AMASYA 05

Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar · İKİNCİ BÂB · BİRİNCİ FASIL

İshak Bey — Hacı Beyzâde

Encyclopedia · History of Amasya, Volume 7, p. 285 • Edited by: Prof. Dr. Safi ARPAGUŞ- Prof. Dr. Ahmet Hakkı TURABİ

Original Text (Ottoman Turkish)

Hakâlalıdır. Hakâla’da medrese binâ eden Kasım Beyzâde Abdullah Bey’in mahdûmudur. Bu da Şehzâde Sultân Ahmed’in ümerâsından iken Sultân Selîm Hân’a ilticâ etdi. Müşârün-ileyhin cülûsunda ümerâdan olup Çaldıran harbinde ibrâz-ı [70] hizmet edib 923 Mercidabık muhârebesinde vefât eyledi. Mahdûmu Mirza Bey ve kerîmesi Şâhî Hâtun’dur.

Our Research Article Editor: Mevlüt Erdem Öztürk

In Modern English

He was from Hakâla. He was the son of Kasım Beyzâde Abdullah Bey, who built a madrasa in Hakâla. He too was one of the commanders of Prince Sultan Ahmed and took refuge with Sultan Selim Khan. At the aforementioned sovereign's accession he was among the commanders, rendered service at the Battle of Çaldıran, and died in 923 [1517-18] at the Battle of Mercidabık. His son is Mirza Bey and his daughter Şâhî Hatun.

Notes and Research

Old Words in the Text

  • Hakâlalı: a person from the settlement of Hakâla
  • Beyzâde: son of a bey, a descendant of a bey
  • ilticâ: taking refuge
  • cülûs: accession to the throne
  • ibrâz-ı hizmet: rendering service, performing one's duty
  • harb: war
  • mahdûm: son
  • kerîme: daughter

Hakâla and Its Madrasa

It could not be verified in a reliable source which present-day settlement Hakâla corresponds to, or anything about Kasım Beyzâde Abdullah Bey, who built a madrasa there. The searches turn up general studies on the madrasas of Amasya; according to them, more than forty madrasas have been identified in the city. Whether the Hakâla madrasa mentioned by Hüsameddin survives is not stated in the sources.

Çaldıran and Mercidabık

Like the previous entry, the İshak Bey of this entry was first in Prince Ahmed's retinue and then took refuge with Selim. The Battle of Çaldıran was fought on 23 August 1514; the campaign in which Hüsameddin says he "rendered service" is this battle. Two years later Selim marched against the Mamluk sultan Qansuh al-Ghawri. The Battle of Mercidabık was fought on a Sunday morning, 25 Receb 922 [24 August 1516], north of Aleppo. The Ottoman and Mamluk armies were nearly equal in number; the Ottoman army is given as 120,000 in some sources, but is estimated to have reached 80,000, and the Mamluk army too was around 70-80,000. On the Ottoman side there were 12,000 musketeer Janissaries and 30,000 kapıkulu in the center, and 20,000 Anatolian and 20,000 Rumelian troops on the wings. The Mamluks made the first charge; the wings were shaken, but reinforcements from the center and the fire of the musketeers changed the course of the battle. Qansuh al-Ghawri fell ill while fleeing, fell from his horse and died; after the battle Selim entered Aleppo. On the Ottoman side a line of about three hundred gun carts chained together had been formed in front of the Janissaries, with the cannon set in place; at the end of the battle about two thousand Mamluk soldiers, among them some emirs who had been taken prisoner and would not submit, were executed.

The Difference in Date

Hüsameddin places Mercidabık in 923, whereas the TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi gives the date of the battle as 922 (1516). The reason for this one-year difference could not be determined; it is enough for the reader to know that there are two dates for İshak Bey's death.

His Family

No information was found in other sources, in the searches made, about his son Mirza Bey and his daughter Şâhî Hatun. These lines of Hüsameddin appear to be the only known record of this family.

Preparations for the Egyptian Campaign

After Çaldıran, the Ottoman activities in eastern and southeastern Anatolia had made the Mamluk sultan uneasy; the Dulkadir question and border incidents in Çukurova were bringing the two states face to face. Selim made Hadım Sinan Pasha grand vizier and sent him ahead (28 April 1516); he himself set out from Istanbul on 5 June 1516. Envoys were sent to the Mamluk sultan to announce that the campaign was against the Safavids. The army went by way of Kayseri to Elbistan and met Sinan Pasha there. After Mercidabık Selim entered Aleppo.

Bibliography

Primary sources

  • Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 7, p. 285–285. amasya.bel.tr

Academic studies

Volume 7 contents