el-Hâc Râşid Mehmed Efendi was an official and poet who, in the middle of the nineteenth century, rose in the local administration of Amasya from clerk to head of correspondence (tahrirat müdürü), won the confidence of the governor (mutasarrıf) Ziya Pasha, and died in Istanbul in 1295 (1878) as a member of the council of the city prefecture (şehremaneti). His father was Seyyid el-Hâc Ali Ağa, a former deputy governor (mütesellim) of Amasya who was killed in 1244 (1828-29). In Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar's pen portrait he is "gâyet mü'eddeb, şâir, kâtib, zî-nüfûz u servet": very well-mannered, a poet, a secretary, a man of influence and wealth. None of his poems survives.

Hüsameddin's Entry

In the tenth volume of the Amasya Tarihi Hüsameddin mentions three people named Râşid one after another. The entry "Râşid Mehmed Efendi-Hacı Yûsuf Ağazâde el-Hâc", the subject of this page, reads:

Amasyalıdır. Esbak Amasya mütesellimi olup 1244'de şehîden vefât eden ıstabl-ı âmire pâyeli es-Seyyid el-Hâc Ali Ağa bin el-Hâc Ömer Çelebi bin el-Hâc Yûsuf Ağa'nın mahdûmudur. Tahsîl-i ilm ü kitâbet ederek Hâfız Ali Paşazâde el-Hâc Ahmed Mikdâd Paşa'ya dâmâd oldu. Ba'dehû ihtisâb kâtibi sonra sırasıyla ihtisâb ağası, zirâ'at müdürü, nüfûs nâzırı olup 1275'de tahrîrât müdürü oldu. Meşhûr mutasarrıf Ziyâ Paşa'ya kendisini fevka'l-âde sevdirdi. Fakat Paşa-yı müşârün-ileyhin 1282 senesi recebinde azlinden az sonra Gümüş ma'deni emîni olarak Amasya'dan kaldırıldı. 1285'de âzim-i Hicâz olup avdette meclis-i idâre a'zâsı oldu. 1288'de Şirvânîzâde Mehmed Rüşdü Paşa'ya refâkat edib İstanbul'a gitdi. Müşârün-ileyhin himmetiyle şehremâneti meclis a'zâsından olup 1295'de orada vefât etdi. Gâyet mü'eddeb, şâir, kâtib, zî-nüfûz u servet idi. Mahdûmları Ahmed Mikdâd, Ali Rızâ Beylerdir.

In English: He is from Amasya. He is the son of Seyyid el-Hâc Ali Ağa, holder of the rank of the Imperial Stables (Istabl-ı Âmire), a former deputy governor of Amasya who died a martyr in 1244; Ali Ağa was the son of el-Hâc Ömer Çelebi, and he of el-Hâc Yûsuf Ağa. Having acquired learning and the secretarial art, he became son-in-law to Hâfız Ali Paşazâde el-Hâc Ahmed Mikdad Pasha. Then he became clerk of the market inspectorate (ihtisap), and after that, in turn, market inspector, director of agriculture and superintendent of population registers, and in 1275 head of correspondence. He made himself exceedingly beloved of the famous governor Ziya Pasha. But shortly after the pasha's dismissal in Receb 1282 he was removed from Amasya as superintendent of the Gümüş silver mine. In 1285 he went on the pilgrimage, and on his return became a member of the administrative council. In 1288 he accompanied Şirvânîzâde Mehmed Rüşdü Pasha to Istanbul. Through the pasha's support he became a member of the council of the city prefecture and died there in 1295. He was very well-mannered, a poet, a secretary, a man of influence and wealth. His sons are Ahmed Mikdad and Ali Rıza Beys.

