AMASYA 05

Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar · İKİNCİ BÂB · BİRİNCİ FASIL

Ahmed Çelebi — Re'isü'l-Küttâb

Encyclopedia · History of Amasya, Volume 6, p. 121–122 • Edited by: Doç. Dr. Recep Orhan ÖZEL - Doç. Dr. Metin HAKVERDİOĞLU

Original Text (Ottoman Turkish)

Merzifonludur. Kendi imzâsından anlaşıldığı üzere Ahi Toy bin Ahmed el-Merzifonî mahdûmudur. Nesih ve ta’lîk yazılarında mâhir, ulûm u ma’ârifden behredâr olduğu münâsebetle Sultân Murâd-ı Sânî devrinde [380] kâtib-i dîvân-ı hümâyûn oldu.

855’de Sultân Fâtih Mehmed Hân’ın cülûsunda mevki’ini muhâfaza etdi. 856’da İstanbul’un fethinden sonra dîvân teşkîlâtı daha muntazam ve muhteşem bir hâle ifrağ edildiğinden 858’de Bosnalı Mahmûd Paşa’nın sadâretinde dîvân-ı hümâyûnda re’isü’l-küttâb oldu. Nişâncıların mâdûnunda ahz-ı mevki’ etdi.

Devr-i Murâd-ı Hânî’de imzâsı “Ahmed bin Âhi Toy el-Merzifonî” ve 851’de yazdığı bir kitâbın sonunda “Ahmed bin Âhi Toy el-kâtibü’s-Sultânî” imzâsı görüldü. Kezalik Sultân Fâtih devrinde pâdişâh-ı müşarün ileyhe hayli kitaplar yazdı. İmzâsı ba’zılarında “Ahmed bin Âhi Toy el-kâtib es-Sultânî ve ba’zılarında Ahmed bin Âhi Toy el-Merzifonî re’isü’l-küttâb es-Sultânî” görüldü.

Yazdığı kitapların ekserîsi Sultân Fâtih Kütübhânesinde mahfûz olup 866 târîhine kadar ber-hayât olduğu anlaşıldı. Ba’dehû vefât etdi. Hatt-ı ta’lîki pek güzel ve latîfdir. Âlim, hattât, kâtib [381] idi. Buna “Şemseddîn Ahmed el-Kâtib” denirdi. Mahdûmu Bedreddîn Mahmûd Çelebi’dir. Bunun evlâdına “Bedreddîn oğulları” dendi. Merzifon’da pek meşhûr idiler.

Our Research Article Editor: Mevlüt Erdem Öztürk

In Modern English

He was from Merzifon. As understood from his own signature, he was the son of Ahi Toy bin Ahmed el-Merzifonî. Since he was a master of the naskh and ta'lik scripts and had his share of the sciences and learning, he became a scribe of the Imperial Council in the time of Sultan Murad II.

He kept his place at the accession of Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror in 855 [1451]. Since after the conquest of Istanbul in 856 the organisation of the Divan was made more orderly and more splendid, in 858 [1454], during the grand vizierate of Mahmud Pasha of Bosnia, he became reisülküttap in the Imperial Council. He took a rank below the nişancıs.

In the time of Sultan Murad his signature was seen as "Ahmed bin Âhi Toy el-Merzifonî", and at the end of a book he wrote in 851 [1447-48] as "Ahmed bin Âhi Toy el-kâtibü's-Sultânî" (Ahmed son of Ahi Toy, scribe of the sultan). In the time of Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror too he wrote many books for the said sultan. His signature was seen on some of these as "Ahmed bin Âhi Toy el-kâtib es-Sultânî", and on others as "Ahmed bin Âhi Toy el-Merzifonî reisü'l-küttâb es-Sultânî" (Ahmed son of Ahi Toy of Merzifon, reisülküttap of the sultan).

Most of the books he wrote are preserved in the Sultan Fatih Library, and it has been understood that he was alive until 866 [1461-62]. He died after this. His ta'lik hand is very beautiful and elegant. He was a scholar, calligrapher and scribe. He was called "Şemseddîn Ahmed el-Kâtib". His son is Bedreddîn Mahmud Çelebi. His line was called the "Bedreddin sons" and they were very well known in Merzifon.

Notes and Research

Old Words in the Text

  • nesih ve ta'lîk: two types of script; naskh is a book hand, ta'lik a slanting, flowing script of Iranian origin
  • ulûm u ma'ârif: the sciences and learning
  • behredâr: having had one's share, having benefited
  • kâtib-i dîvân-ı hümâyûn: a scribe handling the writing affairs of the Divan, the state's highest council
  • ifrağ edilmek: being cast into a form, being brought to a form
  • sadâret: grand vizierate
  • re'isü'l-küttâb: reisülküttap; head of the Divan scribes
  • mâdûn: lower, of a lower rank
  • ahz-ı mevki': taking a place, acquiring a position
  • kezâlik: likewise, in the same way
  • mahfûz: preserved, kept
  • ber-hayât: alive, living
  • hatt-ı ta'lîk: the ta'lik hand

The Beginning of the Reisülküttapship

The most striking aspect of the article is its saying that Ahmed Çelebi became reisülküttap in 858 and used this title in his signatures. The reisülküttap was the head of the scribes who carried on the correspondence of the Imperial Council other than financial matters, and worked under the nişancı; Hüsameddin's "he took a rank below the nişancıs" suits this hierarchy. But when this office appeared in the Ottoman state is disputed. According to Recep Ahıskalı, the earliest information about the institution is in Mehmed the Conqueror's Teşkilat Kanunnamesi; but because of doubts about the dating of this text, some researchers have suggested that the sections concerning the reisülküttapship were added later, while records showing the institution clearly at work can be seen only in the sixteenth century, in the time of Yavuz Sultan Selim. Even in these records the reisülküttap's name is not given.

In this picture, if manuscripts bearing the signature "reisü'l-küttâb es-Sultânî" really exist from the time of the Conqueror, they would be a very early document, attachable to one person, showing that the reisülküttapship existed in the Conqueror's time. Since Hüsameddin does not give the location and number of these copies, it was not possible to verify the signatures; it is clear that the subject is worth a separate study on the manuscripts of the Fatih Library. The Fatih Library that Hüsameddin mentions was founded in the madrasas when the sultan's complex was completed in Rajab 875 [December 1470], was later gathered in the mosque, and in the time of Mahmud I was moved to a separate building. The collection was transferred in 1956 to the Süleymaniye Library and is preserved there today.

Roughness in the Dates

The phrase in the article "after the conquest of Istanbul in 856" must be corrected: Istanbul was conquered in May 1453, that is, in the year 857, and in other articles in this volume Hüsameddin correctly places the conquest in 857. The information that Mahmud Pasha became grand vizier in 858 also does not fully agree with present-day research. According to Şehabeddin Tekindağ, Mahmud Pasha probably became vizier in 858 (1454) after the dismissal of Zağanos Pasha, and in 860 (1456) took over the beylerbeyiship of Rumeli too, in place of Dayı Karaca Bey, who died at the siege of Belgrade, and at this time became grand vizier. The pasha's origin is also disputed in the sources: some accounts tie him to Serbia, others to Greek or Bulgarian origin; the epithet "of Bosnia" that Hüsameddin uses does not appear among these accounts. Mahmud Pasha is known as the greatest patron of men of learning and art and many works were written in his name; that a scribe-calligrapher like Ahmed Çelebi rose during his grand vizierate agrees with this circle.

Ahi Toy and Merzifon

The title "Ahi" in his father's name suggests the family's tie to the Ahi order. According to Ziya Kazıcı, in the craft guilds the most honest and respected master of the craftsmen became head of the organisation, was called "ahi", and carried an influence like a sheikh's over the members of the craft; Ahi Toy may also have been such a guild leader in Merzifon. Merzifon is a town that, from the time of Çelebi Sultan Mehmed, produced scholars, jurists, Sufis, kadıs and muftis; Ahmed Çelebi is a man of Merzifon who rose from this milieu to the upper ranks of the palace bureaucracy. Nevertheless, in the sources we could reach no information was found on Ahmed bin Ahi Toy or on a Merzifon family called the "Bedreddin sons".

Bibliography

Primary sources

  • Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 121–122. amasya.bel.tr

Academic studies

Volume 6 contents

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