Hocazâde Ahmed Efendi was the eldest son of Kadızâde Mehmed İlmî Efendi, known in Amasya as "Küçük Hâce" (the Little Master). He moved from teaching in the madrasas to the judiciary, served several times as deputy judge (naib) of Amasya and died in 1058 (1648-49). Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, author of Amasya Tarihi, speaks of him as "meşâhîr-i ulemâdan edîb, şâir", a man of letters and poet among the famous scholars, and adds that it "later became known" that he used the pen name (mahlas) "Rahmî" in his verse. No poem signed Rahmî is known to be his. The page Ahmed Efendi-Hocazâde gives Hüsameddin's short entry with explanations of its old words.

Hüsameddin's Record

Ahmed Efendi-Hocazâde Amasya fuzalâsından "Küçük Hâce" demekle meşhûr Kadızâde Mehmed İlmî Efendi'nin büyük oğludur. Pederinden ikmâl-i tahsîl edib ders-i âm ve müderris-i benâm olup Amasya medreselerini devrederek Kameriyye-i Tokat müderrisi oldu. Ba'dehû silk-i kazâya girip kasâbâta kadı ve mükerreren Amasya nâibi olup 1058'de vefât etdi. Meşâhîr-i ulemâdan edîb, şâir olup mahlâsı "Rahmî" olduğu sonradan anlaşıldı. Bunun mahdûmu hâcegân-ı divân-ı hümâyûndan Lütfullah Efendi'dir.

In English: he was the eldest son of Kadızâde Mehmed İlmî Efendi, one of the scholars of Amasya, known as "Küçük Hâce". He completed his education with his father and became a well-known müderris holding the rank of ders-i âm, entitled to give public lectures; rising through the madrasas of Amasya in turn, he became müderris of the Kameriyye madrasa in Tokat. He then entered the judicial profession, served as kadı in small towns and several times as naib of Amasya, and died in 1058. He was a man of letters and a poet among the famous scholars; it later became known that his pen name was "Rahmî". His son is Lütfullah Efendi, one of the hâcegân, the senior clerks, of the Imperial Council (Divan-ı Hümâyun).

Life

When he was born is not recorded. Hüsameddin confirms in another entry that his father Mehmed İlmî Efendi taught in Amasya: the calligrapher Derviş Ali Efendi learned writing from Abdülcelil Efendi and the sciences from "Kâdızâde Hoca Mehmed İlmî Efendi", obtaining licences from both. The family name "Hocazâde" evidently comes from the father's title "Hâce"; Hüsameddin does not say so explicitly.

His career runs from the madrasas of Amasya to the Kameriyye madrasa in Tokat, then to small-town judgeships and the deputy judgeship of Amasya. Hüsameddin lists the same steps, in almost the same words, for the compiler of the tezkire, Abdî Efendi, who lived a generation later. In which towns Ahmed Efendi served as kadı, and the dates of his deputy judgeships, are not in the entry.

His Poetry

The words "later became known" can be read in two ways: either the pen name reached Hüsameddin from some other record after he had written the entry, or Ahmed Efendi's poetry was noticed late by those around him. Hüsameddin does not say where he got the information. The entry quotes no couplet and mentions no divan or poem under the name Rahmî. Not one line from Rahmî's pen has reached us.

His Namesake Rahmî Mehmed Efendi

The tenth volume of Amasya Tarihi contains another Amasya man with the pen name Rahmî: Hâcezâde Rahmî Mehmed Efendi. The son of Abdurrahman Efendi, son of Hâce İsmâil Efendi of Yağmurköy, he too passed from court clerk to small-town judgeships, died in 1091 (1680-81), and was a calligrapher and "şâir-i meşhûr", a famous poet; the descendants of his son el-Hâc Lütfullah Efendi were called "Hacı Lutoğulları". Hüsameddin writes that he appears in Abdî Efendi's tezkire and that the poems of his which he had obtained with difficulty were burnt.

The resemblance between the two entries is striking: both family names go back to Hâce/Hoca, both men used the pen name Rahmî, served as small-town judges and left a son named Lütfullah. Against this, their fathers' names (Mehmed İlmî and Abdurrahman), their own names (Ahmed and Mehmed) and their death dates (1058 and 1091) differ. Hüsameddin records them as two separate people. Although the "later" discovery of Ahmed Efendi's pen name raises the possibility of a confusion, there is no evidence strong enough to merge the two records.

Family

His son Lütfullah Efendi was one of the hâcegân of the Imperial Council; Hüsameddin gives no further information about him. No entry of his own could be found for his father Kadızâde Mehmed İlmî Efendi in the published volumes; the letter "mim", under which men named Mehmed would stand, is not among them.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Online sources