Esen Bey-Taşanzâde

In Modern English

Celâleddin Taşan Bey, emir of Kedağra, is the son of Emir Çelebi. He too was one of the emirs of Şadgeldi Padishah, the ruler of Amasya, Hacı Seyfeddin, and for years held the emirate of Kedağra. He died in 773 [1371-72]. His son Ali Bey was very well known.

Notes and Research

Old Words in the Text

• emîr: commander, district governor
• mahdûm: son
• ümerâ: emirs
• emâret: emirate
• pâdişâh: ruler; here it appears as Şadgeldi's own title

Kedağra and the Köprü Region

Kedağra is a fortress and town near Amasya. In the 1260s the Seljuk emir Şah Melik Bey withdrew to this fortress near Amasya and rebelled; the pro-Mongol vizier Pervâne besieged it and handed him over to the Mongols. In 1302 Gıyâseddin Mesud II gave his son Tâceddin Altunbaş Amasya together with Gedegra (Kedağra) and Sinop. The area that includes the town of Kedağra and the village of Köprü took the name Vezirköprü during the vizierate of Köprülü Mehmed Pasha. This information shows that the place where Taşan Bey held his emirate was both a fortress dependent on Amasya and the area around later Vezirköprü. Hüsameddin's "for years held the emirate of Kedağra" describes the emirate of this region.

The Taşanoğulları

In some sources the Taşanoğulları are described as a principality founded by Taşan Bey, subject to Eretna, which ruled the area around Vezirköprü, Havza and Merzifon; however, the dates given in the sources (foundation in 1350, settling on Mount Taşan after 1366, end in 1398) are not consistent with one another. According to what is quoted from Hüsameddin's book, Çelebi Sultan Mehmed protected the Taşanoğulları living at Köprü and suppressed the Kubadoğulları, thus bringing both houses to obey him. At Havza the name of Taşanoğlu Umur Bey appears; it is written that he fell out with Kılıç Arslan of the line of Altunbaş because Kılıç Arslan treated Havza as his own farm. The relation of this Taşanoğlu Umur Bey to Ali Bey, son of Celâleddin Taşan Bey, or to anyone else Hüsameddin mentions is not stated in the sources read. That Taşan Bey is the same man as Celâleddin Taşan Bey of this entry also could not be verified; the identity of the names makes this a possibility, but it is an inference.

The Age of Şadgeldi Pasha

Hacı Şadgeldi governed Amasya from 1359 to 1381, and in this time he also brought under his rule the fortress of Osmancık and the areas of Çorum, İskilip and Sinop. The year of Taşan Bey's death, 773 (1371-72), falls in the middle of this period of rule. Why Taşan Bey's son Ali Bey was "very well known" could not be found in the sources read.

No information on Emir Çelebi or on Ali Bey was found in other sources.

Bibliography

Primary sources

• Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 7, p. 334–334. amasya.bel.tr

Academic studies

• Firdevs Özen, "Amasya'nın İlhanlı Hâkimiyetinde Siyasî, İktisadî ve Kültürel Durumu", Sosyal Bilimler Araştırmaları 13, Amasya Üniversitesi Yayınları, 2024, p. 79 ff.
• İnan Demirtaş, "Şehzade Ahmed'in Amasya Sancak Beyliği", Sosyal Bilimler Araştırmaları 13, Amasya Üniversitesi Yayınları, 2024, p. 133 ff.
• Zerrin Günal Öden, "Kadı Burhaneddin Karşısında Bir Selçuklu Şehzadesi Kılıç Arslan", Belleten, 64/241 (2000), https://belleten.gov.tr/tam-metin/2577/tur
• Mehterhan Furkani, "Siyasî ve İlmî Bir Kişilik: Amasya Emiri Hacı Şadgeldi Paşa ve ed-Dürerü'l-Mensûretü fi'l-Furû' Adlı Eserin Kendisine Nispeti", Uluslararası Amasya Âlimleri Sempozyumu Bildiriler Kitabı I, Amasya 2017, https://isamveri.org/pdfdrg/G00226/2017/2017_FURKANIM.pdf

Other sources

• "Taşanoğulları Beyliği", Vikipedi, https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taşanoğulları_Beyliği