INTRODUCTION (6) (Mukaddime)

In Modern English

2. Eski Kethüda Quarter: It is east of the Sultan Bayezid Han Mosque; it is bounded in the east by "Köprübaşı," in the west by "Sultan Bayezid Tabhane Sırası," in the south by "Bozahane" and in the north by the Yeşilırmak. When "el-Hâc Mehmed Ağa," who until 835 [1431-32] had won great fame for his justice in the municipal police and judicial duties as kethüda (deputy, assistant) of "Yörgüç Paşa," governor of Amasya, died, the new kethüda who came in his place was also called "Mehmed Ağa," so the former Mehmed Ağa was called "Eski Kethüda" (the Old Kethüda) and this quarter where he lived became known by the name "Eski Kethüda." This has been understood from historical research.

The said old kethüda el-Hâc Mehmed Ağa had a mescit built in this quarter and endowed some eight shops in the bedesten; the mescit became known as the "Kapısı Kıble Mescidi" (Mescit with the Door on the Qibla Side). Indeed its door falls on the qibla side. When the mescit burned in the fire of 1011 [1602-03], "Çavuşzade el-Hâc Mehmed Efendi," one of the judges known as "Hacı Efendi," had it rebuilt in 1018 [1609-10] and endowed three shops in the bedesten; later his son "Sarı Mehmed Ağa" in 1057 [1647-48] expanded his father's waqf by again endowing two shops of his in the bedesten.

Just as "Hacı Efendizade el-Hâc Ahmed Ağa," one of the chief gatekeepers (kapıcıbaşı) of the palace, had a fountain built in front of this mescit and adjoining his house in 1180 [1766-67], and "Yeğenzade Hüseyin Bey," one of the notables (âyan), one in front of his house in 1218 [1803-04], "Kalaycızade el-Hâc Ömer Ağa" also had another fountain built in front of the "Kâşifiye Madrasa" in 1179 [1765-66]. From this quarter came viziers such as "Hacı Efendizade Ömer Paşa" and "Yeğenzade Ömer Paşa" and very many notables. This quarter has kept its honor as the "Âyan Mahallesi" (Quarter of the Notables) since long ago.

3. Üçler Quarter: It is on the qibla side of the Sultan Bayezid Mosque, on the site of the "Alişir Quarter"; it is bounded in the east by the "Devehane" quarter, in the west by "Receb," in the south partly by a cemetery and partly by the "Küpceğiz Quarter," and in the north by the highway, and is counted part of the old town of "Simre." The sultan's teacher "Niğdelizade Sofi Bayezid," who had extraordinary influence and standing in the reign of "His Majesty Çelebi Sultan Mehmed Han," and his uncles "Feyzullah" and "Yakub" Çelebis were called "Üçler" (the Three) in popular speech; because they lived in this quarter and were buried inside a house here, the quarter was called "Üçler Mahallesi."

Their residence there lasted until about 815 [1412-13]. By a strange coincidence, since three mischief-making Iranians named "Kutbeddin Ahmed," "Kutbeddin İsa" and "Kutbeddin Mahmud," who lived in this quarter until 921 [1515-16] and, winning the closeness of "Prince Sultan Ahmed," had extraordinary influence and standing, were also called "Kutublar" and "Üçler," the name "Üçler" became firmly widespread. The first "Üçler" is written in the "Kadı Abdurrahman Muslihî" waqf deed drawn up in 850 [1446-47], the second "Üçler" in the "Feridun Bey Münşeatı."

Since the mosque that Feyzullah Çelebi, one of the Üçler, had built of wood in this quarter burned in the fire of 1011, "Sadi Çelebi," one of the mevali (great judges), had it rebuilt in 1018 [1609-10] with masonry on four sides and wood for the top and minaret; building beside it a school, a fountain and a lecture hall, he endowed in 1039 [1629-30] his two houses in the Üçler Quarter, five shops in the İbadullah Bazaar, two in the Aşağı Pazar and three in the Bakkallar İçi, and his three houses in the Kurşunlu Quarter to the repair of this mosque and the other charitable works and the livelihood of their staff.

In this quarter great persons such as the Üçler and the Yediler (the Seven) are buried; since most have tombs, they will be mentioned later in the account of tombs. Very many great persons such as the sultan's teacher "Ömer Efendi" and the beylerbeyi of Diyarbekir "Ahmed Paşa" came from this quarter. The "Saka Sokağı" at the easternmost end of the quarter is known by this name because the famous janissary commander "Sakaoğlu İbrahim Ağa" lived here until 1140 [1727-28]. In this quarter there are fountains of "Şabanzade el-Hâc Mehmed Ağa" and of "Kâtibzade es-Seyyid el-Hâc Osman Ağa."

4. Uzun Mustafa Quarter: It is north of the Burmalı Minare Mosque, on the site of the Şehinşah Property (Mülk); it is bounded in the east by the stream, in the west by the Hoca Süleyman, in the south by the Kılıççı and in the north by the Kazancı quarters. Because "Hoca el-Hâc Mustafa Çelebi," one of the leading merchants, who was sent repeatedly as envoy to Egypt by Sultan Mehmed II and Sultan Bayezid II, lived in this quarter until 905 [1499-1500], the quarter took his name.

The said Hoca has in this quarter a mescit, school and fountain. He endowed in 900 [1494-95] the properties that would keep them standing, leaving the administration of the waqf to his son, the scholar "el-Hâc Muhyiddin Mehmed Çelebi," and his descendants. Although this mescit burned many times, it was repaired by the efforts of his grandchildren and is today in good repair. Although his fountain stands, his school does not.

5. Bayezid Paşa Quarter: It is south of the Kuş Köprü, on the site of the old Foka Quarter; it is bounded in the east by vineyards, in the west by the stream, in the south by the Savakça Quarter and in the north by the Yeşilırmak. It is called by the name of "Yahşi Beyzade Bayezid Paşa," one of the great Ottoman viziers, who lived in this quarter until 816 [1413-14].

The said vizier has in this quarter, on the river bank, an artful mosque, east of it a guesthouse and also an imaret (soup kitchen). He completed these in 817 [1414-15] and had the waqf deed drawn up in 820 [1417-18].

The mosque is in the middle of an area with the river in front and walls on its other three sides. Its front facade is of marble, its other sides of stone. In front it has two maksuras (set-aside platforms), in each of which is a small pool with flowers worked on marble, and beside it an elegant minaret. Inside there is a broad room on each of the two sides, and between these two rooms is the mosque. But the floor is not level throughout; its upper half is an arshin higher than its lower half. Each half forms a square.

