When the Süleymaniye Madrasa built at Narlıbahçe by the town steward Türedizâde Süleyman Ağa opened in 1171 (1757-58), its first professor was Seyyid Hacı Bâkır Mehmed Efendi. One of the madrasa teachers of eighteenth-century Amasya, he had studied under Îdîzâde Âkif Mustafa Efendi, and he also preached at the nearby Receb Mosque. He died in 1187 (1773-74) and was buried beside his father in the Halfet Gazi cemetery. Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar mentions him in three separate places in Amasya Tarihi and records his poetry each time: "âlim, şâir, edîb, kâmil" in his own entry, "şu'arâ ve ulemâdan" in his father's, "ulemâ ve şu'arâdan" in the chronicle of events. Yet he quotes not a single couplet, and his poems remain unknown.

On the Name

The name given as "Bakır Mehmed" in the master list and in the heading of the book's digital text appears as "Bâkır" in the same book's index, in his father's entry and in the chronicle of events in volume four. Written with a long "â", Bâkır is a name of Arabic origin, known as the epithet of the imam Muhammad al-Bâqir of the line of Husayn; Hüsameddin also gives it in the same spelling in the genealogies of seyyid families. Since the man bore the title "es-Seyyid", the name should be read "Bâkır" and not "bakır", the Turkish word for copper. The distinction matters because Amasya had in the same century a seyyid family nicknamed "Bakırcı": Zanalızâde Hacı Ahmed Efendi, called "Bakırcı" because he handed out grain to the people with a copper measure in a year of famine, and the Bakırcızâdes descended from him have nothing to do with this man.

Hüsameddin's Entry

Amasyalıdır. Esbak Amasya müftüsü Çorumlu es-Seyyid el-Hâc Hâfız Mehmed Efendi'nin dâmâdı Saçlı el-Hâc Osmân Efendi'nin mahdûmudur. Amasya'nın allâme-i yegânesi olan Iydîzâde el-Hâc Mustafa Âkif Efendi'nin halka-i tedrîsinde ikmâl-i tahsîl ederek ders-i âm oldu.
Yıllarca tedrîs-i ulûm ederek fezâ'il-i ilmiyyesi zâhir olduğunda baş-a'yân Türedizâde el-Hâc Süleyman Ağa'nın Narlıbahçe civârında yaptırdığı Süleymaniye Medresesi 1171'de hitâm bulduğu zaman mutantân-ı resm-i küşâdı bi'l-icrâ üstâdının tavsiyesiyle buraya ilk müderris oldu.
Bu medrese civârında Receb Câmii şerîfinde tedrîs-i ulûma mülâzemet ederek Câmii mezkûru fevkalâde şenlendirdi. Bu Câmiin imâmı Saatçızâde es-Seyyid el-Hâc Mehmed Efendi de a'yân-ı memleketten ve erbâb-ı me'ârifden olduğu münâsebetle şerefi artmışdı.
Mû'mâ-ileyh va'z u tedrîs ile iştigâl üzere iken 1187'de vefât etdi. Halfet Mezarlığı'nda pederinin yanında medfûndur âlim, şâir, edîb kâmil bir zât idi. Mahdûmu es-Seyyid Abdülkerîm Efendi'dir.

In English: A man of Amasya, the son of Saçlı Hacı Osmân Efendi, son-in-law of the former Amasya mufti Çorumlu Seyyid Hacı Hâfız Mehmed Efendi. He completed his studies in the circle of Îdîzâde Hacı Mustafa Âkif Efendi, the one great scholar of Amasya, and received the rank of ders-i âm. After teaching for years, when his learning had become evident, the Süleymaniye Madrasa built near Narlıbahçe by Türedizâde Hacı Süleyman Ağa, chief of the notables, was completed in 1171 (1757-58) and opened with a splendid ceremony, and on his teacher's recommendation he became its first professor. He also taught regularly at the Receb Mosque near the madrasa and brought great life to it. The imam of this mosque, Saatçızâde Seyyid Hacı Mehmed Efendi, was likewise one of the town's notables and a learned man, which added to its standing. He died in 1187 (1773-74) while occupied with preaching and teaching. He lies buried beside his father in the Halfet cemetery. Scholar, poet, man of letters, he was accomplished in every way. His son is Seyyid Abdülkerîm Efendi.

