Çelebi Sultân Mehmed Hân (2)

In Modern English

Sultan Mehmed, the fifth sultan of the Ottoman Empire, was the prince of Yıldırım Han. In the spring of 805 [1402-03], in the month of Shawwal, he scattered Kara Devletşah, came to Amasya, and became emir of Amasya alone.

According to what is written in the "Kitâbü'l-İnbâ," Gömlüoğlu Ali Pasha became Çelebi Sultan's lala, vizier, and the person responsible for all the affairs of the country. Yâkût Pasha became beylerbeyi and guardian of Amasya, el-Hac Halil Efendi, judge of Gümüş, who had made himself admired by his knowledge and skill, became nişancı, and Gümüşlüzâde Hace Celal Çelebi became defterdar.

Niğdelizâde Sofi Bayezid Çelebi, one of the scholars of Amasya, had become in appearance the sultan's teacher but in reality the adviser of the sultanate. The said Sofi was regarded as the pillar of the administration of Amasya and the mainstay of the city's happiness. In the name of Çelebi Sultan, this person dealt with the learned body of Amasya, and Çelebi Sultan came now and then to the council of scholars.

To console Şadgeldi Bey, the former emir of Amasya, his sister Şehzade Hatun, the youngest daughter of Devatdar Ahmed Pasha, was married to Çelebi Sultan Mehmed, who had just turned seventeen.

With the coming of Çelebi Sultan, the emirate of Amasya had become a broad circle made up of the provinces of Amasya, Sivas, Tokat, Çorum, Canik, Karahisar-ı Şarkî, and Ankara. The center of the sultanate was the city of Amasya.

Çelebi Sultan's eldest brother Süleyman Bey sat in Edirne and had become ruler of Rumelia. His other brother İsa Bey sat in Bursa and had become ruler of the Bursa region.

The Karamanids, too, had grown strong again in Konya by Timur's decree, and Karamanzâde Mehmed Bey had become emir. The other old beys had also regained their emirates. Thus the national unity the Ottoman Turks had been trying to establish had been shattered by the blow Timur struck.

In place of Şihâbeddin Ahmed Çelebi, sheikh of the Hankâh-ı Mesûdî, who had fled to Aleppo, İmâdeddin Ömer el-Fızzavî, that is, Gümüşlü Ömer Çelebi, one of the sheikhs distinguished by learning, became sheikh of the Hankâh-ı Mesûdî. In place of Şemseddin Ahmed Çelebi, who had fled to Jerusalem while professor of the Atabeyiyye, Tâceddin İsrâfil el-Lâdikî became professor.

Among the emirs of Amasya, Yazarlıoğlu Yakub Pasha became beylerbeyi of Ankara, Kutluşahoğlu Kutlu Pasha of Tokat, and Torumtayoğlu Kaya Pasha of Çorum. Each set out and went with his retinue.

Only Koca Mahmud Bey, emir of Osmancık, was transferred to Tokat, and in his place his brother's son Hasan Bey bin Abdullah Çelebi was appointed. Mezid Bey of the Kürtoğlu, who defended Sivas, remained in place because he declared his obedience. The service of Yıldızlıoğlu Mehmed Bey, son of Kadı Burhan's maternal uncle, one of the notables of Sivas, had also been rendered earlier.

However, Kubadoğlu Alâeddin Ali Bey, emir of Samsun, relying on his lineage and courage and on Timur's protection, belittled Çelebi Sultan. He hoped the beys of Amasya would follow him. For this reason he attempted to act as emir on his own.

İnaloğlu Tâceddin İbrahim Bey, who relied on the Çonkar Tribe and on Timur's protection, had also taken the surroundings of Tokat, was acting on his own, and openly exercised sovereignty in the plains. But the notables of Tokat did not let him approach the city.

Alp Arslan Bey, bey of Canik, acting loyal to Çelebi Sultan against Kubadoğlu, was hostile to Ali Bey. The Taşanoğulları Ali and Ahmed Beys had taken the districts of Köprü, Havza, and Zeytun under their administration. They were loyal to Çelebi Sultan.

Kubadoğlu's rebellion was more important than İbrahim Bey's. For he had defeated Alp Arslan and besieged Niksar. When a sufficient force that went from Amasya scattered Kubadoğlu, he took refuge with the Taşanoğlu. Taşanzâde Ahmed Bey was given the emirate of Samsun. Ali Bey's life also came to an end.

