İlyâs Ağa — Mütevellîzâde el-Hâc

In Modern English

He was the son of İsa Çelebi, trustee of the Çeribaşı Mosque; İsa Çelebi was the son of Hacı Ali Ağa, and Ali Ağa the son of İlyâs Çelebi. He was one of the famous sipahis. While serving as trustee of the Çeribaşı waqf in place of his father, he died as a martyr in the Candia (Kandiye) war in 1081 [1670-71] [270]. His son is the famous learned mufti of Amasya, Hacı Ahmed Efendi.

Notes and Research

Old Words in the Text

• mahdûm: son
• mütevellî: waqf administrator
• sipâhi: a member of the mounted military class, usually a timar-holding soldier
• meşâhir: the famous
• şehîden vefât: to die as a martyr
• fâzıl: learned, virtuous

The Candia War and the Date

Candia is the city on the island of Crete now called Heraklion. After a blockade and siege lasting about twenty-three years, the Ottomans received the city by agreement; the TDV gives the surrender date as 9 Rebîülâhir 1080 [6 September 1669]. Hüsameddin writes that İlyâs Ağa died in the Candia war in 1081; this year begins about eight months after the surrender. However, Fâzıl Ahmed Pasha left Crete only on 12 Safer 1081 [1 July 1670], and the conquest of the island was completed except for the fortresses of Suda, Spinalonga and Grambousa. Whether Hüsameddin's phrase "Candia war" points to these last engagements or to a mistake of one year could not be determined; either is possible.

Mufti Ahmed Efendi

Hüsameddin wrote a separate entry for Hacı Ahmed Efendi, trustee of the Çeribaşı waqf and mufti of Amasya. According to it Ahmed Efendi studied under the mufti of Amasya Müfessir Hızır, Pîrîzâde Hacı Hüseyin and Dursunzâde Pîrî Mehmed Efendi, and then completed his education under Antabî Mehmed Tefsîrî Efendi, mufti of Sivas, and under Hacı İlyâs Efendi, who was müderris of the Hâtuniyye in Tokat and died in Amasya in 1111. He became müderris of the Amasya Sultâniyye in 1114 and by general consent head of the notables (başayan) in 1119; he became mufti in place of Mufti İsmail Efendi, who died on the first day of the festival in 1123. The text gives his time in the muftiship as "more than two years" and his death date as "1226"; two years and 1226 do not agree, and this year is most probably 1126 [1714]. This is a proposed correction; the printed text gives the year as 1226.

According to the same entry Ahmed Efendi had a madrasa built east of the Çeribaşı Quarter, below the Çorum Cemetery, and was buried in the garden of his madrasa. An article on the Halveti lodges gives this building as dating from 1704 and writes that after it burned in 1730 Mütevellîzâde Hacı Ali Ağa had a Halveti lodge built in its place. Ahmed Efendi's son is Abdülbâki Efendi and his grandson Şemseddîn Ahmed Efendi. Hüsameddin says that he saw a descendant named Şemseddîn alive in his childhood and that his house was on the qibla side of the Çeribaşı Mosque.

A Difference in the Genealogy

This entry lists İlyâs Ağa's ancestry as İsa Çelebi, Ali Ağa and İlyâs Çelebi. In Ahmed Efendi's own entry, on the other hand, İlyâs Ağa's ancestry is written "Ahmed Çelebi son of İsa son of Ali son of İlyâs"; that is, an "Ahmed Çelebi" is added to the chain, and İsa becomes İlyâs Ağa's grandfather instead of his father. The two sequences do not agree; which is correct cannot be derived from the book.

Bibliography

Primary sources

• Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 7, p. 346. amasya.bel.tr
• Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, vol. 6, entry "Ahmed Efendi-Mütevellîzâde el-Hâc."

Books

• Ersin Gülsoy, "Kandiye", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, 2001.
• Abdülkadir Özcan, "Köprülüzâde Fâzıl Ahmed Paşa", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, 2002.
• Kadir Özköse, "Amasya'da Bulunan Halvetiyye Tekkeleri", Akademiar, no. 5, Ankara 2018, p. 91–118.