Sultân Selîm-i Sânî çâşnîgir-başılığından muhrec ve "Şâmî" demekle meşhûr olan şu'arâdan bir mîrlivâdır. 993 senesi rebî'ulâhirinde [330] Mehmed Bey beylerbeyi olduğundan yerine Amasya sancağı beyi olarak geldi.
Mustafa Bey ehl-i dil bir zât idi. Amasya şu'arâsından Kelâmî, Turâbî, Sükûtî Çelebiler'i meclisine idhâl ederek müşâ'areler, ulemâyı celb ederek müzâkereler yapardı. Hoş sohbet, idâresi munsifâne idi. Bu zamânlarda Kelâmî ile Sükûtî arasındaki mutâyebelere Merzifônî Bezmî Çelebi şeker katardı.
Bezmî'ye nisbet edilen şu beyt-i latîf Tezkire-i Abdî Efendi'de görülüp hâtırda kaldığından buraya nakl edildi. Her hâlde ma'nîdârdır.
Kelâmî söylenir ammâ Sükûtî bahş eder altun
Sakın boş sanma Bezmî tınmanın da serveti vardır
993 sâlinde Amasya ulemâsından Taşköprülü Dursun Efendi vefât etdi. Mahdûmları Abdullah, Abdulbâkî, Mehmed Efendiler Amasya'nın yetişdirdiği fuzalâdandır.
994 senesinde İstanbul'da şeyhü'l-kurâ olan Amasyalı Bahşîzâde Abdulkâdir Efendi bin Mehmed Efendi Eyyûb câmi-i şerîfine imâm ve hatîb oldu. Sesi ve edâsı gâyet güzel ve yanık olduğundan sonraları Sultân Mehmed-i Sâlis ve Ahmed-i Evvel'e imâm olmuşdu.
995 senesi rebî'ulâhirinde donanma muhârebesine da'veti mutazammın olan fermân-ı âlî, çavuşân-ı dergâh-ı âlîden Lâdikli Yeni Çavuşoğlu Sinan Bey vedâ'atıyla mîrlivâ Mustafa Bey'e teblîğ ve halk muvâcehesinde kırâ'at olundu.
Sene-i mezbûre cumade'l-ûlâsında İstanbul'da Rûmeli kazaskerliğinden [331] mütekâ'id Amasyalı Mü'eyyedzâde Abdulkâdir Şeyhî Efendi şeyhü'l-islâm ve müfti'l-enâm ve Hacı Beyzâde Mehmed Paşa Murâd Paşa'nın yerine Sivas beylerbeyi oldu.
996 senesi muharreminde Amasya, Merzifon, Lâdik, Kedağra, Canik kazâlarına yumurta şeklinde ve her biri mütefâvit sıkletde dolu yağdığından pek çok mevâşî, tuyûr ve hayvânâtı, insân ve nebâtâtı telef ve çok hâneleri, damları vîrân etdi.
Müte'âkiben bâd-ı sarsar gibi dehşetli bir fırtına kopdu, hasârât-ı azîme yapdı. Cesîm ağaçları kökünden söküp çıkardı. Ahşâb hâneleri ekseriyetle devirdi, damlardan kiremidleri uçurdu. Dolunun yarım bırakdığı şeyleri tamamladı.
Kezâlik Amasya müftüsü Küçük Mahmûd Efendi'nin mütûn ve usûle muhâlif olarak verdiği fetvâları ve acâyib ahvâli şeyhü'l-islâma arz ve i'lâm edilmişdi. Sene-i mezbûre muharreminde azl olunup yerine Seydî Gâzi müderrisliğinden ma'zûl olan Amasyalı Tâceddîn Efendi 996 senesi saferinin on beşinde Amasya müftüsü ve Sultâniyye müderrisi olarak geldi.
