Amasyalıdır. Emîr Mu’îneddîn Süleyman Pervâne Bey’in nezdinde çavuşbaşı olan sâbıkü’t-terceme Alakuş Bey’in mahdûmu olduğu münâsebetle “Alakuşoğlu” dendi. Bunun Arapçası “Lâgûşî”dir. Lâgûşî, Alakuşlu, Alakuşoğlu demektir.
Pederi 676’da Pervâne Bey’le beraber i’dâm edildiğinden birçok zevât ile beraber Mısır’a gidip avdetde Pervâne Beyzâde emîrü’l-ümerâ Azizeddîn Mehmed Bey’e hizmet ederek bunun sâye-i ikbâlinde Sultân Mes’ûd Selçukî’ye 696’da vezîr oldu.
698’de Sultân-ı müşârün-ileyhin hal’i üzerine vezâretden ma’zûl olup 699 senesi cumadelâhiresinde Amasya ve Sinop emîri Pervâne Beyzâde Mühezzebeddîn Mes’ûd [335] Bey’in maktûlen vefâtı üzerine Simre (Amasya) vilâyeti olarak temâyüz etdi.
Hatenîzâde Kadı Şemseddîn Ahmed bin Mûsâ’nın “Veled-i Şefîk” adlı eserinde zabt etdiği üzere 702 şevvâlinde üçüncü def’a taht-ı Selçuk’a iclâs edilerek Simre hükümdârı olan Sultân Gıyâseddîn Mes’ûd Seçukî’ye vezîr-i a’zam olup Amasya vilâyeti uhdesinde kaldı.
Mu’ahharan Rum (Sivas) eyâleti vâlisi Savcı Bey’in vefâtıyla bu eyâlet de uhdesine verildi. Nüfûzu büyüdü. 708’de Sultân Mes’ûd’un Kayseriye’de vefâtı ve cenâzesinin Simre’ye nakli üzerine Anadolu vâlisi olup zâlimâne harekât ve ahvâli halka ağır geldi. Ümerâyı da bî-zâr etmişdi.
Binâ’en-’aleyh: Hâbilzâde Emîr-i Şeyh İzzeddîn Hasan Bey ve emsâli toplanıp hânesini sardılar. 712 zilka’desinde vâki’ olan bu hengâmede maktûl oldu. Moğol hükümdârıyla ümerâsına pek sâdık, müdebbir, umûr-ı dünyâya vâkıf, zî-ilm ü ma’rifet idi. Mahdûmu Ziyâ’eddîn Mes’ûd Bey’dir.
In Modern English
He was a native of Amasya. Because he was the son of Alakuş Bey, who had been çavuşbaşı (chief herald) under Emîr Mu'îneddîn Süleyman Pervâne Bey and whose biography appeared earlier, he was called "Alakuşoğlu." The Arabic of this is "Lâgûşî." Lâgûşî means Alakuşlu, Alakuşoğlu.
Because his father was executed together with Pervâne Bey in 676 [1277], he went to Egypt along with many people. On his return he entered the service of Pervâne Bey's son, the emir of emirs Azizeddîn Mehmed Bey, and under his protection became vizier to Sultan Mesud of the Seljuks in 696 [1296-97].
In 698 [1298-99], when the said sultan was deposed, he was removed from the vizierate. In Jumada al-akhira 699 [February-March 1300], when Mühezzebeddîn Mes'ûd Bey, son of Pervâne Bey and emir of Amasya and Sinop, was killed, he came to the fore as the administrator of the province of Simre (Amasya).
According to what Hatenîzâde Kadı Şemseddîn Ahmed bin Mûsâ records in his work called "Veled-i Şefîk," in Shawwal 702 [May-June 1303] he became grand vizier to Sultan Gıyâseddîn Mes'ûd Selçukî, who was seated on the Seljuk throne for the third time and became ruler of the Simre, and the province of Amasya also remained with him.
Later, upon the death of Savcı Bey, governor of the province of Rum (Sivas), this province too was given to him. His influence grew. In 708 [1308-09], when Sultan Mesud died in Kayseri and his body was transported to the Simre, he became governor of Anatolia. His cruel conduct and attitude weighed heavily on the people. He had also wearied the emirs.
