Pîrîzâde Mehmed Sâhib Efendi was the scholar who held the office of şeyhülislam (chief mufti of the empire) for about a year in 1158-1159 (1745-1746) and who was the first to translate Ibn Khaldun's Muqaddima into Turkish; in his poems he used the pen name (mahlas) "Sâhib", and he left a divan (collection of poems). He died at Üsküdar on 9 Receb 1162 (25 June 1749). Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, the author of Amasya Tarihi, makes him a man of Merzifon and, relying on the Islamic court registers, writes that his father was Pîrî Ağazâde Osman Ağa, deputy governor (mütesellim) of Amasya; according to the TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, however, he was born in Istanbul as the son of a Janissary officer. His connection with Amasya is therefore disputed. If Hüsameddin is followed, Amasya was the scene of two banishments in his life and the site of one charitable foundation.

Hüsameddin's Record

Hüsameddin's entry "Sâhib Mehmed Efendi-Pîrîzâde" is a long text listing the stages of his career year by year. The full text from volume eleven can be read here under the same heading; the parts concerning his life as a poet and his ties with Amasya are quoted below:

Merzifonludur. Köprülü Mehmed Paşa'nın havâss-ı etbâ'ından sâbıkü't-terceme Pirî Ağazâde Amasya mütesellimi Osmân Ağa'nın mahdûmu olduğu sicillât-ı şer'iyyeden anlaşıldı. Takrîben 1083'de doğdu. Pederinin hayatında İstanbul'a gidip orada Erzincânî Ali Efendi'den vesâir ulemâdan tahsîlini ikmâl ederek mücâz ve ders-i âm ve Merzifonî Hacı Ali Paşa'ya sadâretinde imâm oldu. Müşârün-ileyhin azlinde tedrîsine devam edib hüsn-i tab'ı ve şiiriyle Şeyhülislam Erzurumî es-Seyyid Feyzullah Efendi'ye kendisini sevdirmiş olduğundan müşârün-ileyhe kitâpçı ve müderris, 1113'de Râmî Mehmed Paşa'ya imâm olarak sadr-ı müşârün-ileyhin ahvâlinden Efendisini haberdâr ederdi. 1155 senesi rebîülâhirinde Feyzullâh Efendi'nin şehâdeti ve Sultân Mustafa Sânî'nin hal'i üzerine Amasya'ya i'zâm edildi. Vusûlünden az sonra pederi Amasya'da vefât eylediğinden fevkalâde müteellim oldu. Beş yıl kadar Amasya'da kalıp 1117'de Firûzağa müderrisliği verildi. Ba'dehû ma'zûl olup 1120'de Şeyhülislam Amasyalı Ebezâde Abdullah Efendi'nin himmetiyle İstanbul'a avdet edebildi. Bu esnâda Bostancıbaşı olan Amasyalı el-Hâc Ahmed Ağa'ya imâm olup altmışlı pâyesine yükseldi. 1123'de Hacı Ahmed Ağa vezâretle Kapdân-ı deryâ ve ba'dehû İstanbul kâim makâmı olduğundan kibâr-ı müderrisînden oldu. 1125 senesi zilhiccesinde Hacı Ahmed Paşa bir iftirâya ma'rûz olarak azliyle Amasya'ya gönderilmiş olduğundan bunu da sürükledi. 1126'da Sivas nâibi ve ba'dehû İzmit kadısı olduğu esnâda yazdığı kasidesi Nevşehirli İbrâhim Paşa vâsıtasıyla Sultân Ahmed-i Sâlis'e takdîm edildiğinden 1131'de İstanbul'a avdet ve sâdr-ı müşârün-ileyhe takarrüb ederek 1135'de Selanik mollası oldu. [...] 1162 senesi recebinin dokuzunda dâr-ı naîme rihlet etdi. Üsküdâr'da medfûndur. Yaşı seksene ermiş, âlim, fâzıl, her fende mâhir, üç lisânda şâir, halûk bir zât idi. Amasyalı Müftî Ali Çelebi Mescidi'ne minber koydu. Ba'zı emlâkını vakfederek hitâbet ve cüzhân vazîfeleri tahsis etdi. İbn Haldun "Mukaddime"sini Türkçe'ye terceme eyledi. Mahdûmu Osmân Sâhib Efendi de Şeyhülislam oldu.

