Amasyalıdır. Amasya’da medfûn olan kibâr-ı meşâyih-i [761] Nakşîbendiyyeden Şirvânî el-Hâc Siraceddîn İsmâil Efendi’nin üçüncü mahdûmu olup 1249’da doğdu. Vâlidesi evkâf-ı hümâyûn müfetdişi Amasyalı Akifzâde es-Seyyid Abdürrahim Efendi’nin kerîmesi olup siyâdeti vâlide tarafındandır.
Amasya’da Şirvânî el-Hâc Mustafa Efendi’den tahsîl-i ulûm edib 1268’de İstanbul’a gitdi. Orada Şehrî Hâfız Ahmed Efendi’7den ikmâl-i tahsîl edib mücâz ve ders-i âm ve 1274’de bâ-rü’ûs-i hümâyûn-ı müderris ve 1276’da fetvâ-hâneye girip müsevvid oldu.
1281’de meclis-i teftîş-i evkâf a’zâsı olup 1282 senesi cumadelûlâsında birâderi Mehmed Rüştü Paşa evkâf-ı hümâyûn nâzırı olarak İstanbul’a geldikde nüfûz ve mevki yükseldi. 1283’de şûrâ-yı devlet a’zâsı 1284 senesi muharreminde Galata Mollası oldu. Sene-i mezbûrenin gurre-i recebinde haremeyn pâyesiyle taltîf edildi.
1285’de Divân-ı Ahkâm-ı Adliyye a’zâsı olarak mecelle cemiyyet-i ilmiyyesine girdi. 1288’de İstanbul pâyesiyle şûrâ-yı askerî müftüsü olup 1291 senesi muharreminde [762] İstanbul kadısı oldu. Müte’âkiben Anadolu Kazâskerliği pâyesiyle tebcil edildi.
1292 senesi recebinde hasmı bulunan Mehmed Nedim Paşa sadr-ı a’zam olduğunu müte’âkib azledildi. 1293 senesi rebîülevvelinde teceddüd-perver olan Midhat Paşa ve Ziya, Namık Kemal Beylerle birleşip sadr-ı müşârün-ileyhin azli için talebeyi tahrîk ve kıyâma teşvik edenlerin başına geçti. Emeline muvaffak olup Mütercim Mehmed Rüştü Paşa sadârete geldikte meclis-i intihâb-ı hukkâm ve tedkikât-ı şer’iyye reisi oldu.
1293 senesi şa’bânında Sultân Abdülaziz Han’ın hal’inde hizmeti ve iş-güzârlığı sebk eylediğinden Sultân Abdülhamid Hân-ı Sânî cülûsunda mimlendi. 1294 senesi muharreminde Midhat Paşa sadâretden azl ve nefyine binâ’en sene-i mezbûre recebinde riyâset uhdesinde kalmak üzere Afganistan sefiri olarak Kabil’e gönderildi.
1295 senesi zilhiccesinde Kâbil’den avdetinde Afgan hükümdarının Sultân Abdülhamid Hân’a gönderdiği hediyeler kendisine bahş ve in’âm edilerek 1296 senesi evâ’ilinde Diyarbekir [763] vilâyeti merkez niyâbetine tayin edilip Diyarbekir’e gönderildi. Bu sûretle İstanbul’dan uzaklaştırıldı.
1298 senesi evâ’ilinde niyabetden de azledilip Amasya’da me’mûr-ı ikâmet oldu. Amasya’da Eski Kethüdâ Mahallesi’nde kâin konağında kazâskerliğe mahsûs ma’aş ve yüksek muhassasâtını alıp huzur ve istirahatle imrâr-ı hayat etdi. Ancak pederinin tilmîz ve halifesi olan Hacı Hamza Nigarî Efendi ile bir türlü uyuşamadı.
1301’de Hacı Hamza Efendi’nin aleyhinde onun yapamayacağı şeyleri isnâd ederek Sultân Abdülhamid Hân’ı fevkalâde tevhîm eylediğinden şeyh-i müşârün-ileyhi Amasya’dan kaldırtıp İstanbul’a ve oradan da Harput’a nefyen göndermeğe bâ’is-i müstakil oldu. Bu sûretle hem Amasya ulemâsını kendisine minnetdar etdi. Hem de sultân-ı müşârün-ileyhin teveccüh ü iltifâtını kazandı.
