İdris Gâzi (Emîr Şücâeddîn)

In Modern English

He was from Amasya. He was the son of Emîr Alâeddîn Ali, son of Râmin, son of Şettat, the last governor of Amasya, of the line of Jutatius of the Komnenos house. Together with his brother Emîr Sinâneddîn Yûsuf Gâzi he served the Seljuk Sultan Mesud, rose among the emirs, and became one of the inner circle of the Seljuk princes. He died after 571 [1175-76]. He was one of the leading emirs of the Seljuks.

Notes and Research

Old Words in the Text

• vâli: governor, the administrator of a city or region
• evlâd: children, grandchildren, descent
• havâss: inner circle, distinguished persons
• ümerâ: emirs, senior commanders
• kibâr-ı ümerâ: the great ones among the emirs

Şettat and the Conquest of Amasya

Şettat, whom Hüsameddin calls "the last governor of Amasya," appears in the sources where the passing of Amasya to the Danishmendids is told. According to the account in the Amasya Research volume, İltekin Gazi, one of the commanders of Danishmend Ahmed Gazi, led the captured governor of Amasya, Şeddat, before him and made him open the gates of the fortress on the Night of Berat, 14 Şa'bân 467 (4 April 1075); as the gates were opened one after another, the Danishmendid forces took the fortress. So Şettat and Şeddat may be the same name, differing only in spelling. This difference in spelling may have arisen from the passing of the sources from hand to hand, but I saw no record that confirms it with certainty.

According to the account, a domed tomb was built for İltekin Gazi, and the people of Amasya used to gather there every year on 14 Şa'bân to commemorate the conquest. This custom rests on information Hüsameddin transmitted.

The Claim of Komnenos Descent

Hüsameddin links Şettat to a branch of the Komnenos family. I could not find a second source that supports or refutes this lineage. The conflicts between the Danishmendids and Byzantium in the times of the Emperors John II Komnenos and Manuel Komnenos are well known; it is recorded, for example, that Manuel, who saw the Danishmendids as a counterweight against the Seljuks, sent his commander Gavras with an army of 30,000 to Amasya and Niksar to win back territory for them, but achieved no result. But whether these events had anything to do with Şettat's descendants is not known.

A Family in Seljuk Service

According to the book, İdris Gâzi and his brother Sinâneddîn Yûsuf Gâzi served the Seljuk Sultan Mesud. Since the date of death is given as 571 (1175-76), it is highly probable that this Mesud was Mesud I, who died in 1155; but the text does not say which Mesud is meant. A notable coincidence is that Kılıçarslan II's taking of the Danishmendid lands in the summer of 1175 falls in the years of İdris Gâzi's death. There is no information on whether İdris Gâzi had any connection with these events; I note it only as a closeness in time.

No information was found in other sources on İdris Gâzi, Emîr Sinâneddîn Yûsuf Gâzi, or Emîr Alâeddîn Ali son of Râmin.

Traces of Danishmendid Amasya

The buildings the Danishmendids left in Amasya are still known today. It is recorded that the oldest Turkish building in the city is the mosque built by the Danishmendid Melik Gazi just east of the fortress, on the site of today's Şamlar Mosque. On the road from Amasya to Çorum, at the edge of the city, the Çağlayan (Çalâkçalık) Bridge over the Yeşilırmak is understood to have been built in the first half of the twelfth century by Hüsâmüddevle Hasan, son of İltegin Gazi, one of the emirs of Melik Nizâmeddin Yağıbasan. The Küçük Ağa Complex, in turn, is a group of buildings whose foundation goes back to the Danishmendid period but which was largely renewed in the Ottoman period at the end of the fifteenth century. The same sources also tell that in the Seljuk age Amasya was known by the title "Dârü'l-izz" (Abode of Glory); that in the division Kılıçarslan II made among his sons near the end of his reign the city fell to Nizâmeddin Argunşah; and that his brother Rükneddin Süleyman, the lord of Tokat, seized it by force. In this turbulent period, it is not surprising that Şettat's descendants should appear among the emirs in Seljuk service.

Bibliography

• Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 7, p. 272–272. amasya.bel.tr
• I. Amasya Araştırmaları (13-15 Haziran 2007), 1. Kitap: Tarih İçinde Amasya, ed. Yavuz Bayram, Amasya Valiliği Yayınları, 2007.