Amasyalıdır. Amasya ve Sivas Hükümdârı el-Hâc Musliheddîn Kutluşâh bin Emîr Baha’eddîn Kürt Bey’in mahdûmu olup “Hacı Kutluşâhzâde” ve “Kürtzâde” diye meşhûrdur. Amasya emîr-i kebîri Sultân Zeyneddîn Tûlî Hân Bey bin Emîr-i Kebîr Şeyh İzzeddîn Hasan Bey’in dâmâdıdır.
Sivas ve mülhâkâtı hükümdârı olan Sultân Ertana Hân devrinde ümerâdan olup 753 senesi evâsıtında pederi Sivas vâlisi oldukta yerine Amasya vâlisi oldu. 756’da pederi Hacı Kutluşâh Konya ve Kayseriye’yi elde [354] ederek i’lân-ı istiklâl etdikde tarafından Sivas vâlisi olup pederinin Karamânîlerle harbine iştirâk etdi.
757’de Halfetzâde Emîr Şücâ’eddîn Süleyman Bey Amasya’yı istilâ ve zabt eylediğinden pederi tarafından Amasya’yı istihlâsa me’mûr oldu. Ma’iyyetine aldığı bir kuvve-i mühimme ile Sivas’dan kalkıp Tokat’a geldi. Tokat Emîri Kâbilîzâde Mehmed Paşa’dan aldığı kuvvetle Amasya üzerine yürüdü. Amasya’yı zabt edib 759’da ikinci def’a Amasya vâlîsi oldu.
760’da sâniyen Sivas vâlisi olup pederinin Karamânîlerle harbine iştirâk ederek mükerreren muharebeler etdi. Âkıbet Karamânoğlu Emîr Alâeddîn Ali Bey bunlara galebe ederek 762’de pederiyle beraber Alâeddîn Bey’in elinde esîr ve maktûl oldu.
Emîr-i müşârün-ileyh muktedir, şecî’, müdebbir, erbâb-ı ma’ârifden bir zât idi. Mahdûmları Tûlî, Burâk Beylerdir. Birâderleri de el-Hâc Şâdgeldi Pâdişâh ile Emîr İmâdeddîn Süleymanşâh’dır. Burak Beyzâde Şâdî [355] Bey de pek meşhûr ümerâdandır. Oğulları Şâh Melîk Şâh, Ya’kûb Şâh, Mahmûd Şâh’dır. Bunların Amasya’da hayrât ve evkâfı vardır.
In Modern English
He was a native of Amasya. He is the son of el-Hâc Muslihuddîn Kutluşâh, ruler of Amasya and Sivas; Kutluşâh was the son of Emîr Bahâeddîn Kürt Bey. He is known as "Hacı Kutluşâhzâde" and "Kürtzâde." He was the son-in-law of Sultan Zeyneddîn Tûlî Han Bey, the great emir of Amasya; Tûlî Han Bey was the son of the great emir Şeyh İzzeddîn Hasan Bey.
He was one of the emirs in the time of Sultan Ertana [Eretna] Han, ruler of Sivas and its dependencies. When his father became governor of Sivas in the middle of 753 [1352], he became governor of Amasya in his place. In 756 [1355], when his father Hacı Kutluşâh seized Konya and Kayseri and declared his independence, he was made governor of Sivas by his father and took part in his father's war with the Karamanids.
In 757 [1356], when Halfetzâde Emîr Şücâeddîn Süleyman Bey invaded and seized Amasya, his father charged him with rescuing Amasya. With a large force he took with him he set out from Sivas and came to Tokat. With the force he received from Kâbilîzâde Mehmed Pasha, emir of Tokat, he marched on Amasya. Having taken Amasya, he became governor of Amasya for the second time in 759 [1358].
In 760 [1359] he became governor of Sivas for the second time, took part in his father's war with the Karamanids, and fought again and again. In the end the Karamanid Emîr Alâeddîn Ali Bey prevailed over them; in 762 [1360-61] he fell into Alâeddîn Bey's hands together with his father and was killed.
