INTRODUCTION (3) (Mukaddime)

In Modern English

Although this account, supported and verified by no transmission, has been related and mentioned in the el-Hamîs fî Ahvâli'n-Nefsi'n-Nefîs, it is not accepted by the hadith scholars. The coming of His Excellency Dıhye to Amasya is a strange and unreliable statement, like the rumor that His Excellency Suheyb-i Rûmî is buried in Çorum. As written in the el-İsâbe fî Temyîzi's-Sahâbe, the said Companion, His Excellency Dıhye, was sent as envoy to Emperor Heraclius (Herakl) at the beginning of the seventh year of the hijra, met the emperor at Homs, completed his mission as envoy and returned, and died around the [hijri] year 43 [663-64].

Maşrık tarafı bir cebel-i şâhık-ı mesmûr
Zencîrli Kaya nâmı ile âleme meşhûr
Zencîri onun on sene evvel idi manzûr
Hayretle bakardı ana ebsâr-ı Amasya

(The east side is a high, great mountain; it is known to everyone by the name Zincirli Kaya. Its chain was still seen until ten years ago; the eyes of Amasya used to look at it with amazement.)

To the east of the Yukarı Pazar section of Amasya there is a very large, sharp-pointed rock known as "Zincirli Kaya" (Chained Rock). This rock has separated from the Pont mountain range and extends from south to north, that is, toward the inside of Amasya, entering as far as the "Çukur Bahçe" locality south of the Gümüşlüzâde Quarter. Its west-facing front is flat and sheer and roughly three hundred meters high. Because on this steep part, level with the Meşkgâh, about sixty meters above the ground, there was a chain attached to the rock, one arshin long and about thirty centimeters in diameter, it was called "Zincirli Kaya."

It is not known since when this chain stood fastened there. If one can draw a conclusion from a strange account among the old superstitions circulating in Amasya, it is understood that this was a chain surviving from the time of the Pontic kings who ruled in Amasya. While this chain stood in place until 1311 [1893-94], one night it fell and was lost among the Armenians living in the Temenna Quarter.

The gap seen near the summit of this rock, on its north side, is called "Gedikli Kaya." It is a flat, pleasant lawn and a picnic ground worth strolling in during the spring days. Beside it there is a spring, before it fine gardens, and beneath it the Temenna Quarter. The flat place above this quarter is called "Meşkgâh," and today, with the letter "k" dropped, simply "Meşgâh."

In this locality the famous Hamdullah Efendi, sheikh of the calligraphers, taught calligraphy to his students and gave them meşk (writing practice), and for this reason the place was called "Meşkgâh." South of this place there is a water source; because it is deep, it is built in the form of a well descending from west to east and is entered by a stone staircase. It was built in 878 [1473-74] by Hüsâmeddîn Ağa, the steward (kethüda) of Hızır Paşa.

Below Gedikli Kaya there is another rock facing Çukur Bahçe from the northeast, called "Yassı Kaya" (Flat Rock) because its top is flat. On the northwest face of this rock, which looks toward Sığır Pazarı, there are two caves carved in ancient times as tombs. The historical details concerning these caves will be told shortly, God willing.

Bâlus Kayası şarka uzanmış bu kayadan
Bulmuş eteği feyz ü şeref sun'-ı Hudâ'dan
Âlîdir onun menkabesi medh u senâdan
Zîrâ burada müstetir ebrâr-ı Amasya

(Bâlus Kayası extends eastward from this rock; its foot has found grace and honor from God's creation. Its legend is loftier than praise; for here the good people of Amasya lie hidden.)

The rock that extends eastward from behind Zincirli Kaya is called "Bâlus Kayası." This rock, whose name's origin could not be learned, adjoins Lokman Dağı and from there joins the Pont mountain range; a stream forms the point where it joins Lokman Dağı.

The north foot of this rock is a very pleasant high place whose view is enchanting; God's bountiful power has bestowed here every beauty and refinement, grace and honor. Its flat place is called "Beyler Sarayı" (Palace of the Beys). There stand a magnificent palace of the exalted Ottoman caliphate and a lofty tomb of His Excellency Pîr İlyâs Halvetî. This is the birthplace of several glorious and great rulers among the Ottoman sultans (may God continue the caliphate of their line until the end of time) and the burial place of very many scholars and saints.

The mountain opposite Bâlus Kayası is called "Lokman Dağı"; it descends from behind the Savakça Quarter to in front of the Kibrithane. At the end of this rock, on the road, there is a cave formerly carved as a tomb. The south sides of this mountain are a very high and airy highland. Because this belonged to a physician named Reşîdeddîn Lokmân bin Hasan el-Hârezmî, the doctor of the Amasya Dârüşşifası (hospital), the highland, the mountain and the water are all together called "Lokman Yaylası," "Lokman Dağı" and "Lokman Suyu."

The said physician is buried on a flat place on the highland, and his grave has been made very large. This grave is likened to Ferhad's grave and is shown as the grave of the famous Lokman the Physician (Lokman Hekim), whether prophet or saint being disputed. But this Lokman is not an imaginary person like Ferhad; he is Reşîdeddîn el-Hârezmî, one of the men of the hijri year 727 [1326-27]. The physician's name gave rise to that known account.

