Niğdelidir. Ebûbekir bin Abdullah oğludur. Tahsîl-i ulûm için Amasya‘ya gelip Ürgüplü el-Hâc Ahmed Efendi’nin halka-i tedrîsine muvâzabet ve iktisâb-ı kemâlâta himmet ederek Sultân Bâyezîd Medresesi’nde ikâmet etdi. Ba’dehû mücâz ve ders-i âm oldu. [39]
Yıllarca tedrîs ve tezkîre muvâzabet ederek iştihâr etdi. İbtidâ Sultân Bâyezîd Medresesi mûîdi, 1211’de Türedizâde el-Hâc Süleyman Ağa’nın yaptırdığı Medrese-i Süleymaniye müderrisi olup 1228’de vefât etdi. Fıkıh ve ferâizde mâhir, vâiz, talebe hâmîsi bir zât idi.
In Modern English
He was from Niğde. He was the son of Ebûbekir, son of Abdullah. He came to Amasya to study the sciences and attended the teaching circle of Ürgüplü Hacı Ahmed Efendi; striving to attain maturity, he stayed at the Sultan Bayezid Madrasa. Afterwards he received the ijaza and became a müderris (madrasa professor) giving public lectures.
He won fame by teaching for years and continuing his duty of tezkire. First he was muîd (assistant to the müderris) at the Sultan Bayezid Madrasa; in 1211 [1796-97] he became müderris of the Süleymaniye Madrasa built by Türedizâde Hacı Süleyman Ağa, and died in 1228 [1812-13]. He was a master of jurisprudence and of the law of inheritance, a preacher, a protector of students.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- tahsîl-i ulûm: studying the sciences
- halka-i tedrîs: teaching circle, the community of students gathered around a teacher
- muvâzabet: attending regularly, not abandoning
- iktisâb-ı kemâlât: acquiring maturity and learning
- mücâz: one who has received the ijaza, authorized to teach
- ders-i âm: a professor who gives public lectures
- tezkire: one of the duties in the madrasa milieu leading to mülâzemet (entry into the queue for a professorship)
- iştihâr: gaining fame
- mûîd: one who assists the müderris and has students repeat the lesson
- ferâiz: the law of inheritance
- hâmî-i talebe: protector of students
The Sultan Bayezid Madrasa
The "Sultan Bayezid Madrasa" in the text is the madrasa of the Sultan Bayezid II Complex on the bank of the Yeşilırmak in Amasya, and it is also known as Sultaniye. According to the mosque's inscription the complex was completed in Receb 891 [July 1486]. Hüsameddin, however, writes that construction began right after Bayezid's accession, in Receb 886 [September 1481]. The madrasa is arranged around a courtyard with a fountain for ablutions (şadırvan) in its middle, facing a square, domed lecture-hall mosque; behind the colonnaded and vaulted porticoes are eighteen domed cells with hearths. After the building was damaged in the 1939 earthquake, the General Directorate of Foundations repaired it between 1954 and 1971. The madrasa is used today as the provincial public library. The number of cells varies in the sources: Mustafa Vâzıh Efendi writes that the madrasa west of the mosque had sixteen cells, while the encyclopedia entry that examines the building counts eighteen. Solakzâde, for his part, describes the complex's madrasa as one founded with a stipend of eight akçe a day; the relation of this figure to the "altmışlı" (sixty-akçe) description above could not be determined.
Hüsameddin states that the professorship of this madrasa was given to the muftis of Amasya, that its first teacher was the renowned Şeyhülislam Zenbilli Ali Efendi, and he lists the principal müderrises up to the end of the nineteenth century. The madrasa appears to have been an "altmışlı," that is, one whose daily stipend was sixty akçe; a detailed list of its müderrises is found in Cahit Baltacı's Osmanlı Medreseleri. Hacı Hâfız İdris Efendi's path ran within this building: first a student staying here, then a muîd of the same madrasa.
Muîd and Müderris
In the Ottoman madrasa system the persons chosen to assist müderrises were called muîd; muîds were among the personnel of the madrasa listed together with the müderris, and received a share of the waqf revenues. According to a study on the Hagia Sophia Madrasa, the mülâzemet system used for advancing to professorship worked over time through such routes as nöbet (turn), teşrif, death, promotion from muîdship, the duty of tezkire and fetva emaneti; toward the eighteenth century distortions such as privileges for those from ulema families and irregular grants of mülâzemet are also seen. The steps Hüsameddin lists for İdris Efendi (studentship, muîdship, tezkire, professorship) fit one of these routes; but by which route he passed when he became müderris in 1211 could not be determined in the sources read.
A study that examines the müderrises of Amasya according to the archive of the Meşihat (the şeyhülislam's office) establishes that the city had more than forty madrasas and uses the müderrises' ijazas and appointment documents as sources. İdris Efendi's name does not appear in the readable abstract of this study.
What Could Not Be Read
No information was found in other sources on Türedizâde Hacı Süleyman Ağa, the founder of the Medrese-i Süleymaniye, or on the location of the madrasa. The same is true of Ürgüplü Hacı Ahmed Efendi and of İdris Efendi himself.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 7, p. 275–275. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
- Recep Orhan Özel, "Amasya Sultan II. Bâyezîd Câmii ve Külliyesinin İnşâ Tarihi Problemi", Sosyal Bilimler Araştırmaları 13, Amasya Üniversitesi Yayınları, 2024, p. 5–16.
- Hasan Telli, "Meşihat Arşivi'ne Göre Amasya Müderrisleri", Afyon Kocatepe Üniversitesi İslami İlimler Dergisi, 2024. https://acikerisim.aku.edu.tr/xmlui/handle/11630/12210
- Said Nohut, Ayasofya-i Kebir Medresesi (15-19. Yüzyıllar), doktora tezi, Fatih Sultan Mehmet Vakıf Üniversitesi, 2024.
Other sources