A rather important force had been added to the retinue of Kutlu Pasha, who was appointed to the emirate of Tokat. Kutlu Pasha first took the fortress of Tokat, then proposed to İnaloğlu that he leave the borders of the emirate of Amasya.

When İbrahim Bey gave a mocking refusal to this proposal, Kutlu Pasha set about pursuing him. İbrahim Bey had some twenty thousand cavalry under his command. The force sent from Amasya and Kutlu Pasha's force moved together, and İbrahim Bey's force was broken in disarray. The surroundings of Tokat were delivered from his evil.

Also at this time Hasan Bey, son of Melik Ahmed Bey, had complained of the attacks of the Gözleroğlu, who was raiding the surroundings of Karahisar-ı Şarkî, and had asked for help. After the İnaloğlu incident the Gözleroğlu was also scattered, and the surroundings of Amasya were quite cleared of bandits.

These clearing events took place in 806 [1403-04]; the emirate of Amasya had made itself known on every side, and the confidence of the people and the beys in Çelebi Sultan and in the notables conducting the government had grown.

But Çelebi Sultan's greatest aim was to seize Bursa, which was administered by his brother İsa Bey, and to establish unity in Anatolia. This also depended on the financial strength being favorable and on new weapons being procured.

The greatest trouble of the government of Amasya was money. Aksak Timur, finding various pretexts, had taken and confiscated the money in everyone's hands. Providing gold and silver had become difficult.

The defterdar Hace Celal Çelebi was an extremely calculating and thrifty person. On the one hand, the mint of Hacı Şadgeldi Pasha was operated by Bedreddin Mahmud Çelebi, son of Mağribî İlyas, and silver akçe were struck there. For this reason Mahmud Çelebi became known as "Darphaneci" (the Mint Man).

On the other hand, paper money under the name "çav, çavik" was made and put into circulation in place of gold and silver akçe. Buharalı Hace Şemseddin Mehmed Çelebi was charged with making "çavik"; he too was called "Çavikçi, Çevikçi" in Amasya. He was also called "Kırtâsî."

The learned body of Amasya consisted of people aware of the matter. The Timur calamity, which had torn apart the unity of the nation, had done very important damage. First, general morals had been badly shaken. Second, heartless local lords and faithless bandits were ravaging everywhere. Third, personal interests were setting everyone against one another.

The learned body strove greatly to treat these bitter ills, supporting the notables of government with all its strength, advising everyone of religious and moral virtues, and raising the spiritual feelings of the people by teaching religious jihad and self-sacrifice.

At that time among the learned body of Amasya, "Gümüşlüzâde Abdurrahman, Kara Sinan of Tokat, a pupil of Taftazânî, the preacher Ömer, İsrâfil of Ladik, Şeyh Hamîdeddin, Halifetzâde Hasan, the khatib Abdülkadir, Muslihzâde Abdülhay, and Muhammed Şah Efendis" were very important figures.

Through the efforts of these persons a great and unshakable desire and excitement for soldiering and national unity had been awakened in the people. All the people entered soldiering with all their hearts, eager of their own free will, making every kind of sacrifice.

It is very famous in history that the government of Amasya did not take into the army youths on whose mustache an iron comb did not stay. A youth from among the young men of Amasya whose mustache had only just sprouted would press the iron comb to his upper lip in the presence of Çelebi Sultan and, saying "the iron comb stays on my mustache," ask to be accepted into soldiering. Thus he was accepted.

It is understood from this anecdote written in Atâ Bey's Enderun Tarihi that the praiseworthy services of the learned body of Amasya were very high in the people's eyes. The national consciousness and cultivation of the people of Amasya had also risen very high through the counsels of these scholars.

The sekbanbaşı Kabulî Ağa was a diligent, industrious, and extremely pious person. He knew very well the training of janissaries, the instruction and discipline of the soldiers, and soldiering. Bayezid Pasha was a great master in cavalry and this person in infantry.

The army corps established in Amasya was divided into two parts: sipahi and janissary. Sipahi meant cavalry. The foot soldiers, in contrast, were janissaries. They drilled every day on the archery field of Amasya, and maneuvers were held at Suluova.

