Çemişgezeklidir. Amasya’da Hazret-i Pîr İlyâs Halvetî hâdimi ve mürîd-i hâssı olup Şükrûllâh oğludur. Pîr-i müşârün-ileyhin tedrîs ve iftâ zamanından i’tibâren hizmetinde tahsîl-i me’ârif edib hilâfet aldı. Vefâtından sonra vatanına gidip yirmi yıl orada oturdu.
Ba’dehû şeyhinin işâreti üzerine avdet edib hazret-i pîrin hafîdi olan Pîr Celâleddîn Abdurrahmân Çelebi bin Pîr Hüsamedin Hüseyin Çelebi’yi irşâda me’mûr oldu. Pîr Celâl Çelebi’ye hilâfet verdikten sonra 836’da vefât etdi. Hazret-i Pîr’in Türbesi hâricinde medfûndur.
Âlî Bey “Künhü’l-Ahbâr”ında şu ma’lûmâtı verdikten sonra Hazret-i Pîr’in diğer ahfâdı hakkında hayli ma’lûmât [420] veriyor. Sırası geldikçe yazılır. Tabî’î tetebbu’âtım da ilâve edilir. Baba Ali, zâhid, mazınne-i kerâmet bir zât idi.
In Modern English
He was from Çemişgezek. In Amasya he was the servant and special disciple of the venerable Pîr İlyâs Halvetî, and was the son of Şükrullah. From the time of the said pîr's teaching and issuing of fatwas, he learned in his service and received the caliphate. After the Pîr's death he went to his homeland and lived there for twenty years.
Then, on a sign from his sheikh, he returned and was appointed to guide Pîr Celâleddîn Abdurrahmân Çelebi, son of Pîr Hüsâmeddîn Hüseyin Çelebi and a grandson of the venerable pîr. After giving the caliphate to Pîr Celâl Çelebi, he died in 836 [1432-33]. He is buried outside (around) the tomb of the venerable Pîr.
After giving this information in his work Künhü'l-Ahbâr, Âlî Bey gives a good deal of information about the other grandsons of the venerable Pîr. It will be written as its turn comes. My own research will be added too. Baba Ali was an ascetic, a person of whom miracles are told.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- hâdim: servant, one who serves
- mürîd-i hâss: the sheikh's special disciple
- tedrîs ve iftâ: teaching and issuing fatwas
- tahsîl-i me'ârif: acquiring learning and knowledge
- hilâfet: the sheikh's authorisation of his student to teach the order in his name
- hafîd: grandson
- irşâd: showing the right path, giving Sufi training
- ahfâd: grandsons
- tabî'î tetebbu'ât: my own researches
- zâhid: one who keeps away from worldly pleasures
- mazınne-i kerâmet: one of whom miracles are told, from whom miracles are expected
Pîr İlyâs Halvetî and Amasya
The entry of the Halvetiyye order into Anatolia is attributed to Pîr İlyas of Amasya, one of the caliphs of Sadreddîn-i Hiyâvî. According to Kadir Özköse, Pîr Şücâaddin İlyas returned to Amasya in 1406 on the death of Timur; his kinsman Hâce Celâl Çelebi, a year after the sheikh's arrival, had the Gümüşlüoğlu Tekke built and placed it at the order's service. Özköse says that the first place where the Halvetiyye took root in Ottoman lands was Amasya; many Halvetî sheikhs were also trained in the city. The Pîr İlyâs of the text is this Halvetî sheikh; he and the Baba İlyâs Horasanî described earlier are separate persons in their periods and in their orders.
The Çilehâne Tekke
The Yâkub Paşa (Çilehâne) Tekke in the Pîrler quarter of Amasya was built and endowed in 815 [1412] by Pazarlıoğlu Yâkub Pasha, Beylerbeyi of Ankara, for the mufti Gümüşlüzâde Abdurrahman Çelebi. The tekke's waqf deed is dated February 1413 and was registered by the Kadı of Amasya, Mevlânâ Rükneddin Mahmud, known as Sarı Kadı. Because many Halvetî sheikhs were trained there, the tekke was called the "Dervish Factory". The building was damaged in earthquakes; the part damaged in the Erzincan earthquake of 1939 was repaired in 1967, and M. Baha Tanman writes that it is one of the rare Sufi buildings to have reached the present day in its original early Ottoman form. The Pîr Celâleddîn Abdurrahmân Çelebi named in the text is among the sheikhs of this tekke: in the succession of sheikhs given by Tanman, Pîr Celâleddin Abdurrahman Çelebi is named as the son of Abdurrahman Çelebi.
Differing Accounts of His Descent
Hüsameddin gives Pîr Celâleddîn Abdurrahmân Çelebi as the son of Pîr Hüsâmeddîn Hüseyin Çelebi and a grandson of Pîr İlyâs. Kadir Özköse names the same person "Pîr Celaleddin Abdurrahman Sani, son of Pîr Hüsameddin Halvetî and a grandson's son of Pîr İlyas" and writes that he lies in the tomb; according to another finding, Abdurrahman Çelebi, son-in-law of Pîr İlyas and the son of his paternal uncle, is buried there. M. Baha Tanman, for his part, lists Pîr Celâleddin Abdurrahman Çelebi in the succession of sheikhs as the son of an Abdurrahman Çelebi. These three accounts do not agree with one another; which is correct could not be determined from the sources read.
An Inconsistency in the Dates
According to Hüsameddin, Baba Ali lived in his homeland for twenty years after Pîr İlyâs's death, then returned and died in 836 [1432-33] after giving the caliphate to Pîr Celâl. In Özköse's article the death of Pîr İlyas is given as 833 (1429). This date cannot be reconciled with Hüsameddin's "twenty years"; only three years lie between. In the same article the date 827 (1424) is given for Abdurrahman Çelebi, who became sheikh after Pîr İlyas's death, so the article itself appears inconsistent. The date of Pîr İlyas's death and the years in which Baba Ali lived could therefore not be verified.
Künhü'l-ahbâr
The source that Hüsameddin calls "Âlî Bey" is the general history in four parts by Âlî Mustafa Efendi. The fourth part of the work, devoted to Ottoman history, contains long biographies of statesmen, scholars and poets. From which part the account about Baba Ali was taken could not be determined from the sources read.
No information was found in other sources on Baba Ali Çelebi's life in Çemişgezek or on his father Şükrullah. Among the Şirvânî caliphs of the Halvetiyye a Pîr Şükrullah Ensârî is mentioned; a relation to Baba Ali's father is not stated in the sources.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 7, p. 390. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
- M. Baha Tanman, "Yâkub Paşa Tekkesi", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 43, İstanbul 2013, p. 285-286. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/yakub-pasa-tekkesi
- Süleyman Uludağ, "Halvetiyye", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 15, İstanbul 1997, p. 393-395. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/halvetiyye
- Jan Schmidt, "Künhü'l-ahbâr", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 26, İstanbul 2002, p. 555-556. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kunhul-ahbar
Books
- Kadir Özköse, "Amasya'da Bulunan Halvetiyye Tekkeleri", Akademiar, no. 5, Ankara 2018, p. 91-118.