Amasya havâlîsinde sâkin Rûmlardan birinin oğludur. Adı İsak olup ihtidâ etdikde İshâk denmişdir. Alâ-rivâyetin Bizans İmparatorluğu’na kadar yükselmiş olan Amasyalı (Komnen - Komnenos) hânedânından birinin İsak adlı oğludur.
İbn Şiâr el-Mevsılî “Tabakât”ında (İshak bin Abdullah er-Rumî) diye kaydedilen İshak Baba, Rûm muhtedîlerinden bir adam olup evâ’il-i hâlinde Rûm çetelerinden birinin reisi idi. Türklerin aleyhinde hayli mezâlim yapmış, bu yüzden Türklerin tenkilâtına ma’rûz kalmışdı.
Çünkü 600 hudûdunda Selçuk şehzâdelerinin ve dolayısıyla Türk beylerinin kavgalarından istifâde emeliyle Trabzon Kralı Aleksi Komnenos ve birâderi David Amasya vilâyetini zabt ve istilâya kıyâm ederek vilâyet dâhilindeki Rumları ayaklandırmışlar, kendisi Samsun ve birâderi de Sinop taraflarından Amasya üzerine yürümüşlerdi.
Bu esnâda Amasya Vâlisi Sencer Şâh idi. Sencer Şâh, [55] dahîlen Rum çeteleriyle ve hâricen Komnenoslarla muhârebeler ederek 605’de şehîden vefât etdi. Yerine oğlu Süleyman Şâh ikâme edildiyse de pek genç olduğundan kumandayı Beylerbeyi Emîr Bedreddîn Ebûbekir Bey deruhte ederek bunlarla harbe devam eyledi.
Konya hükümdârı Sultân İzzeddîn Keykâvus-ı Selçukî, büyük bir kuvvetle imdâda gelip Ebûbekir Bey’in kuvvetiyle birleşti. Müttehiden hareket ederek Rum çetelerini ve Trabzon Komnenoslarını perişân edib Samsun ve Sinop havâlîsini kâmilen fetheyledi. Buraların emr-i idâresini de Simre-i Amasya vâlisi emîr-i müşârün-ileyhe verdi.
610’da vakî olan bu muvaffakiyet üzerine Rum çeteleri dağılıp birer tarafa savuşdukları esnâda sâhib-i terceme İsak da kaçıp Urfa tarafında Kefersûd nâhiyesine ilticâ etdi. Orada kendisini Müslüman gösterip adını İshak yaptı. Bu sûretle yakasını ölümün pençesinden kurtardı. Kendisine İshak Kefersûdî dendi.
Buradan Şiraz’a gidip Şiâ ulemâsından Muhyiddîn [56] Muhammed bin Ali et-Temîmî’den Arapça’yı ve usûl-i Şiâyı ve ba’zı ğaşşâşlardan sihir ve nirencâtı öğrendi. Seyâhat tarîkiyle İran’ı gezip Bâtınîlerden de Fırka-i Bâtınîyye usûlünü aldı. Dönüp Sivas’a geldi. Üstâdını orada kadı buldu.
Buradan da Amasya köylerine gelip on yıl kadar halka meccânen çobanlık ederek riyâkârâne harekât ve ibâdâtıyla halka fevkalâde hulûl etdi. Kendisini evliyâ gibi tanıttı. İshak Baba demekle iştihâr edib şöhret-i şâyiası Amasya havâlîsini tutdu.
İshak Kefersûdî, Hıristiyanlıkla muvaffak olamadığı maksadına, Amasya‘da bir Rum krallığı teşkiline kisve ve efkâr-ı İslâmiyye ile muvaffak olmaya çalışıyor. Bu uğurda her türlü kizb ve riyâyı, sahtekârlığı ihtiyâr ediyor, bunlarla muvaffak olacağını umuyordu.
Bu esnâda Amasya‘da Baba İlyâs Horasânî demekle meşhûr ve Cüneydî tarîkat bir şeyh var idi. Amasya ulemâsının i’timâdını ve halkın i’tikâdını kazanmışdı. İshak Baba, gâyet zekî ve dessâs bir adamdı. Halkın ve ümerâ ile [57] ulemânın Baba İlyâs’a hürmetlerini gördükte bundan istifâde etmek için Amasya’ya geldi. Baba İlyâs’a intisâb ederek mürîd-i hâssı oldu.
