Amasya a'yân-ı ümerâsından Atabeyzâde Abdullah Bey'in oğludur. Pederi "Abdî Bey" demekle meşhûr ve Atabey evkâfına mütevellî idi.⁵⁵³ Amasya emîr-i kebîri Hacı Şâdgeldi Paşazâde Mustafa Bey'in dâmâdıdır.⁵⁵⁴
Yörgüç Paşa, Çelebi Sultân Mehmed'in hizmet-i hâssasında, lalalığında bulunarak Türk birliğine cânsiperâne himmet eden erlerdendir. Mesâ'î-i meşkûresinin lâyık-ı mükâfâtı olarak 816 senesi cumadelâhiresinde Amasya beylerbeyi oldu.
Çelebi Sultân'ın nezrine binâ'en bu sene Haremeyn-i Şerîfeyn fukarâsına tahsîs ve irsâl edilecek surre-i hümâyûn emânetine Yörgüç Paşa'nın küçük birâderi Hayreddîn Hızır Bey ta'yîn edildi. Diğer birâderi Şücâ'eddîn İlyâs Bey mîrlivâ oldu. [192]
Amasya erkânı Rûmeli harbinde meşgûl olduğu esnâda Kubadoğlu Alî Bey'in mahdûmu Cüneyd Bey, Samsun emîri Taşanoğlu Ahmed Bey üzerine ansızın hücûm ederek öldürmüş, Samsun sancağını zabt etmişdi. Çünkü Ahmed Bey, Cüneyd Bey'in pederini öldürmüşdü.
Cülûs-ı hümâyûn vukû'undan sonra Cüneyd Bey kusûrunu i'tirâf ederek Yörgüç Paşa'ya ve afv-ı pâdişâhîye dehâlet etdiğinden Ahmed Bey'in veresesini irzâ etmek şartıyla afv edilerek makâmında ibkâ edildi.
Kezâlik erkân-ı hükûmetin Rûmeli'nde meşgûliyetinden bi'l-istifâde Köpekoğlu Hüseyin Bey Sivas'a hücûm edib Sivas beylerbeyi Mehmed Paşa'yı ifnâ ederek Kadı Burhân'ın oğlu Zeynelâbidîn Alî Şâh'ı emîr yapmışdı.
817 senesi evâ'ilinde Sivas emâreti Mezîd Bey'e sâniyen tevcîh edilerek Amasya'dan bir kuvve-i kâfiye i'zâm edildi. Mezîd Bey bu kuvvetle ansızın Sivas'a girip âsîleri perîşân etdi. Zeynelâbidîn Bey'i tutup Amasya'ya gönderdi. Sivas a'yânından ba'zılarıyla Kal’a-i Bâlâ zindânında habs edildi.
Köpekoğlu Hüseyin Bey, Sivas'dan kaçıp birâderi Suli Bey'le beraber Malatya taraflarına gitmişlerdi. Sivas'ın hıncını çıkarmak için 817 senesinde Malatya havâlîsini vurup yakdılar (İnbâ'u'l-ğumr).
817 senesi zilhiccesinde "Şeyh Cû'î" demekle meşhûr olan [193] Cemâleddîn Mehmed Dede, ikâmet eylediği karyesinde binâ eylediği câmi ve mevlevî-hânesi mesâlihine emlâkini vakf etmişdir.
818 senesi saferinin dokuzuncu salı günü ikindi üzeri Amasya ve mülhakâtında müdhiş bir zelzele olup Amasya şehrini harâbe-zâra döndürdü. Pek çok nüfûs-ı insâniyye ve hayvânât telef oldu. Pek çok cevâmi'-i şerîfe ve ebniye-i âliyeyi yıkıp aşağı indirdi.
Amasya a'yânından Amasya kadısı Rükneddîn Mahmûd Buhârî, Pîr İlyâs Halvetî halîfesi kutbu'l-meşâyih Pîr Şerefeddîn Hamza Çelebi, Amasya mevlevî-hânesi şeyhi "Küpelioğlu" demekle meşhûr Şeyh Mü'eyyedzâde Mecdeddîn Abdulmecîd Çelebi ve Yâkût Paşa Zâviyesi şeyhi Divriklizâde Alî Yârî Çelebi vefât etdi. Yârî Çelebi yerine mahdûmu Mü'eyyed Çelebi geçdi.
Amasya ve mülhakâtında zelzelenin îkâ' eylediği hasârât-ı azîme herkesi tedhîş etmekde iken İskilib havâlîsinde meskûn olan Kara Tatar beliyyesi de ayrıca bir dâğ-ı derûn olduğundan Amasya vâlîliğine şehzâde Sultân Murâd ta'yîn edilerek Edirne'den gönderildi.
