Havzalıdır. Oranın hânedânından ve kendisinin rivâyeti üzere evlâd-ı Selçûkiyye’den es-Seyyid el-Hâc Mahmûd Ağa bin es-Seyyid Selîm Ağa bin es-Seyyid el-Hâc Mehmed Ağa bin es-Seyyid el-Hâc Osmân Ağa bin es-Seyyid Mehmed Ağa bin el-Hâc Osmân Ağa bin İsmâîl Ağa bin Halîl Ağa bin Bayrâm Bey’in mahdûmudur.
Havza’nın Aşağı Mahallesi’nde 1291’de doğdu. Nâz ü ni’met içinde büyüdü. Pederinin vefâtında biraderleriyle beraber evkâf-ı Selçûkiyye mütevellîsi, Havza meclisi idâre a’zâsı [463] bir kaç defa belediye reîsi oldu.
Harb-i umûmîde servet ü sâmânını iz’âfiyle artırıp Amasya-Samsun şimendifer yolunun te’ahhüd eylediği kısmında müthiş ziyânlara uğradığından müteessiren 1347’de vefât eyledi. Pederi gibi sofrası küşâde, hânedân, fukarâya müşfîk olmakla beraber etvâr ü mişvârı muhannesâne idi. Kibâr illetiyle ma’lûl idi derler.
In Modern English
He is a native of Havza. He is the son of Seyyid Hacı Mahmûd Ağa, from the dynasty of that place and, by his own account, of Seljuk descent. Mahmûd Ağa's line is as follows: son of Seyyid Selîm Ağa, son of Seyyid Hacı Mehmed Ağa, son of Seyyid Hacı Osmân Ağa, son of Seyyid Mehmed Ağa, son of Hacı Osmân Ağa, son of İsmâîl Ağa, son of Halîl Ağa, son of Bayrâm Bey.
He was born in 1291 [1874-75] in the Aşağı (Lower) quarter of Havza. He grew up in plenty and comfort. At his father's death he became, together with his brothers, trustee of the Seljuk endowments, a member of the Havza administrative council, and several times mayor.
In the First World War he multiplied his wealth many times over; having suffered heavy losses on the section of the Amasya-Samsun railway that he had undertaken, he died grieving in 1347 [1928-29]. Like his father he kept an open table, was of a distinguished house, and was kind to the poor; yet his manner and gait were womanly. He was afflicted, they say, with the so-called "kibâr illeti".
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- hânedân: long-established, leading family
- evlâd-ı Selçûkiyye: those descended from the Seljuks
- rivâyet: account, transmitted report (here the family's own account)
- nâz ü ni'met: plenty and comfort
- evkâf-ı Selçûkiyye: endowments dating from the Seljuk period
- mütevellî: person who runs the affairs of an endowment (trustee)
- harb-i umûmî: the First World War
- iz'âf: multiplying many times over
- şimendifer: railway
- te'ahhüd: undertaking, contracting
- sofrası küşâde: with a table open to all
- etvâr ü mişvâr: manner and gait
- muhannesâne: womanly
- ma'lûl: sick, afflicted with an ailment
Seljuk Descent and the Endowments
Hüsameddin adds that the family is of Seljuk descent "by his own account"; that is, this rests not on a historical document but on the family's own narrative, and it could not be verified against another source. Which endowments are meant by "evkâf-ı Selçûkiyye" in the text is not clear. In Havza the bath attached to the Mustafa Bey Complex, a fifteenth-century foundation, adjoins a hot spring built by the Anatolian Seljuk ruler II. Mesud; the complex itself was built by Mustafa Bey, son of Yörgüç Pasha, and it is known from its inscription that the soup-kitchen and lodge building was completed in 833 [1430] and from its endowment deed that this is dated 840 [1436-37]. Whether these are the endowments of which Bayrâm Efendi and his brothers were trustees is not certain; this connection is an inference and could not be verified against sources.
The Railway Contract
The Amasya station on the Samsun-Kalın line was built in 1927. Hüsameddin writes that Bayrâm Efendi increased his fortune in the First World War and afterwards suffered heavy losses on the section of the Amasya-Samsun line that he had undertaken; he gives 1347 [1928-29] as the year of his death. The building year of the station does not conflict with this death date. No record was found of which section he took on, or on behalf of which company or person.
The Last Sentence of the Text
The text calls Bayrâm Efendi's manner and gait womanly and speaks of an ailment called "kibâr illeti"; the phrase "they say" shows that this is reported as common talk. Which ailment "kibâr illeti" refers to is not explained in the sources examined and could not be verified. No information on Bayrâm Efendi was found in other sources.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 7, p. 402–402. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
Other sources