Erzincânlıdır. Abdurrahman Efendi’nin mahdûmu olup Amasya’da Seku Köyülüzâde el-Hâc Kâşif Mehmed, Çelebizâde el-Hâc Hüseyin, Ürgüplü el-Hâc Ahmedîlerden tahsîl-i ulûm ederek mücâz ve ders-i âm oldu. Neşr-i ulûma himmet ederek “Hacı Evliyâ Efendi” demekle iştihâr etdi.
1214 cumâdelâhiresinin yedisinde Kırmacızâde es-Seyyid el-Hâc Abdullah Efendi’nin mahlûlünden Halfet Gâzi Medresesi müderrisi olup 1221 senesi zilhiccesinde dâr-ı na’ime irtihâl etdi. Halfet Mezarlığında medfûndur. Ulûm-ı şer’iyede kâmil, müteşerri’ zâhid olup meşâhîr-i ulemâ ve fukahâdan idi. Mahdûmu fuzalâdan Abdurrahman Efendi Erzincân eşrâfının da’vet ve ricâsıyla Erzincân’a gidip orada müderris ve müftü olmuşdu.
Diğer Hacı Ahmed Efendizâde es-Seyyid el-Hâc İbrâhim Efendi de hâciyân ve a’yân meclislerine a’zâ olarak 1221 ve Lâz Hocazâde es-Seyyid İbrâhim Efendi bin es-Seyyid Mûsâ Efendi bin el-Hâc İbrâhim Efendi de Torumtay müderrisi olup [194] 1222 senesi muharreminde vefât etdiler. A’yân ve ulemâdan idiler.
In Modern English
He was from Erzincan, the son of Abdurrahman Efendi. In Amasya he studied under Seku Köylüzâde Hacı Kâşif Mehmed, Çelebizâde Hacı Hüseyin and Ürgüplü Hacı Ahmed Efendis, received the ijaza, and became a ders-i âm (a madrasa professor who gave public lectures). Because he worked hard to spread learning, he became known as "Hacı Evliyâ Efendi".
On the seventh of Jumada al-Thani 1214 [6 November 1799], on the death of Kırmacızâde Seyyid Hacı Abdullah Efendi, he took the vacant post of professor at the Halfet Gazi Madrasa, and in Dhu al-Hijja 1221 [February-March 1807] he passed to the eternal world. He is buried in the Halfet Cemetery. He was mature in the religious sciences, strictly devoted to the sharia, and not given to worldly attachments; he was one of the well-known scholars and jurists. His son Abdurrahman Efendi, one of the virtuous, went to Erzincan at the invitation and request of the notables of Erzincan, where he became a madrasa professor and mufti.
Another man, Seyyid Hacı İbrâhim Efendi, son of Hacı Ahmed Efendi and a member of the councils of the hajjis and the ayan, died in 1221 [1806-07]; and Lâz Hocazâde Seyyid İbrâhim Efendi, son of Seyyid Mûsâ Efendi, son of Hacı İbrâhim Efendi, died while professor at Torumtay in Muharram 1222 [March-April 1807]. Both were among the ayan and the ulema.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- mahdûm: son
- tahsîl-i ulûm: pursuit of learning
- mücâz: one who has received the ijaza, authorized to teach
- ders-i âm: a madrasa professor who gives lectures open to all in the mosque; a scholarly rank
- neşr-i ulûm: spreading learning; himmet: effort, labor
- iştihâr etmek: to become famous, to become known
- mahlûl: a post left vacant by its holder's death or departure
- dâr-ı na'îme irtihâl: to depart to the abode of bliss, that is, the hereafter; to die
- medfûn: buried
- müteşerri': bound to the sharia; zâhid: one who is detached from the world, devoted to worship
- meşâhîr-i ulemâ ve fukahâ: well-known scholars and jurists
- fuzalâ: virtuous, learned people
- hâciyân ve a'yân meclisleri: the city's councils of hajjis and notables
The Halfet Gazi Madrasa
The building Hüsameddin calls "Halfet Gazi" is the madrasa popularly known as Hilfet Gazi, properly Halîfet Gazi, together with the tomb adjoining it. Today the complex stands in the city center, on Torumtay Street in the Şamice quarter. According to its inscription the madrasa was built in 606 [1209-10]; the endowment deed of its founder Halîfet Gazi, dated 622 [1225], has also survived. Halîfet Gazi was a Danishmendid emir; after the end of the principality he entered Seljuk service, was appointed governor of Amasya in 619 [1222] under Alâeddin Keykubad I, then became governor of Erzurum, and in 1232 fell as a martyr during a campaign against the Georgians and was buried in his tomb in Amasya.