In English: He was from Merzifon. It is understood from the Islamic court registers that he was the son of Pîrî Ağazâde Osman Ağa, deputy governor of Amasya, one of the close followers of Köprülü Mehmed Pasha, whose biography has been given earlier. He was born around 1083 (1672). In his father's lifetime he went to Istanbul, where he completed his studies under Erzincanlı Ali Efendi and other scholars, received his licence (icazet), became ders-i âm and served as imam to Merzifonlu Hacı Ali Pasha during his grand vizierate. When the pasha was dismissed he continued his teaching; having endeared himself through his fine nature and his poetry to the şeyhülislam Seyyid Feyzullah Efendi of Erzurum, he became his librarian and a professor, and in 1113, as imam to Râmî Mehmed Pasha, he kept his patron informed of the grand vizier's doings. In Rebiülâhir 1155, after the killing of Feyzullah Efendi and the deposition of Mustafa II, he was sent to Amasya. Soon after his arrival his father died in Amasya, which grieved him greatly. He remained in Amasya for about five years, and in 1117 was given the professorship of the Firuzağa madrasa. He was then dismissed, and in 1120, through the help of the şeyhülislam Ebezâde Abdullah Efendi of Amasya, he was able to return to Istanbul. At this time he became imam to Hacı Ahmed Ağa of Amasya, then head of the palace gardeners (bostancıbaşı), and rose to the rank of altmışlı professor. In 1123, when Hacı Ahmed Ağa became grand admiral with the rank of vizier and then deputy grand vizier (kaymakam) of Istanbul, he joined the senior professors. In Zilhicce 1125, when Hacı Ahmed Pasha fell victim to a slander and was dismissed and sent to Amasya, he dragged him along too. In 1126 he became deputy judge (naib) of Sivas and then kadi of İzmit; a kaside (qasida) he wrote at that time was presented to Ahmed III through Nevşehirli İbrâhim Pasha, so that in 1131 he returned to Istanbul, drew close to the grand vizier, and in 1135 became molla of Salonica. [...] He died on the ninth of Receb 1162 and is buried at Üsküdar. He reached the age of eighty; he was learned, virtuous, skilled in every science, a poet in three languages and a man of good character. He had a pulpit placed in the Mosque of Müftü Ali Çelebi in Amasya and, endowing some of his properties, established posts for a preacher and for reciters of the Qur'an there. He translated Ibn Khaldun's Muqaddima into Turkish. His son Osman Sâhib Efendi also became şeyhülislam.

In the omitted part Hüsameddin lists, year by year, the ranks that followed the post at Salonica, his two terms as chief judge (kazasker) of Rumelia, his tenure as şeyhülislam, his dismissal, his banishment to the Hejaz and his return from the pilgrimage. At the end of the entry he adds that Osman Sâhib Efendi had no male children, that through the marriage of his daughter to Sarı Mehmed Paşazâde İbrâhim Bey the line continued under the name "Pîrîzâde", and that Sâhib Mehmed Bey of this line also became şeyhülislam.

Life

The article by Tahsin Özcan in the TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi agrees with Hüsameddin over most of Mehmed Sâhib's career: the post of librarian to Seyyid Feyzullah Efendi, the imamate of Râmi Mehmed Pasha, the kadiship of Salonica in 1135 (1723), the post of second imam to the sultan in 1140 (1727-28), the kadiship of Bursa in 1142 (1729-30), the post of first imam and the kadiship of Istanbul after the accession of Mahmud I, and the chief judgeship of Anatolia in 1146 (1733) are the same in both sources. He became şeyhülislam on the death of Feyzullahefendizâde Seyyid Mustafa Efendi on 30 Muharrem 1158 (4 March 1745), and left the office on 13 Rebiülevvel 1159 (5 April 1746), illness being given as the reason. The encyclopaedia, following Şem'dânîzâde, writes that the improper conduct of his son Osman Efendi, whom he had appointed kadi of Istanbul, also played a part in his dismissal; Hüsameddin, by contrast, attributes the dismissal to the influence of the grand vizier Seyyid Hasan Pasha and explains his despatch to the Hejaz as Hasan Pasha seizing an opportunity.

The differences lie mostly at the beginning. Hüsameddin says that he was from Merzifon, was born around 1083 and was imam to Merzifonlu Hacı Ali Pasha during his grand vizierate; the encyclopaedia records that he was born in Istanbul early in 1085 (1674), the son of Pîrî Ağa, one of the Janissary officers of the imperial household, and that he served as imam first to the grand vizier Daltaban Mustafa Pasha and then to Râmi Mehmed Pasha, adding that İsmail Hâmi Danişmend considered him to be of devşirme origin. His father's name also differs in the two sources: in Hüsameddin the father is Pîrî Ağazâde Osman Ağa and died in Amasya; in the encyclopaedia the father is Pîrî Ağa, and Mehmed Sâhib was buried beside his father's grave in the Karacaahmet Cemetery. Hüsameddin's account of two banishments to Amasya does not appear in the encyclopaedia either, which gives an unbroken series of madrasa posts for these years.

