Malatyalıdır. "Rişvânoğlu" demekle meşhûrdur. 1136 senesi şevvâlinin altıncı günü Amasya mutasarrıfı olup kendisi Îrân harbine me'mûr olduğundan birâderi Halîl Bey Amasya mütesellimi olarak geldi.
1137 senesi muharrem gurresinde baş a'yân ve hacıbaşı ve sâ'ir erbâb-ı menâsıb yerinde kaldı. Muharremin on dördünde şehir kethüdâsı Hacı Alî Ağa'nın vefâtıyla Olusluoğlu Hacı Mustafâ Bey bin Hacı Ömer Bey şehir kethüdâsı ve İsmâ'il Efendi Amasya nâ'ibi olup geldi.
Saferde Amasya mutasarrıfı Mehmed Paşa terfî'an Sivâs vâlîsi olup Amasya sancağı uhdesinde kaldığından Amasya mütesellimi Halîl Bey Sivâs mütesellimi ve harbden avdet [37] eden Turutoğlu Hacı Mehmed Ağa da Amasya mütesellimi oldu.
Rebî'ulevvelde baş a'yân ve Torumtay vakfı mütevellîsi Îrân harbinde vefât etdiği anlaşıldığından mütesellim Turutoğlu Hacı Mehmed Ağa baş a'yân ve Gürcüzâde Hacı İbrâhim Bey Torumtay vakfına mütevellî oldu. Sâbık mütevellî Şeyh Mehmed oğulları Hâfız Hasan ve İbrâhim Efendiler tevliyet da'vâsına kalkışdılar.
Şa'bânda Amasya a'yânından Hacı Bilâloğlu Hacı Osmân Ağa (Efendi) vefâtıyla oğlu Hacı Bilâl Ağa yerini tutdu. Ramazân sonlarında Sivâs vâlîsi ve Amasya mutasarrıfı Mehmed Paşa Îrân harbinde vurulup vefât eylediğinden Amasya sancağı Özi muhâfızı Osmân Paşa'ya tevcîh edildi. İnebahtı muhâfızı Mîrzâ Mehmed Paşa da Sivâs vâlîsi oldu.
In Modern English
He was a man of Malatya. He was known by the epithet "Rişvanoğlu." On the sixth day of Shawwal 1136 [1723-24] he became mutasarrıf of Amasya. Since he was on duty in the Iranian war, his brother Halil Bey came as mütesellim of Amasya.
On the first day of Muharram 1137 [1724-25] the chief ayan, the hacıbaşı and the other office holders were left in their places. On the fourteenth of Muharram, on the death of the city steward Hacı Ali Ağa, Olusluoğlu Hacı Mustafa Bey, son of Hacı Ömer Bey, became city steward; İsmail Efendi also came as naib of Amasya.
In Safar the mutasarrıf of Amasya Mehmed Pasha, promoted, became governor of Sivas. Since the sanjak of Amasya also remained with him, the mütesellim of Amasya Halil Bey became mütesellim of Sivas; Turutoğlu Hacı Mehmed Ağa, who returned from the war, became mütesellim of Amasya.
In Rabi' al-awwal, when it was learned that the chief ayan and trustee of the Torumtay Waqf had died in the Iranian war, the mütesellim Turutoğlu Hacı Mehmed Ağa became chief ayan, and Gürcüzâde Hacı İbrahim Bey became trustee of the Torumtay Waqf. The former trustees, Hâfız Hasan and İbrahim Efendis, sons of Şeyh Mehmed, brought a suit over the trusteeship.
In Shaban, when Hacı Bilâloğlu Hacı Osman Ağa (Efendi), of the ayan of Amasya, died, his son Hacı Bilâl Ağa took his place. At the end of Ramadan, since Mehmed Pasha, governor of Sivas and mutasarrıf of Amasya, was shot and killed in the Iranian war, the sanjak of Amasya was given to Osman Pasha, guardian of Özi. Mirza Mehmed Pasha, guardian of Lepanto, also became governor of Sivas.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- gurre: first day of the month
- erbâb-ı menâsıb: holders of offices and posts
- nâ'ib: the judge who hears cases as the kadı's deputy
- terfî'an: by promotion
- uhde: a duty resting on someone, in his charge
- avdet: return
- tevliyet da'vâsı: a suit brought over the management of a waqf
- tevcîh: giving a post to someone
- muhâfız: the commander responsible for the defense of a fortress or border city
The Rişvan Tribe and Rişvanzâde Mehmed Pasha
The epithet "Rişvanoğlu" ties Mehmed Pasha to the Rişvan tribe, which led a semi-nomadic life around Malatya, Adıyaman, Maraş and Sivas in the eighteenth century. According to Seydi Vakkas Toprak's study, the governorships of Malatya, Maraş, Adana and Sivas were administered for a long time by pashas who came from this tribe. Rişvanzâde Halil Pasha, one of the tribe's leaders, who became sanjak governor of Malatya in 1697, rose to the beylerbeyilik of Maraş in 1701; Rişvanzâde Seyyid Mehmed Pasha, brought to the beylerbeyilik of Adana in 1720, served until 1746 in the beylerbeyiliks of Adana, Sivas, Mosul and Maraş and the sanjak governorship of Malatya.
