Amasyalıdır. “Çakal Kadı” demekle meşhûr Bedreddîn Mahmûd Efendi evlâdından Vildân Efendi bin el-Hâc Mahmûd Çelebi bin el-Hâc Ali Çelebi bin el-Hâc Sinan Çelebi bin Bedreddîn [487] Mahmûd Çelebi mahdûmudur. Ammizâdesi Çakalzâde el-Hâc Sinan Paşa’nın Sofya defterdarlığı zamanında küçük iken pederi ile beraber Sofya şehrine hicret edib orada büyüdü.
Pederinden ve İstanbul’a gidip sudûr-ı ulemâdan Ivaz Efendi’den tahsîl-i ulûm ederek sadr-ı müşârün-ileyhden mülâzım ve bir müddet ders-i âm olup sonra kadı olarak devr-i bilâd etdi. Üstâdının ikinci sadâretinde Filibe ve ba’dehû Belgrad Kadısı oldu.
1013’de sadr-ı a’zam olan Lala Mehmet Paşa ordu-yu hümâyûn ile Belgrad’a geldikte fazl ve zînetini takdîr ederek kendisine tezkireci nasb edib müsteşârı ve ordu-yı hümâyûn kadısı oldu. 1013 ramazânında sadr-ı müşârün-ileyh ile İstanbul’a gelip Mihrimâh Sultân Müderrisi ve şevvâlinde Sofya mollası oldu.
1014’de sadr-ı müşârün-ileyh ile Estergon Harbine ordu-yı hümâyûn kadısı olduğu halde gidip Estergon’un fethinden sonra ikinci defa İstanbul’a geldi. Mekke-i mükerreme pâyesiyle taltîf edildi. Fakat sadr-ı müşârün-ileyhin [488] 1015 muharreminde vefâtı üzerine Sofya ve Ordu kazâsından ma’zûl oldu.
Sene-i mezbûre saferinde Diyârbekir Mollası ve cumâdelulâ gurresinde Ankara Kadısı olup 1016 rebîulevvelinde azledildi. 1017 muharreminde sâniyen Sofya Mollası olup 1021 saferinde azlolundu. 1023 şa’bânında sâlisen Sofya Mollası oldu.
1024 senesi ramazânında ba’zı şikâyetler üzerine azlolunup hayli müddet ma’zûl bir halde Sofya’da kaldı. 1032 senesi evâhirinde Şehir Köy kazası arpalık vechile uhdesine verildi. 1033 senesi evâ’ilinde bu arpalığı da refedildi. 1034 senesi evâilinde vefât etdi.
Atâyî Efendi “Zeyl-i Şakâyık”da bu tercemeyi yazdıktan sonra âlim, kâmil, tevârîh ve muhâzarâta vâkıf, hânesi mecma-ı yârân, gayet halûk, kerîm, misâfirperver, sofra-yı güşâde, beşûş, hoş sohbet, gayet mizâc-gir bir zât olduğunu beyân ediyor.
Sofya’da mescid ve mekteb binâ edib 1024’de [489] emlâkını bu hayrâtının mesâlihine vakfetdi. Vakfiyesi kuyûd-ı idâresinde müseccel olup “Çakalzâde” diye mestûrdur. Pederi Vildân Efendi de ulemâdandır.
In Modern English
He was a native of Amasya. He was the son of Vildân Efendi, a descendant of Bedreddîn Mahmûd Efendi, known as "Çakal Kadı." Vildân Efendi was the son of Hacı Mahmûd Çelebi; Hacı Mahmûd Çelebi was the son of Hacı Ali Çelebi; Hacı Ali Çelebi was the son of Hacı Sinan Çelebi; and Hacı Sinan Çelebi was the son of Bedreddîn Mahmûd Çelebi. While his paternal uncle's son Çakalzâde Hacı Sinan Pasha was defterdar of Sofia, he migrated at a young age with his father to the city of Sofia and grew up there.
He learned from his father and, going to Istanbul, from Ivaz Efendi, one of the leading scholars; he became a mülâzım (candidate awaiting appointment) of the said chief military judge, and after serving for a while as dersiâm he went round from city to city as judge. In his teacher's second term as chief military judge he became judge of Filibe (Plovdiv) and then of Belgrade.
When Lala Mehmed Pasha, who became grand vizier in 1013 [1604], came to Belgrade with the imperial army (ordu-yu hümâyûn), he appreciated his learning and refinement and made him tezkireci; thus he became the pasha's adviser and army judge. In Ramadan 1013 [January-February 1605] he came to Istanbul with the grand vizier and became müderris of the Mihrimâh Sultan Madrasa, and in Shawwal mulla of Sofia.
In 1014 [1605] he went with the grand vizier as army judge to the Esztergom campaign and, after the conquest of Esztergom, came to Istanbul for the second time. He was rewarded with the rank of Mecca (Mekke-i Mükerreme pâyesi, the rank of judge of Mecca). But on the grand vizier's death in Muharram 1015 [May-June 1606] he was dismissed from the judgeship of Sofia and of the army.
In Safar of the same year he became mulla of Diyarbekir, in early Jumada al-awwal judge of Ankara, and in Rabi' al-awwal 1016 he was dismissed. In Muharram 1017 he became mulla of Sofia for the second time, and in Safar 1021 he was dismissed. In Sha'ban 1023 he became mulla of Sofia for the third time.
In Ramadan 1024, on account of certain complaints, he was dismissed and remained in Sofia for a long time without office. At the end of 1032 the kaza of Şehirköy was given to him as arpalık. At the beginning of 1033 this arpalık too was taken from him. At the beginning of 1034 [1624-25] he died.
After writing this biography in the Zeyl-i Şakâyık, Atâyî Efendi describes him as a learned, mature man versed in histories and in the lore of literary conversation; his house was a meeting place of friends; he was a man of extremely fine character, generous, hospitable, with a table open to all, of cheerful countenance, pleasant in conversation, and very good at winning people's hearts.
In Sofia he had a mosque and a school built and in 1024 [1615] endowed his properties for the expenses of these charitable institutions. His waqf deed is registered in the records of the waqf administration and is written under the name "Çakalzâde." His father Vildân Efendi was also one of the scholars.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- ammizâde: paternal uncle's son
- sudûr-ı ulemâ: the leading men among the scholars, chief military judges
- mülâzım: a candidate who has finished the madrasa and awaits a post
- devr-i bilâd: serving by going round from city to city
- tezkireci: the clerk who conducted the grand vizier's correspondence
- molla: judge of a great city, a judge with the rank of mevleviyet
- pâye: a rank given without an actual post
- ma'zûl: dismissed, without office
- arpalık: kaza revenue given to scholars without office for their livelihood
- muhâzarât: literary lore and stories related in conversation
- mecma-ı yârân: the place where friends gather
- mizâc-gîr: one who knows how to keep people's hearts pleased
The Çakalzâdes
In the part of his work describing families, Hüsameddin lists, among the branches that came out of the İmâdî line of the Halâtî dynasty, one of the old learned families of Amasya, the Çakalzâde branch together with Şeyh Müeyyedzâde and Küpelizâde. In the biographical part of the same work a separate entry is devoted to Sinâneddîn Yûsuf Çelebi, son of Hacı Bedreddîn Mahmûd Çelebi, "Çakal Kadı," who gave the family its name; according to it, Yûsuf Çelebi, because he was a companion (musahib) of Prince Sultan Ahmed, got into trouble in the events of 918 [1512], was later pardoned and served as judge, and died in 934. That the Çakallar quarter in Amasya and the Çakallar hill and vineyards above the city take their names from this family is voiced in local accounts with the qualification "most probably"; no document making this link certain was found.
The Campaigns of Lala Mehmed Pasha
Ahmed Efendi's rise is bound up with the grand vizierate of Sokulluzâde Lala Mehmed Pasha, remembered as the conqueror of Esztergom. The pasha became grand vizier on 9 Rabi' al-awwal 1013 (5 August 1604) on the death of Yavuz Ali Pasha in Belgrade; having obtained no result from the siege of Esztergom in the autumn of 1604, on 20 Ramadan 1013 (9 February 1605) he set out from Belgrade for Istanbul. This agrees with Hüsameddin's record "he came to Istanbul in Ramadan 1013." The next year he received the surrender of Esztergom on 20 Jumada al-awwal 1014 (3 October 1605). Hüsameddin gives the pasha's date of death as Muharram 1015; in research based on archives and chronicles the date of death is given as 14 Safar 1015 (21 June 1606). That Ahmed Efendi was appointed to Diyarbekir in Safar of the same year also shows that his dismissal came right after the pasha's death.
Atâyî's Supplement
The "Zeyl-i Şakâyık," Hüsameddin's source, is the Hadâiku'l-hakāik fî tekmileti'ş-Şekāik, the Turkish supplement that Nev'îzâde Atâî (1583-1635) wrote to Taşköprizâde's eş-Şekâiku'n-nu'mâniyye. The work describes the scholars, sheikhs, and poets who lived between 965 and 1044 (1558-1634); this is why it presents Ahmed Efendi, who died in 1034, as his own contemporary. The adjectives of praise in the text are also taken from Atâî. No information was found in other sources on the mosque and school in Sofia.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 154–155. amasya.bel.tr
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, vols. 1-4 (Halâtî dynasty) and vols. 9-12 (entry "Sinâneddîn Yûsuf Çelebi-Çakalzâde"), Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022. https://amasya.bel.tr/uploads/e-kitap/kitap/9-12/files/basic-html/page317.html
- A. Kadir Çapanoğlu, "Şehr-i Amasya'da Halkalı Evliya ve Çakallar Tepesi", Yozgat Gazetesi, 2020.
Academic studies
Books
- Kadir Özköse, "Amasya'da Bulunan Halvetiyye Tekkeleri", Akademiar, 5 (2018), p. 91-118.