Amasyalı Atabeyzâde Hızır Paşa'nın kölesi Keyvân Ağa'nın oğludur. Bunun için Rüstem Bey'e Amasya'da "Keyvânoğlu" denirdi. Sultân Selîm'e şehzâdeliğinde intisâb ederek mîrlivâ olmuşdu. Vak'a-i sâbıkada şâyân-ı takdîr hizmeti sebk eylediğinden 924 senesi cumadelûlâsında Amasya sancağı beyi oldu. Senevî dört yüz elli bin akçe ma'âş verildi.
Eski muhâsebe defterlerinde görüldüğü üzere Amasya, merkez-i vilâyet iken mîrmîrânın tahsîsâtı beş yüz otuz bin akçe, hâsılât-ı hazînesi de beş yüz elli yedi bin akçe olup on dokuz ze'âmeti, dört yüz yirmi dokuz tımârı vardı.
Amasya merkez-i livâ olunca yalnız ma'âşda ufak bir tenâkus olup hâsılât-ı hazîne ile ze'âmet ve tımâr evvelki hâlinde kalmışdır. Binâ'en-aleyh Amasya, merkez-i livâ oldukda birinci sancak i'tibâr edilmişdir.
Erbâb-ı tımâr, her yerde "sipâhî, süvârî"ler demekdi. Sipâhîlerin zâbit ve kumandânına Amasya'da "kethüdâyeri" denirdi. Bütün livâlarda, merkez-i vilâyetlerde kethüdâyeri, sipâhî kumandânı demekdi. Erbâb-ı ze'âmet, bunlardan yüksekdi. Bunların kumandânına "alaybeyi" denirdi. Tımâr ve ze'âmet, Türkler'e verilirdi.
Amasya'da yeniçeri ocağı da vardı. Yeniçerilik, İslâm edilmiş Hristiyân evlâdından teşkîl edilen bir ocakdı. Bu ocak, ilk [288] def'a Sultân Orhân zamânında 741 senesinde teşkîl edildi. Türklerden ilk yeniçeri ağası Celâleddîn Mehmed Bey bin Gâzi Abdurrahmân Bey oldu. Buna "Ağa Bey" denirdi.
Yeniçerilerin ilk teşekkülünden 829 sâline kadar ağa beyleri Türklerden seçilirdi. Hristiyân evlâdına Türklük ve Müslümânlık rûhu ağa beylerle verilirdi. Bunun için ağa beyliğe gayr-i Türkler'den ta'yîn edilmezdi. Yeniçeri ocağından ancak kul kethüdâlığına kadar terakkî vardı. Kul kethüdâları yararlık gösterdikçe mîrlivâ olurlardı.
Amasya'da iki bölük yeniçeri vardı. Her bölüğün bir alemdârı, bir odabaşısı olurdu. Bunların hepsine kumanda eden zâbite ibtidâ "Zâbit" dendi. Sonra "Serdâr" lakabı verildi. Amasya yeniçeri serdârı, Amasya yeniçerilerinin kumandânı, zâbiti demekdi.
Bunlardan başka Amasya'da dergâh-ı âlî kapıcıları ve çavuşları vardı. Bunlar pâdişâhın yâverleri hükmünde olup o zamânlarda bütün evâmir-i sultâniyyeyi bunlar teblîğ ve infâz ederler, tahsîlâta ve sancakların idâre-i mülkiyyesine bunlar bakarlardı.
Beylerbeyi Şâdî Paşa'nın Amasya'dan Sivas'a kalkdığını işiden Zünnûn Baba yine ümîde düşdü. Varay, Mecidözü, Turhal taraflarında kıyâm ederek köyleri iz'âca başladı. Köylerden şikâyetler yükseldi.
Uzun Rüstem Bey, erkân-ı livâdan Hacı Nevrûz Beyzâde Velî Bey ve sâ'ir zu'amâ ve sipâhîlerden yanına aldığı bir kuvvetle Zünnûn'un oturduğu [289] yerleri basdı. Ağırlıklarını alıp avenesinden hayli kimseleri berdâr etdi. Zünnûn'u sindirdi.
Bu esnâda Yular Kısdı Sinan Paşa, Osmâncık nevâhîsinden Hacı Hamza Kasabası denmekle meşhûr olan yerde ikâmet ve Hacı Hamza Nâhiyesi'ni eşkıyânın ta'arruzâtından muhâfaza etmeğe me'mûr idi. Sinan Paşa orada câmi', imâret, mekteb yapdırmış, kasabayı şenletmişdi.
