Books Donated by Hasan Agha, the Janissary Agha, to the Frontier Fortresses

Abstract

In the Ottoman state organization, members of the dynasty and high-ranking officers established foundations for the benefit of the people without expecting any material return. These foundations were mostly in the form of buildings such as mosques, madrasahs, zawiyahs and fountains. Some others chose to endow “books” for charity, one of them was Hasan Agha, who served as Janissary Agha between 1723-1730. Moreover, Hasan Agha, who was trained in the Janissary Corps, started donating books while he was the Turnacıbashı. As stated in the endowment deed, Turnacıbashı Hasan Agha placed these books in his masjid in Belgrade Castle for those who aspired to knowledge. In the inscription he left in each donated book, he stipulated that after use, the books must be returned to the hâfız-ı kütüp (library official) and must not be taken as pledge, sold, embezzled, or removed from Belgrade. When Belgrade was captured, he did not abandon the books to their fate, but relocated them to the more secure fortresses in Niš and Vidin and endowed them there. Afterwards, he continued to donate new artefacts to his collection in Vidin. During this period, when he was promoted to the rank of janissary agha and his responsibility for the Janissary Corps increased considerably, he did not neglect his collection, and gradually expanded the number of endowed books in Vidin over time. However, with the change in the political situation of the Ottoman Empire in Bulgaria in the XIXth century, Hasan Agha’s endowed books, like most of the books in Vidin, were first moved to Sofia. In 1888, they were brought to Istanbul and placed under the protection of Beyazıt Library.