Amasyalıdır. Kapıcıoğlu Mehmed Ağa bin Receb Ağa'nın oğludur. Birâderi bostancıbaşı Hacı Ahmed Ağa'nın yardımıyla serçeşme olmuşdu. 1119 senesi receb gurresinde mîr-i mîrânlıkla Amasya mutasarrıfı olup Rûmeli'nde bulunduğundan Amasyalı esbak kul kethüdâsı Türk Şa'bân Ağazâde Mehmed Ağa mütesellim oldu.
Az sonra Mü'ezzinbaşı oğlu Abdî Ağa'nın hakkındaki şikâyetlerin tahkîkine dâ'ir fermân gelip ahvâli teftîş edilmeğe başlandı. Bu esnâda Abdî Ağa da tevkîf edildi.
Şa'bân evâhirinde Özbek sefîri Mîr Mehmed Nâsırhân mihmândârı olan Amasyalı Sefer Ağazâde vezîr Mehmed Paşa ile Amasya'ya geldi. Mütesellim Mehmed Ağa bâ-fermân-ı âlî sefîrin i'zâz ve ikrâmına me'mûr olup Dârüsselâm [4] Mahallesi'nde vezîr Mehmed Paşa'nın konağına indirildi. Otuz beş gün Amasya'da istirâhat edip Amasya a'yânının konaklarında sıra da'vetiyle izzet ve ikrâm gördü.
Ramazân bayramının ikinci günü Buhâra'ya müteveccihen Mehmed Paşa ile birlikde Amasya'dan gitdi. Şevvâlin on dokuzuncu günü Mehmed Paşa'nın kethüdâsı olan a'yândan Sefer Ağazâde Hasan Ağa evkâf-ı sultâniyye mütevellîsi oldu. Mü'ezzinbaşı oğlu Abdî Ağa hakkındaki şikâyetlerin ba'zıları doğru görülerek Ankara'ya sürüldü.
Zilhiccede sâbık Mısır vâlîsi Amasyalı Küçük Alîzâde Hüseyin Paşa vefât edip oğlu olmadığından müsâdereden kurtulan mâlı kızı Fatma Hanım'a ve yeğenleri Alî, Mehmed Beyler'e kaldı. Yeğeni Alî Bey, Bozok sancağı beyi ve diğer yeğeni Mehmed Bey de Bülbül Hâtun vakfı mütevellîsi oldu. Yörgüç Paşa Câmi'i civârında Şâdî Bey Tekkesi şeyhliği de Halvetiyye meşâyihinden Mustafâ Efendi'ye verildi.
1120 muharrem gurresinde Lâdikli Feyzullâh Efendi'nin yerine Ebûbekir Efendi Amasya kadısı ve nakîbü'l-eşrâf kâ'im-makâmı Emîr Hacı Abdullatîf Ağa baş a'yân olup müntesiblerinden Seyyid İbrâhîm Ağa nakîb kâ'im-makâmı oldu. [5]
Muharremin on dördüncü günü Hoca Paşazâde Hacı Ömer Ağa'nın azliyle a'yândan Fazlıoğlu Sarı Hacı Alî Efendi şehir kethüdâsı oldu. Bu zât Fazlızâde (Fazlı Paşa) bin Hasan Efendi bin Fazlullâh Efendi'nin amcası oğlu idi.
Sefer evâ'ilinde Avkatlı İbrâhim Ağa'nın ref'inden Oluslu Kürd Seyyid İbrâhîm Ağa Amasya alaybeyi oldu. Rebî'ulevvelde Amasya müftüsü ve Sultâniyye müderrisi kibâr-ı fuzalâdan İkincizâde Abdullâh Sânî Efendi öbür dünyâya göçdüğünden Büyük Ağa (Hüseyniyye) müderrisi Koca Mu'îd İsmâ'il Efendi Amasya müftüsü ve diğer fuzalâdan Mütevellîzâde Hacı Ahmed Efendi de Sultâniyye müderrisi oldu.