Its mihrab and minbar are exceedingly elegant and small. Its door is large and very artful; its top and sides are adorned and worked with flowers in relief on marble. Its waqf deed is carved, outside the mosque, on a red marble resembling a band on the square arch on which the dome rests; above its door is also carved an Arabic inscription whose meaning is as follows:

"This blessed imaret was built by the great emir, glorious and honored vizier Bayezid Paşa (may God exalt his rank) in the reign of the greatest sultan, the exalted shahanshah Sultan Mehmed (may God make his sovereignty last), son of the late Sultan Bayezid Han, in the month of Muharram of the year 817 [April 1414]."

This mosque was built by a master named "Şemseddin Ahmed-i Şâmî," a famous architect, who carved his name on the left side of the door. The two rooms inside the mosque are lecture halls (dershane); counted as a madrasa, they have been given to very many scholars, and in 1210 [1795-96] to "Veysi Beyzade es-Seyyid el-Hâc Mehmed Efendi" and after him to his children. While the administration (tevliyet) of the waqf was stipulated for the descendants of the founder, when the line died out it was given from about 1100 [1688-89] to veterans who had left palace service (Enderun), and in 1251 [1835-36] was attached to the Ministry of Imperial Waqfs (Evkaf-ı Hümayun Nezareti).

East of the imaret, level with the "Kuş Köprü," there is a bathhouse known by the name "Kumacık Hamamı." "Küçük Kapı Ağası Ayas Ağa" had this bathhouse built and completed in 900 [1494-95] on a plot he bought from "Kocacık Hoca Ahmed Çelebizade Hoca Mehmed Çelebi." Because it was built on the Kocacık plot, it was first called "Kocacık Hamamı" and then, by a mispronunciation, "Kumacık Hamamı."

The said Ayas Ağa endowed this bathhouse in 900, together with the eight houses he had built on its east side, the mill in front of the door of the Bayezid Paşa buildings and a garden beside it, and allotted its revenues to his mosque, madrasa and school in the Şamlar Quarter.

On the qibla side of the Bayezid Paşa Mosque, near the road going to Kirazlıdere, it is recorded that "Gazi Bey," one of the beys, had a mescit, a fountain in front of it and a school adjoining it built in 937 [1530-31] and endowed his properties.

West of this Gazi Bey fountain, within a broad area beside the stream, there is a separate complex of buildings containing a mosque made in the name of His Excellency "Karabağlı eş-Şeyh el-Hâc Hamza-i Nigârî Efendi," a lofty tomb of his adjoining it, on the west side a wooden madrasa, a şadırvan in front and a lecture hall to the north.

The foundation of this mosque and its annexes was laid in 1304 [1886-87]. Thanks to the monetary aid collected and sent by "Veysi Efendizade eş-Şeyh el-Hâc Mahmud Efendi," one of the halifes (representatives to whom the sheikh gave a license) living in the Shirvan region, the supervision carried out in Amasya by "Mir Hasan Efendi" and the serious effort shown by all the disciples, it was partly completed in 1310 [1892-93], all of stone, and its other annexes were finished in time.

The building of this mosque and tomb is elegant; its minaret and its marble minbar and mihrab are exceedingly fine. The administrative and supervisory duty that ended with Mir Hasan Efendi's death passed to the Efendis Veysi and Mehmed, sons of Sheikh Mahmud Efendi; in 1326 [1908-09] its front facade was also completed by their hands, and the waqfs sufficient to administer these charitable works were also arranged by them.

In a place between this mosque and the Kumacık Hamamı the French Jesuit religious mission had a church, a school and a large building built in 1300 [1882-83] and carries on activity in line with instructions specific to missionary work. The former grand vizier "Kara İbrahim Paşa" was born in this quarter.

6. Bozahane Quarter: It is on the two sides of the İbadullah Bazaar, on the site of the "Emir Seyfeddin Sungur Property"; it is bounded in the east by the Hoca Süleyman, in the west by the Devehane, in the south by the Çeribaşı and in the north by the Eski Kethüda quarters. Because in the time of "Prince Sultan Ahmed," when boza had become widespread, a large bozahane (boza house) was built in this quarter, from 900 [1494-95] it began to be called "Bozahane Mahallesi."

In this quarter Acem Ali Ağa had a fountain built in 873 [1468-69]; and in 931 [1524-25] the famous "Ubeydullah Efendi" of the mevali had a mescit built and endowed a han, ten shops and two houses. The mosque and the bazaar in front of it were given the name "Ubeydullah," later by mispronunciation "İbadullah." Since this mosque burned in the fire of 1011 [1602-03], "es-Seyyid Şükrullah Efendi bin Yahya Çelebi bin Mehmed Çelebi bin Ubeydullah Efendi," grandson of the said molla and deputy of the nakîbüleşraf (the deputy of the nakîb who looks after the affairs of the descendants of the Prophet), had it rebuilt.

When the mosque burned again in the fire of 1143 [1730-31] and the waqfs were wholly lost, "Saraczade el-Hâc Mehmed Ağa," one of the notables, had it rebuilt in 1147 [1734-35]; he endowed the five shops in front of it, the four shops above it and his house behind it. In the fire of 1271 [1854-55] the mosque burned again and its waqfs were lost.

In 1273 [1856-57], with the help of benefactors, the mosque and its shops were rebuilt, but when it burned again in the fire of 1304 [1886-87] it was rebuilt, with its shops, at the initiative of the country's mufti "Gürcü el-Hâc Osman Hilmi Efendi." However, its four shops and one house and its earlier ten shops and one han ceased to be waqf and became private property.

On the east side of this mosque, "Kâtibzade Mehmed Rifat Efendi bin Lütfullah Efendi," carrying out his father's will, had the "Kar Sebili" (Snow Fountain, a public drinking fountain) built in 1250 [1834-35], endowed a shop, and stipulated that snow be put in the sebil in the months of June, July and August. There is an inscription on the sebil.

7. Pirinççi Quarter: It is on the west side of the Savakça Stream and beneath the palace; it is bounded in the east by the Savakça Stream, in the west by the Mehmed Paşa, in the south by the Yakub Paşa quarters, and in the north by the Yeşilırmak. Because "Pirinççi Sinan Bey," one of the beys of Sultan Bayezid II, lived here and had a mescit and a school built and endowed his properties to them, from 912 [1506-07] it has been called the Pirinççi Quarter. In this quarter there are a darülhadis (school of hadith) and a lodge (zaviye); these will be explained shortly. Because the vizier "Gümüşhaneli Ali Şefik Paşa" lived in this quarter, the south sides of the highway used to be called "Şefik Paşa Bahçesi."