Archival documents show this Seyyid Mehmed Pasha as governor of Sivas in exactly the years described in the entry. According to the records Ali Açıkel compiled from the Mühimme Registers and the Tokat registers, Rişvanzâde Seyyid Mehmed Pasha became governor of Sivas after Osman Pasha; by a ruling dated Dhu al-Qa'dah 1135 (August 1723) he was ordered to leave his son or brother as mütesellim in his place and go to the side of Vizier İbrahim Pasha, commander (seraskeri) of Tbilisi. At the end of 1723 he was moved to the Yerevan front, by a ruling dated Safar 1137 (November 1724) the guarding of the nahiye of Gökçe near Ganja was given to him, and by another ruling dated Shaban 1137 (May 1725) he was asked to come under the orders of the new commander in the direction of Ganja and Shirvan with 800 men of his retinue and levends. That he was asked to choose his mütesellim from among his brothers also agrees with Hüsâmeddin's record "his brother Halil Bey came as mütesellim."
Differences Between Hüsâmeddin's Account and the Documents
These documents differ from Hüsâmeddin's record on two points. First, Hüsâmeddin places Rişvanoğlu Mehmed Pasha's governorship of Sivas in Safar 1137 (October-November 1724); in the archival records, however, Rişvanzâde Seyyid Mehmed Pasha has been governor of Sivas for more than a year, since August 1723. Perhaps Hüsâmeddin recorded the addition of the sanjak of Amasya to the governorship as a promotion; no document that would confirm this could be reached.
The second is more important. Hüsâmeddin writes that Mehmed Pasha was shot and killed in the Iranian war at the end of Ramadan 1137 (June 1725). Yet the ruling dated the middle ten days of Dhu al-Hijjah 1137 (21-30 August 1725) that Açıkel reports still speaks of "Rişvanzâde Mehmed Pasha being on campaign with his retinue and levends" and requests that the imdad-ı seferiyye tax, unpaid for a year, be collected and handed to his mütesellim. Toprak's study, for its part, says Seyyid Mehmed Pasha remained in office until 1746. In this situation there are two possibilities: either Hüsâmeddin's "Rişvanoğlu Mehmed Pasha" is a different pasha of the same family, distinct from Seyyid Mehmed Pasha, or the news of his death was recorded wrongly in Hüsâmeddin's source. With the sources at hand this question cannot be resolved.
The later course of the governorship of Sivas is also worth comparing. Hüsâmeddin writes that after Mehmed Pasha's death Sivas was given to Mirza Mehmed Pasha, guardian of Lepanto, and in the next entry that on 19 Rabi' al-awwal 1138 (November 1725) Ârifî Ahmed Pasha became governor of Sivas. According to Açıkel, the province of Sivas was given on 8 Jumada al-awwal 1138 (12 January 1726) to Vizier Hacı Recep Pasha, guardian of Yerevan. No information on Mirza Mehmed Pasha was found in other sources.
The Torumtay Waqf
The longest-running of the local events of the entry is the suit over the trusteeship of the Torumtay Waqf; in the next entry it is told that this suit wore the naib down to resignation. The founder of the waqf is Seyfeddin Torumtay, governor of Amasya in the Seljuk period. He had his tomb, opposite the Gök Madrasa, built in 1278; in the tomb, beside him, are the graves of his children and grandchildren. The rectangular, vaulted, two-storey building differs from other Seljuk tombs in that its decoration is gathered not around the door and windows but mostly in the upper parts. The Torumtay Tomb stands today. That, about four and a half centuries after its founding, the management of this waqf became a matter of contention among the ayan of Amasya shows how important the revenues of old waqfs were for the local families of the eighteenth century. Gürcüzâde Hacı İbrahim Bey's undertaking the trusteeship is also the beginning of the rise of this man, who in the years to come would be the most powerful and most controversial ayan of the city.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 4, Supplement (Bakiyye), p. 638–638. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
Official sources