Amasya meşâyîh-i kirâmından Mûsâ Çelebi mahdûmu olup “Şeyhoğlu” demekle meşhûrdur. Amasya’da tahsîl-i ulûm [356] etdikden sonra Mısır ve Şam’a gidip oralarda ikmâl-i tahsîl etdi. Avdetde Amasya’da tedrîs-i ulûm ederek iştihâr edib Hânkâh-ı Mes’ûdî Şeyhi oldu.
Gâyet zî-nüfûz olup Hacı Kutluşâhzâde el-Hâc Şâdgeldi Pâdişâh’ın Amasya emâretine nasb u avdeti husûsunda himmetler eyledi. Emîr-i müşârün-ileyhin şeyhi ve mu’temedi olduğu hâlde 771 senesi hilâlinde vefât eyledi. Fâzıl, ulûm-ı edebiyye ve şer’iyyede kâmil, Arap ve Acem lisânlarıyla mütekellim, ilm-i tasavvufa pek vâkıf, tarîkat-ı Babaiyyeden münîb bir zât idi.
In Modern English
He is the son of Mûsâ Çelebi, one of the worthy sheikhs of Amasya; he is known as "Şeyhoğlu." After studying in Amasya he went to Egypt and Damascus and completed his studies there. On his return he gained fame by teaching in Amasya and became sheikh of the Hânkâh-ı Mes'ûdî.
He was a person of great influence; he made efforts for the appointment of el-Hâc Şâdgeldi Padişah, son of Hacı Kutluşâh, to the emirate of Amasya and for his return to the emirate. Although he was the said emir's sheikh and trusted person, he died in the course of 771 [1369-70]. He was a virtuous man, mature in the literary and religious sciences, who spoke Arabic and Persian, knew the science of Sufism very well, belonged to the Babaî order, and was turned toward God.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- meşâyih-i kirâm: worthy sheikhs
- ikmâl-i tahsîl: completing one's studies
- avdet: return
- tedrîs-i ulûm: teaching the sciences, giving lectures
- iştihâr etmek: to gain fame
- hânkâh: a large lodge housing dervishes
- zî-nüfûz: influential, whose word carries weight
- nasb: appointment to a post
- himmet: effort, help
- mu'temed: a trusted person
- hilâlinde: in the course of, during
- ulûm-ı edebiyye ve şer'iyye: the sciences of language and literature and the religious sciences
- mütekellim: one who speaks
- münîb: turned toward God, repentant
The Hânkâh-ı Mes'ûdî
The Hânkâh-ı Mes'ûdî, which Şeyhoğlu Ahmed Çelebi headed, dates from the Seljuk period and is one of the oldest and most influential Sufi centers of Amasya. According to Recep Uslu it was built for the Khorasan saints in the time of Sultan Mesud (reigned 510/1116 - d. 550/1155); Hüsameddin, on the other hand, places the construction date around 540 [1145] and writes that the hankah was in the Kübceğiz district, above the tombs of Halifet Gazi and Torumtay, and that although it was in ruins in his time, its foundation walls were still in place.
The history of the hankah is intertwined with Baba İlyâs-ı Horasânî. According to Hüsameddin's account, Baba İlyâs, who came to Anatolia before the Mongol invasion, made Amasya his home and became sheikh of the Mes'ûdiye Tekke. After the suppression of the Babaî revolt the tekke was destroyed and was rebuilt in 644 [1246]. According to Uslu, the hankah, closed after the Babaî revolt, was reopened in the 1300s and its management was given to Âşık Paşa, a grandson of Baba İlyâs. In 713 [1313-14] the Rifâî sheikh Seyyid Ahmed-i Kebîr, who lies in Lâdik, also settled here and married Âşık Paşa's daughter.
Ahmed Çelebi's being called "of the Babaî order" gains meaning in this context. In Hüsameddin's accounts the sheikhdom of the hankah appears from the thirteenth century on mostly in the hands of the deputies and descendants of Baba İlyâs; the Babaî tradition lived on in Amasya under this roof. The qualities Hüsameddin attributes to him, namely an education completed in Egypt and Damascus, command of Arabic and Persian, and depth in the religious and language sciences, show that in the middle of the fourteenth century this tradition was also nourished by a bookish education.
His Relationship with Hacı Şadgeldi
The political role Hüsameddin attributes to Şeyhoğlu concerns Hacı Şadgeldi's first coming to the emirate of Amasya and his later return. According to present-day research, Hacı Kutluşâh made his second son Şadgeldi emir of Amasya in August-September 1359; after Kutluşâh's death, because most of the army was away, Şadgeldi was removed from Amasya in 1361 and retook the city a few months later. The "appointment and return" Hüsameddin mentions correspond to these two events.
No information on Şeyhoğlu Ahmed Çelebi himself was found in other sources. A point that should draw the reader's attention is the entry "Ahmed Çelebi-Mevlânâ Şemseddîn," which came earlier in this section: the person in that entry is also an Ahmed Çelebi with the epithet Şemseddîn, whose father is an Amasya sheikh named Mûsâ Çelebi, and he is called "Şeyh Sarâcoğlu"; his death is placed after 741. Hüsameddin wrote the two persons separately; the relationship between them cannot be determined with the sources at hand.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 114–114. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
- Recep Uslu, "Amasya Âşık Paşa Hankahında 1317 Yılı Mevlevî Ayininin Perde Arkası", 1/1, October 2023. https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/3330658
- Metin Hakverdioğlu, "Hüseyin Hüsameddin Yasar'ın Amasya Tarihi'nde Elvan Çelebi ve Soyu", Uluslararası Horasan'dan Anadolu'ya İrfan Geleneği: Elvan Çelebi Sempozyumu, 2020. https://molekuleredebiyat.com/?p=740
- Aliye Uzunlar, "Rifâîliğin Anadolu'daki Tarihine Bir Katkı: 'Ahmed-i Kebîr er-Rifâî' 'Ahmed-i Kûçek' mi?", Amasya İlahiyat Dergisi, 14, 2020, p. 353-373. https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/amailad/issue/54130/647374
Other sources