In Modern English
He is the son of Atabeyzâde Abdullah Bey, one of the leading emirs of Amasya. His father was famous as "Abdî Bey" and was the mütevelli of the Atabey waqfs. He is the son-in-law of Mustafa Bey, son of Hacı Şadgeldi Pasha, the great emir of Amasya.
Yörgüç Pasha had been in Çelebi Sultan Mehmed's personal service, in his lalaship, and was one of the men who put their lives at stake for Turkish unity. In return for his praiseworthy efforts he became beylerbeyi of Amasya in Cumadelâhire 816 [1413-14].
In accordance with Çelebi Sultan's vow, Yörgüç Pasha's younger brother Hayreddin Hızır Bey was appointed to the custody of the sultan's surre, to be set aside and sent this year to the poor of Mecca and Medina. His other brother Şücâeddin İlyas Bey became a mirliva (sanjak bey).
While the notables of Amasya were busy with the Rumelian war, Cüneyd Bey, son of Kubadoğlu Ali Bey, suddenly attacked Taşanoğlu Ahmed Bey, emir of Samsun, killed him, and seized the sanjak of Samsun. For Ahmed Bey had killed Cüneyd Bey's father.
After the proclamation of the sultanate, since Cüneyd Bey confessed his fault and took refuge with Yörgüç Pasha and the sultan's pardon, he was forgiven on the condition of satisfying Ahmed Bey's heirs and was left in his post.
Again taking advantage of the notables of government being busy in Rumelia, Köpekoğlu Hüseyin Bey attacked Sivas, killed Mehmed Pasha, beylerbeyi of Sivas, and made Kadı Burhan's son Zeynelâbidin Ali Şah emir.
At the beginning of 817 [1414-15] the emirate of Sivas was given to Mezid Bey for the second time and a sufficient force was sent from Amasya. With this force Mezid Bey suddenly entered Sivas and scattered the rebels. He seized Zeynelâbidin Bey and sent him to Amasya. Together with some of the notables of Sivas he was imprisoned in the dungeon of Kal'a-i Bâlâ (the Upper Fortress).
Köpekoğlu Hüseyin Bey had fled from Sivas and gone with his brother Suli Bey toward Malatya. In 817, to take revenge for Sivas, they struck and burned the surroundings of Malatya (İnbâü'l-ğumr).
In Zilhicce 817 Cemâleddin Mehmed Dede, famous as "Şeyh Cûî," endowed his properties for the needs of the mosque and Mevlevi lodge he had built in the village where he lived.
On the ninth Tuesday of the month of Safer 818 [1415-16], after the afternoon prayer, a terrible earthquake occurred in Amasya and its dependencies and turned the city of Amasya into ruin. A great number of people and animals perished. It brought down and leveled many mosques and tall buildings.
Among the notables of Amasya, the judge of Amasya Rükneddin Mahmud Buhârî, Pîr Şerefeddin Hamza Çelebi, caliph of Pîr İlyas Halvetî and kutb of the sheikhs, Şeyh Müeyyedzâde Mecdeddin Abdülmecid Çelebi, famous as "Küpelioğlu," sheikh of the Amasya Mevlevi lodge, and Divriklizâde Ali Yârî Çelebi, sheikh of the Yâkût Pasha Zawiya, died. In place of Yârî Çelebi his son Müeyyed Çelebi took over.
While the great damage the earthquake caused in Amasya and its surroundings horrified everyone, since the plague of the Kara Tatars living around İskilip was a separate heartbreak, Prince Sultan Murad was appointed to the governorship of Amasya and sent from Edirne.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- lala: official responsible for the upbringing of a prince
- mirlivâ: sanjak bey
- surre-i hümâyûn: the sultan's gift and money sent every year to the people of Mecca and Medina
- Haremeyn-i Şerîfeyn: Mecca and Medina
- cülûs: sitting on the throne, the beginning of a sultanate
- mütevellî: administrator of a waqf
- zelzele: earthquake
- kutbu'l-meşâyih: head of the sheikhs, the greatest sheikh
Who Yörgüç Pasha Was
Where and when Yörgüç Pasha was born is not known. In inscriptions and on his gravestone his name appears as Yörgüç and his epithet as Celâleddin. The sources report that he was lala to Prince Murad, son of Çelebi Mehmed. When in 1414 Çelebi Mehmed sent the twelve-year-old Murad to Amasya with the governorship of the province of Rum, he gave Yörgüç Pasha with him as lala. Hüsameddin ties Murad's arrival in Amasya to 818 (1415-16), and there is a difference of about one year between these two dates.
