Amasyalıdır. Amasya müderrislerinden Alevî köylü el-Hâc Bayram Efendizâde Şârihü’l-menâr Abdulhalîm Efendi’nin mahdûmudur. Ceddînin kaydı üzerine Amasya’nın Temennâ Mahallesi’nde 1011 senesi leyle-i Mi’racında doğdu.
Pederinden mukaddimât-ı ulûmu görüp 1029’da pederiyle beraber İstanbul’a gitdi. İstanbul ulemâsından ve hâssaten Kâzâbâdî Mu’îd Ahmed Efendi’den ikmâl-i tahsîl [513] edib ondan mülâzım, bâdehû müderris olarak tedrîs-i ulûma ve te’lîf-i âsâra koyuldu.
Üstâdının sadâret ve meşîhatında müsteşârı mesâbesinde olup meşâyîh-i İslamiyye ve sudûr-ı kiramın yanlarında büyük bir mevki kazandı. Târîhe olan fevkalâde intisâbından dolayı vak’a nüvîs-i devlet ve devr-i medâris ederek sahn pâyesiyle Davut Paşa medresesi müderrisi olduğu halde 1067 senesi şa’bânında dâr-ı bekâya rihlet etdi.
Gâyet fâzıl, muhakkik, kâffe-i ulûmda ve hâsseten ilm-i târîhte iktidârı bâhir, inşâ ve edebiyat ve muhâzarâtda mâhir bir müverrih idi. Hayfâ ki iktidârı derecesinde terakkî göremedi. İntisâbın fazl ve meziyyetden yüksek olduğu zamanlarda erbâb-ı fazlın kadr ü kıymeti bilinemediği mücerrebât-ı târîhîyedendir.
Merhûm, devr-i Âdemden 1060 târîhine kadar “Şâmil ü Kâmil” adlı bir târîh-i umûmî ve 1000 târîhinden 1067 sâline kadar Osmanlı Devleti’nin altmış yedi senelik târîhini yazdı. Bu vekâyi-nâmesi mu’ahharan Nâimâ Efendi’nin eline geçip târîhine [514] ilhâk etdiğinden ma’alesef yok edilmişdir.
In Modern English
He was a native of Amasya. He was the son of Şârihü'l-menâr Abdulhalîm Efendi, one of the müderrises of Amasya, of the house of Hacı Bayram Efendizâde from Alevî Village. According to his grandfather's record, he was born in the Temennâ quarter of Amasya on the Night of the Mi'raj in the year 1011 [1602-03].
Having read the basic sciences under his father, he went to Istanbul with his father in 1029 [1619-20]. Completing his education under the scholars of Istanbul, especially Kâzâbâdî Muîd Ahmed Efendi, he became his mülâzım (a candidate who has earned a place in line for müderrisship), then a müderris, and set about teaching and writing works.
During his teacher's grand vizierate and şeyhülislamate he was practically like his adviser; he gained a great place among the Islamic sheikhs and the leading men of the state. Because of his extraordinary devotion to history he became the state's vak'a-nüvis (official chronicler); passing through the madrasas in turn, he was müderris of the Davud Pasha Madrasa with the Sahn rank (the rank of the Sahn-ı Semân madrasas) when he died in Şâban 1067 [1657].
He was a historian of great virtue, a researcher, of evident power in all the sciences and especially in the science of history, a master of inşâ (the art of writing), literature and conversational and oratorical skill. Unfortunately he saw no advancement equal to his ability. That the worth of men of virtue is not recognized in times when attachment is held above virtue and merit is one of the lessons of history.
The deceased wrote a general history called "Şâmil ü Kâmil" from the time of Adam to the year 1060 [1650] and a sixty-seven-year history of the Ottoman State from the year 1000 [1591-92] to the year 1067 [1656-57]. Because this book of events later came into the hands of Naîmâ Efendi and was added to his history, it has unfortunately been destroyed.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- mahdûm: son
- ceddînin kaydı üzerine: according to the record kept by his grandfather
- leyle-i Mi'rac: the Night of the Mi'raj (the twenty-seventh night of the month of Receb)
- mukaddimât-ı ulûm: the basic sciences
- mu'îd: student who is a müderris's assistant in a madrasa
- mülâzım: candidate who earns a place in line beside a great scholar for müderrisship or the kadiship
- tedrîs-i ulûm ve te'lîf-i âsâr: teaching the sciences and writing works
- sadâret ve meşîhat: in this context, his teacher's office and the post of şeyhülislam
- müsteşâr mesâbesinde: like an adviser
- vak'a-nüvis: the state's official chronicler
- devr-i medâris: advancing in grade by passing through the madrasas in turn
- sahn pâyesi: the rank of the Sahn-ı Semân madrasas
- inşâ: the art of writing and letters
- muhâzarât: the art of conversation and speech
- müverrih: historian
- mücerrebât-ı târîhiyye: the tried and known lessons of history
- târîh-i umûmî: general history
- vekâyi'-nâme: book of events
- mu'ahharan: later
- ilhâk etmek: to add
A Historian and His Lost Work
Şârihülmenârzâde Ahmed Efendi's work has not survived, but his name is mentioned among the sources of the Naîmâ History. The text he wrote is one of the main sources on which Naîmâ Mustafa Efendi relied in writing his own history. Naîmâ was charged with making fair copies of these drafts (müsvedde, drafts not yet cleaned up) at the request of Amcazâde Hüseyin Pasha. According to what Naîmâ relates, Şârihülmenârzâde's history runs from creation to 1065 (1654-55) and treats in detail the period from the reign of Ahmed I to Köprülü Mehmed Pasha. For the earlier periods he took from the Hasanbeyzâde History. Naîmâ began his work from the year 982 (1574), when Murad III ascended the throne, and carried it up to 1065, where Şârihülmenârzâde's notes ended, then reorganized the work for the events of 1000-1070 (1592-1660). Considering that the most interesting parts and anecdotes in the work rest on Şârihülmenârzâde, it is thought that part of the way of handling events and the attractive narration attributed to Naîmâ may also belong to him.
Hüsameddin's saying that the work was lost by being incorporated into Naîmâ's history agrees with the book's not having survived independently. The encyclopedia entry also dwells on another possibility. A great fire broke out in Naîmâ's house during his lifetime, all his books were burned, and Şârihülmenârzâde's drafts too were most probably lost at that time.
Points Where Hüsameddin's Account Differs
Hüsameddin gives Şârihülmenârzâde's father as Abdulhalîm Efendi, one of the müderrises of Amasya. In the encyclopedia entry, on the other hand, he appears as the son of Kadı Mehmed Efendi, known by the epithet Şârihülmenâr. This difference in the father's name may arise from the same epithet being seen in more than one person in the sources; which is correct could not be determined with the sources that could be read. There is also a small difference over the span of years his work covers. Hüsameddin gives the years 1000-1067, while Naîmâ's relay ends in 1065. Hüsameddin's date of 1067 coincides with Ahmed Efendi's year of death.
His Teacher Muîd Ahmed Efendi
The person Hüsameddin calls "Kâzâbâdî Muîd Ahmed Efendi" is Muîd Ahmed Efendi (d. 1057/1647), one of the Ottoman şeyhülislams. Ahmed Efendi, who went to Istanbul for his education, was called by this epithet because he was the assistant (muîd) of Kınalızâde Fehmi Mehmed Efendi at the Semiz Ali Pasha Madrasa. After müderrisship and kadiship posts he served as kazasker of Anatolia and Rumeli, became şeyhülislam on 29 Zilkade 1055 (16 January 1646), and remained in this post until his death on 20 Rebîülevvel 1057 (25 April 1647), one year, three months and ten days. Hüsameddin's presenting Şârihülmenârzâde as an adviser during his teacher's grand vizierate and şeyhülislamate corresponds to Muîd Ahmed Efendi's years as kazasker and şeyhülislam. In the sources the birthplace of Muîd Ahmed Efendi is mostly given as Kazova of Tokat, but according to the encyclopedia entry this information arose from a misunderstanding of the phrase "Kazdağı nahiyesi" in Şeyhî, and Kazdağı is in western Anatolia, north of the Gulf of Edremit. On what place Hüsameddin's nisbe "Kâzâbâdî" rests is not explained in the sources that could be read.
Points of Note
Hüsameddin, by making the comment that "the worth of men of virtue is not recognized in times when attachment is higher than virtue and merit," says that Ahmed Efendi saw no advancement equal to his ability. This sentence is the author's own interpretation and is not supported by the sources. The Davud Pasha Madrasa was Ahmed Efendi's last post. No other source was found to confirm the record that he was born in the Temennâ quarter.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 162–162. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies