The last epithet Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar chose for the Amasya secretary Rüşdü Ahmed Efendi is "tâli'siz": luckless. Raised in Amasya, where his father was imam of the Hızır Paşa Mosque, this poet twice lost his master in the career he began in the grand vizier's chancery in Istanbul, once landing in prison together with his master, and each time had to return to his home town. In 1131 (1718-19) he became superintendent of tax farms (mukataa emini) in Amasya, and he died in 1142 (1729-30) after being dismissed from office. He is known to have been a poet; none of his poems has survived.

Hüsameddin's Entry

The heading reads "Rüşdü Ahmed Efendi-İmâmzâde es-Seyyid", and Hüsameddin fits the secretary's uneven career into a few lines:

Amasyalıdır. 1112'de vefât eden Hızır Paşa imâmı Halîl Efendi'nin mahdûmudur. Hıfz-ı Kur'ân etdikten sonra tahsîl-i ilm ü hatt etdi. Evâ'il-i hâlinde câmi-i mezbûrda devr-hân olup sonra İstanbul'a gitdi. Kara İbrâhim Paşa'nın sadâretinde mektûbî-i sadâret kalemine girdi. 1098'de Bayburdluoğlu Yeğen Osmân Paşa'nın dîvân kâtibi olduğundan dolayı müşârûn-ileyhin i'dâmında habs u tevkîf edildi. Paşa'nın emvâl-i mektûmesini teslîm-i hazîne ederek afv ü ıtlâk edilip 1101'de Amasya'ya gönderildi. Tûl müddet Amasya'da kitâbetle iştigâl edib sonra Küçük Alizâde Hüseyin Paşa'nın hâzîne kâtibi oldu. Müşârün-ileyhin vefâtında Amasya'ya avdet edib 1131'de mukâta'a emîni oldu. 1142'de ma'zûlen vefât etdi. Kâtib, şâir, tâli'siz idi.

Put into English: He hailed from Amasya. His father, Halîl Efendi, imam of the Hızır Paşa Mosque, died in 1112. After memorising the Qur'an he studied learning and calligraphy. Early in life he became a devirhan in that mosque, then went to Istanbul. During the grand vizierate of Kara İbrâhim Pasha he entered the correspondence office (mektubî kalemi) of the grand vizierate. Because he had become divan secretary of Bayburtluoğlu Yeğen Osmân Pasha in 1098, he was arrested and imprisoned at the time of the pasha's execution. Having handed over the pasha's concealed property to the treasury he was pardoned and released, and in 1101 he was sent to Amasya. For a long time he worked as a secretary in Amasya, then became treasury secretary of Küçük Alizâde Hüseyin Pasha. When the pasha died he returned to Amasya and in 1131 became superintendent of tax farms. He died in 1142, out of office. He was a secretary, a poet and a luckless man.

From the Hızır Paşa Mosque to the Grand Vizier's Chancery

The family name "İmâmzâde" comes from his father Halîl Efendi's post as imam of the Hızır Paşa Mosque. The mosque is among the buildings commissioned by Hayreddin Hızır Pasha, brother of Yörgüç Pasha, who governed Amasya in the fifteenth century. Ahmed Efendi's first post was in this mosque too: after becoming a hafiz he served there as a devirhan. Devirhan was the name given to the hafizes who recited the Qur'an in turn in a mosque. The learning and calligraphy he acquired besides the Qur'an were the equipment that opened the door of the scribal service to him in Istanbul.

In Istanbul, during the grand vizierate of Kara İbrâhim Pasha, he entered the mektubî office that conducted the grand vizier's correspondence. How long he stayed there is unclear; the next date in the entry is 1098 (1686-87). In that year he became divan secretary of Bayburtluoğlu Yeğen Osmân Pasha. This attachment brought trouble upon Ahmed Efendi with the pasha's execution: the secretary was held to share his master's fate and was thrown into prison. His deliverance came when he handed over the pasha's concealed property to the treasury. How the handover took place goes untold; what the entry does record is that Ahmed Efendi was thereupon pardoned and sent to Amasya in 1101 (1689-90).

Returns to Amasya

Back in his home town, Ahmed Efendi made his living for a long time as a secretary in Amasya. Later he entered a pasha's household once more as treasury secretary of Küçük Alizâde Hüseyin Pasha, but when this master too died he returned to Amasya yet again. In 1131 (1718-19) he became superintendent of tax farms; a mukataa was a fiscal unit whose revenues were collected through tax farming or direct administration. Hüsameddin writes that he died in 1142 "ma'zûlen", that is, dismissed from office. The household system, which tied a secretary's fate to his master's fortune, brought him the same result twice in his life; Hüsameddin's word "tâli'siz" must refer to these breaks.

His Namesakes

In Hüsameddin's book the natives of Amasya named Rüşdü are listed one after another and are easily confused. Immediately before Ahmed Efendi comes the calligrapher and poet Rüşdü İbrâhim Efendi, who died in 1039. Right after him come two entries headed "Rüşdü Ahmed Efendi-Şeyh Alizâde": the first is Rüşdü Ahmed Efendi, grandson of the anthologist Abdî Efendi, who wrote a continuation of his grandfather's anthology of poets and died in 1159 (1746); the second is his grandson, who died in 1233. Two facts set İmâmzâde apart in this crowd: his father was Halîl Efendi, imam of the Hızır Paşa Mosque, and he himself died in 1142. The 1112 in the first sentence of the entry is his father's year of death.

His Poetry

None of Rüşdü Ahmed Efendi's poems has been found. His lifetime overlaps with the years in which the continuation of Abdî Efendi's anthology was written, yet his entry contains no note about that continuation. Hüsameddin's "kâtib, şâir" is backed by no quoted couplet and no named anthology. Whether he used "Rüşdü" as a pen name is something we cannot tell.

Chronology

1098 (1686-87): Becomes divan secretary of Bayburtluoğlu Yeğen Osmân Pasha.

1101 (1689-90): Pardoned and released from prison, he is sent to Amasya.

1112 (1700-01): His father Halîl Efendi, imam of the Hızır Paşa Mosque, dies.

1131 (1718-19): Becomes superintendent of tax farms in Amasya.

1142 (1729-30): Dies, out of office.

Bibliography

Online sources