8. Pervane Bey Quarter: It is west of the mosque known as the Burmalı Minare; it is bounded in the east by the Uzun Mustafa, in the west by the Acem Ali, in the south by the Çırakçı and in the north by the Hoca Süleyman quarters. Because "İzzeddin Mehmed Pervane Bey," nephew of the great Pervane Bey, lived in this quarter until 700 [1300-01], it was called "Pervane Bey Mahallesi."

It is understood from the inscription over its door and from the waqf deed that the said "Pervane," his son-in-law, had drawn up in 699 [1299-1300] that the "Burmalı Minare" mosque in this quarter was built by "Necmeddin Ferruh," one of the Seljuk beys.

The four walls of this mosque are masonry, its top wooden. In form it is a rectangle extending toward the south; its inside is divided lengthwise into three sections. On its sides there are three stone columns of square section on each, and its structure is exceedingly strong. Its front facade has none of the splendor and ornament peculiar to the Seljuk period. It has two tombs, a library and a minaret.

Its door is of masonry; above it there is an inscription which, though carved in stone, looks as if written on lime. Because this inscription is carved in an intricate manner giving the impression of having been written with a finger in wet lime and then filled in, it could be read only with great difficulty. The meaning of the Arabic text written in the form of a bow is this:

"This blessed imaret was built in the days of the state of the greatest sultan, helper of the world and the religion, father of conquests, Keyhusrev son of Keykubad son of Keyhusrev. May God make his sovereignty last."

Below this writing, in a straight line, the following is written:

"The one who built this blessed place, the humble servant, is the hunt emir Ferruh son of Selçuk son of Yusuf el-Hâzin; may God forgive him. At the end of the blessed month of …, in the year six hundred and ninety [1291]."

Although this mosque has nothing resembling a church in either its form or its manner of construction, "Vital Cuinet," in his work "Asya-yı Osmanî," writes that this is a church built by the "Komnenos Dynasty," which reigned in the Byzantine Empire; but the present form of the building is not suited to confirming this. Perhaps its site may be the site of the "Komnenos Church."

While the administration of the waqf was with the "Pervane Beyzades," their line died out and it passed by inheritance to the Müeyyedzades. At this time, in 999 [1590-91] the mosque was damaged by an earthquake and in 1011 [1602-03] burned in the great fire; thereupon the trustee "Müeyyedzade Pîrî Çelebi" repaired it and had a wooden minaret built before it. When it burned again in the fire of 1143 [1730-31], the trustee "Vâsi Çelebizade es-Seyyid el-Hâc Ahmed Efendi" had it repaired and had its minaret built of stone, with a twisted (burmalı) shaft.

It is understood from the waqf deed that when this building was first made it was made as a cami (a mosque where the Friday prayer is performed). But when the mosque of His Majesty Sultan Bayezid II was completed, in order to gather the Muslim congregation in a single mosque, the minbar was removed from this one too at the time the minbars were removed from all the mosques in the Yukarı Pazar section. Later, since the excessive crowding of the congregation in the sultan's mosque required minbars to be placed in the other mosques too, in 1146 [1733-34] a minbar was placed in this mosque too and "Hâfız Hüseyin Efendi" was appointed as preacher (hatip).

In 1147 [1734-35] "Hıfzîzade el-Hâc Osman Fâik Efendi," one of the great hadith scholars, made the room above the tomb in front of the mosque a library, placed all his books there and endowed them. Later, since the library officials did not know their duties, all the books were given out as trusts and, since they were not taken back from the places they were given, they were lost. Now there is a library, there are no books. The historical explanations concerning the tomb will be given shortly.

The four-eyed ablution place (abdesthane) in front of the road west of the mosque was built in 1098 [1686-87] by Mumcuzade es-Seyyid Mustafa Ağa, one of the notables and a former deputy of the nakîbüleşraf, who made water flow to each. Although it is understood from his waqf deed that he later endowed four shops in the Bakkallar İçi to be spent on its repair and needs, the shops passed into private property and the ablution places fell into ruin.

The "Sungurlu Madrasa" and the "Darphaneci Lodge" in this quarter will be explained shortly. The mescit seen at the "Çarşıbaşı" was built in 1100 [1688-89] by "Eli Güzel el-Hâc Mehmed Ağa," one of the notables, who endowed a property yielding sufficient income and had a fountain built before it. This mescit burned many times and his grandchildren rebuilt it; then, when it fell into ruin, in 1310 [1892-93] "Sandık Eminizade Mustafa Reşid Efendi" revived it and became its second founder.

In this quarter there are fountains of "Peçelizade Hasan Paşa," of "Hıfzî Abdurrahman Efendi" of the mevali, and of the notable "Acem Ali Ağa." Although Acem Ali Ağa's fountain is known and clear, since there are several more fountains, which of the others is which could not be determined. Only the fountain in front of the Darphane Lodge is thought to be Hasan Paşa's fountain.

9. Tatar Quarter: It is north of the "Şamlar Cemetery," in the locality known by the name "Gülüs"; it is bounded in the east by the highway, in the west by the Ahmak Bağları (Fools' Vineyards), in the south by the cemetery and in the north by "Gülüs." It was formed by the arrival of the Tatars settled here since 1295 [1878]. Although recorded in the state registers by the name "İhsaniye Mahallesi," the name "Tatar Mahallesi" prevailed among the people.

Since the Tatars living in this quarter were very hardworking and pious people, they built a mescit in the middle of the quarter. In 1316 [1898-99] "Zileli Hacı Velizade el-Hâc Hasan Efendi," one of the notables of Amasya, had an elegant school built beside this mescit, increasing the quarter's honor and laboring for the spread of knowledge.

The beautiful locality that covers the north part of the quarter, the rest of it being meadow, has long been known and called by the name "Gülüs." As this name is traced back, for example when examined as far as the years 727 [1326-27], 635 [1237-38] and 573 [1177-78], it is seen to be used in exactly this form. Accordingly it is understood that this name belongs to the time before the conquest of Amasya. That the vineyards northeast of "Gülüs" are called "Taraput Bağları" is likewise understood to belong to the time before the conquest of Amasya.

The appearance of these names suggests that they have remained as place names here since the time of the "Kingdom of Pontus." For the name "Gülüs" resembles a word that has remained shortened from either "Arkilüs" or "Lüküllüs." As recorded in history, "Arkilüs" or "Arkilaus" is the name of a famous commander of the Pontic king Mithridates VII; it is thought the place was given his name because he lived here.

"Lüküllüs" too is the name of a famous general among the Roman commanders; he is known from the date when, fighting Mithridates and entering Amasya as victor, he pitched his tent and stayed here for a time. It is also supposed that the place was given his name for this reason. But no historical document on the word "Taraput" could be found. Although it occurs to one that this word is shortened from the expression "Tora Pont" (the law of Pontus), nothing to support this could be found.