The State of the Sources

In the master list of Amasya poets the date of death for this record was given as 1314. That date is the year of death of a member of another family that Hüsameddin added at the end of the same entry. Hüsameddin writes that his namesake Râşid Mehmed Efendi, son of el-Hâc Mehmed Efendi of the Yumuk Osmanzâde family, one of the notables of Amasya, died in 1312 (1894-95) as a member of the municipal council, and that his brother Abdullah Nûrî Efendi died in 1314 (1896-97). Kahvecizâde Râşid Mehmed Efendi, given a page earlier, is also an entirely different person: a secretary trained in the correspondence office of the finance ministry who served as district governor (kaymakam) in Amasya and Niğde, was dismissed in 1267 (1850-51) and died some time later. Hüsameddin calls him too "kâtib, edîb, şâir", secretary, man of letters, poet. The three namesakes are clearly different people; this page deals only with Hacı Yûsuf Ağazâde Râşid Mehmed Efendi. Nor can one tell from the entry whether "Râşid" was a pen name (mahlas) or the first half of a double given name.

Life

The entry gives no year of birth. His father, Seyyid el-Hâc Ali Ağa, was a provincial notable (ayan) who held a rank from the Imperial Stables, the palace's stable establishment, and a former deputy governor of Amasya; Hüsameddin writes that he died "şehîden" in 1244, that is, as the result of an attack or a clash, without giving details of the event. Râşid began his career as a clerk in the ihtisap office, which supervised the markets, the guilds and prices in Amasya. After serving as market inspector he became director of agriculture and superintendent of population registers, and in 1275 (1858-59) he was appointed head of correspondence, in charge of the sanjak's official correspondence. His marriage was part of this rise: his father-in-law was Hâfız Ali Paşazâde el-Hâc Ahmed Mikdad Pasha, and he gave the pasha's name to one of his sons.

The Ziya Pasha whom Hüsameddin calls "meşhûr mutasarrıf", the famous governor, is the poet and Tanzimat intellectual Ziya Pasha; his governorship of Amasya coincides with the most brilliant period of Râşid's life. That Râşid was removed from Amasya to the superintendency of the Gümüş mine immediately after the pasha's dismissal in Receb 1282 (November-December 1865) suggests that the closeness between the two was not welcomed by the new administrators; Hüsameddin gives no reason, he merely links the two events with the conjunction "fakat" (but). Ziya Pasha's years in Amasya are the subject of a separate article on the site, Ziya Pasha.

In 1285 (1868-69) he went on the pilgrimage and on his return became a member of the sanjak's administrative council. In 1288 (1871-72) he went to Istanbul in the retinue of the Amasya statesman Şirvânîzâde Mehmed Rüşdü Pasha, entered the council of the Istanbul city prefecture with his support, and died in Istanbul in 1295 (1878). For the life and poems of Rüşdü Pasha see the article Şirvânîzâde Rüşdî Mehmed Pasha.

Connection with Amasya

Râşid Mehmed Efendi came from an Amasya family of notables and spent most of his life in the administration of Amasya. For many years he held posts in the city's market inspection, agriculture, population registers and correspondence, and under Ziya Pasha's governorship he ran the sanjak's chancery. The fact that he spent his last years in Istanbul is also tied to Amasya, since he went there under the patronage of his fellow townsman Rüşdü Pasha.

Poetry

Râşid Mehmed Efendi's poems have not come down to us. Beyond the word "şâir" the entry leaves no trace: no work is named, no couplet quoted, and there is no note of where his poems might be found. That he ran the chancery of a governor who was himself a poet might suggest that he also formed a bond with Ziya Pasha through poetry; since the source says not a word about this, it can remain only a guess.

Chronology

1244 (1828-29): His father, Seyyid el-Hâc Ali Ağa, former deputy governor of Amasya, is killed.

1275 (1858-59): Becomes head of correspondence in Amasya.

Receb 1282 (1865): Shortly after governor Ziya Pasha's dismissal, leaves Amasya as superintendent of the Gümüş mine.

1285 (1868-69): Goes on the pilgrimage; on his return becomes a member of the administrative council.

1288 (1871-72): Goes to Istanbul with Şirvânîzâde Mehmed Rüşdü Pasha.

1295 (1878): Dies in Istanbul as a member of the city prefecture council.

Bibliography

Online sources