Second Chapter (1)

In Modern English

It explains the governments in Amasya of the Persians, then of those who remained of the Persians, and of the Mihridats, famous as the rulers of Pontus, and the circumstances of the governors and rulers.

Since the Persian state divided the places it had taken in Asia and Africa into twenty great provinces, the nineteenth province was counted as the "Land of Pontus."

As explained in Mir'âtü'l-İber: "The Land of Pontus is in the northeast of Asia Minor, bounded on the north by the Black Sea, on the east by the Caucasus, on the west by Paphlagonia, and on the south by Cappadocia and Galatia, and in very ancient times the Turkish tribes called 'Tîbâr, Şâlîb, Muznîk' lived here."

According to this description the Province of Pontus was the places including the sanjaks of Amasya, Erzincan, Erzurum, Tokat, Canik, Çorum, Sivas, Trabzon, Karahisar-ı Şarkî, Gümüşhane, Lazistan, Muş and Yozgat. Its administrative center was the city of Amasya, and its old people were the Turkish clans famous by the names "Tîbâr, Şâlîb, Muznîk."

The "Tibârans, Cumans, Lekzs" whom he calls Tîbâr; the "Salîb, by another name Halîb and the Halîts" whom he calls Şâlîb; and the "Bozoks" whom he calls Muznîk. These too are, like the Sans and Pechenegs, On Uygur, that is, Hun clans. Their names and the places they lived were mentioned and explained above.

As understood from these explanations, the old Amazon continent where the Huns lived, being attached to the Huns, was famous under the name "Hunit." The Greeks corrupted this name and said "Ponit, Pont, Pontus," and changed the word Hun into the form "Pon." It is as if with this much corruption they hid the word "Hunit," belonging to the Turan language, under Greek dress.

Şerif Muhammed İdrîsî in Ünsü'l-Mühec, and Ibn Bibi in Selçuk-nâme-i Rûm, give the province of Sivas the name "Vilâyet-i Hûniye." The persons written in the endowment deed of 651 of Emîr Celâleddîn Karatay, after whom a quarter in Amasya is named, as "Mevlânâ Nûreddîn Abdülmü'min ibn Muhammed el-Hûnî and Mevlânâ Abdülcâmi' ibn Abdurrahman ibn Muhammed el-Hûnî," and in another deed of 679 as "Mevlânâ eş-Şeyh Seyfeddîn Osman ibn Mevlânâ Abdülmü'min ibn Muhammed el-Hûnî," show that they were from the sanjak of Amasya. According to what these religious and historical records show, there is no doubt that the origin of the word "Pon" is "Hun."

So when the Province of Pontus, meaning the "Hunit Continent," was definitively annexed to the Persian lands 1042 years before the Hijra, Bazran, governor of Caria, was appointed to the governorship of the land of Pontus; he came and lived in Amasya and ran the affairs of the land.

Bazran, governor of Pon, is the son of Artabaz ibn Farnak ibn Rudbâd, one of the Persian satraps, of the line of a person who had been the means of the kingship of Darius I, who became Persian ruler 1143 years before the Hijra. Since the dynasty had certain privileges and kinship with the Persian shahs, he traced his lineage up to Darius I. But since he was weak, the Turks must have called him "Arıg"; this name later became wrongly famous as "Ariyu Bazran."

In Mir'âtü'l-İber this person is shown as third in the governorship of Pon. The historian Reynak also writes that he was governor of Phrygia, that is, Caria. But considering Basan Han's revolt in Amasya and the interest Darius II showed in this person, the words of both can be reconciled as we have written. Arıg Bazran served as governor in Amasya for eighteen years and died 1024 years before the Hijra.

The First Mihridat, upon the death of his father Bazran, was appointed to the governorship of Pon by the Persian shah Artaxerxes II; staying in office thirty-nine years, he gained fame for repairing the roads of the Pon continent, easing transport and widening its trade, and died 985 years before the Hijra.

