A Nakshbandi scholar and poet, Sâlim Mustafa Efendi spent most of his life as a professor and judge in Istanbul and in provincial towns, and returned to his native Amasya after the death of Mustafa III in 1187 (January 1774). There he was given the trusteeship, that is, the administration, of half the revenue farm of the village of Oğlanlar Obası in the district of Yavaş, and he died at the end of 1207 (summer 1793). Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar's short entry describes him as "âlim, şâir, edîb, Nakşibendî". No example of his poetry has survived, and his identity runs the risk of being confused with Kırmacızâde Sâlim Mustafa Efendi in the same volume.

Life

The entry Sâlim Mustafa Efendi in the tenth volume is no longer than this:

Amasyalı Ahmed Efendi'nin mahdûmudur. Tahsîl-i ilm ü edeb edib İstanbul'a gitdi. Orada müderris, kadı olup devr-i bilâd etdi. Sultân Mustafa Hân-ı Sâlis'in irtihâlinde Amasya'ya gelip Yavaş-Ezine Pazar nâhiyesinde Oğlanlar Obası nâm karyenin nısf-ı mâlikânesi tevliyetiyle çerâğ edilerek 1207 senesi gâyesinde vefât etdi. Âlim, şâir, edîb, Nakşibendî idi. Tevliyeti İsmâ'îl Efendi bin Mehmed'e verildi.

Translation: Ahmed Efendi of Amasya was his father. After learning scholarship and letters he went to Istanbul. There he became a professor and a judge and served in one town after another. On the death of Sultan Mustafa III he came to Amasya, was rewarded with the trusteeship of half the revenue farm of the village called Oğlanlar Obası in the district of Yavaş-Ezinepazarı, and died at the end of the year 1207. Scholar, poet, man of letters, Nakshbandi. The trusteeship was given to İsmâil Efendi bin Mehmed.

Unlike most of Hüsameddin's entries, this one does not open with "Amasyalıdır"; it begins straight away with the father's name. It does not say in which madrasa he studied, at which madrasas he taught in Istanbul, or in which towns he served as judge. Linking his return to Amasya with the death of Mustafa III suggests that he had a patron in Istanbul during that sultan's reign and that his career came to a halt when the patron, or the sultan, died; Hüsameddin does not say this outright. The expression "çerâğ edilmek" describes a servant being rewarded on retirement. The trusteeship appears to have served Sâlim as a kind of pension.

His Nakshbandi Affiliation

The only clear fact distinguishing Sâlim Mustafa Efendi from his namesakes is his being a Nakshbandi. In the second half of the eighteenth century the man who worked to spread this order in Amasya was Sâmî Mehmed Efendi of Bender, who came to Amasya at his master's bidding after becoming a deputy of Sheikh Mehmed Emîn Efendi of Tokat in Istanbul. Sâmî became sheikh of the Darphaneci Lodge in 1169 (1755-56) and of the Çelebi Efendi Lodge in the İmaretarkası quarter in 1181 (1767-68), and died in 1201 (1786-87). In Hüsameddin's book Sâmî's entry comes only a few entries after Sâlim's. Whether Sâlim entered the Nakshbandi order in Istanbul or in Sâmî Efendi's circle after his return to Amasya is unknown.

Confusion with Kırmacızâde Sâlim Mustafa Efendi

A few entries before this one, Hüsameddin wrote a separate entry for Kırmacızâde Seyyid Hacı Sâlim Mustafa Efendi, which makes it plain that he saw two men. Still, a reader who sets the two entries side by side is brought up short by how much they share. Both fathers bear the name Ahmed Efendi. Both Sâlims served as professors and judges, both names are linked with half the revenue farm of the village of Oğlanlar Obası in the district of Yavaş, and the year 1207 marks a turning point in each entry. Kırmacızâde Sâlim obtained this half revenue farm in 1201 (1786-87), gave up teaching to become a judge in 1207 and died in 1225 (1810). The Nakshbandi Sâlim Mustafa, for his part, received the trusteeship of the same half revenue farm after 1774 and died at the end of 1207.

Where they part company is just as clear. Kırmacızâde's whole professional life until 1207 was spent in the madrasas of Amasya, whereas this Sâlim was trained in Istanbul and, after serving as a provincial judge, came back to Amasya after 1774. In one case the holding of the revenue farm is in question, in the other its trusteeship; these are different rights. Kırmacızâde's father Hâfız Hacı Ahmed Efendi was a judge and a member of the council of notables; about the Ahmed Efendi here Hüsameddin gives not a single epithet.

Two explanations fit this picture. The first is that Hüsameddin drew two entries from two separate documents concerning the same man; in that case the transfer of the trusteeship in 1207 may reflect a renunciation made on passing to the bench rather than a death. The second is that the two halves of the village were held by two different men named Sâlim Mustafa; the reference to "nısf", half of the village, leaves this possibility open as well. The entries themselves are not enough to choose between them.

Poetry

No poems by Sâlim Mustafa Efendi have been found. The words "şâir, edîb" come without a sample, and the entry names no work. Should a poem under his name ever come to light, the confusion described above means it would first have to be asked whether it is really Kırmacızâde Sâlim's.

Chronology

8 Dhu al-Qa'dah 1187 (21 January 1774): Mustafa III dies; afterwards Sâlim Mustafa Efendi returns to Amasya.

After 1774: He receives the trusteeship of half the revenue farm of Oğlanlar Obası.

End of 1207 (summer 1793): He dies; the trusteeship passes to İsmâil Efendi bin Mehmed.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Online sources