Şirâz’da öğrendiği sihir ve nirencâtı sâyesinde gösterdiği ba’zı ahvâl ve ef’âl-i fevkalâdesi kerâmetine hamledilerek Baba İlyâs’ı bile teshîr etdi. Bir takım sun’î zühd ve riyâsı halkı, avâm-ı nâsı aldatdı. Nüfûz ve şöhreti pek ziyâde arttı. Ümerâ ve ulemâyı telâşa düşürdü.
Bu esnâda Amasya vâlisi Emîr Hüsâmeddîn Berke Hân; kâdı’l-kudâtı Bedreddîn Ebu’l-Mekârim İbrâhim el-Kımârî, nâibü’l-kadı Reşideddîn Ebu’l-Fezâ’il Mehmed bin Ahmed bin Ebi’r-Reşid el-Hemedanî, makâm-ı iftâda Fahreddîn Mehmed bin Mahmûd er-Râzî¹⁰² Hüsâmeddîn Yûsuf bin Abdurrahman et-Tebrizî, Takıyüddîn Osmân bin Ali el-Amasî idi.
İshak Baba, bunlardan pek ziyâde ürküyor, bunları kendi maksâdına mânî’ görüyordu. Çünkü Emîr Hüsâmeddîn Berke Hân Amasya ve havâlîsinde meskûn olan Kayıhânlu kabîlesinin ve Harezmîlerin reisi [58] idi. Bunlar hem çok hem de yavuz adamlardı.
634 senesi şevvâlinde Sultân Alâeddîn Keykubâd-ı Selçukî vefât edib şehzâdesi Gıyâseddîn Keyhüsrev Konya Sultânı ve lalası olan Emîr Sâdeddîn Köpek de vezîr-i a’zamı olmuşdu. Bunu fırsat bilen İshak Baba, kendinin meclûbu olan halkı vâlî Berke Hân ile Kayılu (Kazığlu) Türklerinden ağır şikâyetlere teşvîk etdi.
Gıyâseddîn Keyhüsrev, halkın acı şikâyetleri üzerine Emîr Berke Hân’ı azl ve bütün Kayıhanlu ve Harizmli Türkleri Amasya vilâyetinden ihrâc emrini verdi. 636’da Amasya vâlililiğine Zâhireddîn Hurşid Bey ta’yîn ve bir kuvve-i kâfiye ile gönderildi.
İshak Baba, tam hareket edecek zamanı bulmuşdu. Bir taraftan Trabzon Kralı Yani Komnenos ile muhâbere ederek ondan kuvve-i imdâdiye alacağını temin etmiş, diğer taraftan Rumlar güya ihtidâ ederek kendisine tebeiyyet eylemiş, ehl-i İslâm’ın avâmı ise kendisini evliyâ zannıyla adeta ma’bûd tanımışdı. [59]
637 senesi evâilinde Kayı Türkleriyle Amasya vâlisi Hurşid Bey’in kuvvetleri arasında çıkan muhârebe hengâmesinde İshak Baba kendisine beyât eden Babaîlerin, Rumların başına geçip tarihimizin ikinci cildinde tafsîl edildiği üzere isyân ve kıyâm ederek Sadreddîn İshak lâkabını aldı.
Bu sûretle hem Kayı Türklerini Amasya‘dan ihrâc hem de Amasya’da kendisine muhâlefet eden ulemâ ve ümerâyı perişân ederek kendisine Emîrü’l-mü’minîn dedirdi. Bu esnâda kâdı’l-kudât İbrâhim el-Kimârî ile birkaç beyler şehîd oldu. Ulemâdan Hüsâmeddîn Yûsuf et-Tebrizî Konya’ya ve Takiyüddîn Osmân el-Amasî Şam’a firâr etdi.
İshak Baba, Bâtıniyye fırkasının mu’tekadâtından olan hulûle kâil olduğundan Hazret-i Muhammed ve Ali’nin ruhları kendisine hulûl etdiğini iddiâ ederek peygamberliğini ilân edib avâmı kandırdı. Bütün Rumları kendisine uydurdu. Trabzon Kralı Yani Komnenos’dan büyük kuvvetler alacağını umuyordu.
Ancak yalancı peygamberlik ilânı, kendisine aldanan [60] Türklerden pek çoklarını kendisinden ayırdı. Çünkü Baba İlyâs Horasânî, İshak Baba’yı tekfîr ve tel’în ederek Amasya‘dan Çatbükü (Hacı İlyâs) demekle meşhûr çiftliğine çekilip gizlenmişti.
