Ohrilidir. 1109 senesi cumâdelâhiresinin yirmi ikinci günü Amasya beyi olup ve müteâkiben Musul Beylerbeyi Amasyalı Bekir Beyzâde Ömer Paşa’nın mahdûmu olan baş a‘yân Osmân Bey Amasya mütesellimi oldu.
Receb gurresinde Müderris Abdî Efendizâde es-Seyyid eş-Şeyh Ali Efendi nakîbü’l-eşrâf kâ’im-makâmı ve Avkatlı İbrâhim Ağa’nın azliyle recebin dokuzuncu günü Gürcüzâde Mehmed Bey alaybeyi oldu.
Ramazânın gurresinde Osmân Bey’in muâmelât-ı şedîdesinden dolayı azliyle Küçük Alizâde Mehmed Ağa Amasya mütesellimi ve şevvâlde Kethüdâyeri Kuloğlu Mehmed Ağa bin Halil Ağa mütesellim vekili oldu.
Zilka’dede İran’a Osmanlı sefiri olan Amasyalı Sefer Ağazâde Mehmed Paşa ile İran Sefiri Rüstem Han Amasya’ya geldi. Amasya Nüzûl Emîni Mamalu Bektaş Ağazâde Mehmed Paşa’nın birâderi Ömer Ağa bâ-fermân-ı âlî Sivas’a kadar konakçı oldu. [227]
Sefir Mehmed Paşa ile Rüstem Han, Amasya’da birkaç gün oturdu. Şehir Kethüdâsı Abdî Beyzâde İbrâhim Bey teşrifatçı olup zilka’denin on sekizinci günü Sivas’a müteveccihen Amasya’dan gitdi. Ömer Ağa da beraber gidip ayın sonunda avdet etdi. Zilhicce selhinde Amasya sancağı Serçeşme Ahmed Bey’e tevcîh edildi.
In Modern English
He was from Ohrid. On the twenty-second day of Cemaziyelâhir 1109 [1698] he became bey of Amasya. Then Osmân Bey, the head notable (baş âyan) and son of Ömer Pasha, the Beylerbeyi of Mosul, of the Bekir Beyzâdes of Amasya, became mütesellim (deputy of the sanjak governor) of Amasya.
On the first day of Receb the madrasa professor Abdî Efendizâde es-Seyyid eş-Şeyh Ali Efendi became deputy of the naqib al-ashraf (the city deputy of the naqib al-ashraf, who looks after the affairs of the descendants of the Prophet). With the dismissal of Avkatlı İbrâhim Ağa, on the ninth day of Receb Gürcüzâde Mehmed Bey became alaybeyi (commander of the timar-holding cavalry).
On the first day of Ramazan Osmân Bey was dismissed for his harsh and heavy-handed conduct; in his place Küçük Alizâde Mehmed Ağa became mütesellim of Amasya, and in Şevval Kethüdâyeri Kuloğlu Mehmed Ağa, son of Halil Ağa, became deputy mütesellim.
In Zilkade the Ottoman envoy sent to Iran, Sefer Ağazâde Mehmed Pasha of Amasya, and the Iranian Envoy Rüstem Khan came to Amasya. Ömer Ağa, brother of Mamalu Bektaş Ağazâde Mehmed Pasha, the Superintendent of Provisions (Nüzul Emini) of Amasya, became by imperial decree host-provider (konakçı; the official who prepares lodging along the road) as far as Sivas.
The envoy Mehmed Pasha and Rüstem Khan stayed a few days in Amasya. The City Steward Abdî Beyzâde İbrâhim Bey served as master of ceremonies. On the eighteenth day of Zilkade they left Amasya toward Sivas. Ömer Ağa went with them and returned at the end of the month. On the last day of Zilhicce the sanjak of Amasya was given to the serçeşme Ahmed Bey.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- nakîbü'l-eşrâf kâ'im-makâmı: the provincial deputy of the naqib al-ashraf in Istanbul; the official who looks after the records and affairs of seyyids and sharifs
- muâmelât-ı şedîde: harsh, heavy-handed conduct
- mütesellim vekili: the person who stands in for the mütesellim
- sefîr: envoy
- nüzûl emîni: the official in charge of the nüzul (provisions) tax collected for the army and official travelers
- bâ-fermân-ı âlî: by the sultan's decree
- konakçı: the official who prepares lodging and provisioning for an official party along the road
- teşrifatçı: the person who arranges ceremonies and protocol
- müteveccihen: toward a direction
- avdet: return
- selh: the last day of the lunar month
The Bekir Beyzâdes and the Deputy Governorship
Osmân Bey, made mütesellim, is of the Bekir Beyzâdes, one of the deep-rooted families of Amasya. Hüsameddin introduces the head of this family, Vizier Ömer Pasha, as "former governor of Anatolia" and ties its lineage through Mirliva Ebûbekir Bey and his father Derviş Bey to Şâdgeldi Pasha, whom he calls "ruler of Amasya." In earlier entries we saw that Ömer Bey was made governor of Canik for his usefulness in the campaign of 1108. Here the same person is mentioned as beylerbeyi of Mosul; his son took over the administration of the city through his father's influence.
Osmân Bey's dismissal after three months for his "harsh conduct" shows the known weakness of the institution of the mütesellim. According to studies of this institution, although the term of a mütesellim was as a rule one year, this was hardly observed, and there were those who served a few months as well as those who stayed for years. Conflicts of interest often arose between mütesellims belonging to powerful families in the sanjaks and the notables, and some families held the deputy governorship in one period and the notableship in another. That names such as Bekir Beyzâde, Küçük Alizâde and Kuloğlu follow one another within a few months shows that this was the case in Amasya as well.
Rüstem Khan's Return Journey and a Question of Dates
The event that really draws attention in the entry is the Ottoman envoy Sefer Ağazâde Mehmed Pasha and the Safavid envoy Rüstem Khan passing through Amasya together. When Shah Hüseyin took Basra from the Arab tribes, he had sent the keys of the city, together with valuable gifts, to Mustafa II by his envoy Rüstem Khan. Nurten Sevinç's study, based on Ottoman archival documents, allows this envoy's journey to be followed day by day. According to it, Rüstem Khan stayed 69 days in Edirne, his provisioning was met by the state here between 23 Şevval and 19 Zilkade 1109 (4-29 May 1698), he left Istanbul on 27 Zilkade 1109 (6 June 1698) and waited at Üsküdar until 24 Zilhicce 1109 (3 July 1698). Then he passed through the stages of Gerede, Bayındır, Çerkeş, Karacaviran, Koçhisar, Tosya and Kargı, reached the stages in the district of Karahisar-ı Şarkî in mid-August 1698, and from there Erzurum. It is also seen in the documents that for the envoy at each stage provisions and expenses of 22,877 akçe a day were allotted, part of which were met from avârız and nüzul levies.
These records do not agree with Hüsameddin's dates. The author writes that the envoys came to Amasya in Zilkade and left the city on 18 Zilkade 1109 (28 May 1698); yet at that date Rüstem Khan was still in Edirne. The route and dates stretching from Kargı to Karahisar-ı Şarkî suggest that the party could have passed through the Amasya area only at the end of July or the beginning of August 1698, that is, at the end of Muharrem or the beginning of Safer 1110. Moreover, the stages in the documents point toward Karahisar-ı Şarkî instead of Sivas. Hüsameddin's "Zilkade" record probably rests on the start date of the embassy in Istanbul or on a slip in transmission; a definite decision cannot be made with the sources at hand. The information that the host-provider Ömer Ağa went "as far as Sivas" perhaps expresses the limit of the district of his hosting duty.
The envoy on the Ottoman side, Sefer Ağazâde Mehmed Pasha, is called in Sevinç's study "the Register Superintendent Mehmet Bey, former reisülküttab, with the rank of beylerbeyi," and it is noted that he was sent to the shah with weighty gifts as Rüstem Khan returned. According to Hüsameddin's biographical volume, Mehmed Pasha returned from Iran in Rebiülevvel 1110 and on the fifth of Rebiülâhir became governor of Damascus with a vizierate. The same author also records that the embassy extended as far as Tehran.
The Deputy Governorship of the Naqib al-Ashraf
The deputy governorship of the naqib al-ashraf, which appears frequently in the entry, was a prestigious post among the seyyid families of Amasya. The Ottoman naqib al-ashraf resided in Istanbul; in other cities there were deputy naqibs chosen for a set period from among the seyyids (sâdât). Since this post was an important source of influence and income, it was generally chosen from influential families. That Abdî Efendizâde Ali Efendi was both a professor and a deputy naqib is an example showing that the people of learning and the seyyid families were intertwined in Amasya. Hüsameddin himself is of the Abdîzâde family.
The Title Serçeşme
The word "serçeşme" before the names of Receb Bey and of Ahmed Bey, who took the sanjak after him, is not a family name but a title of office. According to studies describing the company organization, the company commanders of the sekban and saruca soldiers, gathered on the eve of a campaign in companies of forty to fifty men, were attached to a chief company commander also called "serçeşme." That in these years the sanjak of Amasya was given one after another to serçeşmes suggests that the sanjak was distributed to the commanders of paid soldiers in viziers' households as a kind of salary and reward. No information about Receb Bey beyond what Hüsameddin gives was found.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 4, p. 619–619. amasya.bel.tr
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, vols. 6-8, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, entry "Mehmed Paşa-Elçi", e-book p. 105-106; entry "Ebûbekir Paşa-Bekir Beyzâde", e-book p. 94. https://amasya.bel.tr/uploads/e-kitap/kitap/6-8/files/basic-html/page105.html
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, vols. 9-12, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, entry "Abdullah Bey-Bekir Beyzâde", e-book p. 573. https://amasya.bel.tr/uploads/e-kitap/kitap/9-12/files/basic-html/page573.html
Academic studies