Amasyalıdır. Amasya’nın fethinden mukaddem İltekin Gâzi’nin tenvîr ve irşâdı üzerine kabûl-i İslâm eden Amasya Ermenilerindendir. Turhal kasabasına kadar gelen Sultân Ahmed Danişmend Gâzi ordusuna müslîm olarak iltihâk edib Amasya fethinde hayli yararlıklar ve hizmetler gösterdi.
Osmâncık Kal’asına firâr eden Amasya vâlisi Şettât, Jotatiyus adlı prensi Osmâncık boğazında yakalayan erlerden biri olup Amasya’nın fethinden sonra Geldiklân kasabası beyi oldu. [331] Çorum’un fethinde hayli himmeti ve şecâ’ati görüldü. Sonra Niksâr beyi olup Helkine, Karahisâr-ı Şarkî harbinde sâdıkâne çalıştı.
491’de Amasya emîri İsmâil Gâzi, pederi Melîk Danişmend Gâzi’nin vefâtına binâen Danişmendiyye hükümdârı oldukta Sivas beyi oldu. Ehl-i salîb muharebâtında fedâkârâne hizmetler ederek 494 senesinde vefât etdi. Sâdık, hâdim-i dîn-i İslâm, bir gâzî idi.
In Modern English
He was a native of Amasya. He was one of the Armenians of Amasya who became Muslim, before the conquest of Amasya, through the enlightenment and guidance of İltekin Gâzi. He joined, as a Muslim, the army of Sultan Ahmed Danişmend Gâzi that had come as far as the town of Turhal, and rendered considerable service and usefulness in the conquest of Amasya.
He was one of the soldiers who captured, in the gorge of Osmancık, the prince named Şettât, that is Jotatiyus, the governor of Amasya, who had fled to the fortress of Osmancık. After the conquest of Amasya he became lord of the town of Geldiklân. His great effort and valor were also seen in the conquest of Çorum. Then he became lord of Niksar and worked faithfully in the battles of Helkine and Karahisâr-ı Şarkî.
In 491 [1097-98], when İsmâil Gâzi, emir of Amasya, became ruler of the Danishmends upon the death of his father, Melik Danişmend Gâzi, he became lord of Sivas. He rendered self-sacrificing service in the wars fought against the Crusaders and died in 494 [1100-01]. He was a loyal ghazi who served the religion of Islam.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- mukaddem: before
- tenvîr ve irşâd: enlightening and showing the right path
- kabûl-i İslâm: becoming Muslim
- iltihâk: joining
- himmet: zeal, effort
- şecâ'at: valor, courage
- ehl-i salîb muharebâtı: the Crusader wars
- hâdim-i dîn-i İslâm: servant of the religion of Islam
The Danishmend Conquest and Present-Day Knowledge
The story of Serkis Gâzi belongs to the circle of the Danishmend conquest, which tells of Amasya's passing into Turkish hands in the last quarter of the eleventh century. According to present-day research, Dânişmend Gazi, founder of the Danishmend dynasty, was a Turkmen emir who had taken part in the Battle of Manzikert. The twelfth-century writer Zahîrüddin Nîsâbûrî says that Sultan Alparslan granted him Sivas, Tokat, Amasya, and Kayseri as an iqta. Dânişmend Gazi made Sivas his center and, with the emirs in his retinue, took Amasya, Tokat, Niksar, Kayseri, and Çorum. The role of İltekin Gâzi, whom Hüsameddin mentions, in the conquest could not be verified in the sources read; yet the name İltegin appears elsewhere in Amasya's Danishmend past: the Çağlayan Bridge on the Amasya-Çorum road was built by Hüsâmüddevle Hasan, son of İltegin Gazi, one of the emirs of Melik Yağıbasan.
The date of Dânişmend Gazi's death is not certain; the sources regard 477 [1085] as probable. His son Gümüştegin Gazi succeeded him; he became known for his wars with the Crusaders, took Bohemund, prince of Antioch, prisoner, and died in Sivas in 497 [1104]. Hüsameddin's chronology does not agree with this picture: according to him "Melik Danişmend Gâzi" died in 491 [1097-98] and was succeeded by his son İsmâil Gâzi. In present-day lists of rulers there is no Danishmend ruler named İsmâil who came to the throne at this date; the ruler who succeeded Gümüştegin in 1104 is given as Emîr Gazi (Melik Gazi). Hüsameddin's record of "Crusader wars," on the other hand, is consistent with the general events of the period: the Crusader army that marched on Amasya and Niksar in 1101 was routed in August 1101 near Merzifon by Turkish forces that included Gümüştegin and Kılıcarslan I.
Is Serkis Gâzi a Figure of Legend?
An Armenian of Amasya who took part in the conquests as a Muslim, a Byzantine governor named "Jotatiyus" captured at Osmancık, and names such as Geldiklân and Helkine are elements also seen in other entries of Hüsameddin's conquest narrative. These details recall the Dânişmendnâme tradition, which collects the stories of the heroes of the conquest; but this work is so epic a romance that it makes Dânişmend Gazi a friend of Battal Gazi's grandson, and present-day historians treat it not as a historical source but as an epic. No information on Serkis Gâzi's name and life was found in other sources. That Hüsameddin mostly did not state his sources has raised doubts among some researchers about the scholarly value of the work; this entry is one of the places where that doubt is felt.
Bibliography
Primary sources
Academic studies