Vâlî-i sâbıkdır. 825 senesi şa'bânında Amasya beylerbeyi olarak Ankara'dan geldi. Amasya vilâyeti bunun zamânında Amasya, Sivas, Tokat, Karahisâr-ı Şarkî, Canik, Çorum sancaklarından müteşekkil bir vilâyet-i cesîme idi. "Rûmiyye Vilâyeti" denirdi. [199]
Amasya yeniçerilerinin zâbiti "Sekbânbaşı" nâmıyla yâd edilirdi. Bu esnâda sekbânbaşı Timur Ağa, alaybeyi Osmân Paşazâde Kaya Bey'di. Mevlânâ İsrâfîl Amasya vilâyetinin şeyhu'l-islâmı sayılırdı.
Tokat ve Sivas etrâfında eşkıyâ türemişdi. Köyleri basıp malları yağmâ, insânları katl ve ifnâ ederlerdi. Yörgüç Paşa, Sivas beyi Horozoğlu el-Hâc Ahmed Bey'le birleşdi. Bütün kuvvetiyle çalışıp eşkıyâyı târumâr etdi.
825 senesi zilhiccesinde vefât eden Amasya müftüsü Mevlânâ İsrâfîl Çelebi yerine Tokâdî Kara Sinan Çelebi demekle meşhûr fuzalâdan Sinâneddîn Yûsuf Çelebi müftî-i benâm oldu. İsrâfîlzâde Mevlânâ Nasûh Çelebi de müderris olmuşdu.
826 senesi evâ'ilinde Yıldırım Hân oğlu Sultân Mustafa'ya esîr olan vezîr-i a'zam Bâyezîd Paşa maktûlen vefât etdi. Birâderi Hamza Paşa halâs olup Aydın iline me'mûr oldu. Bu esnâda Amasyalı Halifetzâde İzzeddîn Hasan Çelebi kazaskerdi.
827 senesinde Çorum ve Osmâncık havâlîsinde türeyen Kızıl Koca Oğulları ve avenesi nehb ü gâretle halkı titretmişlerdi. Yörgüç Paşa bunları dâma düşürmek için mahdûmu Hızır Bey'e bir velîme cem'iyyeti tertîb ederek sergerdelerini ziyâfete da'vet etdi.
Eşkıyâ Yörgüç Paşa'nın bu da'vetini za'fına haml ederek Amasya şehrini yağmâ etmek üzere icâbet etdiler. Büyük ve kıymetli hediyyeler tertîb ederek müsellah avenesiyle beraber Merzifon'a kadar geldiler. [200]
Yörgüç Paşa, mahdûmu Hızır Bey'i Merzifon'a gönderip istikbâl etdirdi. Hızır Bey eşkıyâ ve avenesini alıp gâyet debdebeli bir alay ile Amasya şehrine indirdi. Eşkıyâ ve avenesi onar onar a'yân hânelerine tevzî' edildi.
Yörgüç Paşa, verdiği ta'lîmât ile eşkıyâyı ve avenesini bir gece içinde tutup bağlatdı. Cümlesini de Kal’a-i Bâlâ bedeninde olan mağaralara habs edib saman buğuyla öldürdü.⁵⁵⁸
827 senesi ramazânında meşâhîr-i fuzalâdan Pîr İlyâs Halvetî Zâviyesi şeyhi Gümüşlüzâde Pîr Abdurrahmân Çelebi irtihâl-i dâr-ı na'îm edib yerine Şeyh Hamîdeddîn Mehmed Çelebi bin İbrâhim geçdi. Halvetiyye şeyhi oldu.
828 senesinde Köprü dâhilinde "Koca Kayası" demekle meşhûr kalede ikâmet eden Taşanoğlu Haydar Bey bin Kâsım Bey bin Haydar Bey, kalenin metânetine ve zehâ'ir ve erzâkının kesretine mağrûr olarak Yörgüç Paşa'ya itâ'at etmez, kimseye boyun eğmez bir hâlde idi.
