Hacı Bilâl Efendi, who rose from muezzin of the Kocacık mosque to sheikh of the Mevlevi lodge of Amasya, was a musician with a fine voice and a knowledge of Persian, trained in the last quarter of the seventeenth century in the circle of Hasan Kudsî Dede. In 1112 (1700-01) he was briefly sheikh of the Mevlevi lodge, then trustee of its endowment, and he died in 1118 (1706-07). In the eighteenth century his descendants became one of Amasya's leading families under the name "Hacı Bilâlzâdeler". Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar does not call him a poet; he describes him as "şi'ire heveskâr", that is, fond of poetry, and of that fondness not a line remains.

Hüsameddin's Record

In the seventh volume of the History of Amasya, immediately after the entry on Bilâl Efendi the judge from Osmancık, comes the following record:

Bilâl Efendi-Müezzin el-Hâc. Amasya'nın Kocacık Mahallesi'nden Mehmed'in oğludur. Hâfız-ı Kur'ân, sesi güzel olduğundan Kocacık mescidi müezzini oldu. Mevlevî-hâne şeyhi Hasan Kudsî Dede'nin sohbetinde perveriş-yâb olup tasavvuf ve edebiyyâta meyletdi. 1112'de Şeyh Alâeddîn Dede'nin vefâtıyla Mevlevîhâne şeyhi oldu. 1113'de Ebûbekir Dede Efendi Konya'dan şeyh olarak geldikde Mevlevîhâne vakfı mütevellîsi oldu. 1118'de vefât etdi. Fârisiyyâta âşinâ mûsikîşinâs savt ü edâsı güzel, hoş sohbet, şi'ire heveskâr idi. Mahdûmu Osmân Efendidir ki muahharan el-Hâc Osmân Ağa denmişdir.

In present-day English: His father was Mehmed, of the Kocacık quarter of Amasya. He knew the Qur'an by heart, and because his voice was fine he became muezzin of the Kocacık mosque. Brought up in the circle of Hasan Kudsî Dede, sheikh of the Mevlevi lodge, he turned to Sufism and to letters. In 1112, on the death of Sheikh Alâeddîn Dede, he became sheikh of the Mevlevi lodge. In 1113, when Ebûbekir Dede Efendi came from Konya as sheikh, he became trustee of the lodge's endowment. He died in 1118. He was familiar with Persian poetry and prose, versed in music, fine of voice and delivery, pleasant in conversation and fond of poetry. His son is Osman Efendi, later called Hacı Osman Ağa.

Life

Bilâl Efendi's life was spent between the Mevlevi lodge and the Kocacık quarter. The man who carried him from the minaret into the circle of the lodge was Hasan Kudsî Dede, sheikh of the Mevlevi lodge of Amasya in the second half of the seventeenth century. Hüsameddin names others who grew up in the same circle: Sâkıb Osman Efendi, son of the lodge's sheikh Alâeddîn Dede, also learned literary and religious sciences from him.

The link with the Kocacık mosque continued in the family after Bilâl's death. His son Hacı Osman Efendi became imam of this mosque and a member of Amasya's councils of hajjis and notables, and died in Şaban 1137 (April-May 1725); the imamate passed to his elder son Hacı Bilâl. Hüsameddin follows the family through several generations: the grandson Hacı Bilâl Ağa died in 1178 (1764-65) as imam of the Kocacık mosque and member of the council of notables; a certain Yûsuf Paşa is also counted in the family, though in one place he is given as the son of Hacı Osman Ağa and in another as the son of Hacı Bilâl Ağa; and the descendants of another grandson, Hacı Mehmed Ağa, appear among the city's notables until the early nineteenth century. In the chronicle of events in the fourth volume, Bilâl Efendi's death is recorded in the year 1118 as that of "el-Hâc Bilâl Efendi, trustee of the Mevlevi lodge", and a footnote states that he was "the remotest ancestor of the Hacı Bilâl ağas", that is, the founder of this family.

His Office at the Mevlevi Lodge

Bilâl's offices at the Mevlevi lodge are described in Hüsameddin's book in ways that do not agree. According to his own entry he became sheikh in 1112 and, when Ebûbekir Dede came from Konya in 1113, trustee of the endowment. According to the section on the Mevlevi lodge in the first volume, in 1112 İbrâhim Çelebi became trustee and Bilâl Efendi sheikh; in 1113 Bilâl took on the trusteeship as well, and on his death in 1118 both offices were given to Sâkıb Osman Efendi. Sâkıb's own entry, however, says that Sâkıb became sheikh in 1113 when Bilâl was removed, and that Ebûbekir Dede came from Konya only in 1120. What the three accounts share is that Bilâl became sheikh in 1112, held the office for about a year, and died in 1118 while trustee. The tangle is taken up at greater length in the biography of Sâkıb Osman Efendi.

Poetry

No poem by Bilâl Efendi has come down to us. The phrase Hüsameddin uses, "şi'ire heveskâr", is more cautious than the descriptions "şâir" or "şu'arâdan" that occur so often in the same book, and suggests a man interested in poetry but not known as a poet. Metin Hakverdioğlu, listing the poets of Hüsameddin's work, leaves him out, and the book itself gives no verse of Bilâl's.

Hüsameddin's entry, with its Ottoman text and notes on the vocabulary, can be read in Turkish under the heading Bilâl Efendi-Müezzin el-Hâc. Bilâl Efendi of Osmancık, whose entry stands on the same page, was a judge who died in 1064 (1653-54), a different man from the muezzin.

Chronology

1112 (1700-01): Sheikh Alâeddîn Dede dies; Bilâl Efendi becomes sheikh of the Mevlevi lodge.

1113 (1701-02): He becomes trustee of the lodge's endowment.

1118 (1706-07): He dies while trustee.

Şaban 1137 (April-May 1725): His son Hacı Osman Efendi dies.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Online sources