Tokatlıdır. Sipâhi meşâhîrinden Kâsım Ağa’nın oğlu ve Celalî Hüseyin Ağa’nın birâderidir. Tokat ve Amasya’da tahsîl-i ulûm edib ders-i âm ve Hâtuniyye-i Tokat [522] müderrisi ve buradan Niksar Kadısı oldu.
Kasâbâtı devrederek İbşir ve Abaza Hasan Paşaların sâye-i ikbâlinde livâ kadılığına terakkî edib 1069 senesi gurre-i muharreminde Amasya Kadısı ve Tokatlı Osmân Efendi de nâibi olarak geldi.
Abaza Hasan Paşa’nın taraftarlarıyla birleşip bir takım nâ-münâsip ahvâle cür’et ve Köprülü Mehmed Paşa’nın aleyhinde hareket eylediğinden sene-i mezbûre gurre-i cumâdelâhiresinden itibâren azl ve teftîş ve mâh-ı mezkûrun sonlarında gelen fermân-ı âlî üzerine nâibiyle beraber i’dâm ve altmış bir bin akçesi müsâdere edildi. Âlim, natûk, muhâzarâta vâkıf idi. Hattât olduğu yazısından anlaşıldı.
In Modern English
He was from Tokat. He was the son of Kâsım Ağa, one of the well-known sipahis, and the brother of Celâlî Hüseyin Ağa. He pursued learning in Tokat and Amasya and gave public lectures; he became müderris (madrasa professor) of the Hâtuniye Madrasa in Tokat and from there kadı of Niksar.
Passing in turn through the kadılıks of small towns, under the protection of İbşir and Abaza Hasan Pasha he rose to the kadılık of a sanjak seat, and in early Muharrem 1069 he became kadı of Amasya; Tokatlı Osman Efendi came as his deputy (naib).
He joined the partisans of Abaza Hasan Pasha, dared to commit certain improper acts, and moved against Köprülü Mehmed Pasha. For this reason, from the beginning of Cemâziyelâhir of the same year he was dismissed from office and an investigation was opened against him. Upon the exalted decree that arrived at the end of the same month, he was executed together with his deputy, and sixty-one thousand akçe of his was seized. He was a learned man, a fine speaker, who knew the manners of conversation and discussion. That he was a calligrapher was understood from his handwriting.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- tahsîl-i ulûm: pursuing learning
- ders-i âm: title of a müderris who gave lectures open to the public
- müderris: madrasa professor
- kasabât: small towns, small kadılık seats
- livâ kadılığı: kadılık of a sanjak seat
- sâye-i ikbâl: the shadow of fortune, that is, protection
- nâib: deputy acting in the kadı's place
- azl ve teftîş: dismissal and investigation
- fermân-ı âlî: exalted decree, the sultan's order
- müsâdere: seizure of property by the state
- natûk: a fine speaker
- muhâzarât: conversation, discussion
- hattât: calligrapher
The Post of Müderris Giving Ders-i Âm
Ders-i âm means "a lecture open to all". The term is known to appear in sixteenth-century sources; that it became the title of a müderris giving public lectures was most probably established in the seventeenth century. Ahmed Efendi's being named with this title suggests that he did not confine his lessons to madrasa students but opened them to the surrounding public. His studying in Tokat and Amasya and becoming a müderris in Tokat is an example of the old scholarly tie between the two cities.
The Hâtuniye Madrasa
The Hâtuniye Madrasa in Tokat was built in 1485 in the name of Gülbahar Hatun, the mother of Bayezid II. It is also known as the Gülbahar Madrasa, the Sultaniye and the Meydan Madrasa; it stands in the Meydan neighborhood of Tokat, next to the Hâtuniye Mosque. It is one of the city's important madrasas, spread over a wide area, and is still visited today.
The Kadılık of Amasya and the Revolt of Abaza Hasan
Hüsameddin ties Ahmed Efendi's rise to the protection of İbşir and Abaza Hasan Pasha. İbşir Mustafa Pasha and Abaza Hasan were placing persons from their own circles in posts in Anatolia in the 1650s; kadılıks were among these posts. Among the leading figures of the circle that demanded Köprülü's dismissal during Abaza Hasan's revolt of 1658, Nihâdî's account also mentions the name "Kadı Vehhâb Efendi"; this person's relation to the kadı of Amasya could not be established. When Köprülü Mehmed Pasha suppressed the revolt, in the sweep he had carried out many members of the ilmiye, such as müderrises and kadıs, were punished. The execution and the confiscation of sixty-one thousand akçe that Hüsameddin records for "Ahmed Efendi, Kadı of Amasya" are a local reflection of this general picture.
Hüsameddin says that the kadı "dared to commit certain improper matters", but does not explain what these were. The detail of the accusation is not found in the sources we could consult.
In Other Sources
No information was found in other sources about Kâsım Ağa, Celâlî Hüseyin Ağa or Ahmed Efendi. Whether the epithet "Celâlî" has any connection with the seventeenth-century rebellions could not be verified.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 164–164. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
- Mehmet İpşirli, "Dersiâm", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/dersiam
- Müctebâ İlgürel, "Köprülü Mehmed Paşa", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 26, Istanbul 2002. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/koprulu-mehmed-pasa
- Birol Gündoğdu, "Ottoman Approach to the Rebels in the Examples of Katırcıoğlu Mehmed and Abaza Hasan in the Middle of Seventeenth Century", Cumhuriyet Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 48/1, 2024, p. 47-65.
- M. Münir Aktepe, "İpşir Mustafa Paşa", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/ipsir-mustafa-pasa
Other sources
- Compilation of information on the Hâtuniye Madrasa in Tokat (Gülbahar Hatun, 1485, Meydan neighborhood): "Hatuniye Medresesi Nerede ve Nasıl Gidilir? Tarihi ve Özellikleri", Seyahat Haberleri.