Dânîş Mehmed Efendi was a scholar and poet who taught in the madrasas of Amasya in the second half of the seventeenth century, then served as judge (kadı) of Amasya, Antalya, Karahisâr-ı Şarkî and Sivas, and died around 1103 (1691-92). He descended from Şermî Osman Çelebi, the poet of Prince Ahmed's circle in Amasya; for this reason his family was first called the "Şermîzâdes", and after his own renown it became known as the "Dânîşzâdes". Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar sums him up in a few epithets, "fakîh, ulûm-ı edebiyyede mâhir, hattât, şâir, zarîf": a jurist, master of the literary sciences, calligrapher, poet and man of refinement. No example of his verse is known.

Hüsameddin's Entry

The part of the entry "Dânîş Mehmed Efendi-Şermîzâde" in the ninth volume of the Amasya Tarihi that describes his life reads as follows:

Amasyalıdır. Şehzâde Sultân Ahmed devri şuarâsından Şermî Osmân Çelebi ahfâdından ve kibâr-ı ulemâdan tercemesi bâlâda yazılan Takiyyüddîn Osmân Efendizâde Kutbeddîn Mustafa Efendi'nin mahdûmudur. Amasya'nın Küpceğiz Mahallesi'nde doğdu. Kibâr-ı ulemâdan Uzun Müderris Mehmed Efendi'nin halka-ı tedrîsinde ikmâl-ı tahsîl ederek ders-i âm oldu. Esnâ-yı tahsîlinde Küpceğiz Câmi-i şerîfi imâmı olup sonra Havza'da Firûz Ağa, Hakala'da Kâsım Bey medreselerine müderris oldu. 1078'de Amasya'da Büyük Hüseyin Ağa Medresesi müderrisi olarak temâyüz etdi. Ba'dehû Hatûnîye-i Tokat müderrisi olup 1085 senesi saferinin gurresinde Amasya kâdısı oldu. Ba'dehû Antalya, Karahisâr-ı şarkî sancâklarına ve 1096'da Sivas vilâyetine kâdı olarak iştihâr etdi. Ba'dehû ihtiyâr-ı tekâüd edib 1103 hudûdunda vefât etdi. Meşâhîr-i ulemâdan fakîh, ulûm-ı edebiyyede mâhir, hattât, şâir, zarîf idi. Uhdesinde bulunan Küpceğiz Câmii imâmetini 1093'de mahdûmu Hâfız Osmân Efendi'ye kasr-ı yed etmişdi.

In English: He is from Amasya. He is the son of Kutbeddin Mustafa Efendi, son of Takıyyüddin Osman Efendi, one of the great scholars whose biography is written above, and a descendant of Şermî Osman Çelebi, one of the poets of the age of Prince Sultan Ahmed. He was born in the Küpceğiz quarter of Amasya. He completed his studies in the teaching circle of Uzun Müderris Mehmed Efendi, one of the great scholars, and became a teacher licensed to lecture. While still a student he was imam of the Küpceğiz Mosque, and later taught at the Fîruz Ağa madrasa in Havza and the Kâsım Bey madrasa in Hakala. In 1078 he distinguished himself as professor of the Büyük Hüseyin Ağa Madrasa in Amasya. He then became professor of the Hatuniye Madrasa in Tokat, and on the first day of Safer 1085 became judge of Amasya. Afterwards he became known as judge in the sanjaks of Antalya and Karahisâr-ı Şarkî, and in 1096 in the province of Sivas. He then chose retirement and died around 1103. He was one of the well-known scholars, a jurist, a master of the literary sciences, a calligrapher, a poet and a man of refinement. In 1093 he had given up the imamate of the Küpceğiz Mosque, which he held, to his son Hâfız Osman Efendi.

Life

The first firm date Hüsameddin gives is 1078 (1667-68), when Dânîş was appointed professor at one of Amasya's great madrasas. No year of birth is recorded, so one has to count back from that appointment, and his birth must fall in the first half of the seventeenth century. His career shows the rungs of a provincial scholar's ladder one by one. As a student he served as imam of his quarter's mosque; after receiving his licence he taught in the madrasas of small towns such as Havza and Hakala, then moved to the Büyük Hüseyin Ağa Madrasa in Amasya and from there to the Hatuniye Madrasa in Tokat. His passage from teaching to the judiciary came on the first day of Safer 1085, that is, in the spring of 1674, with the judgeship of Amasya.

After Amasya he served as judge in the sanjaks of Antalya and Karahisâr-ı Şarkî and, in 1096 (1684-85), in Sivas. Hüsameddin's words "iştihâr etdi" (he became renowned) mean that he made a name for himself in these posts. After Sivas he retired and died around 1103. In 1093 (1682) he gave the imamate of the Küpceğiz Mosque, which he had held since his student days, to his son Hâfız Osman Efendi. The source does not say how this duty was carried out during the years he spent away from the city as a judge; a deputy probably carried it out.

Family and Circle

Dânîş is a link in a family of scholars that can be traced in Amasya across generations. At the end of the entry on Şermî Osman Çelebi, Hüsameddin lists the line as follows: of Şermî's descendants, Hâfız Takıyyüddin Osman Efendi, his son Kutbeddin Mustafa Efendi and his son "mevâlîden Dânîş Mehmed Efendi pek meşhûrdur" (Dânîş Mehmed Efendi of the mevâlî is very famous); the family was called first the Şermîzâdes, then the Dânîşzâdes, and later the Molla Halilzâdes. The life of Şermî Osman Çelebi and the circle of Prince Ahmed are treated separately in the site's article Şermî Osman Çelebi.

Dânîş's sons were el-Hâc Hâfız Mustafa and Osman Efendi. According to Hüsameddin's records the branches of the family took other by-names. Hacı Mustafa Efendi's son Molla Halil Ağa was brought up in the households of grand viziers, became a chief gatekeeper of the palace (kapıcıbaşı) and died in 1184 (1770-71); his children were called the "Molla Halil oğulları". The descendants of Hacı Osman Efendi's son Fenerci Hacı İbrahim Efendi were known as the "Fenercizâdes", while his other son, Hâfız Halil Efendi, succeeded his father as imam of the Küpceğiz Mosque in 1164 (1750-51), twice served as head of the pilgrims (hacıbaşı) and died in 1180 (1766-67). The name Dânîşzâde stayed above all with this Halil Efendi's line, and the imamate of the Küpceğiz Mosque continued among his grandchildren. The last of the imams Hüsameddin lists is es-Seyyid el-Hâc İsmail Efendi, who died in 1296 (1879).

Poetry

We have no poem by Dânîş. His gifts as poet, calligrapher and master of the literary sciences are known only from a few of Hüsameddin's epithets, and neither the title of a work nor a single couplet accompanies them. In Persian the word dânîş (dâniş) means "knowledge", and it is clear that the name was used as a pen name (mahlas), since the family took its name from it. A phrase built on the same word, "ehl-i dânîş", meaning a learned and cultivated person, occurs frequently in Hüsameddin's book for other people. Nor has any divan or biographical-anthology (tezkire) entry come to light so far for a seventeenth-century judge from Amasya with the pen name Dânîş.

Chronology

1078 (1667-68): Becomes professor of the Büyük Hüseyin Ağa Madrasa in Amasya.

Safer 1085 (1674): Becomes judge of Amasya.

1093 (1682): Gives the imamate of the Küpceğiz Mosque to his son Hâfız Osman Efendi.

1096 (1684-85): Becomes judge of Sivas.

c. 1103 (1691-92): Dies in retirement.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Online sources