The family known in Amasya as the "Ebuloğulları" took its name from Ebu'l-Kâsım Abdullah Efendi, father of Dâverî İsmail Çelebi; Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar writes that people called İsmail Çelebi too "Ebû'l-Kâsımoğlu", or in short "Ebû'loğlu". In a family that produced judges and madrasa teachers, İsmail Çelebi chose the path of the pen, became clerk of the Sultan Bayezid endowments, made a name as a fine calligrapher and poet, and died around 1000 (1591-92). His entry in Amasya Tarihi is short; the other entries on his family bring his circle into somewhat clearer view, but no specimen of his verse remains.

Hüsameddin's Entry

Amasyalıdır. Kudâtdan Hâtib Kâsımzâde Ebû'l-Kâsım Abdullah Efendi bin Ahmed Efendi bin Hatîb Kâsım Efendi'nin mahdûmu ve kibâr-ı ulemâdan Kâsım Efendi'nin birâderidir. Buna Ebû'l-Kâsımoğlu ve tahfifen Ebû'l-oğlu da denir. Tahsîl-i ilm ü kitâbet edib Sultân Bâyezîd evkâfı kâtibi olduğu halde 1000 hudûdunda vefât etdi. Ehl-i dânîş bir hattât ve şâir idi.

Translated: He was of Amasya. The judge Hatîb Kâsımzâde Ebu'l-Kâsım Abdullah Efendi bin Ahmed Efendi bin Hatîb Kâsım Efendi was his father, and Kâsım Efendi, one of the great scholars, his brother. He was also called Ebu'l-Kâsımoğlu, shortened to Ebu'loğlu. Having studied learning and the scribal art, he died around 1000 (1591-92) while clerk of the Sultan Bayezid endowments. He was a learned calligrapher and poet.

The Hatîb Kâsımzâdes

Listing the old families of Amasya, Hüsameddin names three branches descended from Halifet Gâzi: the Kutlu Paşazâdes, the Hatîb Kâsımzâdes and the Ebu'l-Kâsımzâdes. Some of the Hatîb Kâsımzâdes moved to Istanbul, while the Ebu'l-Kâsımzâde branch stayed in Amasya and became known as the "Ebul Oğulları". Dâverî İsmail Çelebi belongs to the first generation of this last branch. Ahmed Efendi, son of Hatîb Kâsım Efendi at the head of the line, died in 894 (1489), while Ahmed Efendi's brother Muhyiddîn Mehmed Efendi, tutor in Amasya to Şehzade Ahmed, son of Bayezid II, and later mufti of Amasya, was the family's best-known scholar.

İsmail Çelebi's father Ebu'l-Kâsım Abdullah Efendi studied with his uncle Muhyiddîn Mehmed Efendi, taught in Amasya, became trustee of the endowment of his ancestor Halifet Gâzi and teacher at his madrasa, and then moved from the Kameriyye Madrasa in Tokat to the judgeships of Sivas and Trabzon. He died around 973 (1565-66), teaching in retirement at the Halifet Gâzi Madrasa. Hüsameddin describes him as a man "fond of splendour" and names his sons as Kâsım, İsmâil and İbrâhim Efendi: "They and their descendants were called Ebuloğulları." The name "Kâdızâde", son of the judge, in Dâverî's entry comes from his father's judgeships.

Clerk of the Sultan Bayezid Endowments

While his elder brother Kâsım Efendi followed his father into the learned profession and joined the ranks of the "great scholars", İsmail Çelebi chose the clerkship. Serving as clerk to the endowments of the Sultan Bayezid complex meant keeping the accounts of income and expenditure for the mosque, madrasa, public kitchen and the complex's other services; a good hand was the first requirement of the post. Hüsameddin's description of him as a "calligrapher" fits this office.

Another of Hüsameddin's entries mentions an İsmâil Efendi with the same lineage: "İsmâil Efendi, preacher of the Sultan Bayezid Mosque, son of Ebu'l-Kâsım Abdullah Efendi bin Ahmed Efendi bin Hatîb Kâsım Efendi." This İsmâil Efendi's son, Ebu'l-Kâsım Mehmed Efendi, was known as "Ebuloğlu", studied with Şeyhülharem Sinan Efendi and Bahşîzâde Yahyâ Efendi, became teacher at the Halifet Gâzi Madrasa in 1034 (1624-25) and died after 1038 (1628-29). Since only one son named İsmâil is known for Ebu'l-Kâsım Abdullah Efendi, this preacher and Dâverî the endowment clerk are very probably the same man; he may have held the preachership of the Sultan Bayezid Mosque and the clerkship of the complex's endowments together or one after the other. Hüsameddin does not connect the two entries; the identification rests on the identical lineage. If it holds, Dâverî's line continued through his son Mehmed Efendi and his grandson, the cavalryman el-Hâc İbrâhim Ağa, as trustees of the Halifet Gâzi endowment.

His Poetry

His verse has not survived; only the pen name is left, standing in the entry's heading: Persian "dâver" means judge or ruler, and "dâverî" means rulership or judgeship. A judge's son choosing this pen name makes a pleasing match with the nickname "Kâdızâde"; the source, however, does not say the name was chosen with that in mind. Hüsameddin's description, "a learned calligrapher and poet", is followed by no couplet, and no divan or poem preserved in a miscellany is known. The transcribed text of the entry and its annotated glossary are under Dâverî İsmail Çelebi-Kâdızâde; the records of his father and of his probable son can be read under Ebu'l-Kâsım Abdullah Efendi-Hatîb Kâsımzâde and Ebu'l-Kâsım Mehmed Efendi-Ebuloğlu.

Chronology

894 (1489): His grandfather Ahmed Efendi bin Hatîb Kâsım dies.

973 (1565-66): His father Ebu'l-Kâsım Abdullah Efendi dies while teaching at the Halifet Gâzi Madrasa.

Around 1000 (1591-92): Dâverî İsmail Çelebi dies while clerk of the Sultan Bayezid endowments.

1034-1038 (1624-1629): His probable son Ebu'l-Kâsım Mehmed Efendi is teacher at the Halifet Gâzi Madrasa and trustee of its endowment.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Online sources