Yörgüç Pasha's star shone with prince Murad's accession to the throne. When the revolt of Mustafa Çelebi (Düzmece) broke out in the first year of Murad II's reign, the new sultan, at Yörgüç Pasha's urging, marched on him and put down the revolt. After this Yörgüç Pasha was appointed beylerbeyi of Rum (1423). This date given by the TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi differs from the date in Hüsameddin's text: Hüsameddin begins his beylerbeyilik of Amasya in 816 (1413-14). Another study, however, supports Hüsameddin: in an article written on the appointment of princes as sanjak beys to Amasya, it is written that when Çelebi Mehmed became sultan in 1413 he appointed his lala Yörgüç Pasha beylerbeyi of Amasya, and that after Murad's accession to the throne first Hamza Bey, and a year later Yörgüç Pasha for the second time, were appointed beylerbeyi of Amasya. This sequence is seen to agree with Hüsameddin's record in the following entry. That is, Yörgüç Pasha's beylerbeyilik is placed in different years in two separate groups of sources, and the matter is not settled.
In the first years of his beylerbeyilik Yörgüç Pasha dealt with the highway bands around Amasya and Tokat and brought the beys in the region acting independently under obedience. He seized Alparslanoğlu Hüsâmeddin Hasan Bey, who held Canik, and sent him to Bursa to the sultan, and thus annexed the Ordu and Çarşamba region to Ottoman rule (1427). When the troops of the Karakoyunlu ruler İskender Mirza plundered the surroundings at Tokat, he reported the situation to the sultan, and the region was brought to calm with the Anatolian Beylerbeyi Timurtaşoğlu Umur Bey who was sent. Yörgüç Pasha, who established peace in Central Anatolia, was given the rank of vizier. The information that coins were struck in his name and that these akçe were called "Yörgüç Pasha akçe" is doubtful. Yörgüç Pasha died in April-May 1442 and was buried in the tomb of the mosque he had built in Amasya.
The Debate on His Origin
The matter Hüsameddin dwells on in a footnote is whether Yörgüç and Bayezid Pashas were Turks. Hüsameddin finds Solakzâde's account that they were not Turks to be wrong. His basis is Yörgüç Pasha's endowment deed, the mosque inscription, and the fact that his father's name was Abdullah. In the inscription it is written "Yörgüç Pasha bin Abdullah el-Atabegî."
Present-day research is cautious on this. According to the TDV entry, there is different information in the sources about Yörgüç Pasha's lineage: in some studies it is said he descended from Nâsırüddin Ahmed, founder of the Atabekiye Madrasa in Amasya, and in others from the line of Gâzî Mihal Bey. Since his father's name is written as Abdullah in the inscription of his mosque, on his gravestone, and in his endowment deed, the correctness of these genealogies is doubtful. From the father's name it has also been put forward that he was of Slavic origin and that his name comes from the Slavic Jorgiç (son of Yorgi). According to the TDV, the title "atabeg" in the inscription is not to his father but most probably a reference to his own lalaship. In other words, the Turkish and Muslim lineage Hüsameddin puts forward is not accepted as certain in present-day research and the matter is disputed.
Yörgüç Pasha's Works in Amasya
Yörgüç Pasha had many charitable institutions built, in Tokat, Gümüş, Köprü, Havza, and İskilip besides Amasya. According to endowment deed texts and tahrir registers, he had built in Amasya a mosque, madrasa, imaret, and two baths, in Tokat a bath and han, in Gümüş a mosque, in Havza an imaret, in Kavak a mosque, and in İskilip a bath. The mosques in Amasya, Gümüş, Kavak, and Köprü and the bath in Tokat have reached the present day. The Yörgüç Pasha Mosque in Amasya, according to the Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism, was built in 1431; the date of the structure appears in another study in two different places as 1428 and 1431. The same study notes that the complex consists of a mosque, tomb, imarethane, and a four-room madrasa. The structure, one of the inverted-T plan mosques, has regular cut stone used in its walls, and red and white marble gives it a colorful appearance here and there; the entrance is in the form of a large eyvan, and the last-congregation area is inside the main space of the mosque.
The Earthquake of 818
The earthquake in Hüsameddin's text is mentioned in present-day research as well. In a footnote of an article written on the Bayezid Pasha Zawiya in Amasya, it is noted that Ayverdi connected a situation in the zawiya with the earthquake of 818 (1415), that this earthquake appears in historical calendars and caused great damage in the region. The details Hüsameddin gives, that is, the names of the dead and the buildings that collapsed, could not be found in other sources.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 3, p. 464–465. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
- Fahameddin Başar, "Yörgüç Paşa", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 43, İstanbul 2013, p. 566-567. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/yorguc-pasa
- Selim Özcan, "Amasya'da Sancak Beyliği Yapan Şehzadeler Döneminde Amasya Şehri", Amasya Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, sayı 5. https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/19685
- Mustafa Çağhan Keskin, "Bayezid Paşa: Vezir, Entelektüel, Sanat Hamisi", Osmanlı Araştırmaları, XLVIII (2016), p. 1-37. https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/752365
Official sources