Amasyalıdır. Amasya fuzalâsından “Uzun Müderris” demekle meşhûr el-Hâc Mehmed Efendi’nin mahdûmudur. “Uzun Müderriszâde” demekle Amasya’da ve “Uzun” demekle İstanbul’da meşhûrdur. Pederinden ikmâl-i tahsîl edib İstanbul’a gitdi.
Orada ders-i ‘âm ve bi’l-imtihân 1079’da müderris ve hemşehrisi Bayburdlu oğlu Kara İbrâhim Paşa’ya mîrâhûrluğunda imâm oldu. Medâris-i mu’tadeyi devretmek esnâsında Dâru’l-Hadîs Sinan Paşa müderrisi iken 1092 senesi rebîülahirinin on sekizinde vefât etdi. Âlim, sâlih, hâfız-ı Kur’ân, savt ve edâsı güzel idi.
In Modern English
He was a native of Amasya. He was the son of el-Hac Mehmed Efendi, known as "Uzun Müderris," one of the virtuous scholars of Amasya. He is known as "Uzun Müderriszâde" in Amasya and as "Uzun" in Istanbul. After completing his studies beside his father, he went to Istanbul.
There he became ders-i âm (a scholar authorized to give lectures), in 1079 [1668-69] moved on to a professorship by examination, and became imam to his fellow townsman Bayburtluoğlu Kara İbrahim Pasha during the latter's imrahorship. While passing in order through the customary steps of the madrasas, he died on the eighteenth of Rebiülahir 1092 [1681], being professor of the Dârülhadis of Sinan Pasha. He was a scholar, devout, a hafiz of the Qur'an; his voice and recitation were beautiful.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- fuzalâ: virtuous, learned people, scholars
- mahdûm: son
- ikmâl-i tahsîl: to complete one's studies
- ders-i âm: a scholar who has attained the authority to teach in a madrasa
- mîrâhûr: the person in charge of the palace stables and the sultan's horses, imrahor
- medâris-i mu'tade: the customary steps of the madrasas through which professors passed in order
- savt ve edâ: voice and recitation
His Family
His father Uzun Müderris el-Hac Mehmed Efendi is one of the most frequently mentioned teachers of 17th-century Amasya in Hüsameddin's book; it is written in this volume that many people completed their studies under him. He is also mentioned with the same title in the entry on his brother Ebussuud Efendi, and it is seen that the family was known by the nickname "Uzun Müderriszâde." Ahmed Efendi is the branch of this family that went to Istanbul and entered the madrasa career there.
His Relationship with Kara İbrahim Pasha
Kara İbrahim Pasha, whose imam Ahmed Efendi was, was a statesman born in 1030 (1620-21) in the village of Hınzeverek, attached to Kelkit, who rose as kethüda of Kara Mustafa Pasha of Merzifon. On 2 Rebiülahir 1082 (8 August 1671) he became second imrahor (mirahur-ı sânî) and twenty-four days later first imrahor (mirahur-ı evvel), and entered the circle of the closest men of Mehmed IV. After the defeat at Vienna he had a part in the execution of his former master Kara Mustafa Pasha, and at the end of 1683 he became grand vizier. Given these dates, Ahmed Efendi's imamship must have begun some time after the professorship of 1079, from 1082 onward. Hüsameddin's calling Kara İbrahim Pasha a "fellow townsman" needs explanation; the sources clearly write that the pasha was from the Bayburt region, and no tie to Amasya is shown.
The Dârülhadis of Sinan Pasha
Ahmed Efendi's last post was the dârülhadis built in Istanbul at Çemberlitaş in the name of Koca Sinan Pasha. This building, dated 1593, is counted among the distinguished dârülhadises of the period belonging to the apprentices who continued Mimar Sinan's style after his death. Dârülhadises, devoted to the teaching of hadith, enjoyed a prestige befitting the rank of their founders; that he died as a professor in the waqf of a grand vizier suggests that Ahmed Efendi had advanced considerably in the madrasas of Istanbul.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 176–176. amasya.bel.tr
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, entry "Ebu's-Su'ûd Efendi-Uzun Müderriszâde," vol. 6, p. 83.
Academic studies