Esbak Amasya vâlîsi Nûreddîn Tugrak Bey'in dâmâdı olan Şerefeddîn İnâc Beyzâde Tuğrul Bey'in oğlu olup 727 senesinin nısf-ı hükûmet-i evvelinde Karamâniyye tarafından Amasya vâlîsi olmuşdur. Ikdu'l-Cümân'da Amasya kadısı Şemseddîn Muhammed bin el-Hallâtî'nin Anadolu'dan firâren 727 recebinde Şâm'a geldiği mazbût olduğuna nazaran Yahşî Bey'in Amasya'yı zabtı ve Banukşâh'ın emâreti 727 cumadelâhiresinde olduğunu iş'âr eder.
Ravzatü's-Safâ, Habîbü's-Siyer, Ikdu'l-Cümân, Târîhu'l-İslâm, Mesâlikü'l-Ebsâr ve Târîh-i Yezdî gibi tevârîh-i mühimmenin verdiği ma'lûmata nazaran eyâlet-i Rûmiyye vâlîsi vekîli olan Iranc Noyin, Emîr Timurtaş'ın [488] firârından sonra Karamânzâde Yahşî Bey'in istîlâ etdiği Amasya ve havâlîsini kurtarmak için gâretgerâne bir sûretde geliyor, Niksar emîri Savcı Beyzâde Sirâceddîn Toganşâh Bey⁴⁴⁴ ve Canik havâlîsi emîri Hâbil oğlu Tuli Bey⁴⁴⁵ gâret eden Tatarlar'a karşı koyarak memleketlerini muhâfazaya çalışıyorlardı.
Karamânzâde Yahşî Bey, eyâlet-i Rûmiyye ümerâsından pek çoklarını kendisine celb ederek bunlarla beraber Iranc Noyin'i Niksâr dâhilinde⁴⁴⁶ harben öldürüyor, ma'iyyeti olan yağmâcıları dağıtdığı cihetle Türkmenler'in nazarında nüfûzunu artırıyor, Sivas'ı zabt eden Aretna Noyin dahi o taraflarda serbest kaldığından Iranc Noyin'in mündefi' olması işine yarıyordu.
Bu harbi müte'âkib eyâlet-i Rûmiyye vâlîsi Emîr Alî Pâdişâh kuvve-i mevcûdesiyle beraber Kemâh'a kadar gelmiş idi. Fakat şiddetli bir kış ortalığı kapatmış olduğundan Sivas'da ikâmet ve o tarafları istîlâ eden Aretnâ Bey'i Rûm eyâletinde vekîl-i emâret nasb ederek avdet etmiş ve 728 evâsıtında Horasân vâlîliğine nakl olundukda Emîr Şeyh Hasan-ı Kebîr bin Hüseyin bin Akboğa bin İlikân el-Celâyirî eyâlet-i Rûmiyye vâlîsi ya'nî Anadolu vâlî-i umûmîsi olmuşdur.
Amasya vâlîsi Banukşâh, şimdiki Dârü's-Selâm Mahallesi'nde kâ'in [489] Dârü's-Selâm Sarây-ı Selçûkiyyesi'nde ikâmet ederek civârında bir mescid-i şerîf ve çeşme binâ etmişdir. Yahşî Bey'in havfından Şâm'a firâr eden Amasya kadısı Şemseddîn Muhammed bin el-Hallâtî yerine Cemâleddîn Abdülazîz bin Muhammed bin el-Garmînî Amasya kâdı'l-kudâtı ve Mecdeddîn Îsâ bin el-Hakkârî nâibi olmuşdur.
Anadolu vâlî-i umûmîsi Emîr Şeyh Hasan Noyin 729 evâ'ilinde bir kuvve-i külliye ile Anadolu'ya gelip Karamânzâde Yahşî Bey'i inkıyâda da'vet ve eyâlet-i Rûmiyye sultânı Ebû Sa'îd Bahâdır Hân nâmına istîlâ ve ümerânın inkıyâdını te'mîn ve Aretna ve Bânukşâh gibi beyleri makâm-ı emâretde ibkâ ederek Irâk'a gitmiş ve Bağdâd şehrinde ikâmet ederek oradan eyâleti idâre etmişdir.
730'da Bânukşâh'ın Lâdik'de bulunduğu esnâda seyyâh-ı meşhûr Muhammed ibni Battûta el-Fâsî Amasya'ya gelip ba'dehû Lâdik'e gitmiş, orada "Benc" dediği Bânukşâh'ı ve sâhibü'l-hâl demekle meşhûr olan es-Seyyid Şemseddîn Ebu'l-Abbâs Ahmed er-Rufâ'î Hazretleri'ni ziyâret etmişdir. İbni Battûta, Banukşâh'ı bu bilâdın sultânı diye medh u senâ ve seyyid-i müşârün-ileyhin medh u senâsında ıtrâ ediyor.