Between Bâlus Kayası and Lokman Dağı there is a pleasant, broad stream; both its sides are vineyards and melon gardens, gardens and rose gardens. This stream divides into two branches above Beyler Sarayı; one branch descends to the Sofular Quarter, that is, west, the other to the Bayezid Paşa Quarter, that is, north.

Üstünde sarây-ı şeref-âbâd kadîmdir
İşte burası mevlid-i Sultân Selîm'dir
Bir kışla vü mekteb ile umrânı azîmdir
Bunlarla teceddüd eder edvâr-ı Amasya

(Above it is an ancient palace made prosperous with honor; here is the birthplace of Sultan Selim. With a barracks and a school its prosperity is great; the epochs of Amasya are renewed with these.)

It could not be learned to whom this distinguished locality, known in popular speech as "Beyler Sarayı," "Saray Düzü" and "Pîr İlyas," was a home up to the great Islamic conquest. But since the Danishmendid conquest it has been known as a historical place, being the center where the Muslim sultans and emirs who ruled Amasya resided. The ruins seen here and there around and above it prove that very many people rested and ruled in this lofty place.

That in a sharia document dated 614 [1217-18] this place is known and recorded as "the property of Gıyâseddîn Shah" can be counted as evidence that from the time of Seljuk Sultan Mes'ûd it was the residence of princes. Later, around 665 [1266-67], it passed into the hands of Emîr Gümüşlü (Emîneddîn Yûnus el-Müstevfî), brother-in-law of the famous Seljuk vizier Muînüddîn Pervâne Bey; with the emir's death it remained to his children and was for a long time in their possession.

When Gümüşlüzâde Tâceddîn Mahmûd Çelebi was an emir in Amasya he had a lofty pavilion built here; its east side was known as "Gümüşlüzâde Köşkü" and its west side as "Gümüşlüzâde Bahçesi." The said emir is buried with his wife Döndü Hatun and his daughter Ayşe Hatun in the magnificent but small stone tomb he had built at the head of his garden.

His Majesty Çelebi Sultan Mehmed Han, who came to Amasya as governor at the beginning of the year 800 [1397-98], bought the site of the Gümüşlüzâde Köşkü from Gümüşlüzâde Hoca Celâl Çelebi and then had a lofty palace built here. As the Gümüşlüzâde Bahçesi remained entirely in the hands of the Gümüşlüzâde family, Gümüşlüzâde Pîr İlyâs el-Halvetî, his son-in-law Gümüşlüzâde Büyük Abdurrahman Çelebi, and also Gümüşlüzâde Hayreddîn Hızır el-Halvetî (may God sanctify their secrets) were buried in another tomb near the Mahmûd Çelebi Tomb, and thus the Gümüşlüzâde Bahçesi gradually turned into a cemetery.

The high place on the east side remained for about three hundred and fifty years as the palace of the Ottoman dynasty in Amasya and became the birthplace of two glorious sultans, Sultan Murad Han II and Sultan Selim Han I. His Majesty Çelebi Sultan Mehmed Han resided here sixteen years, Sultan Murad Han II twenty years, and Sultan Bayezid Han II twenty-six years. Later Prince Sultan Ahmed, Alâeddîn, the other Prince Sultan Ahmed, and Mustafa and Bayezid Çelebis also served as emirs here.

This lofty palace, judging from its old ruin, once contained a large harem apartment, a selamlık, three large apartments set aside for the ağas in front of the gate, two bathhouses, two kitchens, two large gardens with a marble pool in the middle of each, and a separate pavilion on the southwest side; it is understood that it was surrounded by a large masonry wall enclosing all these annexes.

Until 1147 [1734-35] this palace was repeatedly repaired after repeatedly suffering natural events such as earthquakes. At this date it was damaged by an earthquake, could not be repaired because the Iranian wars followed one another, and remained in ruin from then on. In the earthquake of 1241 [1825-26] it was entirely destroyed and became an empty plot, and very many of its valuable stones were left under the ground.

From the year 1300 [1882-83] the plot was seen to be encroached on from around. When the Amasya İdâdî Mektebi (preparatory school) also burned in the fire of 1311 [1893-94] and a suitable place was being sought for it, Mahmud Kemal Beyefendi, son of Ârif Bey of Istanbul, came as mutasarrıf of Amasya. With his approval the lofty İdâdî Mektebi was built on the west side of this palace garden, and everyone's attention was drawn to the need to keep at least the site of this palace well preserved.

When the revolutionary movements the Armenians undertook in the name of freedom showed themselves as national upheavals, the Sanjak of Amasya was made a regimental center and a battalion of regular (nizamiye) troops was stationed here. For this reason the said mutasarrıf and the redif officers, regarding the building of a magnificent barracks in the middle of the old palace as necessary, began construction with great effort in 1316 [1898-99] and completed the building in 1318 [1900-01].

Thanks to the praiseworthy efforts of the said officers the old bathhouse and kitchen were renewed, the garden laid out, and a "Drill Ground" (Talim Meydanı) leveled. The nearby İdâdî Mektebi and this barracks greatly served the spread of new Ottoman ideas in Amasya, and thus the unjust occupation of the site could also be prevented.

Yanında Soğuk Çeşme ki bir bâğ-ı İrem'dir
Hoş manzaradır lutf-ı hevâ dâfi'-i gamdır
Tesnîm gibi âbı dahi bir fazl-ı ni'amdır
Vermiş buraya behceti dâdâr-ı Amasya

(Beside it Soğuk Çeşme is a garden of Iram; its view is pleasant, the kindness of its air banishes grief. Its water, like the Tasnim spring of paradise, is a surplus of blessings; the true dispenser of justice [God] has given this place its joy for Amasya.)

