Çelebi Sultân Mehmed Hân'ın büyük şehzâdesidir. Amasya'da doğup Amasya'da büyümüşdür. Pederinin cülûsunda Edirne'ye gidip 818 senesi rebî'ulevvelinde Amasya vâlîsi olarak mu'allimi bulunan Amasyalı [194] Şücâ'eddîn İlyâs Çelebi bin Hızır'la beraber geldi.
Sunkuroğlu Melik İsmâ'il Bey, Amasya muhâfızı ve şehzâde atabeyi olarak Tokat emâretinden celb edildi. Fakat ahâlî-i memleket tekerrür eden zelzelelerden dolayı üç ay kadar çadır altında yaşadı. Zelzeleden masûn olan bahçeler, bâğlar, tarlalar kurudu. Ortalığı kaht u galâ istîlâ etdi.
Şehzâde Sultân Murâd'ın vürûdunda Amasya kadılığına kibâr-ı ulemâdan Muslihzâde Şemseddîn Mehmed Şâh Efendi ta'yîn edildi. Şeyh Şerefeddîn Hamza Çelebi yerine Amasya müftüsü Gümüşlüzâde Pîr Abdurrahmân Çelebi Halvetiyye şeyhi olup kibâr-ı fukahâdan Lâdikli Tâceddîn İsrâfîl Çelebi Amasya müftüsü ve Celâleddîn Mehmed Erzincânî de mevlevî-hâne şeyhi oldu.
Vezîr-i a'zam el-Hâc Halîl Paşa'nın kadı olduğu Gümüş kasabasında başlatdığı medrese-i âliye 818 senesinde hitâma erdi. Medrese gâyet metîn olduğundan zelzele-i müdhişeden müte'essir olmadı. Adı medresenin kapısı üstünde mahkûkdur.
819 senesinde Amasya muhâfızı Melik İsmâ'il Bey, her tarafa tâ'ûn ve vebâ gibi müstevlî olan Kara Tâtâr'ı kırıp geçirdi. Beliyyelerini halkın üzerinden kaldırdı. Şehzâde ve halkın nazarında yükseldi.
Yine bu sene şehzâde Sultân Mustafa, hurûc ve kıyâm ederek Selânik tarafından gelip Sîroz'u işgâl etmişdi. Vezîr-i a'zam el-Hâc Halîl Paşa ma'iyyetine aldığı bir kuvve-i mühimme ile Sîroz üzerine gitdi. Fakat [195] şehzâde Sultân Mustafa harbinde maktûlen vefât eylediğinden yerine Amasyalı Sunkuroğlu Bâyezîd Paşa vezîr-i a'zam oldu.⁵⁵⁵
Şehzâde Mustafa'nın⁵⁵⁶ kıyâmı pek mühimdi. Rûmeli beyleri hâssaten Gömlüoğulları şehzâdeyi pek güzel tanıyorlar, ona itâ'at ediyorlardı. Bunun kıyâmı Çelebi Sultân'ı pek ziyâde telâşa düşürmüşdü. Şehzâdenin ve Karamânoğlu Mehmed Bey'in kıyâm ve isyânı Kastamonu hâkimi İsfendiyâr Bey'e cür'et vermiş, Karahisâr-ı Şarkî beyi Hasan ve Erzincân beyi Pîr Ömer ve Samsun beyi Cüneyd Beyler'i dâ'ire-i ittifâkına almışdı.
820 senesinde İsfendiyâr Bey, mahdûmu Hızır Bey'e asker terfîk ederek Bafra ve mülhakâtını zabta kıyâm etmiş, Samsun taraflarını da bu sûretle ele geçirmiş, Canik beyi Alparslanzâde Hüsâmeddîn Hasan Bey bunu şehzâde Sultân Murâd'a bildirmişdi.
820 senesi rebî'ulevvelinde vezîr-i a'zam Amasyalı Bâyezîd Paşa Amasya'da başlatdığı câmi-i şerîfini, imâretini ikmâl ederek Amasya'da kâ'in emlâk ve akârâtını bu hayrâtının mesâlihine vakf etdi. Mahdûmu Îsâ Bey Amasya'da evkâfına nezâret etmekde idi. [196]
Amasya havâlîsinde cereyân eden vekâyi'i haber alan Çelebi Sultân Mehmed, 821 senesi muharreminde Amasya'ya büyük bir kuvvetle geldi. Biçaroğlu Nûreddîn Hamza Bey, Samsun beyi Kubâdoğlu Cüneyd Bey'i bir hamlede ahz ve i'dâm etdi. Hızır Bey'i Kastamonu'ya kaçırdı. Hasan Bey de ricâ-yı afv ile makâmında kaldı.
