Emîr İmâm Abdullatîf Efendi

In Modern English

He was the son of Hâcezâde el-Hâc Halîl Efendi. He had a library in Amasya, and his life story appears below under the heading "Abdüllatîf Efendi, Emîr İmâm." His brothers were the vizier es-Seyyid Abdülganî Pasha and es-Seyyid Mehmed Emîn Efendi. Their life stories appear below. His descendants were called "Emîr İmâm Oğulları" (the Emîr İmâm family).

Notes and Research

Old Words in the Text

• kütübhâne: library
• mahdûm: son
• birâder: brother
• vüzerâ: viziers
• terceme: life story, biography

The Family

Hâcezâde el-Hâc Halîl Efendi appears in another entry of the book as Hâfız Halîl Efendi, first imam (imâm-ı evvel) of the Sultan Bâyezîd Mosque in Amasya; he was the son of Hâcezâde Abdüllatîf Efendi, that is, the elder brother of Emîr Hacı Abdüllatîf Çelebi of entry 328. Emîr İmâm was thus Emîr Hacı's nephew. This conclusion has been drawn from reading the two entries together; the book does not state it explicitly.

Emîr İmâm Abdüllatîf Efendi

The detailed entry relates that Emîr İmâm learned the Arabic sciences from Hâfız Mehmed Efendi of Çorum, mufti of Amasya, and the science of the Qur'anic readings from Cebecizâde Hâfız el-Hâc Halîl Efendi, the sheikh of the reciters (şeyhü'l-kurrâ). After his father's death he became first imam of the Sultan Bâyezîd Mosque and sheikh of the Hâtun Sultan Dârü'l-kurrâ, and went on the pilgrimage twice. Rather than spending on any one thing the large sum his brother Abdülganî Pasha sent, he had a serviceable library built opposite the Sultan Bâyezîd School (Mektep), placed the books he had collected there, and endowed all his books and properties as waqf. South of the library there was a large garden, north of it a second, triangular garden, and above its door an inscription with a date, with a solid wall enclosing them. He died in 1169 [1755-56] and was buried west of the triangular garden. According to Hüsameddin, in the fire of 1333 [1914-15] everything burned, so the books were removed, and the library, the gardens and the fetvahane (house of legal opinions) beside it were demolished, leaving not even a small trace. His sons were es-Seyyid Mehmed Sa'îd, Sa'dullâh, Halîl, Ebûbekir, Abdulalîm and Abdüsselâm Efendi. Sa'îd and Sa'dullâh Efendi died in their father's lifetime and were buried in the triangular garden. Halîl Efendi, imam of the Sultan Bâyezîd Mosque, was killed as a martyr in Ramazan 1196 [1782].

Hüsameddin describes him as a learned man, deeply pious, dignified, generous in charity and alms, and caring for the poor. One event he relates is that once, when Emîr İmâm could not reach the morning prayer for a good reason, a guest led the prayer as imam; when the guest, after the prayer, continued on his way, Emîr İmâm went after him and gave him his daily stipend.

His Brother Abdülganî Pasha

The text calls Abdülganî Pasha a "vizier." A separate entry in volume 11 of the book introduces him as the son of el-Hâc Halîl Efendi, imam of the Sultan Bâyezîd Mosque, and as the son-in-law of his uncle Emîr Hacı Abdüllatîf Çelebi, and adds that his life story is given under the heading "es-Seyyid Abdî Paşa." In the Emîr Hacı entry too, the son-in-law is mentioned as "the vizier es-Seyyid Abdülğanî Abdî Pasha." Accordingly, Abdülganî Pasha is both Emîr İmâm's brother and the son-in-law of his uncle. The Pasha's vizierate and offices do not appear in this entry; he is mentioned only as a brother.

The Sultan Bâyezîd Complex

The Sultan Bâyezîd School of the text is part of the Bâyezîd II Complex, completed in 1486 [H. 891]; the complex consists of a mosque, a madrasa, an imaret and a library. Hüsameddin describes Emîr İmâm's library as a building opposite the school, with a dated inscription on its door, enclosed by a wall and having its own waqf. That the Emîr İmâm Library no longer stands today can be understood from Hüsameddin's own record. Searches on the library and his family found no information in any other source.

Bibliography

Primary sources

• Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 7, p. 354–354. amasya.bel.tr
• Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, vol. 12, entry "Abdüllatîf Efendi-Emîr İmâm," p. 580–581.
• Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, vol. 11, entry "Abdülganî Paşa-Hâcezâde es-Seyyid," p. 521.
• Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, vol. 12, entries "Abdüllatîf Efendi-Hâcezâde" (p. 579) and "Abdüllatîf Çelebi-Emîr Hacı" (p. 579–580).
• "Sultan Bayezid Külliyesi, Amasya, 1486 (H.891)", Aptullah Kuran Arşivi, Boğaziçi Üniversitesi Kütüphanesi. https://digitalarchive.library.bogazici.edu.tr/items/70b6c21e-492e-4caf-b07c-dca1e2a86d30/full

Other sources

• "Bayezid II Mosque, Amasya", Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayezid_II_Mosque,_Amasya