In Hüsameddin's text the killing of Feyzullah Efendi is placed in the year "1155". According to the article "Feyzullah Efendi" in the TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, the şeyhülislam was removed from office on 13 Rebiülevvel 1115 (27 July 1703) in the uprising known as the Edirne Incident and was killed afterwards. The course of the entry (five years' stay in Amasya, a professorship in 1117, return in 1120) also requires 1115; the date in the printed text must be a typesetting or reading error.

Connection with Amasya

Amasya first enters this life through his father and the upheaval of 1115: the father was deputy governor of Amasya, and the future şeyhülislam, then a young professor, stayed about five years in the town after the events of that year. When his protector Hacı Ahmed Pasha of Amasya was dismissed at the end of 1125 and sent to Amasya, Mehmed Sâhib was dragged there once more. The lasting trace is an endowment: he had a pulpit placed in the Mosque of Müftü Ali Çelebi in Amasya and, endowing part of his properties, established posts for a preacher and Qur'an reciters there. The encyclopaedia mentions none of these ties. Hüsameddin's statement that he relied on the court registers shows that he found traces of a family of this name in the records of Amasya; whether they are the same person can only be settled, in the face of the Istanbul birth given by the encyclopaedia, by a fresh reading of those registers.

Works

According to the encyclopaedia, Mehmed Sâhib's best-known work is the Tercüme-i Mukaddime-i İbn Haldûn. He began the translation in 1138 (1725), managed in five years to translate only two thirds of the work, from the beginning to the end of the fifth chapter, and presented it to Mahmud I in Rebiülevvel 1143 (September 1730). The translation was printed at Bulaq in 1274 and in Istanbul in 1275. Besides this he wrote an Arabic treatise on the unlawfulness of temporary marriage (mut'a) and an advisory treatise entitled Kitâbü's-Siyâse, based on Kâtib Çelebi's Düstûrü'l-amel.

Poetry

Hüsameddin calls him "üç lisânda şâir", a poet in three languages, and in two places tells how his poetry affected his career: he endeared himself to Feyzullah Efendi "with his fine nature and his poetry", and he was able to return to Istanbul when a kaside he wrote as kadi of İzmit was presented to Ahmed III through Nevşehirli İbrâhim Pasha. The encyclopaedia likewise states that he wrote poetry in Arabic, Persian and Turkish, that his poetry stayed in the shadow of his learned personality, and that under the pen name "Sâhib" he wrote in a plain language, mostly on moral and religious-mystical subjects.

Manuscript copies of his divan are found in the Topkapı Palace Museum Library (Emanet Hazinesi, no. 1469), Istanbul University Library (TY, nos. 738 and 1710/6), the Millet Library (Ali Emîrî, Manzum, no. 243) and the Süleymaniye Library (İzmir, no. 532); the National Library in Ankara (no. A. 1601) holds a separate copy containing his kasides. The divan has been the subject of two theses: a 1967 undergraduate thesis by Olcay Köprücü and a 2004 master's thesis by Meral Topal at Fırat University. Topal's thesis is held in Fırat University's open-access repository, and Sâhib's poems are given from its critical text on separate pages, each with the original, an English rendering and a commentary. The four Persian poems, which the thesis gives at its end only as a handwritten copy in Arabic script, could not be included, since that copy cannot be read with confidence. Köprücü's thesis and any published edition of the divan could not be reached.

Chronology

c. 1083 (1672) / early 1085 (1674): Born (Hüsameddin / TDV).

1115 (1703): After the killing of Feyzullah Efendi he is sent to Amasya, according to Hüsameddin.

1135 (1723): Becomes kadi of Salonica.

Rebiülevvel 1143 (September 1730): Presents his translation of the Muqaddima to Mahmud I.

1146 (1733): Becomes chief judge of Anatolia.

30 Muharrem 1158 (4 March 1745): Becomes şeyhülislam.

13 Rebiülevvel 1159 (5 April 1746): Leaves the office of şeyhülislam.

9 Receb 1162 (25 June 1749): Dies at Üsküdar.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Academic studies

Online sources