Vezîr-i a'zam Bâyezîd Paşa'nın birâderi ve Amasyalı Sunkurzâde Yahşî Bey mahdûmudur. Sultân Murâd-ı Sânî'nin Osmanlı tahtına da'veti müş'ir mektûb ile çâşnîgirbaşı Elvân Bey 824 senesi cumadelûlâsının on dokuzuncu günü Amasya'ya gelmişdi.
Sultân Murâd o gün Edirne'ye müteveccihen yola çıkmakla Hamza Paşa 824 senesi Osmanlıelûlâsının yirmisinden i'tibâren Amasya beylerbeyi oldu. Buna da Nûreddîn Hamza Bey denirdi.
Nişâncı iken vezâret verilen Gümüşlüzâde Şemseddîn Ahmed Paşa, Pîr İlyâs-ı Halvetî zâviyesi civârında bir câmi-i şerîf binâ edib 824 senesinde hitâma ermişdir. [198]
Sultân Süleyman bin Yıldırım Bâyezîd Hân'ın şehzâdesi olan Mehmed Şâh ile Kâsım Çelebi hakk-ı verâset dâ'iyesine düşdükleri ihbâr edilmiş, Kal’a-i Bâlâ'ya kaldırılmışlardı.
825 senesi muharreminin yirmi beşinci günü bâ-fermân-ı Murâdî, Mehmed Şâh Çelebi ihnâk edilip Amasya'da şehzâdegân türbesine defn edildi. Fakat birâderi şehzâde Kâsım Çelebi ihnâk edileceğini anladığı anda sâdık bir câriyesinin yardımıyla kendisi ve hemşîresi gece kaleden firâr edib Mısır'a gitdiler.
Çünkü Rûmeli'nde Yıldırım Hân oğlu Sultân Mustafa ikinci def'a hurûc ve kıyâm etmişdi. Bunların da hakk-ı verâsetden dem vurmaları hurûc ve kıyâm edeceklerini işrâb ediyordu.
Lâkin Kâsım Çelebi'nin firârına meydân vermesi Hamza Paşa için bir kabâhat sayılmışdı. Fakat birâderi Bâyezîd Paşa vezîr-i a'zam bulunduğu cihetle müsâmaha edildi. Birâderiyle Sultân Mustafa harbine me'mûren Rûmeli'ne çağrıldı. Yerine Yörgüç Paşa ta'yîn edildi.
In Modern English
He is the brother of the grand vizier Bayezid Pasha and the son of the Amasyan Sunkurzâde Yahşi Bey. The çaşnigirbaşı Elvan Bey had come to Amasya on the nineteenth day of Cumadelûlâ 824 [1421] with the letter announcing that Sultan Murad II had been invited to the Ottoman throne.
When Sultan Murad set out toward Edirne that day, Hamza Pasha became beylerbeyi of Amasya from the twentieth of "Osmanlıelûlâ" 824. He was also called Nûreddin Hamza Bey.
Gümüşlüzâde Şemseddin Ahmed Pasha, who had been given the vizierate while nişancı, had a mosque built near the zawiya of Pîr İlyas-ı Halvetî; this mosque was completed in 824.
It was reported that Mehmed Şah and Kâsım Çelebi, princes of Sultan Süleyman bin Yıldırım Bayezid Han, had fallen into claiming a right of inheritance, and they were taken to Kal'a-i Bâlâ (the Upper Fortress).
On the twenty-fifth day of Muharram 825 [1421-22], by Murad's decree, Mehmed Şah Çelebi was strangled and buried in the tomb of the princes in Amasya. But the moment his brother Prince Kâsım Çelebi understood that he would be strangled, with the help of a faithful concubine he and his sister fled the fortress by night and went to Egypt.
For in Rumelia, Sultan Mustafa, son of Yıldırım Han, had risen in revolt a second time. Their speaking of a right of inheritance too suggested that they would rebel.