The soldiers' weapons were excellent. The secret of Çelebi Sultan's success was the new cannons invented in Amasya. Self-sacrifice had reached its highest degree among the notables and people of Amasya. It was precisely through this high moral strength, this self-sacrifice, and the intellect and genius of his notables that Çelebi Sultan had succeeded in his affairs.

Bayezid Pasha was a very lofty person of genius. He was both chief of the general staff and the sole man of prudence to Çelebi Sultan. The nişancı Hacı Halil Çelebi was higher than Bayezid Pasha in intellect and genius. Compared to these, Ali Pasha and Yâkût Pasha remained second-rank. In Bayezid Pasha there was the highest degree of self-sacrifice.

In 806 İzzeddin Hasan Çelebi, judge of Amasya, died, and his deputy Kadı İmâdzâde Bedreddin Mahmud Çelebi became judge in his place. Atabeyzâde Yörgüç Bey, one of the division commanders in Amasya, had been taken into Çelebi Sultan's personal service. For there was in-law kinship between them.

Timur Han, to make Çelebi Sultan, who had proved his maturity and ability in Amasya, his son-in-law in appearance, summoned him to himself with Hace Muhammed, whom he sent, and reinforced with every kind of document that he had no evil intention toward him.

The notables of Amasya did not find it fitting to comply with this call. But giving a refusal to a man of such harsh character as Timur Han was also not the act of a sensible person. The answer was given that Çelebi Sultan complied in appearance. But secret instructions were given to the beys on the road and demonstrations were arranged.

Çelebi Sultan, together with his teacher Sofi Bayezid, joined Timur's envoy Hace Muhammed and went from Amasya as far as Osmancık. Beyond Osmancık he was attacked by Kara Yahya Bey, and further on by Savcıbeyzâde Ali Bey. By sham clashes it was shown and explained to the envoy that it was not possible to go further.

Thereupon the sultan's teacher Sofi İmâdeddin Bayezid Çelebi was sent as envoy to the presence of Timur Han with the valuable gifts prepared. Çelebi Sultan turned back and came to Amasya. From here he went to Tokat. Of the scholars of Amasya, Sabuncuoğlu Mevlânâ el-Hac İlyas Çelebi became chief physician to Çelebi Sultan, since he was a skilled physician.

Prince Musa Çelebi, after his father's death, came to Amasya and was reunited with his brother Çelebi Sultan. Şâdî Beyzâde Şah Melik Bey, one of the well-known beys of Amasya, became lala to Musa Çelebi. His brother Burak Bey was among the famous emirs.

At the end of 806 a son was born to Çelebi Sultan Mehmed. He was named Murad. The mother of Sultan Murad is thought to be Şehzade Hatun, daughter of Devatdar Ahmed Pasha.

While Çelebi Sultan was in Tokat, he received a letter declaring allegiance from Dulkadiroğlu Suli Bey. Suli Bey was asking him to take his daughter. Çelebi Sultan took Suli Bey's daughter and his valuable gifts and secured the borders of the government.

Çelebi Sultan's greatest thought was to take Bursa and its surroundings and remove the division on the Anatolian side. All the beys and soldiers wanted this from the heart. The financial and military strength that would bring about this aim had been prepared. The one administering Bursa and its surroundings was his own brother İsa Çelebi.

Çelebi Sultan Mehmed in 807 [1404-05] set out with his regular army and prudent commanders and went to Ankara. Adding the military unit he received from Yakub Pasha, beylerbeyi of Ankara, to his own forces, he marched on Bursa.

There were fierce wars between the two brothers. In the end, although in the bloody battle they fought on the bank of the Ulubat River many soldiers were killed, such as Çelebi Sultan's vizier Ali Pasha, thanks to the troops' resistance İsa Çelebi was routed and fled to Istanbul. Çelebi Sultan took Bursa and its surroundings.

This success of Çelebi Sultan set in motion his elder brother Sultan Süleyman, ruler of Rumelia, and also brilliantly showed his strength and might to the beys of Anatolia.

Sultan Süleyman took the army he had gathered with great effort, crossed into Anatolia, and marched on Bursa. Çelebi Sultan's army was both tired and reduced. The notables of government did not find war fitting.

