Amasyalıdır. Eşrâfdan İskender Çelebi bin Hızır Çelebi bin Seydî Ali Çelebi bin el-Hâc İlyâs Çelebi bin Receb Çelebi bin [94] Hasan Bey bin Emîr Celâleddîn Habil bin Ahî Tâyî İbrâhim Bey’in mahdûmudur. Bakiyye-i nesebi İbrâhim Bey’in tercemesinde geçti.
Pederinin vefâtında ağır zeâmetle kayrıldı. Amasya eşrâfı arasında hayli iştihâr edib Darbhâne emîni ba’dehû mukâtaât emîni oldu. 1016’da Amasya’da Kızlar Sarayı tamir edildikde sarây-ı mezkûr muhâfızı olarak orada yıllarca oturdu. Ba’dehû vefât etdi.
In Modern English
He is from Amasya. He is the son of İskender Çelebi, one of the notables; İskender Çelebi was the son of Hızır Çelebi, son of Seydî Ali Çelebi, son of Hacı İlyâs Çelebi, son of Receb Çelebi, son of Hasan Bey, son of Emîr Celâleddîn Habil, son of Ahî Tâyî İbrâhim Bey. The rest of his lineage appeared in the biography of İbrâhim Bey.
On the death of his father he was favoured with a large zeamet. Having gained considerable renown among the notables of Amasya, he became steward of the mint and afterwards steward of the tax-farm revenues. In 1016 [1607-08], when the Kızlar Sarayı (Girls' Palace) in Amasya was repaired, he lived there for years as keeper of the said palace. Afterwards he died.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- eşrâf: the respected, leading families of a place
- bakiyye-i neseb: the remaining part of a lineage
- zeâmet: a military fief of high income
- iştihâr: gaining renown, becoming known
- Darbhâne emini: the steward of the mint, where coins were struck on behalf of the state
- mukâtaât emini: the steward of the revenue items (mukâtaas) that the state had farmed out or leased
- sarây-ı mezkûr: the said palace
- muhâfız: guardian, keeper
What Being an Emin Meant
In the Ottoman Empire an emin was an official who undertook a given task on behalf of the state and received a fee for it; he carried no risk of profit or loss and was responsible only for the task entrusted to him. Among the institutions run by trusteeship are counted the kitchen, the barley store and the mint. The emin was closely tied to the state's mukâtaa and tax-farming system: the state could put a revenue source (mukâtaa) up for a three-year term to a tax-farmer, and if no tax-farmer came forward, the revenue was run through an emin. Mints too were often run in this way.
Amasya was among the cities where coins were struck early in Ottoman history: it is known that in the time of the sons of Bayezid I (Yıldırım), coins were struck in Amasya along with Bursa, Edirne, Serres and Ayasuluk. The source consulted gives no detail on the state of the Amasya mint in the seventeenth century; for this reason it may be supposed that the mint in which İsfendiyâr Çelebi served was this one, but it could not be verified.
The Kızlar Sarayı
Amasya Castle stands on Mount Harşena north of the city and consists, from top to bottom, of three parts: Harşena Castle (the Upper Castle), the Kızlar Sarayı (the castle terrace) and the Lower Castle. The Kızlar Sarayı is the building on this terrace, stone on the outside and brick and timber within. In the archaeological excavations begun in 2009, architectural remains of four different periods were found in the Upper Castle and the Kızlar Sarayı; among the finds is also a silver coin from the time of Selim I. The repair of 1016 [1607-08] reported by Hüsameddin does not appear as a separately confirmed date in the excavation results.
Points to Note
The lineage reaches back to Ahî Tâyî İbrâhim Bey; the biography of İbrâhim Bey is not given in this entry, and Hüsameddin refers the reader there. İsfendiyâr Çelebi's dates of birth and death are not known; the repair date of 1016 is the only date that shows in which period of his life he lived.
Bibliography