AMASYA 05

Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar · İKİNCİ BÂB · BİRİNCİ FASIL

Esen Bey-Emîr Mücâhiddîn Gâzi

Encyclopedia · History of Amasya, Volume 7, p. 333 • Edited by: Prof. Dr. Safi ARPAGUŞ- Prof. Dr. Ahmet Hakkı TURABİ

Original Text (Ottoman Turkish)

[230] Havzalıdır. Oranın emîri olan Emîr Bedreddîn İldâş Bey’in mahdûmudur. Pederinin vefâtında Havza beyi olarak züamâ sırasına girdi. İshak Baba harbinde din ve milleti müdâfaa ederek ümerâdan olup 641 senesi muharreminde Moğol harbinde vefât etdi. Birâderi Emîr Mübârizeddîn İsa Bey yerini tutdu.

Our Research Article Editor: Mevlüt Erdem Öztürk

In Modern English

He is a native of Havza. He is the son of Emir Bedreddin İldâş Bey, the emir of that place. On his father's death he entered the ranks of the leading emirs (züamâ) as lord of Havza. In the war of İshak Baba he defended the faith and the nation and was counted among the emirs; he died in the month of Muharrem of the year 641 [1243-44] in the war with the Mongols. His brother Emir Mübârizeddin İsa Bey took his place.

Notes and Research

Old Words in the Text

  • züamâ: in the Ottoman state the term for holders of large military fiefs; here it should mean leading emirs (an inference)
  • emîr: commander, district governor
  • mahdûm: son
  • müdâfaa: defence
  • ümerâ: emirs
  • Mübârizeddin: a title meaning "warrior of the faith"

The War of İshak Baba

The event Hüsameddin calls "the war of İshak Baba" is the Babai revolt, which broke out in 1240 in the reign of Gıyâseddin Keyhusrev II. The revolt was carried on in the name of Baba İlyâs, a Turkmen sheikh active in the Amasya region, but the first spark was struck by his deputy Baba İshak in Kefersud in 637 (1240). As the revolt spread to central Anatolia, Baba İlyâs was besieged and captured by Seljuk forces at Amasya and executed. Baba İshak then came to Amasya and marched on Konya with a large force, but on the way he was defeated and killed by the Seljuk army on the plain of Malya near Kırşehir. Given Havza's nearness to Amasya, it is conceivable that the emirs of the district fought on the Seljuk side in this campaign; Esen Bey's name could not be verified in the sources cited, so this is an inference.

The Battle of Kösedağ

The date 641 (1243) corresponds to the Battle of Kösedağ, in which the Seljuk army suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of the Mongols. According to the sources, young commanders at the sultan's side held that a picked force of twenty thousand would be enough against a Mongol army of thirty thousand; this force went down to the plain and was almost entirely destroyed by the classic Mongol tactic of feigned flight and encirclement. During the night the sultan fled to Tokat and the vizier Mühezzebüddin Ali to Amasya. The vizier later met the city's judge Fahreddin at Amasya, and a decision was taken to make peace with the Mongols. The month "Muharrem 641" that Hüsameddin gives is an extra detail for a battle which the sources mention only by year; no other record of that month could be read. Whether Esen Bey, who died "in the Mongol war", fell at Kösedağ or in an earlier clash could not be verified in the sources.

Havza

Detailed information on the administration and development of Havza in the Seljuk period and in the age of the principalities that followed is limited in the sources; it is known that the region remained under Turkish rule. According to a record of later years, in 1277 Celâleddin Mâh Âlem, chief of the Turkmen Güdürlü tribe living in Havza, attacked Amasya; this also points to a strong Turkmen presence around Havza.

No information on Emir İldâş Bey, on Esen Bey or on his brother Mübârizeddin İsa Bey was found in other sources.

Bibliography

Primary sources

  • Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 7, p. 333–333. amasya.bel.tr

Academic studies

Volume 7 contents