Ebü'l-Fazl Mehmed Çelebi, who taught calligraphy in Amasya to Şehzade Ahmed (Prince Ahmed), son of Bayezid II, was the son of the Amasya calligrapher Abdullah Amâsî and a pupil of Şeyh Hamdullah. The sources also call him "Topal Hattat", the Lame Calligrapher, and "A'rec", the lame. After the prince's death he was sent to İstanbul, presented a copy of the Quran to Selim I (Selim the Grim), was pardoned in 925 (1519) and returned to Amasya, where he taught calligraphy until his death at the beginning of 941 (1534). Among the epithets Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar gives him are "a scholar, a poet, a man of letters". No example of his poetry has survived; the mark he left on the literature of Amasya is visible in the entries of the secretary poets to whom he taught writing. Research on his father and his teacher has been gathered, together with Hüsameddin's entry, on the page Ebu'l-Fazl Mehmed Çelebi-Topal Hattât.

Hüsameddin's Record

Ebu'l-Fazl Mehmed Çelebi-Topal Hattât Amasyalıdır. Hattât-ı meşhûr Amasyalı Abdullah Efendi bin İlyâs Çelebi mahdûmudur. Hutût-ı mütenevvi'ayı esâtize-i kirâmdan olan pederinden ve kıbletü'l-küttâb Amasyalı eş-Şeyh Hamdullah Efendi'den ahz u temeşşuk etdi. Ulemâdan da ahz-ı ulûm ederek her iki tarafdan me'zûn oldu. Amasya'da Sultân Bâyezîd-i Sânî şehzâdesi Sultân Ahmed'in hatt mu'allimi olduğu münâsebetle büyük bir şöhret ve teayyün buldu. Ba'dehû kâtib-i sultânî olup 918'de şehzâde-i müşârün-ileyhin irtihâlinde İstanbul'a i'zâm edildi. Yazdığı nâdîde bir mushaf-ı şerîfi 920'de Sultân Selîm Hân'a hediye ederek ikrâm u iltifâta mazhar oldu. Bu mushaf-ı şerîf teberrüken Ebû Eyyüb Ensârî türbesine vaz' ve kendisine yevmî elli akçe ihsân buyuruldu. 925'de istihsâl eylediği afv-ı pâdişâhî üzerine vazifesiyle beraber Amasya'ya avdet ve ta'lîm-i hutûta himmet ederek pek çok şâkirdân ve hattâtân yetiştirdi. 941 senesi evâ'ilinde vefât etdi. Âlim, şâir, edîb, hattât-ı meşhûr idi. Yazdığı bir kıt'a en'âm-ı şerîfin sonunda "Ketebehû el-fakîr en-nâsî Ebu'l-fazl Mehmed bin Abdullah el-Amâsî min telâmizeti ebîhi" diye imzâsı görüldü. Pederinin yazdığı en'âm-ı şerîf de Şehîd Ali Paşa Kütübhanesinde manzûrum oldu. Mahdûmu olan Fazlullah Efendi de meşâhîr-i hattâtîn ve ulemâdandır.

Translated: He is from Amasya; he is the son of the famous calligrapher Abdullah Efendi bin İlyas Çelebi of Amasya. He learned the various scripts by copying the models of his father, one of the great masters, and of Şeyh Hamdullah Efendi of Amasya, "the qibla of scribes". He also studied with the scholars and received licences (icazet) in both fields. In Amasya he gained great fame and standing as calligraphy teacher to Sultan Ahmed, prince of Bayezid II. He then became a palace secretary; on the prince's death in 918 he was sent to İstanbul. In 920 he presented a rare copy of the Quran he had written to Sultan Selim Han and received favour and honour; the Quran was placed for blessing in the tomb of Ebû Eyyûb el-Ensârî, and a daily stipend of fifty akçe was granted to him. In 925, having obtained the sultan's pardon, he returned to Amasya together with his stipend, devoted himself to teaching writing and trained many pupils and calligraphers. He died at the beginning of the year 941. He was a scholar, a poet, a man of letters and a famous calligrapher. At the end of an En'âm (a prayer book of selected suras) he wrote, his signature was seen: "Written by the poor and forgetful Ebü'l-Fazl Mehmed bin Abdullah el-Amâsî, one of his father's pupils." I also saw the En'âm written by his father in the Şehid Ali Paşa Library. His son Fazlullah Efendi is also among the famous calligraphers and scholars.

