Abdülcelîlzâde Ahmed Efendi rose from divan secretary to Hoca Ahmed Paşa to treasurer (defterdar) of Sivas, and his career broke in the middle of the seventeenth century when he was dismissed on account of the governor of Sivas, Kıbleli Mustafa Paşa; the secretary spent the rest of his life in minor financial posts in Amasya and died in 1089 (1678-79). In Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar's book his name is followed by the epithets "âlim, şâir, kâtib, münşî, muhâsib, hattât", scholar, poet, secretary, stylist of official prose, accountant and calligrapher, and the same entry records that he used the pen name (mahlas) "Celîlî" in his verse. Among the notables of Amasya, however, he was mockingly called "Cüzhân Efendi". No poem signed Celîlî has come down to us. The entry has also been published, with short notes on the Kıbleli Paşa affair, as Ahmed Efendi-Abdulcelilzâde.

Hüsameddin's Record

Ahmed Efendi-Abdulcelilzâde Amasyalıdır. Mevâlîden Sandukîzâde Abdulcelil Efendi'nin mahdûmudur. Amasya'da tahsîl-i ilm ü marifet edib Hâce Ahmed Paşa'nın kâtib-i divânı, ba'dehû Sivas Defterdârı, 1065'de ma'zûl oldu. 1068'de sânîyen Sivas defterdârı olup 1071'de Vali Kıbleli Mustafa Paşa'nın yüzünden azledildi. Köprülüzâde Fâzıl Ahmed Paşa'nın sadâretinde menkûbâne Amasya'da ikâmet ederek mu'ahharan mukata'a, beytü'l-mâl emânetlerinde, divân kitâbetinde bulundu. 1089'da vefât etdi. Âlim, şâir, kâtib, münşî, muhâsib, hattât idi. Kıbleli Paşa'dan dolayı Köprülüzâde Fâzıl Ahmed Paşa'yı gücendirdiğinden tefeyyüz edemedi. Şi'irinde "Celîlî" diye mahlâs kordu. Küçük yaşında Oruç Bey tekkesi cüz-hânı olduğundan a'yân arasında istihfâfen "Cüzhân Efendi" dendi. Mahdûmu Abdulcelil Efendi Yörgüç Paşa evkâfı kâtibi iken 1121'de vefât etdi. Bunun mahdûmları İbrâhim, Ali Efendilerdir. İbrâhim Efendi 1148'de vefât edib mahdûmu es-Seyyid el-Hâc Abdulcelil Ağa kapıcıbaşılardan iken 1178'de İstanbul'da vefât etdi. Bu esnâda ammizâdesi Mustafa Efendi bin Ali Efendi bin Abdulcelil Efendi de vefât etdi.

The text in present-day terms: he was from Amasya, the son of Sandukîzâde Abdülcelil Efendi, one of the senior judges. Having completed his studies in Amasya he became divan secretary to Hoca Ahmed Paşa, then treasurer of Sivas, and was removed from office in 1065. In 1068 he became treasurer of Sivas a second time; in 1071 he was dismissed on account of the governor, Kıbleli Mustafa Paşa. During the grand vizierate of Köprülüzâde Fâzıl Ahmed Paşa he lived in Amasya as if in exile; later he held the posts of trustee of tax farms and of the public treasury and served as divan secretary. He died in 1089. He was a scholar, poet, secretary, master of official correspondence, accountant and calligrapher. Because he offended Fâzıl Ahmed Paşa over the Kıbleli Paşa affair he could not advance. In his poems he used the pen name "Celîlî". As a child he had served as a cüzhân, a reciter of sections of the Qur'an, at the Oruç Bey lodge, and so the notables disparagingly called him "Cüzhân Efendi". His son Abdülcelil Efendi died in 1121 while secretary of the Yörgüç Paşa endowments. That son's sons are İbrâhim and Ali Efendi. İbrâhim Efendi died in 1148; his son es-Seyyid el-Hâc Abdülcelil Ağa died in İstanbul in 1178 as one of the kapıcıbaşıs (chamberlains). At about the same time his cousin Mustafa Efendi, son of Ali Efendi, also died.