The vineyards and gardens on both sides of the stream to the southeast of this palace, and that stream, are called "Soğuk Pınar." The water flowing from this stream is also called "Soğuk Pınar Suyu." The upper part of the stream is a very pleasant forest; hazel trees and other fruit trees are plentiful. The water flowing through its middle is very abundant and cold; it turns the mills on both sides of the stream, waters the vineyards and gives life to the quarters below.

This Soğuk Pınar Suyu wells up near the grave of the said physician on Lokman Dağı and flows into this pleasant stream. Gümüşlüzâde Tâceddîn Mahmûd Çelebi brought and distributed water from it to the many fountains he built in his own quarter. This water has greatly increased the beauty that God, the true dispenser of justice, bestowed on this stream, and has given beauty and brilliance to its natural view; the great healthfulness of its air has also drawn people of high station to it.

Bir kal'a-i müstahkemedir semt-i şimâli
Âsâr-ı girân-mâye-i eslâf ile mâlî
Şimdi ise ümrân u sükûndan içi hâlî
Gûyâ siper-i dâfi'-i peygâr-ı Amasya

(Its north side is a fortified castle; it is full of precious works left by the forebears. Now, though, its inside is empty of prosperity and inhabitants; as if a shield warding off war from Amasya.)

The north sides of Amasya are surrounded by high rocks. On one of these rocks, which looks straight at the middle of Amasya, there is a very strong and hard-to-pass fortress; its old works stand in view in a condition that amazes one. Since it was a place where very many different peoples and rulers lived and took refuge in past centuries, very many valuable old works have remained from each of them.

It is understood that on various sides of Amasya there are seven fortresses whose names are recorded and whose old works are known. In alphabetical order these are the fortresses of Arguma, Enderûn, Bâlus, Harşene, Zemendû, Fon and Kelkis. Although some old works thought to be fortress ruins are also met with besides these, no record was found that would explain them with their names.

1- Arguma Fortress: it is understood from its scant remaining ruin that it was built near the end of the north gorge facing Suluova, on the two sides of the gorge opposite each other. The gorge and fortress, and the great plain before it, are known by the name "Arguma" and are written by this name in old records.

But judging from the name's being recorded in different forms such as "Arguma, Argumas, Argunama, Argunamas," it is clear that it is shortened from the form "Argun Amas." This visible shortening recalls that the fortress was built by "Argun Amas" and points to its being among the works of the ancient Turks.

2- The "Inner Fortress" (İç Kale), recorded under the name Enderûn Fortress, appears in old writings also by the name "Bâtın Amasya" (Inner Amasya). This fortress is inside Amasya and is bounded on the east by the Helkis Quarter, on the west by the Sâbıkeddîn Quarter, on the south by the Yeşilırmak and on the north by the Harşene Fortress; it is about twelve hundred meters long. It is also called the "Lower Fortress." It has four gates and two towers; its west side is very strong.

On the river bank the foundation of a great wall is seen. When the height of this wall is compared with the wall of the Mağdinus Gate, it is understood to be about twelve meters from the riverbed. Because successive earthquakes ruined this great wall, it was razed to the ground.

One of the gates was on the Helkis side, the other in front of the Alçak Köprü (Low Bridge); both were pulled down as seen to be unnecessary. The gate in front of the Alçak Köprü was called the "Saray Kapısı" (Palace Gate); it is related that it was pulled down in 1281 [1864-65] by Ziyâ Paşa, mutasarrıf of Amasya, and that it was a rather perfect gate made of black marble with a very elegant arch.

The Mağdinus Gate is in front of the Sultan Bayezid Mosque; because it was small, it was widened around 1326 [1908-09] to ease passage. In old writings it appears in different forms such as "Mağdenüs, Mağdinus, Ma'denuvâz"; today it is called "Mâdenüs." Just as this gate is called "Mâdenüs Kapısı," the bridge in front of it is called "Mâdenüs Köprüsü."

The Meydan Gate is on the west side, on the road leading to the square, in front of the Sâbıkeddîn Quarter. This gate is very strong, on top and all around; since it is so durable that pulling it down would be harder than building it, it is hoped it will withstand natural events for very many more years.

Level with the caves behind this Inner Fortress an old palace ruin is seen; in popular speech it is called "Kızlar Sarayı" (Maidens' Palace). As understood from its ruin, this palace had two gates, harem and selamlık sections, a garden, two bathhouses and a kitchen. All of these have remained under the ground; the harem section is in a high and airy place. The wall and gate of the selamlık still stand.

Its gate on the south side is very large, faces west and has a slope before it. Although its surroundings are sound, its top has collapsed. Its other gate faces east and is in front of the Helkis Quarter. This gate is small and has a passage in the form of a tunnel.

Although Kâtip Çelebi in the Cihannümâ states explicitly that this palace was called "İsfendiyar Sarayı" (Palace of İsfendiyar) and says "it was called the Palace of İsfendiyar because İsfendiyar, son of Kötürüm Bayezid, ruler of Kastamonu, resided in this palace," it is understood that he was not accurate on this matter.

