Amasyalı Ali oğludur. Hızır Paşa Müderrisi fâzıl-ı cum’a [466] ve müfessir Ahmed Efendilerden tahsîl-i ulûm edib ders-i âm oldu. Ba’dehû Amasya medreselerine sırasıyla müderris olduktan sonra ber vech-i te’bîd Hızır Paşa Medresesiyle mütekâ’id ve doğduğu Hızır Paşa Mahallesi’nde mukîm olduğu halde 1005 senesi hilâlinde vefât etdi.
Meşâhîr-i ulemâdan vâ’iz, müteşerri’ olup Hızır Paşa Câmii’nde her Cuma günü va’z ü nasîhat ederek halkın ahlâkını tehzîbe çalışırdı. Takrîr ve ifadesi düzgün idi. Sünbül meraklısı olduğundan “Sünbül Hoca” demekle iştihâr etmişdi. Mahdûmu defterdâr-ı şıkk-ı sânî Ali Efendi Amasya’da “Sünbülzâde” ve İstanbul’da “Sünbül Ali Efendi” demekle meşhûr olup 1032’de vefât etdi. Bunun mahdûmları Hâcegân-ı Dîvân-ı Hümâyundan Merâmî Ahmed Efendi ve Abdurrahman Çelebi 1049 senesinde yek-diğerini mü’teâkib vefât etdiler.
In Modern English
He was the son of Ali of Amasya. He studied under Fâzıl-ı Cuma Efendi, müderris of the Hızır Pasha Madrasa, and under the Qur'an commentator Ahmed Efendi, and rose to the rank of müderris. After serving in turn as müderris in the madrasas of Amasya, he was retired with the Hızır Pasha Madrasa assigned to him for life; while living in the Hızır Pasha quarter, where he was born, he died within the year 1005 [1596-97].
He was one of the well-known scholars, a preacher and a man strictly bound to the rulings of religion. At the Hızır Pasha Mosque every Friday he gave sermons and exhortations and tried to improve the morals of the people. His delivery and speech were fluent. Because he was fond of the hyacinth (sümbül) flower he became known as "Sünbül Hoca." His son, the second defterdar (şıkk-ı sânî defterdarı) Ali Efendi, known in Amasya as "Sünbülzâde" and in Istanbul as "Sünbül Ali Efendi," died in 1032 [1622-23]. His sons, Merâmî Ahmed Efendi, one of the hâcegân of the Imperial Council (Divan-ı Hümayun), and Abdurrahman Çelebi, died one after the other in 1049 [1639-40].
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- müfessir: commentator on the Qur'an
- ders-i âm: a scholar who has reached the authority to teach in a madrasa
- ber vech-i te'bîd: so as to last for life
- mütekâ'id: retired; here, assigned to a madrasa's revenue as a retirement pension
- mukîm: resident, living in a place
- hilâlinde: within, during
- meşâhîr-i ulemâ: renowned scholars
- tehzîb: refining, correcting
- takrîr: delivery, the manner of speaking in lessons and sermons
- sünbül: the hyacinth flower
- iştihâr etmek: to become famous, to be known
- defterdâr-ı şıkk-ı sânî: one of the defterdarships in the central treasury, the defterdar of the "second branch"
- hâcegân-ı Dîvân-ı Hümâyûn: the senior clerks of the Imperial Council, heads of the chancery offices
- yek-diğerini mü'teâkib: one after the other
The Hızır Pasha Madrasa and Mosque
Sünbül Hoca's whole life was spent in the Hızır Pasha quarter of Amasya, around the mosque and madrasa of the same name. The founder of these institutions, Hayreddin Hızır Pasha, was the brother of Yörgüç Pasha, the lala of Murad II. In 870 (1465) Hızır Pasha founded three waqfs in Amasya, had a madrasa and a mosque built, and created posts such as müderris and muid for their needs. The waqf deed also stipulated additional payments to the müderris, muid, and students of the madrasa of his brother Yörgüç Pasha. The revenues of the waqf came from lands, vineyards, and gardens in Suluova, Doğantepe, Ladik, and the centre of Amasya, and from two inns and a bath; the larger part of the expenses went to the salaries of the staff and the upkeep of the buildings.
In some sources the mosque is said to have been built in 1466. It is one of the early Ottoman mosques with zaviye and inverted-T plan, as also seen in the Bayezid Pasha and Yörgüç Pasha mosques in Amasya; because of the slope of its site its entrance was placed on the east rather than the north, and the ablution fountain was put on this side. It was once a complex consisting of a bath, a madrasa, and an ablution fountain, but today only the mosque and the bath are standing. The madrasa to whose revenue Sünbül Hoca was assigned in his retirement, that is, the building where he taught and studied, has not survived; the mosque where he preached every Friday is still open for worship.
The Retirement Arrangement
Hüsameddin's phrase "retired with the Hızır Pasha Madrasa for life" describes Sünbül Hoca as being assigned for life, in retirement, to the müderris revenue of a madrasa. That a müderris who made the round of the madrasas of Amasya in turn should finally settle in the madrasa of the quarter where he was born and continue preaching there is a path also seen in other biographies in the book. The müderris post in the waqf deed and the accounting records of the waqf, which continue down to the Republic, help in understanding from which revenue such a retirement was provided; however, Sünbül Hoca's name does not appear in the research done on these records.
His Son Sünbül Ali Efendi and His Grandsons
The post of second-branch defterdar (şıkk-ı sânî), which Sünbül Hoca's son Ali Efendi reached, is one of the three great defterdarships of the Ottoman treasury. This defterdarship was established in the early years of Suleiman the Magnificent's reign, and the shore residences (yalı) and the mukataas in Istanbul were attached to it; its appearance in the budget of 1524-1525 shows that it existed by that date at the latest. In the seventeenth century the names changed: the defterdar of Anatolia came to be called "şıkk-ı sânî," and the former şıkk-ı sânî defterdar came to be called "şıkk-ı sâlis." Considering that Ali Efendi died in 1032, in what sense he was şıkk-ı sânî defterdar depends on the date of this change. The defterdars were members of the Imperial Council; when the chief defterdar went on campaign, the şıkk-ı sânî defterdar was with him. That the son of a preacher from Amasya rose to this office in Istanbul is remarkable.
The "hâcegân" to which the grandsons belonged also denotes the senior clerks of the Imperial Council. According to present-day research, this term came to be used from the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries for the leading men of the chancery of the council; the ruznamecis, accountants, mukataa clerks, and tezkirecis fell into this group. Thus, within two generations the family appears to have moved from the madrasa milieu of Amasya into the financial and chancery bureaucracy of Istanbul. No information on Sünbül Hoca and his son Sünbül Ali Efendi was found in other sources.
Bibliography
Primary sources
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