Amasya beylerbeyi Devâtdâr Ahmed Paşa bin Hacı Şâdgeldi Paşazâde İkinci Şâdgeldi Bey’in mahdûmu ve sadr-ı a’zam Bâyezîd Paşa’nın kerîmezâdesidir. Pederi Şâdgeldi Bey, halk arasında “Şâdî Bey” demekle meşhûr olduğundan buna Ahmed Bey bin Şâdî Bey denmişdir. Birâderi Mehmed Bey’dir.
Dayısı sadr-ı müşârün-ileyhin eyyâm-ı ikbâlinde ümerâdan olup Sultân Murâd-ı Sânî Amasya vâlisi iken ma’iyyetinde bulundu. Müşârün-ileyhin cülûsundan sonra bir müddet Selânik muhâfızı, ba’dehû Sultân Ahmed’in Amasya vâliliğinde Amasya muhâfızı olarak geldi.
Şehzâdenin füc’eten irtihâlinde kendisine ba’zı taksîrât isnâd edildiğinden menkûb olup 842 sâlinden sonra vefât etdi. Mahdûmları Mehmed, Ali, Burâk Beyler ve dâmâdı Tâceddîn Bey bin Hamza Bey’dir. [376]
In Modern English
He was the son of İkinci Şâdgeldi Bey, son of Devâtdâr Ahmed Pasha, son of Hacı Şâdgeldi Pasha, beylerbeyi of Amasya, and the son of the daughter of the grand vizier Bâyezîd Pasha. Since his father Şâdgeldi Bey was known among the people as "Şâdî Bey", he too was called "Ahmed Bey son of Şâdî Bey". His brother was Mehmed Bey.
In the brilliant days of the aforementioned grand vizier, his maternal uncle, he was one of the beys; when Sultan Murad II was governor of Amasya, he was in his retinue. After this sultan's accession he was for a time garrison commander (muhâfız) of Thessaloniki, then came as muhâfız of Amasya during the governorship of Prince Sultan Ahmed in Amasya.
When the prince died suddenly, certain faults were laid on him and he fell from favour, and he died after 842 [1438-39]. His sons were Mehmed, Ali and Burak Beys; his son-in-law was Tâceddîn Bey, son of Hamza Bey.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- mahdûm: son
- sadr-ı a'zam: grand vizier, vezîriâzam
- kerîmezâde: daughter's son
- eyyâm-ı ikbâl: brilliant, prestigious days
- ma'iyyet: the retinue, suite beside a superior
- muhâfız: commander charged with defending a city or fortress
- füc'eten irtihâl: sudden death
- taksîrât: faults, negligences
- isnâd: ascribing, laying upon
- menkûb: fallen from favour, struck by misfortune
The Family of Şâdgeldi Pasha
Ahmed Bey is the great-grandson of Hacı Şâdgeldi Pasha, who ruled Amasya in the second half of the fourteenth century. Hacı Şâdgeldi Pasha took over the emirate of Amasya in 1359 from his father Hacı Kutluşah and acted on his own as the Eretna Principality weakened. When he died in 1381 in the war with Kadı Burhâneddin, the beys of the city chose his son Fahreddin Ahmed as administrator. When Fahreddin Ahmed too could not hold out against Kadı Burhâneddin, he declared his allegiance to Murad I and remained in office until Prince Bayezid became sanjak governor of Amasya in 1386. The son of Şâdgeldi whom Hüsameddin calls "Devâtdâr Ahmed Pasha" is most probably this Fahreddin Ahmed. Thus Amasya passed to Ottoman rule with the consent of its own emirate family, and the family kept its privileged position in the Ottoman period.
His Maternal Uncle Bayezid Pasha
Bayezid Pasha, to whom Ahmed Bey owed his brilliant period, is the most powerful statesman of the time of Çelebi Mehmed. According to Aydın Taneri, his father's name is Yahşi; since he was born in Amasya he appears in the sources as of Amasya, but it is also probable that he was of Albanian origin. He was in the close retinue of Çelebi Mehmed during his sanjak governorship in Amasya, and in 1413 was made grand vizier and beylerbeyi of Rumeli. When Çelebi Mehmed died he concealed his death for forty days and so secured Prince Murad's accession; but when he was sent against Düzmece Mustafa in 1421 most of his soldiers went over to the other side and he was killed at the instigation of İzmiroğlu Cüneyd Bey. The Bayezid Pasha Mosque, its imaret and its madrasa, which still stand in Amasya today, were built by him.
There is an inconsistency in Hüsameddin's text on the matter of kinship. Ahmed Bey is first presented as Bayezid Pasha's "kerîmezâde", that is, his daughter's son; a few lines later Bayezid Pasha is called his "dayı", maternal uncle. Since a dayı is the mother's brother, one of the two expressions is wrong. Considering that Ahmed Bey was among the beys in Murad II's princely days, that is, in 1416-1421, it is more plausible that he was Bayezid Pasha's nephew than his grandson. This is an assessment; for certain knowledge a waqf deed or a register entry is needed.
His Posts in Thessaloniki and Amasya
That Ahmed Bey was "muhâfız of Thessaloniki" helps to date the post roughly. Murad II marched on Thessaloniki with his whole army in February 1430, and the city was taken before the Venetian fleet could arrive, in a general assault on the morning of 4 Rajab 833 [29 March 1430]. His tenure thus falls after 1430. He was then assigned, as muhâfız of the city, to the fifteen-year-old Prince Ahmed, sent in 838 [1434] to the governorship of Amasya.
According to the genealogical records Hüsameddin gives in other articles, the mother of Murad II too is Şehzade Hatun, daughter of Devâtdâr Ahmed Pasha. If this record is correct, Ahmed Bey's father İkinci Şâdgeldi Bey was Murad II's maternal uncle, and Ahmed Bey the sultan's cousin. That a relative was given as muhâfız to the sultan's young son can be explained by this closeness. But the question of Murad's mother is disputed today: Şükrullah says he was born of a concubine, and the most common view is that his mother was Emine Hatun of the Dulkadir dynasty. For this reason this kinship is only an inference based on Hüsameddin's records.
The unexpected death of Prince Ahmed in 841 [1438] was a break in Ahmed Bey's life. Hüsameddin says that in the prince's death "certain faults were laid on him"; what these faults were is not stated. It is understood that, as muhâfız of the city, he was held responsible for the prince's safety too. After this Ahmed Bey fell from favour and died after 842. No information about him was found in other sources.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 120–120. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
Official sources
Books
Other sources