10. Temenna Quarter: It is on the north foot of Zincirli Kaya, on the site of the garden of Feth Gazi, one of the Danishmendid beys; it is bounded in the east by Zincirli Kaya, in the west and south by the stream, and in the north by the İslam Quarter.

Because "Temennâ-yı Nîsâbûrî," one of the panegyrists (poets of praise) of the princes in Amasya and one of the Iranian poets, lived in this "Fethiye Bahçesi," the quarter has been called and recorded by this name since 820 [1417-18].

"Hüsameddin Ağa," the kethüda of "Hızır Paşa," living in this quarter, had a masonry school, a fountain and, near it, a water source built in 874 [1469-70] and arranged his waqfs in 878 [1473-74]. In his waqf deed his name is written "Hüsameddin-i Temennâyî." "The Second Kaya Paşa," one of the Ottoman beys descended from "Torumtay," also had an elegant masonry mosque built in 975 [1567-68] and endowed his properties to it.

11. Cami-i Enderun Quarter: It is in the İçeri Şehir, near the Hatuniye Quarter, and was separated from the Karatay Quarter. It is bounded in the east by Saray, in the west by Karatay, in the south by the Yeşilırmak and in the north by the Yukarı Kale. Since in its middle stands the mosque known by the name Enderun Camii, it took its name from this mosque.

Judging by the fact that in most of the old documents obtained since the year 612 [1215-16] this mosque is written as "Cami-i Enderun" and in some is called "Cami-i Gazi Bey," it is thought to have been built before 635 [1237-38] by the Danishmendid ruler "Melik Şemseddin İsmail Gazi Bey" or "Melik İzzeddin Mehmed Gazi Bey," and, since it was in the Inner Fortress, to have later taken the name "Cami-i Enderun" (the mosque within).

What strengthens this supposition is the manner of the mosque's construction. The mosque is square, made entirely of red brick; its wall is high, its inside broad, its top wooden. On its east side it has a very thick minaret of roughly thirteen meters in diameter; according to this diameter its height is only about fifteen meters. Because it resembles a great loğ stone (a cylindrical stone used to compact earth roofs), it is known among the people as "Loğ Minare." This minaret too is made of red brick.

If one considers that most of the mosques and tombs built by the notables of the Danishmendid government were made of brick in this form, the supposition that the founder of this mosque was one of the two named rulers gains strength. The resemblance is seen between the tomb at the edge of the Şamlılar Cemetery and the structures of this mosque and the Çalan Köprü, and if a comparison is made with the structures of the mosque and madrasa of "Yağıbasan Gazi Bey," one of the Danishmendid rulers, in the Niksar Fortress, the structure of this mosque is accepted as belonging to that period. Although it is said that this mosque too was converted from a church, there is no doubt that this account is baseless; for the manner and form of the mosque's construction suffice to refute it. It is also evident that its minaret was not added later but built together with the mosque.

It has been established by being seen on the spot that the foundation of this mosque stands on several stone domes, columns and spans. Accordingly, the fact that there was a church here in ancient times, that its surroundings filled up and were buried in the earth, and that the mosque was built on top of it must have given rise to this account.

While this mosque was formerly administered by income-yielding properties endowed by benefactors, in 879 [1474-75] "Gülbahar Hatun," the esteemed mother of "His Majesty Sultan Bayezid Han II," endowed villages and mezras (hamlets) to meet the mosque's religious expenses; "Gülçiçek Hatun," wife of "Prince Sultan Ahmed," governor of Amasya, also endowed in 911 [1505-06] properties and mezras on the condition of cüzhanlık (the daily reading of a juz of the Qur'an) in her nearby tomb and devirhanlık (reciting the whole Qur'an) in this mosque.

12. Çırakçı Quarter: While at first a part of the Pervane Bey Quarter, it later separated and became a separate quarter. It is bounded in the east by Kılıççı, in the west by Acem Ali, in the south by Darüsselam and in the north by the Pervane Bey quarters. Because "Çırakçızade el-Hâc Halil Çelebi bin Ahmed Çelebi," from the close circle of "Prince Sultan Mustafa," governor of Amasya, lived in this quarter and had a mescit built and arranged its waqfs in 957 [1550], the quarter was given the name Çırakçı.

13. Çeribaşı Quarter: It is on the north foot of "Karakaya," on the site of the old "Sungur Property." It is bounded in the east by the Acem Ali, in the west by Devehane, in the north by Bozahane and in the south by Şehre Küsdü quarters and by Karakaya. Because "Çeribaşı Emineddin Mehmed Çelebi," one of the well-known beys in the time of the emir of Amasya "Şadgeldi Paşa" and after him "Devatdar Ahmed Paşa," lived in this quarter and had a mescit built, it was called "Çeribaşı Mahallesi."

Since the date stone of this mosque has been removed and its waqf deed could not be found, its date of construction could not be understood. But since it is deduced from his being among the witnesses of a waqf deed drawn up that year that the said emir was alive in 793 [1390-91], it is understood that the mosque was built in these years. His line administered this mosque well as trustees for some four hundred years; "Mütevellizade el-Hâc Halil Ağa," one of the janissary çavuşes, added a white minaret to the east side of the mosque in 1197 [1782-83].

That the building of this mosque resembles the "Saraçhane Camii" building in its manner of construction, and that the date stones of both have been removed, is worth examining. Although the mufti of Amasya of his line, "Mütevellizade el-Hâc Ahmed Efendi," placed a minbar in the mosque in 1118 [1706-07] and expanded its waqfs, later all of these were lost; apart from endowed money, the waqf is as good as nonexistent. In 1281 [1864-65] "Ziya Paşa," mutasarrıf of Amasya, had the mosque repaired; then, when its dome leaked again, "Abdîzade el-Hâc Mehmed Ağa," father of the author of this book, in 1309 [1891-92] had an ağdırma (a roof covering the dome from outside) built over it and thus placed the dome under protection.

It is known from mouth to mouth that the house on the corner opposite the mosque is a waqf stipulated for the imam, and that the empty plot seen two houses above this waqf house is a waqf stipulated for cüzhanlık. Just as "Kaya Paşa" around 803 [1400-01] in the lower part of this quarter and "Mütevellizade el-Hâc Hasan Ağa" around 1145 [1732-33] in the upper stream part each had a fountain built, "Acem Ali Ağa" too had a fountain built in 873 [1468-69] adjoining the mosque.

