AMASYA 05

Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar · İKİNCİ BÂB · BİRİNCİ FASIL

İsmâil Pasha (Bîçârbeyzâde)

Encyclopedia · History of Amasya, Volume 7, p. 301 • Edited by: Prof. Dr. Safi ARPAGUŞ- Prof. Dr. Ahmet Hakkı TURABİ

Original Text (Ottoman Turkish)

Amasyalıdır. A’yân-ı ümerâdan el-Hâc Bîçâr Bey bin Esen Bey’in mahdûmudur. Birâderi Hamza Bey’in sâye-i ikbâlinde kibâr-ı züamâdan iken ümerâ silkine girdi. Ba’dehû Beylerbeyi olup Tokat, Samsun, Sivas gibi bilâd-ı mühimme muhâfızı oldu. 847’de Varna harbinde vefât etdi. Kibâr-ı ümerâdan idi.

Our Research Article Editor: Mevlüt Erdem Öztürk

In Modern English

He was from Amasya. He was the son of el-Hâc Bîçâr Bey son of Esen Bey, one of the famous emirs. Under the patronage of his brother Hamza Bey, while he was among the great zeamet holders, he entered the class of emirs. Then he became a beylerbeyi and guardian of important places such as Tokat, Samsun and Sivas. In 847 [1443-44] he died in the battle of Varna. He was one of the great emirs.

Notes and Research

Old Words in the Text

  • a'yân-ı ümerâ: the notables among the emirs
  • mahdûm: son
  • kibâr-ı züamâ: the great zeamet holders
  • ümerâ silki: the class of emirs
  • beylerbeyi: a senior governor and commander at the head of a province
  • bilâd-ı mühimme: important cities and regions
  • muhâfız: protector, person responsible for defence
  • Varna harbi: the battle of 1444 in which the Ottomans defeated the Crusader army

From Zeamet Holder to Emir

The class that Hüsameddin calls "kibâr-ı züamâ" consists of those who held a zeamet in the Ottoman land system. A zeamet was a land grant, given by the sultan to a person in return for military service, with an income between 20,000 and 100,000 akçe; one with a lower income was called a timar and one with a higher income a has. The zeamet holder collected the taxes of these lands and in return brought mounted soldiers to war. The expression in the text, "entered the class of emirs", describes a man rising from being a zeamet holder to the class of emirs. İsmâil, the son of Bîçâr, is said to owe this rise to the patronage of his brother Hamza Bey.

Hamza Bey and the Bîçâr Family

The province of Rum, that is the area around Amasya, Tokat, Sivas, Çorum and Osmancık, was under a prince's administration in the 1410s, when Prince Murad was sent to Amasya. Yörgüç Pasha had been given to Prince Murad as lala; between 1417 and 1421 the beylerbeyi of Rum Hamza Bey, who was his new atabeg, took Samsun from İsfendiyaroğlu together with Prince Murad. An entry on the Tâceddinoğulları principality, on the other hand, writes that Çelebi Mehmed sent "Biçeroğlu Hamza Bey" and had him conquer the part of Samsun then in Christian hands. The "Bîçâr Bey son of Esen Bey" in Hüsameddin's record and the name "Biçeroğlu" correspond to each other, and the phrase "his brother Hamza Bey" may also point to this Hamza Bey. The sources do not explicitly join these two persons; this is a possibility, not certain knowledge. Another Hamza Bey with the same name is known as the brother of Bayezid Pasha and as a naval commander; he should not be confused with the person Hüsameddin speaks of.

On the Date of Varna

Hüsameddin writes that İsmâil Pasha died in the battle of Varna in 847 [1443-44]. The Hungarian-Wallachian army's crossing of the Danube and reaching the vicinity of Varna took place in Cumâdelâhire 848 (September 1444); the battle of Varna was fought after this date. The end of the year 847 (October-November 1443), on the other hand, coincides with the fighting at the Zlatitsa (İzlâdi) Pass. So a difference of one year appears between the year Hüsameddin gives and the battle of Varna. This difference may come either from the year being given wrongly or from "Varna" in the text being used so as to include the campaigns of 1443. No record confirming that İsmâil Pasha died at Varna could be found in the sources. In the same battle, it is known that Hızır and Mustafa Beys, sons of the beylerbeyi of Rum Yörgüç Pasha, fell as martyrs; it appears that the beys of the province of Rum took part in this campaign.

Tokat, Samsun, Sivas

The three cities named in the text make up the northern and eastern part of the province of Rum. It is recorded that during his beylerbeyiship of Rum Yörgüç Pasha moved to establish Ottoman administration in the Canik region, sent Hasan Bey of the Tâceddinoğulları to Bursa and in 1427 added the area around Ordu and Çarşamba to Ottoman administration. Tokat, Samsun and Sivas, which Hüsameddin lists, are the main centres of this region.

What Could Not Be Verified

No information has been found in other sources about Hacı Bîçâr Bey, Esen Bey and İsmâil Pasha. In which province and in which years the beylerbeyiship was held, his death at Varna and his relationship with his brother Hamza Bey rest only on Hüsameddin's record.

Bibliography

Primary sources

  • Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 7, p. 301. amasya.bel.tr

Academic studies

Other sources

Volume 7 contents

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