Çelebi Sultân Mehmed, geçen yıllarda Kara Tatar'ın yapdığı fenâlıkları der-hâtır ederek İsfendiyâr Bey'e îcâbında mu'în olan bunları Rûmeli'ne kaldırdı. Bunların beyi olan Minnetzâde Mehmed Bey de beraber gitdi.
Çelebi Sultân Mehmed, 821 senesi rebî'ulâhirinde Amasya'dan kalkıp Edirne'ye gitmişdi. Fakat şehzâde Sultân Mustafa, bütün kuvvetiyle Edirne'ye hücûm eylediğinden Çelebi Sultân'ı Edirne'den çıkardı. Rûmeli'ne hükümdâr olduğunu i'lân etdi.
822 senesi evâ'ilinde cereyân eden bu vak'a-i mühimme esnâsında İnaloğlu Yâr Alî Bey bin İbrâhim Bey Tokat'ı basıp Biçârzâde Hamza Bey'i tahassüne mecbûr etmişdi. Amasya muhâfızı "Melik Gâzi" demekle meşhûr İsmâ'il Bey, kuvve-i mevcûdesiyle gidip Yâr Alî Bey'i kaçırdı. Tokat'ı kurtardı.
Melik İsmâ'il Bey, bu muhârebede yaralanmışdı. Amasya'ya vusûlünden biraz sonra 822 senesi cumadelâhiresinin ikinci günü⁵⁵⁷ vefât etdi. Yerine Bâyezîd Paşa birâderi Hamza Bey [197] şehzâde atabeyi ve Amasya muhâfızı oldu.
823 senesi evâ'ilinde şehzâde Sultân Mustafa, harben Edirne ve sonra Rûmeli'nden çıkarıldı. Tokat beyi Biçâroğlu Hamza Bey de 823 senesi ramazânının beşinde vefâtıyla Tokat'da medfen-i mahsûsuna defn edildi.
824 senesi cumadelûlâsında Çelebi Sultân Mehmed Hân vefât eylediğinden yerine Amasya vâlîsi olan şehzâdesi Sultân Murâd Hân-ı Sânî geçdi. Amasya beylerbeyiliğine de lalası Hamza Bey ta'yîn edildi.
In Modern English
He is the eldest prince of Çelebi Sultan Mehmed Han. He was born in Amasya and grew up in Amasya. On his father's accession to the throne he went to Edirne and in Rebîülevvel 818 [1415-16] came as governor of Amasya together with his teacher, the Amasyan Şücâeddin İlyas Çelebi bin Hızır.
Sunkuroğlu Melik İsmail Bey was brought from the emirate of Tokat as guardian of Amasya and atabey of the prince. But the people of the country lived for about three months under tents because of the repeated earthquakes. The gardens, vineyards, and fields not damaged by the earthquake dried up. Famine and high prices covered everywhere.
On Prince Sultan Murad's arrival, Muslihzâde Şemseddin Mehmed Şah Efendi, one of the great scholars, was appointed to the judgeship of Amasya. In place of Şeyh Şerefeddin Hamza Çelebi, the mufti of Amasya Gümüşlüzâde Pîr Abdurrahman Çelebi became sheikh of the Khalwati order. Lâdikli Tâceddin İsrâfil Çelebi, one of the great jurists, became mufti of Amasya, and Celâleddin Mehmed Erzincânî became sheikh of the Mevlevi lodge.
The lofty madrasa whose construction the grand vizier el-Hac Halil Pasha had begun in the town of Gümüş, where he was judge, was completed in 818. Since the madrasa was very solid, it was not affected by the terrible earthquake. His name is carved above the door of the madrasa.
In 819 [1416-17] Melik İsmail Bey, guardian of Amasya, cut down the Kara Tatars, who were spreading everywhere like plague and epidemic. He lifted their scourge from the people. He rose in the eyes of the prince and the people.
Also this year Prince Sultan Mustafa rose in revolt, came from the direction of Salonica, and occupied Serres. The grand vizier el-Hac Halil Pasha went on Serres with an important force he took with him. But since he was killed in the battle fought with Prince Sultan Mustafa, the Amasyan Sunkuroğlu Bayezid Pasha became grand vizier in his place.
Prince Mustafa's revolt was very important. The beys of Rumelia, especially the Gömlüoğulları, knew the prince very well and obeyed him. His revolt threw Çelebi Sultan into great alarm. The revolt and rebellion of the prince and of Karamanoğlu Mehmed Bey gave courage to İsfendiyar Bey, ruler of Kastamonu; he had also drawn into his alliance Hasan, bey of Karahisar-ı Şarkî, Pîr Ömer, bey of Erzincan, and Cüneyd Bey, bey of Samsun.
