Trained in the court, Şükrü Ahmed Efendi spent his life on the rungs of the judicial profession: kassâm of Amasya, judge of small towns, special judge in important cases. In the end he became a member of the town's council of notables. His line went back to Helvacı Mehmed Ağa, who built the Helvacı spring in Amasya. He died around 1147 (1734-35). The epithets Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar chose for him are "learned, a scribe, a poet".

The Entry Itself

The entry Şükrü Ahmed Efendi-Helvacızâde in the eleventh volume of Amasya Tarihi lists a career step by step:

Amasya'da Helvacı pınarının bânîsi Helvacı Mehmed Ağa ahfâdından sipâhi Hasan Ağa'nın mahdûmudur. Allâme Amasya Müftüsü Hızır Efendi'nin tilmîzi ve dâmâdı Osmân Efendi'den tahsîl-i ilim edib Şer'iyye Mahkemesi kâtibi Hacı Ali Efendi'den hatt-ı ta'lîk öğrendi.
Bir müddet Amasya kassâmı olup sonra kazâ niyâbetlerinde ahkâm-ı şer'iyyeyi infâz ederek kasabâta kadı ve ba'zı deâvâ-yı mühimmede müvellâ oldu. Ba'dehû meclis-i a'yâna a'zâ olup 1147 sâline doğru vefât etdi. Âlim, kâtib, şâir idi.

Its sense in today's language: he was the cavalryman (sipahi) Hasan Ağa's son, and Hasan Ağa was one of the descendants of Helvacı Mehmed Ağa, builder of the Helvacı spring in Amasya. He studied with Osmân Efendi, pupil and son-in-law of the great scholar Hızır Efendi, mufti of Amasya, and learned the ta'lik script from Hacı Ali Efendi, clerk of the sharia court. For a time he was kassâm of Amasya; then, serving as deputy judge in the districts and carrying out the rulings of the sharia, he became judge of small towns and special judge in certain important cases. Afterwards he became a member of the council of notables and died towards the year 1147. He was a learned man, a scribe and a poet.

Life

The head of the family, Helvacı Mehmed Ağa, was one of the leading men of Amasya in the middle of the seventeenth century. Hüsameddin names him among the notables of the town counted in 1055 (1645-46), and records that, as one of the cavalrymen who had distinguished themselves in the Cretan War, he was appointed trustee of the imperial endowments in Amasya in Şevval 1058 (October-November 1648). The entry places Şükrü Ahmed Efendi's father, the sipahi Hasan Ağa, among this ağa's "ahfâd", his grandchildren or descendants. Since nearly ninety years separate Mehmed Ağa's active years from Şükrü Ahmed's death, Şükrü Ahmed may have been the son of Mehmed Ağa's grandson; the source does not count the generations one by one.

He did not follow his father into arms but took the path of learning and the pen. His teacher Osmân Efendi was both the pupil and the son-in-law of Hızır Efendi, one of the most celebrated muftis of seventeenth-century Amasya; Şükrü Ahmed thus joined the second generation of a powerful circle of learning in the town. His handwriting he learned in the court itself. The lessons in ta'lik script he took from Hacı Ali Efendi, clerk of the sharia court, fit a man preparing for a profession whose legal deeds and registers called for that hand.

The first rung of his career was the office of kassâm. The kassâm was the judge's officer who recorded the estates of the dead and divided them among the heirs, and in a crowded town such as Amasya the post meant constant work. He then served as deputy judge in the districts and was sent as judge to small towns. In some important cases he was "müvellâ", a judge appointed specially for that case. His election to the council of notables of Amasya in his last years shows that both his family and his own professional standing were recognised in the town. He died towards 1147.

His Poetry

No poem of his has been found. Hüsameddin describes him with three epithets and puts poet last; that order suggests that poetry was a talent that stood second to his identity as scribe and judge. A scribe with a mastery of ta'lik may well have written his own poems or chronograms into an anthology, but no such anthology is known.

Others Who Bore the Name

In Amasya the name "Helvacı" refers to more than one family. Şükrü Ahmed's line goes back to Helvacı Mehmed Ağa. The teacher whom Hüsameddin names as "Helvacızâde el-Hâc Ahmed Efendi bin Mehmed Ağa", who died in 1133 (1720-21), very likely belonged to the same family; since his father's name and his death date differ, he should not be confused with Şükrü Ahmed. On the other hand Helvacı el-Hâc İsmâil Ağa, who was trained in the palace confectionery, sent to Amasya in 1115 (1703) and killed on the Iranian campaign in 1147, was the founder of another family, the Helvacıoğulları. Şevkî Hasan Efendi, Hüsameddin's schoolfriend from the rüşdiye who died in 1352 (1933), belonged to this second family. That Şükrü Ahmed and İsmâil Ağa died in the same years makes it easy to confuse the two families, but Hüsameddin gives their lineages separately.

Chronology

1055 (1645-46): Helvacı Mehmed Ağa is named among the notables of Amasya.

Şevval 1058 (October-November 1648): Mehmed Ağa becomes trustee of the imperial endowments in Amasya.

Around 1147 (1734-35): Şükrü Ahmed Efendi dies while a member of the council of notables.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Online sources