AMASYA 05

Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar · İKİNCİ BÂB · BİRİNCİ FASIL

Ahmed Bey, Mirzâ Beyzâde

Encyclopedia · History of Amasya, Volume 6, p. 149 • Edited by: Doç. Dr. Recep Orhan ÖZEL - Doç. Dr. Metin HAKVERDİOĞLU

Original Text (Ottoman Turkish)

Amasyalıdır. Amasya civârında Hakala Karyesinde medresesi olan Mirza Beyzâde el-Hâc Muhyiddîn Mehmed Bey’in mahdûmudur. [468] Sipâhî olup Rumeli muhârebâtında yararlıklar gösterdi. Bu yüzden terakkî ederek Amasya Kethüdâyeri, Sivas vilâyeti cizyedârı, Tokat Voyvodası ve Amasya Beytülmâl Emîni oldu. Şirvân muhârebâtında ibrâz-ı şecâ’at ederek Özdemiroğlu Osmân Paşa’nın gözüne girdi. Bunun arzıyla mirlivâ olup sancakları devretdi. 1009’da Divriği Sancağı Beyi iken eşkiyâ harbinde şehîden vefât eyledi. Pederi vakfına mütevellî, şecî’, muhârib idi. Mahdûmu Mehmed Bey vakfa mütevellî oldu.

Our Research Article Editor: Mevlüt Erdem Öztürk

In Modern English

He was a native of Amasya. He was the son of Mirza Beyzâde el-Hac Muhyiddin Mehmed Bey, who had a madrasa in the village of Hakala near Amasya. He was a sipahi and distinguished himself in the Rumelian wars. Thereby he rose and became kethüdayeri of Amasya, collector of the poll tax (cizyedar) of the province of Sivas, voivode of Tokat, and trustee of the public treasury (beytülmal emini) of Amasya. In the Shirvan wars he showed bravery and caught the eye of Özdemiroğlu Osman Pasha. On the latter's written recommendation he became a sanjak governor and served as bey in many sanjaks. In 1009 [1600-01], while sanjak governor of Divriği, he fell as a martyr in battle against bandits. He was steward of his father's waqf; he was a brave and warlike man. His son Mehmed Bey became steward of the waqf.

Notes and Research

Old Words in the Text

  • karye: village
  • sipâhî: a timar-holding cavalryman
  • terakkî etmek: to rise, to advance
  • kethüdâyeri: the officer who was deputy to the alaybeyi among the timar-holding sipahis of a sanjak
  • cizyedâr: the official who collected the cizye tax levied on non-Muslims
  • voyvoda: here, the official who collected the revenues of a city or of a has district and looked after its public order
  • beytülmâl emîni: the official who seized on behalf of the treasury unclaimed estates and public property
  • ibrâz-ı şecâat: showing bravery
  • arz: a written recommendation or report to a higher authority
  • mirlivâ: sanjak governor
  • şehîden: as a martyr
  • muhârib: warrior

Hakala and His Father's Madrasa

The Hakala named in the entry is today the village of Yolpınar, attached to the Suluova district of Amasya. The village name appears as Hakala in the records of 1344 and as Hağala or Kavala in the records of 1926; the name Yolpınar was given later. Until the late seventeenth century Hakala was an important nahiye and centre of learning of the region. The oldest religious building in the village is the zaviye built in 1348 by Seyyid Necmeddin Yahya er-Rifâî; the tomb of Seyyid Yahya is still in the village and is one of the places of visit of the area. To the east of the village, on a high spot, part of the Kasım Bey Madrasa, with its large lecture hall and wide cells, is still standing; this madrasa was counted among the famous forty madrasas of Amasya.

The madrasa of Ahmed Bey's father Muhyiddin Mehmed Bey is also mentioned in present-day local sources. These sources write that within the village there was a "Hacıbeyzâde Muhyiddin Efendi Madrasa," that it was counted as one of the forty madrasas of Amasya and trained great scholars; today, however, no remains of this madrasa are found. In some local accounts "Hacı Mehmed Bey" and "Muhyiddin Efendi" are also counted among the great men who came from Hakala. The person Hüsameddin calls "Mirza Beyzâde el-Hac Muhyiddin Mehmed Bey" and the "Hacıbeyzâde Muhyiddin Efendi" of the local sources are very probably the same person; the difference in the family's epithet needs to be resolved with documents. Hüsameddin's book also mentions another "Hacı Beyzâde" of Hakala: İlyas Bey, son of Abdullah Bey, son of Kasım Bey, son of el-Hac Mehmed Bey, who served as master of ceremonies in the retinue of Prince Ahmed. The names Kasım Bey and el-Hac Mehmed Bey in this genealogy call to mind the Kasım Bey Madrasa in the village and the "Hacı Mehmed Bey" of the local account. That the local sources call Muhyiddin Efendi "Hacıbeyzâde" suggests that he too may have belonged to this family of the beys of Hakala; but this is a guess.

The Rise of a Sipahi

Ahmed Bey's life shows how a timar-holding sipahi at the end of the sixteenth century could rise through service on the battlefield. His military life, begun in Rumelia, continued with posts both military and financial, such as kethüdayeri of Amasya, cizyedar, voivode of Tokat, and beytülmal emini; when he drew the attention of Özdemiroğlu Osman Pasha on the Shirvan front he reached the sanjak governorship. From 1578 to 1583 Osman Pasha fought in the Caucasus as beylerbeyi of Shirvan and Dagestan and commander (serdar); after the army of Lala Mustafa Pasha withdrew to Erzurum he held the front with a small force, and with the battle of Meshale in May 1583 he drove the Safavids out of Shirvan.

His Death at Divriği

The year 1009 (1600-01), in which Ahmed Bey died as sanjak governor of Divriği, is the most intense period of the Karayazıcı revolt. In mid-Shawwal 1008 (April-May 1600) Karayazıcı was defeated at the Cehennem stream in the sanjak of Divriği by the commander (serdar) Sinan Paşazâde Mehmed Pasha; in the fighting the serdar's kethüda and two beys lost their lives, and he himself withdrew to the mountains of Sivas. In the autumn of the same year, on 14 Rabi' al-awwal 1009 (23 September 1600), he routed the forces of Hacı İbrahim Pasha on the plain of Kayseri. In these years Divriği was one of the seven sanjaks of the province of Rum and lay right in the middle of the region traversed by the Celali forces. Which of these clashes was the "war against bandits" Hüsameddin speaks of is not clear; no information on Ahmed Bey was found in other sources.

Bibliography

Primary sources

  • Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 149–149. amasya.bel.tr

Academic studies

Other sources

Volume 6 contents

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