates
This entry gives the date of Mahmud Bey's becoming bey of Amasya as Shaban 961; yet the previous entry says that Kaya Bey left Amasya at the beginning of Shaban 962 and Mahmud Bey was appointed in his place, and the death of Kara Ahmed Pasha mentioned here is also in Dhu al-Qada 962. The year 961 is therefore most probably a miswriting of 962. The information that Mahmud Bey's father was Şemsî Bey and that he was chief treasurer in the reign of Selim I could not be verified in other sources.
Officials in Amasya
Kara Hüseyin Efendi, mentioned in the entry, is the son of Muhaşşî Sinan Efendi of Amasya and succeeds the former judge Muzaffer Efendi. No information could be found in other sources about Hakalalı Muhyiddin Mehmed Efendi and Hûzevî Muhyiddin Mehmed Efendi. The identity of Ali Pasha, who became beylerbeyi of Sivas, also could not be determined in this study. Since the same entry records that Ferruh Bey was brought to the sanjak of Amasya in 963, Mahmud Bey's term of office appears to have lasted about a year.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 3, p. 509. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
- Feridun Emecen, "Kara Ahmed Paşa", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 24, İstanbul 2001, pp. 357-358 (https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kara-ahmed-pasa).
- Erhan Afyoncu, "Rüstem Paşa", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 35, İstanbul 2008, pp. 288-290 (https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/rustem-pasa).
Other sources