The Second Ariyu Bazran, in place of his father Mihridat, again by the Persian shah Artaxerxes II, became governor of Pon and served as governor like a ruler for twenty-six years. But toward the end of his life, being very fond of independence, he revolted against the Persian shah Erdeşir, like Datam, governor of Cappadocia. When his son Second Mihridat handed his father over to the shah's men for a large sum of money, Ariyu Bazran was crucified.

The Second Mihridat is the son of the killed Ariyu Bazran. When, in return for the crime he had committed against his father, he became governor of the land of Pon 959 years before the Hijra, he had been charged with killing Datam, who as governor of Cappadocia had revolted like his father. Although he gained fame by killing Datam with a military force, this murder was seen as quite ordinary in the eyes of the Turks living in the Pon continent.

Darius III, who sat on the Persian throne 958 years before the Hijra, was busy securing the obedience of his opponents in Asia when the famous Alexander, ruler of Macedonia, attacked the Persian lands with a great army. In the battle that began near the Granicus (Ganik) River, Darius suffered a heavy defeat 956 years before the Hijra, and afterwards the state of the Keyânîs was overthrown.

At this time the Turks were already disturbed by the baseness the Second Mihridat, governor of Pon, had done to his father. They set in motion under the command of Mitur Han, one of the Bozoks, of the children of Basan Han, the last ruler of Amasya, and in the days following Alexander's victory drove away the Second Mihridat. Mitur Han declared his independence in Amasya 954 years before the blessed Hijra.

Mitur Han must be a grandson of the said Basan Han. The historian Reynak records him in the History of Pon as "Mitru Buzans" and writes his independence in the way we have described. Since "mutur," meaning "happy, blessed," is pronounced "mitur" in the Hatti language, the word "mitr" is an abbreviation of this word "mitur." Buzans also means "bozan, basan" and means the known bird of prey.

According to what the historian Reynak writes, Mitur Han secured his position by showing submission to Alexander and thus brought back the old freedom of the Amasya government. But Aryarat, one of the Persian satraps and governor of Cappadocia, taking advantage of Alexander's being occupied with affairs in Iran, revolted, declared his independence, did away with Mitur Han by war and took the Pontus continent too.

Since Aryarat was of the line of the Turanian Otan, one of Darius I's emirs, he acted in the manner of the old Tugayits: he lived first in the city of Zile (Silay), then in the fortified town called Turhal (Turgal), and ruled Cappadocia and the Pontus continent united. The historian Reynak presents him as a very prudent and wise ruler.

Aryarat ruled over Elbistan, Konya, Kayseri, Maraş and their surroundings, which Cappadocia included, and over the whole Pon continent, and the Sinop Sanjak and the people of the Black Sea coast were also subject to him. He had fifteen thousand cavalry and thirty thousand infantry. He ruled about ten years.

Perdikkas, successor of Alexander, who died 945 years before the Hijra, sent a general named Sabaktas; Sabaktas besieged the place where Aryarat was, captured him with his family and killed him by hanging. Thus Sabaktas became Perdikkas's kaymakam, that is governor, in Cappadocia and the Pon continent.

Sabaktas was among the emirs known in Alexander's time for loyalty and valor and was originally Turanian. It is clear that the name "Sabaktas" is the same, with a slight change, as the Turan-language name "Sabuktay, Sebüktay." The date of his governorship is estimated to be 943 years before the Hijra.

But Perdikkas's rivals united against him and killed him in 942. Thereupon Antigon, one of Alexander's famous emirs, secured and extended his influence in Anatolia and, at Sabaktas's death, appointed from his own side a general named Amentas as kaymakam, that is governor, of the province of Cappadocia and Pon.

Amentas is known as "Arhunidis"; around 935 years before the Hijra he lived in Amasya as governor of Cappadocia and Pon. Arhunidis is Arhunid, that is Argunit, meaning "of the Argun." For this reason this Amentas must be Amas, of the Amasits, one of the children of Argun Han, the last ruler of the Karsan dynasty of Amasya.

While Amentas, under the administration of Antigon, ruler of Asia Minor, was running the affairs of the land in full strength, the great emirs of Alexander, uniting against Antigon, did away with Antigon by war 924 years before the Hijra. At the time they divided the lands he held, Amentas had declared his independence.

