Monuments of the city · Tomb

Hamdullah Efendi Tomb

In the Sofular neighbourhood, on Çevikçe Street. Plain from outside; step inside and it is a space where no wall has been left bare.

1846–1847 Hamdullah Efendi Sofular neighbourhood

The man who lies here was the 23rd postnişin (head) of the Hacı Bektaş Veli lodge — that is, the holder of the office at the very centre of the Bektashi order. When the Bektashi lodges and the Janissary Corps were closed down, he was exiled to Amasya by Mahmud II's decree of 1828.^1, 2

He never went back. He lies in the very middle of the city, on a street corner of a neighbourhood that bears his name.

📜 What do the documents say?

His real name was Mehmet Hamdi; he is also known as Hamdullah Çelebi and Pir Hamdullah Efendi.^1, 2 According to the information panel at the tomb entrance he was born in 1767; his father was Seyyit Şeyh Feyzullah Çelebi, and on his father's death in 1824 he took the post — the seat of office.²

1824 He takes the post. On the death of his father Feyzullah Çelebi he becomes postnişin of the Hacı Bektaş Veli lodge.²
1828 Exile. After the Bektashi lodges and the Janissary corps are closed down, he is exiled to Amasya by Mahmud II's decree.^1, 2
1846–47 The tomb is built. According to the building inscription over the entrance door, AH 1263 / 1846-47.^1, 2 Şen reports that the Alevis of Amasya had it built over his grave.²
2012 Cem Evi. An Alevi house of worship (cemevi) is built right next to the tomb.^1, 2

The building: square in plan, with a single dome; its walls are of rubble stone, its façade plastered. It is surrounded by a courtyard wall and has special features such as a hearth for lighting candles and a place where sacrifices are made.²

What is inside?

Ayşegül Şen describes the interior as decorated “so that no empty space is left”. The walls are painted in shades of green and brown with a special technique, and pictures with a set composition have been made on them.²

Two cenotaphsCovered with green cloths. One is Hamdullah Efendi's, the other that of his wife, Güleser Hanım.²
PicturesFramed depictions of Ali and Hacı Bektaş Veli on the walls.²
The Twelve ImamsTheir names are written on the upper parts of the walls.²
Family treeThe line of postnişins beginning with Hacı Bektaş Veli, set out in full on the wall.²
Flower motifsEspecially around the windows.²
Candle hearthAt the entrance, a lidded iron hearth; candles burn inside it.²

Five lines above the door

The building inscription above the entrance door is five lines in Ottoman Turkish. According to the translation Şen gives, the text names Hamdullah Efendi as postnişin of the Hacı Bektaş Veli lodge and as a spiritual guide (mürşid) descended from Hüseyin; it tells visitors to visit the grave; and in the last line a man named Hâfız composes a chronogram for his death from the dotted letters of “the fourteen innocents”: Year AH 1263 / AD 1847.²

What is a chronogram? In Ottoman usage, letters have numerical values (ebced). A poet records the year of an event by composing a line whose letters add up to that year. So in this inscription the date is not written in figures but hidden inside the poem.

Here the sources diverge

What it says	Source
Died 1836	The information panel at the tomb entrance (1767–1836)²
Died 1847	The chronogram of the building inscription over the door: AH 1263 / 1847²
Tomb 1846–47	The inscription — the date on which our book and Şen rely^1, 2
Tomb 1868	Kalkan Açıkkapı's list of late Ottoman buildings³

This page does not pick one date and delete the other. The inscription on the stone is the strongest document, and both sources take it as their basis; but the eleven years between the 1836 given by the panel in the tomb and the inscription's 1847 remain in plain view. Honest information rather than certain information.

🗣️ What do the people say?

Şen recorded what the people who come here do, and why, by talking to them directly. This is what they reported:²

They light candles. A candle is lit when wishes and requests come true; the brightness of the candle expresses a sense of relief, it was explained.
They stoop as they enter. Bowing on entering the tomb has been observed.
They make vows. People who are ill visit this place after going to the doctor; when they are healed, they fulfil their vow. Some vow a sheep, some a chicken, some simply to light a candle.
Thresholds. People with someone ill at home, those about to leave for military service, and brides and grooms before the wedding visit the tomb.

One interviewee said that Hamdullah Efendi was not only a postnişin but “a lover of God (hak âşığı), strong of heart and pen”, and that in his poems, above all love of humankind, and also the Ehl-i Beyt (the Prophet's family), the Qur'an, tevhid (the oneness of God) and the Twelve Imams stand out.²

Why does this section stand apart? The dates, the inscription and the information about the building above rest on documents. What is here is living religious practice — recorded in the field in 2019, by talking to people.² They are different things; neither is lesser than the other.

While you are there, look for

Above the door. The five-line inscription is there; there is a date hidden in it.^1, 2
The family tree on the wall. The line that starts from Hacı Bektaş Veli; Hamdullah Efendi is the 23rd link in that chain.²
The second cenotaph. His wife, Güleser Hanım, lies beside him.²
The candle hearth at the entrance. Every burning candle is a vow fulfilled.²
The Cem Evi next door. It was built in 2012.^1, 2 So this is not a museum; it is a place still in use.

Key facts

Date: 1846–1847 (AH 1263) — according to the building inscription^1, 2
Who lies here: Hamdullah Efendi (real name Mehmet Hamdi) and his wife Güleser Hanım^1, 2
Office: 23rd postnişin of the Hacı Bektaş Veli lodge; took the post in 1824²
How he came to Amasya: Exiled by Mahmud II's decree of 1828^1, 2
Plan: Square, single dome; rubble-stone walls, plastered façade; courtyard wall, candle hearth, place of sacrifice²
Beside it: Hamdullah Efendi Mosque; the Cem Evi built in 2012^1, 2
Location: 40.653317, 35.83734 — verified against OpenStreetMap
In the book: Kültürel Miras Boyutuyla Amasya, p. 48

📍 Open on the map

Sources

Kültürel Miras Boyutuyla Amasya (Amasya: Amasya Üniversitesi, BAP Projesi SEB-BAP25-0233, 2026), 48.
Ayşegül Şen, Amasya Şehir Merkezindeki Dinî Ziyaret Yerleri (Yüksek Lisans Tezi, 2019), 47-49. — “3.4. Hamdullah Efendi Türbesi”: the date 1847 according to the inscription; the building and its interior decoration; the two cenotaphs; the dates 1767-1836 given by the information panel at the tomb entrance; the translation of the five-line inscription and its chronogram; the Cem Evi; visiting practices and interview records.
Duygu Kalkan Açıkkapı, The Transformation of the Built Environment in Amasya from the Late Ottoman Empire to the Early Turkish Republic (Ankara: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Doktora Tezi, 2019), 65. — In the list of late Ottoman religious buildings the tomb is given the date 1868.

This page has no photograph. The book has no picture of this tomb. A current photograph will be added once it has been taken.