Tayyâr Mahmûd Pasha

In Modern English

He was from Trabzon. He was the son of Caniklizade Battal Hüseyin Pasha. At the beginning of Muharrem 1214 [1799], in return for the large gifts he gave, he became muhassıl of Amasya and governor (mutasarrıf) of Canik. By him Hazinedaroğlu Süleyman Bey came as mütesellim of Amasya. Kayalıpaşazade Hacı Süleyman Bey became chief ayan and muhtar-ı belde (the city's elected representative).

In place of the alaybeyi Kaba Mahmud Ağa, who had died a few days earlier, Hindîoğlu İbrahim Ağa became alaybeyi. The deceased's zeamet was given to his sons Ahmed and Abdullah Beys. Hacı Paşazade Mehmed Emin Bey, who had earlier been miralay of Amasya and had been exiled to Diyarbekir, became voyvoda of Köprü (Vezirköprü), and Cârullahoğlu Hacı Hüseyin Ağa an ayan of Köprü.

In the first days of Safer, Tayyar Mahmud Bey came to Amasya with great splendor and ceremony. Mikdad Pasha's former men surrounded Tayyar Bey. Tayyar Bey behaved very flightily and amazed everyone with tyrannical manners like those of a Russian prince.

On the twentieth day of Safer the mufti Mehmed Efendi was dismissed, and Kara Müftüzade Mustafa Vâzıh Efendi, Tayyar's favorite, became mufti of Amasya. In Rebiülevvel Tayyar Bey went to Köprü and tormented the people who appeared to oppose him there by punishing them. Then he went to Bafra. Everywhere he bestowed favors on those who followed him.

In Rebiülahir, as Köseoğlu Derviş Yakub Ağa, tax farmer (mültezim) of Amasya's bedeliyye-i tımar (the payment taken in lieu of timars), began collecting, Tayyar Bey too gave harsh orders for the collection of the iltizam price. Yakub Ağa's collection was a fixed sum and no one was troubled by it. But Tayyar Bey's collection was merciless: where one tenth of the produce was to be taken, he had one third taken. The coffee, bread and fodder money that the şahnes (his collecting men) would receive was separate.

At the beginning of Cemaziyelevvel Müftüzade Abdurrahman Efendi came as kadı of Amasya. Since taking one third in place of the tithe (öşür) was a very cruel practice, the people ran to the muftis and scholars; a fatwa and help were requested.

Mufti Vâzıh Efendi, facing on the one hand the pressure of the people and on the other Tayyar Bey's favor, for a while did not know what to do. Then he issued a fatwa on the ground that obedience to the order of a great man of state was necessary. Soruklu Hacı Ali Efendi, professor of the Darülhadis, could not bear this; because he said that taking one third instead of one tenth was not lawful, he was dismissed and his professorship was given to Şirin Ali Efendi.

On the twentieth of Cemaziyelevvel, through the union of the ulema, Vâzıh Efendi was removed from the muftiship; in his place his teacher, one of the virtuous scholars, Âkifefendizade Abdurrahim Efendi, became mufti of Amasya. The mütesellim of Amasya, Hazinedaroğlu Süleyman Bey, could not prevent this.

In this affair the Efendis Nûrîzade Hacı Ahmed, mufti of Merzifon, Kıldırzade Şeyh Hacı Mustafa, mufti of Köprü, Şeyh Hacı Osman, mufti of Gümüş, and Hacı Abdullah, mufti of Lâdik, also gave negative answers. Kıldırzade even ruled that whoever took one third in place of the tithe was a fâsık (open transgressor).

Hearing this, Tayyar Mahmud Bey became terribly enraged. He immediately dismissed the alaybeyi Hindîoğlu İbrahim Ağa, who was the Bey of Amasya, and made Hacı Vahaboğlu Hacı Abdülvahab Ağa alaybeyi. In some villages the people had resisted the one-third collection with arms. Hearing this he foamed with rage.

At the beginning of Receb he dismissed the mütesellim Süleyman Bey too and sent the other Hazinedaroğlu, Abdullah Bey, as mütesellim. Abdullah Bey in turn dismissed and humiliated the mufti of Amasya Abdurrahim Efendi, and forced Maraşlı Hacı Mahmud Efendi, one of the famous scholars, a recluse and professor of the Halfet (Hilfet Gazi), to be made mufti of Amasya. But Hacı Mahmud Efendi did not come out of the place where he hid.

In the first days of Şaban, by Tayyar Bey's harsh order, the scholars who had objected to and interfered in the collection, Âkifzade Abdurrahim, Osman, professor of Sultan Bayezid, Payaslı Hacı Mehmed, Soruklu Hacı Ali Ağa, şeyhülkurra (head of the Quran-recitation teachers) Hacı Hafız Hasan, dersiam Tavilli Hacı Hasan, the court clerk Fazlıoğlu Hacı Ahmed and the clerk before him, Fazlıoğlu Hacı Ali Efendi, were suddenly taken from their homes at night and sent to Samsun with insults.

It is noteworthy that the mütesellim Abdullah Bey dismissed the alaybeyi Hacı Abdülvahab Ağa, who did not consent to the ulema's being exiled and humiliated in this way without an imperial order; appointing in his place the earlier alaybeyi Hindîoğlu İbrahim Ağa, he had the ulema driven off by this İbrahim Ağa. But this affair brought disaster upon İbrahim Ağa.

Tayyar Bey did not stop at this. He ordered the execution of Hacı Mustafa Efendi, mufti of Köprü, who had most opposed the one-third collection and spoken heavy words against him. He also grossly humiliated and exiled a man of piety, Çorumlu Şeyh Ömer Efendi, sheikh of Köprü.

The voyvoda of Köprü Mehmed Emin Bey and the ayan of Köprü Hacı Hüseyin Ağa found men to carry out the order. At dawn on the night of the eleventh of Şaban, as the mufti efendi was performing the teheccüd prayer, they strangled him with cords passed around his throat from behind and tore him to pieces.

Hearing of this, Abdal Beyoğlu Mehmed Ağa, owner of the Zeytin mâlikâne, drove Tayyar Bey's şahnes and tax collectors out of the kaza of Zeytin and marched on Köprü with all his strength. But he was defeated by the force Tayyar Bey sent from Bafra and was captured. He too was executed, and the property of all the rich of the kaza of Zeytin was confiscated.

There was no power to stop and punish Tayyar Bey for such oppressions. For at this time the state, much occupied with the bandits of Rumelia, had no time to deal with the derebeys (valley lords) of Anatolia. And the hardest of the derebeys were the Canikli Oğulları, whom the Russian emperor had unleashed upon eastern Anatolia.

Beside the mütesellim Abdullah Bey there was an important force of disobedient Laz and Georgians. The ayan of Amasya had neither the strength nor the courage to stand up to this force. For this reason Abdullah Bey carried out every wish and every act of oppression of Tayyar Bey recklessly.

After the exile of the ulema, the dersiam Canikli Hasan Efendi became professor of the Sultaniyye, and Fazlıoğlu Feyzullah Efendi court clerk. The kadı of Amasya Abdurrahman Efendi wrote and reported the event to the şeyhülislam with great sorrow, and the exiled ulema also wrote in plaintive language to Amasyalızade Hacı İbrahim Efendi, the counselor of the sultanate (saltanat müsteşarı), and asked for help.

At the beginning of Ramazan the appointment letter for the muftiship came to Mahmud Efendi, but since he persisted in his resignation and hid, Kara Müftüzade Vâzıh Mustafa Efendi again became mufti of Amasya.

Opponents among the ayan of Amasya secretly prepared a general mahzar (collective petition of complaint) and presented it to the Imperial Divan in Istanbul and cried out. Learning of this, the mütesellim Abdullah Bey investigated and prosecuted those who prepared and signed the mahzar.

In Şevval the nakib Molla Bâlîzade Hacı Hasan Efendi was dismissed for signing the mahzar and Lâdikli Mustafa Efendi became nakib. However, Battal Hüseyin Pasha, Governor of Trabzon, influenced by the orders and harsh warnings he received from Istanbul, wrote to his son Tayyar Mahmud Bey that the scholars should be sent to Amasya at once, and the scholars were sent back.

At the end of Şevval, since Handanoğlu Şirin Ali Efendi, professor of the Darülhadis, died, Soruklu Hacı Ali Efendi, who had just returned from Samsun, again became professor. The deceased's two sons, named Hasan Ağa and Hüseyin Ağa, are well known.

In the first days of Zilkade the mütesellim Abdullah Bey was summoned to Samsun; in his place Mikdad Paşazade Hasan Bey was sent as mütesellim of Amasya. Hasan Bey was eighteen years old.

When Hasan Bey came to Amasya he began work by appointing Şirin Ali Efendizade Hafız Hasan Ağa as his kethüda, Soruklu Hacı Ali Efendi as his teacher (hoca), Zeyneloğlu Ömer Efendi as his companion (musahip, conversation partner) and Kapancıoğlu Hacı Süleyman Ağa as vekilharç (the official who manages expenditures). At this time Maraşlı Hacı Mahmud Efendi, who had been chosen for the muftiship and did not accept it, died; in his place Erzincanlı Hacı Evliya İbrahim Efendi became professor of Halfet Gazi.

At the beginning of Muharrem 1215 [1800] Arap Hüseyinoğlu Hacı Ömer Ağa became mütesellim kaymakamı (deputy mütesellim). Vâzıh Mustafa Efendi was again removed from the muftiship and in his place Âkifzade Abdurrahim Efendi became mufti of Amasya.

In Safer, upon the death of Canikli Hasan Efendi, who had been brought to the Sultaniyye professorship, Oluslu Hacı Osman Efendi, the professor before him who had been wronged, again became professor. The exiled scholars were being won over by being rewarded each in some way.

In the first days of Safer, in order for the state to make use of the force gathered around Tayyar Bey, through the mediation and request of his father Battal Hüseyin Pasha the rank of vizier was given to him. He was assigned to the Egyptian war and ordered, with insistence, to set out immediately with his retinue.

When Tayyar Mahmud Pasha became vizier he made Özlü Yusuf Ağa son of Mustafa Bey, one of the ayan of Amasya, his silahdar and delilbaşı. He also took as his divan clerk the poet Mehmed Nedim Efendi, doorkeeper of the Sultan Bayezid Madrasa, who called himself "the doorkeeper of the house of learning and perfection of my age", and in Cemaziyelahir went to Istanbul. There he was charged with fighting the bandits of Rumelia and sent to Edirne. Over the force he took from Amasya the kaymakam of Amasya Hacı Ömer Ağa had become başbuğ (commander).

At the beginning of Receb, Şirinoğlu Hafız Hasan Ağa, Hasan Bey's kethüda, became kaymakam of Amasya; for Hasan Ağa's younger brother Hüseyin Ağa was the sultan's çuhadar.

In Şaban the rank of beylerbeyi was given to Ahmed Kâmil Bey, son of Gürcüzade Osman Pasha of Amasya. In the first days of Zilkade, in place of Battal Hüseyin Pasha, who became governor of Erzurum, his son Tayyar Mahmud Pasha increased his influence as governor of Trabzon, muhassıl of Amasya and Canik and governor of Karahisar-ı Şarkî.

This year Boluvîzade Hacı İbrahim Efendi, a famous scholar of the mevalî who endowed his books to the Abdüllatif Library, Kazâbâdî Hacı Hüseyin Efendi, among the ayan Hacı Ahmed Ağa, brother of Vizier Osman Pasha Cebecizade, and Abdurrahim Efendi, dersiam and preacher of the Eğri Mosque, died. Fazlıoğlu Feyzullah Efendi son of Mustafa Efendi, the mâlikâne holder and administrator of the village of İlarslan, a waqf of Şâdman Çelebi son of Kaya Pasha, also died; the administratorship was given to his sons Mehmed Emin and Ahmed Efendis.

In Muharrem 1216 [1801] Rahtuvan Paşazade Hacı Osman Bey became chief ayan and muhtar-ı belde, and Hacı Ömer Ağa, who had just returned from Rumelia, kaymakam of Amasya. The mütesellim Hasan Bey tried to seize the waqf properties that his father had acquired by force and that had been returned to the waqf after his father's dismissal and execution, but was obliged to give up through the counsel of the kadı and mufti efendis.

At the beginning of Cemaziyelahir Ahmed Nurullah Efendi became kadı; by him Keçecizade Mehmed Ârif Efendi came for the second time as naib of Amasya. In the first days of Şaban the province of Erzurum was given to Kutoğlu Hüseyin Pasha of Amasya, Governor of Silistre; an order had been sent to the governors of Sivas and Trabzon for him to be seized and executed when he arrived there.

On the tenth day of Şevval Yörgüçoğlu Hacı Hasan Bey, administrator of the Yörgüç Pasha waqf, died; the administratorship was given to Yörgüçoğlu Abdullah Bey, the co-administrator, alone. Two days later Nûrîzade Hacı Ahmed Efendi, mufti of Merzifon, also died; the professorship of the Hacı Ali Madrasa was given to his son Mehmed Efendi.

In Zilkade, when it was learned that Kutoğlu Hüseyin Pasha had taken refuge and fortified himself in the foothills of Akdağ, he was besieged by the forces of the mütesellim of Amasya Hasan Bey and of Mahmud Tayyar Pasha; Hüseyin Pasha surrendered without fighting. His head was cut off and sent to Istanbul.

In the letter he wrote to the Sublime Porte about this, Tayyar Mahmud Pasha said: "Kutoğlu Hüseyin Pasha was a veteran janissary of my grandfather, and while protecting him was a filial duty for this servant of yours, only to prove my loyalty and servitude to our angelic-natured sultan, staking my life for our sultan's cause, I carried out the decree." With these words he asked to be left in Trabzon and for Hasan Bey to be given a kapıcıbaşılık.