In 820 [1417-18] İsfendiyar Bey, adding troops to his son Hızır Bey, attempted to seize Bafra and its dependencies, and thus took the Samsun region as well; Alparslanzâde Hüsâmeddin Hasan Bey, bey of Canik, had reported this to Prince Sultan Murad.
In Rebîülevvel 820 the grand vizier, the Amasyan Bayezid Pasha, completed the mosque and imaret whose construction he had begun in Amasya and endowed his properties and real estate in Amasya for the needs of these charitable works. His son İsa Bey carried out the supervision of his endowments in Amasya.
Çelebi Sultan Mehmed, learning of the events taking place around Amasya, came to Amasya with a great force in Muharram 821 [1418-19]. Biçaroğlu Nûreddin Hamza Bey seized Kubadoğlu Cüneyd Bey, bey of Samsun, in a single stroke and executed him. He drove Hızır Bey to flight to Kastamonu. Hasan Bey also asked for pardon and remained in his post.
Çelebi Sultan Mehmed, recalling the evils the Kara Tatars had done in past years, had them, who aided İsfendiyar Bey when necessary, transferred to Rumelia. Minnetzâde Mehmed Bey, their bey, went with them.
Çelebi Sultan Mehmed had set out from Amasya and gone to Edirne in Rebîülâhir 821. But Prince Sultan Mustafa attacked Edirne with all his force, drove Çelebi Sultan out of Edirne, and proclaimed himself ruler of Rumelia.
During this important event, which took place at the beginning of 822 [1419-20], İnaloğlu Yâr Ali Bey bin İbrahim Bey raided Tokat and forced Biçarzâde Hamza Bey to withdraw into the fortress. İsmail Bey, guardian of Amasya, famous as "Melik Gâzi," went with the force at hand, put Yâr Ali Bey to flight, and saved Tokat.
Melik İsmail Bey had been wounded in this battle. A little after his arrival in Amasya, he died on the second day of Cumadelâhire 822. In his place Hamza Bey, brother of Bayezid Pasha, became atabey of the prince and guardian of Amasya.
At the beginning of 823 [1420-21] Prince Sultan Mustafa was driven by war out of Edirne and then out of Rumelia. Biçaroğlu Hamza Bey, bey of Tokat, also died on the fifth of Ramadan 823 and was buried in his private grave in Tokat.
Since Çelebi Sultan Mehmed Han died in Cumadelûlâ 824 [1421], his prince, the governor of Amasya, Sultan Murad Han-ı Sânî (Murad II), took his place. His lala Hamza Bey was appointed to the beylerbeyilik of Amasya.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- vâlî: governor, administrator of a region; here, the administrator assigned as prince
- atabey: official who served as tutor and guardian to a prince, lala
- muhâfız: commander responsible for the security of a city
- kaht u galâ: famine and high prices
- tâ'ûn ve vebâ: epidemic disease
- vezîr-i a'zam: grand vizier, today's prime minister
- hurûc ve kıyâm: revolt, uprising
- vakf: setting aside a property for charity; akârât: immovable properties
- tahassun: withdrawing into a fortress and defending oneself
- medfen: place of burial, grave
Prince Murad's Years in Amasya
Murad II was born in Amasya in June 1404. The TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi presents him as a son born of a concubine and additionally notes that Hüsameddin recorded that his mother was Şehzade Hatun, daughter of Divitdar Ahmed Pasha, one of the notables of Amasya. Hüsameddin in the previous entry also does not say this definitely, saying "it is thought." In other sources Murad's mother is named as Emine Hatun, daughter of Dulkadiroğlu Nâsırüddin Mehmed. This difference is a point requiring verification.
When Murad reached the age of twelve, he was sent to Amasya with the beylik of the province of Rum, which included Amasya, Tokat, Sivas, Çorum, and Osmancık. Hüsameddin dates this to Rebîülevvel 818 (1415-16). A year later Murad was sent with the Amasya forces toward Saruhan and İzmir to put down the Börklüce Mustafa revolt. Bayezid Pasha put down the revolt with the forces of Amasya and Sivas. When Murad left Amasya, the Kara Tatars, Mongol nomads of the region, caused disorder, and the prince returned to Amasya with Bayezid Pasha. Hüsameddin's text does not mention the Börklüce matter; it narrates only that the Kara Tatar was put down by Melik İsmail Bey. In the same period Prince Murad and his new atabey, the beylerbeyi of Rum Hamza Bey, took Samsun from the İsfendiyaroğlu. The TDV entry also notes that the dates concerning the conquest of Samsun are confused in the sources. Hüsameddin's account in the years 820-821 details this framework with the killing of Kubadoğlu Cüneyd and the driving of İsfendiyar's son Hızır to Kastamonu.
