Dânişmendiye hükümdârı Nizâmeddîn Yağıbasan Gazî'nin mahdûmu³⁵⁹ olup pederi tarafından 556'da Amasya vâlîsi oldukda Amasya hükümdârı Sultân Şâhenşâh'ın adamlarını tard ve teb'îd ederek kendine müte'allik olan ümerâyı celb etmekle pederinin hükûmet-i muvakkatasını takviyeye gayret ediyor ve Yağıbasan Gâzi'nin yeğenleri İbrâhim ve Zünnûn Beyler dahi mevki'-i me'mûriyetlerine giderek ammizâdelerinin nüfûzunu tezyîde çalışıyorlardı.
Fakat harbden fâriğ olan Türkmen beyleri Yağıbasan Gâzi'nin şu vaz'-ı nâkisânesinden münfa'il olarak Dânişmendiye aleyhinde Âl-i Selçûk'a yardım etdikleri vekâyi'-i âtiyeden istidlâl olunur. Çünkü müttefik iki birâder harben muzaffer oldukları hâlde Dânişmendîler'in bu hareketlerine sükût edemeyecekleri bedîhî olduğu cihetle Sultân Kılıç Arslan, ibtidâ Malatya emîri Yağı Arslan dediği Zülkarneyn Alp Arslan Bey'in hücûmunu def' ederek mûmâ-ileyhi ahz ve katl ve yerine büyük mahdûmu olup kendisine münkâd olan Nâsıreddîn Muhammed Bey'i nasb ediyor, [337] Sultân Şâhenşâh dahi Kayseriyye emîri İbrâhim Gâzi'nin üzerine gidiyor idi.
Malatya emîrinin katlini duyan Dânişmendiye hükümdârı Yağıbasan Gâzi hiddet ederek Sultân Kılıç Arslan'ın menkûhası olup henüz Konya'ya giden Erzurum Hâkimi Melik Fahreddîn Muhammed Salîkî'nin gelin kızını şakîler gibi yoldan aldırıyor, Niksâr'a getirdip bîçâre kızı fesh-i nikâha bir yol bulmak için irtidâda cebr etdikden sonra yeğeni bulunan Sivas emîri Tanûn (Zünnûn) Bey'e veriyordu.³⁶⁰
Aylemü'z-Zâhir ve Câmiud-Düvel gibi tevârîh-i mühimmede mestûr olan bu vak'a-i menhûsayı duyan yalnız Kılıç Arslan değil belki bütün Türkmen Beyleri'nin gayz u hiddeti son şiddetiyle Dânişmendiye hükûmeti aleyhine teveccüh ediyor, Dânişmendîler'i müdâfa'a eden mütedeyyin beyler dahi bu vak'adan müteneffir olarak Âl-i Selçûk tarafına dönüyorlar, Dânişmendîler'i takbîh ederek müdâfa'alarından sarf-ı nazar eyliyorlardı.
Elsine-i selâse üzere müretteb olan tevârîh-i İslâmiyyenin zabtından istidlâl edildiği üzere Sultân Şâhenşâh Kayseriyye'ye hücûm ederek emîri bulunan İbrâhim Gâzi Niksâr'a doğru firâr etmekle Sultân Şâhenşâh Kayseriyye'yi zabt ediyor, ba'dehû birâderi Kılıç Arslan Hân [338] ile birleşerek Dânişmendiye hükümdârı Yağıbasan Gâzi aleyhine gidiyorlar. Erzurum hâkimi Melik Fahreddîn Muhammed Bey dahi Erzincân hâkimiyle ittifâk ederek Sivas'a doğru hareket etmekle emîri bulunan Zünnûn Gâzi de Niksâr'a ilticâ ediyor.
Dânişmendiye hükümdârı Yağıbasan Gâzi şarkan ve garben son derece tazyîk olunarak bütün Türkmen beylerinin kendi aleyhinde ibrâz-ı husûmet etdiklerini anlamakla kahrından hasta oluyor, çok geçmeksizin 560 zilhiccesinde Niksâr'da vefât ederek büyük yeğeni el-Melik Tâceddîn İbrâhim Gâzi Dânişmendiye hükümdârı oluyor, Türkmen beylerini hükûmet-i Dânişmendiye'nin lehine celb etmeğe çalışıyor, kısmen muvaffak oluyordu.
İbrâhim Bey'in birâderi Zünnûn Bey dahi kayınpederi bulunan Erzurum hâkimi Melik Fahreddîn Muhammed Bey'i irzâ ederek Erzincân hâkimiyle Kılıç Arslan Hân'ın aleyhine bunları dâ'ire-i ittifâka almakla beraber üç ammizâde ya'nî İbrâhim, Zünnûn ve Cemâl Gâzi Beyler yek-diğeriyle ittifâk ediyorlar.
Sultân Kılıç Arslan Hân ile birâderi Şâhenşâh Hân bunlara karşı harb ederek ibtidâ mağlûb oluyor, ba'dehû tecdîd-i kuvvet ederek gâlib geliyor, memâlik-i Dânişmendiye'den bir kısmını zabt ederek ilerliyor, fakat Rûm imparatoru Manu'el Komennus bu fırsatdan istifâde ederek memleket-i Dânişmendiye'ye hücûm ediyor, ba'dehû muslihûn bunların aralarına [339] girip tekarrür eden sulh üzerine Cemâl Gâzi Amasya'da, İbrâhim Gâzi Sivas'da, Zünnûn Gâzi Kayseriyye'de hâkim-i müstakil oluyorlar, Ankara vilâyeti de Sultân Şâhenşâh uhdesinde kalıyordu.
Fakat çok geçmeden Dânişmendîler, yek-diğerinin aleyhine düşdüklerini gören Türkmen beyleri Ankara hâkimi Sultân Şâhenşâh emrine münkâd olarak Rûm imparatorunun hücûmunu memleket-i Dânişmendiye'den def' ediyorlar, Dânişmendîler'in bîhûde didişmeleri memleket-i Dânişmendiye üzerinde Rûmlar'ın enzâr-ı hırsını celb ve tezyîd eylediğini takdîr ederek Selçûkîler'i takviye etmeğe mecbûr oluyorlardı.
Binâ'en-aleyh Sultân Şâhenşâh 562'de Ankara'dan hareket ederek merkez-i hükûmeti olan Amasya üzerine yürüdü. Bunu haber alan Amasya hâkimi Melik Cemâleddîn İsmâ'il Gâzi ammizâdesi olan Tâceddîn İbrâhim Gâzi'den istimdâd etmekle İbrâhim Bey dahi kuvve-i mevcûdesiyle Amasya'ya doğru geldiği esnâda Sultân Şâhenşâh Amasya'yı zabt ve firâr eden Cemâl Gâzi Bey'i ta'kîb ediyordu.
In Modern English
He is the son of the Danishmendid ruler Nizâmeddin Yağıbasan Gazi. When his father made him governor of Amasya in 556, he drove away and removed the men of Sultan Şâhenşâh, ruler of Amasya, and, drawing the emirs loyal to himself to his side, tried to strengthen his father's provisional government. Yağıbasan Gazi's nephews İbrahim and Zünnûn Beys likewise went to their posts and strove to increase the influence of their cousins.
However, the Turkmen beys who had withdrawn from the war, resentful of this inadequate conduct of Yağıbasan Gazi, helped the Seljuks against the Danishmendids. This is understood from later events. For since the two allied brothers had won the war, it was clear that they could not remain silent about these Danishmendid moves. Sultan Kılıç Arslan first repelled the attack of Zülkarneyn Alp Arslan Bey, the emir of Malatya whom he called Yağı Arslan; he captured and killed him and appointed in his place his own eldest son, Nâsıreddin Muhammed Bey, who was subordinate to him. Sultan Şâhenşâh, for his part, was moving against İbrahim Gazi, the emir of Kayseri.
Hearing that the emir of Malatya had been killed, the Danishmendid ruler Yağıbasan Gazi was enraged. He had the bride daughter of Melik Fahreddin Muhammed Salîkî, the lord of Erzurum, who was betrothed to Sultan Kılıç Arslan and was still on her way to Konya, taken from the road like a brigand; bringing her to Niksar, he forced the poor girl to renounce her religion in order to find a way to have the marriage annulled, and then gave her to his nephew Tanun (Zünnûn) Bey, the emir of Sivas.
Hearing of this ill-omened event, recorded in important histories such as Âlemü'z-Zâhir and Câmiu'd-Düvel, not only Kılıç Arslan but all the Turkmen Beys turned their wrath, at its utmost intensity, against the Danishmendid government. The pious beys who had defended the Danishmendids also loathed this event and turned to the Seljuk side; condemning the Danishmendids, they gave up defending them.
As is understood from the records of the Islamic histories written in three languages, Sultan Şâhenşâh attacked Kayseri; when the emir there, İbrahim Gazi, fled toward Niksar, he took Kayseri, and then, joining his brother Kılıç Arslan Han, they marched against the Danishmendid ruler Yağıbasan Gazi. Melik Fahreddin Muhammed Bey, the lord of Erzurum, came to an agreement with the lord of Erzincan and marched toward Sivas; Zünnûn Gazi, the emir there, took refuge in Niksar.
The Danishmendid ruler Yağıbasan Gazi, hard pressed from east and west, understood that all the Turkmen beys showed hostility toward him. He fell ill from grief and soon afterwards died in Niksar in the month of Zilhicce of the year 560. His elder nephew el-Melik Tâceddin İbrahim Gazi became the Danishmendid ruler; he tried to draw the Turkmen beys to the Danishmendid government and was partly successful in this.