727'de Şâm'da vefât eden kadı-i sâbık Şemseddîn Muhammed'in mahdûmu İmâdeddîn Ömer bin el-Hallâtî 731'de Amasya kâdı'l-kudâtı bulunmuşdur. 727'de Mısır'a i'zâm olunarak İskenderiyye kalesinde habs edilen Amasya ümerâsı 732'de afv ve ıtlâk edilmiş olduklarına [490] binâ'en 733 evâ'ilinde Gümüşlüzâde Tâceddîn Mahmûd Çelebi ve rüfekâsı gelmişlerdir.
733 evâsıtında Amasya vâlîsi Seyfeddîn Bânukşâh vefât eylediğine binâ'en Amasya emâretine Durak oğlu Şihâbeddîn Şâdî Bey kıyâm etmekle Bânukşâh oğlu Esen Bey iddi'â-yı hukûk ederek muhâlefet etmiş idi. Fakat Şâdî Bey'in tarafdârânı kesretli olduğu münâsebetle Esen Bey'i Varay kazâsında kâ'in çiftliğine i'zâm ederek Amasya emâretini istîlâ etmişdir.
In Modern English
He was the son of Şerefeddin İnaç Beyzâde Tuğrul Bey, son-in-law of Nûreddin Tugrak Bey, former governor of Amasya. He was made governor of Amasya by the Karamanids in the first half of the year 727. Since it is recorded in Ikdu'l-Cümân that Şemseddin Muhammed bin el-Hallâtî, judge of Amasya, fled from Anatolia and came to Damascus in Rajab 727, Yahşi Bey's seizure of Amasya and Banukşah's emirate must have taken place in Jumada al-âkhira 727.
According to the information given by important histories such as Ravzatü's-Safâ, Habîbü's-Siyer, Ikdu'l-Cümân, Târîhu'l-İslâm, Mesâlikü'l-Ebsâr and the Yezdî history, Iranc Noyin, deputy of the governor of the province of Rûm, after Emir Timurtaş's flight, was coming in a plundering manner to rescue Amasya and its surroundings, which Karamanzâde Yahşi Bey had seized. Sirâceddin Toganşah Bey, son of Savcı and emir of Niksar, and Tuli Bey, son of Hâbil and emir of the Canik region, were trying to protect their lands by resisting the plundering Tatars.
Karamanzâde Yahşi Bey, drawing many of the emirs of the province of Rûm to himself, killed Iranc Noyin in battle within the borders of Niksar together with them. Since he scattered the plunderers with him, he increased his influence in the eyes of the Turkmens. Aretna Noyin, who had taken Sivas, was also left free in those parts, so the removal of Iranc Noyin served his interest.
After this battle Emir Ali Padişah, governor of the province of Rûm, had come as far as Kemah with his available force. But since a severe winter closed the land, he sat in Sivas, appointed Aretna Bey, who had taken those parts, as deputy of the emirate in the province of Rûm, and turned back. When he was transferred in mid-728 [1328] to the governorship of Khorasan, Emîr Şeyh Hasan-ı Kebir bin Hüseyin bin Akboğa bin İlikan el-Celâyirî became governor of the province of Rûm, that is, governor-general of Anatolia.
Banukşah, governor of Amasya, lived in the Darüsselam Seljuk Palace in the present Darüsselam quarter and had a mosque and a fountain built around it. In place of Şemseddin Muhammed bin el-Hallâtî, judge of Amasya, who fled to Damascus out of fear of Yahşi Bey, Cemâleddin Abdülaziz bin Muhammed bin el-Garmînî became chief judge of Amasya and Mecdeddin Îsâ bin el-Hakkârî his deputy.
Emir Şeyh Hasan Noyin, governor-general of Anatolia, came to Anatolia in early 729 [1328-29] with a great force and called Karamanzâde Yahşi Bey to obedience. He took the country in the name of Abu Sa'id Bahadur Khan, sultan of the province of Rûm, secured the emirs' obedience, left beys such as Aretna and Banukşah in the emirate, went to Iraq, and sat in the city of Baghdad, governing the province from there.
In 730 [1329-30], while Banukşah was at Lâdik, the famed traveler Muhammed Ibn Battûta al-Fâsî came to Amasya, then went to Lâdik and visited there Banukşah, whom he calls "Benc", and His Excellency es-Seyyid Şemseddin Ebu'l-Abbas Ahmed er-Rufâî, known as "sâhibü'l-hâl". Ibn Battûta praises Banukşah as the sultan of this country; he goes very far in praising the said sayyid.
