Amasya a’yânından Abdulmuhsin Çelebi bin Mehmed Çelebi bin Ahi Sâbıkuddîn Ebûbekir mahdûmudur. Ceddînin zâviyesi vakfına mütevellî olup 850 sâline doğru vefât etdi. Meşâhîr-i a’yândan idi. Mahdûmları Osmân, Ali Çelebiler ve birâderi Hüseyin Çelebi’dir. Ahmed bin Abdulmuhsin es-Sâbıkî diye imzâsı görüldü. Hüseyin Çelebizâde Sa’dî Çelebi meşâhîr-i ulemâ ve şu’arâdandır.
Osmân Çelebi de meşâhîr-i ulemâdan olup mahdûmu eş-Şeyh Kemâleddîn Ahmed el-Halvetî’dir. Bunun ahfâdından Emîn Mehmed Paşa bin Mahmûd Çelebi Halep vâlisi iken 1020’de vefât etdi. Defterdâr iken imzâsında es-Sâbıkî ta’bîri görüldü.
In Modern English
He was the son of Abdülmuhsin Çelebi, one of the notables of Amasya; Abdülmuhsin Çelebi was the son of Mehmed Çelebi, and Mehmed Çelebi the son of Ahi Sâbıkuddîn Ebûbekir. He became mütevelli of the waqf of his grandfather's zaviye and died around 850 [1446-47]. He was one of the well-known notables of the city. His sons were Osman and Ali Çelebis, and his brother Hüseyin Çelebi. A signature of his, made in the form "Ahmed bin Abdülmuhsin es-Sâbıkî", has been seen. Sa'dî Çelebi, son of his brother Hüseyin Çelebi, was one of the well-known scholars and poets.
His son Osman Çelebi was also one of the well-known scholars; Osman's son is Sheikh Kemâleddîn Ahmed el-Halvetî. Among the grandchildren of this Kemâleddîn Ahmed, Emîn Mehmed Pasha, son of Mahmud Çelebi, died in 1020 [1611-12] while governor of Aleppo. The nisba "es-Sâbıkî" has also been seen in the signature he made during his time as defterdar.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- a'yân: the notables, leading men of a city
- mahdûm: son
- ceddi: his grandfather, ancestor
- mütevellî: the official who manages a waqf and spends its income according to its conditions
- sâl: year
- meşâhîr-i a'yân: the well-known among the notables
- birâder: brother
- ulemâ ve şu'arâ: scholars and poets
- ahfâd: grandchildren, descendants
- ta'bîr: expression, phrase; here the nisba in the signature
Four Generations of an Ahi Family
The article gives an account of a family more than of Ahmed Çelebi himself. At the head of the family stands an Ahi sheikh named Ahi Sâbıkuddîn Ebûbekir, who had founded a zaviye in his own name. Ahmed Çelebi managed this zaviye's waqf, and later generations of the family used the nisba "es-Sâbıkî", that is, a family name meaning "of the line of Sâbıkuddîn", in their signatures for more than a century and a half. It is important that Hüsameddin says he drew this genealogy from signatures: since there were no surnames in the Ottoman world, nisbas of this kind are often the most reliable way of tracing a family in old records.
Among the old quarter names of Amasya there is also a "Sâbıkuddin Quarter". According to a study of the Halvetiyye tekkes, the Meydan Tekke at the head of the Meydan Bridge (İstasyon Bridge) stood in "the quarter formerly named Sâbıkuddin and now Kurşunlu". It is very probable that the quarter took its name from the Ahi sheikh of the article or from his zaviye; but no record explicitly linking them was found in the sources read. If this possibility is correct, the former name of today's Kurşunlu Quarter carries the memory of this family.
Emîn Mehmed Pasha, Governor of Aleppo
Hüsameddin also mentions Emîn Mehmed Pasha, the last generation of the article, in the fourth volume of his book. Describing the state of Amasya in the month of Rajab 1017 [1608], he records that among the people of Amasya then serving elsewhere, "Şeyh Kemâlzâde Mehmed Emin Pasha" was beylerbeyi of Aleppo. The name "Şeyh Kemâlzâde" confirms that the pasha descended from Sheikh Kemâleddîn Ahmed el-Halvetî mentioned in this article; the two records agree with each other. No information on Emîn Mehmed Pasha's death in Aleppo in 1020 was found in another source.
No information was found in other sources about the fifteenth-century members of the family (Abdülmuhsin, Ahmed, Osman, Ali, Hüseyin and Sa'dî Çelebis) or about Sheikh Kemâleddîn Ahmed el-Halvetî.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 120–120. amasya.bel.tr
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, vol. 4 (Third Historical Period, year 1017), Amasya Belediyesi e-kitap, vols. 1-4, p. 537–538. https://amasya.bel.tr/uploads/e-kitap/kitap/1-4/files/basic-html/page538.html
Academic studies