İbrahim Bey's brother Zünnûn Bey also won over his father-in-law, Melik Fahreddin Muhammed Bey, the lord of Erzurum, and brought him and the lord of Erzincan into an alliance against Kılıç Arslan Han. In addition the three cousins, that is, İbrahim, Zünnûn and Cemâl Gazi Beys, came to an understanding with one another.
Sultan Kılıç Arslan Han and his brother Şâhenşâh Han fought against them; they were first defeated, then gathered strength and prevailed, advancing and seizing part of the Danishmendid realm. But the Greek emperor Manuel Komnenos took advantage of this opportunity and attacked the Danishmendid realm. Then mediators intervened; by the peace reached, Cemâl Gazi became independent ruler in Amasya, İbrahim Gazi in Sivas and Zünnûn Gazi in Kayseri, and the province of Ankara remained in the hands of Sultan Şâhenşâh.
But soon the Turkmen beys, seeing the Danishmendids fall upon one another, came under the command of Sultan Şâhenşâh, ruler of Ankara, and drove the Greek emperor's attack out of the Danishmendid realm. Realizing that the Danishmendids' empty quarrels were drawing and increasing the Greeks' ambition toward the Danishmendid realm, they were obliged to strengthen the Seljuks.
Thereupon Sultan Şâhenşâh set out from Ankara in 562 and marched on Amasya, the seat of government. Hearing this, Melik Cemâleddin Ismail Gazi, the lord of Amasya, asked for help from his cousin Tâceddin İbrahim Gazi. While İbrahim Bey was coming toward Amasya with the force he had, Sultan Şâhenşâh took Amasya and set about pursuing the fleeing Cemâl Gazi Bey.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- mahdûm: son
- tard ve teb'îd: to expel and drive away
- vaz'-ı nâkisâne: deficient, inadequate conduct
- münfa'il: offended, resentful
- vekâyi'-i âtiye: later events
- menkûha: a married woman, betrothed
- şakî: highwayman, brigand
- fesh-i nikâh: annulment of a marriage
- irtidâd: apostasy
- vak'a-i menhûse: ill-omened event
- gayz u hiddet: wrath and anger
- elsine-i selâse: three languages (Arabic, Persian, Turkish)
- muslihûn: mediators
- istimdâd: asking for help
- ta'kîb: following, pursuit
The Yağıbasan Period and the Saltuk Daughter Affair
According to the entry on the Danishmendids, Yağıbasan is a grandson of Danishmend Gazi and a son of Melik Gazi, and was influential as the Danishmendid melik residing in Sivas until 1164. The sources recount the incident in which Yağıbasan took from the road the daughter of İzzeddin Saltuk Bey, melik of the Saltukids of Erzurum, who was betrothed to Kılıç Arslan II and being sent from Erzurum to Konya with a rich dowry, and married her to his nephew Zünnûn, melik of Kayseri; Kılıç Arslan moved into action over this "grave insult." In the text Hüsameddin gives the name of the Saltukid ruler as Fahreddin Muhammed; the name in the sources is İzzeddin Saltuk. The source also reports that Kılıç Arslan was defeated in this campaign before the Byzantine-backed Danishmendid army (1162) and then took Sivas (1163). In Hüsameddin, by contrast, the Seljuks prevail in the end, and in between Manuel attacks the Danishmendid realm. The accounts give the same chain of events in a different order.
The Death of Yağıbasan
Hüsameddin writes that Yağıbasan died in Niksar in Zilhicce 560. The encyclopedia entry, on the other hand, reports that he died on 4 August 1164 when he went to his son-in-law Şâhinşah, the Seljuk melik of Çankırı, to ask for help, and says that he is buried in the graveyard of the madrasa he had built in Niksar. The place of death given by Hüsameddin (Niksar) and the one given by the encyclopedia (at Şâhinşah's side) also differ from each other. Yağıbasan's inscription in Niksar dated 552 (1157) is known today.
Cemâleddin Gazi and Ismail
In a footnote, relying on a legal declaration given by the kadı of Amasya, Hüsameddin states that Cemâl Gazi's name was Ismail. The editor of the book notes that there is a confusion of information in this footnote. The entry on the Danishmendids also reports that some historians give Cemâleddin Gazi's real name as Ismail, and that after ruling around Tokat and Amasya for two years he was eliminated by his cousin İbrahim (1166). The sources also diverge on who succeeded after Yağıbasan's death: in some accounts Yağıbasan's wife married İsmail, the sixteen-year-old son of Zünnûn's brother İbrahim, and proclaimed him ruler; in others his son Cemâleddin Gazi succeeded him. The same source also writes that the emir of Sivas named Ismail was killed by an uprising of the people during the famine in Sivas (1172). In short, the names and sequence of this period are not clear in the sources; Hüsameddin's records must therefore be read with care.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 2, p. 335–336. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies