Amasya'nın cihet-i şarkiyyesinde kâ'in Taşâbâd (Erba'a) kazâsının eski merkezi Sonusa civârında zâviye ve türbesi ve 655 târîhli vakfiyesi olan eş-Şeyh Nûreddîn Alp Arslan bin Sârımeddîn [28] Muhammed Ebî Bekir el-Kemâhî er-Rufâ'îzâde Alâ'eddîn Savcı Bey'in oğludur.
Azîz bin Erdeşîr el-Esterebâdî'nin Sivas târîhi olan "Bezm ü Rezm" adlı eserinde "Niksâr'da emâret eden evlâd-ı Tâceddîn" dediği bu Tâceddîn Togan Şâh'ın evlâdıdır. Niksâr'da tarafımdan bulunup toprak altından çıkarılan mezâr taşında "Tâceddîn Togan Şâh Alp bin Savcı" diye okunmakdadır. Hafîdi Emîr Bahâ'eddîn Bey'in el yazısıyla ceddi "Tâceddîn Togan Şâh" diye yazılmış olduğu bir kitâbın sonunda görüldü.
Şihâbeddîn Ahmed Nüveyrî, Ayasofya Kütüb-hânesi'nde olan "Mesâlikü'l-Ebsâr" adlı eserinde diyor ki: "Togancık Bey, Niksâr emîri olup hudûd-ı emâreti şimâlen Kastamonu emîri Süleyman Paşa'nın hudûd-ı emâretine kadar imtidâd ederdi. Bilâd-ı Rûm'da nüfûz ve şöhreti vardı. Hâtırı sayılır ümerâdan idi".
Togan Şâh, Amasya vilâyetini istîlâ ederek Emîr Timurtaş oğlu Şeyh Hasan Bey'in nüfûzunu i'âde, Kürt ve Taşan Beyler'i ve Gâzi Çelebi tarafdârlarını firâr ve ihtifâya mecbûr etdi. Gâzi Çelebi'yi geldiği Simre Çiftliği'ne gönderdi. Kendisi de Amasya tahtgâhında oturdu.
Sivas emîri Eretna Bey, bu hâle karşı ihtiyât ve basîretle hareket ederek bir müddet iğmâz-ı ayn etmeye mecbûr oldu. Amasya'dan kendisine ilticâ edenleri taltîf ve himâye ederek bunlardan Kürt Bey'e Kayseriyye [29] emâretini verdi. Kendisine mu'ârız olan Samgâr ve Tâc Kızıl Oğulları'nı def' etdi.
Çünkü Kürt Bey'in dostu olan Babazâde Kutlu Bey'in büyük mahdûmu Alâ'eddîn Alî Şâh Eretna Bey'in nezdinde pek mukbil ve makbûl idi. Kürt Bey de Ebû Sa'îd Bahâdır Hân ümerâsından şecî', müdebbir, zî-nüfûz bir Türkmen'di. Kayseriyye'de "Kürtler Mahallesi" bunun ve evlâdının ikâmet etdiği yerlerdi.
Eretna Bey, Togan Şâh'dan ve bunun efendisi ve metbû'u olan Timurtaş oğlu Şeyh Hasan Bey'den korkacak bir mevki'de değildi. Eretna Bey'i en ziyâde düşündüren Mısır hükümdârı Melik Nâsır Muhammed bin Kalavun'a karşı ta'ahhüd eylediği hutbe ve sikke mes'elesiydi. Muhammed bin Kalavun bi-eyyi-hâl kendi nâmına hutbe okutmasını ve sikke kesdirmesini şiddetle taleb, bu talebini de kuvve-i askeriyye ile te'yîd ediyordu.
Eretna Bey, Mısır hükümdârı nâmına hutbe okutsa, sikke kesdirse sâ'ir beylerin ve halkın nazarında nüfûz ve haysiyeti halel-dâr olurdu. Açıkdan redd etse Haleb vâlîsiyle Dulkadir oğlu Karaca Bey'in tecâvüzâtından ürküyordu. Nazarında Karaca Bey'in ehemmiyeti yokdu. Lâkin bunu himâye eden Haleb vâlîsinden korkuyordu.
