[648] Taşâbâd (Erba’a) kazâsı dâhilinde Bidevî köyünden Halîl bin İbrâhim’in mahdûmudur. Küçük yaşında Amasya’ya gelip Sultân Bâyezîd mektebinde hıfz-ı Kur’ân etdikten sonra meşâhîr-i ulemâdan Çorumlu Hâfız es-Seyyid Mehmed Efendi’den istifade-i ulûma başladı.
Kayyimzâde el-Hâc İsmâil Efendi gibi ulemâdan da ahz-ı ulûm ederek üstâdı olan es-Seyyid Mehmed Efendi’den tedrîse mücâz ve ders-i âm ve üstâdına dâmâd oldu. Tûl-i müddet tedrîs-i ulûma muvâzabet ederek pek çok talebe-i ulûma icâzet verdi. 1147’de Abdullah Paşa müderrisi, 1151 senesi cumâdelâhiresinde Amasya müftüsü oldu.
A’yânın yek-diğeriyle münâfeselerinden dolayı 1153 senesi şevvâlinde ma’zûl ve 1154 senesi cumâdelâhiresinde sânîyen Amasya müftüsü olup nüfûz ve ikbâli yükseldi. Amasya baş-a’yânı Gürcüzâde el-Hâc İbrâhim Bey’in tekallübüne karşı iğmâz-ı ayn etdiği isnâdıyla 1156 senesi zilka’desinde medrese ve fetvâdan azl ü hacr edildi.
Bununla beraber tedrîsâtına bir gün bile fasıla vermediğinden 1160 senesi cumâdelûlâsında fetvâ ve Fîrûz Ağa Medresesi’nden azledilen Ziyâreli el-Hâc Ömer Efendi’nin yerine Fîrûz Ağa Müderrisi ve 1161 [649] zilka’desinde fetvâdan istifa eden es-Seyyid eş-Şeyh Mustafa Efendi’nin yerine sâlîsen Amasya müftüsü oldu.
1162 senesi saferinin gâyesinde yine a’yânın münâkaşalarından dolayı azledildi. Mısır mîr-livâlığından gelip Amasya’da ikâmet eden Bekir Beyzâde el-Hâc Osmân Bey’in mazhar-ı takdîri olup yevmî altmış akçe vazife ile tefsîr dersine mülâzemet etdi. 1169 senesi rebîülevvelinin yedinci günü dâr-ı naîme rihlet eyledi. Fâzıl, muhakkik, ulûm-ı şer’iyye ve akliyyede mâhir, bahhâs, kana’âtkâr bir zât idi. Mahdûmları; es-Seyyid İbrâhim, Mehmed Emin Efendilerdir. Es-Seyyid İbrâhim Efendi İstanbul ulemâsından olup 1193’de vefât etdi. Es-Seyyid el-Hâc Mehmed Emin Efendi de Amasya Mahkemesi baş-kâtibi olup 1188’de vefât etdi.
Bunun mahdûmu Yörgüç Paşa müderrisi ve mahkeme kâtibi ve Amasya nâibi olup Caniklizâdelerin seyyi’âtına âlet olduğundan dolayı 1194’de maktûlen vefât eden es-Seyyid Ahmed Esad Efendi’dir. Bunun oğulları; es-Seyyid Mehmed, Numan Efendilerdir.
In Modern English
He was the son of Halil, son of İbrahim, from the village of Bidevî in the district of Taşabad (Erbaa). He came to Amasya at a young age and, after memorizing the Qur'an at the Sultan Bayezid School, began to study under the renowned scholar Çorumlu Hâfız Seyyid Mehmed Efendi.
He also studied under scholars such as Kayyımzade Hacı İsmail Efendi, and was authorized by his teacher Seyyid Mehmed Efendi to teach and to give public lectures, and became his teacher's son-in-law. He continued teaching for a long time and granted licenses to many students. In 1147 [1734-35] he became professor at the Abdullah Pasha Madrasa, and in Cemaziyelâhir 1151 [1738-39] mufti of Amasya.
Because of the quarrels of the notables among themselves he was dismissed in Şevval 1153 [1740-41]; in Cemaziyelâhir 1154 [1741-42] he became mufti of Amasya for a second time, and his influence and standing rose. In Zilkade 1156 [1743-44], on the accusation of having turned a blind eye to the frequently shifting attitudes of Gürcüzade Hacı İbrahim Bey, the chief notable of Amasya, he was removed from the madrasa and from the fatwa office and forbidden to serve.
Since he had nevertheless not interrupted his lessons for a single day, in Cemaziyelevvel 1160 [1747] he became professor of the Fîruz Ağa Madrasa, in place of Ziyareli Hacı Ömer Efendi, who had been removed from the fatwa office and the Fîruz Ağa Madrasa. In Zilkade 1161 [1748] he became mufti of Amasya for the third time, in place of Seyyid Şeyh Mustafa Efendi, who had resigned from the fatwa office.
At the end of Safer 1162 [1748-49] he was again dismissed because of the quarrels of the notables. He won the esteem of Bekirbeyzade Hacı Osman Bey, who had come from the sanjak governorship of Egypt and settled in Amasya, and continued his post of Qur'anic exegesis lessons at a daily salary of sixty akçe. He died on the seventh day of Rebîülevvel 1169 [1755-56]. He was a man of virtue, a researcher, skilled in the religious and rational sciences, fond of debate and content with little. His sons were Seyyid İbrahim and Mehmed Emin Efendi. Seyyid İbrahim Efendi was among the scholars of Istanbul and died in 1193 [1779]. Seyyid Hacı Mehmed Emin Efendi was chief clerk of the Amasya Court and died in 1188 [1774-75].
His son was Seyyid Ahmed Esad Efendi, professor at the Yörgüç Pasha Madrasa, court clerk and deputy judge of Amasya, who was killed and died in 1194 [1780] for having been made a tool of the wrongdoings of the Caniklizades. His sons were Seyyid Mehmed and Numan Efendi.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- hıfz-ı Kur'ân: memorizing the Qur'an
- ders-i âm: a public, general lecture; to give ders-i âm means to be a scholar who teaches the public outside the madrasa
- icâzet: the teacher's written permission showing that a student has completed his learning
- mülâzemet: waiting to be appointed to a post; here, continuing in the post
- azl ü hacr: dismissal and removal from scholarly or fatwa work
- sâlisen: for the third time
- iğmâz-ı ayn: turning a blind eye
- tekallüb: changing one's attitude, vacillation
- mîr-livâ: sanjak governor
- bahhâs: one who researches deeply
- kana'âtkâr: content with little
- seyyi'ât: wrongdoings, offenses
- maktûlen vefât: dying by being killed
The Muftiship and the Quarrels of the Notables in Amasya
Ahmed Efendi's life story shows how strongly religious offices in Amasya in the mid-eighteenth century were affected by local balances of power. He was appointed mufti three times; Hüsameddin gives the quarrels of the notables among themselves as the reason for his dismissals in 1153 and 1162. The ground for the dismissal in 1156 was the accusation that he had overlooked the conduct of the chief notable Gürcüzade Hacı İbrahim Bey. Hüsameddin particularly notes that despite his removal he did not interrupt his lessons for a single day; this detail shows the value attached to the teaching he kept up.
The Sultan Bayezid School where he studied was part of the complex built in the name of Bayezid II by Prince Ahmed, governor of Amasya. The complex consists of a mosque, madrasa, soup kitchen and children's school; the mosque is known to have been completed in 891 [1486]. Its madrasa is used today as a public library. The "school" Hüsameddin mentions must be the elementary-level children's school (sıbyan mektebi).
The Caniklizades
The Caniklizades mentioned at the end of the text are Canikli Hacı Ali Pasha (who died in Erzurum in the mid-1780s) and his family. The family is a dynasty of notables that gained power in the Canik region and around Amasya in the second half of the eighteenth century. The sanjak of Amasya was granted to Canikli Ali Bey as a life-tenure tax farm (mâlikâne) on 30 May 1772. The killing of Ahmed Esad Efendi in 1194 [1780] falls within this period. The exact reason for his death and by whose hand it was carried out cannot be understood from Hüsameddin's text or the sources consulted. Hüsameddin accuses him of having been a tool of the Caniklizades' wrongdoings; this judgment is Hüsameddin's own and could not be verified by an independent source.
No further information was found in the sources consulted on the Fîruz Ağa Madrasa, the Yörgüç Pasha Madrasa, or the village of Bidevî in the district of Taşabad. There is an article that treats the madrasa professors of Amasya according to documents of the Meşihat archive, but since only its abstract could be read, the dates given by Hüsameddin could not be compared with it.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, pp. 202–203. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
Official sources