As will be seen in the first chapter, it is written in the Bezm ü Rezm that İsfendiyar Bey, son of the said ruler Bayezid Bey, came as envoy to Şâdgeldi Paşazâde Devatdar Ahmed Bey, ruler of Amasya, and stayed about a month. But it is not at all plausible that this palace, which for more than a hundred and fifty years afterward was home to Ottoman princes, their ladies and their sultans, should be ascribed to İsfendiyar Bey, who stayed here so little.

In this lofty palace, left empty from about the year 990 [1582], as recorded in very many sharia documents and old registers, Seydî Alizâde İsfendiyar Çelebi son of İskender Çelebi son of Hızır Çelebi, one of the notables of Amasya, resided for a long time as an official and supervised it; that the palace was therefore called "İsfendiyar Sarayı" is the strongest possibility.

To the question of who built this inner fortress and palace, Charles Texier answers thus: "This inner fortress was built by Mithridates III, one of the Pontic rulers, two and a half centuries before the Common Era; when Pompey, the most famous of the Roman generals, took and occupied Amasya half a century before the Common Era, he demolished and destroyed it, and then the Roman government had it repaired."

According to the information given by the histories Behcetü't-Tevârîh, el-Aylem and Câmiü'd-Düvel, when Seljuk Sultan Mes'ûd made Amasya his seat of sovereignty, around 540 [1145-46], he repaired this inner fortress, had a mosque, madrasa, bathhouse and palace built, and resided in this palace until his death.

It is understood from the records that the palace of the said sultan was on the river bank, forming today part of the Kurşunlu Quarter and the Ahî Sa'deddîn Quarter. It has been said from mouth to mouth since long ago that the quay extending westward along the river bank from the house of Yaşar Mehmed Efendi, above the Yukarı Hamam, is the foundation of this palace. While this lofty palace was flourishing in the Seljuk period, it was damaged in the earthquake of 718 [1318], and later passed into the possession of the judge Ziyâeddîn Mes'ûd bin Ahmed and his grandchildren.

In 853 [1449-50] a part of it was made a mescit and endowed by Alâeddîn Ali el-Mes'ûdî, and its other parts wholly formed the south front of a quarter. The late Yaşar Efendi used to tell that the house now in the hands of the heirs of Saraczâde Yaşar Mehmed Efendi was counted part of the outer section of this palace, that its outer gate, very ornate and with an artfully made arch, stood until 1271 [1854-55], and that during the repair of their house his father pulled it down.

3- Bâlus Fortress: it is understood from its ruin that it was located southeast of the Beyler Sarayı, in a place that today lies east of the barracks. Since the site of this fortress is also known as "Gümüşlüzâde Köşkü," it is not well known whether the ruin seen there belongs to the fortress or the pavilion. In any case the Bâlus Fortress, established by records, was in this locality. Because this fortress looks toward the north gorge, it is regarded as the gorge's guardian. Its site is high, and it is small.

4- Harşene Fortress: it will be explained shortly.

5- Zemendû Fortress: it is the old name of the Ziyâre Quarter on the east side of Amasya; it will be mentioned shortly in the account of the quarters.

6- Fon Fortress: it is understood from the description of the Târîh-i Âl-i Dânişmend that it was on the west side of Çakallar. At the beginning of the conquest, in 468 [1075-76], it was destroyed by Abdullah Gazi.

7- Kelkis Fortress: it is in the south gorge of Amasya; it is understood from its ruins that it had two passes. It will be mentioned in the account of Kelkis.

Envâ'-ı sanâyi' ile enzârda mümtâz
Ankâ gibi germiş kanadın etmede pervâz
Şâhîn gibi semt-i feleğe doğru ser-efrâz
Olmuş bu vakâr ile nigeh-dâr-ı Amasya

(It is distinguished in the eyes by its various arts; like the Anka bird it has spread its wing and flies. Like a falcon it has raised its head toward the sky; with this dignity it has become the guardian of Amasya.)

It is not possible for onlookers examining the ruin of this fortress, a magnificent example of the old monuments of Amasya, not to see skill on every side, art in every corner, and care in the placement of every stone.

The front face of this rock, which surrounds part of the north side of Amasya and carries the fortress on top, is flat, and its back leans on Kırklar Dağı. Its foundation is broad across and narrows toward its summit. Its length extends roughly two and a half kilometers, from the middle of the Helkis Garden to the end of the Kamereddîn Quarter. As its two sides rise it narrows and takes the form of a cone. Its summit is flat; its east side is low, its west side high. Its sides bulge like wings spread out in a conical shape, and its front slopes toward the west. In this stance it resembles a falcon taking wing toward the west. General history says that this fortress has been a guardian protecting Amasya from enemy attack since ancient times.

Derler ki bunu Harşenedir eyleyen inşâ
Etmiş ona kendi adını sonradan i'tâ
Yapmış burayı kendisine mesken-i zîbâ
Bu kal'a yüzünde görülür gâr-ı Amasya

(They say that the one who built this is Harşene; later he gave it his own name. He made this place a fine dwelling for himself; the caves of Amasya are seen on the face of this fortress.)

This fortress, known today as "Kal'a-yı Bâlâ" and "Yukarı Kale" (Upper Fortress), is famous in the Arabic histories by the name "Harşene"; all the regions it dominates are together called "Harşenûn." This fortress was first built by a person named Harşene and was called by its founder's name.