The later history of the madrasa helps us understand in which building Hacı Evliyâ Efendi taught. The parts that collapsed in the earthquake of 1647 were rebuilt in timber by the madrasa professor Hasan Efendi, and in 1888 the mufti of Amasya, Hacı Osman Hilmi Efendi, had the building thoroughly repaired. Accordingly, the madrasa where Hacı Evliyâ Efendi served as professor between 1799 and 1807 must be the building that had been repaired in timber after the earthquake; this is a conclusion drawn from the dates. Today only the south wall and part of the east section of the madrasa remain standing; the two-storey tomb, with its octagonal body and pyramidal cap, survives. The Halfet Cemetery that Hüsameddin mentions may be the graveyard around the complex; however, no information on the location or present condition of this cemetery was found in the sources read.
His Teacher, Ürgüplü Hacı Ahmed Efendi
Among the teachers named in the entry, Ürgüplü Hacı Ahmed Efendi was one of the most influential scholars of Amasya in the late eighteenth century. Mehmet Uyar, who studied the life of Hicâbî Abdülbâki Efendi, active as a preacher in the town of Ziyaret, writes that Ürgüplü Ahmed Efendi taught works such as the Sahih al-Bukhari, the Baydawi commentary, Taşköprizâde's Şerh-i Fevâid-i Gıyâsiyye, the Dürer and the Mutavvel, and gave graduates the ijaza in exegesis, hadith, principles and the branches of law. The ijaza Hacı Evliyâ Efendi received is a product of this teaching circle.
The name of Ürgüplü Hacı Ahmed Efendi also appears in the city's political history. According to Sabit Genç's study of the reflections of the Nizâm-ı Cedîd in Amasya, when in February 1794 a crowd tore up the register of those enrolled in the new army and stormed the court, Ürgüplü Hacı Ahmed Efendi, then mufti of Amasya, was removed from his post in the ensuing investigation on the ground that he had acted together with the Janissaries, and a few months later, under the new tax collector Hazinedarzâde Süleyman Bey, he was appointed mufti again. Thus the teacher of Hacı Evliyâ Efendi appears as a name cited at the head of the ulema who stood against the Nizâm-ı Cedîd in Amasya.
The Professorship at Torumtay
The phrase "professor at Torumtay" in the last paragraph of the entry concerns the endowment bearing the name of Seyfeddin Torumtay, the governor of Amasya who had the tomb opposite the Gök Madrasa built in 1278. The tomb stands today and contains, besides Torumtay, the graves of his children and grandchildren. The text does not make clear in which building Lâz Hocazâde Seyyid İbrâhim Efendi taught. No information was found in other sources about Kırmacızâde Seyyid Hacı Abdullah Efendi, Seku Köylüzâde Hacı Kâşif Mehmed Efendi, Çelebizâde Hacı Hüseyin Efendi, the son Abdurrahman Efendi who became mufti of Erzincan, or the two İbrâhim Efendis of the last paragraph.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, pp. 67–68. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
- Aynur Durukan, "Hilfet Gazi Medresesi ve Türbesi", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/hilfet-gazi-medresesi-ve-turbesi).
- Sabit Genç, "Nizam-ı Cedid'in Amasya Sancağındaki Yansımaları", Karamanoğlu Mehmetbey Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, 8/2 (2025), pp. 335-362.
Official sources
- T.C. Amasya Belediyesi, "Torumtay Türbesi" (amasya.bel.tr).
Books
- Mehmet Uyar, "Hicâbî, Abdülbâki Gül Baba", Türk Edebiyatı İsimler Sözlüğü, 2014 (teis.yesevi.edu.tr).