AMASYA 05

Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar · İKİNCİ BÂB · İKİNCİ FASIL

Bâlî Bey — Yiğit

Encyclopedia · History of Amasya, Volume 7, p. 393 • Edited by: Prof. Dr. Safi ARPAGUŞ- Prof. Dr. Ahmet Hakkı TURABİ

Original Text (Ottoman Turkish)

Amasya vâlisi Şehzâde Sultân Ahmed Hân’ın kölesidir. Sarâyında ta’lîm ve terbiye görüb ma’iyyetinde tefeyyüz ederek kapıcılar kethüdâsı oldu. 918’de Eskişehir Ovası’nda Sultân Selîm Hân’a karşı yapılan muhârebede vefât etdi. Şehzâdenin havâss-ı bendegânından şecî’, efendisine sâdık, gürbüz idi. [430]

Our Research Article Editor: Mevlüt Erdem Öztürk

In Modern English

He was a slave of Şehzade Sultan Ahmed Han, the governor of Amasya. Having received training and education in his palace and risen in his service, he became steward of the gatekeepers. In 918 [1512-13] he died in the war fought against Sultan Selim Han on the Plain of Eskişehir. He was among the prince's personal servants, brave, loyal to his master, and sturdy.

Notes and Research

Old Words in the Text

  • ta'lîm ve terbiye: instruction and upbringing
  • tefeyyüz etmek: to rise, to profit
  • kapıcılar kethüdâsı: the steward of the palace gatekeepers
  • muhârebe: battle
  • havâss-ı bendegân: personal servants, special attendants
  • şecî': brave
  • sâdık: loyal, faithful

The Plain of Yenişehir and the Plain of Eskişehir

Hüsameddin mentions the battle as one fought on the "Plain of Eskişehir". According to Feridun Emecen, the final encounter between Şehzade Ahmed and Selim took place on the plain of Yenişehir near Bursa; the date is given as 8 Safer 919 (15 April 1513), and some sources give 24 April 1513. No battle by the name of Eskişehir is mentioned in the sources. The similarity of the two place names may have caused a confusion; this is an inference. Likewise, Hüsameddin's date 918 falls a few months before Safer 919.

According to one account of the course of the battle, Şehzade Ahmed, deceived by Selim's forged letters, set out from Amasya with a force of about five thousand; he was caught on the battlefield and strangled by order of the kapıcıbaşı Sinan Ağa. This account rests on a secondary compilation and is not found in the detailed encyclopedia entry. That Bâlî Bey died in this battle could not be verified in the sources cited.

Persons Mentioned Here

No information on Bâlî Bey-Yiğit or on the office of steward of the gatekeepers was found in the sources named.

Bibliography

Primary sources

  • Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 7, p. 393. amasya.bel.tr

Academic studies

Other sources

Volume 7 contents