AMASYA 05

Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar · İKİNCİ BÂB · BİRİNCİ FASIL

İslâm Çelebi (Rifâî-zâde Seyyid)

Encyclopedia · History of Amasya, Volume 7, p. 297 • Edited by: Prof. Dr. Safi ARPAGUŞ- Prof. Dr. Ahmet Hakkı TURABİ

Original Text (Ottoman Turkish)

Lâdiklidir. Es-Seyyid eş-Eşca’ Ali bin es-Seyyid eş-Şeyh sâhibü’l-hâl Ahmed Kebîrü’r-Rifâ’î mahdûmudur. Buna es-Seyyid Abdullah İslâm Çelebi denirdi. Devâtdâr Ahmed Paşa Çelebi devrinde Amasya‘ya gelip siyâdetle iştihâr etdi. 807 sâlinden sonra vefât etdi. Kibâr-ı sâdât-ı Hüseynîden bir zât-ı sütûde-simât idi.

Our Research Article Editor: Mevlüt Erdem Öztürk

In Modern English

He was from Lâdik. Sayyid Eşca' Ali was the son of Sayyid Shaykh, the man of spiritual states, Ahmed Kebîr er-Rifâî. He was called Sayyid Abdullah İslâm Çelebi. In the time of Devâtdâr Ahmed Pasha Çelebi he came to Amasya and became renowned for his sayyid status (his descent from the Prophet). He died after 807 [after 1404-05]. He was one of the eminent Husaynid sayyids, a person of praiseworthy face and character.

Notes and Research

Old Words in the Text

  • es-Seyyid: a person descended from the Prophet
  • sâhibü'l-hâl: a man of spiritual states, one who has reached a degree of maturity in Sufism
  • mahdûm: son
  • siyâdet: sayyid status, the esteem that comes with descent from the Prophet
  • iştihâr etmek: to become famous, to become known
  • kibâr-ı sâdât-ı Hüseynî: the eminent among the sayyids descended from Husayn
  • zât-ı sütûde-simât: a person of praised face and character

On the Line of Descent

The text calls Sayyid İslâm Çelebi the son of Ahmed Kebîr er-Rifâî. Ahmed er-Rifâî, from whom the Rifâî order takes its name, died in 578 (1182). İslâm Çelebi's death falls after 807 (1404-05). The gap exceeds two centuries, so the word "mahdûm" should be understood not as a direct son but as a descendant of that great shaykh. This is an inference; Hüsameddin gives no intermediate links and supports the genealogy with no other source.

Traces of the Rifâî Order Around Amasya

The Rifâiyya is counted among the first orders to take shape and complete its organization in the twelfth century, in the Batâih region of Iraq. One of the earliest documents for its presence in Anatolia comes from Taşova, a district of Amasya: the waqf deed for the Seyyid Nûreddin Alparslan Lodge, which belonged to the Rifâîs, is dated Ramadan 655 (September 1257). Rifâîs are also recorded in Konya and in Develi in the same century. Volumes two and three of Amasya Tarihi also contain information on the Rifâî order, and these passages are cited as sources in encyclopedia entries on the order.

A doctoral study on the Sayyâdiyya, a branch of the Rifâiyya, determines that the first representative of this branch to come to Anatolia was Necmeddîn Yahyâ, who left Iraq in the fourteenth century and settled in Amasya. Since it is not known which branch İslâm Çelebi belonged to, no connection can be drawn between him and Necmeddîn Yahyâ. The same study also notes that no record could be found of who represented the Sayyâdiyya in Anatolia during the four centuries after the fourteenth.

Lâdik and the Sanjak of Amasya

Under Ottoman administration Lâdik was one of the districts (kaza) attached to the sanjak of Amasya; at the beginning of the sixteenth century the sanjak consisted of the districts of Amasya center, Lâdik and Merzifon. Today Lâdik is a district of Samsun, and it contains tombs known as Sunullah Pasha, Dikilitaş and Seyit Ahmet-i Kebir. The epithet "Ahmed-i Kebîr" in the last name is the same as the title "Ahmed Kebîr" given to the founder of the Rifâî order. Even so, the relation of this tomb to the Rifâî order or to İslâm Çelebi's family is not explained in the sources we read and therefore could not be verified.

Devâtdâr Ahmed Pasha and the Date

The text reports İslâm Çelebi's arrival in Amasya as taking place "in the time of Devâtdâr Ahmed Pasha Çelebi." Searches for a pasha of this name and his years of office turned up nothing. The only firm date given, 807 (1404-05), falls in the troubled years after the Battle of Ankara. At that time Çelebi Mehmed had built a strong base with the support of the Turkmen beys around Tokat and Amasya; from 1414 on, Amasya also came to the fore as a princely sanjak. It is possible that the word "Çelebi" in the text points to this prince, but this too is a guess.

What Could Not Be Verified

No information was found in other sources on Sayyid Abdullah İslâm Çelebi, his family in Lâdik or his activity in Amasya. The information in the text rests on Hüsameddin's record.

Bibliography

Primary sources

  • Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 7, p. 297. amasya.bel.tr

Academic studies

Other sources

  • "Rum Eyaleti", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (Amasya's becoming a princely sanjak)

Volume 7 contents

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