Çorum dâhilinde Hüseyinâbâdlıdır. “Mamalı Bektaş Ağazâde” demekle meşhûrdur. 1107 senesi muharreminin beşinci günü Amasya mutasarrıfı ve Sofya muhafazasına me’mûr olup, Amasya Kethüdâyeri Bağdatlızâde Mehmed Ağa bin Mahmûd Ağa Amasya mütesellimi oldu.
Bu esnada sâbık baş a‘yân ve Amasya Mütesellimi Kaya Ali Ağa Sivas vilâyeti erbâb-ı tımâr u ze’âmetinden yazıp topladığı yedi yüz altmış dört nefer silahdâr serdengeçtiler ağası ve başbuğu olduğu halde Rumeli Harbi’ne me’mûren gitdi.
Muharremin evâhirinde Sancızâde el-Hâc Hasan Ağa’nın azliyle Yeğen es-Seyyid Hasan Ağa şehir kethüdâsı oldu. Muharremin selhinde Amasya sancağı Tımışvar eyaletinde Yanova muhâfızı olan Alaca Hisar Beyi Bektaş Bey’e bâ-rütbe-i mîrimîran ilhâken tevcîh edildi.
In Modern English
He was from Hüseyinâbâd, within the borders of Çorum. He is known as "Mamalı Bektaş Ağazâde." On the fifth day of the month of Muharrem 1107 [1695] he became mutasarrıf (governor) of Amasya and was assigned to the guardianship of Sofia; Bağdatlızâde Mehmed Ağa, son of Mahmûd Ağa, the kethüdâyeri (sipahis' steward) of Amasya, became mütesellim (deputy governor) of Amasya.
At this time Kaya Ali Ağa, former head notable and mütesellim of Amasya, went to the war in Rumeli as the agha and commander (başbuğ) of seven hundred and sixty-four armed serdengeçtis (volunteer vanguard soldiers) whom he had enlisted and gathered from among the timar and zeamet holders of the province of Sivas.
At the end of Muharrem, with the dismissal of Sancızâde el-Hâc Hasan Ağa, Yeğen es-Seyyid Hasan Ağa became city steward. On the last day of the month of Muharrem the sanjak of Amasya was given to Bektaş Bey, bey of Alacahisar and guardian of Yanova in the province of Temesvár, with the rank of beylerbeyi and in addition to the post he held.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- dâhil: inside, within the borders
- muhâfaza: the duty of guarding a fortress or city
- erbâb-ı tımâr u ze'âmet: sipahis who hold timars and zeamets
- serdengeçti: a soldier who volunteers to fight in the very front line in battle
- başbuğ: commander
- bâ-rütbe-i mîrimîrân: with the rank of beylerbeyi
- ilhâken: by being added to another post
Hüseyinâbâd and the Mamalı Family
Hüseyinâbâd, given as Mehmed Pasha's homeland, is the present-day district of Alaca in Çorum. In local studies on the Ottoman period of Alaca, the district center appears under the name "Hüseyinâbâd (Alaca)" or "Hüseyinova"; it is also reported that Evliya Çelebi mentions Hüseyinova as a district (kaza) of the sanjak of Bozok. Hüsâmeddin's saying "within Çorum" accords with the administrative order of his own time.
"Mamalı" in the pasha's epithet points to the Mamalu (Mamalı) clan, one of the Turkmen communities of the region. The same studies tell that the Mamalıs are counted among the Turkmen tribes that settled in the center of Alaca and that most of the Mamalı clans were in Bozok. These clans are a direct target of the state's policy in the 1690s of settling nomadic communities: in 1693 the settlement of some of them in Raqqa was ordered, new solutions were sought for those who did not go and did not pay their taxes, and finally, with a decree sent in January 1696 to Yûsuf Pasha, inspector of Anatolia, and to the kadı of Bozok, the Mamalı clans agreed, in an assembly gathered at Sorgun, to settle in Bozok in return for a collective tax. This Yûsuf Pasha is the former chief falconer who would become governor of Amasya a few months later.
The leading men of the Mamalı family also appear in the administration of Amasya and Çorum in the eighteenth century. In Hüsâmeddin's later records the name of Mamalıoğlu Ömer Bey, voivode of Mecidözü, and of Mamalıoğlu Ömer Pasha, who later rose to the governorship of Çorum, appears; of Osmân Pasha, who became governor of Amasya in 1157, it is also said "he is the son of Mamalızâde Ömer Pasha of the nahiye of Alaca in Çorum," and it is noted that he was called "Alacalı Osmân Pasha." Local studies also record that Ömer Pasha, the sanjak governor of Çorum who belonged to the Mamalı clan, was killed in 1724 for being involved with his clan in irregular movements, and that his son Osman Pasha served as governor of Amasya. Mamalı Bektaş Ağazâde Mehmed Pasha appears to be one of the earliest known representatives of this family; but no record was found of the degree of kinship with Ömer Pasha. About the pasha himself no information was found in other sources.
Kaya Ali Ağa's Serdengeçtis
That former head notable Kaya Ali Ağa enlisted 764 serdengeçtis from among the timar-holding sipahis of the province of Sivas and took them to the front is a concrete record showing the military needs of those years. According to Abdülkadir Özcan's entry on the serdengeçti, this name was at first used for the devoted fighters who plunged into the enemy ranks or were first to enter a besieged fortress, and the volunteers were organized in units called "bayrak" of 120 men each. Since they fought in the very front line, they were also called "death men." According to the entry, from the end of the sixteenth century the prolongation of wars increased the need for soldiers, and serdengeçtis began to be taken in the provinces also from the timar holders of provinces and sanjaks, apart from the janissaries. This is exactly what Kaya Ali Ağa did. In Hüsâmeddin's later pages it is recorded that, for his usefulness in war, he was brought in 1109 to the sanjak of Çankırı with the rank of beylerbeyi.
Yanova and Alacahisar
Bektaş Bey, to whom the sanjak was given as an additional post, is bey of Alacahisar and guardian of Yanova in the province of Temesvár. Alacahisar is the Ottoman-period name of the city of Kruševac in Serbia; according to Feridun Emecen's entry, the city kept its military importance in the seventeenth century as well. Yanova is the town known today as Ineu in the Arad region of western Romania. According to Mihai Maxim's entry on Yanova, it fell into the hands of Habsburg soldiers on 27 May 1693, and this was legally confirmed by the Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699. On the other hand, in Mustafa II's first Austrian campaign in the summer of 1695 it had been decided to take the fortresses of Lippa, Lugoj, Yanova and Şebeş. Hüsâmeddin's mentioning Bektaş Bey as "guardian of Yanova" for Muharrem 1107 (August-September 1695) suggests that the fortress may have returned for a short time to Ottoman hands in this campaign; the sources at hand do not clearly confirm this.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 4, p. 617–617. amasya.bel.tr
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, vols. 1-4, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, e-book p. 619, 633, 636, 650.
Academic studies
Official sources