Twice Bâkî Paşazâde Ahmed Çelebi was sent to Amasya in exile. The first time came out of the purge that followed the murder of a grand vizier, the second out of a rumour that he had incited a pasha to covet the grand vizierate. He was a man of the pen, trained in the Enderun, the inner palace school, and enrolled among the clerks of the Imperial Council; he ended his life in his hometown as clerk of pious endowments, wrote poetry under the pen name (mahlas) Bekâyî and died around 1090 (1679). Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar's entry on Bekâyî calls him "şâir, kâtib, me'ârif-âşinâ", a poet, clerk and learned man, but gives no example of his verse.

Bekâyî in the History of Amasya

Bekâyî Ahmed Çelebi-Bâki Paşazâde Amasyalıdır. Beylerbeyilerden Rıdvân Paşa bin Bâkî Paşa mahdûmudur. Sadr-ı esbak Bayrâm Paşa'nın himmetiyle sarây-ı hümâyûna girip Enderûn'da terbiye gördü. Sultân Mehmed Hân-ı Râbi'in cülûsunda taşra çıkarılıp Dîvân-ı hümâyun kâtibleri zümresine ilhâk edildi.
1065'de İbşir Paşa'nın kethüdâ-yı sadâreti olan eniştesi Sâlih Ağa'nın kâtibi oldu. Sene-yi mezbûre recebinde sadr-ı müşârün-ileyhin katlinde eniştesiyle beraber Amasya'ya gönderildi. 1067'de Köprülü Mehmed Paşa'nın sadâretinde İstanbul'a gidip Ankebût Ahmed Paşa'ya çatıp kâ'im-makâmlığında kâtib-i dîvânı olduysa da 1068'de menkûben Amasya'ya geldi.
1073'de Köprülüzâde Fâzıl Ahmed Paşa'nın himmetiyle Hüseyin Ağa ve Fîrûz Ağa evkâfı kâtibi olup 1090 hudûdunda vefât etdi. Şâ'ir, kâtib, me'ârif-âşinâ idi. Ancak Ankebût Ahmed Paşa'yı sadârete tahrîs etdiği söylenmekle menkûb olmuşdu.

In today's words: Of Amasya origin, his father was Rıdvân Pasha, one of the beylerbeys, and his grandfather Bâkî Pasha. Through the help of the former grand vizier Bayram Pasha he entered the imperial palace and was trained in the Enderun. When Sultan Mehmed IV came to the throne he was sent out of the palace and attached to the body of clerks of the Imperial Council. In 1065 he became clerk to his brother-in-law Sâlih Ağa, steward (kethüda) to the grand vizier İbşir Pasha. In Rajab of the same year, when the grand vizier was killed, he was sent to Amasya together with his brother-in-law. In 1067, during the grand vizierate of Köprülü Mehmed Pasha, he went to Istanbul, attached himself to Ankebût Ahmed Pasha and became his divan clerk during his deputy grand vizierate, but in 1068 he came to Amasya in exile. In 1073, through the help of Köprülüzâde Fâzıl Ahmed Pasha, he became clerk of the Hüseyin Ağa and Fîrûz Ağa endowments, and died around 1090. He was a poet, clerk and learned man. He had, however, been exiled because he was said to have incited Ankebût Ahmed Pasha to covet the grand vizierate.

His Life

Bayram Pasha, who secured his entry to the palace, was grand vizier to Murad IV and died on 16 Rebiülahir 1048 (27 August 1638) near Urfa on his way to the Baghdad campaign; Ahmed Çelebi's admission to the Enderun therefore falls before that date. To be "sent out" of the Enderun meant moving from palace service to a post outside. In this departure, which came with the accession of Mehmed IV in 1058 (1648), Ahmed Çelebi was given a clerkship in the Imperial Council.

