Brought up over the registers of Amasya's Islamic law court, Seyyid Ali Efendi took over his father's trade and rose to chief clerk; he then turned to the judiciary and climbed as high as the judgeship of Kayseri at the rank of molla. Hüsameddin presents him as a poet, a man of letters and a calligrapher skilled in the ta'lik script. He used the pen name Sürûrî and died in 1161 (1748) while serving as deputy judge (nâib) of Sivas.

Hüsameddin's Entry

The entry Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar wrote on Mukayyidzâde Sürûrî Ali Efendi counts off his career step by step, from the court to the molla's rank:

Sürûrî Ali Efendi-Mukayyidzâde, es-Seyyid Amasyalıdır. Mahkeme-i şer'iyye mukayyidi Hâfız Ahmed Efendi'nin mahdûmudur. Meşâhîr-i fuzalâdan İkincizâde Abdullah Sânî Efendi'nin halka-i tedrîsinde ikmâl-i tahsîl ederek mahkeme mukayyidi, ba'dehû şer'iyye baş kâtibi oldu. Diğer taraftan tedrîs-i ulûm ederek ders-i âm ü müderris oldu. 1143'de kasabâta kadı ve ba'dehû livâlara nâib olarak iştihâr edib 1154'de sadr-ı esbak Zanalızâde es-Seyyid el-Hâc Ahmed Paşa'nın sâye-i ikbâlinde Kayseriyye mollası oldu. Ba'dehû Sivas nâibi olup 1161'de vefât etdi. Âlim, şâir, edîb, ta'lîk-nüvîs bir hattât idi.

In translation: A native of Amasya, he was the son of Hâfız Ahmed Efendi, registrar (mukayyid) of the Islamic law court. Completing his studies in the teaching circle of İkincizâde Abdullah Sânî Efendi, one of the most renowned scholars, he became registrar of the court and later chief clerk of the court. At the same time he taught and became a lecturer and professor (müderris). In 1143 (1730-31) he became judge of small towns and then made a name as deputy judge in sanjak centres; in 1154 (1741-42), under the patronage of the former grand vizier Zanalızâde Seyyid Hacı Ahmed Paşa, he became molla of Kayseri. Afterwards he became deputy judge of Sivas and died in 1161 (1748). He was a scholar, poet, man of letters and a calligrapher who wrote ta'lik.

From the Court to the Bench

The byname "Mukayyidzâde", "the registrar's son", comes from the family's work at the court. The mukayyid was the official who entered lawsuits, deeds and judgments in the court registers. His father Hâfız Ahmed Efendi held that office; Ali Efendi too began on the same step and later became chief clerk of the court. The years spent over the registers also explain why Hüsameddin calls him "a calligrapher who wrote ta'lik": ta'lik was the common script of the judges' courts and of official correspondence, and a court clerk writing in the registers day after day could hardly help mastering it.

His teacher, İkincizâde Abdullah Sânî Efendi, had gathered one of the largest teaching circles in Amasya at the end of the seventeenth century, taught at the Fîrûz Ağa and Hızır Paşa madrasas, became mufti of Amasya in 1118 (1706) and died in 1120 (1708). The date at which Ali Efendi received his licence from him is not given, but the teacher's death shows that his studies were finished before 1120. Since Sânî Efendi was a poet as well, one may guess that Ali Efendi's interest in poetry began in that circle.

His advance in the judiciary came after the chief clerkship and the professorship. Starting with town judgeships in 1143, the road continued with deputy judgeships in sanjak centres and reached the Kayseri judgeship in 1154. Hüsameddin's use of the title "molla" shows that the Kayseri post then ranked as a mevleviyet, above the town judgeships. Hüsameddin attributes this appointment to the patronage of the "former grand vizier" Zanalızâde Seyyid Hacı Ahmed Paşa. This must be Zanalı Ca'fer Ağazâde Hacı Ahmed Ağa, who according to the chronicle part of the book was made deputy grand vizier (sadaret kaymakamı) with the rank of vizier in Zilkade 1150 (March 1738). He belonged to the Zanalı family, which came from the village of Zana near Amasya, and Hüsameddin counts him among the viziers raised by Amasya. The same passage relates that, after complaints about unqualified deputies being sent to the Amasya judgeship, this vizier raised the district to the rank of an entry-level mevleviyet. That Ali Efendi rose to a molla post with the support of a vizier from his own town fits this picture; whether "former grand vizier" refers to the grand vizierate itself or to the deputyship is unclear. Ali Efendi's last post was the deputy judgeship of Sivas; why he went back to a deputy post after holding a molla's rank is not explained in the source.

The State of the Sources

For Ali Efendi's life there is no support beyond Hüsameddin's record, and that record is silent on his birth year, his mother and his children. The identification of his patron with Zanalı Ca'fer Ağazâde Hacı Ahmed Paşa is a match based on the similarity of name and byname; Hüsameddin himself does not connect the two passages.

In the book Ali Efendi stands between two townsmen who shared his pen name. Hânedânzâde Sürûrî Osman Efendi, before him, was a poet too; for the judge Âkifzâde Sürûrî Mehmed Efendi, who follows him and died in 1233 (1817-18), Hüsameddin mentions no poetry. Gelibolulu Sürûrî, who taught Prince Mustafa, lived in the sixteenth century, long before these Amasyans, and is not to be identified with any of them.

His Poetry

No verse of Sürûrî Ali Efendi's has been found. "Poet and man of letters" is among the qualities Hüsameddin lists, yet no couplet made its way into the record. Given his calligraphy, it is not out of the question that a kıt'a or a panel in his own hand may one day come to light; so far no such piece has been found.

Chronology

Before 1120 (1708): Completes his studies in the circle of İkincizâde Abdullah Sânî Efendi.

1143 (1730-31): Becomes a town judge.

1154 (1741-42): Becomes molla of Kayseri.

1161 (1748): Dies while deputy judge of Sivas.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Online sources