Amasyalıdır. Hacı Hamza Bey Câmii ve vakfının mütevellîsi Mehmed Çelebi bin Hamza Çelebi mahdûmudur. Sultân Selîm-i Sânî musâhibesi Amasyalı Ayşe Hubbî Kadın sâyesinde Galatasaray-ı Hümâyûnuna girip orada ta’lîm ve terbiye gördü.
989’da güzel hattıyla sarây-ı mezkûrda Amasyalı Hızır Bey’in “Âb-ı Hayât Risâle-i Edebiyyesi”ni yazıp sonuna Ketebehü’l-fakîr Bâlî bin Mehmed Amasyavî der sarây-ı Galata [431] fî hâne-i cedîd-i sağîr 989¹⁸⁶ imzâsını koydu. Bu kitâbı Enderûn Kütüphânesi’nde görüldü.
Ba’dehû Galatasarayı Ağası olup Sultân Mehmed Hân-ı Sâlis’in cülûsundan sonra Kastamonu, Maraş, Kefe ve 1013’de Trabzon Beylerbeyi oldu. Bu vilâyeti Murâd Hânlu oğulları Mustafa, Ali, Abdurrahman Beylere karşı hüsn-i muhâfaza etmekte iken 1016’da bunların şekâvetlerine kurbân oldu.
Zarûret ilcâsıyla Mustafa Bey’e Trabzon Beylerbeyiliği verildi ise de 1017’de Sadr-ı a’zam Kuyucu Murâd Paşa’nın şiddeti sâyesinde üçü de tepelendi. Bâlî Paşa’nın diyeti bunların emvâl-i metrûkesinden isti’fâ idilerek mahdûmu Mehmed Bey’e verildi. Mehmed Bey Amasya’da sâkin a’yândan idi.
In Modern English
He was a native of Amasya. He was the son of Mehmed Çelebi, son of Hamza Çelebi, trustee of the Hacı Hamza Bey Mosque and its waqf. Through Ayşe Hubbî Kadın of Amasya, the companion of Selim II, he entered the Imperial Galatasaray and received instruction and training there.
In 989 [1581], in his fine hand, he copied in this palace the "Âb-ı Hayât Risâle-i Edebiyyesi" of Hızır Bey of Amasya and at its end put the signature "Ketebehü'l-fakîr Bâlî bin Mehmed Amasyavî der sarây-ı Galata fî hâne-i cedîd-i sağîr 989". The meaning of this signature is: "The poor Bâlî, son of Mehmed, of Amasya, wrote this in the new small house in Galatasaray in the year 989." This book was seen in the Enderûn Library.
Later he became Agha of Galatasaray, and after the accession of Mehmed III he became Beylerbeyi of Kastamonu, Maraş, Kefe and, in 1013 [1604-05], Trabzon. While he was guarding this province well against the sons of Murâd Hânlu, Mustafa, Ali and Abdurrahman Beys, he fell victim in 1016 [1607-08] to their banditry.
Out of necessity the beylerbeyilik of Trabzon was given to Mustafa Bey, but in 1017 [1608-09], through the severity of Grand Vizier Kuyucu Murâd Pasha, all three were crushed and destroyed. Bâlî Pasha's blood money was taken from the property they left behind and given to his son Mehmed Bey. Mehmed Bey was one of the notables living in Amasya.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- mütevellî: the person who manages a waqf
- musâhibe: a woman who was the sultan's close companion in conversation
- Galatasaray-ı Hümâyûn: the Galata Palace, a palace school that trained pupils for the Enderûn
- ta'lîm ve terbiye: instruction and upbringing
- Ketebehü'l-fakîr: an Arabic colophon formula meaning "the poor one wrote this work"
- risâle: a short book, a treatise
- cülûs: accession to the throne
- hüsn-i muhâfaza: good protection
- şekâvet: banditry
- zarûret ilcâsı: being compelled by necessity
- tepelenmek: to be crushed, to be destroyed
- diyet: blood money, compensation for a person killed
- emvâl-i metrûke: property left behind
- a'yân: local notables
Ayşe Hubbî Kadın
According to Mustafa Uzun, Hubbî was one of the foremost women poets of the Divan tradition, and her real name was Ayşe. Kâtip Çelebi says she was from Amasya; this information has also been repeated in some later sources. Hubbî married Akşemseddinzâde Şemseddin Çelebi, who had been tutor to Şehzade Selim; after her husband's death she kept up her relationship with the prince, became his companion during Selim II's reign (1566-1574), and became an influential person at the palace. There are two views on her death: the middle of Murad III's reign and 998 (1590). Her tomb is in Eyüp. Hüsameddin's phrase "Ayşe Hubbî Kadın of Amasya, the companion of Selim II" agrees with this information.
The Galata Palace and Its Agha
According to Mehmet İpşirli, the Galata Palace, according to an established account founded in the time of Bayezid II, was a palace school that prepared pupils for the Enderûn. Successful pupils moved to the great and small chambers of the Enderûn; those who remained in the second rank were taken into the sipahi corps of the kapıkulu. At the head of the school stood an agha chosen from among the white eunuchs; under him were the steward of the Galata Palace and, under him, three stewards who looked after the chambers. The agha's authority was great: besides the order of the school, the supervision of all the waqfs belonging to the Galata Palace was also his. When the agha was promoted he moved to the Topkapı Palace. This is the office Hüsameddin calls "Agha of Galatasaray". That Bâlî Pasha held this post and copied a treatise in this palace in 989 could not be verified in the sources read.
Trabzon and Kuyucu Murad Pasha
According to Ömer İşbilir, Kuyucu Murad Pasha became grand vizier on 11 December 1606 (10 Şâban 1015), set out in July 1607 (Rebîülevvel 1016) against the Celalis in Anatolia, and defeated Kalenderoğlu at Alaçayır in Rebîülâhir 1017 (August 1608). Hüsameddin's date 1017 [1608-09] coincides with the years of this campaign. The sons of "Murâd Hânlu", Mustafa, Ali and Abdurrahman Beys, and the events in Trabzon do not occur in the sources read; Bâlî Pasha's beylerbeyiships of Kastamonu, Maraş, Kefe and Trabzon and the property his son Mehmed Bey received as blood money could not be verified either.
No information on Mehmed Çelebi, trustee of the Hacı Hamza Bey Mosque, or on the treatise of Hızır Bey of Amasya was found in other sources.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 7, p. 393. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
- Mustafa Uzun, "Hubbî", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 18, p. 265. https://cdn2.islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/dosya/18/C18006059.pdf
- Mehmet İpşirli, "Galata Sarayı", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, TDV İslâm Araştırmaları Merkezi, 1996. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/galata-sarayi
- Ömer İşbilir, "Kuyucu Murad Paşa", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, TDV İslâm Araştırmaları Merkezi. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kuyucu-murad-pasa