Üryanizade Ahmed Esad Efendi Tomb
Audio Narration:
Person in the Tomb:
Üryanizade Ahmed Esad Efendi
Location of the Tomb:
Eyüpsultan, İstanbul
Title:
Şeyhülislam
Birth / Death:
1813 - 1889
About the Person:
- Born in Istanbul, this Ottoman scholar was the son of Mehmed Said Efendi, a judge during the reign of Mahmud II. His lineage traces back to the 17th-century Kilis-born scholar Osman el-Üryânî, who settled in Istanbul. He studied religious, literary, and rational sciences under Reîsülkurra Hoca Abdullah Efendi, Abdülkadir Bey, and Hoca İsmâil Efendi, and also took calligraphy lessons.
- In 1830, he began his civil service as a clerk at the Fetvahâne, later serving as a judge in cities such as Serez, Aleppo, Kastamonu, Manastır, and Damascus. From the 1850s onward, he served as the judge of Eyüp, Üsküdar, Edirne, and Medina. In 1861, he was honored with the Istanbul rank after completing restoration work on the Haram al-Sharif.
- From 1862 onward, he held significant roles such as membership in the Meclis-i Tedkikat-ı Şer‘iyye, military inheritance judge, undersecretary of the Sadreyn, and Istanbul judge. He received the titles of Anatolian Kazasker in 1870 and Rumelian Kazasker in 1875. Despite resigning in 1876, he was shortly after appointed to the Âyan Meclisi.
- Ultimately, he became Şeyhülislâm on 4 December 1878 and passed away in this role on 17 January 1889.
About the Tomb:
Construction Year: 19th century
Ordered by: Sultan Abdülhamid II
Architect: Italian Fossati
Prominent Features:
- Located on Camii Kebir Street, to the right of the Siyavuş Paşa Tomb and opposite the Sokullu Mehmed Paşa Tomb. The tomb was built within the courtyard of the Siyavuş Paşa Tomb.
- Built in the Empire style.
- Square plan with a single dome.
- No inscription exists on the structure.
- Contains three wooden sarcophagi.
- One belongs to Şeyhülislâm Ahmed Esad Efendi. The second is that of his son-in-law Süleyman Celaleddin Efendi. The third belongs to Şeyhülislâm Ahmed Esad Efendi’s wife.