Yâkût el-Hamevî says in the Mu'cemü'l-Buldân: "Harşene is written with fatha on the first letter, sukûn on the second, with dotted shın and nun; it is a town near Malatya. Seyfüddevle el-Hamdânî campaigned against it, and Mütenebbî mentioned and praised it in his poem. It is related that it is called by the name of its founder because Harşene son of Rûm son of İlikan son of Sâm son of Noah (peace be upon him) built it. Ebû Nüvâs said of it:

An Arabic couplet meaning: "If today I came to Harşene as a captive, I had raided here many times before."

Harşenûn is the name of a region; Harşene is the center of this region."

In the books Ensâbü's-Sem'ânî, Merâsıdü'l-Ittılâ' and Lübbü'l-Lübâb too it is recorded with the same vowel marks and written: "Harşene is a town in the land of Rum near Malatya. Harşenûn is also the name of a region, and the town of Harşene dominates this region. There is a silver mine here."

In the Bezm ü Rezm, Azîz bin Erdeşîr el-Esterâbâdî says: "The Amasya Fortress is a place called by the name Harşene that looks to the vault of heaven and is very high. Descending it is harder than climbing; climbing is almost impossible.

Notes and Research

Old Words in the Text

• ârî: lacking, without
• te'yîd: confirmation, support
• inde'l-muhaddisîn: according to the hadith scholars
• gayr-i mevsûk: unreliable, undocumented
• i'zâm: sending
• dâr-ı na'îme rihlet: to depart for the afterlife, to die
• maşrık / garb / cenûb / şimâl: east / west / south / north
• mürtefi': high
• merbût: attached
• kutr: diameter
• meşk: the model a calligraphy teacher writes for the pupil; writing lesson
• kethüdâ: the assistant of a great statesman who managed his affairs, steward
• mevlid: place of birth
• medfen: place of burial
• makarr: residence, center
• iştirâ: purchase
• münhedim: collapsed
• mutasarrıf: the official who governed a sanjak
• redîf: the class of reserve soldiers
• isâle: channeling water from one place to another
• tâk: arch
• mütevâtir: passed on from mouth to mouth, said by everyone
• mahrûtî: cone-shaped
• nigehbân / nigeh-dâr: guardian, protector

The Account of Dıhye's Coming to Amasya

The section opens with the end of a discussion that began on the previous page. Hüsameddin had there relayed from Mustafa Vâzıh Efendi's history the following account: in the Veng locality of Amasya there was a great church regarded as the center of the churches of Anatolia; Dıhye bin Halîfe, envoy of the Prophet, came here at Emperor Heraclius's request, and the patriarch in the church, Dağatur, was killed when he accepted Islam and announced it to the Rum. On this page Hüsameddin plainly rejects the account and counts Dıhye's coming to Amasya as an unreliable statement of the same kind as the rumor that Suheyb-i Rûmî is buried in Çorum.

Present knowledge supports this cautious stance. Dıhye bin Halîfe, of the Kalb tribe, after the Treaty of Hudaybiya carried, among the letters the Prophet sent to neighboring rulers, the one written to Heraclius in the month of Muharram of the 7th year of the hijra (May 628). His actual task was to deliver the letter to the governor of Busra; according to the sources, since the emperor was in Palestine at the time, he appeared before him, and Abu Sufyan, who was in Gaza for trade, was also present at the meeting. The place of the meeting is given as Jerusalem in Islamic sources; Hüsameddin says Homs. It must also be noted that this embassy is not mentioned at all in Byzantine sources.

The root of the Dağatur story also lies in this embassy narrative. According to Islamic sources, after reading the letter Heraclius wrote a letter to Dagātır, his close friend living in "Rûmiye," who knew Hebrew and read the heavenly books, and sent Dıhye to him. After listening to Dıhye, Dagātır put on his white ceremonial garment and appeared before the Rum gathered in the church; when he said what he believed, the Rum fell upon him and beat him to death. If one remembers that one of Amasya's old epithets is "Rûmiyye-i Suğrâ," that is, Little Rome, it is plausible that the local account's linking of the "Rûmiye" in the sources to Amasya arose from this similarity of names; this is our own conjecture, and we did not come across a record confirming it.

The death date 43 [663-64] that Hüsameddin gives for Dıhye is not certain. The sources do not give Dıhye's death date; it is said that after the conquest of Syria he settled in the Mizze district of Damascus and lived until the time of Muawiya, and from this it is surmised that he died around the year 50 [670]. That the author in his footnote cites Bedreddîn el-Aynî's commentary on Bukhari as the most reliable account of Dıhye's embassy shows his concern to weigh the accounts by the method of hadith.

Zincirli Kaya, Meşkgâh and Sheikh Hamdullah

We could not find information on the chain on Zincirli Kaya in any source other than Hüsameddin; that the chain hung sixty meters above the ground and fell one night and was lost rests wholly on the author's testimony. One detail is nonetheless noteworthy. When the line "Zinciri onun on sene evvel idi manzûr" in the ode is read together with the date 1311 [1893-94] given in the prose, it follows that this quatrain of the ode was written around 1321 [1903-04]. Since the first volume of the book was printed in 1912, this is a small sign that Hüsameddin prepared his work spread over a long time.