Bundan dolayı Eretna Bey, Togan Şâh'ın cür'et-kârâne hareketine muvakkaten ses çıkarmadı. Çünkü Tokat emîri Ulu Bey'in de kendisine karşı vaz'iyyeti şâyân-ı dikkatdi. Bununla beraber bir tarafdan Amasya beylerinden Halifet Gâzi, Gül Bey, Sunkur Oğulları'nı ve tarafdârlarını Togan Şâh [30] aleyhine tahrîk, diğer tarafdan Samsun emîri Tuli Bey'i Amasya'nın tahlîsine teşvîk ve elinden geldiği kadar yardımlar ediyordu.
Eretna Bey'in bu tertîbâtına tâli'i de yardım etdi. 741 senesi zilhiccesinin on dokuzunda en ziyâde korkduğu Mısır hükümdârı Melik Muhammed bin Kalavun vefât edib yerine büyük mahdûmu Melik Mansûr Seyfeddîn Ebû Bekir Mısır hükümdârı oldu. Bu yüzden Mısır beylerinin aralarına da fitneler girdi. Eretna Bey, bundan istifâde ederek i'lân-ı istiklâl ediverdi.
Eretna Bey'in istiklâli üzerine tedârikâtını ikmâl eden Tuli Bey Samsun tarafından hareket etdi. Amasya beylerinin içerden yardımlarıyla Togan Şâh'ı Niksâr'a kaçırdı. Amasya'yı 742 senesi evâ'ilinde harben aldı. Amasya vilâyeti bütün mülhakâtıyla doğrudan Eretna Bey'in nüfûzu altına girdi. Eretna Bey'in memâlikinden oldu. Togan Şâh da bu vak'adan sonra Niksâr'da vefât etdi.
Muharrir-i fakîr, Niksar kadısı iken Togan Şâh'ın kabrini çok aradım. Niksâr'ın cenûb tarafında Dânişmend Gâzi Türbesi'ne giden yol üzerinde yek-diğerine mu'ârız, yanyana bulunan iki türbeyi tedkîk edib cebhesi şimâle nâzır olan türbenin içini tathîr etdirdim, topraklarını kazdırdım. Toprağın altından çıkardığım bir mezâr taşının şimâl cebhesinde şu kitâbeyi kemâl-i müşkilât ile okuyabildim: "Hâzâ kabrü'l-emîri'l-isfehsâlâri'l-ecelli'l-kebîr el-melikü'l-muzaffer el-mücâhidü'l-murâbıt ... âce'd-dîn Togan Şâh Alp bin Savcı ... rahmetullâh – ...ın ve erba'în ve seb'i-mi'e".[31]
Bu kitâbe toprağın altında uzun bir müddet kalmış olduğundan yazı olduğu belirsiz bir hâlde bulundu. Kiremid parçaları sürülerek yazı olduğu anlaşıldı. "âc" kelimesi "Tâc" yâhud "Sirâc" olabilir. Okuyamadığım yerleri noktaladım. Birincisi "intekale ilâ" olmalıdır. İkincisi "Seb'a" , "tis'a" okunabilir. Fakat "seb'a" olması pek muhtemeldir.⁴⁷⁰Bu kabrin yanındaki cephesi garba nâzır olan türbe de birâderi Nûreddîn Alp Arslan'ın olduğu anlaşıldı.
Sultân Reşîdeddîn Ertena Hân⁴⁷¹ "Câmiu'd-Düvel"in "Âl-i Eretna" faslında ve sâ'ir mevâki'inde Müneccimbaşı Ahmed Efendi'nin zabtı üzere Kayseriyye beyi olan Ca'fer Bey⁴⁷² bin Eretna Bey'in mahdûmudur.⁴⁷³ Kayseriyye'de doğmuş, Sultân Ebû Sa'îd Bahâdır Hân'a intisâb ederek silk-i ümerâya girmiş, hemşîresini Sivas vâlîsi Emîr Timurtaş bin Emîr Çoban [32] tezevvüc eylediğinden Kayseriyye emîri olmuş, Ebû Sa'îd Bahâdır Hân'ın teveccüh ve i'timâdını kazanıp Timurtaş'ın Mısır'a firârından sonra Sivas vâlîsi olarak ta'ayyün etmişdir.
Muhammed Avârî Efendi, "Râmûzu'l-A'yân"ında diyor ki: "Emîr Timurtaş'dan sonra Sivas ve mülhakâtını Timurtaş'ın kayınbirâderi olan Sultân Reşîdeddîn Eretna Hân ahz ve temellük etdi".