14. Çıkrık Quarter: This quarter, which appears in official records under the name "Şeyh Kırık and Hankâh Quarter," is on the site of the old Hankâh-ı Mesudî Quarter; it is bounded in the east by the Üçler, in the west by Şâmice, in the south by Küpceğiz and in the north by Receb quarters. Because "Mehmed Çelebi," known as "Şeyh Kırık," lived here and performed riyazet (austerity for disciplining the self) in his own cell near the lodge, the quarter has been known by the name "Şeyh Kırık" since 841 [1437-38]. In popular speech it is called "Çıkrık Mahallesi." Some people who love wordplay wrote the word "Kırık" as "Garîk" (drowned in water) and said "Şeyh Garîk."

Because this quarter was known for the hankâh (lodge) built by Sultan Mesud, from the year 560 [1164-65] to 840 [1436-37] it was called the Hankâh Quarter. Here there have been a mosque, school and fountains since long ago; some benefactors arranged their waqfs. When the famous scholar "eş-Şeyh Osman Efendi" was imam of this mosque, the quarter had become very prosperous.

15. Hacı İlyas Quarter: It is west of the Sultan Bayezid Han II Mosque; it is bounded in the east by the Sultan Bayezid Mosque, in the west by the Yörgüç Paşa Mosque, in the south by the highway and in the north by the Yeşilırmak. It is also called "İmaret Arkası" (Behind the Imaret). It took this name because "Hacı İlyas Bey," Hacı Nevruz Beyzade, one of the beys, lived in this quarter and had a mescit and a school built.

The northwest side of this quarter is known as "İnehan Önü," in popular speech "İnehen Önü." It was given this name because "İne Han Bey," one of the grandsons of "Sultan Eretna Bey," has lived there since 790 [1388]. The foundation of the pavilion this person had built on the river bank still stands today.

While the east side of the quarter was the garden of the beys Hacı Beyzade Hamza, İlyas and Hızır, in 886 [1481] "His Majesty Sultan Bayezid Han II," after his accession to the throne, bought it from them and ordered a mosque, madrasa, imaret, tabhane (guesthouse) and şadırvan to be built in its place. Thereupon his prince, "Sultan Ahmed," governor of Amasya, immediately undertook to carry out the exalted command.

The said prince began the foundation of the mosque in the month of Receb of the year 886 [September 1481], completed it with all its annexes in the month of Receb of the year 891 [July 1486], and surrounded these charitable works with a wall of masonry in square plan in the form of a rampart. This wall has six gates, two in the south, two in the north, and one each in the east and west; its north side faces the river from end to end. This very broad area contains all the charitable works; on the four sides of the mosque is a garden full of very beautiful fruit-bearing and non-fruit-bearing trees.

In the middle of this area the mosque was built. Its length and width are one hundred and eighty qadams (feet) each; inside it has two domes in the middle and three on each side, a door on each of the east, west and north sides, and an elegant and strong arch serving as support to the two middle domes. From outside its front facade is covered with five domes; the posts that carry these domes are of green and black single-piece marble.

The middle dome in the north is large and made of honey-colored marble; the flowers in relief over the door are worth seeing. On its two sides its two exceedingly graceful minarets, like pheasants, stand tall like two fountains of light that have descended from the lofty throne onto Amasya.

Mevlânâ İdris-i Bitlisî, one of the notables of the time of Yavuz Sultan Selim, praises this exalted sultan's charitable work as follows in his work "Heşt Behişt." The meaning of the Persian couplets he says about the mosque is this:

"What a fine, blessed place whose comfort reaches the servants of God. There the emblems of Islam stand, there the gifts of bounty never lack."

The approximate meaning of the Arabic couplets he says about its lamps:

"While the sun paints their ceiling, the lamps are like horses rolling in molten gold. In delicacy they are like the spirit; had they not been entrusted to the rim of the vessel, they would have no bodies."

The meaning of the Persian couplet he says about its minarets:

"Two palm trees full of sweet-voiced birds; like the nightingale in the rose garden, they remember God."

The meaning of the Persian couplets he says about its imaret and tabhane:

"That place is like a spring rose garden, like a flourishing building. Every blessing is ready in it; by the one who gives the blessing and had it built, one eats in good health. Whoever turns to see it does not turn his rein back from that lodging."

Notes and Research

Old Words in the Text

• mahdûd: bounded, surrounded
• şarkan / garben / cenûben / şimâlen: in the east / in the west / in the south / in the north
• kethüdâ: the deputy, steward, who manages the affairs of a great statesman
• tetebbu'ât-ı târîhiyye: historical research
• harîk: fire; muhterik: burned
• müceddeden / tecdîden: anew
• mahdûm: son; ahfâd: grandchildren
• a'yân: the notables of the city
• mevâlî: scholars holding the rank of judge of a great city
• tevliyet / mütevellî: waqf administration / waqf administrator
• akâr: property yielding rental income; mezâri': sown fields, hamlets
• mürtezika: officials who receive a salary from a waqf
• maksûre: a set-aside, raised section in a mosque
• tabhâne: in mosques with lodges, the heated room where travelers and guests stayed
• misafirhâne / imârethâne: guesthouse / soup kitchen
• cüzhân / devrhân: official who, by waqf condition, reads a juz of the Qur'an each day / who recites the whole Qur'an
• nakîbü'l-eşrâf kâ'im-makâmı: the provincial deputy of the nakîb who looks after the affairs of the descendants of the Prophet
• riyâzet: austerity, fasting for disciplining the self
• münkarız: whose line has died out
• mütevâtir: known by being transmitted continuously, from mouth to mouth
• ağdırma: a wooden roof erected over a dome to protect it
• kadem: foot, an old measure of length of about thirty centimeters
• loğ taşı: a cylindrical stone rolled to compact earth roofs

These Quarters Today

Hüsameddin's list of quarters is a photograph of Amasya's quarter order in the 1910s. A large part of the names the author gives also appear in the official records of the nineteenth century. In the Amasya population register of 1840, fifty-five quarters are counted in the city; among them, with the names Eski Kethüda, Üçler, Uzun Mustafa, Beyazid Paşa, Bozahane, Pirinççi, Pervane Bey, Temenna, Cami-i Enderun, Çırakçı, Çeribaşı, Hacı İlyas and "Şeyh Garik (Şeyh Arık)," nearly all the quarters in this section are found. The spelling "Şeyh Garik" in the register shows that the quarter name Hüsameddin describes as what "some people fond of terms call 'Şeyh Garîk'" was also used in this form by the official clerks. The same register also contains a "Kocacık" quarter; the author's explanation that the name of the Kumacık Hamamı comes from the "Kocacık plot" is thus supported by the existence of this quarter name. The Tatar Quarter, on the other hand, is not in the 1840 register; this agrees with the author's saying that the quarter was founded after 1878.

The same register also gives an idea of the quarters' population structure. In 1840 the Bayezid Paşa Quarter, with 112 Muslim and 104 non-Muslim households, is one of the most crowded and most mixed quarters of the city. In Üçler there are 94 households, all Muslim; in Hacı İlyas 93 Muslim households are counted. In Bozahane, however, non-Muslim households are the majority (14 Muslim, 56 non-Muslim households). Eski Kethüda, Çeribaşı and Pervane Bey are mixed quarters. This picture makes it easier to understand the settling of a Catholic mission in the Bayezid Paşa Quarter at the end of the nineteenth century.

Today, among the forty quarters of the central district of Amasya, of the names mentioned in this section Üçler, Beyazıtpaşa, Pirinççi and Hacı İlyas continue to live. A detail Hüsameddin recorded is especially noteworthy here: the name of the Tatar Quarter in the state registers is "İhsaniye." The name of the İhsaniye Quarter, today among Amasya's official quarters, can thus be traced to the quarter of the Tatar immigrants settled north of the Şamlar Cemetery after 1878. The names Eski Kethüda, Uzun Mustafa, Bozahane, Pervane Bey, Temenna, Cami-i Enderun, Çırakçı, Çeribaşı and Çıkrık, however, are not in today's official list of quarters; no source was found that shows in detail which present quarters they were merged into.

The year 1295, given as the Tatars' date of arrival, falls right after the Ottoman-Russian War of 1877-78. Studies of the population of the sanjak of Amasya show that in the second half of the nineteenth century immigrants from Crimea, the Caucasus and the Balkans were settled in the sanjak center and its villages, and that this settlement was effective in the growth of the Muslim population in the central kaza. The author's information that Zileli Hacı Velizade Hasan Efendi had a school built in the quarter is also confirmed in another source: it is recorded that Zileli Hasan Efendi had two schools built, one in the Tatar quarter and the other in the courtyard of the Sultan Bayezid Mosque.

The Bayezid Paşa Mosque and Its Masters

One of the most detailed descriptions of the section is devoted to the Bayezid Paşa Mosque, and the basic dates the author gives agree with present research. The Arabic inscription over the door reports that the mosque was built in the month of Muharram of the year 817, that is, April 1414, by Bayezid Paşa, vizier of Sultan Çelebi Mehmed. The date of the waqf deed too is 820, as Hüsameddin says; according to what Semavi Eyice relays, this date corresponds to Zilhicce 820 (January 1418), and a summary of the waqf deed is also worked in eight lines on a rock near the Kuşköprüsü.

On the masters of the mosque, however, Hüsameddin's information remains incomplete. The author gives only the name "Şemseddin Ahmed-i Şâmî" as architect. Yet on the building there are so many master signatures as are seen on no other early Ottoman work: on a plaque in the last-congregation area it is written, with the date 822 (1419), that the architect was Yakub bin Abdullah, one of Bayezid Paşa's mamluks; on other plaques the names of Zeynüddin bin Zekeriyya, with the epithet "el-muallim," of "el-muallim Ebu Bekir," and of "Muhammed, known as İbn Müşeymeş ed-Dımaşkî" are read; in one corner of the waqf deed summary the name "Tugan bin Abdullah" also occurs. It is plausible that there is a link between the master Hüsameddin calls "Şâmî" (of Damascus) and the Damascene master in the inscription; but this is a conjecture, and the name "Şemseddin Ahmed" the author gives does not appear in present readings. The real duties of these persons titled "architect" and "muallim" are also not fully clarified; Albert Gabriel thinks the architects supervised the construction and the muallims may have been foremen or site chiefs.

Hüsameddin's introducing the two rooms inside the mosque as "dershane" must also be read with care. According to the author these rooms were counted as a madrasa and given to scholars, and indeed it is recorded that the Bayezid Paşa Madrasa served inside the mosque. Nevertheless Semavi Eyice stresses that the domed rooms on the two sides were in fact built as tabhanes, that is, guest rooms, with their hearths and plaster-decorated niches, and notes that the mosque is among the finest examples of "tabhaneli" or "zaviyeli" mosques. The situation the author describes as "the floor is not level, the upper half an arshin higher than the lower half" is characteristic of this mosque type: the domed section at the entrance is designed like a closed courtyard, and the qibla section where the prayer is performed is raised by one step. The pools with fountains on the two sides of the platform of the last-congregation area are the detail Hüsameddin calls "small pools with flowers on the maksuras," and according to Eyice are seen in no other mosque. The courtyard wall and imaret the author mentions do not stand today.

Behind Hüsameddin's information "lived in this quarter until 816" lies the vizier's deep bond with Amasya. The pasha is called an Amasyan as the son of Yahşi Bey; it is known that after the Battle of Ankara in 1402 it was he who rescued the young Mehmed Çelebi and brought him to Amasya, and that when Çelebi Mehmed came to the throne he rose to the viziership. Some sources record that he was originally Albanian; the information that he was born in Amasya rests on Uzunçarşılı. Bayezid Paşa, after Murad II's accession, was sent in 1421 against his uncle Mustafa Çelebi, surrendered when most of his soldiers went over to the other side, and was killed. His mosque in Amasya thus became the most lasting trace the vizier left in the city.

The Burmalı Minare Mosque: The Inscription and the Dating Debate

What he wrote on the Burmalı Minare Mosque is among the pages of Hüsameddin most debated by present researchers. The reading of the inscription is the first problem. The author reads the end of the second line as "six hundred and ninety" and thinks that the mosque was built in 690 (1291), giving its founder as Ferruh son of Selçuk son of Yusuf el-Hâzin. As noted in the footnote by the editors of the book, İsmail Hakkı Uzunçarşılı found Hüsameddin's reading of the inscription faulty and incomplete. Ali Yardım, who devoted a special book to the mosque, correcting both Hüsameddin and Uzunçarşılı, has argued that the second line is "The one who built and endowed this is the humble servant, the hunt emir Ferruh and his brother the treasurer Yusuf," and that the date should be read as "six hundred and forty" (640/1242-43). Thus the name Hüsameddin took as a single person, "Ferruh son of Selçuk son of Yusuf el-Hâzin," in fact denotes two brothers, Ferruh and the treasurer Yusuf. This is also the accepted view today: the mosque was built in the time of Gıyaseddin Keyhusrev II (1237-1246) by the vizier Ferruh and his brother the treasurer Yusuf, and some sources give the year 1242. Hüsameddin's date 690 also conflicts with the first line on the door bearing Keyhusrev's name, for this sultan's reign had ended in 1246.

Semavi Eyice shows that the "Komnenos church" claim that Hüsameddin bases on Vital Cuinet was also wrongly relayed. In Cuinet's work La Turquie d'Asie, without any mention of the Burmalı Minare Mosque, only a church ruin of the Komnenos period in Amasya is spoken of. Hüsameddin is right to reject this claim, but the claim is in fact not Cuinet's.

The date of the minaret is the second subject of debate. Hüsameddin writes that the stone, twisted minaret was built after the fire of 1143 (1730-31) by Vâsi Çelebizade Ahmed Efendi, and this information was long accepted. Eyice, however, argues that it is hard to believe such a twisted shaft, continuing the Central Asian Turkish minaret tradition, was made in the eighteenth century, when Western influences were beginning to seep into Ottoman art, and that the minaret must belong to the mosque's own period or the early Ottoman period. According to Eyice, the author's counting this mosque as the same building as the "Mahkeme Camii" Evliya Çelebi describes may have led to error. Eyice characterizes Hüsameddin as a writer "who, though a good historian, cites no source on any matter"; this assessment is worth bearing in mind while reading the whole book.

The repair dates Hüsameddin gives (the earthquake in 999, the fire in 1011, Müeyyedzade Pîrî Çelebi's repair, the making of the tomb's upper floor into a library in 1147) are still used today as the main source for this information. The library the author complains of, "there is a library, there are no books," is on the upper floor of the tomb; from the making of this floor into a library it is understood that the sarcophagi had disappeared long before. The mosque's later adventure is also noteworthy: the building, abandoned for a long time, was used in the 1930s as an agricultural tools depot by the Ziraat Bank, was thoroughly repaired in 1962 and reopened for worship, and in 1974 its domes were covered with copper. The mosque and the tomb adjoining it stand today.

The Enderun Mosque and the Loğ Minare

The information Hüsameddin gives on the Enderun Mosque carries a separate value because the building has not survived to our day. Present researchers, relying on the author's finding, accept that the mosque appears in documents from 612 (1215-16) onward under the name "Cami-i Enderun" or "Cami-i Gazi Bey"; it is noted that the mosque was most probably built in the time of the Danishmendid Şemseddin İsmail Gazi Bey (1166-1172) and shows twelfth-century character in its architectural style and brick material. The measures of the brick minaret, some thirteen meters in diameter and nearly fifteen meters high, are also relayed in present sources as the author gives them.

The main point in this section to which we wish to draw the reader's attention is the church question. Hüsameddin rejects in firm terms the account that the mosque was "converted from a church," but also notes that he saw with his own eyes that the foundation stands on stone domes and columns, and thinks that these remains are parts of an old church buried in the earth. The remains of the mosque, reduced to ruin by the earthquake of 1939, have shown that the building was built on a church and had columned porticoes. Thus the conclusion the author reached, that the mosque arose not by converting a church but by being rebuilt on its remains, agrees with the observations after the earthquake. The mosque and its minaret do not stand today.

The waqfs the author mentions also gain meaning in their historical context. Gülbahar Hatun came to Amasya with her son Bayezid when he was sent there at seven years old as sanjak governor, and lived in Amasya until her son's accession in 1481. It is known that she has waqfs in Tokat and Amasya. The waqf dated 879 (1474-75) that Hüsameddin gives falls in the period of her long residence in Amasya.

The Sultan Bayezid II Complex

Some of the information Hüsameddin gives on the complex is known today only through him. That the mosque was completed in Receb 891 (July 1486) is confirmed by the three-part inscription over the main door and on the two side walls; these inscriptions in sülüs script are from the hand of a calligrapher named Ali bin Mezîd. The information that construction began in Receb 886 (September 1481), that is, right after Bayezid's accession, is, as Semavi Eyice plainly notes, a date put forward by Hüsameddin. The information the author gives, relaying from İdris-i Bitlisî, that the complex was begun as thanks for the blessing of sovereignty and that the construction was entrusted to Prince Ahmed is, according to Hüsameddin, repeated also in Âlî's Künhü'l-ahbâr and Nişancızade's Mir'âtü'l-kâinât. The complex's waqf deed was written in Cemaziyelevvel 901 (January 1496) and presents the complex as consisting of a mosque, imaret, madrasa and boys' school (sıbyan mektebi).

The six-gated rampart wall and the garden full of fruit trees the author describes correspond, by present measures, to an outer courtyard of about 160 × 120 meters. His description, mentioning the columns of the last-congregation area, "single-piece marble posts of green and black color," the domed door "of honey-colored marble" and the two minarets "like pheasants," still summarizes today the most striking aspects of the building. Of the minarets, the one on the right is adorned with zigzag-lined red inlays with lily motifs at their ends, and this ornament is seen on no other minaret; the left one is made in red and white bars.

The complex's history after the author must also be mentioned. The mosque was damaged again in the earthquake of 1939, some arches and domes of the last-congregation area collapsed, and it was repaired in the 1960s. It has also been affected at times by the floods of the Yeşilırmak; in the flood of 1980 a deposit 70 centimeters high accumulated inside the mosque. The madrasa Hüsameddin mentions is used today as the Provincial Public Library. The imaret again serves as a soup kitchen. The school building the author mentions has disappeared without a trace. The old plane trees level with the complex's minarets are estimated to be as old as the building.

An interesting observation of Eyice's concerns the unit Hüsameddin calls "tabhane." Since the plan of the imaret has no suitable spaces where guests could stay, Eyice holds that the three-domed sections on the two sides of the mosque were in fact built as tabhane rooms. The tabhane, which appears in the author's list as a separate building, must thus be sought in the mosque's own wings.

The Nigârî Mosque, the Jesuit Mission and the Nineteenth Century of the Bayezid Paşa Quarter

The mosque and tomb Hüsameddin says were built in the name of "Hamza-i Nigârî Efendi" are the building known today as the Şirvanlı Mosque or Azeriler Mosque. Mîr Hamza Nigârî was a Naqshbandi-Khalidi sheikh and poet born in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan; he came to Amasya in 1839 together with his guide İsmail Şirvânî and for many years carried on guidance activity around Merzifon and Amasya. After complaints about him he was exiled to Harput in 1885, died there in September 1886, and by his will his body was brought to Amasya and buried. The date of the laying of the foundation, 1304 [1886-87], that Hüsameddin gives thus falls right after the sheikh's death and is consistent with the course of events. The information that the mosque was built in 1894 is also close to the completion date 1310 [1892-93] the author gives. Although in some promotional texts it is written that construction began in 1876, considering the sheikh's date of death Hüsameddin's chronology is more convincing. In the tomb, beside Nigârî, there is also the sarcophagus of his nephew Mir Hasan Efendi; it is highly probable that this is the Mir Hasan Efendi whose supervision the author mentions.