Thereupon Hâbilzâde Emîr-i Şeyh İzzeddîn Hasan Bey and others like him gathered and besieged his house. He was killed in this turmoil in Dhu'l-Qa'da 712 [February-March 1313]. He was a man very loyal to the Mongol ruler and his emirs, prudent, versed in worldly affairs, and possessed of learning and culture. His son is Ziyâeddîn Mes'ûd Bey.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- sâbıkü't-terceme: whose biography has appeared earlier
- emîrü'l-ümerâ: emir of emirs, commander-in-chief
- sâye-i ikbâl: the shadow of someone's rise, his patronage
- ma'zûl: removed from office
- maktûlen: by being killed
- temâyüz etmek: to come to the fore, to stand out
- taht-ı Selçuk'a iclâs: seating on the Seljuk throne
- uhde: the duty and responsibility resting on someone
- mu'ahharan: later
- bî-zâr etmek: to weary, to exhaust the patience of
- hengâme: turmoil, noisy event
- müdebbir: prudent, one who manages affairs well
- zî-ilm ü ma'rifet: possessed of knowledge and learning
The Vizier Şemseddin Ahmed Lâkûşî
The emir whom Hüsameddin introduces as "Alakuşoğlu" is the vizier Şemseddin Ahmed Lâkûşî, remembered for his heavy taxes in the last period of the Anatolian Seljuks. Present-day research tells of his rise differently from Hüsameddin. In the reign of Gıyâseddin Mesud II, after the vizier Fahreddin Kazvînî, who had crushed the people with heavy taxes, was executed at Tabriz on the order of Arghun Khan (Ramadan 690 / September 1291), Arghun's vizier Sa'düddevle sent Şemseddin Ahmed Lâkûşî to Anatolia as vizier. A band called the Kılavuzoğulları, which came with him, committed great atrocities in Anatolia. According to this record, Lâkûşî appears on the scene not as a local emir who returned from Egypt and rose under the protection of the Pervâneoğulları, but as a vizier appointed by the Ilkhanid center. That the nisba "Lâkûşî" comes from the name Alakuş is Hüsameddin's interpretation and could not be verified in another source.
The story of cruelty and eventual killing that Hüsameddin tells, however, largely coincides with other sources. According to Erol Keleş's study of the Ilkhanid tax system, in 1312 Lâkûşî, then sâhib-i divan (head of the financial administration), took the administration of lands stretching from Erzurum to Antalya and from Sinop to Diyarbekir into his hands, collected taxes beyond measure, and sold state lands to high officials. He made Emir İrencin a partner in this unjust gain. In Keleş's words, in the end both met "the fate they deserved," but the people of Anatolia were left ruined at their hands. The date of Dhu'l-Qa'da 712 [February-March 1313] that Hüsameddin gives is consistent with these events of 1312.
The Reigns of Sultan Mesud II
Some of the dates in Hüsameddin's text agree with the known life of Sultan Gıyâseddin Mesud II, and some differ. Mesud II was on the Seljuk throne twice, in 1282-1296 and 1302-1308. Because he was kept at his side during the revolt of Baltu Noyan, Ghazan Khan regarded him as guilty and removed him from rule; on the bad administration of his successor Alâeddin Keykubad III he was put on the throne a second time in 702 [1302]. Hüsameddin calls this return "the third time." The information that the sultan died in Kayseri in 708 [1308] after a long illness is the same as in the sources.
A Difference of Date Concerning the Pervâneoğulları
The text says that Lâkûşî took Amasya in Jumada al-akhira 699, upon the killing of Pervâne Bey's son Mühezzebeddîn Mes'ûd Bey. According to present-day research, Pervâne's son Muînüddin Mehmed died in Konya in 696 [1297], and his brother Mühezzebüddin Ali's son Mühezzebüddin Mesud succeeded him. Mesud Bey fell captive to the Genoese, was freed for a large ransom, and died in Sinop in 700 [1300]; no record is given of his having been killed. In these sources Mesud Bey is not Pervâne's son but his grandson. Moreover, in the next entry Hüsameddin gives the same date of Jumada al-akhira 699 for the killing of Azizeddîn Mehmed Bey; the attachment of the same date to two different persons shows that the Pervâneoğulları chronology in the work must be read with care.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 108–109. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies