AMASYA 05

Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar · İKİNCİ BÂB · BİRİNCİ FASIL

Ahmed Çelebi — Mevlânâ Şemseddîn

Encyclopedia · History of Amasya, Volume 6, p. 115 • Edited by: Doç. Dr. Recep Orhan ÖZEL - Doç. Dr. Metin HAKVERDİOĞLU

Original Text (Ottoman Turkish)

Amasya ulemâsından Mevlânâ Bedreddîn Doğan bin Abdullah’ın mahdûmudur. “Hâfız Doğan” oğlu demekle meşhûr olup pederi Amasya Emîr-i kebiri Şâdî Bey’in utekâsından idi. Amasya ulemâsından ve hâssaten Mevlânâ Fahreddîn İlyâs bin Aksarâyî’den tahsîl-i ulûm ederek mücâz ve müderris olup 793’de vefât etdiği zann olunur. Kibâr-ı ulemâdan olup mahdûmu [358] el-Hâc Mehmed Çelebi ve birâderi de ulemâdan Mevlânâ Emîneddîn Mehmed Çelebi’dir.

Our Research Article Editor: Mevlüt Erdem Öztürk

In Modern English

He is the son of Mevlânâ Bedreddîn Doğan bin Abdullah, one of the scholars of Amasya. He is known as "son of Hâfız Doğan"; his father was among the freedmen of Şâdî Bey, the great emir of Amasya. He learned from the scholars of Amasya, especially from Mevlânâ Fahreddîn İlyâs bin Aksarâyî, received his icazet, and became a madrasa professor. He is thought to have died in 793 [1390-91]. He was one of the great scholars. His son is el-Hâc Mehmed Çelebi, and his brother is the scholar Mevlânâ Emîneddîn Mehmed Çelebi.

Notes and Research

Old Words in the Text

  • utekâ: freedmen, people who were freed from slavery (singular "atîk")
  • hâssaten: especially
  • tahsîl-i ulûm: study of the sciences
  • mücâz: one who has received an icazet, that is, permission to teach, from his teacher
  • müderris: madrasa professor
  • kibâr-ı ulemâ: great scholars

A Scholar as the Son of a Freedman

The striking aspect of the entry is that Ahmed Çelebi's father was a freedman of an emir. The titles "Hâfız" and "Mevlânâ" of Bedreddîn Doğan show that he himself was also of the learned. Thus a family picture emerges in which a freedman and his two sons entered the ranks of the scholars of Amasya. Hüsameddin kept this information short; no information on other members of the family was found in other sources.

"Şâdî Bey, the great emir of Amasya," mentioned as his father's master, is most probably the Şâdî Bey who appears in the Ahmed Şâh entry of this section and is the son of Burak Bey, a grandson of Hacı Kutluşâh. Hüsameddin calls him "among the very well-known emirs" and writes that his sons have charitable works and waqfs in Amasya.

His Teacher Fahreddîn İlyâs

Ahmed Çelebi's teacher Mevlânâ Fahreddîn İlyâs is one of the leading professors of fourteenth-century Amasya. Present-day research notes that Hacı Şadgeldi too took lessons in Amasya from Mevlânâ Fahreddin İlyas and was a classmate of Aksarâyî. Thus Ahmed Çelebi comes from a circle of learning in which the emir of Amasya was also educated.

The expression "Fahreddîn İlyâs bin Aksarâyî" in the text is somewhat confusing. The real name of the famous scholar of the same period, Cemâleddin Aksarâyî, is Mehmed; he lived in Aksaray in the time of Murad I and was a professor at the Zincirli Madrasa. In the last volumes of Hüsameddin's book the expression "Aksarayîzâde Mevlânâ Fahreddîn İlyâs Amâsî, one of the virtuous men of Amasya" also appears. In that case the record "bin Aksarâyî" may mean that Fahreddîn İlyâs was the son of a family called Aksarâyî. With the sources at hand the exact form of this relationship cannot be determined.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Academic studies

Volume 6 contents