The said emir was a powerful, brave, prudent, and learned man. His sons are Tûlî and Burak Bey. His brothers are el-Hâc Şâdgeldi Padişah and Emîr İmâdeddîn Süleymanşâh. Şâdî Bey, son of Burak Bey, is also among the very well-known emirs; his sons are Şâh Melik Şâh, Ya'kûb Şâh, and Mahmûd Şâh. They have charitable works and waqfs in Amasya.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- emîr-i kebîr: great emir, the highest administrator of the region
- mülhakât: places attached to a center
- ümerâ: emirs, beys
- evâsıt: the middle of a month or year
- i'lân-ı istiklâl: declaration of independence
- istilâ ve zabt: attacking and seizing
- istihlâs: rescue, recovery
- kuvve-i mühimme: a large military force
- sâniyen / mükerreren: for the second time / repeatedly
- maktûl: killed
- şecî': brave, courageous
- müdebbir: prudent, capable
- erbâb-ı ma'ârif: people of knowledge and culture
- hayrât ve evkâf: charitable works and waqfs
The Kutluşahs and the Eretna State
Ahmed Şah belongs to the first generation of the family that ruled Amasya in the middle of the fourteenth century and is called in present-day research the "Kutluşahs" or the "Şadgeldis." The family was among the emirs of the Eretna State, centered on Sivas and Kayseri, and after the death of Alâeddin Eretna in Kayseri in Muharram 753 [March 1352] it increasingly acted on its own in Amasya as central authority weakened. When his brother Hacı Şadgeldi was defeated and killed by Kadı Burhâneddin in 1381, the rule passed to his son Ahmed Bey; Amasya was directly annexed to Ottoman lands in 1393.
The sections on political history in the book describe the beginning of the events Hüsameddin summarizes here in more detail. According to the information given there, after Eretna's death the vizier Hâce Alâeddîn Ali Şâh put Eretna's young son Nâsıreddîn Muhammed Bey on the throne; when Sivas fell into danger because of the revolt of Burak Bey, he moved the seat of government to Kayseri and also made the governor of Amasya, Hacı Kutluşâh, whom he saw as strong enough to defend Sivas, governor of Sivas. Kutluşâh left his son Şihâbeddîn Ahmed Şâh in Amasya. The same place records that, since Ahmed Şâh was Tûlî Bey's son-in-law, he was the brother-in-law of Muhammed Bey of the Eretnids, that he acted as his father's deputy in Amasya, and that he was called "Bayraklı Gâzi" (Ghazi of the Banner).
Ahmed Şah's being sent to Sivas in 760 [1359] appears in the same way in present-day research. According to it, Hacı Kutluşâh made his second son Şadgeldi emir of Amasya in August-September 1359, sent his eldest son and former emir of Amasya, Şihâbeddîn Ahmed Şâh, to govern Sivas, and himself set out on a campaign against the Karamanids. After Kutluşâh's death, because most of the army was away, Şadgeldi was removed from Amasya for a time and retook the city a few months later.
Differing Views on the Family's Origin
In contrast to Hüsameddin's epithet "Kürtzâde" and the name "Bahâeddîn Kürt Bey" that he gives as Kutluşâh's father, the family's origin is told in different ways in the sources. In Müneccimbaşı Ahmed Efendi's Câmiu'd-düvel his name appears as "el-Hâc Kutluşâh bin Kürt" and "Kutluşâh el-Kürdî." The Mamluk historian Safadî, who lived in the same period, introduces Kutluşâh in A'yânü'l-asr as a Mongol emir with the epithet "el-Vaşakî." Evaluating these records, Hüsameddin argues that the family was originally Turkish, of the Buşaklu clan. In some studies it is claimed that Hacı Kutluşâh was a slave and spiritual son of Tâceddin Altunbaş of the Seljuk dynasty. These views are not mutually exclusive; but documents sufficient to give a definite verdict have not yet been put forward.
The War with Karamanoğlu Alâeddin Bey and the Problem of Date
Hüsameddin writes that Ahmed Şâh fell into the hands of Karamanoğlu Alâeddin Ali Bey together with his father in 762 [1360-61] and was killed. This date must be considered together with the date of Alâeddin Bey's accession. Faruk Sümer and İsmail Hakkı Uzunçarşılı accept that Alâeddin Bey came to the throne in Lârende in 1361 or 1362, after the killing of his elder brother Süleyman Bey; Yahya Başkan and Fuat Köprülü propose earlier years, 1356-57. If the accession was in 1361-62, Alâeddin Bey's defeating Kutluşâh as ruler is possible only in the first months of his reign; if the earlier date is accepted, the clash fits comfortably within his reign. Details Hüsameddin gives, such as the capture of Konya and Kayseri and the declaration of independence in 756, could not be verified in the new sources we read; the same is true of Halfetzâde Şücâeddîn Süleyman Bey, said to have seized Amasya in 757.
His Grandsons and Their Traces in Amasya
Among the grandsons Hüsameddin lists, Şâdî Bey, son of Burak Bey, is head of a branch known in Amasya as "Şâdî Beyzâde." In this section the fortress warden Kemâleddîn Ahmed Bey is said to be called "Şâdî Beyzâde," and Hâfız Doğan is said to be among the freedmen of the great emir of Amasya, Şâdî Bey; this Şâdî Bey is probably a grandson of Ahmed Şâh. No information was found on a surviving building today named after Ahmed Şâh himself.
Bibliography
Primary sources
Academic studies
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