Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar writes that Şâkir İbrâhim Efendi died of grief when his patron was executed. This madrasa teacher and poet had belonged to the circle of Hasan Bey, deputy governor of Amasya and cousin of Caniklizâde Tayyar Mahmud Paşa, in the years when the Canikli family ruled the town. He taught at the Dırâkiye Madrasa, was counted among Hasan Bey's boon companions, and had a taste for history and for muhâdarât, the literature of anecdote and table talk. His poems are lost.

Hüsameddin's Entry

Among the Amasya men whose names begin with Ş, Amasya Tarihi gives the entry Şâkir İbrâhim Efendi-Hacıköylüzâde in full as follows:

Amasyalıdır. Müderris Halil Efendi'nin mahdûmudur. Ürgüplü Hacı Ahmed Efendi'nin dersinde ikmâl-i tahsîl edib ders-i âm ve 1212'de Dırâkiye müderrisi Hâfız Ömer Efendi'nin üzerinden Dırâkiye müderrisi oldu. Amasya mütesellimi Mikdâd Paşazâde Hasan Bey'e intisâbı olduğundan 1229'da mumâ ileyh'in i'dâmında zehre-çâk olarak vefât etdi. Tayyar Mahmûd Paşa'nın zamân-ı ikbâlinde hayli nüfûz ve ikbâle nâil olmuş âlim, edîb, şâir, idi. Hasan Bey'in nüdemâsından sayılırdı. Tevârih ve muhâzarâta intisâbı var idi.

Put into plain modern language: he was an Amasya man whose father, Halil Efendi, taught in a madrasa. He completed his education in the classes of Ürgüplü Hacı Ahmed Efendi and became a ders-i âm, a teacher licensed to give public lessons in a mosque. In 1212 (1797-98) he succeeded Hâfız Ömer Efendi as teacher of the Dırâkiye Madrasa. Because he was attached to Hasan Bey, son of Mikdâd Paşa and deputy governor of Amasya, he died of shock, "his gall bursting", at Hasan Bey's execution in 1229. He was a scholar, man of letters and poet who gained considerable influence and favour in the days of Tayyar Mahmud Paşa's power. He was counted among Hasan Bey's boon companions and was drawn to histories and to books of muhâdarât.

Life

Şâkir's year of birth is unknown, but his teacher's dates show which generation he belonged to. Ürgüplü Hacı Ahmed Efendi became mufti of Amasya by agreement of the scholars and notables in Rebîülevvel 1206 (October-November 1791), according to the year-by-year chronicle of Amasya that Hüsameddin kept. That Şâkir trained in his classes places his education in the last quarter of the eighteenth century. By the time he became teacher at the Dırâkiye Madrasa in 1212, he was already one of the town's known teachers.

The real turning point of his life was the rule of the Caniklizâde family over Amasya. Caniklizâde Tayyar Mahmud Paşa of Trabzon became revenue collector of Amasya in 1214 (1799) and governed the sanjak as if it were his own estate. His cousin Hasan Bey, son of the former governor Mikdâd Ahmed Paşa, became deputy governor of Amasya on his behalf at the start of Zilhicce 1214 (April-May 1800). Hüsameddin portrays Hasan Bey as a man given over to pleasure, who shielded his partisans, crushed his opponents and laid hands on the property of the townspeople. Şâkir İbrâhim Efendi was one of the companions of this circle and gained great influence while Tayyar Paşa was strong.

When the sanjak of Amasya was granted to Çapanoğlu Süleyman Bey in 1219 (1804), Hasan Bey had to leave the town, and then retook Amasya by force with troops sent by Tayyar Paşa. Süleyman Bey's forces besieged the town and took it back in battle, and Hasan Bey was hanged by imperial order in Muharrem 1220 (April 1805). According to Hüsameddin, some of those attached to Hasan Bey were executed and others exiled. Şâkir died "zehre-çâk", his gall bursting with fear and grief.

On the Date of His Death

The date in Şâkir's entry is 1229. Yet both Hasan Bey's own entry and the entries of other men around him place the execution in Muharrem 1220. Since the entry ties Şâkir's death directly to Hasan Bey's execution, the figure 1229 is most likely a misprint or misreading of 1220. This is an inference; no record is known that would show Şâkir outliving his patron by nine years. If 1220 is correct, Şâkir died seven or eight years after taking up his post at the Dırâkiye Madrasa.

Family

Hüsameddin names Şâkir's father only as "Halil Efendi, the madrasa teacher". The book also contains İsmâil Efendi-Hacıköylüzâde, introduced as the son of "Hacıköylü el-Hâc Halil Efendi, of the scholars of Amasya", who died in 1191 (1777) while holding the preaching chair of the Fethiye Mosque. The two Halil Efendis may be the same man and İsmâil Efendi and Şâkir may have been brothers; but Hüsameddin draws no link between the two entries, and the fact that İsmâil Efendi died twenty years before Şâkir's appointment is not enough to decide the matter either way. Another İbrâhim Efendi who bore the name Hacıköylüzâde, a finance official who died in 1133 (1721), was the son of the gatekeeper Cevher Ağa and has nothing to do with the poet.

Poetry

Not one of Şâkir İbrâhim Efendi's poems is known to survive. His entry names him with three words, "scholar, man of letters, poet", and gives no example. What kind of verse he wrote can only be guessed from his surroundings: as the boon companion of a deputy governor he must have spoken much of it amid the conversation and entertainment of that gathering, and his interest in histories and muhâdarât hints at a witty, story-telling manner. Neither point goes beyond conjecture. The pen name was not his alone in Amasya, and whether a poem signed "Şâkir" in some miscellany belongs to Hasan Bey's companion or to one of his namesakes is not something the signature can decide.

Chronology

Rebîülevvel 1206 (October-November 1791): His teacher Ürgüplü Hacı Ahmed Efendi becomes mufti of Amasya.

1212 (1797-98): Şâkir succeeds Hâfız Ömer Efendi as teacher of the Dırâkiye Madrasa.

1214 (1799-1800): Tayyar Mahmud Paşa becomes revenue collector and Mikdâd Paşazâde Hasan Bey deputy governor of Amasya.

1219 (1804): The sanjak is given to Çapanoğlu Süleyman Bey; Hasan Bey retakes the town by force.

Muharrem 1220 (April 1805): Hasan Bey is executed and Şâkir dies of grief. The entry gives the year as 1229.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Online sources