Şirvân ahâlisinden Mehmed bin Ahmed’in mahdûmudur. Muhakkik Celâleddîn Mehmed bin Es’ad-ı Devvânî’den ikmâl-i tahsîl ederek Mü’eyyedzâde Abdurrahman Efendi ile beraber 888’de Amasya şehrine geldi. Amasya vâlisi Şehzâde Sultân Ahmed’in arzusu üzerine Amasya’da ikâmetle ders-i âm oldu. [240]
906 senesinde Koca Emîr İbrâhim Efendi’den inhilâl eden Hüseyin Ağa Medresesi müderrisliğine ta’yîn edilerek beyne’l-ulemâ mümtâz oldu. İbn-i Sinâ’nın Kitâbü’l İşârâtını tedrîs ederek ulemâ dersinden istifâde ederdi.
Talebesinden biri Hüseyin Ağa Medresesi Kütübhanesine vakfedib İstanbul kütübhânelerinde manzûrum olan Kitâbü’l-İşârât zahrına şöyle yazmıştı: “Kitâbü’l-İşârât vakafehu umdetü’l-müderrisîn Mevlânâ Ebu’l-Hayr bin Mehmed bin Ahmed el-‘Acem eş-Şirvânî el-müderris bi-medresetihi usvetü’l-umerâi’l-i’zâm ve umdetü’l-küberâi el-fehhâm Hazret-i Hüseyin Ağa bi-dârü’l-fazli Amasya sene semânin ve tis’i mi’etin”
Ba’dehû bir müddet Amasya’da Sultân Bâyezîd Medresesi müderrisi ve Amasya müftüsü olup Şehzâde Sultân Ahmed’e fevkalâde tekarrub etdi. Bu yüzden Sivas kadısı olarak Amasya’dan uzaklaştırıldı. 918’de Sultân Ahmed Hân Amasya’da i’lân-ı saltanat etdikde kaz’asker olmuşdu. Sene-i mezbûre zilka’desinde şehzâdenin inhizâm ü ihnâkında mün’adim oldu. Fuzalâdan idi. [241]
In Modern English
He was the son of Mehmed bin Ahmed, of the people of Shirvan. Having completed his studies with the great investigator (muhakkik) Celâleddin Mehmed bin Es'ad ed-Devvânî, he came to the city of Amasya in 888 [1483] together with Müeyyedzâde Abdurrahman Efendi. At the wish of Prince Sultan Ahmed, governor of Amasya, he stayed in Amasya and began to teach.
In 906 [1500-01] he was appointed to the professorship of the Hüseyin Ağa Madrasa, vacated by Koca Emir İbrahim Efendi, and gained a distinguished place among the scholars. He used to teach Ibn Sina's Kitâbü'l-İşârât, and the scholars benefited from his lessons.
One of his students wrote the following note in Arabic on the front page of the copy of the Kitâbü'l-İşârât that had been endowed to the Library of the Hüseyin Ağa Madrasa and that I saw in the libraries of Istanbul: "Kitâbü'l-İşârât. This was endowed by Mevlânâ Ebu'l-Hayr bin Mehmed bin Ahmed el-Acem eş-Şirvânî, the support of the professors. He is a professor in the madrasa of His Excellency Hüseyin Ağa, the model of the great emirs and the support of the understanding great ones, in Amasya, the home of virtue. The year 908 [1502-03]."
Later, for a time, he became professor of the Sultan Bayezid Madrasa in Amasya and mufti of Amasya, and became extremely close to Prince Sultan Ahmed. For this reason he was made kadı of Sivas and removed from Amasya. When in 918 [1512] Sultan Ahmed Khan proclaimed his sultanate in Amasya, he had become kazasker. In the month of Dhu al-Qa'da of the same year [January 1513], when the prince was defeated and strangled, he too disappeared. He was among the virtuous scholars.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- muhakkik: a scholar who examines questions in depth
- ikmâl-i tahsîl: completing one's education
- ikâmet: staying, residing in a place
- inhilâl: a post becoming vacant
- beyne'l-ulemâ: among the scholars
- mümtâz: distinguished
- istifâde: benefiting
- zahr: the front or back page of a book for notes
- manzûr: seen
- tekarrub: drawing close
- i'lân-ı saltanat: proclaiming one's sultanate
- sene-i mezbûre: the year mentioned
- inhizâm: rout, defeat
- ihnâk: strangling
- mün'adim: having ceased to exist, disappeared
From the Circle of Devvânî to Amasya
The life of Müeyyedzâde Abdurrahman Efendi, with whom Ebu'l-Hayr came to Amasya, illuminates the background of this journey. Abdurrahman, born in Amasya in 860 (1456), was raised in Prince Bayezid's circle in Amasya; when Mehmed the Conqueror ordered his execution, he fled with Bayezid's help in 884 (1479) to Aleppo and from there to Shiraz. Staying in Shiraz for nearly ten years, he joined the circle of lessons of the great scholar of the time, Celâleddin Devvânî; according to the icazetname he received from him, he read a section of the Şerhu'l-Mevâkıf, Kadızâde's commentary, and Tusi's recension of Euclid, and also studied Tusi's Şerhu'l-İşârât and Kutbüddin al-Razi's Muhâkemât. When Bayezid II came to the throne he returned to the Ottoman lands, first to Amasya and then to Istanbul. In the years when his star shone, he is known to have been the intermediary through which Devvânî's students crossed into Anatolia and taught here.
The date 888 (1483) that Hüsameddin gives agrees with the return after Bayezid's accession in 1481. Ebu'l-Hayr Şirvânî also appears to be one of the students of Devvânî whom Müeyyedzâde brought to Anatolia. His teaching Ibn Sina's el-İşârât ve't-tenbîhât also accords with the interests of this circle; as is understood from his icazetname, Müeyyedzâde too had studied in Shiraz Tusi's commentary on this work. No other record was found about Ebu'l-Hayr himself.
Hüseyin Ağa, Today's Kapı Ağası Madrasa
The building Hüsameddin calls the "Hüseyin Ağa Madrasa" is the Kapı Ağası, or Büyük Ağa, Madrasa, still standing in Amasya today. It was built in 1488 by Hüseyin Ağa, chief gate-keeper (kapı ağası) of Bayezid II. According to its inscription its founder is "Hüseyin Ağa son of Abdülmuîn, famous as Kapı Ağası." The madrasa is known for its octagonal plan, rarely seen in Ottoman madrasa architecture; the octagonal scheme seen in Seljuk funerary monuments was applied to a madrasa for the first time in this building. The octagonal courtyard is surrounded by arcades with arches of the kind called Bursa arches, the students' cells are domed, and the large domed lecture hall in the south was also used as a mescid. Counted among the group of "sixty-akçe" madrasas, the madrasa lost its vitality at the end of the nineteenth century, became unusable after earthquakes, and was restored in 1978.
In a compilation on the madrasas of Amasya, when the professors of this madrasa are counted, Taşköprülü Muslihuddin Efendi is named directly after Koca Emir es-Seyyid İbrahim Efendi. Hüsameddin's record, however, shows that between Koca Emir and Taşköprülü Ebu'l-Hayr came to the professorship in 906. The note dated 908 on the front page of the copy of the İşârât that Ebu'l-Hayr endowed also documents that he really taught in this madrasa. That his name is absent from the list in the compilation suggests that the list is incomplete.
The Sultan Bayezid Madrasa and the Muftiship
The Sultan Bayezid Madrasa, to which Ebu'l-Hayr later came, is a part of the Bayezid II Complex. The complex's mosque was completed in Rajab 891 (July 1486) according to its inscription, and its waqf deed was written in mid-Jumada al-Awwal 901 (January 1496). The professorship of the madrasa was assigned to the muftiship of Amasya, and this condition was kept for a long time. Hüsameddin's presenting Ebu'l-Hayr at the same time as both professor of this madrasa and mufti of Amasya follows this practice.
The End of Prince Ahmed
Prince Ahmed, to whom Ebu'l-Hayr tied his fate, was born in Amasya around 1466 and was known as the son Bayezid II considered most worthy of the throne. In the struggle for the throne between 1509 and 1513 he fought against his brother Selim, and during this struggle he proclaimed himself sultan in Anatolia. On going to Istanbul for the throne he left his sanjak to his son Murad; when he did not succeed he returned to Amasya, and in 1512, when Selim became sultan, he left his sanjak and continued his struggle. The forces of Selim and Ahmed met on 24 April 1513 at Yenişehir near Bursa; Ahmed was defeated and captured and was killed a short time later.
Here there is a difference of a few months between Hüsameddin's date and present-day records. Hüsameddin puts the prince's defeat and strangling in the month of Dhu al-Qa'da of the year 918 (January 1513); the battle of Yenişehir, however, is dated 24 April 1513, corresponding to the month of Safar of the year 919. Ebu'l-Hayr's "disappearance" must have taken place right after this defeat. No information was found in other sources about Ebu'l-Hayr's kadılık of Sivas or his becoming Ahmed's kazasker.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 81–82. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
Official sources
Books
Other sources