Mehmed Es'ad of Amasya was a civil servant and historian of the last years of the Ottoman state who taught Islamic history and the history of religions at the Medresetü'l-Vâizîn and left two unfinished books in these fields. The Türk Edebiyatı İsimler Sözlüğü (Dictionary of Names in Turkish Literature) records him as a "divan poet and historian" born in Amasya in 1878 who died in Istanbul in 1918. In Bursalı Mehmed Tâhir's Osmanlı Müellifleri (Ottoman Authors), however, he appears as "Es'ad Bey" among the historians and is mentioned only for his history books. No poem by him has been found, and his standing as a poet rests solely on the classification in one encyclopedia entry. The published information on him is gathered below with that reservation.

Life

Bursalı Mehmed Tâhir introduces Es'ad Bey as one of the thoughtful and meticulous historians of his day and states that he was from Amasya. Es'ad Bey graduated from the Imperial School of Civil Administration (Mekteb-i Mülkiye-i Şâhâne) in Istanbul and then served with distinction in the posts to which he was appointed. The Türk Edebiyatı İsimler Sözlüğü says these posts were as district governor (kaymakam). His last post was as tahrirat mümeyyizi in the Senate (Meclis-i Âyân), that is, the senior official who checked documents in the chamber's correspondence office. He died while holding this post "at what may be called a young age" and was buried in the Sahrâ-yı Cedîd cemetery at Erenköy. The Türk Edebiyatı İsimler Sözlüğü gives his date of birth as 1295 (1878) and his date of death as 1337 (1918); Osmanlı Müellifleri gives no dates.

According to Mehmed Tâhir, Es'ad Bey wrote and compiled two works while holding the professorship of Islamic history and the history of religions entrusted to him at the Medresetü'l-Vâizîn. The Medresetü'l-Vâizîn was, as its name indicates, a madrasa that trained preachers. That a civil servant trained at the Mülkiye taught at this school suggests that, alongside his administrative duties, he had recognized learning in Islamic history and the history of religions, though Mehmed Tâhir does not say so himself.

Works

  • Tahlîlî ve Tenkîdî Târîh-i İslâm (An Analytical and Critical History of Islam), vol. 1, Istanbul 1336.
  • Tahlîlî ve Tenkîdî Târîh-i Edyân (An Analytical and Critical History of Religions), vol. 1, Istanbul 1336.

Bursalı Mehmed Tâhir says of these two works: "Bu iki eser isimleri müsemmâlarına muvâfık kıymet-i ilmiyye ve târîhiyyeyi hâiz âsârdan olup lisânımızda henüz bu vâdîde emsâli görülmemişdir. İtmâmlarına ömrü vefâ etmediğine ilim nâmına teessüf olunur." In English: These two works, true to their titles, are of scholarly and historical value, and nothing like them has yet been seen in our language in this field; one must regret, for the sake of learning, that his life did not suffice to complete them. Only the first volumes of the printed copies are known. The Târîh-i Edyân was transcribed into the Latin alphabet and evaluated by Halis Bayındır in a master's thesis at Fırat University in 2006.

Poetry

No poems by Mehmed Es'ad have been found. The Türk Edebiyatı İsimler Sözlüğü classifies him as a "divan poet," but the entry contains neither a sample poem nor any information about poetry; its "samples from his works" section is empty. The Osmanlı Müellifleri record on which the entry draws also mentions him only as a historian and says nothing of poetry. The basis for classifying Mehmed Es'ad as a poet is therefore unclear. It is possible that an Ottoman intellectual educated at the Mülkiye wrote poetry, but no text or record showing this has been found.

Connection with Amasya and State of the Sources

That Mehmed Es'ad was from Amasya is stated plainly in both Osmanlı Müellifleri and the Türk Edebiyatı İsimler Sözlüğü. In Hüseyin Hüsameddin Yasar's Amasya Tarihi no entry matching this information has been found among the people of Amasya named Es'ad. His family, his childhood in Amasya and the quarter he came from are unknown. Besides Osmanlı Müellifleri, the Türk Edebiyatı İsimler Sözlüğü entry cites as its source the entry "Mehmed Esad Efendi" in Dergâh's Türk Dili ve Edebiyatı Ansiklopedisi; as that entry could not be consulted, it has not been possible to verify whether the dates of birth and death were taken from it.

Chronology

1295 (1878): Born in Amasya, according to the Türk Edebiyatı İsimler Sözlüğü.

1336 (1917-18): The first volumes of Tahlîlî ve Tenkîdî Târîh-i İslâm and Tahlîlî ve Tenkîdî Târîh-i Edyân are published in Istanbul.

1337 (1918): Dies in Istanbul while serving as tahrirat mümeyyizi of the Senate and is buried in the Sahrâ-yı Cedîd cemetery at Erenköy.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Academic studies

Books

Online sources