A history of the khans of the Crimea, es-Seb'u's-seyyâr fî ahbâri mülûki Tatar, came from the pen of Seyyid Mehmed Rızâ Efendi, a member of a family of seyyids (descendants of the Prophet) from the Gümüşlüzâde quarter of Amasya. For seventeen years he was the close companion of the Crimean khan Mengli Giray; he then advanced in Istanbul along the path of professorships and judgeships, rising to the judgeships of Niş, Üsküdar, the imperial army, Amasya, Diyarbekir and Bursa and to the office of marshal of the descendants of the Prophet (nakîbüleşraf), and he died on 13 Zilhicce 1169 (September 1756). What keeps his name alive is a history in prose; his fellow townsman Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar praised him as "learned, accomplished, a poet, a pleasant companion", yet no verse of his has survived.

Hüsameddin's Entry

Hüsameddin's entry (the full text is at Rızâ Mehmed Efendi-Tatar Ağası Hısımı es-Seyyid) runs as follows:

Rızâ Mehmed Efendi-Tatar Ağası Hısımı es-Seyyid Amasyalıdır. Gümüşlüzâde Mahallesi'nden Hacı Kâsımzâde Tatar Ağası ve Amasya mütesellimi es-Seyyid Ömer Ağa'nın birâderi es-Seyyid Hüseyin Ağa bin es-Seyyid Mehmed Ağa'nın mahdûmudur. Amasya'da fuzalâdan Çorumlu es-Seyyid el-Hâc Mehmed, İkincizâde Abdullah-ı sânî, Mütevellîzâde el-Hâc Ahmed Efendilerden ahz-ı ulûm etdi. Ba'dehû amcası nezdine Kırım'a gidip Hacı Selîm Girâyzâde Mengli Hân'a intisâb ve kesb-i ihtisâs eylediğinden Hân-ı müşârün-ileyhe mu'allim ve bu münâsebetle 1130'da müderris ve İstanbul rü'ûsunu hâ'iz olarak on yedi yıl müşârün-ileyhin musâhib-i hâssı oldu. 1242'de Mengli Girây Hân ve amcasıyla beraber İstanbul'a gelip tedrîs-i ulûm ederek iştihâr edib 1154'de Niş ve 1156'da Üsküdâr mollası ve 1158'de ordu-yu hümâyûn kadısı oldu. 1159 senesi gurre-i şa'bânında ilâveten Amasya kadısı olup Îrân ordusunda bulundu. 1162'de Diyârbekir mollası ve 1165 senesi şevvâlinin sekizinci günü Edirne pâyesiyle nakîbü'l-eşrâf oldu. 1166 senesi cumâdelâhiresinin gurresinde nekâbet uhdesinde kalmak üzere Bursa mollası oldu. 1169 senesi rebîülâhirinde nekâbetten azl edilip sene-i mezbûre zilhiccesinin on üçünde dâr-ı bekâya irtihâl etdi. Edirne kapısında hem-şehrîsi Kemâl Paşazâde Ahmed ve Emîr Buhârî şeyhi Mahmûd Çelebiler civârında medfûndur. Âlim, fâzıl, şâir, hoş-sohbet, edîb, kâmil, muhâzarâta vâkıf, asîl bir seyyid-i zî-şân idi. Dûdmân-ı Cengiziyyeye kıdem-i ihtisâsı olduğundan Gazân Târîhini icmâl ile Kırım Hânlarına dâ'ir "Es-Seb'u's-Seyyâr fi Ahvâli Tatar" adlı bir eser-i latîf te'lîf etdi. Bu eserinde yalnız adı yazılıdır.