The "sheikh of the calligraphers, Hamdullah Efendi" he mentions in explaining the name Meşkgâh is Sheikh Hamdullah, regarded as the founder of the Ottoman school of calligraphy. He was born in the Eslem Hatun quarter of Amasya (popularly İslam, today Dere), son of the Suhrawardi sheikh Mustafa Dede, who had migrated from Bukhara to Amasya. His birth year is 840 [1436] according to Müstakimzâde, and between 830 and 833 [1426-1430] according to other researchers. In Amasya he received a calligraphy license (icazet) from Hayreddin Mar'aşî, won the friendship of Prince Bayezid, who was sanjak governor here, and the prince made him his calligraphy teacher. When Bayezid II ascended the throne, Sheikh Hamdullah went to Istanbul and became a teacher in the palace; a meşkhane (calligraphy studio) was allotted to him near the Harem Apartment and another in the Edirne Palace. He died in 926 [1520] and was buried in the Karacaahmet Cemetery in Üsküdar.

The local account that lives on today about Meşkgâh expands Hüsameddin's short note. According to this account, while Prince Bayezid was conversing with his teacher on the Meşk Kayası, he asked where the mosque he would have built in Amasya if he came to the throne should be; Sheikh Hamdullah, who was also a master archer, turned his bow toward the city, shot an arrow, and said, "The place where my arrow falls is worthy to be a mescit." The site of the Sultan Bayezid Complex is said to have been fixed in this way. This is a legend (menkıbe) and rests on no document; but Sheikh Hamdullah's archery is documented. The oldest target stone at Okmeydanı is a memorial of his shot dated 911 [1505-06].

No information was found in other sources about Hüsâmeddîn Ağa, the steward of Hızır Paşa, said to have built in 878 [1473-74] the well-shaped water source near Meşkgâh. For the two tomb caves on Yassı Kaya and the cave on the Lokman Dağı road too, the author leaves the details to later pages.

Lokman Dağı and Lokman the Physician

One of Hüsameddin's most noteworthy findings is that the grave the people visit as that of Lokman the Physician (Lokman Hekim), named in the Qur'an, actually belongs to a physician who worked at the Amasya Dârüşşifası. Present research confirms the existence of this physician. The Amasya Dârüşşifası was built in 1308-09 by Anber bin Abdullah in the name of the Ilkhanid ruler Öljeitü and his wife İldız Hatun; the inscription on its gate records this plainly. In studies of the history of medicine Reşîdüddin Lokmân el-Hârezmî is mentioned as the first known physician of this institution.

The period in which Lokman lived also agrees with the date 727 [1326-27] Hüsameddin gives. The teacher of Sabuncuoğlu Şerefeddin, Amasya's best-known physician, was Hekim Burhâneddin Ahmed, and his teacher was Lokman of Khwarazm. Since Sabuncuoğlu was born around 788 [1386], a physician two generations earlier is expected to have lived in the first half of the fourteenth century. Thus the Lokman whom Hüsameddin calls "not an imaginary person like Ferhad" appears to us as a real person standing at the head of a tradition of medicine in Amasya.

The author's explanation has not changed the people's belief. Today on a hill near Vermiş village, attached to central Amasya, there is a place of visitation known as the "Lokman Hekim Tomb," visited especially in the summer months in hope of healing from illnesses. It is highly probable that this tomb is the same place as the great grave Hüsameddin describes on the Lokman Yaylası; but we could not find a record that shows this with certainty.

Saray Düzü: From Princes' Palace to Barracks

The longest part of the section is devoted to the Ottoman princes' palace in Amasya, and a significant part of later researchers' information on this subject rests directly on Hüsameddin. The information that the site of the palace was bought by Çelebi Mehmed from Gümüşlüzâde Hoca Celâl Çelebi is still accepted today; the date of purchase is given as 1396 in some studies and as 1398 in others. Hüsameddin's saying "beginning of the year 800" is close to the latter date. Among the princes born in the palace, besides Murad II and Yavuz Sultan Selim, born in 1470, the sons of Bayezid II, Şehinşah (1464), Ahmed (1465) and Korkut (1467), are also counted. The lengths of residence the author gives (Çelebi Mehmed sixteen, Murad II twenty, Bayezid II twenty-six years) are repeated exactly in local historical studies.

On the palace's appearance there is a marked difference between Hüsameddin's description and what an eyewitness related. Starting from the ruins, Hüsameddin speaks of a harem apartment, selamlık, bathhouses, gardens with marble pools and a masonry perimeter wall. Yet Hans Dernschwam, who came to the city in the days when Süleyman the Magnificent stayed in Amasya to pass the winter on returning from the Iran campaign in 1554 and the talks of the Peace of Amasya were being held, describes the palace as a somewhat large but plain building surrounded by a garden, with mud-brick walls and wooden parts not carefully worked; he also writes that the building where the sultan stayed was single-storied and of brick. The remains Hüsameddin saw may also have carried traces of later repairs and additions.

The dates of the palace's destruction are given differently in the sources. Hüsameddin says the palace was ruined in the earthquake of 1147 [1734-35] and wholly destroyed in the earthquake of 1241 [1825-26]. Present official promotional texts, however, write that the palace, left empty for many years, disappeared entirely in 1883 through neglect and earthquakes. Hüsameddin's saying that the plot was encroached on from the year 1300 [1882-83] suggests that the two describe different stages of the same process. In some studies it is written that the "Beyler Sarayı" was in the inner fortress; Hüsameddin, however, plainly distinguishes the Seljuk palace in the inner fortress and the Kızlar Sarayı from the Saray Düzü on the other bank of the river, and since this distinction rests on his own testimony it is more reliable.

