Amasya musikişinaslarından Baba Tanburî demekle meşhûr Mehmed Çelebi bin İlyas bin Hamza oğludur. Hattât-ı meşhûr Ebü’l-fazl Mehmed Efendi’den hutût-ı mütenevvi’ayı ahz u temeşşuk ve ulemâdan tahsîl-i ilm ü marifet etdi.
Şâkirdâna ta’lîm-i hat ederek hayli müddet Sultân Bâyezîd evkâfının kâtibi oldu. 945’de Amasya vâlisi olan Şehzâde Sultân Mustafa’ya Divân kâtibi ve ba’dehû musâhibi olduğu halde 958’de vefât etdi. İlm ü marifetden behre-dâr, latife-gû, mizac-gîr, “Yeşil Çelebi” demekle meşhûr bir hattat idi. Biraderi İlyas Çelebi evladından İmam-i Sultâni Evliya Mehmed Efendi’dir. Evlâdına “Yeşil oğulları” dendi. Yeşilzâde Mehmed Çelebi de maruftur.
In Modern English
He was the son of Mehmed Çelebi, son of İlyas, son of Hamza, one of the musicians of Amasya, known as "Baba Tanburî." He learned various scripts from the famous calligrapher Ebü'l-Fazl Mehmed Efendi by taking and practising them (meşk); he also acquired learning and knowledge from scholars.
Teaching writing to students, he was for a long time secretary of the waqfs of Sultan Bâyezîd. He was divan secretary, and later musâhib (conversation companion), of Prince Sultan Mustafa, who became governor of Amasya in 945 [1538-39], and died in 958 [1551]. He was a calligrapher blessed with learning and knowledge, witty, understanding people's hearts, known as "Yeşil Çelebi." From the offspring of his brother İlyas Çelebi came Evliya Mehmed Efendi, imam of the sultan. His descendants were called "Yeşiloğulları." Yeşilzâde Mehmed Çelebi is also a well-known figure.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- mûsikî-şinâs: one who knows music, a musician
- hutût-ı mütenevvi'a: various scripts (sülüs, nesih, talik, etc.)
- ahz u temeşşuk: learning by taking and practising (meşk)
- şâkirdân: students
- ta'lîm-i hat: teaching fine writing
- musâhib: conversation companion of a ruler or prince
- behre-dâr: blessed, having a share
- latîfe-gû: joker, one who speaks wittily
- mizac-gîr: one who knows the temper of the person before him and acts accordingly
Baba Tanburî and Music in Amasya
Ahmed Çelebi's father, "Baba Tanburî" Mehmed Çelebi, appears elsewhere in Hüsameddin's book as well. In the biography of Edâyî Receb Bey it is written that in Amasya he learned writing and literature from Topal Hattatzâde Fazlullah Fazlî Çelebi, and ilm-i edvâr, that is, music theory, from "Tanbûrî Mehmed Çelebi, son of İlyas, known as Baba Çelebi." Accordingly, Baba Tanburî was a teacher who taught music theory in the city. Amasya had a strong musical circle earlier too: the music theorist Lâdikli Mehmed Çelebi had been in the circle of Prince Bâyezîd during his governorship of Amasya and went to Istanbul when the prince came to the throne. No information on Baba Tanburî was found in other sources.
In Prince Mustafa's Divan
Hüsameddin says Prince Mustafa became governor of Amasya in 945. Present-day sources, however, record that the prince left Manisa and was sent to Amasya on 21 Safar 948 [16 June 1541]. Ahmed Çelebi's passing to the prince's divan secretaryship can therefore at the earliest be placed in 948. A study of the prince's retinue in Amasya notes that in 1548 the divan secretary was Fazlî Çelebi. Hüsameddin's presenting Ahmed Çelebi first as divan secretary and then as musâhib suggests that the two offices were held in different years; but no document confirming this could be seen. Prince Mustafa himself was a calligrapher; the work called Süleymânnâme that he wrote in nesih script is preserved today in Vienna. That a calligrapher like Ahmed Çelebi entered his close circle is in this respect an understandable situation.
His Teacher Ebü'l-Fazl Mehmed Efendi
Who Ebü'l-Fazl Mehmed Efendi, whom Hüsameddin calls "hattât-ı meşhûr" (famous calligrapher), was is not clear. The best-known person bearing the same name is Ebülfazl Mehmed Efendi (died 982 / 1574), son of İdrîs-i Bitlisî and chief treasurer of Anatolia; but the sources on him say he was a poet and man of letters and do not mention calligraphy. For this reason it cannot be said that the two are the same.
Bibliography
Primary sources
Academic studies
- Recep Uslu, "Mehmed Çelebi, Lâdikli", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 28, Ankara 2003, p. 449. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/mehmed-celebi-ladikli
- Şerafettin Turan, "Mustafa Çelebi", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 31, Ankara 2020, p. 290-292. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/mustafa-celebi
- Semra Güler, Şehzade Mustafa'nın Hayatı (1515-1553) ve Türbesi, master's thesis, Uludağ University Institute of Social Sciences, Bursa 2011.
- Abdülkadir Özcan, "Ebülfazl Mehmed Efendi", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 10, Istanbul 1994, p. 356-357. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/ebulfazl-mehmed-efendi