Bu hengâmeyi haber alan Gıyâseddîn Keyhüsrev, derhâl Hacı Mübârizeddîn Armağan Şâh Bey’i Amasya vâlisi nasb ederek bir kuvve-i kâfiye ile Amasya’ya gönderdi. Amasya ümerâsı ve ulemâsı da birleşip yalancı peygamberin aleyhine hareket etdi. Samsun ve Karadeniz sevâhili kumândânı Alâeddîn Ali Şîr Bey de Yani Komnenos’un kuvve-i imdâdiye göndermesine meydân vermedi.
İshak Baba, her tarafdan kendisini sıkışdıran kuvvetlere karşı koyacak bir halde olmadığını anladı. Bununla beraber son dereceye kadar çalışdı. 638 senesi evâsıtında Hacı Armağan Şâh gâlibâne Amasya‘ya girip kendisini tutarak astı. Babaîleri perişân edib Amasya’yı Rumların şerrinden kurtardı.
Şâyân-ı dikkattir ki Babaîler, parça parça edilen [61] İshak Baba’nın cesedini toplayıp kendisine yer altında bir türbe yapmışlar ve kemiklerini de bu türbede bir tahta üzerine sermişler, kendisini asıp parçalatan Hacı Armağan Şâh’ı da hânesinde bastırıp şehîd etmişlerdir. El-yevm Amasya‘da Anbarlı Evliyâ denilen türbe bunun olmalıdır.
In Modern English
He was the son of one of the Greeks (Rûm) living around Amasya. His name was Isak, and when he became a Muslim he was called İshâk. According to one account he was a son named Isak of one of the Komnenos dynasty of Amasya, which had risen to the Byzantine Empire.
İshak Baba, recorded as "İshak bin Abdullah er-Rûmî" in the "Tabakât" of İbn Şiâr el-Mevsılî, was a man among the Greek converts to Islam. In his early days he had been the chief of one of the Greek bands. He had committed many cruelties against the Turks and for this reason had suffered attack and punishment at the hands of the Turks.
For around 600 [1203-04], wishing to profit from the quarrels of the Seljuk princes and therefore of the Turkish beys, Aleksi Komnenos, King of Trebizond, and his brother David had set out to seize and invade the province of Amasya and had roused the Greeks within the province to revolt. He himself marched on Amasya from the side of Samsun and his brother from the side of Sinop.
At this time the governor of Amasya was Sencer Şah. Fighting with the Greek bands within and the Komnenoi without, Sencer Şah died a martyr in 605 [1208-09]. His son Süleyman Şah was installed in his place, but as he was very young the command was taken by the Beylerbeyi, Emir Bedreddin Ebûbekir Bey, who continued the war against them.
Sultan İzzeddin Keykâvus of the Seljuks, ruler of Konya, came to the rescue with a great force and joined the force of Ebûbekir Bey. Moving together, they scattered the Greek bands and the Komnenoi of Trebizond and conquered the whole of the region around Samsun and Sinop. He gave the administration of these places to the aforementioned emir, governor of the province of Amasya.
When, following this success in 610 [1213-14], the Greek bands dispersed and slipped away in every direction, Isak, the subject of our account, also fled and took refuge in the district of Kefersud on the side of Urfa. There he passed himself off as a Muslim and changed his name to İshak. In this way he saved himself from the claws of death. He came to be called İshak Kefersûdî.
From there he went to Shiraz, where he learned Arabic and the principles of Shiism from Muhyiddin Muhammed bin Ali et-Temîmî, one of the Shiite scholars, and magic and sorcery from certain charlatans. Travelling, he toured Iran and also took from the Bâtınîs the principles of the Bâtınî sect. He returned and came to Sivas. He found his teacher there as kadı.
From there he came to the villages of Amasya, and for about ten years, tending flocks for the people without pay, he gained extraordinary influence over them by his hypocritical conduct and worship. He presented himself as a saint. He became famous as İshak Baba, and his reputation spread through the region of Amasya.
İshak Kefersûdî was trying to reach, under the guise and ideas of Islam this time, the aim he had failed to reach through Christianity, namely the founding of a Greek kingdom at Amasya. In this cause he chose every kind of lie, hypocrisy and fraud, hoping to succeed by them.
At this time there was in Amasya a sheikh of the Cüneydî order, famous as Baba İlyâs-ı Horasânî. He had won the confidence of the scholars of Amasya and the faith of the people. İshak Baba was a very clever and crafty man. Seeing the respect of the people, the emirs and the scholars for Baba İlyas, he came to Amasya to profit from it. Attaching himself to Baba İlyas, he became his special disciple.
