Hacı Osman Efendi married the daughter of his teacher, Hacı Hızır Efendi, drafted that same teacher's fatwas, and is known by the epithet "Dâmâd". This double tie drew him into his teacher's exile as well: when the mufti of Amasya was convicted in Ramazan 1070 (May 1660) and banished to Cyprus, two of his sons and his son-in-law went with him. After the exile he taught at the Halfet Gazi and Sultan Bayezid madrasas, sat on the council of notables of Amasya and died early in 1112 (1700). Hüsameddin presents him as a scholar expert in the theory and the applied branches of Islamic law and accomplished in the literary sciences, and records that he composed poetry as "Hızrî" and was at home in the literature of Arabic and Persian. Of that verse nothing has come down to us.

The Entry in Amasya Tarihi

Hüsameddin's entry Osmân Efendi-Dâmâd el-Hâc, placed among the scholars of his twelfth volume, is short, yet it builds the whole of Osman Efendi's life around his teacher:

Amasyalıdır. İmâmlardan Ahmed Efendi'nin oğludur. Müfessîr-i meşhûr Amasya müftüsü el-Hâc Hızır Efendi'nin halka-i tedrîsinde ikmâl-i tahsîl edib ders-i âm ve fâzıl-ı müşârun ileyhe dâmâd oldu. Üstâdının zamân-ı fetvâsında müsevvid ve fetvâ emîni olduğundan onunla beraber Kıbrıs'a gönderildi. 1072'de avdet ettikde Halfet Gâzi müderrisi ve üstâdının yine müftülüğünde müsevvid ve emînü'l-fetvâsı olup eski mevki'ini buldu. Tedrîse mülâzemet ederek Iydî Bayrâm Efendi'den sonra Sultân Bâyezîd müderrisi olup yevmî seksen akçe vazîfe aldı. Amasya'da meclis-i a'yân açıldıkda a'zâ olup idârî ve içtimâî işlerle de iştiğâl etdi. Son yıllarda her şeyden ferâgat edib yalnız tefsîr ve hadîs tedrîsâtına ve ibâdete hasr-ı evkât ederek 1112 senesi evâ'ilinde dâr-ı na'îme irtihâl etdi. Âlim, usûl ü fürû'da mâhir, ulûm-i edebiyyede kâmil, müteşerri' olup meşâhîr-i fuzalâdan idi. "Hızrî" mahlâsıyla şâir olup edebiyât-ı Arabiyye ve Fârisîde sâhib-i kemâl idi. Mahdûmu Ahmed Mâhir Efendi'dir.

The passage translates as follows. A native of Amasya, his father was Ahmed Efendi, one of the imams of the town. He completed his studies in the teaching circle of the celebrated Qur'an commentator Hacı Hızır Efendi, mufti of Amasya, received licence to give public lessons and became the son-in-law of that learned master. Because he served as drafter and fatwa secretary during his teacher's tenure as mufti, he was sent with him to Cyprus. On returning in 1072 he became professor at the Halfet Gazi madrasa and, when his teacher was mufti once more, took up his old post again as drafter and fatwa secretary. He kept on teaching and, after Iydî Bayram Efendi, became professor of the Sultan Bayezid madrasa on a daily salary of eighty akçe. When a council of notables was set up in Amasya he became a member and dealt with administrative and public affairs as well. In his last years he withdrew from everything and gave his time only to teaching Qur'anic exegesis and hadith and to worship. He died at the beginning of 1112. He was a scholar, expert in legal theory and its applications, accomplished in the literary sciences, devout, and one of the well-known learned men. He was a poet under the pen name "Hızrî" and a master of Arabic and Persian literature. His son is Ahmed Mâhir Efendi.

At Hızır Efendi's Side

Osman Efendi's teacher was Hacı Hızır Efendi the Commentator, born in the Hacı İlyas quarter, trained as a repetitor at the Sultan Bayezid madrasa and four times mufti of Amasya. Hüsameddin closes his entry by listing his pupils: after the sons Ya'kûb and İbrâhim Efendi comes "his son-in-law and student", the well-known disciple Hacı Osman Efendi. Hızır Efendi left a gloss on Beyzâvî's commentary, a handbook of legal theory titled Gusûnü'l-usûl with its commentary, and a work on rhetoric, Unbûbü'l-belâga. It is reasonable to suppose that Osman Efendi gained his command of Arabic and of the literary sciences in this circle, though the sources do not say so in as many words.

Because he was fatwa secretary, what befell his teacher befell Osman Efendi too. The chronicle section of volume 4 follows, year by year, the feud between the mufti and the town steward Mumcuoğlu Seyyid Ahmed Ağa. In Şaban 1070 villagers from the districts of Akdağ and Geldiklân came to Amasya claiming that large sums they had once paid to provincial officials had in fact gone to the mufti, and they stoned his house in the Eski Kethüdâ quarter. On the third of Ramazan Kaba Ali Ağa, sent by the governor of Sivas, arrested him, and a few days later the court ruled that Hızır Efendi had taken eight hundred purses of akçe. Once his property and books had been sold, an imperial order arrived and "his two sons Ya'kûb and İbrâhim Efendi, together with his son-in-law and student, the learned Osmân Efendi" were exiled to Cyprus. In a footnote Hüsameddin protests the harsh words used of the mufti in that order. Many students of the teaching circle were also imprisoned or punished.

