Ottoman 1920 Evkâf Treasury Payment Muezzin Devrekâni İsmâil Bey Mosque Kastamonu Hejaz Railway 2
Ottoman Evkâf Treasury Payment Document for the Muezzin of Devrekâni İsmâil Bey Mosque – Kastamonu (1920)
Description:
This Ottoman Turkish document, titled "Evkâf-ı Hümâyûn Hazinesi'nden Muhassas Hademe-i Hayrât Vezâifiyle Tekâyâ Taamiyesi ve Muhtâcin Maaşâtından Kastamonu Evkaf İdâresi'nce Tesviyesi Lâzım Gelen Tahsisâta Mahsus Cüzdân", is an official payment booklet dated 12 Mayıs 1336 (12 May 1920). It records payments issued by the Ottoman Ministry of Imperial Pious Foundations (Evkâf-ı Hümâyûn) for the salaries of religious personnel, food allowances for tekkes (dervish lodges), and pensions for the needy, administered through the Kastamonu Directorate of Pious Foundations.
The beneficiary institution recorded in the document is the Devrekâni İsmâil Bey Câmi-i Şerîfi, located in present-day Devrekani, Kastamonu Province. The mosque was commissioned by İsmâil Bey, one of the most prominent rulers of the Candaroğlu (İsfendiyaroğlu) Beylik and the maternal uncle of Sultan Mehmed II (Fatih Sultan Mehmed). İsmâil Bey's sister, Hatice Halime Hüma Hatun, became the wife of Sultan Murad II and the mother of Mehmed the Conqueror. Although the mosque's original inscription has not survived, historical sources generally date its construction to between 1450 and 1455, making it one of the most significant fifteenth-century monuments in the Kastamonu region.
The document specifies that the payment was made for the position of müezzin, the religious official responsible for calling the faithful to prayer, reciting the iqāmah, and leading the congregation in post-prayer supplications. A total of 150 kuruş was paid for this duty. In the explanatory section, the payment is recorded as having been made to Hilmi Efendi, son of Eşbah, acting as the legal representative (vekil) of Gemalmazoğlu Hüseyin Efendi, who served as the mosque's muezzin.
The document also bears an original surcharged Hejaz Railway Donation (İane) revenue stamp. These fiscal stamps were issued to help finance the construction of the Hejaz Railway, one of the Ottoman Empire's most ambitious infrastructure projects initiated under Sultan Abdülhamid II. Rather than relying on foreign loans, the railway was financed largely through the Ottoman treasury and voluntary donations collected from Muslims throughout the empire and the wider Islamic world. In addition to raising funds, these stamps were widely affixed to official documents as fiscal revenue stamps. The presence of a surcharged Hejaz Railway revenue stamp considerably enhances both the historical importance and collectible appeal of this document.
Bearing its original revenue stamps and official seals, this payment booklet is an outstanding example of the Ottoman vakıf administration during the empire's final years. It documents the continued financial support provided for religious institutions and their personnel while illustrating the close relationship between charitable foundations, public finance, and religious life in the late Ottoman period.
For collectors and researchers, this is an exceptional historical document connecting Ottoman vakıf administration, Islamic religious institutions, the history of the Candaroğlu dynasty, and the financial administration of one of Anatolia's most important historic mosques.
Key Features:
• Type: Ottoman Evkâf Treasury payment booklet
• Title: Evkâf-ı Hümâyûn Hazinesi'nden Muhassas Hademe-i Hayrât Vezâifiyle Tekâyâ Taamiyesi ve Muhtâcin Maaşâtından Kastamonu Evkaf İdâresi'nce Tesviyesi Lâzım Gelen Tahsisâta Mahsus Cüzdân
• Date: 12 Mayıs 1336 (12 May 1920)
• Location: Devrekâni İsmâil Bey Câmi-i Şerîfi, Devrekani, Kastamonu
• Institution: Kastamonu Directorate of Imperial Pious Foundations (Evkaf İdaresi)
• Service: Salary payment for the mosque's müezzin
• Amount Paid: 150 kuruş
• Recipient: Hilmi Efendi, son of Eşbah, acting as the legal representative of Gemalmazoğlu Hüseyin Efendi
• Historical Context: Documents the financial administration of Ottoman religious foundations and the payment of mosque personnel through the Evkâf-ı Hümâyûn during the final years of the Ottoman Empire
• Historical Monument: Relates to the fifteenth-century Devrekâni İsmâil Bey Mosque, founded by İsmâil Bey, maternal uncle of Sultan Mehmed II (Fatih Sultan Mehmed)
• Special Feature: Bears an original surcharged Hejaz Railway Donation (İane) revenue stamp issued to support the construction of the Hejaz Railway under Sultan Abdülhamid II
• Physical Features: Original revenue stamps and official seals
• Collectible Significance: Highly desirable for collectors of Ottoman vakıf documents, Islamic architectural history, Kastamonu history, Hejaz Railway philately, and Ottoman administrative records