Every subsequent turn of his life followed the fortunes of the great men he attached himself to. When his brother-in-law Sâlih Ağa became steward to the grand vizier İbşir Mustafa Pasha, Ahmed Çelebi became his clerk; when İbşir Pasha was killed in Rajab 1065 (May 1655), the two were sent off to Amasya together. Two years later he returned to Istanbul and became divan clerk to Ankebût Ahmed Pasha, a native of Amasya, during his deputy grand vizierate. In 1068 (1657-58) he was exiled again. Hüsameddin gives the reason at the end of the entry, in a separate sentence: the clerk was said to have incited his master to aspire to the grand vizierate. The source does not discuss whether the rumour was true. After Fâzıl Ahmed Pasha became grand vizier in 1072 his situation improved, and in 1073 (1662-63) he was appointed clerk of the Hüseyin Ağa and Fîrûz Ağa endowments. He seems to have spent the last seventeen years of his life in this post.

His Family

The family took its name from the grandfather, whom Hüsameddin calls "Mîr-i mîrân Kalender Çavuşzâde meşhûr Abdulbâkî Paşa". His father Rıdvân Ağa, according to his own entry in the tenth volume, became a sipahi in 1031 (1621-22) and in 1034 married Emîne Hanım, daughter of Ahmed Ağa, one of the palace messengers (çavuş); he served as treasury intendant of Amasya, steward of the defterdar, voyvoda of Zile and Tokat, twice as kethüdayeri of Amasya and twice as agha of the Turkmens. He is remembered for his mosque, school and fountain in the Kamerüddîn quarter. The same entry gives his children as "Ahmed Ağa" and Fatma Hanım, and his son-in-law as "kethüdâ-yı sadr-ı âlî Sâlih Ağa bin Ahmed Ağa", steward of the grand vizier. This matches the brother-in-law Sâlih Ağa of Bekâyî's entry and confirms that the two entries describe the same family. Rıdvân is called "Ağa" in his own entry and "Beylerbeyi Rıdvân Paşa" in the entries on his sons.

The chronicle in the fourth volume records that when Ankebût Ahmed Pasha became governor of Amasya in Safar 1066, he sent his steward "Bâkî Paşazâde Rıdvan Ağa" to Amasya as his deputy (mütesellim). If this Rıdvan Ağa was Bekâyî's father, his son's becoming Ankebût Ahmed Pasha's divan clerk a year later was the result of a family attachment. Hüsameddin does not link the two pieces of information; the connection is a possibility we propose. His brother Habîb Bey became a müteferrika during the grand vizierate of Fâzıl Ahmed Pasha, served as sanjak governor of İçil in 1097 and then of Bozok, and died around 1099.

His Connection with Amasya

Amasya was both his home and his place of exile. Hüsameddin counts him a native of the city; his father held posts in its administration, and he himself spent both his exiles there. The Hüseyin Ağa endowment of his last post was in Amasya; he very probably spent the end of his life there as well.

His Poetry

The pen name invites confusion with a better-known poet. The article "Bekāyî" in the TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi describes Macuncuzâde Mehmed Bekāyî of İznik, author of the mesnevi Gül ü Bülbül; that poet was murdered in Istanbul in 1003 (1595) and has nothing to do with Ahmed Çelebi of Amasya. Of the verse of Bekâyî Ahmed Çelebi of Amasya, by contrast, nothing has been traced; not a single couplet of his was recorded.

Chronology

1048 (1638): Bayram Pasha, who secured his entry to the palace, dies.

1058 (1648): With the accession of Mehmed IV he leaves the Enderun and becomes a clerk of the Imperial Council.

1065 (1655): He becomes clerk to his brother-in-law Sâlih Ağa; when İbşir Pasha is killed in Rajab, he is sent to Amasya.

1067-1068 (1656-58): He becomes divan clerk to Ankebût Ahmed Pasha, then returns to Amasya in exile.

1073 (1662-63): He becomes clerk of the Hüseyin Ağa and Fîrûz Ağa endowments.

Around 1090 (1679): He dies.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Academic studies

Online sources