Muhammed bin Alî el-Acemî, "Mecma'u'l-Ensâb"ında diyor ki: "Emîr Eretna, Sultân Ebû Sa'îd'in fermânıyla Rûm eyâletine bir müddet hâkim oldu. Sultân'ın vefâtından sonra o memleketi adâletle güzel idâre etdi. Halk ona adâletinden dolayı "Köse Peygamber" lakabını verdi".
Mahmûd Aynî de Veliyyeddîn Efendi Kütüb-hânesi'nde olan "Ikdu'l-Cumân"⁴⁷⁴ adlı eserinde 753 senesi vekâyi'inde diyor ki: "Rûm sultânı Noyin Ertana, ibtidâ Sultân Ebû Sa'îd tarafından Rûm nâibi (vâlîsi) oldu. Sultânın vefâtından sonra Mısır hükümdârı Melik Nâsır Muhammed bin Kalavun'a arz-ı [33] bey'at edib tarafından nâibü'r-Rûm oldu. Kendisine bir hil'at-ı sultâniyye verildi. Mekâtîb-i sultâniyyede "Nâ'ibü's-saltanati'ş-şerîfeti bi'l-bilâdi'r-Rûmiyye" unvânı yazılırdı".
In Modern English
He was the son of Alâeddîn Savcı Bey, son of Şeyh Nûreddîn Alp Arslan bin Sârımeddîn Muhammed Ebî Bekir el-Kemâhî er-Rufâ'îzâde, whose lodge and tomb, together with his waqf deed dated 655 [1257], are near Sonusa, the old center of the district of Taşâbâd (Erbaa), east of Amasya.
He is of the line of this Tâceddîn Togan Şâh, whom Azîz bin Erdeşîr el-Esterebâdî, in his work "Bezm ü Rezm", the history of Sivas, calls "the children of Tâceddîn, who ruled as emir in Niksar". On the gravestone that I found and brought out from under the earth at Niksar, it is read "Tâceddîn Togan Şâh Alp bin Savcı". In a book at its end, the name of his grandfather was seen written as "Tâceddîn Togan Şâh" in the own handwriting of his grandson Emîr Bahâeddîn Bey.
Şihâbeddîn Ahmed Nüveyrî says in his work "Mesâlikü'l-Ebsâr", found in the Ayasofya Library: "Togancık Bey was emir of Niksar. The border of his emirate extended in the north to the emirate border of Süleyman Pasha, emir of Kastamonu. His word carried in the land of Rûm, and he had fame. He was among the emirs of considerable standing."
Togan Şâh, seizing the province of Amasya, re-established the influence of Emîr Timurtaş's son Şeyh Hasan Bey. He forced Kürt and Taşan Beys and the partisans of Gâzi Çelebi to flee and hide. He sent Gâzi Çelebi to the Simre Farm from which he had come. He himself sat on the throne of Amasya.
Eretna Bey, emir of Sivas, acting with caution and intuition toward this situation, was forced to look away for a time. He rewarded and protected those who took refuge with him from Amasya, and of them gave the emirate of Kayseri to Kürt Bey. He removed the Samgâr and Tâc Kızıl Oğulları who opposed him.
For Alâeddîn Alî Şâh, eldest son of Babazâde Kutlu Bey, friend of Kürt Bey, was very esteemed and acceptable with Eretna Bey. Kürt Bey too was a brave, prudent Turkmen of influence among the emirs of Ebû Saîd Bahadır Khan. The "Kürtler quarter" in Kayseri was the places where he and his children lived.
Eretna Bey was in no position to fear Togan Şâh and his lord, the person to whom he was attached, Timurtaş's son Şeyh Hasan Bey. What occupied Eretna Bey's mind most was the matter of khutba and coin that he had undertaken toward the Egyptian ruler Melik Nâsır Muhammed bin Kalavun. Muhammed bin Kalavun, in any case, insisted strongly that the khutba be read and coins struck in his name, and backed this demand with military force.
If Eretna Bey had the khutba read and coins struck in the name of the Egyptian ruler, his influence and standing would be damaged in the eyes of the other beys and the people. If he refused openly, he feared the attacks of the governor of Aleppo and of Karaca Bey, son of Dulkadir. In his eyes Karaca Bey had no importance, but he feared the governor of Aleppo who protected him.