Thereupon Çelebi Sultan took his army and returned to Ankara. Sultan Süleyman, pursuing his brother, had come as far as the surroundings of Ankara. Çelebi Sultan wished to fight. But on the opinion of persons such as Bayezid Pasha and Mukbil Bey, he returned to Amasya and instructed Yakub Pasha to guard Ankara well.

Yâkût Pasha, guardian of Amasya, became vizier on Ali Pasha's death; Kutlu Pasha, beylerbeyi of Tokat, was charged with the protection of Amasya. Biçaroğlu Nûreddin Hamza Bey was appointed to the emirate of Tokat.

For the famous Köpekoğulları Hasan, Hüseyin, and Suli Beys, seeing that the notables and troops of Amasya were occupied with the war of Bursa, had attacked the surroundings of Tokat. These were sons of the famous Körpe Bey, one of Kadı Burhan's emirs.

The Köpekoğulları, turning the head of Kürtoğlu Mezid Bey, beylerbeyi of Sivas, urged him to declare independence and not recognize Çelebi Sultan, regarding Mezid Bey as the successor of Kadı Burhan. The encouragements of the Karamanids also gave Mezid Bey a sweet hope.

Bayezid Pasha, learning this fully, regarded the removal of this plague as more important than anything. For this they had returned swiftly from Ankara. The appointment of Biçaroğlu Hamza Bey to the emirate of Tokat and Çelebi Sultan's going to Tokat shortly after his arrival in Amasya with Bayezid Pasha showed that the matter was important.

Çelebi Sultan and Bayezid Pasha, with the forces they took from Amasya, caught the Köpekoğulları at Kazova. After a bloody battle they scattered them, punished and uprooted those who followed the Köpekoğulları, and then went to Tokat.

Mezid Bey, beylerbeyi of Sivas, the moment he heard of the end of the Köpekoğulları, cut his ties with them and reinforced his allegiance. At Yâkût Pasha's request for pardon and tolerance, Mezid Bey was forgiven for Yâkût Pasha's sake.

Sultan Süleyman, learning that Çelebi Sultan had returned from Ankara, took Ankara by certain tricks and intrigues, and Yakub Pasha had been badly deceived. Çelebi Sultan, learning of the plotting of the vizier Ali Pasha, of the Candarlıoğlu, came from Tokat to Amasya.

In 808 (1405) he marched a second time on Bursa with an important force he took into his retinue. In the bloody battle that took place around İznik the vizier Ali Pasha was killed; through Yakub Pasha's timely measures Sultan Süleyman was forced to go to Rumelia. Thus Bursa was taken a second time.

The famous emir Timurtaş Pasha was appointed beylerbeyi of Bursa, Yakub Pasha was brought back to the beylerbeyilik of Ankara; the Saruhanoğulları, Germiyanoğulları, and Menteşeoğulları declared their allegiance to Çelebi Sultan, and a strong Turkish government had emerged in Anatolia.

Sultan Süleyman, unable to bear this, as a natural response, with the permission of the Greek emperor, summoned to himself his brother İsa Bey, who had taken refuge in Istanbul, gave him money and troops, and sent him on Bursa, thus wishing to occupy Çelebi Sultan for a while.

İsa Bey, persuading Timurtaş and the notables of Bursa, occupied Bursa and its surroundings and proclaimed his emirate a second time. Thus one more spark had entered among the Ottoman Turks in Anatolia.

In 808 el-Hac Bedreddin Mahmud Çelebi, judge of Amasya, died, and his deputy who came from Sivas, Ziyâeddin Mesud Çelebi of the Halâtîzâdes, was appointed in his place. The zawiya and imaret famous in İçerişehir under the name "Mahmud Çelebi Tekkesi" are the charitable work of the deceased.

This year Aksak Timur, who had set the world on fire, died; because of this, Hazret-i Pîr İlyas, the pride of Amasya, who was released, and his nephew Ahmed Çelebi, son of Hüsâmeddin Çelebi, came to Amasya at the beginning of 809 [1406-07]. Gümüşlüzâde Şemseddin Ahmed Çelebi presented to Çelebi Sultan a work he had written on ethics and received favor.

At this time Kadı Burhan's emirs and men united and, by deceiving Mezid Bey, beylerbeyi of Sivas, had fallen upon the aim of seating an inexperienced youth named Zeynelâbidin Ali Şah, son of Kadı Burhan, in the post of emir. The one who tried most to spread this was Köpekoğlu Hüseyin Bey.

Mezid Bey, as he was pressed extraordinarily by Yâkût Pasha, wrote that he was steadfast in his allegiance and ready for every kind of service, that Zeynelâbidin's emirate was a fable, whereas Zeynelâbidin's maternal uncle Yıldızlıoğlu Yusuf Beyzâde Mehmed Bey was real.

The said Yusuf Bey, Kadı Burhan's maternal uncle, had been killed by Kadı Burhan. For this reason Yusuf Beyzâde Mehmed Bey could be hostile to Kadızâde Zeynelâbidin Çelebi. This situation made the notables of government think a great deal.

At this time, since the zawiya, imaret, and school whose construction Yâkût Pasha had begun in Amasya had been completed, at the beginning of 810 [1407-08] he endowed his properties and farms for the needs of these charitable works and had the endowment deed drawn up.

The beginning of its endowment deed is as follows:

Emir of the generous emirs, vizier of the splendid viziers, great and exalted chief vizier, binder to himself of the possessors of sword and pen, whose aspiration befits the heavens and whose character befits the angels, trainer of the communities of nations, holder of high ranks, companion of exalted sultans, gatherer of exaltations and sources of pride, resort of high and distinguished persons, Âsaf of the age (the vizier of Solomon), essence of helpers and pillars, refuge of the poor and the fallen, helper of Islam and the Muslims, order of the bright country, mainstay of the visible sultanate, arm of the victorious state, full moon of the state and religion Yâkût Pasha. May God Almighty bring him to everything he wishes in goodness, happiness, and well-being.

The above is the meaning of the Arabic phrase at the head of the endowment deed.

The sheikhship of the said zawiya was given to Alâeddin Ali bin Siyâvuş ed-Difrikî, famous as "Yârî-i Şîrâzî," the choicest of the researchers, that is, Divriklizâde Şeyh Yâr Ali Çelebi. The said sheikh was indeed one of the researcher Sufis.

In the end Mukbil Bey, one of the friends of the emirs, was sent secretly to Sivas. By the research and observations Mukbil Bey made, Mezid Bey's falsehood and inattention were understood. Bayezid Pasha went to Sivas with a sufficient force.

The moment Köpekoğlu Hüseyin Bey learned of Bayezid Pasha's movement, he took Zeynelâbidin and fled toward Malatya. Bayezid Pasha scattered the Burhanîs and seized Mezid Bey. He presented him to Çelebi Sultan.

Out of respect for Yâkût Pasha's sake and pity for the tears Mezid Bey shed, Mezid Bey was pardoned. Yıldızlıoğlu Mehmed Pasha was appointed to the beylerbeyilik of Sivas. But Yâkût Pasha fell considerably out of favor.

Also this year the defterdar Hace Celal Çelebi had a lofty Khalwati zawiya built for his relative Pîr Şücâeddin İlyas Çelebi in the Gümüşlüzâde quarter, on the site of the present Gümüşlüzâde Mosque, delighting the Khalwati Sufis.

Also at the beginning of 810 Mevlânâ Rükneddin Mahmud bin Muhammed el-Buhârî, judge of Turhal and Taziye, became judge of Amasya in place of the judge Mesud Çelebi.

In Muharram 811 [1408-09] the kutb of the gnostics eş-Şeyh Şihâbeddin Şâdî Çelebi, who had withdrawn into seclusion in the village of Şeyh Şâdî, died and his son Abdülmennân Çelebi took his place. At the beginning of the month of Rebîülevvel 812 [1409-10], for the needs of his zawiya, Baytimuroğlu Musliheddin Musa Bey bin İmâdeddin Süleyman Bey, one of the emirs, endowed his properties.

The Bursa question was occupying the notables of government greatly. This year for the third time Çelebi Sultan marched on Bursa with a great force. İsa Bey was again defeated in this battle and fled. Timurtaş Pasha, beylerbeyi of Bursa, was killed and in his place Hacı İvaz Pasha, son of Fahreddin Bayezid of Tokat, became beylerbeyi (812).