But the nephew of Aryarat I, the former ruler of Cappadocia, who had had to hide fearing Antigon's power, that is the son of his brother Urufren, Aryarat II, after Antigon's killing, with the help of Arduvaz of the Armenians, rose in Cappadocia against Amentas. On the other hand, Mihridat III, son of Mihridat II, the former governor of Amasya who had been removed, and then lived in Gemlik and was killed at Antigon's hand for his duplicitous behavior, had fled and hidden on Mount Ilgaz. He too rose against Amentas, formed a band of brigands and was troubling Amentas.

After Antigon's killing, Seleukos, king of Asia Minor, and Lizmak each wished to take the Cappadocia and Pon continents; but each, fearing the other's influence and power, was occupied with the other.

Amentas was preserving his independence by taking advantage of this rivalry. However, the rebelling Aryarat II and Mihridat III came to an understanding with each other; they allied so that the Cappadocia continent would remain under Aryarat's administration and the Pon continent under Mihridat's. Amentas, ruler of Cappadocia and Pon, was in no condition to resist them.

Thereupon Mihridat III, starting from the date 923 years before the Hijra, came down from Mount Ilgaz as far as the valley of the Kızılırmak. Fortifying the town of Kimit (Hacı Hamza) in the Kimita (Kimit) Gorge between Osmancık and Boyabat, he settled there and threatened both banks of the Kızılırmak. Aryarat II, for his part, coming down from Mount Erciyes (Erkiyet), began to press the city of Kayseri (Basak, Mazak).

In short, for about ten years these two external enemies attacked together the land of Amentas, ruler of Cappadocia and Pon. Aryarat took the city of Kayseri and brought its surroundings under the yoke. Mihridat, for his part, took the east of the Yeşilırmak entirely and besieged the city of Amasya, where Amentas lived.

While in Gemlik, Mihridat III had traced his lineage to the Persian shah Darius I. This time he claimed to be of the children of Mitur Han, the Hittite ruler, and thus won the affection of the Turanians living in the Pon continent. 913 years before the Hijra he did away with Amentas and became ruler of the Pon continent; the city of Amasya also became the seat of government of the kings of Pon.

This statement of Reynak, author of the "History of Pon," is plainly stated by other historians too. As mentioned in the Dâiretü'l-Maârif written by a scientific committee, Amasya was the royal capital, that is the seat of government, of the Bentaş government, and was also the provincial center under Roman administration.

Ahmed Midhat Efendi says in Mufassal Kurûn-ı Cedîde Tarihi: "Formerly there were many small independent governments over Anatolia, and the center of the government called the Kingdom of Pon is precisely this city of Amasya. It is written in histories that the artificial caves carved into the rocks around the city were made to be the tombs of the kings of Pon."

The word "Bentaş" mentioned in the Dâiretü'l-Maârif is written in different forms in Arabic books. Safiyyüddîn Abdülmü'min says in Muhtasaru'l-Mu'cem: "Bentuş, with damma on the letter b and the letter t, with sukun on the nun in the middle, is a name peculiar to the sea and coasts extending from the Gulf of Istanbul to the Turkish lands in the east and north, and their surroundings."

Ebû Reyhân el-Bîrûnî, however, writes it in his Külliyât as "Nîtiş," with kasra on the letters n and t and sukun on the ye between them, and adds that it is a Greek word taken from Turkish. Although in the books Tarîku'r-Reşâd, Ahbâru'l-Bilâd and Âsâru'l-İbâd Ebû Reyhân's writing and Abdülmü'min's explanation are reported, the reading of the letter t with fatha is adopted. According to these explanations the word "Bentaş" is abbreviated from the word "Hunitus"; it is the Arabized form of Pontus, corrupted from Hunitus, and Nîtiş is a corrupted form of it. European historians say "Pont Oksin."

Concerning the peoples living there at the time Mihridat III took the Pon (Hun) continent, Luba, one of the members of the French Academy, gives this information:

"Before the Pon continent came under the administration of the Persian state, there was a state that extended over the basins of the Kızılırmak and Yeşilırmak as far as the Black Sea. The works of civilization seen at Amasya, Öyük, Boğazköy and around are among the remains of this state. They are thought to belong to the Hatits (Hittites). This state prevented the passage of the Assyrian armies that came as far as the Kızılırmak."

