Amasyalıdır. “Fidan Hekîm” demekle meşhûr olan Koptu oğludur. Pederi hekîm iken Fünûn-i Tıbbiyye’yi pek güzel öğrendi. Amasya’da bir eczâhâne açıp “Attar Bâlî” diye şöhret buldu. Ed’iye satar, hastalara bakar fukarâya meccânen ilaçlar verirdi.
Gâyet mizâç-gîr, umûr-âşinâ bir hekîm olduğundan erkân ve halkın muhabbetini kazandı. Bu sayede hayli servet edindi. Emrâz-ı asabiyyede ihtisâsı olup 1091’de pederinin yerine Amasya Dârüşşifâsı tabîbi oldu. On dört yıl hastaları ve mürâcaat edenleri tedâvi ederek 1129’da vefât etdi.
Amasya’da Öz hekîm lakabını almış, mâhir, sahî, âlî-cenâb, bir insan idi. İlacından ziyâde tatlı sözü müessir idi. Yerine çırağı Asâr Bâlî Efendi Dârüşşifâ tabîbi oldu.
In Modern English
He is from Amasya. He is the son of Koptu, who was famous as "Fidan Hekim" (Fidan the Physician). Since his father was a physician, he learned the medical sciences very well. He opened an apothecary shop in Amasya and became known as "Attar Bâlî." He sold medicines, treated the sick, and gave medicines to the poor free of charge.
Because he was a physician who understood people's temperaments and knew his affairs well, he won the affection of the notables and the people. In this way he acquired a good deal of wealth. He had a specialty in nervous diseases, and in 1091 [1680] he became physician of the Amasya Dârüşşifâ in his father's place. After treating the sick and those who came to him for fourteen years, he died in 1129 [1716-17].
In Amasya he had received the nickname "Öz Hekim" (the True Physician). He was a skilled, generous and noble-hearted man. His kind word was more effective than his medicine. His apprentice, Asâr Bâlî Efendi, became physician of the Dârüşşifâ in his place.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- hekîm: physician, doctor
- Fünûn-i Tıbbiyye: the medical sciences
- eczâhâne: pharmacy
- ed'iye: medicines
- fukarâ: the poor
- meccânen: free of charge
- mizâç-gîr: one who grasps a person's temperament
- umûr-âşinâ: familiar with affairs, knowing the world
- erkân: notables
- emrâz-ı asabiyye: nervous diseases
- Dârüşşifâ: hospital, house of healing
- sahî: generous
- âlî-cenâb: noble-hearted
- müessir: effective
The Physician's Workplace: The Amasya Dârüşşifâ
According to its inscription, the Amasya Dârüşşifâ, that is the Bimarhane, was built in 1308 by Anber b. Abdullah in the name of the Ilkhanid ruler Olcaytu and his wife İldız Hatun. The building follows the classical Seljuk madrasa plan: two iwans facing each other, and beyond them a courtyard divided by arches and additional vaulted rooms. Almost all of the decoration is concentrated on the monumental portal set high in the facade. A medical school as well as a hospital, the building became a center of applied medical training and has been described as the first institution in which patients were treated with music and the sound of water. It is reported that the renowned surgeon Sabuncuoğlu Şerefeddin was trained here; his illustrated work Cerrahiyyetü'l-İlhâniyye was presented to Mehmed the Conqueror.
The building was badly damaged in the 1939 earthquake and was last restored in 1992-1997. Today it is used as the municipal music academy, one of its halls houses a museum of Turkish musical instruments, and two concerts a week are given in its courtyard. The building in which Attar Bâlî began serving as physician in 1091 therefore still stands today and continues its own musical tradition.
Points to Note in the Information Hüsameddin Gives
The text says that Bâlî Efendi became physician of the Dârüşşifâ in 1091, worked for fourteen years, and died in 1129. Yet thirty-eight years lie between 1091 and 1129; either "fourteen years" covers only one part of his career, or one of the dates has been read differently. Hüsameddin does not explain this contradiction, and we could not find a source to resolve it. The heading of the entry says "Son of İskender," while the text says that Bâlî was the son of Koptu, who was famous as "Fidan Hekim." We found no source that clarifies the relationship between the name "İskender" in the heading and the name "Koptu" in the text.
This Physician in Other Sources
In our searches no information on Fidan Hekim, Attar Bâlî or his apprentice Asâr Bâlî Efendi was found in other sources. The physicians mentioned in the sources describing the Amasya Dârüşşifâ are names from an earlier period, such as Sabuncuoğlu. Hüsameddin's record thus remains the only detailed account we have of these physicians.
Bibliography