Life

When he was born is not known; his life turns on the Amasya palace of Şehzade Ahmed. Bayezid II's son Ahmed served for many years as sanjak governor in Amasya, fought his brother Selim for the throne and was defeated and killed at Yenişehir in 1513. Ebü'l-Fazl's service as calligraphy teacher to the prince is like a repetition of the service his own teacher Şeyh Hamdullah had given Bayezid in Amasya a generation earlier. With Ahmed's death those attached to his household drew the new sultan's suspicion; Ebü'l-Fazl's being sent to İstanbul, and his need for a separate pardon in 925 to return to his home town, take on meaning in this setting. Hüsameddin does not explain the reason for the word "afv" (pardon).

The information Hüsameddin gives, that the Quran was placed in the tomb of Eyüp Sultan and that a stipend of fifty akçe was granted to the calligrapher, could not be found in any other source. His date of death appears again elsewhere in the book, in connection with one of his pupils: according to Hüsameddin, Mehmed bin Süleyman, known as Hâfız Cîlânî, stated in his own hand that his teacher was Ebü'l-Fazl Mehmed Efendi, the famous calligrapher of Amasya who died in 941.

The origin of the nicknames "Topal" and "A'rec" is unknown. Hüsameddin calls the same man "Ebû'l-fazl A'rec Mehmed Efendi" in some entries and simply "Ebu'l-fazl Mehmed" in others; his son, too, appears with the nickname "Topal Hattâtzâde", son of the Lame Calligrapher. A'rec means lame in Arabic; the two nicknames say the same thing.

His Pupils

The statement that Ebü'l-Fazl "trained many calligraphers" in Amasya finds names in Hüsameddin's other entries. A good number of his pupils were men who lived by the pen and also took up poetry:

  • Zârî Mehmed Çelebi: a poet who served as secretary in Prince Mustafa's Amasya divan; he learned the scripts from "Ebû'l-fazl A'rec Mehmed Efendi".
  • Rahîmî Abdurrahîm Efendi: poet and calligrapher of the Tayyibzâde family; he learned calligraphy from him before leaving for Bursa in 940.
  • Remzî Abdülhâdî Efendi: judge and poet of the Müeyyedzâde family; he studied the sciences with his cousins and calligraphy with "Ebû'l-fazl A'rec Mehmed Efendi".
  • Hâfız Cîlânî Mehmed Çelebi: divan secretary to Prince Mustafa and Prince Bayezid, according to Hüsameddin a secretary, poet and famous calligrapher.
  • Babazâde Ahmed Çelebi: son of the tanbur player Baba Çelebi, secretary of the endowments of Sultan Bayezid.
  • Müeyyedzâde Ahmed Efendi: deputy judge and judge of Amasya; he learned calligraphy from Ebü'l-Fazl and Celal Efendi.

His son Fazlullah must be added to this list. The son, who appears in Hüsameddin's seventh volume as "Topal Hattâtzâde Fazlullah Fazlı Çelebi", was one of Prince Mustafa's poets; he taught calligraphy and literature to Edâyî Receb Bey and introduced him to the prince's circle. Thus the father was linked with the Amasya palace of Prince Ahmed and the son with that of Prince Mustafa. The phrase "min telâmizeti ebîhi", "one of his father's pupils", in Ebü'l-Fazl's signature also shows that writing was a craft handed down from father to son in the family.

His Connection with Amasya

Ebü'l-Fazl, who signed himself "el-Amâsî", of Amasya, was born in the town, taught in Prince Ahmed's palace there and, apart from a few years in İstanbul, ended his life in it. That his father Abdullah Amâsî and his teacher Şeyh Hamdullah were both from Amasya places him in the middle of the Amasya calligraphic tradition that runs from the end of the fifteenth century to the middle of the sixteenth.

His Poetry

His poems have not come down to us. The word "poet" appears in his record, but not a single sample couplet. Nor did the tezkires yield a poet's entry under the name Ebü'l-Fazl. Which pen name he used is unknown.

Chronology

918 (1512-13): On the death of Prince Ahmed he is sent to İstanbul.

920 (1514-15): He presents the Quran he wrote to Selim I.

925 (1519): With the sultan's pardon he returns to Amasya.

Early 941 (1534): He dies in Amasya.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Academic studies

Online sources