Hasan Dede, head ney player of the Amasya Mevlevî lodge, was a dervish born and raised within the town's Mevlevî circle. His father, Dervish Ali, was also one of the dervishes of the same lodge. Because he played the ney well, he was put at the head of the ney players in the lodge rebuilt by the grand vizier Bayram Pasha, and he held this post until his death around 1067 (1656-57). Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar calls him "pious, a poet and a connoisseur of music" and adds a second name, "Nâbî Dede", beside his own in the heading of the entry. None of his poems has survived.

Life

Hasan Dede receives only a short entry in the eighth volume of Amasya Tarihi:

Amasyalıdır. Amasya Mevlevî-hânesi dervîşânından Dervîş Alî oğludur. Güzel neyzen olduğundan Bayram Paşa’nın binâ etdiği mevlevî-hânenin neyzenbaşı oldu. Yıllarca vazîfesine devâm edib 1067 hudûdunda vefât etdi. Sâlih, şâir, mûsikî-şinâs bir zât idi. “Dede” demekle meşhûr olup mahdûmu Hüseyin Ağa’dır.

Put into English: A man of Amasya, son of Dervish Ali, one of the dervishes of the Amasya Mevlevî lodge. Because he was a fine ney player he became head ney player of the lodge built by Bayram Pasha. He carried on his duties for years and died around 1067. He was pious, a poet and a connoisseur of music. He was known as "Dede"; his son is Hüseyin Ağa.

In Mevlevî lodges the sema ceremony, the mukabele, was conducted under the direction of the head ney player and the head kudüm player; Hasan Dede led the ney side of this pair. Who taught him the ney, when he entered the lodge, even the year of his birth: none of this can be learned from the entry. The name "Nâbî Dede" in the heading does not recur in the text; Hüsameddin does not explain whether it is a pen name or a nickname.

Bayram Pasha's Mevlevî Lodge

Apart from the year of his death, the only datable detail in the entry is the building in which Hasan Dede served. In the history of the lodge in his first volume, Hüsameddin writes that the Amasya Mevlevî lodge built by Alâeddîn Ali Pervâne Bey in 714 (1314) burned during a bandit raid in 1011 (1602-03), and that its sheikh İbrâhim Çelebi was lost in that event. İbrâhim Çelebi's son, Sheikh Mehmed Ârif Dede, laid the matter before the former grand vizier Bayram Pasha, and in 1047 (1637-38) Bayram Pasha had the lodge rebuilt and its endowments enlarged. The first sheikh of the new building was Ârif Mehmed Dede.

Since Hasan Dede served as head ney player in this building, his tenure falls within the twenty or so years between 1047 and his death, which agrees with the word "for years". During the same years the lodge also housed Üveys Dede, who rose from head cook to steward of the ceremonial hall and then to reciter of the Mesnevî, and became sheikh in 1067. It is very likely that the two took part in the same ceremonies for years; the year Üveys Dede became sheikh, 1067, is the same as the year of Hasan Dede's death. The wider setting of the Mevlevî tradition in Amasya is sketched under Sufism and the dervish lodges of Amasya.

Poetry

Hasan Dede's poetry is mentioned in a single word, within the entry's "sâlih, şâir, mûsikî-şinâs"; Hüsameddin quotes neither a couplet nor a hymn or song lyric. No poems by him have been found. The double name of the heading survives in the survey of Metin Hakverdioğlu, who brought together the poets of the eighth volume, and there Hasan Dede is recorded as "Hasan Dede-Nâbî Dede".

Chronology

714 (1314): Alâeddîn Ali Pervâne Bey builds the Amasya Mevlevî lodge.

1011 (1602-03): The lodge burns in a bandit raid.

1047 (1637-38): Bayram Pasha has the lodge rebuilt; Hasan Dede becomes head ney player in the new building.

Around 1067 (1656-57): Hasan Dede dies; in the same year Üveys Dede becomes sheikh of the lodge.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Online sources