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Lot Essay
The content of this firman comprises a waqfiyyah setting up a charitable house built by the donor, Yürgüç Pasha, for the poor in Amasya. It lists the properties that belong to the charitable building and the numerous properties to fund the endowment. It also stipulates the appointment of a sheikh to oversee their lodgings, an imam for their instruction, four reciters of the Qur'an to read a juz' every day, a servant, a doorman, a cook and assistants, a baker and assistants, an accountant and a treasurer.
The mutawalli of the waqf is to be the son of the endower, Mustafa Beg, and his progeny, or to the descendants of another of the donor's progeny should this line die out. Salaries and the amount to be spent on provisions are then laid out. The various conditions of the waqf are then set up (including, for instance, which pieces of the property may be rented and for how long, provisions for repairs etc.) and the inviolability of the waqf is stated. It is dated 3rd Rabi' I AH 830/ 2nd January 1427 AD. It is witnessed at the bottom by various dignitaries and around the top it has been confirmed by various legal officials including the inspector on behalf of the Sultan. At the top is the tughra of Murad II.
Yürgüç Pasha was the son of Atabey ‘Abdullah who was a teacher and a minister of Sultan Mehmed I (r.1403-21), the father and predecessor of Murad II. Atabey ‘Abdullah was appointed by Murad II as the ruler of Amasya in 1424. Yürgüç Pasha is recorded as having paid for the construction of a Mosque in Amasya in 1428 which still stands today and carries his name and houses his tomb. The madrasa and charitable house referred to in our firman were previously located opposite the Mosque.
Murad II (r. 1421-51) was unusual in having three known forms of his tughra. The first form was that used by Murad while he was still a prince prior to his coronation. That form of his tughra lacked a prominent dal letter form to complete the name Murad. The second form includes the prominent dal and was used after his coronation. The third form, which the tughra on our firman is included, incorporates the title muzafar at the top just below the three verticals. It is not certain when the transition from the second to the third form of the tughra happened. It has been suggested though by Suha Umur that this happened sometime in the late 1520’s at around the time that our firman was written, (Suha Umur, Osmanli Padisah Tugralari, Istanbul, 1980, pp. 102-107). Another firman of Murad II of the same form to our own dated to the equivalent of December 1441 is in the collection of the Staatsbibliothek in Berlin, (inv. Hs. or. 8178, Europa und der Orient, exhibition catalogue, Berlin, 1989, no. 314, p. 260).
The mutawalli of the waqf is to be the son of the endower, Mustafa Beg, and his progeny, or to the descendants of another of the donor's progeny should this line die out. Salaries and the amount to be spent on provisions are then laid out. The various conditions of the waqf are then set up (including, for instance, which pieces of the property may be rented and for how long, provisions for repairs etc.) and the inviolability of the waqf is stated. It is dated 3rd Rabi' I AH 830/ 2nd January 1427 AD. It is witnessed at the bottom by various dignitaries and around the top it has been confirmed by various legal officials including the inspector on behalf of the Sultan. At the top is the tughra of Murad II.
Yürgüç Pasha was the son of Atabey ‘Abdullah who was a teacher and a minister of Sultan Mehmed I (r.1403-21), the father and predecessor of Murad II. Atabey ‘Abdullah was appointed by Murad II as the ruler of Amasya in 1424. Yürgüç Pasha is recorded as having paid for the construction of a Mosque in Amasya in 1428 which still stands today and carries his name and houses his tomb. The madrasa and charitable house referred to in our firman were previously located opposite the Mosque.
Murad II (r. 1421-51) was unusual in having three known forms of his tughra. The first form was that used by Murad while he was still a prince prior to his coronation. That form of his tughra lacked a prominent dal letter form to complete the name Murad. The second form includes the prominent dal and was used after his coronation. The third form, which the tughra on our firman is included, incorporates the title muzafar at the top just below the three verticals. It is not certain when the transition from the second to the third form of the tughra happened. It has been suggested though by Suha Umur that this happened sometime in the late 1520’s at around the time that our firman was written, (Suha Umur, Osmanli Padisah Tugralari, Istanbul, 1980, pp. 102-107). Another firman of Murad II of the same form to our own dated to the equivalent of December 1441 is in the collection of the Staatsbibliothek in Berlin, (inv. Hs. or. 8178, Europa und der Orient, exhibition catalogue, Berlin, 1989, no. 314, p. 260).