1303 senesi şa’bânında Amasya Müftüsü Sofizâde Mehmed Hulûsî Efendi’nin vefâtına binâ’en Hacı Hamza Efendi meselesinde kendisine mû’in olan Batumlu Gürcü Osmân Efendi’yi Amasya Müftüsü nasb etdirdi. Bundan sonra Dırağiyye [764] Medresesi ittisâlinde aldığı cesîm bahçede Yeşilırmak üzerinde bir değirmen yaptırdığı esnâda 1306 senesi cumâdelûlâsının beşinci cumartesi günü vakt-i duhâda füc’eten vefât etdi.
Âlim, müşârik-i ulûm, nâfizü’l-kelim, beşûş, mükrim, nâtıka-perdâz, tab’an müteharrik, satranç oyununda mâhir, orta boylu, tıknaz, âlî-himmet, sahî bir zât idi. Cenazesi mu’azzam bir ihtifâl ile Sultân Bâyezîd’e getirilip nâmazını Müftü Osmân Efendi kıldırdı. Ba’dehû aynı ihtifâl ile kaldırılıp parmak üzerinde pederinin türbesine götürüldü. Eniştesi Hacı İsa Efendi’nin yanına defnedildi.
Şeyhülislâm Uryânîzâde Ahmed Esat Efendi’nin vefâtında Şeyhülislâm olacağını ümit ederdi. Bu durumu Ömer Lütfi Efendi’nin meşîhatı kendisini pek müte’essir etmişdi. Müte’âkiben vefâtı, derece-i te’essürünü gösterdi. Merhûmun bu te’essürü, Osmanlı târîhine ve Osmanlı Pâdişâhlarının an’anevî ruhuyâtına vâkıf olmadığını göstermektedir.
Osmanlı pâdişâhlarının hal’ine teşebbüs ve hizmet edenleri halefleri asla sevmezler, işbaşına getirmezler. Mümkün [765] olduğu kadar İstanbul’dan uzaklaşdırırlar. Hele mübâşeret edenleri er geç her halde i’dâm iderler. Sultân Osmân-ı Sânî, Sultân İbrâhim, Sultân Mustafa Sânî, Sultân Ahmed-i Sâlis, Sultân Selîm-i Sâlis vak’alarında zî-medhal olanların akıbetleri târîhen ma’lûmdur.
Şâyân-ı hayretdir ki birâderi Mehmed Rüşdü Paşa, ser-asker Hüseyin Avni Paşa’nın hal’ teklifine karşı cevab-ı red verdiğinden dolayı sadâret-i uzmâyı fedâ ederek nimet-şinaslık gösterdi. Kendisi tedkikât-ı şer’iyye riyâseti uğrunda bu hal’i kabûl ederek ahz-ı sâre kalkıştı. Bunun da akıbetini gördü.
Mahdûmları Siraceddîn İsmâil, Halid Ziya, Mehmed Cemal, İbrâhim Beylerdir. Siraceddîn Bey, mahrec-i mevâlîden olup mahkeme-i hukûk re’isi iken meşrûtiyyeti müte’âkib 1326’da bilâ-veled vefât etdi. Konağı yanıb gitdi. Halid Ziya Bey mîr-âlây olup Nâfi’a nezâreti hey’et-i fenniyesinden iken karısı olan Alman bir kadının si’âyesiyle 1325’de Konya’ya nefy edildi. Altı mâh sonra orada [766] vefât etdi.
Mehmed Cemal Bey evkâf müdürlüklerinde hayli zaman dolaşıp şu kardeşlerinden evvel bilâ-veled vefât etdi. İbrâhim Bey tıbbiyye-i askeriyyeden muharrec bir doktor iken şu’ûr ve dimağı muhtel olduğu halde genç yaşında fevt oldu. Yalnız Halid Ziya Bey’in amcası Mehmed Rüşdü Paşazâde Hakkı Bey’in kerîmesinden mütevellîd Mehmed Fu’ad Bey adlı bir mahdûmu kaldı. Ceddînin metrûkâtına vâris oldu.
