Amasyalı Artukoğlu el-Hâc Mehmed Çelebi bin Hasan Çelebi bin Müsâfir Çelebi bin Mevlânâ Sadreddîn Artuk mahdûmu olup sipâhi iken 886’da Gümüş Madeni Nâzırı ve kazâsı voyvodası oldu. Hüsn-i idâresinden dolayı [406] yirmi yıl kadar “Nâzır-ı maden” unvânıyla makâmını muhâfaza etdi. Kendisine “Hacı Nâzır” dendi.
905’de Amasya Darphânesi Emîni olup Şeyhzâde Sultân Ahmed’in kuranâsından oldu. 918’de şehzâdenin vefâtını müteâkib yine Gümüş Madeni Nâzırı ve kazâ voyvodası olup Artukâbâd’a gönderildi. Orada 919’da vefât etdi.
Sâdık, müstakîm bir kimse idi. Orada câmi, mektep, çeşmeler yaptırdı. Oraya “Hacı Nâzır Köyü” ve tahfîfen “Hacı Nazır Köyü” ve bundan hafîf olarak da “Hacıköyü” dendi. Mahdûmları Mehmed, Ali, Hasan Çelebilerdir. Bunlara “Hacı Nâzıroğulları” dendi.
In Modern English
Artukoğlu Hacı Mehmed Çelebi of Amasya was the son of Hasan Çelebi, son of Müsâfir Çelebi, son of Mevlânâ Sadreddîn Artuk. While a sipahi, in 886 [1481-82] he became Nâzır (superintendent) of the Gümüş Mine and voyvoda of that kaza. Thanks to the goodness of his administration he kept his post for some twenty years under the title "Nâzır-ı maden." He was called "Hacı Nâzır."
In 905 [1499-1500] he became Emin of the Amasya Mint and was among the close associates of Prince Sultan Ahmed. In 918 [1512-13], after the prince's death, he was again sent to Artukâbâd as Nâzır of the Gümüş Mine and voyvoda of the kaza. He died there in 919 [1513-14].
He was an honest and upright man. There he had a mosque, a school, and fountains built. The place was called "Hacı Nâzır Village," softened to "Hacı Nazır Village," and from that, more lightly still, "Hacıköyü." His sons are Mehmed, Ali, and Hasan Çelebi. They were called "Hacı Nâzıroğulları."
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- nâzır: an official who is at the head of, and supervises, a business
- voyvoda: an administrator in a kaza who collects state revenues and keeps order
- emîn: the official at the head of an institution (here, the mint)
- hüsn-i idâre: good administration
- kuranâ: close circle, retinue
- müteâkib: following, after
- tahfîfen: by shortening, by softening
- mahdûm: son
The Gümüş Mine and Hacıköy
The district known today as Gümüşhacıköy takes its name from two settlements that were merged: Gümüş, where the mine was located, and Hacıköy. Silver extraction in the region is very old. In the Seljuk period a mint operated here, and Kılıçarslan IV had silver coins struck at the Gümüş Mint in 1263. Among the Ottomans the mines were run from the founding years through eminis appointed for the purpose; it is recorded that in 1403-1404 Kutlu Beyzâde Halil Bey of Amasya was made emin of the Gümüş mine. In the sixteenth century Gümüş was a mining center attached to the administration of the imperial mint (darphane-i âmire). Hüsameddin's description of Hacı Nâzır is part of this arrangement: the person responsible for the running of the mine is at the same time the voyvoda of the kaza and lives near the mine.
The eminship of the Amasya Mint in 905 is a separate post. According to the encyclopedia entry written on Ottoman mints, coins were also struck in Amasya in the time of the sons of Bayezid I (Yıldırım); that is, minting in the city is an early tradition. Hacı Nâzır took part in the affairs of both the mine and the mint, and so stood at both ends of the chain from the extraction of silver to its conversion into coin.
The Story of the Name Hacıköy
The story of the name that Hüsameddin tells is repeated in local publications as well. According to it, the settlement had previously been called Artukâbâd because of Sadreddîn Artuk's development works, which lasted until 1378. Hacı Nâzır settled here, developed the mine, and treated the people well, so the village became known as "Hacı Nâzır Village"; in pronunciation the name changed first to the form "Hacı Nadır," then to the form "Hacıköyü." The name Artukâbâd remained as the name of a quarter; there is still a quarter named Artukabat in Gümüşhacıköy today.
In the later development of the district Köprülü Mehmed Pasha had a large share. The Gümüş Mine was for a time given to him as a personal arpalık (grant), the pasha had to live here, and he had a caravanserai, a bedesten, a mosque, and a bathhouse built in Hacıköy and endowed them as waqfs in 1660-1661. After this Hacıköy surpassed Gümüş, the seat of the kaza moved to Hacıköy in the 1880s, and from 1883 the names of the two settlements were joined and it began to be called Gümüşhacıköy. The sources give the year the seat of the kaza was moved variously between 1881 and 1883.
Differences in Name and Date
In the entry two details do not match local publications exactly. The first is the person's name: the title says Ahmed Çelebi, while the name at the head of the chain of descent in the text is Mehmed Çelebi. Local publications relate the same person as "Hacı Ahmed Çelebi bin Mehmed Çelebi"; this reading is consistent with the title and suggests that the words "Ahmed Çelebi bin" dropped out of the text, but this is an inference.
The second is the date. Hüsameddin gives the beginning of the nâzırship as 886 [1481-82]; local publications relate the same information as 1490-1491. The reason for this difference of about ten years is not understood from these sources. Since both dates rest on Hüsameddin's own work, they cannot be counted as independent verification.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 128–129. amasya.bel.tr
- Ministry of Culture and Tourism, "Gümüşhacıköy" district introduction page (including the history relayed from Hüsameddin).
Academic studies
- Songül Keçeci Kurt, Gürkan Cevger, "XIX. Yüzyılın İlk Çeyreğinde Gümüşhacıköy Madenlerinin Durumu", Avrasya Sosyal ve Ekonomi Araştırmaları Dergisi, vol. 6, no. 10, 2019, p. 220–238.
- "Darphâne", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/darphane