AMASYA 05

Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar · İKİNCİ BÂB · BİRİNCİ FASIL

Ebûbekir Efendi — Merzifonî

Encyclopedia · History of Amasya, Volume 6, p. 102 • Edited by: Doç. Dr. Recep Orhan ÖZEL - Doç. Dr. Metin HAKVERDİOĞLU

Original Text (Ottoman Turkish)

Merzifonlu Ahmed Efendi’nin oğludur. Amasya ve İstanbul’da tahsîl-i ulûm etdikden sonra mekteb-i nüvvâba girip şehâdet-nâme aldı. Yıllarca kazâ ve livâlarda icrâ-yı niyâbet ve [311] infâz-ı ahkâm-ı şer’iat ederek 1291 hudûdunda vefât etdi. Ulemâdan, zekî, mümtezic, zî-servet idi.

Our Research Article Editor: Mevlüt Erdem Öztürk

In Modern English

He was the son of Ahmed Efendi of Merzifon. After studying in Amasya and Istanbul, he entered the Mekteb-i Nüvvâb (the school that trained judges) and received a diploma. Serving for years as naib in districts and sanjaks and applying the rulings of the sharia, he died around 1291 [1874]. He was one of the scholars; he was intelligent, agreeable and wealthy.

Notes and Research

Old Words in the Text

  • mekteb-i nüvvâb: the school that trained naibs (judges of the sharia)
  • şehâdet-nâme: diploma
  • livâ: sanjak
  • icrâ-yı niyâbet: carrying out the naibship
  • infâz-ı ahkâm-ı şer'iat: carrying out the rulings of the sharia
  • mümtezic: easy to get along with, agreeable
  • zî-servet: wealthy

The Tanzimat's School for Judges

Nâib in the dictionary means "one who temporarily takes on the responsibility of an office in place of its true holder"; in the Ottoman judicial organization it was long used in the sense of the kadı's deputy. Ebûbekir Efendi of Merzifon was among the first generation of judges raised with the reorganization of the judgeship in the Tanzimat period. Formerly kadıs were trained within the madrasa, and their appointment and supervision were carried out by the office of the kazasker. By a regulation of 5 April 1855 the name "nâib" began to be used in place of "kadı" for all sharia judges; naibs were divided into five classes according to knowledge and ability, and posts into five grades. The term of service was set at eighteen months in districts near the center and twenty-four months in distant ones.

In the same year, on 17 August 1855, so that candidate naibs could acquire the necessary knowledge in a short time, the Mekteb-i Ulûm-i Edebiyye building near the Süleymaniye Mosque was opened as the Muallimhâne-i Nüvvâb. In the two-year course Arabic, fine writing, the muâmelât (transactions) part of Islamic law, inheritance law and the procedure of drawing up sharia documents were taught. The school graduated between twenty-five and thirty students a year. By a regulation of 10 December 1883 the institution became the Mekteb-i Nüvvâb, and in 1908 the Mekteb-i Kudât.

Since Ebûbekir Efendi died around 1291 [1874], the school was called Muallimhâne-i Nüvvâb in his student years; Hüsameddin refers to the school by its name in his own time. No information was found in other sources on the districts and sanjaks in which Ebûbekir Efendi served.

Bibliography

Primary sources

  • Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 102–102. amasya.bel.tr

Academic studies

Volume 6 contents