Ebûbekir Bey — Keçi Beyzâde

In Modern English

He was the son of İshâk Bey bin Ebûbekir Çelebi, of the noble offspring of Torumtay. He was one of the sanjak beys; he died in the Egyptian war in 893 [1488]. His daughters were Kamer and Fahrunnisâ Hatun, and his son-in-law was Hoca el-Hâc Mehmed Çelebi, son of Hoca el-Hâc Süleyman Çelebi. Kamer Hatun placed Qur'an parts (cüz) in the mosque built by her husband Hoca Mehmed Çelebi, to be recited, in 911 [1505-06], and endowed her properties. Fahrunnisâ Hatun also had a school built in the Ahi Sâbukuddîn neighborhood.

Notes and Research

Old Words in the Text

• evlâd-ı kirâm: noble, honorable offspring; those descended from a great person
• mahdûm: son
• ümerâ-yı livâ: sanjak beys, military and administrative governors at the sanjak level
• kerîme: daughter
• eczâ-yı şerîfe vaz' etmek: to place in a mosque Qur'an parts to be recited every day by certain persons
• emlâk: properties, immovables
• mekteb: here, the sıbyan mektebi, where the neighborhood's children were taught reading, writing and the Qur'an

The Torumtay Line and the Keçi Beyzâdes

Ebûbekir Bey is descended from Seyfeddin Torumtay, who governed Amasya in the Seljuk period. Hüsameddin gives the links of this family one by one in other entries of his book: Sirâceddîn Mehmed Çelebi, one of Torumtay's descendants, became vizier to the emir of Amasya Hacı Şâdgeldi Pasha in the latter's last years and was known as "Keçi Bey." His son el-Hâc Ebûbekir Çelebi died around 821 [1418], and his grandson Cemâleddîn İshâk Çelebi in 834 [1430-31]. Ebûbekir Bey, who is mentioned as the son of İshâk Çelebi, is the subject of this entry. The family was called "Keçi Beyzâde" after their ancestor Keçi Bey and, for generations, served as mütevelli of Torumtay's foundation.

The traces of the family's great ancestor Seyfeddin Torumtay in Amasya still stand today. The endowment deed of the mosque-madrasa building known as the Gökmedrese bears the date 665 [1266-67]; its tomb, opposite the building and separated from it by a street, is dated 677 [1278-79]. In the tomb, besides Torumtay, are also the graves of his children and grandchildren. Hüsameddin records that Keçi Bey and his son Ebûbekir Çelebi are buried in this tomb, and that their names are carved on the gravestones but there are no dates of death.

The Egyptian War of 893

The war called the "Egyptian war" in the text is the wars between the Ottomans and the Mamluks that lasted from 1485 to 1491 in the regions of Çukurova and Malatya. In these years Adana and Tarsus changed hands several times; on 8 Ramazan 893 [16 August 1488] the Mamluks won the battle fought at Ağaçayırı near Adana and retook Adana. The wars ended with the peace signed in 896 [1491]. Hüsameddin does not say in which engagement Ebûbekir Bey died; but the year 893 he gives coincides with the year of the defeat at Ağaçayırı.

Kamer Hatun and Her Husband's Mosque

Kamer Hatun's husband, called in other entries of Hüsameddin "Pîr Mehmed Çelebi" or "Pîr Hoca el-Hâc Mehmed Çelebi," was one of the wealthy notables of Amasya and for a time the treasurer (defterdar) of Prince Sultan Ahmed. According to Hüsameddin, this person had a mosque built in 911 [1505-06] below the Sığır Pazarı (Cattle Market), near the Atabeg Madrasa, died in Muharrem 917 [1511], and was buried in the small graveyard to the west of the mosque. Kamer Hatun lies in the same graveyard. Noteworthy is the date given for Kamer Hatun's foundation: the year that appears in this entry as 911 is given as 913 [1507-08] in the parts of the book describing the neighborhoods and Pîr Mehmed Çelebi. Hüsameddin also shows the famous treasurer Iskender Çelebi of Amasya as Pîr Mehmed Çelebi's son-in-law.

In the center of Amasya there is a mosque known today as the Pir Mehmet Çelebi Mosque, also called the Pazar Mosque or the Ekin Pazarı Mosque, with a single dome and a single minaret. The inventory records write that who had this mosque built and when is unknown, and that judging from its architectural traces it may belong to the fifteenth-sixteenth century. In name and market location it is most probably the same building as the mosque Hüsameddin describes; if so, Hüsameddin's entries complete the information on the founder and date left blank in today's records. The mosque, whose minaret collapsed in an earthquake and was rebuilt, was repaired in 2007 and is open for worship.

The Ahi Sâbukuddîn neighborhood, where Fahrunnisâ Hatun built her school, appears in Hüsameddin's list of neighborhoods under the name "Sâbıkeddîn Neighborhood." The people call this neighborhood, which lies in front of the Meydan Bridge, between the Kale Kapısı (Castle Gate) in the east and the Kamereddîn neighborhood in the west, "Sebkaddîn"; it took its name from an old bey named Sâbıkeddîn Ebûbekir, who lived here until 780 [1378-79]. No other record was found on Fahrunnisâ Hatun's school.

Bibliography

Primary sources

• Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 86. amasya.bel.tr
• Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, vol. 1 (Mukaddime: neighborhoods and tombs); vol. 6, "Ebûbekir Çelebi-el-Hâc Bedreddîn"; vol. 7, "İshak Çelebi-Keçi Beyzâde" and "Pîr Mehmed Çelebi-Şeyh Hâmidoğlu Hoca el-Hâc"; vol. 10, "Sirâceddîn Mehmed Çelebi-Keçi Bey" entries.

Academic studies

• İsmail Yiğit, "Kayıtbay", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kayitbay).
• Selda Kalfazade, "Gökmedrese Camii", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/gokmedrese-camii).

Official sources

• Amasya İl Kültür ve Turizm Müdürlüğü, "Torumtay Türbesi", Kültür Portalı (kulturportali.gov.tr/turkiye/amasya/gezilecekyer/torumtay-turbes).

Books

• Elif Kurt, "Pir Mehmet Çelebi Camii", Online Türkiye Turizm Ansiklopedisi, 2020 (turkiyeturizmansiklopedisi.com/pir-mehmet-celebi-camii).

Other sources

• "Ağaçayırı Muharebesi", online encyclopedia entry (tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ağaçayırı_Muharebesi).
• "Pir Mehmet Çelebi Camii", Kültür Envanteri (kulturenvanteri.com/yer/pir-mehmet-celebi-camii-amasya).