Amasyalıdır. 894’de vefât eden Amasyalı Hatîb Kâsım Efendizâde Ahmed Efendi’nin mahdûmu ve mu’allim-i şehzâde Muhyiddîn Mehmed Efendi’nin yeğenidir. Amcasından ve bunun tilmîz-i fâzılı İsmâil Efendi’den ikmâl-i tahsîl ederek Amasya’da ders-i âm oldu.
Yıllarca tedrîs-i ulûma himmet edib ceddi Halfet Gâzi vakfına mütevellî ve medresesine müderris, ba’dehû Kameriyye-i Tokat müderrisi ve buradan Sivas, Trabzon gibi büyük bilâda kadı olup 973 hudûdunda ber-vech-i tekâ’üd müderris-i Halfet iken vefât etdi. Fâzıl, afîf, ihtişâmı sever bir zât idi. Mahdûmları Kâsım, İsmâil, İbrâhim Efendilerdir. Bunlara ve evlâtlarına “Ebuloğulları” denmişdir.
In Modern English
He was a native of Amasya. He was the son of Ahmed Efendi, son of Hatib Kâsım Efendi of Amasya, who died in 894 [1488-89], and the nephew of Muhyiddin Mehmed Efendi, tutor of princes. After completing his studies under his uncle and his uncle's virtuous student İsmail Efendi, he became a ders-i âm in Amasya.
He devoted years of effort to teaching; he became mütevelli of the foundation of his ancestor Halfet Gazi and müderris of his madrasa, then müderris of the Kameriyye Madrasa in Tokat. From there he went as judge (kadı) to great cities such as Sivas and Trabzon. Around 973 [1565-66], retired, he died while müderris of Halfet. He was a virtuous, chaste man who loved splendor. His sons were Kâsım, İsmail and İbrahim Efendi. They and their children were called the "Ebuloğulları."
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- mu'allim-i şehzâde: tutor of a prince
- tilmîz-i fâzıl: a virtuous student
- ikmâl-i tahsîl: completing one's studies
- himmet: effort, zeal
- cedd: ancestor, great-grandfather
- bilâd: cities
- ber-vech-i tekâ'üd: by way of retirement, on a retirement pension
- afîf: chaste, honorable
- ihtişâm: splendor, pomp
The Hatib Kâsım Family
Ebu'l-Kâsım Abdullah Efendi belongs to one of the best-known families of learning in Amasya in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. His grandfather Hatib Kâsım Efendi was the teacher from whom Şeyh Hamdullah, the great master of Ottoman calligraphy, studied the religious sciences and the sciences of language and literature. Hatib Kâsım's son, Abdullah Efendi's uncle Muhyiddin Mehmed Efendi, was born in Amasya on 27 Şaban 864 (17 June 1460). His full name is given as "Muhyiddin Mehmed Efendi b. Hatîb Kâsım Efendi b. Yakûb Efendi b. Ahmed Efendi b. Mehmed Efendi b. Ebubekr b. el-Hâc Emir Ali"; he is known as Hatîbzâde, İbnü'l-Hatîb or Hatîb Kâsımoğlu. After his first education from his father he became a müderris in Amasya and taught in Bursa at the Çendik and Ahmed Pasha madrasas, and in Istanbul at the Mustafa Pasha Madrasa.
Hüsameddin calls Muhyiddin Mehmed Efendi "tutor of princes" because he tutored Prince Ahmed in the time of Bayezid II. When the prince died he moved again to the Mustafa Pasha Madrasa, and from there to one of the Üç Şerefeli madrasas in Edirne and to the Sultan Bayezid Madrasa in Amasya. Yavuz Sultan Selim appointed him müderris of a new madrasa he had built near Hagia Sophia; later he served in the Sahn-ı Semân madrasas and the Sultan Bayezid madrasas in Edirne, and died on 2 Zilkade 940 (15 May 1534) and was buried in Eyüp. The funeral prayer was led by Kemalpaşazâde. He is regarded as a master in exegesis, hadith, jurisprudence and Qur'anic recitation, as well as in fields such as jafr and music; among his works are an abridgment of Zamakhshari's work, Ravzu'l-Ahyâr, and the İnbâü'l-Istıfâ that he wrote for Süleyman the Lawgiver.
Hüsameddin mentions the same family in the sixth volume as well, in the entry on Bedreddinzâde Ebussuud Efendi; this scholar from Merzifon completed his studies under "Hatib Kâsımzâde Muhyiddin Mehmed Efendi." That Abdullah Efendi completed his studies under his uncle and his uncle's student İsmail Efendi shows that knowledge was handed down from generation to generation within the family and the circle of students attached to it.
The Halfet Gazi Line and the Ebuloğulları
That Halfet Gazi is referred to in the entry as "cedd," that is, ancestor, is explained by the family chart Hüsameddin gives in the first volume. There it is written that two great branches, the "Süli Oğulları" and the "Halifet Oğulları," descended from Güdül, the commander (serdar) and son-in-law of Sultan Mes'ud, and that from the descendants of Halifet Gazi the branches "Kutlu Paşazâde," "Hatib Kâsımzâde" and "Ebu'l-Kâsımzâde" split off. According to Hüsameddin, the Hatib Kâsımzâde branch remained in Istanbul, while the Ebu'l-Kâsımzâde branch stayed in Amasya and took the name "Ebul Oğulları." This entry describes the person who may be regarded as the founder of the Amasya branch: the sons and grandsons of Ebu'l-Kâsım Abdullah Efendi were called "Ebuloğulları," shortened from his kunya. The family's holding the trusteeship of the Halfet Gazi foundation and the professorship of its madrasa for generations also rests on this lineage; the next entry shows the same offices passing to the grandson Ebuloğlu Mehmed Efendi.
The Halfet Gazi Madrasa, where the family served as müderris, is on Torumtay Street in the Şamice neighborhood of Amasya. According to its inscription it was built in 606 (1209-10), and its founder's endowment deed of 622 (1225) has survived. After the earthquake of 1647 Müderris Hasan Efendi had the collapsed parts rebuilt in wood, and in 1888 the mufti of Amasya, Hacı Osman Hilmi Efendi, had the building thoroughly repaired. Today the south wall and the eastern section of the madrasa partly stand; of the two-story tomb adjoining it, the upper story remains in place, but the lower story is ruined and cannot be entered.
No information was found in the sources read on the Kameriyye Madrasa in Tokat, where Abdullah Efendi served as müderris.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 84–84. amasya.bel.tr
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, vol. 1, Mukaddime (Amasya dynasties), p. 179–186; vol. 6, entry "Ebu's-Su'ûd Efendi-Bedreddînzâde", p. 82–83.
Academic studies
Books