For two generations a family of timekeepers calculated the hours of prayer at the Sultan Bayezid Mosque in Amasya; in Sâlim Ahmed Efendi it produced a scholar whose career reached as far as the judgeship of Kefe (Caffa) in the Crimea. His grandfather was Ahmed Necmî Efendi, known as "Koca Müneccim", the Great Astronomer; his father, Mehmed Mâhir Efendi, succeeded the grandfather as timekeeper, which is why he was called both "Necmîzâde" and "Muvakkitzâde", son of the timekeeper. His career led from the pulpit of the Saraçhane Mosque to the patronage of the grand vizier Kara İbrâhim Paşa, and from there to a professorship in Tokat, the office of mufti of Trabzon and several judgeships; he died at the end of the seventeenth century. In Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar's eyes he was learned, virtuous and a poet; his fine handwriting earns a separate mention.

The Record in Amasya Tarihi

The entry Sâlim Ahmed Efendi-Necmîzâde in the tenth volume reads:

Amasyalıdır. Sultân Bâyezîd muvakkıtı "Koca Müneccim" demekle meşhûr Ahmed Necmî Efendizâde Mehmed Mâhir Efendi'nin mahdûmudur. Buna "Muvakkitzâde" de dendi. Amasya müftüsü Allâme Hızır Efendi'nin halka-i tedrîsinde ikmâl-i tahsîl edib ders-i âm ve Sarâchâne Câmi-i şerîfine hatîb oldu. Ba'dehû sadr-ı esbak Bayburdluoğlu Kara İbrâhim Paşa'ya intisâb edib Hâtuniyye-i Tokat müderrisi ve buradan Trabzon müftüsü oldu. 1096'da Paşa-yı müşârün-ileyhin sadâretinde Kefe kadısı olup 1098'de ma'zûlen geldi. Ba'dehû Karahisâr-ı şarkî kadısı olup 1102'de Amasya'da ma'zûl görüldü. Ba'dehû vefât etdi. Âlim, fâzıl, şâir, hatt ü kitâbeti güzel idi.

Rendered into English: He came from Amasya. His father was Mehmed Mâhir Efendi, son of Ahmed Necmî Efendi, the timekeeper of the Sultan Bayezid Mosque known as "Koca Müneccim"; he too was called "Muvakkitzâde". He completed his studies in the circle of the Amasya mufti, the learned Hızır Efendi, obtained the rank of dersiâm and was appointed preacher of the Saraçhane Mosque. Then, attaching himself to the former grand vizier Bayburtluoğlu Kara İbrâhim Paşa, he became professor of the Hatuniye Madrasa in Tokat and from there mufti of Trabzon. In 1096, during that pasha's grand vizierate, he became judge of Kefe and returned dismissed in 1098. He was then judge of Karahisâr-ı Şarkî and in 1102 is found in Amasya out of office. After that he died. He was learned, virtuous and a poet; his handwriting and his prose style were fine.

From the Timekeeper's Room to the Madrasa

His grandfather became timekeeper of the Sultan Bayezid Mosque in 1049 (1639); in the timekeeper's room built by Hoca Ahmed Paşa he taught the use of the astrolabe and prepared a calendar every year. On Fridays that room was a meeting place for the scholars and poets of Amasya. His father, Mehmed Mâhir Efendi, took over the same post and died in Shaban 1076 (February 1666). Sâlim Ahmed's interest in poetry and fine writing may be explained by his growing up around such a room, though the entry offers no such explanation.

The grandson, however, chose the madrasa over the reckoning of hours. The teacher named as "the Amasya mufti, the learned Hızır Efendi" is most probably Müfessir Hızır Efendi, who became mufti of Amasya in Dhu al-Qa'dah 1058 (November 1648) and held the office in three separate terms. Hüsameddin writes that several hundred students attended his lessons; he does not connect the two names himself, but the dates agree. The first post Sâlim received after becoming a licensed lecturer was that of preacher of the Saraçhane Mosque.

Kara İbrâhim Paşa's Man

The real turning point of his career was his attachment to Kara İbrâhim Paşa of Bayburt. Hüsameddin calls the pasha "sadr-ı esbak", the former grand vizier, but the rest of the sentence says that the judgeship of Kefe was given "during the pasha's grand vizierate", in 1096 (1684-85). Taken together, the two phrases suggest that Sâlim joined the pasha before his grand vizierate and rose during the years he held it. The professorship of the Hatuniye Madrasa in Tokat and the office of mufti of Trabzon were the first fruits of this patronage. Kefe, on the Crimean coast, was one of the most important Ottoman port cities on the northern shore of the Black Sea.

His dismissal in 1098 (1686-87) falls after the pasha's fall from the grand vizierate. The entry draws no such link; Hüsameddin is content to set the dates one after another. Next came the judgeship of Karahisâr-ı Şarkî, today's Şebinkarahisar. That he was "seen" in Amasya out of office in 1102 (1690-91) suggests that Hüsameddin found this date in a document but could not find the year of his death; the entry closes with "ba'dehû vefât etdi", after that he died.

Poetry

Of Sâlim Ahmed Efendi's verse nothing is known to survive. Hüsameddin, who praises his hand and his prose, shows not one couplet of his verse. The grandfather's biography was included in Abdî Efendi's tezkire of Amasya poets, now lost; whether the grandson was also mentioned in that work or its continuation is not known. Men of Amasya who used Sâlim as a pen name or were known by it lived both before and after him: first Muîdzâde Sâlim Ömer Çelebi, who taught at Prince Mustafa's palace in the sixteenth century, then, at the end of the eighteenth, Alaybeyizâde Sâlim Ali Bey and Kırmacızâde Sâlim Mustafa Efendi.

Chronology

1049 (1639): His grandfather Ahmed Necmî Efendi becomes timekeeper of the Sultan Bayezid Mosque.

Shaban 1076 (February 1666): His father Mehmed Mâhir Efendi dies.

1096 (1684-85): He becomes judge of Kefe during Kara İbrâhim Paşa's grand vizierate.

1098 (1686-87): Dismissed from Kefe, he returns; later he becomes judge of Karahisâr-ı Şarkî.

1102 (1690-91): Recorded in Amasya out of office; he dies some time after this date.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Online sources