The fire of 1311 [1893-94] that the author mentions has also left a trace in another source. According to a study on the Halveti lodges, in the 1893 fire the konak endowed for the needs of the Pîr İlyas Tomb burned together with the tomb, and the Amasya Education Commission (Maarif Komisyonu) took over this broad plot and had income-yielding buildings built in its place. That after the same fire the İdâdî Mektebi was moved to the west of the palace garden shows that the quarter was largely reorganized in this period.

The later story of the barracks of which Hüsameddin says "Bir kışla vü mekteb ile umrânı azîmdir" has acquired an importance the author could not have foreseen. According to present sources this barracks was built in 1898-1900, for the regiment of the 5th Caucasian Division attached to the 3rd Army, on the area where the palace's remains stood, as a complex of five buildings; this agrees exactly with the dates 1316-1318 Hüsameddin gives. When Mustafa Kemal and his companions came to Amasya on 12 June 1919 they were hosted in this barracks, and the Amasya Circular, declared on 21-22 June 1919, was discussed and prepared here. The barracks became the headquarters of the Central Army in 1922, lost its importance after 1930, and was partly demolished in 1935 and wholly in 1944. The military lodgings and officers' club built in its place were also evacuated and demolished in 1986 because of landslide danger. Because the old site carried landslide risk, a replica faithful to the barracks' exterior was built at the entrance of the Şamlar Quarter in 2007 and opened on 9 June 2007. Today the National Struggle Museum is here; since 2022 the Provincial Public Library also serves in this building.

The Gümüşlüzâdes and Pîr İlyas

The history of Saray Düzü is intertwined with the history of the Gümüşlüzâdes, one of Amasya's most deep-rooted families. Hüsameddin presents the ancestor of the family as Emîr Gümüşlü, brother-in-law of Muînüddîn Pervâne, by name Emîneddîn Yûnus el-Müstevfî. In present research the same person's name appears as "Muînüddîn Yûnus Müstevfî" and his date of death is given as 670 [1272]; it is noted that all members of the family were called Gümüşlüoğlu or Gümüşlüzâde. Some researchers, however, write that the family took this name because it was originally from the Gümüş kaza of Amasya (present Gümüşhacıköy). For the period of Tâceddîn Mahmûd Çelebi's emirate, the fortress's repair records give a date: among the repairs of Amasya Fortress, the repair Gümüşlüzâde Tâceddîn Mahmûd Çelebi had made in 1319 is also counted.

The family's best-known name is Pîr Şücâeddîn İlyas, who brought the Halvetiyye order to Amasya. According to the account, when Timur came to Amasya in 1402 he tested the city's scholars, was pleased with the answers of Pîr İlyas, who was then mufti, did not touch the city and took him along with him; Pîr İlyas returned to Amasya after Timur's death. The Gümüşlüoğlu Lodge that his relative Hâce Celâl Çelebi had built for him is the first lodge set aside for the Halvetîs in Amasya. There is a disagreement over Pîr İlyas's date of death: Hüsameddin gives the date 813 [1410] on later pages of his book, while another old source says 837 [1433-34]; present researchers find the second date more correct.

The tomb Hüsameddin speaks of stands today under the name "Yukarı Pirler Türbesi" within the Pirler Park, south of the Çilehane Mosque. The tomb was built in 1486 by Gümüşlüzâde Ahmed Bey, renewed in 1688 by Gümüşlüzâde İbrahim Paşa, and rebuilt after being destroyed in the 1895 earthquake. Inside, together with Pîr İlyas, lie his son-in-law Pîr Celâleddîn Abdurrahman, his grandson Pîr Hayreddîn Hızır Çelebi and their families; this matches exactly the information Hüsameddin gives. On its door, beside the original construction inscription, there is a repair inscription from the time of Abdülhamid II. The building, called "Pirler Türbesi" among the people because it holds the graves of three pîrs, is today one of the most visited places in the city.

Amasya Fortress, the Inner Fortress and the Kızlar Sarayı

Hüsameddin's description of the fortress largely coincides with present knowledge. The fortress is on Harşena Mountain in the north of the city; the rock on which it is built is about 700 meters above sea level and about 300 meters above the Yeşilırmak. Views about its builder are, as in the author's time, still divided in two today: some sources point to the Pontic king Mithridates, others to a commander named Karsan or Harsana, and the name "Harşena" is explained by this second account. After the Turkish conquest of 1075 the fortress was repaired by Dânişmend Ahmed Gazi, in 1146 by Mes'ûd I, in 1222 by Alâeddin Keykubad I, in 1369 by Şâdgeldi Paşa; in the Ottoman period by Murad II in 1449, by Mustafa Bey, emir of Prince Ahmed, in 1511, and by Hoca Ahmedpaşazâde Ali Bey in 1669. Evliya Çelebi, who came to the fortress in 1640, speaks of forty-one towers, palaces, arsenals, provision stores and cisterns. The water tunnel in the middle of the fortress, carved into the rock, descended by steps and called "Cilanbolu," was opened up to 170 meters in the cleaning works of 2009.

