AMASYA 05

Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar · İKİNCİ BÂB · BİRİNCİ FASIL

Ebûbekir Efendi — Mengülcüzâde el-Hâc

Encyclopedia · History of Amasya, Volume 6, p. 100 • Edited by: Doç. Dr. Recep Orhan ÖZEL - Doç. Dr. Metin HAKVERDİOĞLU

Original Text (Ottoman Turkish)

Amasya ulemâsından el-Hâc İbrâhim Efendi bin Ali’nin mahdûmudur. Ulemâdan tahsîl-i ilm edib Saçlı el-Hâc Mahmûd Efendi’ye dâmâd olarak teayyün etdi. Hâciyân meclisine a’zâ iken 1239’da şehir kethüdâsı olup 1241 senesi şevvâlinde ma’zûl ve ba’dehû meclis-i a’yân a’zâsı olduğu halde 1248 sâlinden sonra vefât etdi. Erbâb-ı ma’ârif ve a’yândan bir hânedân idi.

Our Research Article Editor: Mevlüt Erdem Öztürk

In Modern English

He was the son of Hacı İbrâhim Efendi, son of Ali, one of the scholars of Amasya. He acquired learning from scholars and came to prominence as son-in-law of Saçlı Hacı Mahmûd Efendi. While a member of the council of pilgrims, he became şehir kethüdası (city steward, the representative of the townspeople before the government) in 1239 [1823–24], and was removed from this post in Şevval 1241 [May–June 1826]. Afterwards, while serving as a member of the council of notables (meclis-i a'yân), he died after 1248 [1832–33]. His was a family of learned persons and notables of the city.

Notes and Research

Old Words in the Text

  • mahdûm: son
  • tahsîl-i ilm: study of learning
  • dâmâd olarak teayyün etmek: to stand out, to become known as a son-in-law
  • ma'zûl: dismissed from office
  • ba'dehû: afterwards
  • meclis-i a'yân: the local council made up of the notables of the town
  • erbâb-ı ma'ârif: people of learning and culture

The City Kethüdalığı

The city kethüdalığı that Ebûbekir Efendi held for about three years was, in Ottoman towns and cities, an office that mediated between the state and the people mostly in financial matters, undertook the distribution and collection of taxes and common expenses among the people, and was generally filled by election. In documents it is also called "şehir kâhyası" or "şehir vekili." The institution survived until the middle of the nineteenth century; however, with the establishment of the offices of ihtisap nazırı in 1826 and of the Ministry of Waqfs in 1836, a significant part of its duties passed to other officials. The Şevval 1241 in which Ebûbekir Efendi was removed corresponds to June 1826, when the Janissary Corps was abolished. Hüsameddin does not say whether there was a link between these two events; the overlap of dates can be recorded only as a noteworthy coincidence.

The Saçlı and Mengülcü Families

Ebûbekir Efendi's father-in-law Saçlı Hacı Mahmûd Efendi is mentioned in other entries of Hüsameddin as mufti of Amasya; in entry 358 of volume 6 it is told that this mufti's influence removed his rival Nâbî Efendi Yeğeni Ebûbekir Efendi from the office of fatwa. In the same volume, in the entry for Saçlızâde İbrâhim Efendi, the name of another İbrâhim Efendi of the Mengülcüzâde family appears, and the saying current among the people about the two families, "Çözük saç, kırık mengül" ("Loose hair, broken clamp"), is quoted. This saying shows that the Saçlı and Mengülcü families were two closely related ilmiye (scholarly) families of Amasya mentioned together.

In the first volume of the book, among the müderrises of the Kâşifiye Madrasa in the Eski Kethüdâ quarter, Hüsameddin lists "Saçlı Dâmâdı Mengülcüzâde es-Seyyid Ebûbekir Efendi" and writes that on his death in 1255 [1839–40] his nephew Seyyid Ali Efendi became müderris. If this is the same person, the date of death, given here only as "after 1248," becomes definite as 1255, and it is understood that Ebûbekir Efendi also took on a madrasa müderrisship. This is an inference based on comparing the two records. Apart from this, no information on Ebûbekir Efendi was found in other sources.

Bibliography

Primary sources

  • Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 100–100. amasya.bel.tr
  • Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, vol. 1 (section on the Kâşifiye Madrasa) and vol. 6 (entry on Saçlızâde İbrâhim Efendi), Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022.

Academic studies

Volume 6 contents