From these explanations of the historian Luba it is understood that this state was, as mentioned above, in general Cappadocia first the governments of the Tugayits, then of the Amasits who made Amasya their seat of government, and then of the Hunits. There is no doubt that they too were Turanian.

Luba then says: "When Mihridat came to the Pon continent the people living there were of three parts. The first were Turanians, the second Persians, the third Greeks. The Persians consisted of some Persian nobles and temple soothsayers; these were scattered almost everywhere and were people of influence. The Greeks lived only in the cities of the coastal regions such as Sinop and Samsun. Although in a period of confusion they had taken the places they lived in, at the Persians' coming they became subject to them."

"The Turanians were the original people of the Pon continent and had settled in the time of the Old Simris (Sâmirîs). Their tribes are very many; the famous ones are the Alazons, Amazons, Bagadauns, Beşirs, Busers, Tebaruns, Tirals, Halibs, Sans, Kutaguns, Kukuns, Mars, Makruns and Muzniks."

Of these the Bagadauns are Bagats, that is Bugats, meaning people of Buga. The Beşirs are Beşgirs. The Tirals mean Tirgal, that is Turgals, and today the town of Turhal and its surroundings are their homeland. The Kutaguns mean Kutays, that is (Hittites). The Kukuns are Kutuguns, meaning the Kutuglus. The Mars are the Barsevinç clan and the Makruns the Mankır, that is Bakır clan.

The Muzniks mean Bozoks. They are thought to have been children of a Turanian named Basak (Bazak), meaning a kind of falcon, bozok, and later to have been called Bozoks. That Basan Han of these was ruler of Amasya was mentioned above. Although it is certain that Oghuz Han counted the Bozoks as his right arm, superstitions have mixed into the giving of the name "Bozok."

These peoples whom the historian Luba mentions as Turanian, that is the Turan clans, existed at the time Mihridat III took the Amasya continent. The historians' records show that Mihridat made a claim of Turanianness in order to draw them to his side.

For it is written that Mihridat, who became ruler of Amasya 913 years before the Hijra, was famous in the eastern and western histories as "Mitrat" and was mentioned with the epithet "Katistis." These two fames show his claim to be of the Hittites and of the children of Mitur Han.

Apparently in the Hatti language Mitrat is what we call Mitirli, that is Muturlu. This Hatti word explains that the said person was of the children of the aforementioned Mitur Han. The word Katistis too means "katitis," and since "Katit" is the Hellenized form of the word "Hitit," it shows that the said person was of the Hittites.

Yet European historians, reporting from the Greeks, write that this word "Katistis" means "founder" in the Greek language. At first glance, Mihridat III's being the founder of the government may have led the Greeks to give this meaning. But the founder of the government of Pon must in all likelihood be attributed to Ariyu Bazran I. Therefore the word "Katistis" too, though Turanian, must have been wanted to be claimed for Greekness, like the word Anatolia.

When Mihridat IV became ruler of Amasya 888 years before the Hijra, to protect the eastern gorge of the city of Amasya he had a fortress built east of Amasya at the place where the Yeşilırmak and the Kelkit river meet, and a town in front of it. He gave it the name "Baturya, Paturya"; later it was called "Opaturya."

Since Mihridat IV was brave and valiant, he must have been called "Batur (Hero)" by the Turanians; he became famous in history as "Patur." The Greeks, calling him "Filapatur," gave it the meaning "father-loving." Indeed "Patur" may be a mistake from the word "peder" in the Persian language. Although it was later Hellenized by the addition of the word "Fila," the town he built should have been called "Filatorya" too. Since everyone is father-loving, there is no subtlety in the epithet "Fila Patur."

Mihridat IV secured the obedience of the peoples living around Canik, Sinop and Trabzon by war and put the coasts under protection by preparing a fleet. He ruled in Amasya for forty-four years and died 844 years before the Hijra.

Mihridat V, at the death of his father Mihridat IV 844 years before the Hijra, sat on the throne of government and became ruler of Amasya. By building a fortress on the west side of the town of Barsevinç (Marınca) in the north of Amasya he brought the gorges of Eflanus (Eflan, Osmancık) and Amasya under control.

This fortress became famous as "Merzepon," later Arabized to "Merzefon," then by the addition of a "ye" in place of the genitive kasra called "Merzifon." The word "Marsivan," which was the name of the old town now called "Marınca (Barsevinç)," became among the people the name of Merzifon. Merzepon, as is known, means "Pon frontier, Pon homeland."

But on the back of a copy of Hulâsatü'l-Fetâvâ that came to hand, Sa'deddîn Muhammed el-Merzifônî, the person famous as Sa'd er-Rûmî, wrote in Rebiülahir 793 an Arabic phrase meaning "This honored copy was collated by the poor one in need of the Merciful's mercy, Sa'd ibn Halîl ibn Süleyman er-Rûmî, whose city is called Merzeban." According to this it is understood that the name Merzifon is a mistake from the word "Merzeban."

It is written that Mihridat V was famous in Greek and European histories by the epithet "Filadelfes," meaning "loving his brother." Since this epithet is equivalent to the title of Athenian citizenship, it shows that he had good relations with the Greeks. When Mihridat died after ruling thirty-six years, his son Farnak became ruler of Amasya.

When Farnak II became ruler of Amasya 808 years before the blessed Hijra, he organized his military strength and fleet, took the southern coasts of the Black Sea entirely, extended toward the Crimea and Thrace continents, and widened his land by taking part of the Cappadocia continent.

Although Farnak II was cruel, he protected the sciences and arts, ensured their progress in the land and increased the general wealth of the country. As he rebuilt the city of Amasya, he also had a heart-attracting town built within walls at the place now Çakallar and Karakaya. He also rebuilt the old city of Giresun; it was called "Fernakya," and Çakallar was given the title "Fernak."

During the printing of the first volume it was later understood that one sheet of the draft, that is two pages, had been left out entirely. Since the remaining two pages, as the sixth muhammes (five-line stanza form) stanza, belong to this heart-attracting town, it was thought appropriate to put it here, summarized of necessity:

Formerly this place was called Farnak by name
Old ruins still give it luster
Sultans had built the palace of Havernak there
A witness, a foremost one of Amasya, says this

The plain meaning of these lines is as follows: Formerly this place was called Farnak; the old remains still give it brilliance. Rulers had built the Havernak palace there; a leading witness of Amasya says so.

That this lofty mountain, which includes wide gardens and high pavilions, was formerly called "Fernak" has been understood from this document: Kubay Hatun, daughter of the great emir Akboğa, of the line of the khagans, was owner of this vineyard and sold the vineyard to the worthy and esteemed emir Nâsırüddîn Ahmed (son of the great emir İzzeddîn Muhammed Pervâne Bey), governor of Amasya who later became emir of Anatolia. The date of the sale deed in which the description and boundaries of the vineyard are written is 691.

Tâcî Beyzâde Sa'dî Çelebi of Amasya, describing and praising a vineyard in Amasya and saying "vehiye'l-cennetü'n-nakiyye fi'r-riyâzi'l-Fernakiyye" (meaning "it is the pure paradise in the Fernak gardens"), shows this old name. Until the appearance of the name Çakallar, that is until the Hijri thousands, this place was called "Fernak Bağları" in very many documents. Although Fernak became common in the pattern of "revnak," it is evident that the ruler of Amasya was this "Fernak."

In short, Fernak II, taking the Dardanelles and extending influence toward Thrace, and taking the provinces of Paphlagonia (Kastamonu) and Galatia (Ankara), had enabled the Amasya government in Anatolia to reach a power able to threaten from every direction.

Thereupon the Cappadocia government, fearing that Fernak II had expanded his influence so much, raised the Paphlagonians and Galatians in revolt; finding some helpers itself, they attacked the Pon continent together. Fernak, ruler of Amasya, could not resist, was defeated and was forced to leave Paphlagonia, and died in the twenty-ninth year of his government.