Upon this letter Tayyar Mahmud Pasha was left in Trabzon, and Hasan Bey was given a kapıcıbaşılık. On the twenty-fifth of Zilkade the mufti Âkifefendizade, because he did not know the way to get on well with the administration, was dismissed, and Hasan Bey's teacher Soruklu Hacı Ali Efendi became mufti of Amasya.

This year, among the ayan, Kayalı Paşazade Hacı Ömer Bey, Hacı Osman Efendi son of Hacı Lut (Lutfullah) and the sheikh of the tradesmen Hacı İbrahim Efendi died. The sons of Hacı İbrahim Efendi are Mehmed and İsmail Efendis. Şeyh İsmail Efendi became sheikh of the tradesmen and was known as "Kabasakal" (Coarse-Beard).

At the beginning of Muharrem 1217 [1802], Şirinzade Hafız Hasan Ağa, administrator of the Üçler Mosque and Hasan Bey's kethüda, became kaymakam of Amasya, and Gürcüzade İbrahim Bey chief ayan. The attitude of the mütesellim Hasan Bey, who had received a rank, changed; his conduct and movements began to weigh heavily on the ayan and the people.

Mufti Soruklu Hacı Ali Efendi, the kaymakam Hafız Hasan Ağa and the city kethüda Zeyneloğlu Hacı Ömer Efendi became the talk of the people. The slandering and gossip about them in councils and coffeehouses became the people's amusement; bitter words and complaints went around.

In the first days of Muharrem Nâbî Efendizade Şerif Mehmed Efendi, preacher of the Pervane Bey and Gümüşlüzade mosques and an exegete among the scholars, died; Süleyman Efendi, one of the scholars among the sheikhs, became kürsü sheikh (preacher) of these mosques.

At this time Hindîoğlu İbrahim Ağa had become alaybeyi, Çıtırıkoğlu Hüseyin Ağa janissary serdar, and Kalınbacakoğlu Mehmed Ağa delilbaşı; these were among the favorites of Hasan Bey and Tayyar Pasha. Through them Hasan Bey was binding the janissary, sipahi and zeamet-holder forces of Amasya to himself.

On the twelfth of Cemaziyelevvel, Vizier İsmail Zühdü Pasha Kösezade son of Derviş Yakub Ağa, Governor of Diyarbekir, became governor of Sivas. His steward was Bekir Beyzade Hacı Abdullah Bey, one of the notables of Amasya. The ayan and people of Amasya were a little glad of this and hoped the pasha would run to their aid.

In this month, since İrfanîzade Hafız Abdüsselam Efendi, professor of the Osman Çelebi Madrasa, died, Hafız Mehmed Nuri Efendi son of Abdullah Efendi, one of the scholars, became professor by examination.

On the twelfth of Cemaziyelahir, since the governor of Sivas died in Diyarbekir, the people's joy came to nothing. In the first days of Receb Kara Hüseyinoğlu Hüseyin Ağa became serdar, and a few days later he put down a quarrel that had broken out between the janissaries and the city kethüda Ömer Efendi. Ömer Efendi was dismissed and Bakırcıoğlu Hacı Mustafa Efendi became city kethüda.

In the first days of Şaban, upon the death of Hafız Mehmed Ağa, administrator of the Melik İsmail Gazi Waqf known as the "Enderun Mosque Waqf", Oğul Beyzade Osman Bey became administrator.

On the fourth day of Şevval, Kadızade Abdurrahman Pasha, who had risen from the muftiship of Erzurum to the governorship of Erzurum with the rank of vizier, became governor of Sivas, and on the twentieth of the month Yenicelizade Ahmed Pasha of Amasya became governor of Adana with the rank of vizier.

This man's learning and capability stirred the scholars of Amasya. At the end of this month the scholars gathered in the Sultan Bayezid Mosque and long debates were held over certain fatwas of the mufti Soruklu Hacı Ali Efendi. The mufti was forced to resign and the famous virtuous scholar Şeyhzade Hacı Abdullah Vecih Efendi became mufti of Amasya.

Hacı Ali Efendi's resignation also brought down the nakib kaymakamı Molla Bâlîoğlu; Lâdikli professor Mustafa Efendi became nakib kaymakamı and Cebecioğlu Hacı Hüseyin Ağa serdar. However, this move of the ulema touched the honor of the mütesellim Hasan Bey. He was inwardly angry especially at Hacı Abdullah Vecih Efendi, who had become mufti, but did not dare to dismiss him at once.

At the beginning of Muharrem 1218 [1803], Özlü Hacı Yusuf Ağa, Tayyar Pasha's silahdar, became kaymakam of Amasya; the previous kaymakam Şirinoğlu Hacı Hafız Hasan Ağa became chief ayan and muhtar-ı belde and also remained in the kethüdalık of Hasan Bey.

