Amasya a’yânından ve sülâle-i Selçukiyyeden Sa’îd Çelebi bin Mes’ûd Bey bin Sultân Rükneddîn Kılıçarslan Şâh bin Mes’ûd Çelebi bin Sultân Tâceddîn Altunbaş Gâzi Çelebi bin Sultân Gıyâseddîn Mes’ûd Şâh bin Sultân İzzeddîn Keykâvus-ı Selçukî mahdûmudur.²¹
Seng-i mezârında mahkûk olduğu üzere 811’de Amasya’da [386] doğdu. Pederinin vefâtında bi’l-cümle metrûkâtına vâris olup ağır ze’âmetle taltîf edildi. Servet ü sâmânını ticâretle tenmiye ederek meşâhîr-i ağniyâdan ve Sultân Bâyezîd-i Sânî’nin hâce-i kurenâsından oldu.
880’de Amasya’nın Dârü’s-Selâm Mahallesi üstünde mu’azzam bir hângâh ve misâfir-hâne ve imâret binâ ederek meşâhîr-i meşâyîh-i kirâmdan Çelebi Halîfe demekle meşhûr eş-Şeyh Cemâleddîn Mehmed bin Mahmûd el-Halvetî’yi oraya şeyh nasb etdi. Vakfiyesini de tanzîm ederek emlâk ü akârâtını oraya vakf ve mahdûmu Mes’ûd Şâh Çelebi’yi mütevellî nasb eyledi.
888’de dâr-ı na’îme irtihâl eyledi. Pâdişâh ile halk arasında pek muhterem, sahî, me’ârif-perver bir zât idi. Zâviyesinin kapısı önünde medfûndur. Orta taşı mevcûd olup baş ve ayak taşları hayli arandığı hâlde bulunamadı.
Zâviyesi harâb olup arsası üstüne bir Ermeni hâne yaptırmış olduğu nazar-ı dikkatimi celb etdi. Hâne sâhibinin müsâdesiyle bahçesini aradım. Yarım arşın kadar yükseklikde olan bahçe duvarının bir köşesinde o taşları bulup çıkardım. [387] Baş taşında Şemseddîn Ahmed bin Sa’îd ismi mahkûk ve altında târîh-i tevellüdü olan 811 senesi rakamla yazılmış ve ayak taşında târîh-i vefâtı olan 888 senesi Arapça hakk edilmiş gördüm ve aynen yazmıştım. Hayfâ ki Taş Musluk harîkinde yandı. Hâtırımda bu kadar kaldı.
Bu zâviyenin vakfiyesi Zanalızâdelerden birinin elinde olduğunu öğrendim ise de ma’alesef ne o kimseyi ne de vakfiyesini göremedim. Kuyûd-ı vakfiyeden öğrendiğime göre tevliyeti evlâdına ve nezâreti ilk şeyhi olan müşârün-ileyhin evlâdına meşrût olduğu anlaşıldı.
1092’de tevliyeti züamâdan Veli Bey’e tevcîh edilmişdi. Sâdât-ı ulemâdan Zanalı es-Seyyid el-Hâc Ahmed Efendi tevliyeti bundan alıp 1099’da sânîyen Veli Bey’e verildi. Ba’dehû sânîyen yine Hacı Ahmed Efendi mütevellî oldu. 1097’de tekkenin şeyhi ve nâzırı olan eş-Şeyh Mehmed Efendi’nin vefâtıyla nezâreti de kendisine tevcîh etdirmişdi. Zâviye, Zanalızâdelerin tevliyet ü nezâretinde yanıp arsa olarak satılmıştır. Vâridâtı kurâ ve mezâri’dir. [388]
In Modern English
He was the son of Saîd Çelebi, one of the notables of Amasya, of Seljuk descent. The lineage of Saîd Çelebi is as follows: Saîd Çelebi son of Mesûd Bey son of Sultan Rükneddîn Kılıçarslan Shah son of Mesûd Çelebi son of Sultan Tâceddîn Altunbaş Gâzi Çelebi son of Sultan Gıyâseddîn Mesûd Shah son of the Seljuk Sultan İzzeddîn Keykâvus.
According to what is carved on his gravestone, he was born in Amasya in 811 [1408-09]. When his father died he inherited all his estate and was rewarded with a large zeamet. Increasing his wealth and property through trade, he became one of the well-known rich men and one of the teachers in the close circle of Sultan Bayezid II.
In 880 [1475-76] he had a large hankah, a guesthouse, and an imaret built on the upper side of the Dârüsselâm quarter of Amasya; he appointed as sheikh there one of the well-known great sheikhs, eş-Şeyh Cemâleddîn Mehmed bin Mahmûd el-Halvetî, known as Çelebi Halîfe. He also drew up its waqf deed, endowing his properties and income-yielding real estate to it, and appointed his son Mesûd Şah Çelebi as mütevelli.
