Urfa dâhilinde sâkin Kılıçlu aşîreti efrâdından Alî'nin oğludur. Sekbân bölüğünün yazıcısı olduğundan "Karayazıcı" demekle meşhûr oldu. Kethüdâsı olduğu gayr-i Türk beylerin ve paşaların tahkîrâtı yüzünden başına topladığı adamlarıyla kıyâm etmişdi.
1007 senesi zilhiccesinde Ankara civârında Çubukova'da i'lân-ı isyân ederek bâb-ı âlî ricâlini sarsdı. Yıldızlı İbrâhim Bey'in azline binâ'en 1008 senesi muharreminde Amasya sancağı beyi oldu. Deli Zülfikâr Ağa'yı tarafından mütesellim yapıp Amasya'ya, Hüseyin Paşa'yı da İstanbul'a gönderdi.
Abdulhalîm Bey Ankara altından Çorum yolunu tutdu. Buradan Amasya'ya gidecekdi. Çorum beyi Murâd Bey kendisine gelen ahz u girift fermânına rağmen Abdulhalîm'i tantanalı bir sûretde istikbâl etdi. Abdulhalîm'in şeyhülislâmı makâmında Kayseriyyeli eş-Şeyh Abdurrahîm Efendi durmuş, vezâretini Kalenderoğlu Mehmed yapıyordu.
Erbâb-ı ihtilâlin hedefi Sivas beylerbeyi Deli Mahmûd Paşa idi. Abdulhalîm Bey Geldiklan sahrâsına gelip şâhâne çadırını kurmuş, her tarafa fermânlar veriyor, kendisine "Halîm Şâh" unvânını verip tuğrâ çekiyordu. Hâlbuki erbâb-ı ihtilâlin maksadı [349] Abdulhalîm'in şâhlığı, sultânlığı değildi. Şûrânın verdiği karârı infâz edecek bir makâm-ı riyâsetdi.
Fakat Abdulhalîm Bey 1008 senesi rebî'ulevvelinde Amasya'nın Geldiklan nâhiyesinde kâ'in Ortaköy'ü merkez-i saltanat ittihâz etmişdi. Buradan her tarafa e'imme ve hutabâ ta'yîn ediyor, fermânlar, berâtlar veriyordu. Kendisine bu maksadı anlatacak adamları Osmanlı diye öldürüyordu. Abdulhalîm'in birden parlayan nüfûzu müdhişdi.
Deli Mahmûd Paşa, Abdulhalîm'in nüfûzundan fenâ hâlde ürkdü. Derhâl Ermenîliği tutup Osmânlılık'dan tecerrüd ederek isyân etdi. Abdulhalîm'e bey'at ederek tarafından Sivas beylerbeyi oldu. Bâb-ı âlî tarafından da Karaman beylerbeyi Dârendeli Nûh Paşa'ya bunların her ne sûretle olursa tutup i'dâmları emri verildi.
Amasya mütesellimi Deli Zülfikâr Ağa, ma'iyyetinde beş bin piyâde, üç bin süvârîden mürekkeb fırkasını alıp Geldiklan sahrâsına giderek Abdulhalîm'in ordusuna iltihâk etdi.
Bâb-ı âlî, Mahmûd Paşa ile Zülfikâr Ağa'nın iltihâkını haber aldıkda Sivas beylerbeyiliğine Çerkes Mahmûd Paşa'yı nasb etdi. Bu da âsî ve deli çıkdığından Sivas'a "Alacaatlı" demekle meşhûr Ahmed Paşa'yı, Amasya beyliğine de Karahisâr-ı Şarkî beyi Ahmed Bey'i ta'yîn ederek gönderdi.
In Modern English
He was the son of Alî, a member of the Kılıçlu tribe living around Urfa. Because he was the clerk of a company of sekbans, he became known as "Karayazıcı" ("the Black Clerk"). Humiliated by the non-Turkish beys and pashas whose steward he was, he rose in revolt with the men he had gathered around him.
In Dhu al-Hijjah 1007 [1599] he proclaimed his rebellion at Çubukova near Ankara and shook the men of the Sublime Porte. When Yıldızlı İbrâhim Bey was dismissed, he became sanjak governor of Amasya in Muharram 1008 [1599]. He appointed Deli Zülfikâr Ağa as his deputy governor (mütesellim) and sent him to Amasya, and sent Hüseyin Pasha to Istanbul.
Abdulhalîm Bey took the Çorum road from below Ankara; from there he was to go to Amasya. Murâd Bey, the bey of Çorum, received Abdulhalîm with a splendid ceremony even though an order to seize and imprison him had been issued. In Abdulhalîm's retinue, Şeyh Abdurrahîm Efendi of Kayseri held the office of şeyhülislam, and Kalenderoğlu Mehmed served as vizier.
The rebels' target was Deli Mahmûd Pasha, the beylerbeyi of Sivas. Abdulhalîm Bey came to the Geldiklan plain and pitched an imperial tent, issuing decrees in every direction; he took the title "Halîm Shah" and affixed a tughra. Yet the rebels' aim was not Abdulhalîm's kingship or sultanate. They wanted a presidency that would carry out the decisions of a consultative council.
But in Rabi' al-awwal 1008 [1599-1600] Abdulhalîm Bey made Ortaköy, in the Geldiklan district of Amasya, his seat of sovereignty. From there he appointed imams and preachers everywhere and issued decrees and berats. He killed, as "Ottomans," the men who tried to explain that purpose to him. Abdulhalîm's suddenly blazing influence was frightening.
Deli Mahmûd Pasha was greatly alarmed by Abdulhalîm's influence. He at once clung to his Armenian origin, left Ottoman allegiance, and rebelled. He swore allegiance to Abdulhalîm and was made beylerbeyi of Sivas by him. The Sublime Porte, for its part, ordered Dârendeli Nûh Pasha, the beylerbeyi of Karaman, to seize and execute them by whatever means.
Deli Zülfikâr Ağa, the mütesellim of Amasya, took his force of five thousand infantry and three thousand cavalry, went to the Geldiklan plain, and joined Abdulhalîm's army.
When the Sublime Porte learned that Mahmûd Pasha and Zülfikâr Ağa had joined, it appointed Çerkes Mahmûd Pasha as beylerbeyi of Sivas. As he too proved rebellious and mad, it sent Ahmed Pasha, famed as "Alacaatlı," to Sivas, and appointed Ahmed Bey, the bey of Karahisâr-ı Şarkî, to the sanjak of Amasya.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- aşîret: a nomadic or semi-nomadic tribe
- sekbân: a salaried infantry soldier armed with a musket
- kethüdâ: steward, deputy
- tahkîrât: humiliations, insults
- ahz u girift: seizing and imprisoning
- istikbâl: reception, welcome
- tantana: display, pomp
- şûrâ: consultative council
- makâm-ı riyâset: the office of president
- merkez-i saltanat: seat of government
- e'imme ve hutabâ: imams and preachers
- berât: an appointment document issued by the sultan or an authorized office
- bey'at: recognizing someone as leader, an oath of allegiance
- tecerrüd: shedding, withdrawing
- i'dâm: killing, execution
Who Was Karayazıcı Abdülhalim
In the sources Karayazıcı is called Karayazıcı or Yazıcı. His nickname comes from having served as a sekban clerk. He is accepted as a member of the Kılıçlı tribe of the Urfa region; Hüsameddin gives the same information. A view based on Armenian sources says he was the son of a Turk from Çorum. The Venetian consul in Aleppo writes that he received this nickname because he served as clerk to the pasha of Aleppo. During the Ottoman-Austrian wars (1593-1606) he was among the soldiers of the six regiments, became the deputy of a sanjak governor, and raised the banner of revolt with the levend companies that gathered around him. He is known as the man who started the first great Celâlî rebellion in Anatolia; the sources call him the first Celâlî to proclaim a sultanate, with the title "Halim Shah."
Hüsameddin's Account and the Sources
On Karayazıcı's "sultanate" claim, Hüsameddin and present-day research come close to each other. Hüsameddin writes that the rebels' aim was not Abdulhalîm's kingship. The encyclopedia entry likewise notes that the claim to a sultanate was not serious and did not directly target the dynasty, the real aim being to obtain a sanjak governorship or beylerbeyilik. Decrees with the tughra "Halîm Shah muzaffer bâdâ" appear in the sources; Mustafa Akdağ, however, argued that the decree called "Hükm-i Karayazıcı," mentioned in Naîmâ, was fabricated.
We could not verify the details of the Çorum and Ortaköy scenes Hüsameddin describes in the sources consulted. The sequence in the sources also differs from Hüsameddin's. According to the encyclopedia and article accounts, at the end of 1599 Karayazıcı took Urfa Castle with Hüseyin Pasha, organized his army on the model of the Ottoman military order, made Hüseyin Pasha his vizier, then handed him over under an agreement with the commander-in-chief and in return received a promise of the administration of the sanjak of Amasya or Antep. In the following months the government gave him the sanjak of Çorum. In these accounts the vizier is not Kalenderoğlu but Hüseyin Pasha; Kalenderoğlu is one of the leaders at Karayazıcı's side. We also found no other record of Abdurrahîm Efendi of Kayseri, said to be the şeyhülislam.
On the beylerbeyi of Sivas, Hüsameddin and the sources part ways. Hüsameddin writes that Deli Mahmûd Pasha joined Abdulhalîm. According to the encyclopedia entry, when Çerkez Mahmud Pasha, beylerbeyi of Sivas, came to Istanbul in the spring of 1600, he defended Karayazıcı and vouched for all his conduct; this influenced the government's giving him the sanjak of Çorum. The joining that Hüsameddin reports does not fit this information, or it may describe a different period. We could not resolve this in this study.
Afterwards
According to the sources, Karayazıcı defeated the army of Hacı İbrâhim Pasha on the plain of Kayseri in 1009 [September 1600], was defeated at Sepetli by Sokulluzâde Hasan Pasha in August 1601, withdrew to the Canik mountains, and died there in 1602. The sources give two accounts of his death: that he was killed after a quarrel with his own men, or that he died of his wounds. The adventure of his brother Deli Hasan, who succeeded him, is told in the next entry together with what befell Amasya.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 3, p. 521–521. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
- Mücteba İlgürel, "Karayazıcı Abdülhalim", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, İstanbul 2001. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/karayazici-abdulhalim
- Meryem Kaçan Erdoğan, "Karayazıcı İsyanı", Eskişehir Osmangazi Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 4/2, 2003, p. 53-66. https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/112963
- Mücteba İlgürel, "Kalenderoğlu Mehmed", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, İstanbul 2001. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kalenderoglu-mehmed