The French Jesuit church and school that the author says were founded in the same quarter in 1300 [1882-83] are part of a great missionary movement of the period. The "Little Armenia Mission," founded in 1881 by order of Pope Leo XIII, aimed to attach the Gregorian Armenians to the Catholic Church and to counter the influence of American Protestant missionaries; the mission's area of responsibility covered the whole vilayet of Sivas, to which Amasya also belonged, and its center was in Tokat. The Jesuits' method was to establish close relations with the surrounding people through educational and health institutions. The appearance in 1892 of a Catholic community of 240 people in the population of the central kaza of Amasya can be read as a result of this activity. Hüsameddin's emphasis on "instructions specific to missionary work" reflects the view Ottoman intellectuals of the period took of these institutions.

The Kumacık Hamamı

The Kumacık Hamamı stands today in the Bayezidpaşa Quarter, level with the Künç Köprü, and is accepted to have been built in 1495 by the chief gatekeeper (kapıağası) Ayas Ağa. This date corresponds to the year 900 Hüsameddin gives. Built of rubble stone, the bathhouse consists of cold, lukewarm and hot sections; its square-plan undressing room is covered by a large dome. The author's information that the bathhouse's revenues were allotted to the mosque and madrasa in the Şamlar Quarter also agrees with present records: the mosque and madrasa (Küçük Ağa Madrasa) Ayas Ağa had built in 1495 in the Şamlar Quarter are known. The explanation that the bathhouse's name is corrupted from "Kocacık" is strengthened, as mentioned above, by the existence of a Kocacık quarter in the 1840 register; even so, it can also be read as a folk etymology and does not rest on a definite document.

Other Points to Note

One must be careful about the "former grand vizier Kara İbrahim Paşa" whom Hüsameddin says was born in the Bayezid Paşa Quarter. It is recorded that Kara İbrahim Paşa, who served as grand vizier between 1683 and 1685 in the reign of Mehmed IV, was born in 1620-21 in the village of Handevrek in the Kelkit kaza attached to Bayburt. If the person the author means is this grand vizier, the birthplace he gives does not agree with present sources; it is also possible that he meant another statesman bearing the same epithet. With the sources at hand this question could not be resolved.

The two explanations the author gives for the name of the Üçler Quarter are also interesting. The first rests on Çelebi Mehmed's teacher Sofi Bayezid and two of his relatives, the second on the persons named Kutbeddin who gained influence beside Prince Ahmed and whom the author calls "three mischief-making Iranians." Hüsameddin's harsh language toward this second group can be read as an echo of the Safavid tension that coincided with Prince Ahmed's last years in Amasya; it is known that in this period Amasya was the scene of the uprising of Shah Ismail's disciples. But no information was found in other sources on the persons named Kutbeddin Ahmed, İsa and Mahmud.

The view that the name "Gülüs" in the Tatar Quarter derives from commanders of the Pontic period is a folk etymology that the author himself, saying "it is supposed," plainly presents as conjecture. The persons named were indeed important figures of that period: Archelaus was the favorite commander of the Pontic king Mithridates VI; the Roman commander Lucullus, in the war he waged against Mithridates, took Amaseia around 70 BCE. But no document showing that the name "Gülüs" has any connection with these names could be found. The author's finding that the name is found in documents as far back as 573 (1177-78), though his sources are not cited, is valuable in suggesting that the place name may reach back before the Turkish period.

Finally, the information that it was the author's own father, Abdîzade Hacı Mehmed Ağa, who in 1309 (1891-92) had the ağdırma covering the Çeribaşı Mosque built reminds us that the Amasya Hüsameddin describes is also the city where his own family lived. It must not be forgotten that many details in the book rest, besides documents, on this kind of family and neighborhood memory.

Bibliography

Primary sources

• Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 1, p. 108–115. amasya.bel.tr

Academic studies

• Semavi Eyice, "Bayezid Paşa Camii", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 5, İstanbul 1992, p. 243-244. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/bayezid-pasa-camii
• Semavi Eyice, "Burmalı Minare Camii ve Türbesi", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 6, İstanbul 1992, p. 444-445. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/burmali-minare-camii-ve-turbesi
• Semavi Eyice, "Beyazıt II Camii ve Külliyesi (Amasya)", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, 1992. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/beyazit-ii-camii-ve-kulliyesi--amasya
• İlhan Şahin – Feridun Emecen, "Amasya", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 3, İstanbul 1991. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/amasya
• "Nigârî", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/nigari
• "İbrâhim Paşa, Kara", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/ibrahim-pasa-kara
• "Gülbahar Hatun", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, 1996. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/gulbahar-hatun
• Selim Özcan, "H.1256 (1840) Tarihli Amasya Nüfus Defteri ile H.1260-1261 (1844-1845) Tarihli Amasya Temettuat Defterlerinin Karşılaştırmalı Değerlendirilmesi", Studies of the Ottoman Domain, 6/11 (2016). https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/268330
• Sabit Genç, "Amasya Sancağının İdari Durumu ve Nüfus Yapısı (1880-1915)", Kırıkkale Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 11/1 (2021), p. 57-80. https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/1002916
• Georgy Chochiev, "Cizvit Misyonerin Gözünden Tokat'ta Kuzey Kafkas Göçmen Köyleri: Bey Düğünü ve Vatan Marşı", Kafkasya Çalışmaları, 3/6 (2018). https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/491095

Official sources

• Ali Yardım, Amasya Burmalı Minâre Câmii Kitâbeleri, Ankara: Amasya Valiliği Kültür Yayınları, 2004, p. 13 (from footnote no. 150 of the book's editors).
• T.C. Amasya Valiliği, "Camiler". https://www.amasya.gov.tr/camiiler
• Kültür Portalı, "Kumacık Hamamı". https://www.kulturportali.gov.tr/turkiye/amasya/gezilecekyer/kumacik-hamami

Books

• İsmail Hakkı Uzunçarşılı, Kitâbeler, İstanbul 1345/1927, I, 99-100 (from the same footnote).
• "Amasya", Türkiye Maarif Ansiklopedisi. https://turkmaarifansiklopedisi.org.tr/amasya
• "Enderun Camii" (citation from the TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi). https://www.sabah.com.tr/sozluk/mimari/enderun-camii

Other sources

• Kültür Envanteri, "Mir Hamza Nigârî Türbesi". https://kulturenvanteri.com/en/yer/mir-hamza-nigari-turbesi/
• "Merkez Mahalleleri Nüfusu, Amasya". https://www.nufusu.com/merkez-amasya-mahalleleri-nufusu
• "Bayezid Pasha", Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayezid_Pasha
• "Archelaus (Pontic army officer)", Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archelaus_(Pontic_army_officer)
• "Lucullus – in ancient sources", attalus.org. https://www.attalus.org/names/l/lucullus.html