But Sultan Süleyman, hearing of Çelebi Sultan's return from Bursa, again helped İsa Bey and had him attack Bursa. Then he himself came with his army and pressed Bursa and its surroundings considerably. Hacı İvaz Pasha asked the government of Amasya for help.

Çelebi Sultan in 813 [1410-11] again went to Bursa with an important force, fought İsa Bey once more, and inflicted a decisive defeat on him. İsa Bey, losing hope from every side, disappeared. Sultan Süleyman, too, was caught while amusing himself in the bath at Bursa. His retinue was scattered.

In Shawwal 813 Gümüşlüzâde Pîr Şücâeddin Ebü'l-Bekâ İlyas died and passed to the hereafter. While the said person's corpse was being washed, one leg of the bier broke and tilted. His holding the bier with one hand so that it would not fall astonished the people.

Of the said sheikh's famous caliphs, eş-Şeyh Şerefeddin Hamza Çelebi bin İsa became his deputy as sheikh of the Khalwati zawiya. His other caliph and son-in-law was Celâleddin Abdurrahman Çelebi, mufti of Amasya. He too was called "Pîr Celâl Çelebi."

In 813, to break Sultan Süleyman's attacks on Anatolia, Çelebi Sultan sent his younger brother Musa Çelebi to Rumelia together with Şâdî Beyzâde Şah Melik Bey, whom he trusted most.

In Zilkade 814 [1411-12] the sultan's teacher Sofi İmâdeddin Bayezid Çelebi died and was buried in his private grave in the Üçler quarter. His sons Mahmud, Hamza, and Hüseyin Çelebis became famous for "Sofizâdelik."

This year Hasan Pasha bin Abdullah Bey, beylerbeyi of Anatolia, was summoned to Amasya, and in his place Torumtayzâde Kaya Pasha went to Ankara as beylerbeyi of Anatolia. In place of Sofi Bayezid, Halifetzâde İzzeddin Hasan Çelebi became the sultan's teacher.

Also this year Mevlânâ Ahmedî, one of the famous poets, died in Amasya. He was a clerk of the imperial divan. In his place Mahmud Gubârî Çelebi, one of the poets of Amasya, became divan clerk. He was the son of the famous calligrapher Yahya-yı Rûmî and was both a calligrapher and a poet.

Prince Musa Bey, who went to Rumelia at the beginning of 814, came against his brother as far as the surroundings of Edirne. Defeating his brother, who was busy with amusement, he proclaimed his sultanate alone in Edirne and took the title Sultan Salâheddin Musa Han. He appointed Şah Melik Pasha of Amasya vizier and the famous Bedreddin Mahmud Çelebi chief military judge.

Yet Musa Bey was charged with taking Edirne and all the land of Rumelia in the name of his elder brother Çelebi Sultan Mehmed. He had unexpectedly proclaimed his sultanate, and for this reason Şah Melik Pasha was left in a difficult situation.

Sultan Musa's proclaiming a sultanate in Edirne weighed very heavily on Çelebi Sultan, and his brother's going back on his word, though he himself had made such sacrifices of life and property, wounded his pride.

The vizier Yâkût Pasha had prepared an army that would console Çelebi Sultan. Although Bayezid Pasha said that patience and slowness should be shown, in 815 [1412-13] he set out from Amasya with Çelebi Sultan and crossed into Rumelia.

But Sultan Musa's army was numerous. In the battle fought at the place İncügez near Istanbul, Yâkût Pasha died. Çelebi Sultan himself and his army suffered great losses. He was forced to come to Amasya. In Zilkade 815 Yazarlıoğlu Yakub Pasha, former beylerbeyi of Ankara, when the great mosque, madrasa, and zawiya whose construction he had begun around the Beyler Sarayı in Amasya were completed, endowed his properties to this charitable work.

The judge of Amasya who recorded this endowment deed was Mevlânâ Rükneddin Mahmud bin Muhammed el-Buhârî el-Bûrânî, famous as "Sarı Kadı." Muslihzâde Kemâleddin Abdülhay Çelebi bin Ahmed Çelebi, one of the famous scholars of Amasya, was at this time Çelebi Sultan's chief military judge.

In place of Yâkût Pasha, İmâmzâde Hacı Halil Pasha, who for ten years as nişancı had stood out in the country as a man of prudence through his intellect and skill, became vizier. Bayezid Pasha became guardian of Amasya; Gümüşlüzâde Şemseddin Ahmed Çelebi also became nişancı.