Today the fortress is described in three parts: the İçeri Şehir (Hatuniye Quarter), the Kızlar Sarayı and the Yukarı Kale. The part Hüsameddin calls "Enderûn Kalesi" or "Aşağı Kale" is the Hatuniye Quarter, extending about 800 meters along the river between the İstasyon Bridge and the Hükümet Bridge; historic Amasya houses, bathhouses and mosques are built on the ancient walls. The four gates the author lists appear in the same order in present descriptions: the Helkis Gate, the Saray Gate in front of the Alçak Köprü, the Midenos or Mâdenüs Gate, and the Meydan Gate near the İstasyon Bridge. The bridge opposite the Sultan Bayezid Mosque still bears the name Mâdenüs Bridge today. Ziyâ Paşa, who had the Saray Gate pulled down, during his mutasarrıflık in Amasya had government mansions, schools, an idâdî, clock towers, a prison and a bedesten built and opened new roads in the city; this development activity, called the "Amasya reforms" (Amasya ıslahatı), also explains the gate's demolition.

Sultan Mes'ûd's repair in the inner fortress is also given as 1146 in present sources, and it is noted that this sultan had a mosque, madrasa, bathhouse and palace built here and spent his life in this palace; Hüsameddin's date 540 [1145-46] corresponds to this. The view relayed from Texier that the inner fortress was built by Mithridates around 250 BCE also appears in present descriptions as information found "in very many written sources." The part on Pompey is an approximate reckoning; Amasya's annexation to Roman territory was in 70 BCE under Lucullus.

On the Kızlar Sarayı, present knowledge both confirms and extends Hüsameddin's observations. The palace lies below the rock tombs, above the Inner Fortress, in an area containing layers from the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periods to the Middle Age walls; in recent excavations the remains of Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk and Ottoman buildings are being uncovered. What remains of the two bathhouses Hüsameddin mentions stands today and can be visited. Present descriptions write that the Ottoman-period Kızlar Sarayı was built in the fifteenth century by Fîrûz Ağa, chief gatekeeper (kapıağası) of Bayezid II, was used for more than 150 years by princes, ladies and governors, and that a palace where İsfendiyar Çelebi resided in the sixteenth century was also here. This last information agrees with the view Hüsameddin put forward against Kâtip Çelebi, and was most probably taken directly from him. The information that the palace was used by the Ottomans until 1580 is very close to the date 990 [1582] Hüsameddin drew from the registers. Dernschwam, who saw the city in the days when Süleyman the Magnificent was in Amasya, records that the palace was used by the Ottomans as a military depot, and that its outer part was of stone and its inner part of brick and wood.

A Caution on the Name Harşene

At the end of the section Hüsameddin equates the place the Arab geographers refer to as "Harşene" with the Amasya Fortress. At this point the reader's attention must be drawn. The Arab sources the author relays themselves describe Harşene as a town "near Malatya." Present research also matches the Harşene of the Arabic sources with the Byzantine fortress of Kharsianon (Charsianon). This fortress is first mentioned in 638, during the first wave of Muslim conquests, is first taken by the Arabs in 730, and in the ninth century becomes the center of a Byzantine military province (thema) bearing its own name. Its site is today matched with the ruins of Muşalikalesi in the Akdağmadeni district of Yozgat. Some sources, however, place the fortress near Malatya, on the bank of the Euphrates. In both cases this fortress is quite far from Amasya.

The couplet Hüsameddin cites as "Ebû Nüvâs" shows this plainly. The editor of the book notes in a footnote that the couplet belongs to Ebû Firâs. The poet Ebû Firâs of the Hamdanid dynasty was taken captive by the Byzantines near Manbij in 351 [962], was taken first to the fortress of Harşana near Malatya and from there to Istanbul, and remained a captive until the prisoner exchange of 355 [966]. The couplet saying "If today I came to Harşene as a captive" was said in these days of captivity and has nothing to do with Amasya. Likewise, the Harşene campaigns that Mütenebbî mentions in praising Seyfüddevle are directed at the Byzantine fortress in this frontier region. This situation also serves as a caution against the claim, on the previous page of the introduction, that Mütenebbî's couplets were said for Amasya.

Nevertheless, the use of the name Harşene for the Amasya Fortress is not Hüsameddin's invention. Authors who knew Anatolia closely, such as the Bezm ü Rezm the author relays and İbn Arabşah, mentioned on the following page, also refer to the Amasya Fortress by this name. The name appears to have been carried from the Arab geographical tradition to Anatolia and in time to have settled on the upper fortress of Amasya. Today the mountain on which the fortress stands is also called Harşena Mountain.

Bibliography

Primary sources

• Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 1, p. 88–93. amasya.bel.tr

Academic studies

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• İsmail İpek, "Amasya'da Halvetîlik ve Pir İlyas Şücâeddin'in Hayatı", Uluslararası Amasya Âlimleri Sempozyumu Bildiriler Kitabı I, Amasya 2017. https://isamveri.org/pdfdrg/G00226/2017/2017_IPEKI.pdf
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• Amasya İl Kültür ve Turizm Müdürlüğü, "Amasya Kalesi". https://amasya.ktb.gov.tr/TR-59516/amasya-kalesi.html
• T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Kültür Portalı, "Amasya Kalesi". https://www.kulturportali.gov.tr/turkiye/amasya/gezilecekyer/amasya-kales
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Other sources

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