For this reason Eretna Bey did not raise his voice, for the time being, against Togan Şâh's bold move. For Tokat's emir Ulu Bey's attitude toward him was also noteworthy. Nevertheless, on one hand he incited among the beys of Amasya the Halifet Gâzi, Gül Bey and Sunkur Oğulları and their partisans against Togan Şâh, and on the other he encouraged Tuli Bey, emir of Samsun, to rescue Amasya and helped as much as he could.
Fortune also helped Eretna Bey's arrangements. On the nineteenth of Dhu'l-Hijja 741 [1341] the Egyptian ruler Melik Muhammed bin Kalavun, whom he feared most, died, and his eldest son Melik Mansûr Seyfeddîn Ebû Bekir became ruler of Egypt. Because of this, discord entered among the Egyptian beys too. Eretna Bey took advantage of this and declared his independence.
On Eretna Bey's independence, Tuli Bey, having completed his preparations, set out from the Samsun side. With help from within by the beys of Amasya he made Togan Şâh flee to Niksar. He took Amasya by fighting in early 742 [1341-42]. The province of Amasya with all its dependent places came directly under Eretna Bey's influence and became one of Eretna Bey's lands. Togan Şâh too died at Niksar after this event.
This poor author, while he was judge of Niksar, searched very much for Togan Şâh's grave. South of Niksar, on the road to the Tomb of Dânişmend Gâzi, I examined two tombs standing side by side, facing each other. I had the interior of the tomb whose front faced north cleaned and its earth dug. On the north face of a gravestone that I brought out from under the earth I was able, with great difficulty, to read the following inscription: "Hâzâ kabrü'l-emîri'l-isfehsâlâri'l-ecelli'l-kebîr el-melikü'l-muzaffer el-mücâhidü'l-murâbıt ... âce'd-dîn Togan Şâh Alp bin Savcı ... rahmetullâh – ...ın ve erba'în ve seb'i-mi'e." The meaning: "This is the grave of the great emir, army commander, very exalted and great, victorious ruler, fighter in the way of God, frontier guard ... Togan Şâh Alp bin Savcı ... may God have mercy on him ... and forty and seven hundred [in the year]."
Since this inscription had remained under the earth a long time, it was found in a state in which it was not apparent that it was writing. It was understood to be writing when pieces of tile were rubbed on it. The word "âc" may be "Tâc" or "Sirâc". I dotted the places I could not read. The first should be "intekale ilâ" [he passed to]. The second can be read as "seb'a" [seven] or "tis'a" [nine]. But it is very probable that it is "seb'a". The tomb beside this grave, whose front faces west, was understood to be that of his brother Nûreddîn Alp Arslan.
Sultan Reşîdeddîn Ertena Khan, according to the record of Müneccimbaşı Ahmed Efendi in the "Eretna Oğulları" section and other places of "Câmiu'd-Düvel", was the son of Ca'fer Bey bin Eretna Bey, bey of Kayseri. He was born in Kayseri, entered the class of emirs by attaching himself to Sultan Ebû Saîd Bahadır Khan, became emir of Kayseri because he gave his sister as wife to Emîr Timurtaş bin Emîr Çoban, governor of Sivas, won the favor and trust of Ebû Saîd Bahadır Khan, and was appointed governor of Sivas after Timurtaş's flight to Egypt.
Muhammed Avârî Efendi says in his work "Râmûzu'l-A'yân": "After Emîr Timurtaş, Sultan Reşîdeddîn Eretna Khan, Timurtaş's brother-in-law, took Sivas and its dependent places and made them his own property."
Muhammed bin Alî el-Acemî says in his work "Mecma'u'l-Ensâb": "Emîr Eretna, by the decree of Sultan Ebû Saîd, ruled the province of Rûm for a time. After the sultan's death he governed that country well with justice. The people gave him the nickname 'Köse Peygamber' (Beardless Prophet) because of his justice."
Mahmûd Aynî also says in his work "Ikdu'l-Cumân", found in the Veliyyeddîn Efendi Library, among the events of 753 [1352]: "The sultan of Rûm, Noyin Ertana, first became deputy (governor) of Rûm by Sultan Ebû Saîd. After the sultan's death, offering allegiance to the Egyptian ruler Melik Nâsır Muhammed bin Kalavun, he became deputy of Rûm by him. A sultanic robe of honor was given to him. In sultanic correspondence the title 'Nâ'ibü's-saltanati'ş-şerîfeti bi'l-bilâdi'r-Rûmiyye', that is, 'deputy of the honorable sultanate in the lands of Rûm', was written."
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- cihet-i şarkiyye: the eastern direction
- kâ'in: located
- zâviye: small lodge in which dervishes stayed and worshipped
- vakfiye: document stating the founding conditions of a waqf
- hafîd: grandson
- ced: grandfather
- emâret: emirate
- istîlâ: seizure
- tahtgâh: capital, seat of the throne
- iğmâz-ı ayn: turning a blind eye
- ilticâ: taking refuge
- mu'ârız: one who opposes
- hutbe: mention of the ruler's name at the Friday prayer; regarded as a sign of sovereignty
- sikke: coin struck in a ruler's name
- bi-eyyi-hâl: in any case
- tahlîs: rescue
- tathîr: cleaning
- cebhe: face, front
- kitâbe: inscription written on stone
- nâib: deputy, governor
Who Was Togan Şâh
Hüsameddin identifies Togan Şâh on four grounds: Esterâbâdî's history of Sivas, the gravestone he found at Niksar, a book note a grandson dropped in his own handwriting, and Nüveyrî's record of "Togancık Bey". The encyclopedia entry on the Tâceddinoğulları, however, names Emîr Doğanşah (Doğancık Bey) as the first name of the dynasty founded in the Niksar region. It states that this person acted independently after Ilkhanid rule collapsed, opposed Eretna and seized Amasya, withdrew to the Niksar region when expelled from it in 1341, and died in 1346 or 1348. The similarity of names, the taking of Amasya and its loss in 1341, the withdrawal to Niksar and death there make a striking agreement between the two accounts. The units digit that Hüsameddin could not read in the inscription may be "seven" or "nine"; that is, the gravestone bears the date 747 or 749. The dates 1346 (747) and 1348 (749) that the encyclopedia entry gives for Doğanşah's death coincide exactly with these two readings. Still, there is no explicit record stating that the two persons are the same. Moreover, in Hüsameddin Tâceddîn is Togan Şâh's own epithet, while in the encyclopedia entry Tâceddin Bey is Doğanşah's son. This difference stands in the way of treating the match as certain.
No information on the present state of the two tombs Hüsameddin searched for was found in the sources we read. He himself writes in the footnote that when the education inspector İsmâil Hakkı Bey went to the same place he could see neither the tombs nor the inscriptions.
The Passing of Amasya to Eretna
Alâeddin Eretna was an Ilkhanid emir of Uighur origin. As Timurtaş's brother-in-law he governed Anatolia after 1327 as his deputy. After Ebû Saîd's death (1335) he consolidated his power, received from the Mamluk sultan a document that he was deputy of Anatolia, in 1340 stopped having the khutba read in the name of the Mamluk sultan, and the following year declared his independence. He had the khutba read and coins struck in his own name, with Sivas and then Kayseri as center. The sequence in Hüsameddin's account, that is, the khutba and coin pressure from Egypt, Nâsır Muhammed's death and the subsequent declaration of independence, agrees with this picture. The attachment of Amasya to Eretna in the same year also agrees with the date 1341 given by the encyclopedia entry.
Eretna died in Kayseri in Muharram 753, corresponding to March 1352, and was buried in the tomb in the courtyard of the Köşkmedrese. The death date Hüsameddin gives is the same. When he died Amasya was also within his sphere of rule.
Eretna's Lineage and Name
Hüsameddin, relying on Müneccimbaşı's "Câmiu'd-Düvel", gives Eretna's father as Ca'fer Bey. In a footnote he says that Ibn Hajar's work "Ed-Dürerü'l-Kâmine" writes the father's name as Hasan, but that the record of Câmiu'd-Düvel should in any case be correct. In the same footnote he also rejects the tradition on Ca'fer Bey's kinship with the Karamanoğulları because history does not support it. The encyclopedia entry does not give Eretna's father's name; it was therefore not possible to decide between the two views.
Hüsameddin adds a separate footnote on the spelling of the name. According to him the correct reading is not "Ertena" but "Ertene", which means "valuable pearl" in the Dîvânu Lugâti't-Türk; the name cannot be explained as "erkek tana". This information is relayed from the book itself and was not separately verified in the dictionary.
For the nickname "Köse Peygamber" the sources give different reasons. The encyclopedia entry ties it both to his justice and piety and to his sparse beard. Hüsameddin, in the lines relayed from Acemî, gives only justice as the reason.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 3, p. 403–405. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies