Ahmed Bey — Atabegzâde

In Modern English

He is the son of Hüsâmeddîn Hasan Bey, son of Nâsıreddîn Ahmed Atabeg, the great emir of Amasya. He became the administrator (mütevelli) of his grandfather's waqfs and died after 765 [1363-64]. He was one of the great emirs. His son is Hassan Bey.

Notes and Research

Old Words in the Text

• Atabegzâde: son or descendant of the Atabeg
• cedd: grandfather, ancestor
• evkâf: waqfs
• mütevellî: the person who administers a waqf
• kibâr-ı ümerâ: great, leading emirs

The Atabeyzade Family

Ahmed Bey belongs to the third generation of the family called "Atabeyzades" in the history of Amasya. The family's ancestor, Nâsıreddîn Ahmed Atabey, was atabey to the Seljuk sultan Gıyâseddin Mesud II and to his son Gazi Çelebi Tâceddin Altunbaş, who was recognized as ruler in Amasya, and in the Ilkhanid period was governor of Amasya between 1322 and 1327. In these years he had the Atabey Madrasa, known in Amasya by his name, built and endowed all his lands and properties to this madrasa. In 1327 Atabey was wounded and died while defending Amasya against the siege of Yahşi Bey of the Karamanids.

According to the genealogy prepared by Gözde Birsel Varol and Selim Özcan, largely on the basis of Hüsameddin's Amasya Tarihi, Atabey had three sons named Hayreddin Hızır, Hüsameddin Hasan, and İlyas Bey. In this chart Hüsameddin Hasan Bey's son Ahmed Bey appears below him, and his date of death is shown as 1364. This agrees with Hüsameddin's record "died after 765"; the year 765 runs from October 1363 to September 1364 CE.

A Detail on the Administration of the Waqf

Hüsameddin writes that Ahmed Bey was administrator of his grandfather's waqfs. Varol and Özcan, however, give a different order in the administration of the Atabey Madrasa: Atabey's son Hayreddin Hızır Bey (d. 1357), then his son İlyas Bey (d. after 1368), later İlyas Bey's son Muineddin Abdullah Bey (d. 1402) and his son İlyas Bey. Since in family waqfs the waqf deed generally stipulates that the eldest of the descendants (ekber evlâd) be the administrator, it is normal for the administration to pass among different branches. It is possible that Ahmed Bey was administrator for a time after Hızır Bey's death in 1357, or for another part of the waqf; but the sources at hand do not clarify this detail.

The family's later generations played an important role in Amasya's passage to Ottoman rule. Hızır Bey's grandsons Muineddin Abdullah Bey and his brother Hızır Bey were among the emirs of Amasya who declared allegiance to the Ottoman sultan Murad I in 1386. Muineddin Abdullah Bey's sons Yörgüç Pasha and Hayreddin Hızır Pasha became among the best-known statesmen of Amasya in the fifteenth century; from then on the family divided into two branches under the names "Yörgüç Pashazade" and "Hızır Pashazade." Members of the Yörgüç Pasha branch are seen in the administration of Amasya until the early twentieth century. No information was found in other sources on the branch beginning with Ahmed Bey's son Hassan Bey.

Bibliography

• Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 114–114. amasya.bel.tr
• Gözde Birsel Varol - Selim Özcan, "Atabeyzadelerin Amasya'nın Siyasi ve Sosyal Tarihindeki Yeri ve Önemi", MANAS Sosyal Araştırmalar Dergisi, 8/4, 2019, p. 3775-3798. https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/826270