Amasya ümerâsından Selçûk bin Aydoğdu Bey'in oğlu olup akvâ-yı ihtimâl üzere 638'de Amasya vâlîsi olmuşdur. Bunun hânesi Üçler Mahallesi'nin bir kısmında, bahçesi dahi şimdiki Kağnı Pazarı'nın yerinde olduğu münâsebetle buralara "Alişîr Bahçesi" denir idi. Mu'ahharan mahdûmu Gâzi Bey zamânında "Alîşîr Mahallesi" nâmını almış idi.
639'da Tatar hükümdârı Oktay Ka'ân vefât edib yerine [381] oğlu Geyük Hân Tatar hâkânı oldukda Ermenî ve Rûm papazları Çıgay Noyin vâsıtasıyla Geyük Hân'ı Hristiyânlığa temâyüle meyl etdirebilmişler idi. Bu cihetden Geyük Hân'ın siyâseti İslâmiyyet aleyhine müteveccih idi.
Baba İshâk'ın vefâtıyla münkesirü'l-hayâl olan Rûmlar, Erzurum'da bir mevcûdiyyet-i siyâsiyyeye mazhariyyet sevdâsıyla her türlü fedâkârlığı ihtiyâr eden Ermenîler Eran (Revân)'da ikâmet eden Kafkasya vâlîsi Baycu Noyin'i müslim Türkler ve hâssaten Erzurum vâlîsi Sinâneddîn Yâkût Bey'in aleyhinde fevkalâde tahrîk ve teşvîk ediyorlardı.
Binâ'en-aleyh 640'da Baycu Noyin otuz bin Tatar askeriyle gelip Erzurum'u muhâsara eyledi. Yâkût Bey var kuvvetiyle müdâfa'aya kıyâm ederek Tatarlar'ı aylarca kale hâricinde it'âb eylediği hâlde kale derûnunda bulunan Hristiyânların hıyânetiyle Baycu Noyin kaleyi zabt etdikden sonra Yâkût Bey'i, oğlu ve pek çok ricâl-i İslâm ile beraber şehîd ve şehri başdan başa yağmâ etdi. Ba'dehû Sivas'a doğru yürüdü.
Târîh-i İbni Bîbî'de mezkûr olduğu üzere bu fâci'ayı işiden Sultân Gıyâseddîn Keyhusrev, tedârikât-ı harbiyyesini ikmâl edib derhâl hareket ve Amasya vâlîsi Alâ'eddîn Alîşîr Bey dahi ma'iyyet-i mevcûdesiyle bu orduya iltihâk ederek Tatarlar'ı karşılıyorlar idi. 641 muharreminin altıncı cum'a günü Sivas kurbunda kâ'in Köse Dağı eteğinde başlayan muhârebede Selçûkîler fenâ hâlde münhezim olarak Gıyâseddîn Keyhusrev, [382] sâhib-i a'zamı Amasyalı Mühezzebeddîn Alî bin el-Keşânî, pervânesi el-Hâc Veliyyeddîn Umur Bey ve cüz'î ma'iyyet-i bâkiyesiyle Amasya'ya cân atdılar. Amasya vâlîsi Alîşîr Bey işte bu muhârebede şehîd olup yerine hizmeti sebk eden Emîr Seyfeddîn Haydar nasb edilmişdir.
In Modern English
He was the son of Selçûk bin Aydoğdu Bey, one of the emirs of Amasya, and most probably became governor of Amasya in 638 [1240-41]. Since his house was in part of the Üçler quarter and his garden on the site of the present Kağnı Pazarı, these places were called "Alişir Bahçesi". Later, in the time of his son Gazi Bey, it took the name "Alîşîr Mahallesi".
When in 639 [1241-42] the Tatar ruler Ögeday Kağan died and his son Güyük Han became Tatar khagan, Armenian and Greek priests had succeeded, through Çıgay Noyin, in turning Güyük Han toward Christianity. For this reason Güyük Han's policy had turned against Islam.
The Greeks, whose hope had been broken by Baba İshak's death, and the Armenians, who were ready to make every sacrifice in their eagerness to obtain a political existence in Erzurum, were inciting and encouraging Baycu Noyin, the governor of the Caucasus residing in Yerevan, excessively against the Muslim Turks and especially against Sinâneddîn Yâkût Bey, governor of Erzurum.
