AMASYA 05

Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar · İKİNCİ BÂB · BİRİNCİ FASIL

İltekin Gâzi — Emîr Nâsıreddevle-i Artûgî

Encyclopedia · History of Amasya, Volume 7, p. 382–383 • Edited by: Prof. Dr. Safi ARPAGUŞ- Prof. Dr. Ahmet Hakkı TURABİ

Original Text (Ottoman Turkish)

Harezm Türkmenleri’nden ümerâdan Artuk Bey’in kölesi olup onun hizmetinde tefeyyuz ederek ümerâdan oldu. Ba’dehû Melik Dânişmend Ahmed Gâzi hizmetine girip Rumlar’a karşı açılan gazâlarda hayli yararlığı görüldü.

Rûm İmparatoru Alparslan Selçûkî’ye karşı Malazgirt Ovası’nda yaptığı muhârebede kendisi esîr ve ordusu perîşân olduğunda Melik Gâzi ile Sivas’a doğru akınlar [392] yaptı. Akıncılar Serdârı olarak Melik Gâzi Dânişmend’in fütûhâtını teshîle çalışdı.

Bir aralık Rumlara esîr olup mukayyeden Amasya’ya getirilip Harşena Kalesi’nde habs edildi. Burada Amasya vâlisi Şattat, Jutatiyusun kızı Efrûmiye Bânû hüsn ve şecâatine meftûn olduğundan bunun muâvenetiyle her ikisi de firâr ve Melik Gâzi ordusuna iltihâk etdi.

Ba’dehû ihtidâ eden Efrûmiye Bânûyu tezevvüc ederek Melik Gâzi’nin vezîr ve serdârı oldu. Tokat, Niksar, Turhal (Keşan) beldelerini fethederek Amasya’nın fethinde pek büyük himmetler etdi. Şâyân-ı hayret yiğitlikler gösterdi.

Melik Gâzi’nin vefâtından sonra şehzâdesi Melik İsmâîl Gâzi’nin vezîr ve serdârı olup ehl-i salîb muhârebelerinde müşârün-ileyh ile beraber bulundu. 512 hudûdunda irtihâl-i dâr-ı bekâ ederek el-yevm İltekîn denilen mevki’e defn edildi. Orada türbesi vardır. [393]

Gâyet şecî’, mücâhid, gâzî-i zîşân idi. Vaktiyle medfeni olan İltekîn Türbesinin etrâfında hâneler, bağlar, bahçeler inşâ edilerek orası mükemmel ve gâyet ma’mûr bir kasaba hâlini almışdı. İltekîn Kasabası’nda yazılan kitaplardan “Şerh-i Çağmînî” İstanbul kütüphânelerinde görüldü.

Müşârün-ileyhin mahdûmları Sehmüddevle Ahmed, Hüsâmüddevle Hasan, Cenâhüddevle Hüseyin Gâziler’in terâcim-i ahvâli ve sülâlesi mevki’lerinde yazılır. Merzifon’da Sehmüddevle Köyü Ahmed Gâzi’nin çiftliği idi. Emîr Hasan Alanı da Hüsâmüddevle’nin çiftliğidir.

Târîh-i Âl-i Dânişmend nâmıyla ma’rûf olan târîhde emîr-i müşârün-ileyhin şöhreti Ârtûhî diye mestûrdur. Fakat Halfet Gâzi bu târîhte mahdûmu olmak üzere gösterilmiş ise de müşârün-ileyhin ele geçen vakfiyesinde mahdûmu olmadığı anlaşıldı.

Gerek bu târîhden ve gerek tevârîh ve kuyûd-i umûmiyyeden hulâsa edilen terceme-i hâli sarîhan gösteriyor ki Amasya’da İltekîn [394] adıyla anılan yer, Vâzıh Efendi’nin zannetdiği gibi Artin Manastırı değildir. Vaktiyle orada İltekîn Medresesi yâdedilen bir medrese kaydı da görüldü. Evlâdından biri tarafından yapılmış olması melhûzdur.

Our Research Article Editor: Mevlüt Erdem Öztürk

In Modern English

He was the slave of Artuk Bey, one of the emirs from among the Khwarazmian Turkmens, grew up in his service, and became one of the emirs. Then he entered the service of Melik Dânişmend Ahmed Gâzi and showed considerable usefulness in the raids waged against the Greeks.

When the Byzantine emperor was taken prisoner in his battle against the Seljuk Alparslan on the plain of Manzikert and his army was scattered, he made raids toward Sivas with Melik Gâzi. As commander of the raiders (akıncılar) he worked to ease Melik Gâzi Dânişmend's conquests.

At one point he was taken captive by the Greeks, brought in chains to Amasya, and imprisoned in the castle of Harşena. Here, since Efrûmiye Bânû, daughter of Şattat (Jutatiyus), the governor of Amasya, fell in love with his beauty and bravery, the two of them escaped with her help and joined Melik Gâzi's army.

Then he converted Efrûmiye Bânû to Islam and married her, and became vizier and commander of Melik Gâzi. He conquered the towns of Tokat, Niksar and Turhal (Keşan) and made very great efforts in the conquest of Amasya. He displayed astonishing feats of bravery.