Fakat Mahmûd Efendi'nin yanlış fetvâları yüzünden Amasya'nın ulemâ ve talebesi arasında şâyân-ı dikkat gürültüler çıkdı. Bu gürültüler zu'amâ ve erbâb-ı tımâra sirâyet etmek üzere iken mîrlivâ Mustafa Bey'in hüsn-i idâresiyle oldukça yatışdı. Bununla beraber Mustafa Bey de gitdi. Yerine Hüsrev Bey geldi. [332]
In Modern English
He was a sanjak bey and poet, known by the name "Şâmî," raised from the post of çaşnigirbaşı (head of the palace table service) of Sultan Selim II. In Rabi al-Akhir of the year 993 [1585], since Mehmed Bey had become beylerbeyi, he came in his place as sanjak bey of Amasya.
Mustafa Bey was a man of heart. He would admit to his gatherings the poets of Amasya Kelâmî, Turabî and Sükûtî Çelebi, hold poetry contests, and invite scholars to arrange learned conversations. His conversation was pleasant and his administration just. In these years Bezmî Çelebi of Merzifon also added flavor to the banter between Kelâmî and Sükûtî.
The following fine couplet, said to belong to Bezmî, is quoted here because it was seen in Abdî Efendi's Tezkire and stayed in the memory. In any case it is a meaningful saying.
Kelâmî söylenir ammâ Sükûtî bahş eder altun
Sakın boş sanma Bezmî tınmanın da serveti vardır
The couplet is a play on words based on the names Kelâmî and Sükûtî: Kelâmî (speech) talks, while Sükûtî (silence) bestows gold; do not think Bezmî empty-handed, it means, for there is also a fortune in keeping silent.
In 993 [1585], one of the scholars of Amasya, Dursun Efendi of Taşköprü, died. His sons Abdullah, Abdülbâkî and Mehmed Efendi are among the scholars Amasya produced.
In 994 [1585–86], Bahşizade Abdülkadir Efendi ibn Mehmed Efendi of Amasya, who was şeyhülkurrâ (head of the Qur'an reciters) in Istanbul, became imam and preacher of the Eyüp Mosque. Because his voice and recitation were very beautiful and plaintive, he later served as imam to Sultan Mehmed III and Ahmed I.
In Rabi al-Akhir of 995 [1586–87], the high decree announcing the call to a naval war was brought by Sinan Bey, son of Yeni Çavuş of Ladik, one of the palace couriers, and was communicated to the sanjak bey Mustafa Bey and read in front of the people.
In Jumada al-Awwal of the same year, in Istanbul, Müeyyedzade Abdülkadir Şeyhî Efendi of Amasya, retired from the military judgeship of Rumeli, became şeyhülislam and mufti of the people; Hacı Beyzade Mehmed Pasha also became beylerbeyi of Sivas in place of Murad Pasha.
In Muharram of 996 [1587–88], hail the size of eggs and of differing weights fell on the districts of Amasya, Merzifon, Ladik, Kedağra and Canik, so that a great many animals, birds, people and plants perished; many houses and roofs were destroyed.
Then a terrible storm like a hurricane broke out and did great damage. It uprooted huge trees. It toppled most of the wooden houses and blew tiles off the roofs. It completed what the hail had left half done.
Likewise, the fatwas given by the mufti of Amasya, Küçük Mahmud Efendi, contrary to the texts and to procedure, together with his strange behavior, had been reported to the şeyhülislam. In the month of Muharram of the said year he was dismissed. In his place Tâceddin Efendi of Amasya, who had been taken from the professorship of the Seydi Gazi Madrasa, came on the fifteenth of Safar 996 [1587–88] as mufti of Amasya and professor of the Sultaniye.