Thereupon in 640 [1242-43] Baycu Noyin came with thirty thousand Tatar soldiers and besieged Erzurum. Yâkût Bey set about defending with all his strength and wore out the Tatars outside the fortress for months; but because of the treachery of the Christians inside the fortress Baycu Noyin took it. He martyred Yâkût Bey, his son and very many Muslim notables, plundered the city from end to end, and then marched toward Sivas.
As stated in the Târîh-i İbn Bîbî, Sultan Gıyâseddîn Keyhusrev, hearing of this disaster, completed his war preparations and set out at once; Alâeddîn Alîşîr Bey, governor of Amasya, also joined this army with his available forces and met the Tatars. In the battle that began on the sixth Friday of Muharrem 641 at the foot of Köse Dağı near Sivas, the Seljuks were badly defeated. Gıyâseddîn Keyhusrev took refuge in Amasya with his sâhib-i a'zam Mühezzebeddîn Alî bin el-Keşânî of Amasya, his pervane (pervane official) el-Hâc Veliyyeddîn Umur Bey, and his few remaining retinue. Alîşîr Bey, governor of Amasya, was martyred in this battle, and Emîr Seyfeddîn Haydar, who had served before, was appointed in his place.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- akvâ-yı ihtimâl: the strongest probability
- mu'ahharan: later
- mahdûm: son
- münkesirü'l-hayâl: with hope broken, disappointed
- mevcûdiyyet-i siyâsiyye: political existence
- fâci'a: great disaster
- münhezim: routed, defeated
- ma'iyyet-i mevcûde: the military force available
- cân atmak: to run in desperation, to take refuge
The Fall of Erzurum and Kösedağ
Baycu Noyan's siege of Erzurum stands foremost among the events showing how much the Babaî revolt had weakened the Seljuk state. The revolt of 1240 could be suppressed only by recalling the eastern army held against the Mongols in Erzurum; this showed the Mongols in Azerbaijan that the Seljuk state was not as strong as it looked from outside. Baycu, commissioned by Curmagun Noyan, commander of the Mongol western army, took Erzurum in late 1242 and put its people to the sword. Sinaneddin Yakut is named as the garrison commander. Hüsameddin's expression "treachery of the Christians" could not be found in a source; the studies consulted state that alongside Yakut a man named İstakus, commander of the Christian forces, jointly defended the city.
The details of the Battle of Kösedağ differ. The Seljuk army assembled at Kayseri when spring came; according to İbn Bîbî its number was seventy thousand, and the Mongol army is said to have been about thirty thousand. The battle took place on 11 Muharrem 641 (1 July 1243); another source says 13 Muharrem (3 July). The date Hüsameddin gives as "the sixth Friday" fits neither record. The advance forces of the Seljuk army were destroyed by the Mongols' classic tactic of feigned flight and encirclement, the army fell into panic, and the main force scattered without fighting. There is also disagreement over where the sultan took refuge. Hüsameddin writes that the sultan fled to Amasya. According to what has been written on Kösedağ, however, the sultan fled to Tokat and the vizier Mühezzebeddin Ali took refuge in Amasya; the sultan then withdrew to Antalya. This difference is important, because Amasya's role after Kösedağ also appears through the vizier's peace negotiations. Hüsameddin's information that the "pervane Veliyyeddin Umur Bey" and Alîşîr Bey died in the battle could not be found in the writings examined.
When Did Güyük Become Khan
As against the information Hüsameddin writes that Ögeday died in 639 and Güyük succeeded him, it is recorded that Güyük Khan was elected great khagan at the kurultai assembled in 1246, while his mother Töregene's regency was continuing; his reign runs from 24 August 1246 to 20 April 1248. The events of Kösedağ in 1243 and the peace that followed it therefore belong to before Güyük's accession. The name Çıgay Noyin and the claim that priests turned Güyük toward Christianity could not be found in the sources examined.
The Alişir Quarter
Hüsameddin writes that Alîşîr's house was in the Üçler quarter and his garden on the site of the present Kağnı Pazarı, and that later in the time of his son Gazi Bey this place took the name Alîşîr Mahallesi. No additional source was found on Alîşîr Bey's family and the quarter; the present name of the quarter could not be verified either.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 2, p. 350–351. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
Other sources