After Melik Gâzi's death he became vizier and commander of his son Melik İsmâîl Gâzi and was with him in the wars against the Crusaders. He died around 512 [1118-19] and was buried at the place now called İltekîn. His tomb is there.

He was a very brave warrior, a fighter for the faith, a glorious ghazi. In the past, houses, vineyards and gardens were built around the İltekîn Tomb, where he is buried, and the place had become a well-ordered and very prosperous town. Among the books written in the town of İltekîn, the "Şerh-i Çağmînî" has been seen in the libraries of Istanbul.

The biographies and lineage of the sons of the said emir, Sehmüddevle Ahmed, Hüsâmüddevle Hasan and Cenâhüddevle Hüseyin Gâzis, are written in their own places. The village of Sehmüddevle in Merzifon was Ahmed Gâzi's farm. Emîr Hasan Alanı is also the farm of Hüsâmüddevle.

In the history known as the history of the Danishmendids, the emir's fame is written as Ârtûhî. But although Halfet Gâzi is shown in this history as his son, it was understood from the deed of endowment of the said person that has come down to us that he had no son.

The biography summarized both from this history and from various histories and general records clearly shows that the place called İltekîn in Amasya is not the Monastery of Artin, as Vâzıh Efendi supposed. A record of a madrasa called the İltekîn Madrasa was also seen there in the past. It is likely that it was built by one of his children.

Notes and Research

Old Words in the Text

  • mukayyeden: in chains, bound
  • esîr: captive
  • perîşân: scattered, routed
  • serdâr: commander, commander-in-chief
  • akıncı: mounted raiding units that went out beyond the frontier for raids and reconnaissance
  • fütûhât: conquests
  • teshîl: facilitating
  • ehl-i salîb: the Crusaders
  • irtihâl-i dâr-ı bekâ: death, passing to the eternal abode
  • terâcim-i ahvâl: biographies, life stories
  • mestûr: written, recorded
  • melhûz: plausible, perceived

The Conquest of Amasya and İltekin

It is not known exactly when Amasya was conquered by the Turks; it is accepted that the first Turkish rule was established in the time of the Danishmendids. Among the emirs in Danişmend Gazi's retinue are named Çavuldur, Tursan, Kara Doğan, Osmancık, İltekin and Karatekin. For İltekin Gazi, who is called the Conqueror of Amasya, the date of conquest is given as 1075 in local sources and in studies. It is written that the Çağlayan Bridge near the city was built in 1076 by the Danishmendid emir İltekin Gazi; for many years the bridge was called the İltekin Bridge among the people. The bridge rests on six round arches.

Hüsameddin's placing of İltekin's death around 512 [1118-19], set beside these dates of 1075-1076, means a span of over forty years. The exact date of Danişmend Gazi's death is not known; he is thought to have died around 1085, and his son Gümüştegin succeeded him. Whether the "Melik Gâzi" Hüsameddin speaks of is Danişmend Gazi or his son, and who the "Melik İsmâîl Gâzi" attached to him was, could not be determined in the sources we read. For this reason the account of İltekin's serving as vizier to two rulers in succession and taking part in the Crusader wars could not be fitted into a verifiable chronological framework.

The Story of Efrûmiye

İltekin's imprisonment in the castle of Harşena and his rescue with the help of the governor's daughter Efrûmiye resemble events told in the Dânişmendnâme. In this epic work, Danişmend Gazi, while conquering the basin of the Yeşilırmak, takes the castle of Harşana (Amasya) last; Efromiya, the daughter of the castle's lord, is an invincible woman warrior who converts to Islam and marries a ghazi named Artuhi. The Dânişmendnâme is not regarded as a historical source; one of its first critics maintained that the conquests in the Yeşilırmak basin actually belonged to Artuk Bey, and that the Artuhi of the epic was a reflection of this reality. Hüsameddin's mention of İltekin as "the slave of Artuk Bey" and as "Ârtûhî" suggests that the history he used drew on this epic tradition. This is an inference. The historical identities of the persons in the story (Şattat, Jutatiyus) could not be verified.

The İltekin Locality

According to what Hüsameddin wrote in the first volume, the vineyards and slopes on the foot of Mount Karaman in Amasya are called "İltekin" as a whole; the remains of a castle are pointed out behind the locality. In the same work the İltekin Tomb is described as a stone dome resting on four stone columns; it is said that İltekin and his son Hüsâmüddevle Hasan Gazi lie inside, and that the tomb used to be visited every year at the beginning of the month of Şaban. We could not learn the present state of the tomb from the sources we read. We also found no separate record of the "İltekin Madrasa", the village of Sehmüddevle in Merzifon, or Emîr Hasan Alanı.

We also found no source on the identity of Vâzıh Efendi or on the claim of the Monastery of Artin; Hüsameddin rejects his view.

Bibliography

Primary sources

  • Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 7, pp. 382–383; same work, vol. 1, pp. 85–87 and 185–186 (the İltekin locality and tomb). amasya.bel.tr

Academic studies

Official sources

  • T.C. Amasya Valiliği, "Köprüler" page, entry on the Çağlayan (İltekin Gazi) Bridge.

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