AMASYA 05

Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar · İKİNCİ BÂB · BİRİNCİ FASIL

İsmâil Çelebi (Mevlânâ Sa'deddîn)

Encyclopedia · History of Amasya, Volume 7, p. 299 • Edited by: Prof. Dr. Safi ARPAGUŞ- Prof. Dr. Ahmet Hakkı TURABİ

Original Text (Ottoman Turkish)

Rûmikîdir. Kürdlerden Mehmed oğludur. Ulemâdan tahsîl-i ulûm edib Amasya‘da müderris-i benâm oldu. Hayli müddet iftâ ve tedrîs ile iştigâl ederek 696 sâline doğru vefât etdi. Kîbar-ı ulemâdan olup Mevlânâ Sa’deddîn İsmâil er-Rûmikî dendi.

Our Research Article Editor: Mevlüt Erdem Öztürk

In Modern English

He was Rûmikî. He was the son of Mehmed, of the Kurds. After studying under scholars and learning the sciences, he became a famous müderris (madrasa professor) in Amasya. He spent a long time giving fatwas and teaching, and died around the year 696 [1296-97]. He was one of the great scholars and was called Mevlânâ Sa'deddîn İsmâil er-Rûmikî.

Notes and Research

Old Words in the Text

  • Rûmikî: a nisba; most probably relating to the land of Rum (Anatolia) or to a place name, not clear from the text
  • tahsîl-i ulûm: learning the sciences
  • müderris-i benâm: a müderris of wide renown, a famous professor
  • iftâ: giving fatwas
  • tedrîs: teaching
  • iştigâl: being occupied with, engaging in
  • kîbar-ı ulemâ: great scholars

Amasya at the End of the Thirteenth Century

The date of İsmâil Çelebi's death falls in the period when the Anatolian Seljuk state was under Mongol domination. In these years Amasya was a city distinguished by its institutions of learning and art. The sources report that many men of learning and art were raised in Amasya in the Seljuk age. The Burmalı Minare Mosque in the city dates to 1237-1247, the Gökmedrese to 1266-1267, the Torumtay Tomb to 1278-79 and the Dârüşşifâ (hospital) to 1308; the Halifet Gazi Madrasa was built in 1209-10. İsmâil Çelebi can be imagined as a teacher who taught and wrote fatwas around these buildings or in the same period; the text does not say in which madrasa he served.

A Danishmendid Emir in Seljuk Service

An example of who founded madrasas in the Amasya of this period is the founder of the Halifet Gazi Madrasa: Halîfet Gazi, a Danishmendid emir, entered Seljuk service after the dynasty ended, was appointed governor of Amasya in 1222, and drew up the madrasa's waqf deed dated 1225. From its inscription it is understood that the madrasa was built in 606 (1209-10). It is now known that the city had more than forty madrasas. Although it is not known in which of these madrasas İsmâil Çelebi served, the work of a müderris in the city makes sense within this wide educational setting.

Müderris and Mufti

The text says that İsmâil Çelebi on the one hand gave lessons and on the other handled fatwa business. In later periods too, the professorship of the madrasas in Amasya was held together with the office of mufti; for example, according to Hüseyin Hüsâmeddin, the professorship of Bayezid II's madrasa in Amasya was reserved for the muftis of Amasya, and its first teacher was the şeyhülislam Zenbilli Ali Efendi. İsmâil Çelebi's time is two centuries earlier; no direct link can be drawn between the two cases, but the holding of these two offices by one person may have been an old practice in Amasya. This interpretation could not be tested against the sources.

Scholars of Kurdish Origin

The text calls İsmâil Çelebi's father "Mehmed, of the Kurds." That a scholar of Kurdish descent is remembered as a great müderris in Amasya shows that the city attracted scholars from different places. In a search on the situation of scholars of Kurdish origin in Anatolia in the thirteenth century, no information on İsmâil Çelebi was found. This heading rests only on the record in the text.

What Could Not Be Verified

No information was found in other sources on Mevlânâ Sa'deddîn İsmâil er-Rûmikî or his father Mehmed. His death date of around 696, the madrasa where he served and his teachers rest on Hüsameddin's record.

Bibliography

Volume 7 contents