At the beginning of the month of Ramadan 815 Niğdelioğlu Feyzullah Çelebi, a relative of Sofi Bayezid, died. He was buried in his private grave in the Üçler quarter. The date of death is carved on the gravestone. The defterdar Hace Celal Çelebi also died this year and Osmancıklı Hace Nizâmeddin Mehmed Çelebi became defterdar in his place.

Sultan Musa was behaving somewhat tyrannically in Edirne and angering the beys of Rumelia. Hacı Halil Pasha and Bayezid Pasha, investigating this, wrote letters to the beys of Rumelia advising them to obey Çelebi Sultan and had received favorable answers from them.

At the beginning of 816 [1413-14], with the great force prepared on the basis of these answers, Hacı Halil Pasha and Bayezid Pasha, in the retinue of Çelebi Sultan, crossed into Rumelia. Many of the beys of Rumelia came to Çelebi Sultan and declared their allegiance.

In the end, in the battle fought on the plain of Çamurlu, Sultan Musa's army was scattered and he himself was taken captive. He was strangled with the string of his own bow. Çelebi Sultan Mehmed Han in Cumadelâhire 816 became the sole sultan of all the Osman Land in Edirne.

It is certain that at the head of the soldiers who worked most self-sacrificingly for Çelebi Sultan Mehmed's independence, and thus for the unity among the Ottoman Turks, were the people and notables of Amasya and Tokat.

In particular the great services and glorious efforts the Amasyans rendered to Turkishness are among the praiseworthy endeavors that will not be forgotten in history. It is the Amasyans who, in the very short span of eleven years, made good the disastrous blow Aksak Timur had dealt the western Turks, who had reached the peak of their rise, and revived the old greatness.

When Çelebi Sultan Mehmed sat on the throne of the western sovereignty in Edirne, leaving in the post of grand vizier İmâmzâde el-Hac Hayreddin Halil Pasha, raised by Amasya, he appointed the Amasyan Bayezid Pasha to the beylerbeyilik of Rumelia and the Amasyan Yörgüç Pasha to the beylerbeyilik of Amasya.

Notes and Research

Old Words in the Text

• emîr, emâret: bey, beylik; the person governing a region and his administration
• lala: official responsible for a prince's education and training in administration
• nişancı: high official who affixed the sultan's signature (tuğra) to decrees and conducted official correspondence
• defterdâr: person responsible for the state's revenues and expenditures, today's finance director
• muhâfız: commander responsible for the protection of a city or fortress
• mu'allim-i sultânî: teacher of the sultan or prince
• hey'et-i ilmiyye: body of scholars, learned body
• tezvîc: marrying off
• tenkîl, istîsâl: punishing, uprooting
• darbhâne: place where money is struck, mint
• kazasker: army judge, high judicial official who handled military cases and judicial appointments
• mîrlivâ: sanjak bey
• seng-i mezâr, mahkûk: gravestone; carved upon it
• vakfiye: document stating that a property has been endowed for charitable purposes and how it is to be administered
• zâviye: small tekke where dervishes stay, guests are received, and worship is performed

Çelebi Mehmed's Years in Amasya

Çelebi Mehmed became sanjak bey of Amasya after it passed to the Ottomans during Yıldırım Bayezid's Canik campaign of 1391, and remained in this post until 1402. According to some sources, he commanded the army's rear guard at the Battle of Ankara and was among those who came out of the rout with few losses. In the eleven-year Interregnum after the battle the throne struggle among Süleyman, İsa, Musa, and Mehmed continued. Mehmed governed for most of these years the Amasya, Tokat, and Sivas region, that is, the province of Rum. The difference lies in the interpretation of the political picture. Hüsameddin's text presents Çelebi Mehmed as an independent emir who resisted Timur's summons and plotted against him. In the common chronologies, however, it is written that Mehmed recognized Timur's superiority in these years.

The end of Musa Çelebi given by Hüsameddin also agrees with present-day information. In 1413 Çelebi Mehmed defeated his brother Musa and began to rule the Ottomans alone. In the common sources this date is given as 5 July 1413. Hüsameddin mentions the year 816 (1413-14) and Çamurlu. It is also known that Bayezid Pasha played a role in Musa Çelebi's killing.