İmâdeddin Ömer bin el-Hallâtî, son of the former judge Şemseddin Muhammed, who died in Damascus in 727, was chief judge of Amasya in 731 [1330-31]. Since the emirs of Amasya who had been sent to Egypt in 727 and imprisoned in the Alexandria Citadel were pardoned and released in 732 [1331-32], Gümüşlüzâde Tâceddin Mahmud Çelebi and his companions arrived in early 733 [1332-33].
When Seyfeddin Banukşah, governor of Amasya, died in mid-733 [1333], Şihâbeddin Şadi Bey, son of Durak, set about taking the emirate of Amasya; Esen Bey, son of Banukşah, had opposed him, claiming his right. But since Şadi Bey had many supporters, he sent Esen Bey to his farm in the district of Varay and took the emirate of Amasya.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- beyzâde: son of a bey, descended from a bey
- gâretgerâne: in a plundering manner, by plundering
- vekîl-i emâret: deputy of the emirate
- vâlî-i umûmî: governor-general
- kâdı'l-kudât: chief judge
- nâib: deputy, assistant
- sâhibü'l-hâl: epithet used for the Rifa'i sheikh Ahmed; possessor of a spiritual state
- itlâk: release
- iddi'â-yı hukûk: claiming rights
- kaza: district
The Governorship of Anatolia and Eretna
The person Hüsameddin calls Aretna is Alâeddin Eretna. In the encyclopedic study on the Eretnaoğulları it is related that Timurtaş, fearing Abu Sa'id Khan, left his brother-in-law Eretna in his place in order to go to Egypt, that while Eretna carried out the governorship of Anatolia as deputy Abu Sa'id appointed Celâyirli Büyük Şeyh Hasan to this post, and that Şeyh Hasan, trusting Eretna's loyalty, left him as deputy and returned to Iran. The study also writes that Eretna, with this opportunity, laid the foundations of the principality and that at his death Sivas, Kayseri, Amasya, Tokat, Çorum, Zile, Canik and many more places were under his rule. The person Hüsameddin calls Emir Şeyh Hasan-ı Kebir is Celâyirli Büyük Şeyh Hasan; it is very probable that he is the same person as Şeyh Hasan, mentioned as the husband of Bağdat Hatun, whom Abu Sa'id later married. Hüsameddin writes that Şeyh Hasan went to Iraq and sat in Baghdad; the encyclopedic study says he returned to Iran.
Hüsameddin's details of Iranc Noyin's being killed at Niksar were not found in other sources.
Ibn Battûta and Banukşah
Hüsameddin relates that Ibn Battûta came to Amasya in 730, then went to Lâdik and visited Banukşah (under the name "Benc") and the Rifa'i sheikh Seyyid Şemseddin Ahmed. In a study examining Ibn Battûta's route through Anatolia it is written that the journey proceeded in the order Sivas, Amasya, Sonusa and Gümüş. The study notes that Amasya is described as a city with a great river flowing through its middle, its surroundings covered with vineyards and gardens, with fruit and trees, and that afterward lodging was taken in a Rifa'i lodge at Sonusa, thought to lie between Taşova, attached to Amasya, and Alparslan. The name Lâdik, however, appears in the same study for an earlier stage of the journey, as Lâdik in Denizli. Banukşah's name is not mentioned in this study. Hüsameddin's account in the form "Lâdik after Amasya" and "Banukşah's being at Lâdik" does not match this route and the places Ibn Battûta visited exactly; this detail could therefore not be verified. As for the Rifa'i sheikh, the same study has the information that the lodge at Sonusa was a Rifa'i convent; no other information on the sheikh's identity was found.
The Darüsselam Palace
Hüsameddin writes that Banukşah lived in the "Darüsselam Seljuk Palace". For the Seljuk-period palace in Amasya, one source writes that in 1146 Sultan Mesud I had a mosque, madrasa, bath and palace built in the area, that the Kızlar Palace stands in this area today, and that two baths are still standing. Although the structure Hüsameddin mentions and the Seljuk structures in the Kızlar Palace area most probably belong to the same neighborhood, the name "Darüsselam" has not been seen explicitly associated with this area in the sources; for this reason the identity cannot be stated with certainty. No information was found in other sources either on the mosque and fountain Banukşah had built.
Banukşah's Lineage
Hüsameddin shows Banukşah, both in the previous entry and in this one, as the grandson of İnaç Bey, son-in-law of Nûreddin Tugrak Bey. This lineage could not be verified in other sources. No information could be found in another source either on the names of the judges and deputies of Amasya (el-Hallâtî, el-Garmînî, el-Hakkârî) or on the return from Egypt of the emirs of Amasya pardoned in 732.
Bibliography
Primary sources
Academic studies
Official sources