But allowing Kâsım Çelebi to escape was counted as a fault for Hamza Pasha. However, since his brother Bayezid Pasha was grand vizier, tolerance was shown. Together with his brother he was summoned to Rumelia on duty for the war against Sultan Mustafa. Yörgüç Pasha was appointed in his place.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- çâşnigîrbaşı: head of the palace table attendants
- hakk-ı verâset: right of inheritance; here, the right to accede to the throne
- ihnâk: having someone strangled, killing by strangling
- şehzâdegân türbesi: tomb of the princes
- kabâhat: fault, offense
- müsâmaha: tolerance
- Kal'a-i Bâlâ: the upper fortress of Amasya
Hamza Pasha and the Family of Bayezid Pasha
Hamza Pasha, according to Hüsameddin, is the brother of Bayezid Pasha and his father is Yahşi Bey. The TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi also gives the name of Bayezid Pasha's father as Yahşi. In the same entry it is written that Bayezid Pasha's brother Hamza Bey was, during his vizierate, one of the naval beys, that when the Venetians entered the Dardanelles in 1417 and bombarded Lapseki he resisted on land with more than 10,000 troops, and that later he was made fleet commander at the conquest of Istanbul. As also touched on in the previous entry, the encyclopedia entry on Murad II mentions Hamza Bey as prince Murad's new atabey in Amasya and beylerbeyi of Rum and speaks of his appointment to the beylerbeyilik of Anatolia in 1425. Whether all these records belong to the same Hamza Bey is not clearly stated in the sources.
According to a DergiPark article, after Murad's accession to the throne first Hamza Bey, and a year later for the second time Yörgüç Pasha, were appointed beylerbeyi of Amasya. Hüsameddin's text also gives the same order: Yörgüç Pasha was appointed in Hamza Pasha's place.
The Call to the Throne
Çelebi Mehmed suffered a stroke in Edirne on 26 May 1421 and died. Since Düzmece Mustafa was feared, the news of death was kept secret until Murad, who was governor in Amasya, reached Bursa. Murad took the oath of allegiance in Bursa and came to the throne on 25 June 1421. The nineteenth day of Cumadelûlâ 824 that Hüsameddin gives for Elvan Bey's summons falls within these developments; however, the day of the event could not be found in another source.
Mehmed Şah and Kâsım Çelebi
According to Hüsameddin, when it was reported that two sons of Sultan Süleyman, Mehmed Şah and Kâsım Çelebi, claimed a right to the throne, they were shut up in the upper fortress in Amasya. Mehmed Şah Çelebi was strangled in Muharram 825 and buried in the tomb of the princes, while Kâsım Çelebi, with the help of a concubine, fled the fortress together with his sister and went to Egypt. No other source confirming the details about these two princes and the events narrated was found. The text's reasoning is that in Rumelia Mustafa had risen in revolt a second time at this time. According to the TDV, Mustafa, with Byzantine support, landed at Gallipoli in the autumn of 1421, took Edirne, and crossed into Anatolia in January 1422.
Bayezid Pasha's Situation
According to Hüsameddin, allowing Kâsım Çelebi to escape was counted as a fault for Hamza Pasha, but he was forgiven since his brother Bayezid Pasha was grand vizier. According to the TDV, however, Bayezid Pasha was sent against Düzmece Mustafa in 1421, was forced to surrender at Sazlıdere near Edirne when most of his soldiers went over to the other side, and was killed the next day. Mustafa's crossing into Anatolia is after this death. Therefore the event Hüsameddin narrates does not appear to have happened in the period of Bayezid Pasha's vizierate; there is a difference in the date of the event or in the reason for the forgiveness. This contradiction could not be resolved.
The Date Problem in the Text
In Hüsameddin's text the date Hamza Pasha took up his post is written as "from the twentieth of the year 824 Osmanlıelûlâ." "Osmanlıelûlâ" is not a known month name. It might be thought that the month Cumadelûlâ mentioned in the previous sentence is meant and that this is a spelling or typesetting error, but this is an inference and could not be verified. The translation stays with the text as it is.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 3, p. 466–467. 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
- "Murad II", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/murad-ii
- Selim Özcan, "Amasya'da Sancak Beyliği Yapan Şehzadeler Döneminde Amasya Şehri", Amasya Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, sayı 5. https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/19685
- 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
Other sources