In Modern English
He was a native of Amasya. He was the third son of Şirvânî Hacı Sirâceddin İsmail Efendi, one of the great Naqshbandi sheikhs, who is buried in Amasya; he was born in 1249 [1833-34]. His mother was the daughter of Seyyid Abdürrahim Efendi of Amasya, of the Akifzade family, inspector of the imperial waqfs; his status as seyyid comes from his mother's side.
He studied under Şirvânî Hacı Mustafa Efendi in Amasya and went to Istanbul in 1268 [1851-52]. There he completed his studies under Şehrî Hâfız Ahmed Efendi and received a license and the authority to teach publicly. In 1274 [1857-58] he became a professor with imperial ruûs, and in 1276 [1859-60] he entered the fatwa office and became a müsevvid (drafter).
In 1281 [1864-65] he became a member of the waqf inspection council. In Cemaziyelevvel 1282 [1865], when his brother Mehmed Rüştü Pasha came to Istanbul as minister of the imperial waqfs, his influence and standing rose. In 1283 [1866-67] he became a member of the Council of State, and in Muharrem 1284 [1867] he became Molla of Galata. On the first day of Receb of the same year he was honored with the rank of Haremeyn.
In 1285 [1868-69], as a member of the Divan of Judicial Ordinances, he entered the learned commission of the Mecelle. In 1288 [1871-72] he became mufti of the Military Council with the rank of Istanbul; in Muharrem 1291 [1874] he became qadi of Istanbul. Soon afterwards he was honored with the rank of Anatolian Kazasker.
In Receb 1292 [1875], when his adversary Mehmed Nedim Pasha became grand vizier, he was dismissed at once. In Rebiülevvel 1293 [1876] he joined the reform-minded Midhat Pasha and Ziya and Namık Kemal Beys and took his place at the head of those who stirred up the students and urged them to revolt to bring about the dismissal of the grand vizier mentioned. He achieved his aim; when Mütercim Mehmed Rüştü Pasha came to the grand vizierate he became president of the Council for the Selection of Judges and of the Council of Sharia Investigations.
In Şaban 1293 [1876], because his service and zeal in the deposition of Sultan Abdülaziz Han had stood out, he was marked as a target at the accession of Sultan Abdülhamid II. In Muharrem 1294 [1877], when Midhat Pasha was removed from the grand vizierate and sent into exile, he was sent in Receb of the same year [1877] to Kabul as ambassador to Afghanistan, remaining president of his council.
In Zilhicce 1295 [1878], on his return from Kabul, the gifts the Afghan ruler had sent to Sultan Abdülhamid were granted to him. At the beginning of 1296 [1879] he was appointed naib of the central district of the province of Diyarbekir and sent to Diyarbekir. In this way he was removed from Istanbul.
At the beginning of 1298 [1880] he was dismissed from the naibship as well and ordered to reside in Amasya. In Amasya, in his mansion in the Eski Kethüdâ quarter, he received the salary and high allowances due to a kazasker and passed his life in peace and comfort. But he could never get on with Hacı Hamza Nigârî Efendi, a student and deputy of his father.
In 1301 [1883-84], by attributing to Hacı Hamza Efendi things he could not have done, he made Sultan Abdülhamid deeply suspicious; thus he was the sole cause of the sheikh mentioned being removed from Amasya and exiled to Istanbul and from there to Harput. In this way he put the scholars of Amasya under obligation to him and also won the favor and goodwill of the sultan mentioned.
In Şaban 1303 [1886], on the death of the mufti of Amasya, Sofizade Mehmed Hulûsî Efendi, he had Osman Efendi, a Georgian from Batumi who had helped him in the matter of Hacı Hamza Efendi, appointed mufti of Amasya. After that, while he was having a mill built on the Yeşilırmak in the large garden he had bought next to the Dırağiyye Madrasa, he died suddenly in the forenoon of the fifth Saturday of Cemaziyelevvel 1306.
He was a scholar, a sharer in the sciences, a man whose word carried weight, cheerful, hospitable, skilled in speech, restless by nature, expert at chess, of medium height, stocky, high-minded and generous. His funeral was brought to the mosque of Sultan Bayezid in a great procession, and the prayer was led by Mufti Osman Efendi. Then it was lifted in the same procession and carried on hands to the tomb of his father. He was buried beside his brother-in-law Hacı İsa Efendi.
