Ahmed Bey — Devâtdâr Paşazâde

In Modern English

He was the son of Burak Bey, one of the beys of Amasya; Burak Bey was the son of Mehmed Bey, and Mehmed Bey the son of Devâtdâr Ahmed Pasha. He became mütevelli of the waqf of Ehlî Hatun, his grandfather's sister. While a zeamet holder he became one of the well-known beys and went on duty to the Egyptian war. He died in 893 [1488]. His brother Ali Bey was also among the beys.

Notes and Research

Old Words in the Text

• ümerâ: beys, military administrators
• devâtdâr: divitdar, the high official who carries the ruler's inkwell and looks after the writing affairs; here a title
• cedd: grandfather; hemşîre: sister
• mütevellî: the person who runs a waqf
• züamâ: zeamet holders, sipahis with large revenue assignments
• me'mûren: on duty, as an appointee

The Family of Devâtdâr Ahmed Pasha

Devâtdâr Ahmed Pasha, the great-grandfather of the subject of the entry, was one of the last pre-Ottoman emirs of Amasya. Amasya had been taken by Emîr Hacı Şadgeldi, who defeated Eretnaoğlu Ali Bey, and later became the scene of struggles between Şadgeldi and Kadı Burhâneddin. When Şadgeldi died, his son Ahmed, with the support of the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I (Yıldırım), defended the city against Kadı Burhâneddin. Hüsameddin mentions this Ahmed Pasha with the title "Emîr-i Kebîr Fahreddîn Devâtdâr" and writes that he died in Zilhicce 795 [1393]. In two separate entries of Hüsameddin, the names Şâdgeldi, Keygeldi, Mehmed, Mustafa, Burak, and Ali are listed among Ahmed Pasha's sons, and Kadem, Şehzade, and Ehlî Hatun among his daughters.

Ehlî Hatun and Her Waqf

The waqf of which the subject of the entry was mütevelli belongs to Ehlî Hatun, who is still visited by the people in Amasya today. Ehlî Hatun was the daughter of Devâtdâr Ahmed Pasha. Hüsameddin's saying "his grandfather's sister" means the sister of Mehmed Bey, Ahmed Bey's grandfather; in Hüsameddin's entry on Ehlî Hatun in the seventh volume it is also clearly written that the mütevelliship was stipulated for Ahmed and Mehmed Çelebi, sons of Burak Bey, and that these çelebis were the sons of the son of Ehlî Hatun's brother. Most sources also introduce Ehlî Hatun as the daughter of Devâtdâr Ahmed Pasha.

According to Kadir Özköse, who studied the Khalwati tekkes, the Meydan Tekke, located at the head of the Meydan Bridge (İstasyon Bridge) in the quarter formerly named Sâbıkeddin and now Kurşunlu, is also called the Ehl-i Hatun Tekke. The tekke was built in 1467 by Ehlî Hatun and its waqfs were organized; the mütevelliship was given to Ahmed and Mehmed Çelebi, sons of Burak Bey. Because Ehlî Hatun's tomb is inside the tekke, it was stipulated that seven cüz of the Qur'an be recited every day and that the sheikhship be given to one who is qualified. In later centuries Khalwati sheikhs served in the tekke, and at the beginning of the nineteenth century the tekke fell into ruin. Hüsameddin also records that in 1218 [1803-04] Canikli Tayyar Mahmud Pasha had a madrasa built on the site of the tekke, adjoining the tomb.

One point in this information is noteworthy: although Ehlî Hatun's father died in 795 [1393], the founding of the waqf falls in 871 [1466-67]. The gap of more than seventy years suggests either that Ehlî Hatun founded the tekke at a very advanced age or that one of the dates needs to be re-examined.

Ehlî Hatun's name lives on today mostly through popular belief. The tomb of Ehlî Hatun, also called "Kuyulu Evliya" (the Saint of the Well), is visited especially by women. After praying and making supplication, visitors put their heads into the well in the tomb; if they see a light in the well, it is believed that their wishes will be accepted. Among the people it is said that Ehlî Hatun loved cats very much and that she warned in a dream an attendant at the tomb who mistreated cats. Özköse also notes that this place is visited as the "Wishing Well."

The Egyptian War

The "Egyptian war" in which Ahmed Bey took part is the six-year war with the Mamluks in the time of Bayezid II. The race to gain supremacy over Çukurova and the Dulkadirids and the Mamluk support for Cem Sultan brought the two states face to face; in the war that began in 1485 neither side achieved a decisive result. With the agreement made in 1491, the castles of Adana and Tarsus were left to the Mamluks on the grounds that they were attached to the Haramayn waqfs.

The military power of Amasya and its surroundings took part directly in this war. According to an anonymous sixteenth-century Ottoman chronicle, the Beylerbeyi of Anatolia Hersekoğlu Ahmed Bey and the Beylerbeyi of Rum Mehmed Bey, son of Hızır Pasha, fought the Mamluk emirs on the Adana border in 891 [1486], the Anatolian army was routed, and Hersekoğlu was taken prisoner. Ahmed Bey's death in 893 [1488] coincides with the years the war continued; but whether he died in the war or for another reason is not known.

No information was found in a source other than Hüsameddin about Ahmed Bey and his brother Ali Bey.

Bibliography

Primary sources

• Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 125. amasya.bel.tr
• Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, vol. 1, Mukaddime (Meydan Tekke, Tomb of Ehlî Hâtun, Tayyâr Pasha Madrasa); vol. 3 ("Fahreddîn Ahmed Paşa"); vol. 6 ("Ahmed Paşa Çelebi-Emîr-i Kebîr Fahreddîn Devâtdâr"); vol. 7 ("Ehlî Hâtun-Ahmed Paşazâde") entries.
• "Anadolu'nun kadın evliyaları: Ehli Hatun", Gazete Vatan.

Books

• İlhan Şahin - Feridun Emecen, "Amasya", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 3, 1991, p. 1-4.
• Kadir Özköse, "Amasya'da Bulunan Halvetiyye Tekkeleri", Akademiar, 5, 2018, p. 91-118.
• Şerafettin Turan, "Bayezid II", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 5, 1992, p. 234-238.
• Mustafa Çağhan Keskin, "II. Bayezid Dönemi Amasya Çevresinde Yerel Bir Bani: Hızır Paşa Oğlu Mehmed Paşa", Art-Sanat, 5, 2016.