The exile lasted about a year and a half. When Köprülüzâde Fâzıl Ahmed Paşa became grand vizier in Rebiülevvel 1072 (October-November 1661), the former mufti in Cyprus, his children and his son-in-law were pardoned. Osman Efendi returned to Amasya the same year and became professor at the Halfet Gazi madrasa. Hızır Efendi was first appointed chair-preacher of the Sultan Bayezid Mosque and in Muharrem 1078 (June 1667) became mufti for the fourth time. Osman Efendi rejoined him as drafter and fatwa secretary and most probably held the post until his teacher's death on 8 Zilhicce 1084 (March 1674).

The Sultaniye Professorship and Last Years

With Hızır Efendi's death the office of mufti of Amasya was separated from the professorship of the Sultan Bayezid madrasa, which went to Iydî Bayram Efendi. According to the entry, Osman Efendi succeeded Iydî Bayram Efendi at the Sultaniye. The list of professors in the first volume puts one more name in between: when Iydî Efendi was made judge of Tripoli in Syria during the events of 1099, Şeyh Ya'kûbzâde Hacı Mustafa Efendi took his place, and on Mustafa Efendi's resignation in 1107 (1695-96) "Dâmâd el-Hâc Osmân Efendi, one of the learned" became professor. The next name on the list is Çorumlu Ahmed Efendi, appointed in 1113, which agrees with a death in 1112.

Hüsameddin gives no date for his entry into the council of notables. He writes only that in his last years Osman Efendi left administrative matters behind and taught nothing but exegesis and hadith. The beginning of 1112 corresponds to the summer of 1700.

Students and Family

Osman Efendi's teaching circle can be traced through scattered remarks in other entries. Hüsâmzâde Ahmed Efendi, a scholar of Köprü, studied in Amasya under "Dâmâd Osmân" and Hacı İlyas Efendi and received his licence. Gürcüzâde Hıfzı Hasan Efendi read with the Sultaniye professor Ahmed Efendi and with Dâmâd Osman Efendi before going to Istanbul, where he became fatwa secretary and later judge of Medina. Kadızâde Abdürrahîm Efendi, a sayyid of the Rifâî line, finished his studies with "Osmân Efendi, the student and son-in-law of Hızır Efendi" and went on to hold judgeships in small towns. Kara Hâfız Hacı Osman Efendi of Ayntab likewise profited from Dâmâd Osman, Çorumlu Ahmed and Merzifonlu Mustafa Efendi on coming to Amasya, and became mufti of Amasya in 1149.

His father was Ahmed Efendi, one of the imams; the name of his son, Ahmed Mâhir Efendi, appears in the last sentence of the entry. No other record of the son turns up. Another scholar of Amasya bearing the same epithet can cause confusion: Saçlı Dâmâd Hacı Osman Efendi, son of Mehmed of Çorum, who died in 1150 or 1162 and whose son was the poet Bâkır Mehmed Efendi. Hüsameddin treats the two men in separate entries.

His Poetry and the State of the Sources

None of Hızrî's poems has been found. Hüsameddin calls him a master of Arabic and Persian literature too, yet quotes not one couplet of his in any language. Nor is there word of a divan, or of any poem preserved in an anthology. The pen name appears to derive from the name of his teacher and father-in-law, Hızır Efendi. That is a guess; the entry offers no such explanation.

Metin Hakverdioğlu, in his study of Amasya Tarihi as a biographical dictionary of poets, counts Damat Hacı Osman Efendi among the poets of the twelfth volume but gives his pen name as "Hıfzî". The printed entry reads "Hızrî", and Hakverdioğlu's form is probably a slip in reading or typesetting. The same pen name was used in the sixteenth century by Hızrî Mehmed Bey, nephew of Keşfî, the private secretary of Selim I. More than a hundred and fifty years lie between the two men, and no family tie between them is known.

Chronology

Before 1070: Serves as drafter and fatwa secretary during Hızır Efendi's terms as mufti.

Ramazan 1070 (May 1660): Hızır Efendi is convicted. Osman Efendi is exiled to Cyprus with his teacher's sons.

Rebiülevvel 1072 (October-November 1661): Pardoned on Fâzıl Ahmed Paşa's appointment as grand vizier. Returns to Amasya and becomes professor at Halfet Gazi.

1078-1084 (1667-1674): Fatwa secretary again during Hızır Efendi's fourth term as mufti.

1107 (1695-96): Professor of the Sultan Bayezid madrasa, according to the list in the first volume.

Early 1112 (summer 1700): Dies.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Academic studies

Online sources