Through the magic and sorcery he had learned in Shiraz, certain states and extraordinary acts he displayed were taken for miracles (kerâmet), and he brought even Baba İlyas under his influence. A set of feigned asceticism and hypocrisy deceived the people, the common folk. His influence and fame grew very much. He threw the emirs and the scholars into alarm.
At this time the governor of Amasya was Emir Hüsameddin Berke Han. The chief kadı was Bedreddin Ebu'l-Mekârim İbrahim el-Kımârî, the deputy kadı Reşideddin Ebu'l-Fezâil Mehmed bin Ahmed bin Ebi'r-Reşid el-Hemedânî, and in the office of fetva were Fahreddin Mehmed bin Mahmud er-Râzî, Hüsameddin Yusuf bin Abdurrahman et-Tebrîzî and Takıyyüddin Osman bin Ali el-Amasî.
İshak Baba was greatly wary of these men and saw them as an obstacle to his aim. For Emir Hüsameddin Berke Han was the chief of the Kayıhanlu tribe and of the Khwarazmians living in and around Amasya. They were both numerous and strong.
In the month of Şevval 634 [1237] Sultan Alâeddin Keykubâd died. His son Gıyâseddin Keyhüsrev had become Sultan of Konya, and his tutor Emir Sâdeddin Köpek his grand vizier. Taking this as an opportunity, İshak Baba urged the people who had attached themselves to him to make heavy complaints against the governor Berke Han and the Kayılu (Kazığlu) Turks.
On the bitter complaints of the people Gıyâseddin Keyhüsrev dismissed Emir Berke Han and ordered the expulsion of all the Kayıhanlu and Khwarazmian Turks from the province of Amasya. In 636 [1238-39] Zâhireddin Hurşid Bey was appointed to the governorship of Amasya and sent with an adequate force.
İshak Baba had found exactly the time to act. On the one hand, corresponding with Yani Komnenos, King of Trebizond, he had secured that he would receive reinforcements from him; on the other, the Greeks had attached themselves to him by feigning conversion, and the common Muslims, taking him for a saint, regarded him almost as a god.
In the early part of 637 [1239-40], during the fighting that broke out between the Kayı Turks and the forces of Hurşid Bey, governor of Amasya, İshak Baba placed himself at the head of the Babais and Greeks who had sworn allegiance to him. He rose in revolt, as described in detail in the second volume of our history, and took the title Sadreddin İshak.
In this way he both drove the Kayı Turks out of Amasya and scattered the scholars and emirs who opposed him in Amasya, and had himself called "Emîrü'l-mü'minîn" (Commander of the Faithful). At this time the chief kadı İbrahim el-Kımârî and several beys were martyred. Of the scholars, Hüsameddin Yusuf et-Tebrîzî fled to Konya and Takıyyüddin Osman el-Amasî to Damascus.
İshak Baba, believing in hulûl, one of the beliefs of the Bâtınî sect, that is the entering of the divine spirit into a man, claimed that the spirits of Muhammad and Ali had entered him, proclaimed his prophethood and deceived the people. He bound all the Greeks to himself. He hoped to receive great forces from Yani Komnenos, King of Trebizond.
But the declaration of false prophethood separated many of the Turks who had been deceived by him. For Baba İlyas-ı Horasânî had declared İshak Baba an unbeliever and cursed him, and had withdrawn from Amasya and hidden at his farm known as Çatbükü (Hacı İlyas).
Hearing of this confusion, Gıyâseddin Keyhüsrev at once appointed Hacı Mübârizeddin Armağan Şah Bey governor of Amasya and sent him to Amasya with an adequate force. The emirs and scholars of Amasya also united and moved against the false prophet. Alâeddin Ali Şîr Bey, commander of Samsun and the Black Sea coasts, also gave no chance for Yani Komnenos to send reinforcements.
İshak Baba realised that he was in no state to resist the forces pressing him from every side. Even so he struggled to the last. In the middle of 638 [1240-41] Hacı Armağan Şah entered Amasya in triumph, seized him and hanged him. He dispersed the Babais and delivered Amasya from the evil of the Greeks.