Şa'bân evâhirinde şehir kethüdâsı Hacı Alî Efendi'nin ba'zı ahvâli, esnâfı ve a'yânı dilgîr eylediğinden azl ile baş a'yân Emîr Hacı Abdullatîf Ağa ilâveten şehir kethüdâsı da olup nüfûz ve ikbâli katmerlendi.
Şevvâl evâ'ilinde yirmi yıldan beri yeniçeri serdârı olan Apardı İbrâhîm Ağa bin Mehmed Ağa⁶⁹² ve zilka'de evâ'ilinde Ya'kûb Paşa müderrisi ulemâdan Mehmed Efendi vefât edip odabaşı Sekizinci Halîl Ağa serdâr ve ulemâdan Ebûbekir Efendi müderris oldu. [6]
1121 senesi muharreminin on üçüncü günü Halîl Ağa'nın ref'inden elli birin İbrâhim Ağa yeniçeri serdârı olup saferde Amasya mutasarrıfı Boz Receb Paşa terfî'an Karahisâr-ı Şarkî beylerbeyi olduğundan Amasya sancağı selefi Ahmed Paşa'ya tevcîh edildi.
In Modern English
He was a man of Amasya. He was the son of Kapıcıoğlu Mehmed Ağa son of Receb Ağa. With the help of his brother, the bostancıbaşı Hacı Ahmed Ağa, he had become a serçeşme (head of a military unit). On the first day of Rajab 1119 [September 1707] he became mutasarrıf of Amasya with the rank of mîr-i mîrân (beylerbeyi); since he was in Rumelia at the time, Türk Şa'bân Ağazâde Mehmed Ağa of Amasya, the former kul kethüdası, became mütesellim (deputy administrator).
Soon afterwards a decree came concerning the investigation of the complaints against Abdî Ağa, son of the Müezzinbaşı, and the matter began to be examined. At this time Abdî Ağa was also arrested.
At the end of Shaban the Uzbek ambassador Mîr Mehmed Nâsır Khan came to Amasya together with his mihmandar (the person charged with hosting him along the road), Sefer Ağazâde Vezir Mehmed Pasha of Amasya. The mütesellim Mehmed Ağa was charged by imperial decree with showing respect and hospitality to the ambassador; the ambassador was lodged in the mansion of Vezir Mehmed Pasha in the Dârüsselâm quarter. He rested thirty-five days in Amasya and, invited in turn to the mansions of the notables of Amasya, was shown respect and hospitality.
On the second day of the Feast of Ramadan he left Amasya for Bukhara together with Mehmed Pasha. On the nineteenth day of Shawwal, Sefer Ağazâde Hasan Ağa, one of the notables and steward of Mehmed Pasha, became trustee of the sultan's waqfs. Some of the complaints against Abdî Ağa, son of the Müezzinbaşı, were found true and he was exiled to Ankara.
In Dhu al-Hijjah the former governor of Egypt, Küçük Alîzâde Hüseyin Pasha of Amasya, died. Since he had no son, his property, which escaped confiscation, passed to his daughter Fatma Hanım and his nephews, the Beys Ali and Mehmed. His nephew Ali Bey became sanjak governor of Bozok, and his other nephew Mehmed Bey trustee of the Bülbül Hâtun waqf. The sheikhship of the Şâdî Bey Tekke near the Yörgüç Pasha Mosque was also given to Mustafa Efendi, one of the Halvetiyye sheikhs.
On the first day of Muharram 1120 [March 1708] Ebûbekir Efendi became kadı of Amasya in place of Feyzullah Efendi of Lâdik; Emîr Hacı Abdüllatif Ağa, deputy of the nakîbüleşraf (deputy of the representative of the descendants of the Prophet), became chief ayan, and Seyyid İbrahim Ağa, one of his relatives, moved to the deputy nakîbship.