Yörgüç Paşa, mükerreren hükûmete itâ'at etmesini teklîf etdiği hâlde dinlemezdi. Yörgüç Paşa, Haydar Bey'in mahdûmu Kâsım Bey'le müsteşâr-ı umûru Tayfûr Bey'i celb ve istimâlet ederek harben kaleyi aldı. Haydar Bey'i Amasya'ya gönderdi. Kâsım ve Tayfûr Beyler'e ze'âmetler verdi. [201]
828 senesi recebinde Amasya sarâyında ikâmet eden Sultân Murâd'ın büyük mahdûmu Mehmed Çelebi sagîren vefât edib şehzâdegân türbesine defn edildi. Târîh-i vefâtı seng-i mezârında mahkûkdur.
829 senesinde Rûmeli beylerbeyi Amasyalı Şâdî Beyzâde Şâh Melik Paşa iken Yıldırım Hân Oğlu Sultân Mustafa üçüncü def'a kıyâm ederek Rûmeli beylerini birbirine düşürdü.
Çünkü Şâh Melik Paşa ansızın azl olunup yerine Sırp mühtedîlerinden "Kraloğlu" demekle meşhûr İshâk Paşa gönderilmişdi. Hâlbuki bu târîhe kadar mühtedî beylere mîrlivâlıkdan ziyâde rütbe verilmezdi.
Rûmeli beyleri İshâk Paşa'yı kabûl etmeyip öz Türklerden bir beylerbeyi gönderilmesini ricâ, Sultân Murâd-ı Sânî de kabûl etmelerini irâde ederek muhâlefet edenleri terbiyeye kıyâm etmişdi.
Tam bu sırada Sultân Mustafa kıyâm edib muhâlif beyler kendisine itâ'at ederek vak'a kesb-i ehemmiyet etmişdi. Bu husûsda ricâl-i devlet iki taraf oldu. Ricâlin içinde muhâlifleri iltizâm edenler de vardı. Vezîr-i a'zam Candarlızâde İbrâhim Paşa bunlardandı.
Amasya'da üstâdü'l-küll sayılan Sa'deddîn Taftazânî tilmîzi ve Amasya müftüsü meşhûr Kara Sinan Efendi irtihâl-i dâr-ı bekâ etdi. Yerine diğer Tokâdî Şeyh Mehmed Çelebizâde Tâceddîn İbrâhim Efendi Amasya müftüsü oldu.
Sultân Murâd-ı Sânî, büyük bir kuvvetle Sultân Mustafa üzerine gitdi. Köstendil civârında yapdığı kanlı muhârebede Yıldırım Hân Oğlu Sultân [202] Mustafa'yı tutup kendi gözü önünde boğdurdu.
İkinci Murâd Edirne'ye avdetinde Candârlızâde İbrâhim Paşa'yı azl edib yerine Tokatlı Fahreddîn oğlu Hacı İvaz Paşa'yı vezîr-i a'zam yapdı. Muhâliflerden hayli beyler dûçâr-ı felâket oldu.
830'da Canik beyi olan Alp Arslanoğlu Hüseyin Bey ba'zı ümerânın tahrîkâtıyla Yörgüç Paşa'nın evâmirine itâ'at etmez olmuşdu. Yörgüç Paşa, kendi kölelerinden Polad Bey'i bir kuvve-i kâfiye ile gönderdi.
Hüseyin Bey, yapdığı münâsebetsizlikden nedâmet ederek afvını istirhâm eylediyse de Polat Bey bîçâreyi tutup bağladı. Mukayyed olarak Amasya'ya gönderdi. Yörgüç Paşa'nın mu'ahharan arzıyla afv edilip Rûmeli'nde Gümülcine sancağı beyi oldu.
Bu hizmetlerine mükâfâten Yörgüç Paşa'ya vezâret verildi. Kendisine Sultân Murâd'ın i'timâdı fevkalâde olup nâmına sikke ve akçe darbına müsâ'ade-i mahsûsa aldı. Bunlara "Yörgüç Paşa Akçesi" dendi. Yörgüç Paşa'nın kadr ve i'tibârı yükseldi.