Life

His father Sandukîzâde Abdülcelil Efendi belonged to the class of senior judges that Hüsameddin calls "mevâlî" and was also a well-known calligrapher. The entry on the Amasya calligrapher Derviş Ali Efendi records that Derviş Ali practised the various scripts under "hattât-ı meşhûr mevâlîden Abdülcelil Efendi", the famous calligrapher among the senior judges. Ahmed Efendi's skill in secretarial work, prose composition and accounts, together with Hüsameddin calling him too a "hattât", suggests that he may have learned writing from his father; the source is silent on this. The family name "Abdülcelîlzâde" seems to come from this father, and the pen name "Celîlî" from the same name. The service as a cüzhân at the Oruç Bey lodge in his childhood was the source of the nickname that later stuck to him; Hüsameddin explicitly calls the practice of the notables, who recalled this old task of a man who had been treasurer, "istihfâfen", that is, disparaging.

The Kıbleli Mustafa Paşa Affair

The event that stopped Ahmed Efendi's rise can be followed in other parts of Amasya Tarihi. Kıbleli Mustafa Paşa became governor of Sivas in Şaban 1069 (1659), came to Amasya at the end of 1070, opened long investigations, punished many scholars and townspeople, and returned to Sivas for fear of the people's anger. According to Hüsameddin's entry on Sarı Ahmed Ağa, the Grand Vizier Köprülü Mehmed Paşa sent Sarı Ahmed Ağa in 1071 as superintendent of the tax farms of Sivas to inspect the governor's affairs; as a result of this inspection Kıbleli Paşa was dismissed and imprisoned in the citadel of Amasya. Ahmed Efendi's removal from the treasurership falls in the same year.

Hüsameddin's two sentences can be read differently. "He was dismissed on account of Kıbleli Mustafa Paşa" seems to say that the treasurer was removed together with the governor. "Because of Kıbleli Paşa he offended Köprülüzâde Fâzıl Ahmed Paşa" suggests that in this affair Ahmed Efendi took the governor's side, or was seen to stand with him. Which attitude angered Fâzıl Ahmed Paşa is not recorded. Throughout Fâzıl Ahmed Paşa's grand vizierate Ahmed Efendi remained in Amasya "menkûbâne", in disfavour, and contented himself with provincial posts such as the trusteeships of tax farms and of the public treasury.

His Poetry

Hüsameddin is content to say "Şi'irinde Celîlî diye mahlâs kordu", he took the pen name Celîlî in his poetry; the entry contains no couplet and names no divan or other poem. The pen name Celîlî is found with several people in Ottoman poetry. In the TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi Hasan Aksoy records that besides Hâmidîzâde Celîlî of Bursa, the author of a hamse (a set of five long narrative poems), there were two other poets called Celîlî, from İznik and from Edirne. Amasya itself had another Celîlî: Pîr Sun'ullâhzâde Celîlî Mehmed Çelebi, introduced by Hüsameddin in the eighth volume, a pupil of Münîrî and a judge and poet who died in 943 (1536-37). Abdülcelîlzâde Ahmed Efendi lived a century after them; since the pen names are the same, a piece signed Celîlî in a poetry anthology could be attributed to him only on other evidence. No such evidence exists for now, and not a single poem can be safely assigned to Ahmed Efendi.

Family

His son Abdülcelil Efendi was secretary of the Yörgüç Paşa endowments in Amasya and died in 1121 (1709-10). That son's sons are İbrâhim and Ali Efendi. İbrâhim Efendi died in 1148 (1735-36), and his son es-Seyyid el-Hâc Abdülcelil Ağa rose to the rank of kapıcıbaşı and died in İstanbul in 1178 (1764-65). Ali Efendi's son Mustafa Efendi died at about the same time. Among the events of the year 1062, Amasya Tarihi also mentions "a'yân-ı meşhûradan Abdülcelîlzâde el-Hâc Hüseyin Ağa", one of the well-known notables, who became trustee of the Sultan Bayezid endowments; his relationship to Ahmed Efendi, though he bore the same family name, is not stated.

Chronology

1065 (1654-55): He is removed from the treasurership of Sivas.

1068 (1657-58): He becomes treasurer of Sivas a second time.

1071 (1660-61): He is dismissed on account of the governor Kıbleli Mustafa Paşa.

1089 (1678-79): He dies in Amasya.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Academic studies

Online sources