Düzmece Mustafa and the Grand Vizier Question
Mustafa, called "Düzmece" in Hüsameddin's footnote, is the son of Yıldırım Bayezid. He was lost at the Battle of Ankara and reappeared years later. Many historians accept that he was truly Mustafa Çelebi; the name "Düzmece" (the Pretender) was established later in the Ottoman narrative. The date of his appearance varies in the sources between 1416 and 1418. Hüsameddin gives 819 (1416-17). According to the sources, after Çelebi Mehmed's death this Mustafa, held in Byzantium, was released and fought against Murad II. Hüsameddin's writing that the grand vizier died in the Serres operation is also noteworthy. The syntax of the text does not say clearly who was killed; Bayezid Pasha's becoming grand vizier "in his place" suggests that the one killed was Halil Pasha.
In Hüsameddin's footnote, the showing of Candarlı-zâde İbrahim Pasha as grand vizier at this date is found wrong. According to the TDV, Bayezid Pasha was appointed grand vizier and beylerbeyi of Rumelia by Çelebi Mehmed in 1413 and held this post until he was killed in the time of Murad II in 1421. Çandarlı İbrahim Pasha, on the other hand, is mentioned as grand vizier between 1421 and 1429. Hüsameddin's objection therefore agrees with present-day sources; only the beginning of Bayezid Pasha's vizierate is 819 in Hüsameddin and 1413 in the TDV and Keskin.
Bayezid Pasha's Work in Amasya
Hüsameddin writes that the grand vizier Bayezid Pasha endowed his mosque and imaret in 820. The TDV also says that endowment deeds dated 820 (1418), 821 (1418), and 823 (1420) exist for the mosque, imaret, and madrasa in Amasya. The inscription of the structure, however, states that Bayezid Pasha, with the title "great emir, valued and honorable vizier," had this imaret built in Muharram 817 (1414). These two dates are understood not to conflict: the inscription records the structure's construction, the deed the later endowment. The structure is known as the Bayezid Pasha Zawiya; its inscriptions and a summary of its endowment deed can be read on the structure. It is also understood from the inscriptions that some of the craftsmen and architects who worked on the structure were the Pasha's slaves.
Hamza Bey
Hamza Bey, named in Hüsameddin's text and in the TDV entry, is Bayezid Pasha's brother. The TDV writes that he was the naval bey who, when the Venetians entered the Dardanelles in 1417 and bombarded Lapseki, resisted on land with more than 10,000 troops, and was later made fleet commander at the conquest of Istanbul. In the TDV's entry on Murad II, however, Hamza Bey is mentioned as prince Murad's new atabey and beylerbeyi of Rum; in 1425 he is appointed to the beylerbeyilik of Anatolia. Whether all these records belong to the same person is not clearly stated in the sources. According to Keskin's article, after Bayezid Pasha's death his family continued its existence in Bursa, his brother Hamza Bey remained in Ottoman service for a long time and, by removing Cüneyd Bey, who was responsible for his elder brother's death, took revenge in a way.
Çelebi Mehmed's Death
Çelebi Mehmed suffered a stroke during a hunt in Edirne on 26 May 1421. Since Düzmece Mustafa was feared, the news of his death was kept secret until Murad, who was governor in Amasya, reached Bursa; the period of concealment appears in some sources as forty and in others as forty-two days. Murad took the oath of allegiance in Bursa and came to the throne on 25 June 1421. Hüsameddin's text also ends with Çelebi Mehmed's death and Murad's passage from the governorship of Amasya to the sultanate.
Hüsameddin's Grave Narrative
In a footnote Hüsameddin narrates that he himself had Melik İsmail Bey's grave dug up and brought out on the plot level with the Tomb of Halifet Gâzi, and that he himself indicated its location in a dream. This is a personal narrative; it could not be verified in another source.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 3, p. 465–466. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
- "Murad II", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/murad-ii
- Aydın Taneri, "Bayezid Paşa", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 5, İstanbul 1992, p. 242-243. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/bayezid-pasa
- Mustafa Çağhan Keskin, "Bayezid Paşa: Vezir, Entelektüel, Sanat Hamisi", Osmanlı Araştırmaları, XLVIII (2016), p. 1-37. https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/752365
Other sources