Amasyalıdır. Kudâtdan Hasan Efendi’nin mahdûmu ve Kazasker Amasyalı Hasan Efendi’nin hemşîrezâdesidir. Amasya’da tahsîl edib müderris, kadı oldu. Ba’dehû hâce-i sultânî Amasyalı Ömer Efendi’ye intisâb ederek 1027’de Ankara ve ba’dehû Diyârbekir defterdârı oldu.
Fakat fazl u ru’ûneti Diyârbekir vâlisi Kemankeş Ali Paşa’ya [484] girân geldiğinden bî-çâre 1031 senesi rebîülevvelinde konağında gece boğdurdu. Kendisi de Hâce Ömer Efendi’nin kahrından korkup firar ve ihtihfâ etdi.
Sene-i mezbûre receb hâ’ilesinde Ömer Efendi’nin nüfuzu zâ’il olduğundan İstanbul’a gelip vezîr-i kubbe-nişîn ve 1032 zilka’desinde sadr-ı a’zam olmakla sâhib-i tercemenin demi heder olduğu zannedilmişken, davacıları dîvân-ı hümâyunda vak’a-yı tafsîlâtıyla huzûr-ı hümâyunda arz ve Ali Paşa da zâten makdûh bildirilmişdi. 1033’de Ali Paşa da maktûl oldu.
Ahmed Efendi, âlim, edîb, muhâsib biraz da fazlına mağrûr idi. Bu yüzden belâya uğradı. Lakabı “Singil”dir. Bazen “Şingil” şeklinde yazılmıştır. Birinci suretde “Sîngîl” demektir. “Sinirc” adam demek olur. İkinci suretde (Şûngûl) demektir. “Hırçın” demek olur.
In Modern English
He was a native of Amasya. He was the son of Hasan Efendi, one of the judges, and the son of the sister of the chief military judge Hasan Efendi of Amasya. He studied in Amasya and became a müderris and a judge. Then, attaching himself to Ömer Efendi of Amasya, the sultan's teacher (hâce-i sultânî), he became in 1027 [1618] defterdar of Ankara and then of Diyarbekir.
But because his learning and pride weighed heavily on the governor of Diyarbekir, Kemankeş Ali Pasha, Ali Pasha had the poor man strangled at night in his mansion in Rabi' al-awwal 1031 [1622]. He himself, fearing the wrath of Hâce Ömer Efendi, fled and hid.
At the beginning of Rajab of the same year, since Ömer Efendi's influence had vanished, he came to Istanbul and became a vizier of the dome (kubbealtı veziri); and when in Dhu al-Qa'dah 1032 [1623] he became grand vizier, while it was thought that the blood of the man whose biography is written had been left on the ground, his claimants presented the matter in detail in the Imperial Council and in the presence of the sultan; Ali Pasha had in any case been reported as at fault. In 1033 [1624] Ali Pasha too was killed.
Ahmed Efendi was a scholar, a man of letters, one who understood accounting matters well, and, a little trusting in his superiority, proud. For this reason he fell into trouble. His epithet is "Singil." It is sometimes written in the form "Şingil." In the first spelling it means "Sîngîl"; "Sinirc" means a man. In the second spelling (Şûngûl) it means "fractious."
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- kudât: judges
- hemşîrezâde: sister's son
- hâce-i sultânî: the sultan's teacher
- defterdâr: the official at the head of financial and tax affairs in a province
- fazl u ru'ûnet: superiority of learning and self-conceit
- girân gelmek: to weigh heavily
- bî-çâre: helpless, poor
- firâr ve ihtifâ: fleeing and hiding
- vezîr-i kubbe-nişîn: a vizier who sat under the dome in the council, with the rank of vizier but without a governorship
- sadr-ı a'zam: grand vizier
- makdûh: at fault, censured
- maktûl: killed
- muhâsib: one who understands accounting matters
The Defterdar Strangled in Diyarbekir
The event narrated in the entry also appears in the biography of Kemankeş Ali Pasha. Ali Pasha was appointed in 1620, with the rank of vizier, to the beylerbeyiship of Diyarbekir, and after a while had the treasury defterdar Hacı Ahmed Efendi killed without informing the centre. According to the encyclopedia entry this man was a close friend of Ömer Efendi, the teacher of Osman II; Ömer Efendi wanted Ali Pasha executed, but at the suggestion of Dilâver Pasha, one of the former governors of Diyarbekir, Ali Pasha was only dismissed. The details Hüsameddin gives agree with this: the defterdarship of Diyarbekir, Ömer Efendi's patronage, Kemankeş Ali Pasha's having him killed. In the encyclopedia the epithet "Singil" does not appear and the man is called "Hacı Ahmed Efendi"; even so, since the post, the patron, and the culprit are the same, it is very probable that the two records belong to the same person.
Where they differ is the date and sequence of the event. The encyclopedia writes that Ali Pasha went to Diyarbekir in 1620 and some time later had this incident, then was appointed governor of Baghdad and, after staying there a year, came to Istanbul on the killing of Osman II (1622). Hüsameddin, however, narrates that the defterdar was killed in Rabi' al-awwal 1031 [around January 1622], that Ali Pasha, fearing, hid, and that in Rajab of the same year, with the overthrow of Ömer Efendi, he returned to Istanbul. The difference of sequence between the two accounts cannot be resolved from these sources.
The End of Kemankeş Ali Pasha
Kemankeş Ali Pasha became grand vizier on 4 Dhu al-Qa'dah 1032 (30 August 1623); he played a part in the deposition of Mustafa I and the enthronement of Murad IV. A front against him formed because of the siege of Baghdad by the shah of Iran, the Abaza revolt, financial difficulties, and allegations of bribery, and he was killed on 14 Jumada al-thani 1033 (3 April 1624). Hüsameddin's sentence "in 1033 Ali Pasha too was killed" agrees with this date. The information that Ahmed Efendi's claimants presented the matter before the sultan after Ali Pasha became grand vizier is found only in Hüsameddin; the encyclopedia entry does not give this detail.
The Epithet and His Life
The explanation of the epithet "Singil" belongs to Hüsameddin; this epithet was not found in another source. That Ahmed Efendi came from a family of judges of Amasya and that the name of his maternal uncle, the chief military judge Hasan Efendi, is mentioned connects him to the learned circles of Amasya. No other source was found for Ahmed Efendi's own life. Hâce Ömer Efendi is mentioned in the sources as the teacher of Osman II in his princehood; between 1618 and 1622 he was regarded as the most powerful person after the sultan, and he was killed in the revolt known as Haile-i Osmaniye.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 153–154. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
Other sources