925 senesi martından i'tibâren Amasya darbhânesi tecdîd edilerek altın akçe darb edilmesi emr olundu. Eşkıyânın ta'kîbâtına şiddetle devâm edildi. Fakat şedîdü'ş-şekîme, nâfizü'l-kelim bir zâtın Amasya'da bulunması zarûreti hâsıl oldu.
Çünkü eşkıyâ, yâhud Sultân Murâd'ın avenesi Amasya'yı pek ziyâde sıkışdırıyordu. Binâ'en-aleyh Hacı Hamza derbendi muhâfazasında büyük himmetleri görülen Sinan Paşa 925 senesi evâ'ilinde Amasya mutasarrıfı ve muhâfızı olarak geldi.
In Modern English
He is the son of Keyvân Ağa, the slave of Atabeyzade Hızır Pasha of Amasya. For this reason Rüstem Bey was called "Keyvânoğlu" at Amasya. He had attached himself to Sultan Selim in his princehood and had become mirliva (sanjak bey). Because he had rendered admirable services in the events that had passed, he became sanjak bey of Amasya in Jumada al-Awwal of the year 924. He was given an annual salary of four hundred and fifty thousand akçe.
As seen in the old accounting registers, when Amasya was a provincial center, the beylerbeyi's allocation was five hundred and thirty thousand akçe and the treasury revenue five hundred and fifty-seven thousand akçe, and it had nineteen zeamets and four hundred and twenty-nine timars.
When Amasya became a sanjak center there was only a small reduction in the salary, and the treasury revenue and the zeamets and timars remained as before. For this reason Amasya, when it became a sanjak center, was counted as the first sanjak.
Holders of timars everywhere meant "sipahi, cavalryman." The officer and commander of the sipahis was called "kethüda yeri" at Amasya. In all sanjaks and provincial centers, kethüda yeri meant the commander of the sipahis. The zeamet holders were higher than these. Their commander was called "alaybeyi." Timars and zeamets were given to Turks.
There was also a Janissary corps at Amasya. The Janissaries were a corps formed from Christian children made Muslim. This corps was first established in the time of Sultan Orhan in 741. The first Janissary ağa from among the Turks was Celâleddin Mehmed Bey (son of Gazi Abdurrahman Bey). He was called "Ağa Bey."
From the first founding of the Janissaries until 829 the ağa beys were chosen from among the Turks. The spirit of Turkishness and Islam was given to the Christian children by the ağa beys. For this reason appointments to the office of ağa bey were not made from non-Turks. In the Janissary corps promotion went only as far as kul kethüdalığı (steward of the slaves). The kul kethüdas became mirliva as they showed merit.
There were two companies of Janissaries at Amasya. Each company had a standard-bearer and a chamber head (oda başı). The officer who commanded all of them was at first called "Zâbit." Later the title "Serdâr" was given. The Janissary serdar of Amasya meant the commander and officer of the Janissaries of Amasya.
Besides these, there were palace gatekeepers and couriers (çavuş) at Amasya. These were counted as the sultan's adjutants; in those times they announced and carried out all the sultan's orders, and they looked after the collection of taxes and the civil administration of the sanjaks.
Zünnûn Baba, hearing that the beylerbeyi Şâdî Pasha had gone from Amasya to Sivas, took hope again. He rose in the Varay, Mecidözü and Turhal areas and began to disturb the villages. Complaints rose from the villages.
Uzun Rüstem Bey, with a force he took from Hacı Nevrûz Beyzade Velî Bey, one of the notables of the sanjak, and the other sipahis holding zeamets and timars, raided the places where Zünnûn lived. He took his baggage and scattered many of his men. He intimidated Zünnûn.
At this time Yularkısdı Sinan Pasha was living at the place famous as "Hacı Hamza Town" near Osmancık and was charged with protecting the Hacı Hamza District from the brigands' attacks. Sinan Pasha had a mosque, an imaret and a school built there and had enlivened the town.
From March of the year 925 it was ordered that the Amasya mint be renewed and gold akçe be struck. The pursuit of the brigands was continued with severity. But the need arose for a stern and influential man to be at Amasya.