But because of Mahmud Efendi's wrong fatwas, considerable uproar had arisen among the scholars and students of Amasya. When this uproar was about to spread to the zeamet holders and timar holders, it subsided considerably through the good administration of the sanjak bey Mustafa Bey. Nevertheless Mustafa Bey too left. Hüsrev Bey came in his place.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- çâşnîgîr-başı: head of the officials who tasted the dishes in the palace kitchen and managed the table order
- muhrec: one who has come out of a post, trained in that service
- şu'arâ: poets
- ehl-i dil: a person of heart, of refined spirit
- müşâ'are: poets' reciting verses to one another in turn, a poetry gathering
- munsifâne: justly, with fairness
- mutâyebe: banter, jesting
- şeyhü'l-kurrâ: head of the Qur'an reciters
- kazasker: in the Ottoman Empire, the high judge above the kadıs, dealing with military and legal affairs
- şeyhü'l-islâm: head of the learned class (ilmiye), the state's highest religious and legal office
- müfti'l-enâm: mufti of the people; a title given to the şeyhülislam
- mevâşî, tuyûr, hayvânât: livestock, birds, animals
- ma'zûl: dismissed from office
- fetvâ: the mufti's answer to a religious or legal question
Şeyhülislam Abdülkadir Şeyhî Efendi
Hüsameddin mentions Abdülkadir Şeyhî Efendi, who became şeyhülislam in 995 [1586–87], as "Müeyyedzade of Amasya." According to encyclopedic records, Şeyhî Efendi was born in Istanbul in 1514. His father is Sheikh Hacı Efendi, the brother of the scholar Müeyyedzade Abdurrahman Efendi, who was born in Amasya. That is, Hüsameddin's saying "of Amasya" rests not on his birthplace but on the family's Amasya origin. He took the epithet Şeyhî from his father's title of sheikh.
He was trained by taking lessons from Ebüssuûd Efendi, served his first posts in the madrasas of Gallipoli and Bursa; in later years he served as professor in the madrasas of Istanbul and as judge in Damascus, Egypt, Bursa and Istanbul. In 1570 he was brought to the military judgeship of Anatolia and in 1571 to that of Rumeli, and left this office in 1573. Hüsameddin's phrase "retired from the military judgeship of Rumeli" agrees with this information. He was brought to the şeyhülislamate on 8 May 1587, upon the death of Çivizâde Mehmed Efendi; the month of Jumada al-Awwal 995 that Hüsameddin gives is close to this date. During the incidents arising from the attempt, because of financial distress, to pay soldiers' salaries in debased akçe, he was dismissed in 1589 together with many statesmen. He died on 18 April 1594 and was buried in the cemetery in the courtyard of the mosque he had built in Eyüp.
Mustafa Bey and the Poetry Gathering
No verifiable information was reached in other sources about Kelâmî, Turabî, Sükûtî and Bezmî of Merzifon, who were in Mustafa Bey's gathering. Hüsameddin says he took the couplet from Abdî Efendi's Tezkire; that is, the information about the couplet rests on the book's own word. Since the play in the couplet rests on the meanings "speech" and "silence" in the two poets' names, it can be read as an example of the banter between these poets.
No record outside the book was found about Mustafa Bey's passage from the palace post of çaşnigirbaşı to a sanjak beylik.
The Hail, the Storm and the Mufti Dispute
The information Hüsameddin gives on the hail and storm of Muharram 996 [1587–88] is limited: the affected places are the districts of Amasya, Merzifon, Ladik, Kedağra and Canik; the number of lives and goods lost is not given. No record of this event was found in other sources.
That the objection to the mufti Küçük Mahmud Efendi's fatwas went as far as the şeyhülislam shows that provincial muftis were under the supervision of the central office. According to the text, Mahmud Efendi was dismissed and Tâceddin Efendi came in his place. The unrest that arose during Mahmud Efendi's time in office subsided through Mustafa Bey's administration. The continuation of the same unrest is narrated in the next entry among the events of Hüsrev Bey's period.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 3, pp. 514–515. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
- "Abdülkadir Şeyhî Efendi", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 1, İstanbul 1988, p. 244 (islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/abdulkadir-seyhi-efendi).
- Hasan Aksoy, "Müeyyedzâde Abdurrahman Efendi", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/mueyyedzade-abdurrahman-efendi).
Other sources
- "Abdülkadir Şeyhî Efendi", Vikipedi (tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdülkadir_Şeyhî_Efendi).