Amasyalı Hasan’ın oğludur. Unculukla kazanıp hayli servet ü sâmân edindi. Hicâz’a gidip avdetinde meclis-i hâciyâna a’zâ olarak nüfûz ve i’tibâr kazandı. 1203’de Pabuççular içinde iki ve Serdâr hanı altına üç ve karşı tarafda iki ki cem’an yedi bâb dükkânıyla nukûdunu vakf ve hâsılâtından cenûb boğazının başında helvacı Mehmed Ağa’nın yaptırdığı helvacı pınarının ve yollarının i’mârına mesârif ve kendi mahallesinde bulunan Fethiye Câmi-i şerîfine va’ziye ve veza’ifi vaz’ u ta’yîn etdi.
Dâmâdı Bakırcı es-Seyyid Sa’deddîn Efendi’yi ve ba’dehû evlâdını vakfına mütevvelli nasb edib 1210’da vefât etdi. Sâlih, zî-servet, sâhib-i hayr u hasenât, ramazânlarda mahallesi fukarasına in’âm ü ihsân eder. Cidden fukarâ-perver, gâyet dindâr bir kimse idi.
In Modern English
He was the son of Hasan of Amasya. He earned a considerable fortune and property through the flour trade. After going to the Hejaz and returning, he became a member of the assembly of pilgrims and in this way gained influence and standing. In 1203 [1788-89] he endowed his money together with seven shops in all, two among the Pabuççular (cobblers), three beneath the Serdar Han, and two opposite; from the income he set aside the repair costs of the halvah-maker's spring (helvacı pınarı) and its roads, built by the halvah-maker Mehmed Ağa at the head of the southern gorge, and for the Fethiye Mosque in his own neighborhood, the wages of the preacher and the other staff.
He appointed his son-in-law, the coppersmith Seyyid Sa'deddin Efendi, and then his children, as trustees (mütevelli) of his waqf, and he died in 1210 [1795-96]. He was a devout, wealthy man, a man of charity and goodness; in Ramadans he gave gifts and alms to the poor of his neighborhood. He was truly a protector of the poor and an extremely devout person.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- uncu: a tradesman who sells flour or works in the flour business
- servet ü sâmân: wealth and goods
- Hicâz: the region where Mecca and Medina are located
- nüfûz ve i'tibâr: influence and standing
- cem'an: in total
- bâb: unit, piece (for shops)
- nukûd: cash
- hâsılât: income
- mesârif: expenses
- i'mâr: repair, putting in good order
- va'ziye ve veza'if: the preaching and the wages of the staff
- mütevellî: the person who runs a waqf
- fukarâ-perver: protector of the poor
- hayr u hasenât: charity and good deeds
A Cash Waqf
The text summarizes how the waqf was established: İbrahim Ağa endowed seven shops and his money, and allotted shares of this income to two purposes. One was the repair of a spring and roads built by the halvah-maker Mehmed Ağa, the other the wages of the preacher and staff at the Fethiye Mosque. The place is called the "southern gorge"; where the spring is today could not be determined from the sources. The management of the waqf was left to the son-in-law and his descendants; this is a common practice that kept a waqf within the family. Because the text or record of the waqf deed could not be reached, the location of the shops and the later fate of the waqf could not be verified.
The Fethiye Mosque
The Fethiye Mosque to which the waqf allotted a share is still in Amasya today; it stands on Küba Sokağı in the Fethiye neighborhood. It was converted from an old Byzantine church; the church is thought to have been built by Helena, daughter of the Byzantine Emperor Phocas. It is told that Fetih Gazi, who served as governor of Amasya in the Danishmend period, had the church converted into a mosque and gave it the name Fethiye. The building was damaged over time and was repaired and reopened for worship in 1956. In one academic study the building is described as a Nestorian monastery converted into a mosque after the Danishmend conquest, and the mosque is said to have served for a long time as the Great Mosque or Friday Mosque; sources differ on the building's earlier identity. A minaret was added in 1883 by İncezade Hacı Mehmet to the mosque, which in its original state had none. The mosque was set up in the apse of the church; for this reason its east facade is angular, in the form of a half hexagon. In 1203, when İbrahim Ağa made his endowment, the mosque must still have been without a minaret; no other record states this, and it is deduced only from the construction dates above.
No information was found in other sources on the location of the shops among the Pabuççular and in the Serdar Han, or on the halvah-maker Mehmed Ağa and the coppersmith Seyyid Sa'deddin Efendi.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 65–65. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
Official sources