İlyâs Bey-Ata Beyzâde

In Modern English

He was from Amasya. He was the son of Muînüddin Abdî Bey, one of the beys; Abdî Bey was the son of İlyas Bey, İlyas Bey was the son of Hayreddin Hızır Bey, and Hızır Bey was the son of Atabeg Gazi Emir Nasıreddin Ahmed Bey. When his father died as a martyr in the war against Timur in 804 [1401-02], he became the mütevelli of his ancestor's waqf and became one of the zeamet holders. While he was among the beys in the retinue of Çelebi Sultan Mehmed Khan, he died in battle in 814 [1411-12]. The office of mütevelli of the Atabeg Gazi waqf remained in the line of his son Hasan Bey. His brothers are the viziers Yörgüç and Hızır Pasha.

Notes and Research

Old Words in the Text

• mahdûm: son
• ümerâ: beys, emirs
• ced: grandfather, ancestor
• mütevellî: the person who manages a waqf
• züamâ: holders of zeamet, military fiefs with a high annual income
• ma'iyyet-i ümerâ: the company of beys around a great man
• harben vefât: dying in war
• tevliyet: the office of mütevelli
• vüzerâ: viziers
• atabeg: a senior figure charged with raising a ruler's child, a lala

The Atabeyzâdes

The "Ata Beyzâde" in the title of the entry refers to the family known in Amasya as the Atabeyzâdes. The family takes its name from Nasıreddin Ahmed Bey, atabey to the Seljuk Sultan II. Gıyaseddin Mesud and to his son Gazi Çelebi Taceddin Altunbaş. According to the abstract of one article, Nasıreddin Ahmed Bey served for five years as governor of Amasya between 1322 and 1327, had the madrasa known as the Atabey Madrasa built, and endowed all his land and property to it. It is plausible that the "Atabeg Gazi waqf" in the text refers to this waqf, but the source read does not state the link openly; this is an inference.

According to the same article, the descendants of Nasıreddin Ahmed won a respected place among the people of Amasya and acted cautiously on the question of accepting Ottoman rule. This attitude allowed the family to keep important posts under the Ottomans as well. The family continued in two branches: the most famous was Yörgüç Pasha and the Yörgüç Pashazâdes descended from him, the second was his brother Hızır Pasha and the Hızır Pashazâdes. In the fifteenth century, serving as lala to a prince became a duty peculiar to this family.

Yörgüç Pasha's Brother

The entry describes İlyas Bey, a member of the Atabeyzâde family. Yörgüç Pasha, mentioned as İlyas Bey's brother, is recorded in some studies, according to Fahameddin Başar's article on Yörgüç Pasha, as "Yörgüç b. Muînüddin Abdullah b. Şücâüddin İlyas b. Hayreddin Hızır b. Ömer b. Atabek Nâsırüddin Ahmed." This chain largely agrees with Hüsameddin's: Yörgüç's father Muînüddin Abdullah is Hüsameddin's Muînüddin Abdî Bey. That Abdî and Abdullah are the same person is suggested by the identical title and the identical position in the chain, but this is an inference. The only difference is that in the chain cited, an Ömer stands between Hızır and Nâsırüddin Ahmed; this name does not appear in Hüsameddin.

Başar doubts the accuracy of this genealogical information. In the inscription of Yörgüç Pasha's mosque in Amasya, on his gravestone and in his waqf deed, his father's name is written as Abdullah; the title atabeg in the inscription does not refer to the father but probably to Yörgüç Pasha's own service as lala. A genealogy linking Yörgüç to the line of Gazi Ali and Mihal Bey and a view that he was of Slavic origin are also mentioned in the same article. If Başar's doubt is correct, the chain Hüsameddin gives back to Atabeg Gazi cannot be regarded as certain either.

Yörgüç Pasha

According to Başar's article, when Çelebi Sultan Mehmed sent his son Prince Murad to Amasya with the governorship of the Rum province, he assigned Yörgüç Pasha to the prince as lala. After Murad's accession to the throne, Yörgüç Pasha became beylerbeyi of Rum; he brought under obedience the beys who cut roads around Amasya and Tokat and the other beys acting independently in the region. He died in Zilhicce 845 [April-May 1442] and was buried in the türbe of the mosque he had built in Amasya. He had sons named Hızır, Yunus and Mustafa; Hızır and Mustafa fell as martyrs at the Battle of Varna. In Amasya he built a mosque, a madrasa, an imaret and two hamams.

Çelebi Sultan Mehmed and Amasya

The "Çelebi Sultan Mehmed" of the text is Mehmed Çelebi, son of Yıldırım Bayezid. In Şevval 801 [June 1399] Mehmed Çelebi had been sent as governor to the Rum province, which covered Amasya, Tokat, Sivas and Ankara. After the Battle of Ankara he accepted Timur's sovereignty and consolidated his position around Tokat and Amasya. It is noted that in establishing his authority against his rivals in this region he was supported by the ulema and the notables of the city; the third volume of Hüsameddin's own work is cited as the source. Mehmed Çelebi became sole sultan in 1413.

That İlyas Bey's father Abdî Bey died a martyr "in the war against Timur" brings to mind the Battle of Ankara in 1402, if one considers that 804 corresponds to 1401-02; this is an inference, as the text does not name the battle. The text also does not say in which battle İlyas Bey died in 814 [1411-12]. Mehmed Çelebi's struggle over western Anatolia and Bursa was under way in these years, but the sources establish no link between the two events.

No further information was found in the sources read on İlyas Bey, his son Hasan Bey, or the later mütevellis of the Atabeg Gazi waqf.

Bibliography

Primary sources

• Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 7, p. 342–342. amasya.bel.tr

Academic studies

• Fahameddin Başar, "Yörgüç Paşa", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/yorguc-pasa
• Gözde Birsel Varol, "Atabeyzadelerin Amasya'nın Siyasi ve Sosyal Tarihindeki Yeri ve Önemi" (article abstract), MANAS Sosyal Araştırmalar Dergisi. https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/mjss/article/485672