“Çavuş” çeşitli Türk devletlerinde bazı saray hizmetlerini ifade eden ve askerî rütbe olarak kullanılan terim olup⁹⁸Osmanlı Devleti’nde Divan-ı Hümâyûn mübaşiri ve icra kuvvetine hizmet etmekle mükellef atlı bir sınıftır.⁹⁹ Çavuşlar yevmiyeli ile tımar ve zeametli olmak üzere ikiye ayrılmaktadır. Kanuni Sultan Süleyman Dönemi’nde dergâh-ı âli çavuşlarının, işleri yoğunlaşmış askerî, idari ve diplomatik işlemlerin yürütülebilmesi için merkezden eyaletlere, tâbi memleketlere ve diğer ülkelere yazılan emir, ferman, hüküm ve mektupların ulaştırılması dolayısıyla önemleri artmıştır. Dergâh-ı âli/divan çavuşlarının listelerinin yapıldığı, makama getirildikleri sultanın saltanat süresine göre sırasıyla ve künyeleriyle birlikte kaydedildiği Çâvuşân-ı Dergâh-ı Âlî Defterleri’nde bulunmaktadır.¹⁰⁰ İşte müellif bu görevde bulunan Amasyalıları bu defterler vasıtasıyla tespit etmiştir. Defterde isimleri, baba adları ve memleketlerinin kaydedilmesi defterleri şehir ve biyografi tarihi için önemli kaynaklar haline getirmiştir.
Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar · ESER VE YAZAR HAKKINDA · 2. AMASYA TARİHİ HAKKINDA · 2.4. Eserin Kaynakları · 2.4.2. Arşiv Kaynakları
Registers of the Çavuşes and the Çâvuşân-ı Dergâh-ı Âlî
Encyclopedia · History of Amasya, Introduction: The Work and Its Author, p. 62 • Edited by: Doç. Dr. Songül KEÇECİ KURT
Footnotes
- 98 Orhan F. Köprülü, “Çavuş” TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi, c. 8, İstanbul, 1993, s. 236.
- 99 İsmail Hakkı Uzunçarşılı, Osmanlı Devletinin Saray Teşkilatı, Ankara 2014, TTK Yayınları, s. 391 ve devamı.
- 100 Uğur Altuğ, Kanuni Sultan Süleyman Döneminde Dergâh-I Âli Çavuşluğunun Kariyer Yolları ve Çavuşlar, Osmanlı Mirası Araştırmaları Dergisi (OMAD), C. 3, S. 5, Mart 2016, s. 116-128.
In Modern English
"Çavuş" is a term that, in various Turkic states, denoted certain palace services and was used as a military rank. In the Ottoman state it was a mounted class that served as the usher of the Imperial Council (Divan-ı Hümayun) and as the executive force for carrying out orders. Çavuşes are divided into those who received a daily wage and those who held timars and zeamets. In the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, the importance of the çavuşes of the Sublime Porte (Dergâh-ı âli) grew in delivering the orders, decrees, rulings and letters written from the centre to the provinces, to vassal states and to other countries, so that the increasingly busy military, administrative and diplomatic business could be carried out. The registers in which lists of the çavuşes of the Sublime Porte (the Divan) were made, recording them with their particulars in the order in which they were appointed to the post, according to the length of the sultan's reign, are the Çâvuşân-ı Dergâh-ı Âlî Registers. It was through these registers that the author identified the natives of Amasya who held this post. The recording of names, fathers' names and hometowns in the register made these registers important sources for urban and biographical history.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- mübaşir: an official who carries out a task or executes an order
- yevmiyeli: working for a daily wage
- tımar ve zeamet: land revenue granted in return for service
- Dergâh-ı âli: the lofty gate, that is, the sultan's palace and the centre of the state
- künye: a person's identifying details, such as name, father's name and hometown
- icra kuvveti: the force that carries out orders
Who Were the Çavuşes
The word çavuş can be traced in very old Turkish texts, and long before the Ottomans there was an organisation of this name among the Seljuks. The sources state that the çavuşes served as a kind of orderly officer attached to the ruler's person and at times as envoys. According to the Law Code of Mehmed the Conqueror (Fatih Kanunnamesi), the daily wage of the çavuşes was 60 akçe. The Divan çavuşes, riding horses in ornate garments, would receive foreign ambassadors, announce the orders of the sultan or the grand vizier, carry out certain punishments and supervise envoys. It appears that in the sixteenth century there were 300 çavuşes in the Imperial Council.
Since the records show that natives of Amasya were appointed to these posts, the registers' practice of noting the father's name and hometown made Hüsameddin's work easier. Who was drawn from these registers is not stated in this section; no separate information on çavuşes from Amasya was found in other sources.
Bibliography
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, Introduction, p. 62–62. amasya.bel.tr
- Orhan F. Köprülü, "Çavuş", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 8, Istanbul 1993, https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/cavus