For the brigands, that is, Sultan Murad's men, were pressing Amasya hard. For this reason Sinan Pasha, who had shown great zeal in guarding the Hacı Hamza pass, came at the beginning of the year 925 as mutasarrıf and guardian of Amasya.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- mîrlivâ: sanjak bey
- mîrmîrân: beylerbeyi
- tahsîsât: an allocated income, an allowance
- hâsılât-ı hazîne: income assigned to the state treasury
- ze'âmet, tımâr: income assignments given in return for military service; the zeamet is larger, the timar smaller
- erbâb-ı tımâr: timar holders
- kethüdâ yeri: in this text, the commander of the sipahis of the sanjak
- alaybeyi: the commander of the sipahis who hold zeamets
- ocak: the Janissary organization
- alemdâr, odabaşı: the standard-bearer of the company, the head of the barracks room (oda)
- dergâh-ı âlî kapıcıları: palace officials who carried the sultan's orders
- iz'âc: disturbing, causing distress
- berdâr etmek: to scatter, to disperse
- darbhâne: the mint, the place where coins are struck
- nâfizü'l-kelim: one whose word carries weight, whose word is heeded
- derbend: a narrow pass, a guarded pass
Keyvanoğlu Rüstem Bey
In the sources I read on Uzun Rüstem Bey, no other record was found confirming or refuting the information Hüsameddin gives. The text says that his father was the slave of Atabeyzade Hızır Pasha of Amasya; in Hüsameddin's other volumes Sinan Pasha too is mentioned as one of the slaves raised by Hızır Pasha.
The Change in Amasya's Position
The figures Hüsameddin gives show Amasya's financial importance in the period when it was a provincial center: the beylerbeyi's allocation 530 thousand, the treasury revenue 557 thousand akçe, nineteen zeamets and four hundred and twenty-nine timars. He says that when it became a sanjak center only the salary decreased somewhat. The move of the center of the province of Rum from Amasya to Sivas is narrated in one study as follows: according to a register of 1513 the "pasha's sanjak" of the province is Amasya, while in the summary accounts register of 1520 it is Sivas. Another source states that the center was Sivas from 1526. This difference can also be read as the transition having taken place not at once but over several years.
According to the encyclopedia entry describing the classification of the timar system, revenues are functionally divided into three categories: has, zeamet and timar. The entry writes that the hases and zeamets belonging to officials such as sanjak beys and alay beys fall into the "free" (serbest) class regarded as privileged. Hüsameddin's remark that "the alaybeyi is the commander of the zeamet holders" is consistent with this general framework. But the text's sentence "timars and zeamets were given to Turks" should not be read as a general rule; the source I read does not confirm it.
On the Janissary Corps: Hüsameddin and Present-Day Knowledge
Hüsameddin writes that the corps was founded in the time of Orhan in 741 and that the first Turkish ağa bey was Celâleddin Mehmed Bey. The present-day encyclopedia entry, however, notes that it is not possible to give an exact date for the founding and that the founding took place within a certain process. That more soldiers were needed as a result of the conquests in the time of Orhan Bey (1324-1362) and that prisoners of war were made use of is a generally accepted view. The same entry writes that two Janissaries are named in a document of 1385, and that this points to the corps' existence at that date. Thus 741 should not be read as a single, definite date.
Hüsameddin writes that the ağa beys were chosen from among the Turks until 829. The entry I read gives no information confirming this claim; among the corps officers other than the ağa the entry lists ranks such as "kethüdâ yeri ağa," "bölükbaşı" and "kul kethüdâsı." Hüsameddin, however, uses the term "kethüdâ yeri" at Amasya for the commander of the sipahis; because the same term also appears in the upper ranks of the Janissary corps, the reader should take care not to confuse them. The text's information on the number and organization of the Janissaries at Amasya rests only on Hüsameddin.
Zünnûn Baba
The Zünnûn Baba of the text appears in the sources as a Kızılbaş baba of the Bozok region. The Baba Zünnûn rising is mentioned in 1526, during Süleyman's Hungarian campaign; it is written that he rose at Bozok in August 1526 and defeated the forces sent against him, that on 26 September 1526 at a place called Hunbeli he was routed by the forces of Pîrî Bey, sanjak bey of Adana, and Hüseyin Pasha, beylerbeyi of Sivas, and that he was killed on the battlefield. Hüsameddin, by contrast, mentions Zünnûn from 921 on, and also after Şâdî Pasha's move to Sivas, around Varay, Mecidözü and Turhal. The sources I read do not resolve this difference in chronology between the two accounts; it is possible that Zünnûn had more than one movement, or that Hüsameddin brought the events closer together.
Yularkısdı Sinan Pasha and Hacı Hamza
According to Hüsameddin's biography in another volume, Sinan Pasha was raised from the slavery of Hızır Pasha, trained in the palace of Bayezid II, took his place in Prince Ahmed's retinue at Amasya, and on the return from Çaldıran (920) applied to Selim and, pardoned, was charged with living inside the Hacı Hamza Fortress as guardian of the Hacı Hamza Pass. The same record writes that he came in 925 as guardian of Amasya and sanjak mutasarrıf and that in 927 he died in a brigand ambush near Mecidözü. This agrees exactly with the information in this entry.
Bibliography
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