In 888 [1483] he departed for the abode of eternal bliss. He was a man highly respected both before the sultan and among the people, generous, and a lover of learning and wisdom. He is buried in front of the door of his zaviye. The middle stone of his grave is in place; the head and foot stones, though sought for a long time, could not be found.
It caught my attention that his zaviye had fallen into ruin and that an Armenian had built a house on its plot. With the house owner's permission I searched his garden. In one corner of the garden wall, about half an arşın high, I found those stones and took them out. I saw that the name "Şemseddîn Ahmed bin Saîd" was carved on the head stone, with the year 811, his date of birth, written below it in numerals, and that the year 888, his date of death, was engraved in Arabic on the foot stone, and I recorded it as it was. Unfortunately this record burned in the Taş Musluk fire. This much remained in my memory.
Although I learned that the waqf deed of this zaviye was in the hands of one of the Zanalızâdes, I unfortunately could see neither that person nor the deed. From the waqf records I learned that the tevliyet (waqf administration) of the zaviye was stipulated for his own descendants and its nezaret (supervision) for the descendants of Çelebi Halîfe, its first sheikh.
In 1092 [1681] the tevliyet had been given to Veli Bey, one of the zeamet holders. Zanalı es-Seyyid el-Hâc Ahmed Efendi, one of the seyyid scholars, took the tevliyet from him; in 1099 [1687-88] the tevliyet was given to Veli Bey a second time. Then Hacı Ahmed Efendi again became mütevelli a second time. When eş-Şeyh Mehmed Efendi, who was sheikh and nâzır of the tekke, died in 1097 [1686], Hacı Ahmed Efendi had also taken the nezaret upon himself. The zaviye burned while under the tevliyet and nezaret of the Zanalızâdes and was sold as a plot. Its revenues came from villages and mezras.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- a'yân: the notables of the city
- sülâle-i Selçukiyye: the Seljuk dynastic line
- seng-i mezâr: gravestone; mahkûk: carved
- metrûkât: the property a deceased person leaves, inheritance
- ze'âmet: a revenue assignment larger than a timar, land whose income is granted in return for state service; "ağır ze'âmet" a zeamet of large income
- tenmiye: increasing, multiplying
- meşâhîr-i ağniyâ: well-known rich men
- hâce-i kurenâ: one of the teachers in the close circle of the ruler
- hângâh: tekke, a building where dervishes lodge; imâret: a public kitchen where food is distributed to the poor
- nasb etmek: to appoint
- emlâk ü akârât: properties and income-yielding real estate
- mütevellî: the person who runs a waqf; tevliyet: waqf administration; nezâret: supervision of a waqf
- dâr-ı na'îm: paradise; "dâr-ı na'îme irtihâl" means to die
- sahî: generous; me'ârif-perver: a lover of learning and wisdom
- hayfâ ki: alas; harîk: fire
- meşrût: stipulated as a condition
- tevcîh: granting an office to someone
- vâridât: revenues; kurâ ve mezâri': villages and cultivated fields
The Hoca Sultan Zaviye
The most lasting mark the subject of this entry left in Amasya is the zaviye that the people call "Hoca Sultan" after his nickname. In the first volume Hüsameddin describes the zaviye's location as the place on the upper side of the Dârüsselâm quarter where, in his own time, houses surrounded the east and south sides of the spot where the grave lay, and he names its founder as Şemseddîn Ahmed Çelebi, who was "hoca-i sultânî" (the sultan's teacher) during Sultan Bayezid's governorship of Amasya. The zaviye's name comes from this title. Kadir Özköse, who studied the Khalwati tekkes, also writes that the building was built in 880 [1475] by Şemseddin Ahmed Çelebi, who had been tutor to Prince Bayezid in Amasya, that its sheikhship was given to Çelebi Halîfe, and he notes that the place was in the old Dârüsselâm quarter, around today's Fethiye quarter.
The sheikhs of the zaviye came from the line of Çelebi Halîfe for more than a century. When Çelebi Halîfe was summoned to Istanbul, his son Bedreddin Mahmud Çelebi took his place; then Hayreddin Hızır Çelebi, Muhyiddin Mehmed Çelebi, and Alâeddin Çelebi became sheikh in turn. Later the sheikhship began to be given to leading scholars as a retirement post, while the administration of the waqf remained with the Çelebizâdes. The grave of Bedreddin Mahmud Çelebi is around today's Fethiye quarter. At the beginning of the seventeenth century, it is known that when the sheikh Rasul Efendi was found to owe a debt in the waqf accounting, he was removed from office in 1017 [1608] and Pîr Mehmed Efendi was put in his place.
