AMASYA 05

Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar · İKİNCİ BÂB · İKİNCİ FASIL

Bâlî İbrâhim Çelebi — Tâczâde

Encyclopedia · History of Amasya, Volume 7, p. 394 • Edited by: Prof. Dr. Safi ARPAGUŞ- Prof. Dr. Ahmet Hakkı TURABİ

Original Text (Ottoman Turkish)

Kazasker Amasyalı Ca’fer Çelebi bin Taceddîn İbrâhim Paşa’nın mahdûmudur. Amcası fâzıl-ı meşhûr Sa’dî Çelebi’den ikmâl-i tahsîl ederek İstanbul’da ders-i âm ve müderris oldu. Devr-i medâris ederek Sahn-ı Semânî’ye müderrisi olduğu hâlde berş ü afyona mübtelâ olmakla yevmî yedi dirhem afyon ekline başladığından müte’essiren 941’de vefât etdi. Âlim, fâzıl, şâir, mâ’il-i zevk idi.

Our Research Article Editor: Mevlüt Erdem Öztürk

In Modern English

He is the son of the kazasker Ca'fer Çelebi of Amasya, son of Taceddîn İbrâhim Pasha. After completing his studies under his uncle, the famed scholar Sa'dî Çelebi, he became a müderris in Istanbul, giving open lectures. Moving up through the madrasas rank by rank, he was a professor at one of the Sahn-ı Semân madrasas when he fell prey to hashish and opium; he had begun to eat seven dirhams of opium a day, and affected by this he died in 941 [1534-35]. He was a scholar, a learned man, a poet and a lover of pleasure.

Notes and Research

Old Words in the Text

  • kazasker: a senior judicial and scholarly official attached to the army, above the judges
  • mahdûm: son
  • ikmâl-i tahsîl: completing one's studies
  • ders-i âm: one who gives open lectures, a teacher
  • devr-i medâris: rising by moving through the madrasas rank by rank
  • Sahn-ı Semânî: the eight higher madrasas of the Fâtih complex in Istanbul
  • berş ü afyon: hashish and opium
  • mübtelâ: addicted, given over to something
  • mâ'il-i zevk: inclined to pleasure and to things that please

Family: The Tâcîzâde Family

The Ca'fer Çelebi named in the text is Tâcîzâde Câfer Çelebi. He is said to have been born in Amasya in August 1452; the only source that gives this and his lineage is Hüsameddin's Nişancılar Durağı. His father Tâcî Bey was a poet and calligrapher, and had served in Amasya as treasurer to Prince Bayezid. Câfer Çelebi became nişancı in 1497, was appointed Anatolian kazasker after the Chaldiran campaign, and was executed by Selim I on 18 August 1515. His brother Sâdî Çelebi buried his body in the cemetery of his mosque in Balat. The "uncle" in the text is Sâdî Çelebi: he was a müderris first at the Gazi Murad Madrasa in Bursa and then in Istanbul, was known for his Arabic poems and letters, and is mentioned as the author of the Ali Pasha endowment deed. Hüsameddin calls this man the "uncle"; in the encyclopedia entry he appears as Câfer Çelebi's brother. Thus the kinship Hüsameddin gives agrees with the family information in the encyclopedia entry.

Sahn-ı Semân

Sahn-ı Semân is the main madrasa group of the complex around the Fâtih Mosque; construction began in 1463 and was completed in 1470. Four madrasas are lined up on each side of the mosque; the name "semâniye" comes from the word for eight. The source states that these madrasas were of high rank; the text too says that İbrâhim Çelebi taught at one of them. The madrasas were closed in 1924, and the buildings were restored in 1951-1953.

What Could Not Be Verified

Bâlî İbrâhim Çelebi's poems, his entry in the biographical dictionaries and the account of his addiction to opium could not be found in other sources. The text does not say where the nickname "Bâlî" comes from. The date of death (941) rests solely on Hüsameddin's record.

Bibliography

Primary sources

  • Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 7, p. 394–394. amasya.bel.tr

Academic studies

Volume 7 contents