It is worth noting that the Babais gathered the corpse of İshak Baba, which had been cut to pieces, built him a tomb underground and spread his bones on a board in this tomb, and that they also raided the house of Hacı Armağan Şah, who had hanged him and had him cut up, and killed him as a martyr. The tomb called Anbarlı Evliyâ in Amasya today must be this one.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- muhtedî: a convert to Islam
- tenkilât: severe punishment, attack
- mezâlim: cruelties
- ğaşşâş: charlatan, deceiver
- nirencât: magic, sorcery
- riyâkârâne: hypocritically
- meccânen: without pay
- kerâmet: extraordinary state attributed to saints
- teshîr: bringing under one's influence
- zühd: renunciation of the world, asceticism
- kâdı'l-kudât: chief kadı
- nâibü'l-kadı: deputy of the kadı
- makâm-ı iftâ: the office of fetva
- hulûl: the belief that the divine spirit enters a man
- tekfîr: declaring someone an unbeliever
- ma'bûd: that which is worshipped, a god
- kuvve-i imdâdiye: reinforcing force
What Is Known of Baba İshak
Baba İshak is the Turkmen sheikh who directed the operations, in the name of Baba İlyas, in the Babai revolt that broke out against the Anatolian Seljuk state in 1240. According to Ahmet Yaşar Ocak there is no information on his life apart from his role in the revolt and his deeds. The account Hüsameddin gives without citing a source, that his real name was Isak and that he was a Greek from the Komnenos dynasty of Trebizond, that this dynasty wished to found a Greek kingdom at Amasya, and that to this end he developed a doctrine mixing Islam and Christianity, can be treated only as a possibility, since it cannot be supported by any evidence or source. The same author notes that Baba İshak was the foremost successor of Baba İlyas, and that this is confirmed by all the relevant sources, beginning with Elvan Çelebi's Menâkıbü'l-kudsiyye.
The Course of the Revolt
According to Ocak's summary, Baba İshak armed the Turkmen at Kefersud near Adıyaman where he lived and took the surrounding area, defeated the Seljuk forces and took Adıyaman, Gerger and Kâhta, defeated the Seljuk governor Muzafferüddin Ali Şîr at Malatya and reached Amasya. He could not rescue Baba İlyas, who had taken refuge in Amasya Castle; the sheikh was seized by Seljuk forces and executed. After defeating Mübârizüddin Armağanşah here, Baba İshak marched on Konya. On the plain of Malya northeast of Kırşehir he was defeated by the armoured Frankish soldiers of Emir Necmeddin and died in the battle.
Hüsameddin's account departs from this line at several points. According to him, Baba İlyas, during the revolt, declared Baba İshak an unbeliever and withdrew to the Çatbükü farm, while Baba İshak was seized and hanged in Amasya by Hacı Armağan Şah. According to Ocak, on the other hand, Baba İlyas was executed in Amasya Castle and Baba İshak died in battle at Malya. A general encyclopedia article on Amasya writes that Baba İshak was seized and executed on the towers of Amasya Castle. This shows that even among the sources there is no agreement on this detail.
Baba İlyas and the Babai Movement
In the time of Alâeddin Keykubad I, Baba İlyas settled in the village of Çat (today İlyas) near Amasya and, as a Vefâî sheikh in the zâviye he founded there, taught the Turkmen a form of old Turkish beliefs interpreted through Islam. In the sources he presents himself as a mahdî, and the Turkmen call him Baba Resûl. Hüsameddin counts him as of the Cüneydî order; Ocak, however, states that he belonged to the Vefâî order. According to Ocak the word "Babai" at first described only those who took part in the revolt; later writers took it for the name of an order, and Hüsameddin followed that path. Among the causes of the revolt are counted the Seljuk land and tax order, which had deteriorated under the poor administration of Gıyâseddin Keyhüsrev II, and the hardship this brought to the nomadic Turkmen. Hüsameddin's thesis of "founding a Greek kingdom" leaves out this social background.
The Anbarlı Evliya Tomb
Hüsameddin writes that the Babais gathered the dismembered corpse of İshak Baba and buried it in an underground tomb, and that the present Anbarlı Evliya tomb "must" belong to this. This is a guess. In our searches no source was found showing a relation between the Anbarlı Evliya tomb and this man.
Footnote
According to the footnote to Fahreddin Mehmed bin Mahmud er-Râzî in the text, this man later became chief kadı of Amasya and was summoned to Konya in 641 [1243-44], where he became grand vizier. Hüsameddin states that in the second volume he mistakenly wrote him as "Fahreddin Ali bin Mehmed".
Bibliography