The end of the zaviye is tied to the dispute over the tevliyet that Hüsameddin describes. According to Özköse, when the Çelebizâdes line came to an end in Amasya in 1686, a member of the Zanalı family became the tekke's sheikh and mütevelli; at his death in 1729 his son Abdullah Efendi, and then Abdullah Efendi's sons Mahmud, Ömer, Osman, Ahmed, Mehmed, and Hüseyin Çelebi, held the tekke until 1759; at their father's death the tekke was divided among them as inheritance and its activity ended. While Özköse calls this Zanalı "Mehmet Efendi," Hüsameddin says "Zanalı es-Seyyid Ahmed Efendi" both in this entry and in the first volume; since the death date of 1141 [1729] that Hüsameddin gives in the first volume matches Özköse's date, it is understood that the person in question is the same. In another record of Hüsameddin it is also seen that this Zanalı Seyyid Hacı Ahmed Efendi was twice appointed mufti of Amasya, as nakîb kaymakamı, müderris of the Atabeg Madrasa, and mütevelli of the Hoca Sultan Tekke.
Çelebi Halîfe
Çelebi Halîfe, the first sheikh of the zaviye, is Cemâl-i Halvetî, the founder of the Cemâliyye branch of the Khalwatiyya. His full name is Ebü'l-Füyûzât Muhammed b. Hamîdüddin b. Mahmûd el-Aksarâyî. Although some sources write that he was born in Amasya, most give his birthplace as Aksaray. He first attached himself to the Zeyniyye sheikh Seyyid Abdullah el-Kastamonî, then to Abdullah Karamânî in Karaman and to Ümmî Şeyh Tâhirzâde in Tokat; when he set out to go to Yahyâ-yı Şirvânî, the second pir of the Khalwatiyya, he received news of his death and took his icazet (license) from Şirvânî's caliph Muhammed Erzincânî, known as Molla Pîrî. After spending some time in guidance in Amasya, he went to Istanbul at the invitation of Bayezid II and Koca Mustafa Pasha, and was remembered as the sheikh who performed the first Khalwati ayin (ritual) in Istanbul. His meeting Bayezid during the latter's governorship, and the governor's kapıcıbaşı (head of palace gatekeepers) Mustafa Ağa, later Koca Mustafa Pasha, becoming his disciple, formed the basis of his standing in Istanbul. Özköse records that the Bayezid II Complex in Amasya was also built in 1485 at the request of Cemal Halife to the sultan. Çelebi Halîfe died near Tebük in 899 [1494] while on the pilgrimage.
That Hoca Sultan founded the zaviye in 880 and gave the sheikhship to Çelebi Halîfe is a concrete indication of the closeness between Prince Bayezid's court and the Khalwati circle. The waqf condition that Hüsameddin recorded, that the nezaret be left to the descendants of Çelebi Halîfe, is also consistent with the list of sheikhs that Özköse conveys.
The Question of Seljuk Descent
Hüsameddin ties the subject of the entry to the Anatolian Seljuk dynasty and writes in a footnote that he learned this chain of descent from waqf records, that Kılıçarslan Shah, who was martyred in Sivas, had three sons named Mesud, Âzer, and Ali Koç, and that Ali Koç Bey had a son named Hüseyin Bey. The top two links of the chain agree with known history: Gıyâseddin Mesud II, the last sultan of the Anatolian Seljuks, was the son of İzzeddin Keykâvus II; when his father could not hold out against the Mongols he went with him to Istanbul and from there to Crimea, came to Sinop after his father's death, and ascended the throne with Ilkhanid support, and died in Kayseri in 1308.
The lower links of the chain are peculiar to Hüsameddin. About Tâceddin Altunbaş, shown as the son of Mesud, and his sons, Hüsameddin gave information in the second and third volumes of the Amasya Tarihi and in an article titled "Sultan Altunbaş." Zerrin Günal Öden, writing on Mesud II, notes that the information Hüsameddin gives should be treated with caution because he often does not cite sources. For this reason too, the claim that Hoca Sultan descended from the Seljuks remains a transmission by Hüsameddin based on waqf records, not yet verified by another source.
The Gravestones
The liveliest part of the entry is the lines in which Hüsameddin found the lost gravestones. According to the dates of 811 and 888 given by the stones, Şemseddin Ahmed Çelebi lived about 77 years; when he founded the zaviye he was in his late sixties. Hüsameddin noted the inscriptions on the stones, but his notes burned in the Taş Musluk fire. No information was found on where the stones are today.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 123–124. amasya.bel.tr
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, vol. 1, Mukaddime (Hoca Sultan Tekke; Tomb of Bedreddîn Mahmûd Çelebi); Supplement to vol. 4 (entry "Mirzâ Alî Bey").
Academic studies
- Zerrin Günal Öden, "Türkiye Selçuklu Sultanı II. Gıyaseddin Mesud Hakkında Bazı Görüşler", Belleten, 61/231, 1997.
Books
- Kadir Özköse, "Amasya'da Bulunan Halvetiyye Tekkeleri", Akademiar, 5, 2018, p. 91-118.
- Mehmet Serhan Tayşi, "Cemâl-i Halvetî", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 7, 1993, p. 302-303.
- Muharrem Kesik, "Mesud II", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 29, 2004, p. 342-344.