AMASYA 05

Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar · İKİNCİ BÂB · BİRİNCİ FASIL

Âhi İbrâhim Efendi — Yeniçerizâde

Encyclopedia · History of Amasya, Volume 6, p. 25 • Edited by: Doç. Dr. Recep Orhan ÖZEL - Doç. Dr. Metin HAKVERDİOĞLU

Original Text (Ottoman Turkish)

Amasyalıdır. Yeniçerilerden Hasan Ağa’nın oğludur. İlm ü kitâbet tahsîl ederek iştihâr etdi. Sonra Amasya’da beytül-mâl kâtibi, cizye tahsîldârı olup ibrâz-ı istikâmet eylediğinden Amasya beytül-mâl-i âmme ve hâssa emîni, ba’dehû dîvân kâtibi olduğu halde 1026 hudûdunda vefât etdi. [48] Kâtib, şâir, natûk bir zât idi. Kelâmî, Âzerî, Turâbî gibi şu’arâ ve fuzalâ ile müsâhabât ve müşâ’arâtı vardır. Hattât olup hatt-ı nesihde mâhirdi. Riyâzî Efendi Tezkiresi’nde 1008’de vefâtı kaydedilen Kapıcızâde Âhî Ahmed Efendi ve bin hudûdunda vefât eden Edirneli Âhî Çelebi de şu’arâdandır. Eşbâh ü Nezâ’ir-i Edebiyye’de Âhî’ye nisbet edilen hayli eş’âre tesâdüf edilse de hangisine âid olduğu kestirilemediğinden nakledemedim.

Our Research Article Editor: Mevlüt Erdem Öztürk

In Modern English

He was a native of Amasya. He was the son of Hasan Ağa, one of the janissaries. He became known by learning scholarship and the art of the scribe. Later he became the treasury (beytülmal) clerk and the collector of the poll tax (cizye) in Amasya, and since he showed honesty, he became the steward of the general and special treasury properties of Amasya, and later divan scribe; in that position he died around 1026 [1617]. He was a scribe, a poet and an eloquent man. He had conversations and poetic contests with poets and scholars such as Kelâmî, Âzerî and Turâbî. He was a calligrapher; he was a master of the nesih script. Kapıcızâde Âhî Ahmed Efendi, whose death in 1008 [1599-1600] is recorded in Riyâzî Efendi's Tezkire, and Âhî Çelebi of Edirne, who died around one thousand [1591-92], are also among the poets. Although a good deal of poetry attributed to Âhî is found in the work "Eşbâh ü Nezâ'ir-i Edebiyye," I could not quote any, because it cannot be told which belongs to whom.

Notes and Research

Old Words in the Text

  • beytülmal: the state treasury; the institution in which the property of those without owners and inheritance revenues were collected
  • cizye: the tax collected from non-Muslim subjects
  • emîn: the responsible official at the head of a property or an item of revenue
  • beytülmal-i âmme ve hâssa: general and special (treasury-owned) properties
  • divan kâtibi: the scribe of the kadı's court and the administrative divan
  • natûk: talkative, strong in oratory
  • müsâhaba: conversation, müşâ'ara: poets answering one another in verse
  • hatt-ı nesih: the legible script used in writing the Qur'an and books
  • şu'arâ ve fuzalâ: poets and scholars

Poets with the Same Pen Name

Yeniçerizâde İbrahim Efendi is one of many poets who used the pen name Âhî, and Hüsameddin himself points out this confusion. Because it is not clear which of the poems attributed to Âhî in the Eşbâh ü Nezâir-i Edebiyye belongs to whom, the entry has no sample poem. In the same entry Hüsameddin also mentions Kapıcızâde Âhî Ahmed Efendi and Âhî Çelebi of Edirne, showing the extent of the confusion.

Of the contemporaries mentioned, Âzerî is most likely İbrâhim Çelebi, who combined judgeship with poetry, was a mülâzım (candidate) of Ebüssuûd Efendi and died in 993 [1585]; in the sources he appears under the pen name Âzerî or the name Muallimzâde. Whether Hüsameddin means the same person by "Âzerî" is not clear from the text. No detail was found in this research on Kelâmî and Turâbî.

When his posts are lined up, İbrahim Efendi's rise gives an example of provincial scribal careers: treasury clerk, poll-tax collector, treasury steward, divan scribe. This sequence shows how a scribe who earned trust in financial matters could become one of the city's leading officials. The year of his death, 1026, is given "in the vicinity" (hudûdunda), that is, approximately; it is not an exact date.

No detailed information on the life of Yeniçerizâde İbrahim Efendi was found in other sources.

Bibliography

Primary sources

  • Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 25–25. amasya.bel.tr
  • "Amasya Tarihindeki Şairler ve Merzifonlu İbrahim Cûdî Efendi'nin Bilinmeyen Bir Şiiri", Academia. https://www.academia.edu/63466698/

Academic studies

Volume 6 contents