Amasya vâlîsi şehzâde Sultân Ahmed bin Sultân Bâyezîd Hân-ı Sânî şehzâdesidir. Pederinin İstanbul'a azîmeti esnâsında tarafından 917 senesi zilhiccesi evâ'ilinde Amasya vâlîsi oldu. Lalası, müdebbir-i umûru Yahşî Beyzâde Ahmed Paşa olup Bâlî Bey yine muhâfız kaldı.
Lâkin şî'a başkumandânı Mardinli Şâh Kulu, bu galebe üzerine bütün Anadolu'yu zabt etmiş kadar bir vaz'iyyet almışdı. Anadolu kızılbaşlarından ve Kürdler'den mürekkeb otuz binden ziyâde bir kuvvete sâhib olmuşdu. Tokat havâlîsini vuruyor, ileri gitdikçe kar çığı gibi ordusu ve cem'iyyeti büyüyordu.
Bir tarafdan da "Zünnûn Halîfe" dedikleri Varaylı bir Moğol Tûrânî Varay, Mecidözü, Turhal kazâlarına hâkim olacak derecede nüfûz ve kuvvet bulmuşdu. Amasya'yı en ziyâde tehdîd eden bu Zünnûn Bey'di. Buna "Ece Sultânoğlu" denirdi.
Zünnûn Bey, Varay havâlîsinde sâkin Cafarlu aşîreti rü'esâsından ve zu'amâdan Halîl Bey'in oğludur. Kendisini Moğol ümerâsından [263] Acaytu Bay'ın evlâdından sayardı. Her hâlde Cafarlu aşîreti, yukarıda mâhiyetleri arz edilen "Cavunkar, Çongar" Tatarlarından olacakdır. Mecidözü civârında türbesi olan Zünnûn-ı Mısrî denilen bu olmalıdır.
Amasya kadısı Mü'eyyedzâde Şemseddîn Ahmed Efendi ve müftü Koca Emîr İbrâhim Efendi idi. Amasya nâibi Hibetullâh Efendi şöhret ve nüfûzunu muhâfaza ediyordu. Zilhiccenin sonlarında İğnecizâde Safiyyeddîn Halvetî mahdûmu meşâyih-i sûfiyye sulehâsından Pîr Muhyiddîn Mehmed Çelebi vefât etdi. Pederinin yanına defn edildi.
918 senesi muharreminde Amasya havâlîsinde "âyîn-i mâtem" icrâ edilerek sünnîlere acı bir gösteriş yapıldı. Sünnîlerden birkaç kişi kurbân edildi. Amasya halkına ve a'yânına bir korku müstevlî oldu. Şâh Kulu emriyle hareket eden Zünnûn Halîfe, ma'iyyetinde on bin kadar şî'asıyla muharremin onuncu günü Amasya'yı ansızın basdı.
Sultân Murâd ve Yahşî Beyzâde Ahmed Paşa var kuvvetleriyle Amasya'yı müdâfa'a ederek kurtarmağa çalışıyorlardı. Lâkin Amasya'nın içinde tesettür eden, sünnî şeklinde görünen şî'îler birden meydâna çıkıp Zünnûn Halîfe'ye içden yardım etdiler.
Bizzarûre Amasya müdâfi'leri, a'yânı, sünnîleri şehri bırakıp etrâfına çıkdılar. Zünnûn Halîfe büyük bir gurûr ve azametle Amasya'ya girdi. Şî'îlere bir îd-i meserret yapdırdı. Şâh Kulu da Niksâr ve havâlîsini basdırdı. [264]
In Modern English
The governor of Amasya was the prince, a son of Sultan Ahmed son of Sultan Bayezid II Khan. When his father went to Istanbul, he became governor of Amasya by his father's appointment at the beginning of Dhu al-Hijja of the year 917 [1511-12]. His lala and the one who managed his affairs was Yahşî Beyzade Ahmed Pasha; Bâlî Bey likewise remained as guardian.
But Mardinli Şah Kulu, the Shiite commander-in-chief, after this victory had come into a position as though he had captured all of Anatolia. He had come to possess a force of more than thirty thousand made up of Anatolian Kızılbaş and Kurds. He was striking the area around Tokat, and as he advanced his army and following grew like a rolling snowball.
On the other side, a Mongol Turanian of Varay whom they called "Zünnûn Halife" had gained influence and power to the point of dominating the districts of Varay, Mecidözü and Turhal. It was this Zünnûn Bey who threatened Amasya most. He was called "Ece Sultanoğlu."
Zünnûn Bey is the son of Halîl Bey, one of the chiefs of the Cafarlu tribe living around Varay and a holder of a zeamet. He counted himself descended from Acaytu Bay, one of the Mongol emirs. The Cafarlu tribe must probably be of the "Cavunkar, Çongar" Tatars described above. The person called Zünnûn-ı Mısrî, whose tomb is near Mecidözü, must be this man.