His Father, Saçlı Dâmâd Osmân Efendi

The epithet "Saçlı Dâmâdzâde" comes from his father being known as "Saçlı Dâmâd". In volume twelve Hüsameddin gives the father an entry of his own: Osmân Efendi-Saçlı Dâmâd, whose father was Çorumlu Mehmed, was trained in the circle of the Amasya mufti Çorumlu Hâfız Seyyid Mehmed Efendi, became his favourite pupil and son-in-law, and after teaching for many years died as professor of Halfet Gazi. Hüsameddin calls him "fakîh, usûlî, halûk", a jurist, a master of legal theory, good-natured, and ends the entry with the sentence "Mahdûmu şu'arâ ve ulemâdan es-Seyyid Bâkır Mehmed Efendi'dir", his son is Seyyid Bâkır Mehmed Efendi, of the poets and scholars. Whose nickname "Saçlı" was, the father-in-law Hâfız Mehmed Efendi's or Osmân Efendi's own, is not explained. No connection is drawn between this family and Saçlı Hacı Mahmûd Efendi, mufti of Amasya in the nineteenth century, or the Saçlızâdes descended from him.

His maternal grandfather, Çorumlu Hâfız Seyyid Mehmed Efendi, appears in Hüsameddin's chronicle of events as the "fâzıl-ı meşhûr", the renowned scholar, who became professor at the Mehmed Pasha Madrasa in 1095 (1683-84). Bâkır Mehmed Efendi thus came from a family that had produced professors and muftis for two generations.

A Discrepancy over His Father's Death

The book gives Osmân Efendi's date of death in two different ways. According to the entry in volume twelve he died in 1150 (1737-38) while professor at Halfet Gazi. In the chronicle of events in volume four, however, among the records for 1162, there is this line: "Şa'bânın üçüncü günü meşâhîr-i ulemâdan Saçlı Dâmâd Hacı Osmân Efendi merhûm oldu. Mahdûmu Hacı Bâkır Mehmed Efendi ulemâ ve şu'arâdandı." That date falls in July 1749. The same man is clearly meant; which date is correct could not be determined.

The Süleymaniye Madrasa and the Receb Mosque

The founder of the madrasa is the notable whom Hüsameddin introduces in volume ten under the heading "Süleyman Ağa-Türedizâde, el-Hâc, Hâfız": a powerful agha who became town steward after 1163 (1750) and took the affairs of the sanjak into his hands, withdrew in 1168, returned to the stewardship in 1169 and died in 1173 (1759). According to the same entry Süleyman Ağa built a fountain beside the madrasa he founded west of Narlıbahçe and endowed about ten shops and a house reserved for the professor to meet their expenses. Narlıbahçe was the madrasa's garden, and Süleyman Ağa himself had been buried there. The madrasa was later called "Süleymaniye" and then "Narlı Bahçesi"; in 1282 (1865-66), under the governorship of Ziyâ Pasha, it was on the point of collapse and was pulled down entirely, its site was taken into the road, and its fountain was moved to the corner of the cemetery in front of the Tomb of Sultan Mesud. Bâkır Mehmed Efendi's teacher, Îdîzâde Âkif Mustafa Efendi, was a scholar and poet who served twice as mufti of Amasya and taught for forty-five years; since he died in 1173 (1760), he was in a position to recommend his pupil for the post when the madrasa opened in 1171.

Hüsameddin gives 1171 as the year the madrasa was completed. That a study of the madrasa gives 1753 for the building and does not include Bâkır Mehmed Efendi in its list of professors is discussed separately on the site's page for the entry, Bakır Mehmed Efendi-Saçlı Dâmâdzâde. Nothing more could be found on the Receb Mosque or its imam Saatçızâde Seyyid Hacı Mehmed Efendi. The content of the lessons Bâkır Mehmed Efendi gave at this mosque is not stated either; the entry only hints, with the words "fevkalâde şenlendirdi", that his lessons drew a large circle.

Poetry

No poem of his is known today. Being called a poet in three separate records shows that Amasya knew him as one. The book, however, gives neither a couplet nor a chronogram, and it names no anthology in which his poems were collected.

Chronology

1150 (1737-38) or 3 Şaban 1162 (1749): His father Saçlı Dâmâd Hacı Osmân Efendi dies.

1171 (1757-58): The Süleymaniye Madrasa at Narlıbahçe opens; Bâkır Mehmed Efendi becomes its first professor.

1173 (1760): His teacher Îdîzâde Âkif Mustafa Efendi dies.

1187 (1773-74): Dies; buried beside his father in the Halfet Gazi cemetery.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Online sources