Köprülüdür. Meşâyîh-i ümerâdan Hasan Bey bin Ali Bey [366] ibn-i Taşan Bey’in mahdûmu ve Ali Bey’in birâderidir. Yıldırım Sultân Bâyezîd’e arz-ı inkıyâd edib ümerâdan oldu. Pederinin vefâtında Kedağra emâretine ta’yîn edildi.
804 senesinde Timûr harbinde sadâkat ve şecâ’at ibrâz etdiğinden Çelebi Sultân Mehmed Hân’ın teveccühünü kazandı. 812’de Canik sancağı beyi Kubâdoğlu Ali Bey’in isyânında aleyhine me’mûr oldu. Harben Ali Bey’i ifnâ edib Canik sancağı beyi oldu.
Fakat Ali Beyzâde Cüneyd Bey, pederinin intikâmını almak için kıyâm edib fırsat gözederek 814’de üzerine ansızın hücûm ve katl etdi. Meşâhîr-i ümerâdan, şeci’, sâdık bir zât idi. Mahdûmları Hasan, Ali Beylerdir.
In Modern English
He was from Köprü. He was one of the leading beys, the son of Hasan Bey, son of Ali Bey, son of Taşan Bey, and the brother of Ali Bey. He declared his allegiance to Sultan Bâyezîd the Thunderbolt and entered the ranks of the beys. When his father died, he was appointed to the emirate of Kedağra.
In 804 [1402], having shown loyalty and valour in the war against Timur, he won the favour of Çelebi Sultan Mehmed Han. In 812 [1409-10], when Kubadoğlu Ali Bey, the sanjak governor of Canik, rebelled, he was sent against him. He fought and destroyed Ali Bey, and became the sanjak governor of Canik.
But Ali Bey's son Cüneyd Bey rose up to avenge his father, and watching for an opportunity he suddenly attacked and killed him in 814 [1411-12]. Ahmed Bey was a well-known bey, a brave and loyal man. His sons were Hasan and Ali Beys.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- arz-ı inkıyâd: declaring allegiance and obedience
- şecâ'at: valour, courage
- teveccüh: showing trust and closeness
- ifnâ: destroying, doing away with
- kıyâm: uprising
From Kedağra to Samsun
The epithet "Köprülü" shows that Ahmed Bey came from today's Vezirköprü, formerly Kedağra; the town appears in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century records as Gedegra, and the village of Köprü, which gave the present district its name, lies in the same area. Ahmed Bey is the grandson of the paternal uncle of Ahmed Bey of Kedağra, treated in the previous article; the Hasan Bey who is named there as quarrelling with Ahmed son of Haydar is the father of the Ahmed Bey of this article. In this quarrel between the two branches of the family, it appears that the branch that allied early with the Ottomans held Kedağra.
Ahmed Bey's post in Canik is connected with the disorder in and around Samsun during the Interregnum. The Kubadoğulları were a Turkmen principality ruling in the regions of Samsun, Lâdik and Kavak. Kubadoğlu Ali Bey had first become attached to Hacı Şâdgeldi, emir of Amasya, then to his successor Emîr Ahmed, and the principality had become their vassal. After the Ankara defeat of 1402 the Kubadoğulları again took control of Samsun. Ali Bey, who did not recognise Mehmed Çelebi, who had declared his sultanate around Amasya by Timur's appointment, marched against the Tâceddinoğulları, defeated them and besieged their capital Niksar. Thereupon Mehmed Çelebi came from Amasya, routed Ali Bey and appointed Taşanoğlu Ahmed Bey governor of Samsun.
This sequence of events, as told in present-day sources, largely agrees with Hüsameddin's information; Taşanoğlu Ahmed Bey, appointed to Samsun, is the subject of this article. According to the sources, Samsun was ruled until 1414 by the Taşanoğulları under Ottoman protection; that year it was besieged and taken by Kubadoğlu Cüneyd Bey, son of Ali Bey. Cüneyd Bey later begged pardon of the Ottoman sultan and was left in place as governor. Another assessment of the Canik principalities also states that Cüneyd Kubadoğlu, whom Ibn Arabshah calls "ruler of the emirate of Canik", accepted Ottoman allegiance in 1419.
Where He Differs from Hüsameddin
Two differences stand out in the details. The first is that Hüsameddin says Ali Bey was killed in battle ("ifnâ"); in the present-day account, Mehmed Çelebi is said to have routed him, and his death is not mentioned. Cüneyd Bey's rising "to avenge his father" seems to support Hüsameddin's account. The second is the date: Hüsameddin places Ahmed Bey's killing in 814 [1411-12], while some sources place Cüneyd's capture of Samsun in 1414. Hüsameddin's phrase "sanjak governor of Canik" should also be read with care. In the present-day account Ahmed Bey's post is given as "governor of Samsun"; the sanjak that Ottoman administration established in the region centred on Samsun is called Canik. Hüsameddin may have used this later administrative name retrospectively.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 117–117. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
Other sources