The kadı of Amasya was Mü'eyyedzâde Şemseddîn Ahmed Efendi, and the mufti was Koca Emîr İbrahim Efendi. The deputy kadı (naib) of Amasya, Hibetullâh Efendi, kept his fame and influence. At the end of Dhu al-Hijja, Pîr Muhyiddîn Mehmed Çelebi, son of İğnecizâde Safiyyeddîn Halvetî and among the Sufi sheikhs and the pious, died. He was buried beside his father.
In the month of Muharram of 918 [1512-13], a "mourning rite" was held around Amasya and a bitter spectacle was presented to the Sunnis. A few of the Sunnis were sacrificed. Fear fell upon the people and the notables of Amasya. Acting on Şah Kulu's order, Zünnûn Halife, with some ten thousand Shiites in his retinue, suddenly raided Amasya on the tenth day of Muharram.
Sultan Murad and Yahşî Beyzade Ahmed Pasha tried to save Amasya by defending it with all their strength. But the Shiites hidden inside Amasya, who appeared to be Sunnis, suddenly came out and helped Zünnûn Halife from within.
Of necessity the defenders of Amasya, the notables and the Sunnis abandoned the city and went out to its surroundings. Zünnûn Halife entered Amasya with great pride and grandeur. He had a festival of joy held for the Shiites. Şah Kulu also overran Niksar and its surroundings.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- lala: the statesman who undertook a prince's education and affairs
- müdebbir-i umûr: the person who manages and administers affairs
- zu'amâ: holders of zeamets; sipahis holding high-income timars
- aşîret rü'esâsı: chiefs of camps and tribes
- âyîn-i mâtem: mourning ceremony; here the commemoration held in the month of Muharram for the event of Karbala
- müstevlî: covering everywhere, dominating
- bizzarûre: of necessity
- îd-i meserret: festival of joy
Prince Murad
The Sultan Murad of the title is the son of Prince Ahmed; he is reported to have been born at Amasya in 1495. Hüsameddin presents him as the governor defending Amasya against Zünnûn. Today's accounts, on the other hand, give Murad as a figure involved in this rising: it is written that in 1512 he joined Nur Ali Halife's movement in Anatolia, "put on the Kızılbaş crown," and then went to Shah İsmail. An article studying the princes of Amasya says that when Ahmed went to Istanbul he left Murad in charge of the sanjak of Amasya, that Murad joined Nur Ali with ten thousand men, and that this turmoil ended when Yahşî Beyzade Ahmed Pasha drove the rebels out of Amasya. Murad finally went to Iran and died around 1519 at Kashan or Isfahan. The difference between Hüsameddin's account and these accounts is clear: one shows Murad in the defense, the other in the ranks of the rebellion.
Who Is Zünnûn Halife?
A present-day study of Zünnûn records that he was born in the town of Varay in Amasya, that he was the son of Cafarlu Halil Bey son of Kubad Bey, and that he is called Ece Sultanoğlu in a chronicle named "Zünnûn-nâme." The same study notes that Zünnûn was counted as descended from Ecaytu Noyan, of the line of Genghis; here an overlap is seen with Hüsameddin's phrase "Acaytu Bay, one of the Mongol emirs." According to the same study, Zünnûn first attached himself to Prince Ahmed, governor of Amasya, and by his decision became the Bey of Varay; then he attached himself to Celâl Baba, said to be a caliph of Şah Kulu, and became a Kızılbaş. The study also notes that the tomb in the Mecidözü region later came to be called "Zünnûn-ı Mısrî," and that this rests on the information Hüsameddin gave.
On the end of Zünnûn the sources differ. According to one study he was captured and executed in the month of Rajab of 933 [1526-27], and his men brought his body to Mecidözü and had a tomb built. In another compilation it is written that he was killed on the battlefield in 1526 in a rising in the Bozok region. Hüsameddin's phrase "a full fifteen years" in the second entry appears consistent with the span from 1512 to 1527. Hüsameddin writes in the text that Zünnûn acted "on Şah Kulu's order." In today's account the trace of Şahkulu Baba is lost after the battle of 1511, and the leader of the Amasya movement of 1512 is named as Nur Ali Halife. It must therefore be borne in mind that Hüsameddin narrates several separate movements under the single name "Şah Kulu."
No further information was found in the sources I surveyed about the kadı and the mufti of Amasya mentioned in the text.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 3, pp. 490–491. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
- Selim Özcan, "Amasya'da Sancak Beyliği Yapan Şehzadeler Döneminde Amasya Şehri", DergiPark.
- Merve Karakulak, "XVI. Yüzyılda Amasya'da Kızılbaşlık Hareketlerinin Toplumsal Yansımaları", Türk Kültürü ve Hacı Bektaş Velî Araştırma Dergisi, no. 109, 2024.
- Murat Alandağlı, "İnancın, Şekavetin ve Siyasetin Şekillendirdiği Bir Orta Anadolu Kazası: Zünnunabad", Türk Kültürü ve Hacı Bektaş Velî Araştırma Dergisi, no. 115, 2025.
Other sources
- "Şehzade Murad (Şehzade Ahmed'in oğlu)", Wikipedia (English).
- "Baba Zünnun Rebellion", Wikipedia (English).