Amasyalıdır. Mûmâ-ileyh Hacı Emrullah Efendizâde Hasan Efendi’nin mahdûmudur. Amasya‘da hutût-ı mütenevviayı, [284] hattât-ı meşhûr Maydonozcuzâde el-Hâc Hâfız Halil Zühdü Efendi’den ahz ve temeşşuk ederek ketebe vaz’ına me’zûn oldu.
Kezâlik Amasya hattâtlarından Sultâniye müderrisi Kâtibzâde es-Seyyid Hâfız Ahmed Kâmil, diğer Zileli Hâfız Mehmed Kâmil Efendilerden de temeşşuk edib her birinden izin ve icâzet alarak hattât-ı meşhûr oldu.
Cedd-i a’lâsı olan Sekbân-ı Timur vakfı mütevellîsi bulunan pederinin 1225’de vefâtı üzerine vakf-ı mezkûre ber-vech-i evlâdiyyet mütevellî ve Sultân Bâyezîd Mektebi hat muallimi olup yıllarca Amasya‘da ta’lîm-i hat ederek l278’de vefât etdi. Evlâdına bıraktığı âsâr-ı nefîsesi yıllarca medâr-ı taayyüş olduğunu sabâvetimizde gördük.
In Modern English
He was from Amasya. He was the son of the aforementioned Hasan Efendi, son of Hacı Emrullah Efendi. In Amasya he learned the various scripts from the renowned calligrapher Maydonozcuzade Hacı Hâfız Halil Zühdü Efendi and, by practising them, received permission for "ketebe vaz'ı" [the method of writing, scribal practice].
In the same way he practised under the calligraphers of Amasya Kâtibzade Seyyid Hâfız Ahmed Kâmil, müderris of the Sultâniye, and under Hâfız Mehmed Kâmil Efendi of Zile, and with the permission and ijaza of each of them he became a renowned calligrapher.
When his father, who was trustee of the waqf of his great forefather Sekbân-ı Timur, died in 1225 [1810-11], he became trustee of that waqf as a descendant, as the waqf's terms provided, and calligraphy teacher at the Sultân Bâyezîd School. He taught writing in Amasya for years and died in 1278 [1861-62]. In our childhood we saw that the fine works he left to his children were for years a means of livelihood.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- hutût-ı mütenevvia: the various scripts, hands
- ahz ve temeşşuk: learning, and advancing by practising writing models
- ketebe vaz'ı: the method of writing, understood in the sense of scribal practice; the exact equivalent is not certain
- me'zun: permitted, authorised
- icâzet: a written or oral licence a teacher gives to a student
- cedd-i a'lâ: great forefather, a distant ancestor in the line of descent
- mütevellî: the person who runs a waqf
- ber-vech-i evlâdiyyet: passing to descendants as the waqf's terms require
- hat muallimi: calligraphy teacher
- âsâr-ı nefîse: valuable works
- medâr-ı taayyüş: a means of livelihood
- sabâvet: childhood
His Teachers and the Waqf
The text names Vehbî Efendi's three teachers: Maydonozcuzade Hâfız Halil Zühdü, Kâtibzade Hâfız Ahmed Kâmil and Hâfız Mehmed Kâmil of Zile. None of the three could be found in the sources read. Whether "Vehbî" in the heading is a pen name or a given name is unclear; no record of writing specimens was found either.
The name "Sekbân-ı Timur" is mentioned among the waqfs of Amasya in another source: an article on the village revenues of the district of Zünnunabad writes that the shares of its more populous villages were assigned to the Amasya waqfs of Yörgüç Pasha, Sekban Timur and Acem Ali. This shows that the waqf existed; but the article does not give the waqf's founder, its date or its trustees. That Sekbân-ı Timur, who gave the waqf its name, was Vehbî Efendi's great forefather rests only on Hüsameddin's account; this could not be verified.
The Sultân Bâyezîd School
The Sultân Bâyezîd School, where Vehbî Efendi taught calligraphy, may be connected with the mosque complex Bayezid II had built in Amasya; this is an inference, since the text gives only the name. No information on the founding and operation of the school was found in the sources read.
Bibliography
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 7, p. 350–350. amasya.bel.tr
- Murat Alandağlı, "İnancın, Şekavetin ve Siyasetin Şekillendirdiği Bir Orta Anadolu Kazası: Zünnunabad", Türk Kültürü ve Hacı Bektaş Velî Araştırma Dergisi, 115 (2025).