On the fourteenth day of Muharram Hoca Paşazâde Hacı Ömer Ağa was dismissed and Fazlıoğlu Sarı Hacı Ali Efendi, one of the notables, became city steward. This man was the cousin of Fazlızâde (Fazlı Pasha) son of Hasan Efendi son of Fazlullah Efendi.
At the beginning of Safar, with the dismissal of Avkatlı İbrahim Ağa, Oluslu Kürd Seyyid İbrahim Ağa became alaybeyi of Amasya. In Rabi' al-awwal, since the mufti of Amasya and müderris of the Sultaniye, İkincizâde Abdullah Sânî Efendi, one of the great scholars, passed to the next world, Koca Muîd İsmail Efendi, müderris of the Büyük Ağa (Hüseyniye) Madrasa, became mufti of Amasya, and Mütevellîzâde Hacı Ahmed Efendi, one of the scholars, became müderris of the Sultaniye.
At the end of Shaban, the city steward Hacı Ali Efendi was dismissed because some of his conduct had hurt the tradesmen and notables; the chief ayan Emîr Hacı Abdüllatif Ağa additionally became city steward, and his influence and standing doubled.
At the beginning of Shawwal, Apardı İbrahim Ağa son of Mehmed Ağa, for twenty years janissary commander, and at the beginning of Dhu al-Qa'dah Mehmed Efendi, one of the scholars and müderris of the Ya'kûb Pasha Madrasa, died; the odabaşı Sekizinci Halil Ağa became commander, and Ebûbekir Efendi, one of the scholars, became müderris.
On the thirteenth day of Muharram 1121 [March 1709], with the dismissal of Halil Ağa, Ellibirinci (of the fifty-first) İbrahim Ağa became janissary commander. In Safar, since the mutasarrıf of Amasya, Boz Receb Pasha, was promoted and became beylerbeyi of Karahisâr-ı Şarkî, the sanjak of Amasya was given to Ahmed Pasha, the mutasarrıf before him.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- serçeşme: head, commander of a military unit or company
- gurre: the first day of an Arabic (lunar) month
- evâil / evâsıt / evâhir: the first, middle and last ten days of a month
- mîr-i mîrân: the rank of beylerbeyi
- mutasarrıf: the governor who administers a sanjak
- mütesellim: the deputy who administers the sanjak in his name when the mutasarrıf is absent
- kul kethüdâsı: the aga's assistant in the janissary corps
- mihmândâr: the person charged with accompanying and hosting a foreign ambassador along the road
- bâ-fermân-ı âlî: by imperial decree
- i'zâz ve ikrâm: showing respect and hospitality
- a'yân: the notables of a city
- evkâf-ı sultâniyye: waqfs founded by sultans and members of the dynasty
- müsâdere: confiscation by the state of the property of a deceased statesman
- nakîbü'l-eşrâf kâ'im-makâmı: the city deputy of the representative of the sayyids and sharifs
- müntesib: attached to a person, his man
- ref': dismissal from office
- dilgîr: offended, hurt
- nüfûz ve ikbâl: influence and standing, good fortune
- terfî'an: by promotion
Receb Pasha and His Brother, the Bostancıbaşı Hacı Ahmed Ağa
Nothing more about Receb Pasha than what Hüsameddin gives was found in other sources. The relationship that carried him to the sanjak of Amasya can, however, be traced. The man Hüsameddin calls "his brother the bostancıbaşı Hacı Ahmed Ağa" appears to be the same person as the statesman from Amasya who figures under the name Kirli Ahmed Pasha in records based on the Sicill-i Osmanî, which compiles the biographies of Ottoman statesmen. According to these records, Ahmed Pasha was raised in the palace bostancı corps and became bostancıbaşı in 1707 after serving as haseki ağa. Receb Pasha's appointment to Amasya with the beylerbeyilik also falls in precisely this year, Rajab 1119 [September 1707]. That a bostancıbaşı, one of the officials closest to the sultan, brought his brother to his home region as governor plainly shows how decisive closeness to the palace was in provincial appointments at the beginning of the eighteenth century. Hacı Ahmed Ağa's later rise and tragic end are told in later entries of this volume.