In modern English: This man of Amasya was born to Seyyid Hüseyin Ağa, brother of Hacı Kâsımzâde Seyyid Ömer Ağa of the Gümüşlüzâde quarter, known as "Tatar Ağası" and deputy governor (mütesellim) of Amasya; his grandfather was Seyyid Mehmed Ağa. In Amasya he studied with Seyyid Hacı Mehmed of Çorum, İkincizâde Abdullah-ı Sânî and Mütevellîzâde Hacı Ahmed Efendi. He then went to his uncle in the Crimea and attached himself to Mengli Han, son of Hacı Selim Giray; winning his favour, he became the khan's teacher, and on this account he was counted a professor with the Istanbul certificate (rüus) in 1130 (1717-18) and remained the khan's private companion (musahib) for seventeen years. He came to Istanbul with Mengli Giray Han and his uncle and became known for his teaching; in 1154 (1741-42) he became judge (molla) of Niş, in 1156 (1743) of Üsküdar, and in 1158 (1745) judge of the imperial army. On 1 Şaban 1159 he was given the judgeship of Amasya in addition and was present with the army on the Iranian campaign. In 1162 (1749) he became judge of Diyarbekir, and on 8 Şevval 1165 (1752) marshal of the descendants of the Prophet with the rank of Edirne. On 1 Cemâziyelâhir 1166 (1753) he became judge of Bursa while retaining the marshalship. In Rebîülâhir 1169 he was removed from the marshalship, and he died on the thirteenth of Zilhicce of the same year. He was buried at Edirnekapı near his fellow townsman Kemalpaşazâde Ahmed and Mahmud Çelebi, sheikh of Emîr Buhârî. He was a learned, accomplished, poetic, companionable, literate and mature man, versed in literary anecdote, a noble and distinguished seyyid. Because of his long attachment to the house of Genghis he wrote, abridging the History of Gazan, an elegant work on the Crimean khans called "es-Seb'u's-Seyyâr fî Ahvâli Tatar". In this work only his name is written.

The last sentence means that the author gives no information about himself in his book beyond his name; Hüsameddin must have gathered the facts of his life from other records.

The Crimean Years and a Problem in the Dates

One of the dates in the entry is plainly misprinted. Rızâ's arrival in Istanbul with Mengli Giray and his uncle is given as "1242", but that year falls more than seventy years after his death. According to the sequence of the entry, the event must lie somewhere between 1130 and 1154. The record does not say which year it was; that 1242 is a typesetting or reading error is certain, but the correct year could not be determined.

The epithet "Tatar Ağası" also carries a trace of this Crimean connection. A link might be drawn between his uncle Ömer Ağa's nickname and the nephew's journey to the Crimean court, but Hüsameddin does not explain it. Another branch of the same family appears in the entry Rızâ Ali Efendi-Tatar Ağasızâde; he too was a secretary trained in the offices of the Sublime Porte.

es-Seb'u's-seyyâr

The work Hüsameddin calls "Es-Seb'u's-Seyyâr fi Ahvâli Tatar" concerns the history of the Crimean khans and is cited in the bibliographies of the TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi's entries on the Giray khans. According to Ahmet Kanlıdere's entry "Mirza Kâzım Bey", Seyyid Mehmed Rızâ's work es-Seb'u's-seyyâr fî ahbâri mülûki Tatar, written in Turkish, covers the period from 1466 to 1737 and was published by Kâzım Bey with a Russian introduction in Kazan in 1832. The title means "the seven planets". Kanlıdere's entry gives 1756 as the author's year of death, which agrees with Hüsameddin's record of Zilhicce 1169.

Hüsameddin used the book in his own work as well. In the second volume of Amasya Tarihi, discussing the origin of the name Sivas, he turns to the account of "es-Seyyid Muhammed Rızâ Efendi in es-Seb'u's-Seyyâr" and quotes from the same book a tradition about the founder of Tarsus. In the annals of the fourth volume he records that at the beginning of Şaban 1159 "the army judge Hacı Kâsımoğlu Mehmed Rızâ Efendi of Amasya" became judge of Amasya, and reminds the reader in a footnote that he was the nephew of the former deputy governor Tatar Ağası Ömer Ağa.

His Poetry

Hüsameddin calls Rızâ a poet, yet not a single couplet of his is known, and the entry offers none. Whether the text of es-Seb'u's-seyyâr contains passages in verse could not be examined for this study. Zehrimârzâde Seyyid Mehmed Rızâ of Edirne, who bore the same name, is a different person: according to Filiz Kılıç's TDV entry he died in 1082 (1671) and left a biographical anthology of poets (tezkire).

Chronology

1130 (1717-18): As Mengli Giray's teacher, is counted a professor with the Istanbul certificate; companion of the khan for seventeen years.

1154 (1741-42): Judge of Niş.

1156 (1743): Judge of Üsküdar.

1158 (1745): Judge of the imperial army.

1 Şaban 1159 (1746): Judge of Amasya in addition; with the army on the Iranian campaign.

1162 (1749): Judge of Diyarbekir.

8 Şevval 1165 (1752): Marshal of the descendants of the Prophet with the rank of Edirne.

1 Cemâziyelâhir 1166 (1753): Judge of Bursa, retaining the marshalship.

13 Zilhicce 1169 (September 1756): Dies; buried at Edirnekapı.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Academic studies

Online sources