Bayezid Pasha and Sofi Bayezid

Two separate Bayezids, easy to confuse, appear in the text. One is Niğdelizâde Sofi Bayezid, Çelebi Mehmed's teacher; the other is Bayezid Pasha, who later became grand vizier. Bayezid Pasha is regarded as born in Amasya and his father's name appears in his endowment deed as Yahşi. His origin is disputed. The Byzantine historian Doukas writes that he was a slave of Albanian origin, an Amasyan author attaches him to the Bosnian dynasty, while Hüsameddin maintains that he was a Turk from an Amasyan family. It is difficult to give a definitive ruling among these. The same Doukas relates that after the rout at Ankara he carried the child prince on his back, collecting bread village by village, and brought him to Amasya; this account should be read as hearsay. After 1413 Bayezid Pasha became grand vizier and beylerbeyi of Rumelia. In 1421, in the first days of Murad II, he was sent against Düzmece Mustafa and was killed when most of his soldiers went over to the other side. Hüsameddin's saying, in the footnotes in the book, that Çandarlı İbrahim Pasha was not grand vizier in this period is in keeping with present-day knowledge: Çandarlı İbrahim's grand vizierate is shown as 1421-1429, and it is noted that his jealousy of Bayezid Pasha had a share in the latter's being sent to Rumelia.

Yâkût Pasha, Yâkub Pasha, and the Khalwati Zawiyas

There are two pashas with similar names in the text. Yâkût Pasha, one of Çelebi Mehmed's viziers, endowed in 810 his zawiya, imaret, and school in Amasya. Yazarlıoğlu Yâkub Pasha is the beylerbeyi of Ankara and endowed a mosque, madrasa, and zawiya in Zilkade 815. Yâkub Pasha's tekke in the Pîrler district of Amasya still stands today. The structure, also called among the people the Çilehâne Tekke, was built in 1412 as attached to the Khalwati order. Its endowment deed was recorded in February 1413 by Mevlânâ Rükneddin Mahmud, nicknamed Sarı Kadı, whom Hüsameddin also mentions in the text. The structure is counted among the rare order buildings that have reached the present day in their original form from the early Ottoman period; it was damaged in the 1939 Erzincan earthquake and repaired in 1967. The TDV entry writes the founder's surname as Pazarlıoğlu; Hüsameddin says Yazarlıoğlu. Which is correct could not be determined here. According to Hüsameddin, the tekke is located inside the Yâkub Pasha Mansion.

The tekke was founded for the Khalwati sheikh and mufti Gümüşlüzâde Abdurrahman Çelebi; this name also appears in Hüsameddin's text among the sheikhs of the Khalwati order. The TDV entry gives his death as 1497-98. The mufti and sheikh of the years 815-818 that Hüsameddin narrates may be another person bearing the same name; this distinction could not be verified from the sources.

Narratives in the Text That Could Not Be Verified

The text gives two narratives resting on Hüsameddin's own sources: the anecdote that youths on whose mustache an iron comb did not stay were not taken into the army, and that paper money under the name "çavik" was issued in Çelebi Sultan's time. Atâ Bey's Enderun Tarihi is cited as the basis for the first. No counterpart of these two narratives could be found in another source in our research. They should therefore be read as information relayed by Hüsameddin. The footnotes of the book placed by Hüsameddin are also important. On the death of the vizier Ali Pasha, he notes that the year 808 is written on the gravestone in İznik instead of the 814 in a history book, and that the phrase "the late Ali Pasha" occurs in an endowment deed dated 811. The next Ali Pasha is Kara Ali Alâeddinzâde Hasan Pasha, who died in 814. That is, Hüsameddin asserts that two separate viziers have been confused. This claim rests on documents but has not been independently verified.

Bibliography

Primary sources

• Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 3, p. 457–464. amasya.bel.tr

Academic studies

• Aydın Taneri, "Bayezid Paşa", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 5, İstanbul 1992, p. 242-243. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/bayezid-pasa
• 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
• "Yâkub Paşa Tekkesi", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/yakub-pasa-tekkesi
• "Murad II", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/murad-ii

Other sources

• "I. Mehmed" maddesi, Vikipedi. https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Çelebi_Mehmet