The Bukharan Ambassador's Thirty-Five Days in Amasya
The Uzbek ambassador's being hosted for over a month in Amasya is the liveliest scene of the entry. Studies on Ottoman-Uzbek relations record that in 1707 the ruler of Bukhara, Ubeydullah Khan, sent an ambassador to Istanbul, declared his allegiance to the sultan and gave information about the situation in Turkestan. In these studies the ambassador's name appears as Hoca Muhammed Emin, while Hüsameddin gives the name "Mîr Mehmed Nâsır Khan." The ambassador's stopping at Amasya on his return journey from Istanbul at the end of Shaban 1119 [November 1707] agrees historically with this embassy. Whether the two names belong to the same person, or whether there was more than one ambassador in the delegation, could not be established.
That Sefer Ağazâde Vezir Mehmed Pasha, who accompanied the ambassador as mihmandar, was a man of Amasya also explains why the ambassador was lodged in the mansion in the Dârüsselâm quarter of the city.
Madrasas and Tekkes
The Büyük Ağa (Hüseyniye) Madrasa named in the entry stands today as well. According to its inscription it was built in 894 [1489], in the reign of Bayezid II, by the chief palace eunuch (kapı ağası) Hüseyin Ağa, in the Şamlar quarter on the bank of the Yeşilırmak. It is known for its octagonal plan, which has almost no parallel in Ottoman madrasa architecture; this plan was also applied by Mimar Sinan at the Rüstem Pasha Madrasa in Istanbul. The building, abandoned after 1940 and fallen into ruin, was damaged in the 1942 earthquake, repaired by the waqf administration in the 1980s and began to be used as a Quran course. Hüsameddin's brief record shows that in 1708 the müderris of this madrasa could rise to the muftiship of the city; it is understood that the madrasa was among the city's leading teaching institutions in the eighteenth century too.
On the Şâdî Bey Tekke near the Yörgüç Pasha Mosque no separate record was found in studies on the Halvetî tekkes of Amasya. These studies note that the imaret beside the Yörgüç Pasha Mosque was one of the important soup kitchens run by the Halvetî tekkes; Hüsameddin's writing that the tekke's sheikhship was given to a Halvetî sheikh agrees with this milieu.
An Unverified Name: Küçük Alîzâde Hüseyin Pasha
Küçük Alîzâde Hüseyin Pasha of Amasya, whom Hüsameddin calls "former governor of Egypt," does not appear under this name in the known lists of Ottoman governors of Egypt. The Hüseyin Pasha who served in Egypt in 1698-1699 is recorded as of Bosnian origin. For this reason Hüsameddin's information may be either someone who served briefly as deputy governor in Egypt, or a record confused with another post; the matter remains open.
The Roots of the Families of Amasya
In a footnote Hüsameddin states that the janissary commander Apardı İbrahim Ağa, who died in 1120, was the great ancestor of the Apardıoğulları family in Amasya. Notes of this kind are frequent throughout the volume and reflect the author's effort to link the families of Amasya of his own time to their ancestors at the beginning of the eighteenth century. This information rests largely on the author's local knowledge; it has not been tested against other sources.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 4, Supplement (Bakiyye), p. 628–628. amasya.bel.tr
- "Kirli Ahmed Paşa", entry based on Mehmed Süreyya, Sicill-i Osmanî (ed. Nuri Akbayar, 1996), I, 238, https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirli_Ahmed_Paşa
Academic studies
- Halil Ülker, "Osmanlı Özbekistan Siyasi İlişkileri (1514-1873)", Manas Sosyal Araştırmalar Dergisi, 8/4, 2019, p. 3977-4006, https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/826795
- Gülay Burgaz, "Kapı Ağası Medresesi", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kapi-agasi-medresesi
- Kadir Özköse, "Amasya'da Bulunan Halvetiyye Tekkeleri", AKADEMİAR, no. 5, 2018, p. 91-118, https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/606666
Other sources