Divan secretary to Mehmed I (Çelebi Mehmed) while that prince ruled from Amasya, and a few years later chancellor (nişancı) to the young prince Murad II when he came to the town as governor: the career of Dakikî Ahmed Çelebi in the years of the Ottoman Interregnum ran through the Amasya divans of two rulers. When Murad came to the throne, the survey and treasury business of the province of Amasya was left to him, and he died around 837 (1433-34). Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, author of Amasya Tarihi, calls him "âlim, kâtib, şâir, hattât": scholar, secretary, poet, calligrapher. The offices recorded in the entry bear out the secretary and the calligrapher; of the poet, nothing survives but the pen name.

Life

What is known of his life comes from an entry of a few lines in the ninth volume of Amasya Tarihi, squeezed between Dürrî Mehmed Efendi and the Circassian Dilâver Ağa:

Amasya'da Uncu Abdullah Çelebi mahdûmudur. Ulemâdan tahsîl-i ulûm ve hattâtlardan ahz-ı hutût ederek Çelebi Sultân Mehmed Hân'ın âsitânesine intisâb etdi. Müşârün-ileyhin Amasya hükümdârı olduğu esnâda kâtib-i divânı olarak temâyüz ve iştihâr eyledi. 818'de Sultân Murâd-ı Sânî Amasya vâlîsi oldukda nişâncısı olup ve 824'de müşârün-ileyhin cülûsunda Amasya vilâyeti muharrir ve defterdârı oldu. 837 hudûdunda vefât etdi. Âlim, kâtib, şâir, hattât idi. Şemseddîn Ahmed Pervanî vakfiyesinde şâhid görüldü.

Rendered into modern English: His father was Uncu Abdullah Çelebi of Amasya. Having learned the sciences from scholars and the art of writing from calligraphers, he attached himself to the court of Sultan Mehmed Çelebi. While that ruler was sovereign of Amasya, he distinguished himself and became known as his divan secretary. In 818 (1415-16), when Murad II became governor of Amasya, he became his chancellor, and in 824 (1421), on Murad's accession, he became surveyor (muharrir) and treasurer (defterdar) of the province of Amasya. He died around 837. He was a scholar, secretary, poet and calligrapher. His name is seen as a witness in the waqf deed of Şemseddîn Ahmed Pervânî.

Read in order, the offices trace a secretary's rise. The period Hüsameddin calls "sovereign of Amasya" covers the years after the Battle of Ankara when Mehmed I used Amasya as his base while working to piece the state back together; Dakikî was among those who handled the paperwork of this court's divan. His post of 818 belonged to a prince's divan: Murad II was then still a child, and the official correspondence of his divan in Amasya passed through the chancellor's hands. The post of 824, by contrast, was a provincial office. The muharrir was the survey officer who entered the population and tax revenues of the province in the registers; the defterdar kept the accounts of those revenues. To judge by the entry, Dakikî did not follow his master to the capital when he became sultan, but stayed in Amasya and ended his days among the town's registers. Whether this was his own choice or an appointment, the source does not say.

Connection with Amasya

The first word of the entry gives his birthplace: Dakikî was born in Amasya, studied in Amasya and held every office known to us in Amasya. Hüsameddin does not name his teachers or the calligraphers from whom he learned to write, and gives no further information about his father Uncu Abdullah Çelebi. No record of a son or grandson of Dakikî has been found in the book.

Witness to a Waqf Deed

The last sentence of the entry ties Dakikî to a document: his name appears among the witnesses in the waqf deed of Şemseddîn Ahmed Pervânî. Hüsameddin gives neither the date nor the subject of the deed. The entry Şemseddîn Ahmed Çelebi-Pervâne Beyzâde in the eleventh volume, however, introduces an Amasya notable of that name: he became trustee of his grandfather's endowment while Murad II was governor of Amasya, witnessed the Ahî Dârbhâneci endowment in 836 (1432-33) and died around 845 (1441-42). The Şemseddîn Ahmed in whose deed Dakikî appears is very probably this man. If so, the witnessing too must fall in the years of Dakikî's life that coincide with the reign of Murad II; the exact date can only be learned if the deed itself is found.

Name and Pen Name

His father's byname was "Uncu", the flour-maker, and the entry's heading calls the family "Uncuoğlu". In Arabic "dakîk" means flour, and it is also used in the senses of fine and delicate. It is plausible that Ahmed Çelebi chose the pen name "Dakikî" as an allusion to his family's name, but Hüsameddin says nothing of such a link; the connection is a guess drawn from the meaning of the word.

Poetry

Dakikî's poems have not come down to us. Hüsameddin counts him among the poets, but quotes not a single couplet and names no work. Metin Hakverdioğlu, who reads Amasya Tarihi as a biographical dictionary of poets, puts Dakikî on his list of the ninth volume's poets; his only ground, once again, is the single word "şâir" in the entry.

Chronology

818 (1415-16): Murad II becomes governor of Amasya; Dakikî is his chancellor.

824 (1421): Murad II ascends the throne; Dakikî becomes surveyor and treasurer of the province of Amasya.

c. 837 (1433-34): Dies.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Online sources