Mihridat VI is the son of Mihridat V and brother of Fernak II. At his brother's death 779 years before the Hijra he became ruler of Pon in Amasya; within this year Mihridat I of the Eşkâniyân dynasty also became Persian ruler.

The predecessor and brother of this Mihridat I, Persian padishah, Ferhad I, had taken Urfa and its surroundings, which were under the administration of the Cilician state, leaving its governor, the Armenian Erdafast, in his place. Mihridat I, however, expelled him because of the treachery he felt from him and appointed one of his own relatives named "Agırşak" as semi-independent ruler over the Armenians, who had collapsed since Alexander's invasion.

When Mihridat VI became ruler of Pon, he fought repeatedly with the Cappadocia government that had defeated his brother; sometimes winning, sometimes losing, he tried to protect the land his brother had left. Aryarat VI, ruler of Cappadocia, for his part, allied with the Armenian bey Agırşak and strove to prevent Mihridat VI's attack.

But since the Roman state had begun to extend its influence toward Asia, it had taken the path of setting the small governments in Anatolia against one another. It was uniting the said Aryarat and Agırşak and using them against the Pon government, which had considerable influence, trying to get its own work done.

At Agırşak's death 753 years before the Hijra his son Erşek became Armenian king; when Aryarat VI was killed in 752 his son Aryarat VII became ruler of Cappadocia. Since, at the Romans' encouragement, these two allies attacked the Pon continent from the south 745 years before the Hijra and the Galatians and Paphlagonians from the west and north, Mihridat VI was defeated and took refuge in the Amasya fortress.

The allies had partly taken the Pon continent and gone as far as Farnakya. The Armenian king Erşek and Aryarat, known in history as cruel, had committed cruelty. This situation affected Mihridat VI greatly and he died in the thirty-fourth year of his government, within this year.

Notes and Research

Old Words in the Text

• vâli, vilâyet: the administrator of a region; the governed region
• sadrâb: provincial governor in the ancient Persian state (satrap)
• kable'l-hicre: before the Hijra; the number of years before the Prophet Muhammad's migration from Mecca to Medina
• kâ'im-makâm: deputy, kaymakam, an official who acts in one's place
• hâvî: containing
• sekene: the people of a place, its inhabitants
• tahrîf: changing a word by corrupting it
• mu'arreb: an Arabized word
• vakfiye: the document in which the founder of a waqf writes his property and conditions
• hüccet: official document, deed; here a sale deed
• istiklâl: independence
• müstahkem: fortified, strengthened
• mûmâ-ileyh: the person named, mentioned above
• muhammes: a verse form made up of five-line stanzas
• revnak: brilliance, beauty, liveliness
• akvâm: peoples, communities

The Name Pontus and Hüsameddin's Hun Theory

The backbone of the section is the view that the name Pontus is corrupted from the word Hun. Hüsameddin takes as his basis for this records such as the "el-Hûnî" nisbas in the Karatay endowment deeds and the "Bentaş" spellings in Arabic sources. In today's sources, however, it is written that the name Pontos is a Greek word, comes from the Greek name of the Black Sea, and that Greek settlers gave this name to the coastal region; the old name of the Black Sea was "Eúxinos Póntos," that is the hospitable sea, shortened to "Pontos," and the word Pontos means "sea." Hüsameddin's Turan-origin explanation does not appear in these sources. The individual identities of Reynak, Luba and Mir'âtü'l-İber named in this section could not be verified in this research; the quoted words are known only as they stand in Hüsameddin's book.

The Beginning of the Dynasty in Today's Sources

Today the dynasty that founded the Kingdom of Pontus is known as a family going back to the Persians. In the 4th century BC the family had ruled the city of Cius in Mysia. Mithridates II, ruler of Cius, was killed by Antigonus in 302 BC. His son, who would later be known by the name Ktistes, that is "the founder," fled east with six horsemen on Demetrius's warning. He went first to the fortress of Cimiata in Paphlagonia, then to Amasya. Around 281 (or 280) BC he proclaimed himself king and founded a state in the north of Cappadocia and the east of Paphlagonia. He reigned until 266; according to the sources he was buried in a royal tomb near Amasya.

This account has a clear parallel with what Hüsameddin writes for Mihridat III. Hüsameddin presents him as one hiding on Mount Ilgaz and holding a strong place in the Kimita Gorge between Osmancık and Boyabat. The name Kimiata recalls this Kimita; still, the identification is not explicitly made in the sources. If we calculate Hüsameddin's "913 years before the Hijra" with his own recorded difference of 622 years, 291 BC comes out. In today's sources the beginning of the kingdom is around 281 BC. It is understood that Hüsameddin's "Mihridat III" corresponds to Mithridates Ktistes in modern sources. Names such as the earlier Bazran, Mihridat I and II did not appear in the sources examined; these rest on the sources Hüsameddin used.

The Sequence of the Mihridats

Hüsameddin's royal numbers do not agree with today's numbering. Today's sequence is as follows: Mithridates I Ktistes (281-266), Ariobarzanes, Mithridates II, Mithridates III, Pharnaces I, Mithridates IV Philopator Philadelphos, Mithridates V Euergetes and Mithridates VI Eupator. Hüsameddin's "Mihridat V" is the ruler mentioned in Greek and European sources by the epithet Philadelphos; this epithet is known today for Mithridates IV Philopator Philadelphos, who is shown as the brother of Pharnaces I. Hüsameddin, however, places him before Farnak. Pharnaces's taking of coastal cities (he took Sinope in 182 BC) agrees with Hüsameddin's account of Farnak II "taking the southern coasts of the Black Sea entirely." According to the sources examined, Pharnaces, despite Rome's intervention, fought Pergamon and Cappadocia, was forced into a treaty in 179 BC, gave back the lands he had gained in Galatia and Paphlagonia, and kept Sinope. The defeat and abandonment of Paphlagonia that Hüsameddin relates follows a similar course.

The Royal Rock Tombs and the Fernak Gardens

On the southern slope of Mount Harşena, in the Kızlar Sarayı area, there are rock tombs belonging to five kings, from the founder Mithridates Ktistes to Pharnaces I. The tombs are carved in a U shape, separated from the bedrock by galleries. This area was placed on the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List in 2015. According to other sources there are nine more tombs on the fortress slope, and the total number of royal tombs around reaches twenty-one. Hüsameddin's sentence quoted from Ahmed Midhat, "the artificial caves carved in rocks are the tombs of the kings of Pon," agrees with today's knowledge. For the "Fernak Bağları" that Hüsameddin links to the Çakallar and Karakaya area, he himself reports the sale deed dated 691; this document could not be separately verified in this research.

Years before the Hijra

Hüsameddin gives dates in the "kable'l-hicre" form and, according to his own footnote, takes as his basis the difference of 622 years. That is, if 622 is subtracted from a date, approximately the BC year is obtained. By this calculation the year 694 given for Seventh Mihridat's war with Lucullus corresponds to 72 BC and matches the 72 BC known today for the Battle of Cabira. The dates given for earlier periods, however, differ from today's sources by ten years or more; one must approach the early-period figures with caution.

Notes in the Footnotes

Hüsameddin's footnotes state that the father of Amas Han, the founder of Amasya, must have been Turnal; that he thinks the names Kangırı and Ankara are the work of Turanian persons; that the town of Opaturya does not exist today; that the name Eflan means "tiger" and that the Osmancık Fortress was built by a Turanian named Aplan. These are the author's etymological interpretations; they could not be verified in other sources. The information that Opaturya does not exist today is known from the book.

Bibliography

Primary sources

• Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 2, p. 269–274. amasya.bel.tr

Official sources

• "Kral Kaya Mezarları", Amasya İl Kültür ve Turizm Müdürlüğü, https://amasya.ktb.gov.tr/TR-59519/kral-kaya-mezarlari.html

Other sources

• "Kingdom of Pontus", Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Pontus
• "Mithridates I of Pontus", Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithridates_I_of_Pontus
• "Mithridates V Euergetes", Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithridates_V_Euergetes
• "Pontus (region)", Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontus_(region)
• "Tombs of the kings of Pontus", Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tombs_of_the_kings_of_Pontus