At the beginning of Safer, the mufti Hacı Abdullah Vecih Efendi, hearing of the mütesellim Hasan Bey's resentment, withdrew from the fatwa office; the mufti before him, Soruklu Hacı Ali Efendi, again became mufti of Amasya. At this time Benderli Seyfullah Ağazade Hacı İbrahim Ağa, one of the ayan of Amasya, came as mübayaacı (an official who buys on behalf of the state).

At the beginning of Rebiülevvel Osman Hamdi Efendi became naib of Amasya; on the twenty-fifth of Rebiülahir Gürcüzade Osman Pasha, Governor of Anatolia, became governor of Erzurum. His steward was Mahmud Ağa son of Hacı Abdullah of Amasya, one of the kapıcıbaşıs.

Osman Pasha was one of the strong-toothed (formidable) viziers. Because of his headstrong conduct the province of Erzurum was given to Tayyar Mahmud Pasha and a decree was issued for Osman Pasha's execution. Osman Pasha, learning from his kapı kethüdası in Istanbul that he would be executed, went to Erzurum taking care and protecting himself.

At the beginning of Cemaziyelevvel Köprülü Rahtuvanoğlu İsmail Efendi came as kadı of Amasya, and by him Memişzade Hüseyin Efendi as naib. On the eighteenth of this month the forces of Tayyar Mahmud Pasha and the forces of Gürcüzade Osman Pasha met. Since the force of Murad Pasha, governor of Muş, also helped Tayyar Pasha, Osman Pasha's force was defeated and he himself was killed at the hands of Murad Pasha.

After Osman Pasha's execution Tayyar Mahmud Pasha came to Amasya with all his troops, settled in the Eser-i Cedîd Mansion and made a show of force to the people of Amasya. He complained that the ulema and seyyids had gathered and acted. To remove the resentment that had arisen among the scholars through Soruklu Hacı Ali Efendi's being brought back to the muftiship, on the ninth day of Receb Soruklu was dismissed and Kara Müftüzade Vâzıh Mustafa Efendi became mufti for the third time.

After this Tayyar Pasha held the official opening of the madrasa he had built at the head of the Meydan Bridge, adjoining the Tomb of Ehlî Hatun, with a splendid ceremony. He gave feasts and gifts to the scholars. He appointed to its professorship Payaslı Hacı Mehmed Efendi, the most virtuous of the scholars.

But although he drew the expenses of these from the chest of the city kethüdalık of Amasya, he imposed taxes on the people under the name of "kudûmiyye" (arrival gift) and collected them by force, and met the whole of his military, personal and campaign expenses from this.

Tayyar Pasha left Amasya in Şaban; in the first days of Şevval Kallaşoğlu Hüseyin Ağa became serdar. But Hasan Bey's debauchery and arrogance became unbearable. The custom of weekly gifts and Friday visits given to him greatly burdened the ayan and the rich.

Besides this, Vâzıh Efendi's muftiship was also very heavy on the scholars. At the beginning of Zilkade, through the union of the scholars, he was removed from the fatwa office of Amasya; in his place the mufti before him and the greatest scholar of the time, Şeyhzade Abdullah Vecih Efendi, again became mufti of Amasya.

Complaints about Tayyar Pasha's oppressions rained from Amasya and its dependent kazas on the Sublime Porte and the Imperial Divan.

Tayyar Pasha's headstrong conduct and the force he kept with him were of a noteworthy scale. If, upon such bitter complaints, the sanjak of Amasya were taken from him, it was also very probable that he would invade the sanjak by force and destroy the complainants.

For this reason, on the twenty-fifth of Zilkade the province of Sivas was given to Vizier Yusuf Pasha of Divriği, Governor of Silistre, and he was ordered urgently and insistently to go to Sivas with all his retinue as soon as possible. The sanjak of Amasya was also given by iltizam to Süleyman Bey, governor of Bozok, on the eighteenth day of Zilhicce, effective from the beginning of Muharrem.

At the end of Zilhicce Governor Yusuf Pasha of Sivas came and settled in Sivas. The mütesellimlik of the sanjak of Amasya was given by Süleyman Bey to Millîzade Hacı Süleyman Bey, and a sufficient force was added beside him.

The Sublime Porte informed Tayyar Mahmud Pasha, and the governor informed the mütesellim Hasan Bey, by decrees that the sanjak of Amasya had been given by iltizam and appointment to Süleyman Bey, governor of Bozok; they were warned to hand over the sanjak to his mütesellim and to refrain from opposition.

Despite so many decrees and warnings, Tayyar Mahmud Pasha, in a firm order to his mütesellim Hasan Bey, strongly instructed and warned him to guard the sanjak of Amasya well against every contingency and not to hand it over to Süleyman Bey's mütesellim.

Millîzade Hacı Süleyman Bey with the force beside him came before Derbend on the twenty-eighth day of Zilhicce and held the southern pass. The next day he notified the mütesellim Hasan Bey to leave Amasya and hand over the sanjak. Upon receiving a refusal he marched on the city.

Hasan Bey, thinking the force he had was sufficient, tried to resist. But since Hacı Süleyman Bey's force won the battle thanks to the people's help, Hasan Bey, helpless, left Amasya and gave his place to Hacı Süleyman Bey.

Notes and Research

Old Words in the Text

• ihtifâl: ceremony, procession
• yârân: friends, a person's men
• cebbârâne etvâr: tyrannical manners
• tecrîm: judging someone guilty and punishing him
• öşür: the tax of one tenth taken from produce
• sülüs: one third
• şahne: an armed collector charged with tax collection
• emr-i veliyyü'l-emr: the order of a great man of state, of the ruler
• tefsîk: ruling that someone is a fâsık, one who openly violates the commands of religion
• münzevî: one who has withdrawn into seclusion, living away from the people
• nefy: exile
• müttakî: one who fears God, a person of piety
• teheccüd: the voluntary prayer performed after midnight
• müsâdere: confiscation of property by the state
• kuvve-i mühimme: a large and important force
• mahzar: a petition of complaint or request signed by many people
• sûzişle: in plaintive language, with a burning heart
• ihtifâ: hiding
• delilbaşı: head of the volunteer cavalry called delil
• tahassün: taking refuge in a place and fortifying oneself
• müdârâ: getting on well, handling with tact
• kudûmiyye: money taken from the people on the occasion of a great man's arrival
• ru'ûnet: arrogance, haughtiness
• dilgîr: heartbroken, fed up
• ifnâ: destroying

Tayyar Mahmud Pasha and the Canikli Family

Tayyar Mahmud Pasha is the third generation of the Canikli Hacı Ali Pasha family, based in Samsun. According to Özcan Mert's entry, his father Battal Hüseyin Pasha was taken prisoner by the Russians in 1790, remained about nine years in Russia with his son, and at the end of March 1799, at the request also of the Russian tsar Paul I, was pardoned and brought to the governorship of Trabzon; the sanjaks of Canik and Amasya were given to his son. The appointment of Muharrem 1214 [June 1799] that Hüsameddin gives comes immediately after this pardon. Canay Şahin, relying on the Amasya şer'iyye register, records that Amasya appears in 1799 as Beyhan Sultan's mâlikâne and that in 1800–1801 its revenues were given to Tayyar Pasha. According to Mert, Battal Pasha left the province of Trabzon to his son, moved to the governorship of Erzurum, and died in March 1801; Hüsameddin too writes that in Zilkade 1215 [March–April 1801], when Battal Pasha was going to Erzurum, Tayyar was governor of Trabzon. Mehmet Bilgin's article states that Tayyar became governor of Trabzon in his father's place and seraskier of Egypt, and that on returning from Egypt he was sent against the mountain bandits in Rumelia; Hüsameddin's record "assigned to the Egyptian war and then sent to Edirne" fits this.

Hüsameddin's saying "like a Russian prince" for Tayyar is an allusion to the years spent in Russia. Tayyar Pasha himself wrote in a quatrain "Tayyar düşüp Moskova esir olmuş idim ben" (I, Tayyar, had fallen and been taken captive in Moscow). According to Yakup Poyraz, Tayyar Pasha was a statesman who, while rebellious in spirit in politics and not getting on with those around him, wrote enough poetry to form a divan; Bursalı Mehmed Tahir describes his poems as "hakîmâne ve rindâne" (sage and free-spirited). Studies have been made on his divan and the 32-couplet Sâkînâme in it; the Tayyar Pasha Mosque in Bafra is also his work. The joining of this circle by the poet Mehmed Nedim Efendi of Amasya, whom he took as his divan clerk, can be considered together with the Pasha's literary interest.

One Third in Place of the Tithe and the Ulema's Resistance

The most striking part of the entry is the resistance shown by the ulema of Amasya against the taking of one third in place of the tithe. That such pressures were not new for the Canikli family is understood from other research as well. According to Canay Şahin's thesis, when Battal Hüseyin was made mütesellim of Amasya by his father in 1774, he applied harsh measures to the ayan and ulema of the kazas of Köprü, Lâdik and Gümüş who opposed the family's administration, having some executed and seizing their property. The people had then too complained to Istanbul through the mufti of Amasya, and in 1775 an adaletname (rescript of justice) was sent in Hacı Ali Pasha's name. Şahin says that as the Caniklis' influence in Amasya grew, so did their oppressions. The strangling of the mufti of Köprü, Kıldırzade Hacı Mustafa Efendi, during the teheccüd prayer is the gravest example of this tendency. The event itself was not found in any source other than Hüsameddin.

Another point of note in the entry is the changing position of Soruklu Hacı Ali Efendi. This scholar, who was regarded as an instigator in the 1794 incident of the tearing of the Nizâm-ı Cedîd register and exiled to Çankırı, opposed Tayyar's one-third practice in 1214 [1799–1800], saying "it is not lawful", and was this time exiled to Samsun. Yet on his return he became the teacher of Hasan Bey, Tayyar's cousin, and with his support was brought to the muftiship. Sabit Genç regards Soruklu's being made mufti in the Canikli period as one of the clues of their opposition to the Nizâm-ı Cedîd. Hüsameddin's detailed account, on the other hand, shows that the same person at one time also stood against Canikli oppression; the attitude of the provincial ulema is too tangled to be explained by a single line.

The name of Kara Müftüzade Mustafa Vâzıh Efendi, who was mufti three times and each time was brought down by the ulema's pressure, appears elsewhere too. According to Recep Orhan Özel's finding, Abdurrahman Kâmil Efendi copied "the Amasya fatwas belonging to Mustafa Vâzıh Efendi" into a notebook; this notebook is registered in the Amasya Municipal Library under number 272. The owner of the fatwas is very probably the mufti of this entry. It is also highly probable that the Payaslı Mehmed Efendi named in the same study is the Payaslı Hacı Mehmed Efendi appointed professor of Tayyar Pasha's madrasa, "the most virtuous of the scholars".

The End of Kutoğlu Hüseyin Pasha and Tayyar's Letter

The end of Kutoğlu Hüseyin Pasha of Amasya, who rose to the janissary ağalık in 1797 and then received the guardianship of Niğbolu and the governorship of Silistre with the rank of vizier, is told in this entry. The governorship of Erzurum was given to him as a trap; the pasha, cornered in the foothills of Akdağ, surrendered in Zilkade 1216 [March 1802] and was beheaded. Hüsameddin states in a footnote that he saw the original of the letter Tayyar Pasha wrote to the Sublime Porte in the old paper archive in Amasya and took its wording exactly. In the letter, Tayyar, while admitting that Kutoğlu had been a veteran of his grandfather Hacı Ali Pasha and that protecting him was a filial duty, says that he killed him to prove his loyalty and asks in return to be left in the governorship of Trabzon. No information on Kutoğlu was found in other sources.

The Death of Gürcü Osman Pasha

The date Hüsameddin gives, 18 Cemaziyelevvel 1218, corresponds to 4 September 1803. The record based on Mehmed Süreyya's Sicill-i Osmânî also writes that Gürcü Osman Pasha became governor of Erzurum in August–September 1803 and died there on 5 September 1803; the two sources agree to within one day. According to Canay Şahin's thesis, Tayyar Pasha was temporarily brought to the governorship of Erzurum in September–October 1803; the aim was to provide him with the revenues necessary to seize Gürcü Osman Pasha, the former governor of Rumelia, who had crossed into Anatolia and rebelled. For the details of the event Hüsameddin refers to the Cevdet Pasha History.

The Madrasa at the Head of the Meydan Bridge

The madrasa that Tayyar Pasha opened stood at the head of the Meydan Bridge, adjoining the Tomb of Ehlî Hatun. The Meydan Bridge is today's İstasyon (Station) Bridge. According to the records of the provincial directorate of culture, the first bridge was built in 1145 by the Seljuk Sultan Mesud I, and the present bridge was built in the 1370s by Şadgeldi Pasha, Emir of Amasya, on its remains. The bridge was damaged in the flood of 1824, repaired in 1828, and its deck widened in 1940. It was called the Meydan Bridge because it falls before the Meydan Gate of the castle. According to Kadir Özköse's study, the Meydan Tekke at the head of the bridge is also called the Ehl-i Hatun Tekke; it was built in 1467 by Ehl-i Hatun, daughter of Divitdâr Ahmed Pasha, son of Şadgeldi Pasha, and her tomb is inside this tekke. According to a local account, around the tomb that Hüsameddin describes as "in front of the zaviye behind the madrasa at the head of the Meydan Bridge", no trace remains today of the madrasa or the zaviye; the tomb consists of a room within a garden. The madrasa that Tayyar Pasha opened with a splendid ceremony has thus also disappeared.

Mikdad Paşazade Hasan Bey

Hasan Bey, who became mütesellim of Amasya at eighteen, is the son of Tayyar's uncle Mikdad Ahmed Pasha. According to Özcan Mert, Selim III had Mikdad Ahmed Pasha executed in 1792 and sent his son Hasan to Seddülbahir. Hasan Bey's attempt, which Hüsameddin relates in 1216 [1801], to seize the properties that his father had acquired by force and that were returned to the waqf after his execution, gains meaning with this background. Hasan Bey's end was like his father's. According to Mert, during Tayyar's rebellion in 1805 his nephew Hasan was captured and executed; according to the documents Şahin relays, Hasan Bey's property in and around Amasya was also identified and sold by Esad Bey, an official appointed by the state.

The Giving of the Sanjak to Çapanoğlu and the Question of Date

The events told in the last part of the entry are placed one year later in research based on archival documents. İsmail Hakkı Uzunçarşılı writes that the decree granting the Amasya iltizam to Çapanoğlu Süleyman Bey is dated Zilkade 1219 [February 1805]. Sabit Genç also relies on a document dated 1 March 1805; in Özcan Mert's entries too the appointment is placed at the beginning of 1805. Hüsameddin, on the other hand, places this decision at 18 Zilhicce 1218 [29 March 1804]. The order of the months agrees with the documents; but the year is one year early. Considering the correctness of the date Hüsameddin gives for Gürcü Osman Pasha's death, the shift must have arisen in the last months of the entry, most probably through the merging of events of the years 1218 and 1219.

The details Uzunçarşılı relays also differ from Hüsameddin's account at some points. According to him, when Tayyar Pasha once came to Istanbul the Amasya mukataa was offered to him, but he did not take it because he found its revenue insufficient. Çapanoğlu's son Mehmed Celâleddin Bey was given the governorship of Sivas with the rank of vizier in the same year; Hüsameddin, however, writes that Sivas was given to Yusuf Pasha of Divriği. In a hatt (imperial handwritten order) written by Selim III to the grand vizier, it is seen that Tayyar had fallen into suspicion, that the sultan did not want conflict in the region, and that he ordered Çapanoğlu not to enroll soldiers from places that would offend Tayyar. This cautious attitude of the sultan confirms Hüsameddin's comment "if the sanjak of Amasya were taken from him, it was very probable that he would invade it by force".

Bibliography

Primary sources

• Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, Remainder (Bakiyye) of vol. 4, p. 680–685. amasya.bel.tr
• "Gürcü Osman Paşa" (record based on Mehmed Süreyya, Sicill-i Osmânî, IV, 1305), Biyografya. https://www.biyografya.com/tr/biographies/gurcu-osman-pasa-85678665
• "Ehli Hatun Türbesi" (quoted from Evliyalar Şehri Amasya). https://amasya-abdulhalim.blogspot.com/2007/12/ehli-hatun-trbesi.html

Academic studies

• Özcan Mert, "Canikli Hacı Ali Paşa Ailesi", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 7, p. 151-154. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/canikli-haci-ali-pasa-ailesi
• Özcan Mert, "Çapanoğulları", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 8. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/capanogullari
• İsmail Hakkı Uzunçarşılı, "Çapanoğulları", Belleten, 38/150, April 1974. https://belleten.gov.tr/tam-metin/1311/tur
• Canay Şahin, The Rise and Fall of an Ayân Family in Eighteenth Century Anatolia: The Caniklizâdes (1737-1808), doctoral thesis, Bilkent University, 2003.
• Mehmet Bilgin, "Canikli-zâde Tayyar Mahmut Paşa ve Dağlı Eşkıyası Üzerine Gönderilmesi", Karadeniz Araştırmaları, 20/77, 2023, p. 123-138. https://doi.org/10.56694/karadearas.1267661
• Sabit Genç, "Nizam-ı Cedid'in Amasya Sancağı'ndaki Yansımaları", Karamanoğlu Mehmetbey Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, 8/2, 2025, p. 335-362. https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/efad/article/1770469
• Kadir Özköse, "Amasya'da Bulunan Halvetiyye Tekkeleri", AKADEMİAR Dergisi, no. 5, December 2018, p. 91-118.

Official sources

• "İstasyon Köprüsü", Kültür Portalı (Amasya Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism). https://www.kulturportali.gov.tr/turkiye/amasya/gezilecekyer/stasyon--meydan-koprusu

Books

• Yakup Poyraz, "Tayyâr, Mahmûd Paşa-yı Samsûnî", Türk Edebiyatı İsimler Sözlüğü, 2014.
• Recep Orhan Özel, "Amasya'da Bir İlim Yuvası: Mecdîzâde Abdurrahman Kâmil Yetkin (ö. 1941) ve Oğulları", AUID, vol. 6, no. 10, June 2018, p. 39-72.