On the death of the şeyhülislam Uryânîzade Ahmed Esat Efendi he had hoped to become şeyhülislam. Ömer Lütfi Efendi's appointment as şeyhülislam affected him deeply. His death soon afterwards showed the degree of his distress. This distress of the deceased shows that he was not versed in Ottoman history or in the traditional temper of the Ottoman sultans.
The successors of Ottoman sultans never like those who attempted or served in their deposition, and never bring them to office. They keep them away from Istanbul as far as possible. As for those who carried it out in person, they put them to death sooner or later in every case. The fates of those who had a hand in the affairs of Sultan Osman II, Sultan İbrahim, Sultan Mustafa II, Sultan Ahmed III and Sultan Selim III are known from history.
It is astonishing that his brother Mehmed Rüşdü Pasha, because he refused the offer of the commander-in-chief Hüseyin Avni Pasha to depose the sultan, sacrificed the grand vizierate and showed loyalty. He himself, for the sake of the presidency of the Sharia Investigations, accepted this deposition and set about taking revenge. He too saw the end of it.
His sons were Siraceddin İsmail, Halid Ziya, Mehmed Cemal and İbrahim Beys. Siraceddin Bey, of the mahrec-i mevâlî rank, died childless in 1326 [1908-09] after the Constitution, while president of the Court of Law. His mansion burned down. Halid Ziya Bey became a colonel and, while a member of the technical commission of the Ministry of Public Works, was exiled to Konya in 1325 [1907-08] on the denunciation of his wife, a German woman. Six months later he died there.
Mehmed Cemal Bey moved about for a good while in waqf directorates and died childless before these brothers. İbrahim Bey, a doctor who had graduated from the military medical school, died young with his reason and mind disordered. Only Halid Ziya Bey had a son left, called Mehmed Fuad Bey, born of the daughter of Hakkı Bey, son of Halid Ziya's uncle Mehmed Rüşdü Pasha. He inherited the estate of his forefathers.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- kibâr-ı meşâyih: great sheikhs
- mücâz ve ders-i âm: licensed and entitled to teach the public
- bâ-rü'ûs-i hümâyûn müderris: a professor granted the ruûs (license to teach) by imperial approval
- fetvâ-hâne müsevvidi: official who drafted fatwas in the fatwa office of the şeyhülislam
- Galata Molla'sı: qadi of Galata; one of the ranks of the learned hierarchy
- Haremeyn pâyesi: the rank of qadi of Mecca and Medina, granted without an actual post
- Anadolu Kazaskerliği: the Anatolian military judgeship, one of the highest positions of the learned class
- ma'zûl: dismissed from office
- teceddüd-perver: favoring renewal, reform-minded
- nefy: exile
- tevhîm: casting suspicion, arousing misgiving
- me'mûr-ı ikâmet: ordered to reside in a particular place (forced residence)
- nâtık-perdâz: skilled in speech
- mahrec-i mevâlî: one of the ranks of the professorial ladder
- bilâ-veled: childless
- Paşazâde: son of a pasha
The Şirvânî Family and Amasya
Ahmed Hulûsî Efendi's father, İsmail Sirâceddin Şirvânî, was a sheikh of the Khalidi branch of the Naqshbandi order. After the Shirvan Khanate passed under Russian rule, his family came from the village of Kürdemir in Shirvan first to Akhaltsikhe and in 1827 to Anatolia. After staying four years in Amasya he moved to Sivas, lived there nine years, and then returned to Amasya. His brother Mehmed Rüşdü Pasha was born in Amasya, was appointed director of waqfs in Amasya in 1853, and then rose in Istanbul after drawing the attention of Fuad Pasha. Ahmed Hulûsî's steps in Istanbul also quickened with this brother's rise; the text states this plainly. The information that his mother was the daughter of Seyyid Abdürrahim Efendi of Amasya, of the Akifzade family, and that his status as seyyid came from his mother's side, could not be verified in other sources.
The Steps of His Career
The steps Hüsameddin gives largely coincide with the encyclopedic biography. His Galata mollaship corresponds to Muharrem 1284, that is, May 1867; his Istanbul judgeship is 1874. In the work on the Mecelle he bore a seal as a member of the Divan of Judicial Ordinances, and in the first five books of the Mecelle he appears under this title. In later books he appears as mufti of the Military Council, qadi of the capital, and president of the Council of Sharia Investigations and the Council for the Selection of Judges; these agree with the posts Hüsameddin lists. He left no independent work.
The embassy to Afghanistan was given in 1877, during the Russian war. Its aim was to have Afghanistan attack Russia and help the Ottoman state, and at the same time enter into relations with Britain. The envoy went by way of India with his confidential secretary Mektûbîzâde Ahmed Bahâî Efendi and others, managed to reach Kabul in August, and was received by Emir Shir Ali Khan after many difficulties. The desired result was not obtained, and the mission handed over the sultan's letter and gifts and returned. On his return he was appointed naib of Diyarbekir (the encyclopedia says 1878, Hüsameddin the beginning of 1296 [1879]), two years later he was ordered to reside in Amasya, and he died there on 17 January 1889. There is a difference in the day between Hüsameddin's "fifth Saturday of Cemaziyelevvel" and the encyclopedia's record of 15 Cemaziyelevvel 1306 (17 January 1889); the year and month agree.
The Exile and End of Mehmed Rüşdü Pasha
The "brother" of the text, Mehmed Rüşdü Pasha, became grand vizier in the spring of 1873 and was dismissed in February 1874. According to the sources, when the commander-in-chief Hüseyin Avni Pasha raised the matter of deposing Sultan Abdülaziz, Rüşdü Pasha would not go along with the idea, and Hüseyin Avni Pasha then set about removing him from Istanbul. Hüsameddin's sentence "he sacrificed the grand vizierate" agrees with this account. Rüşdü Pasha died at Taif on his way to the governorship of Jeddah (13 September 1874); in some accounts it is said that he was poisoned by men of Hüseyin Avni Pasha, but it is also written that he died of a feverish illness in the garden of the emir of Mecca. Earlier, in 1871, he had been dismissed from the ministry of finance and on 30 October ordered to reside in Amasya, and was pardoned in July 1872. Both brothers thus spent part of their lives in forced residence in Amasya.
The Events of 1876
The text describes Ahmed Hulûsî's role in the removal of Mahmud Nedim Pasha from the grand vizierate. Under the influence of Midhat Pasha and Hüseyin Avni Pasha, who wanted to remove Mahmud Nedim Pasha and seize power, the madrasa students of Istanbul rose up; the demonstrators demanded the dismissal of the şeyhülislam and the grand vizier, and as the crowd grew Mahmud Nedim Pasha was removed from the grand vizierate on 11 May 1876. Hüsameddin writes the month of the event as Rebiülevvel; since May 1876 corresponds to Rebiülahir in the Hijri calendar, there may be a small slip in the month. Ahmed Hulûsî's role in these events, and the names of Ziya and Namık Kemal Beys, could not be verified in other sources.
The Nigârî Affair
Hacı Hamza Nigârî, a disciple of İsmail Şirvânî, was born in Karabakh and built up a wide circle in Amasya and Merzifon. According to what Hüsameddin relates, Ahmed Hulûsî attributed to him, before the sultan, things that were not true and caused his exile. The exile is described as follows in the encyclopedia entry: people disturbed by Nigârî's conversations and poems drew up a petition asking that he be removed from Amasya, claiming that he could revolt with his many disciples, and complained to the Sublime Porte. Nigârî left Merzifon on 28 February 1885, reached Harput, the place of exile, on 30 May 1885, and died there in September 1886. His body was brought to Amasya according to his will, and in 1894 the Şirvanlı Mosque was built on the site of his grave. Hüsameddin gives the date of the exile as 1301 [1883-84]; the encyclopedia has 1885. The name of Ahmed Hulûsî is not mentioned in the encyclopedia; his role could not be verified outside this entry.
Hüsameddin's Commentary
In the last part of the entry the author presents Ahmed Hulûsî's hope for the office of şeyhülislam and the fate of those who took part in depositions like a lesson from history. The fates of those who took part in the deposition or death of the sultans listed here are Hüsameddin's own interpretation and have not been verified separately here.
The Family in Other Sources
No information could be found in other sources about his sons Siraceddin İsmail, Halid Ziya, Mehmed Cemal and İbrahim Beys, nor about Osman Efendi of Batumi or Sofizade Mehmed Hulûsî Efendi. The present state of the Dırağiyye Madrasa and of the mansion in the Eski Kethüdâ quarter could not be verified.
Bibliography