830 senesi cemâziyelâhiresinin on beşinde Amasya kadısı Muslihzâde Şemseddîn Mehmed Şâh Çelebi vefât edib yerine mahdûmlarının büyüğü olan Nizâmeddîn Abdurrahmân Çelebi on altısında Amasya kadısı oldu.⁵⁵⁹ Buna "Şâh Çelebi" denirdi. [203]
831 senesinde merkez-i saltanat olan Edirne ve Bursa'da ricâl arasında şedîd bir buhrân vardı. Devşirmelerin beylerbeyiliğe terfî'i mes'elesi bu buhrânı tevlîd etmişdi. Devşirmelerin dîn-i islâmın emr etdiği müsâvâtı, hizmetleri mukâbilinde mükâfâtı istiyorlardı.
Milliyetine sarılmış olan Türk erleri de kendi kölelerimize kendi elimizle ve rızâmızla kendi hükûmet ve istiklâlimizi veremeyiz, bunun âkıbeti Türklük için mühlik olur diyorlardı.
İkinci Sultân Murâd, devşirmeleri tatmîn etmek tarafdârı idi. Çünkü hizmetleri büyükdü. Nihâyet vezîr-i a'zam Hacı İvaz Paşa, Fenârîzâde Mehmed Şâh Efendi gibi ricâl-i devlet maktûl oldu. Candârlızâde İbrâhim Paşa mesmûmen vefât etdi. Kazasker Ferîdeddîn Mehmed Çelebi azl edildi.
Türkler'den Âsâyiş Beyzâde Sinan Paşa Rûmeli ve devşirmelerden Karaca Paşa Anadolu beylerbeyi oldu. Anadolu beylerbeyi Amasyalı Hamza Paşa ma'zûl olup Osmâncıklı Koca Nizâmeddîn Mehmed Paşa vezîr-i a'zam, Ankaralı Veliyyeddîn Efendi kazasker oldu.
Vezâretle nişâncı olan Kırşehirli Şeyhî Paşa da ma'zûl olup Bergamalı Hatîb Paşa demekle meşhûr olan Hibetullâh Çelebi vezâretle nişâncı oldu. Erkân-ı hükûmet tamâmiyle değişdi.
Kazasker-i sâbık Ferîdeddîn Mehmed Çelebi, Çelebi Sultân'ın Merzifon'da binâ eylediği medresenin ilk müderrisi olup Seyyid Şerîf Cürcânî tilmîzi idi. Ma'zûlen Merzifon'a gelip sâniyen Sultâniyye müderrisi oldu. [204] Fakat Bâyezîd Paşa birâderi Hamza Paşa'nın âkıbeti anlaşılamadı.
Bu sene meşâyih-i Zeyniyye'den es-Seyyid Sadreddîn Mehmed bin es-Seyyid Hüseyn el-Hüseynî el-Horasânî Amasya'ya gelip ilm ve siyâdetine göre hürmet gördü. Amasya müftüsü Tokatlı Tâceddîn Çelebi vefât edib yerine kibâr-ı fuzalâdan Amasyalı Pîr Sun'ullâh Çelebi müftü oldu.
Sivas, Dârende, Divriği taraflarında zuhûr eden vekâyi'i tahkîk, müsebbiblerini tenkîl etmek üzere Yörgüç Paşa 832 senesinde Amasya'dan kalkıp Dârende'ye gitdi. Yerine kayınbirâderi olan Emîneddîn Mehmed Paşa'yı kâ'im-makâm-ı vâlî nasb etdi.
Emîneddîn Mehmed Paşa, Hacı Şâdgeldi Paşazâdeler'den Mustafa Bey'in mahdûmudur. Yörgüç Paşa'nın eski kethüdâsı olan el-Hâc Mehmed Ağa ile Amasya vilâyetini güzelce idâre etdi. Mehmed Paşa, Yörgüç Paşa'ya "Enişte Paşa" derdi.⁵⁶⁰
Yörgüç Paşa, Dârende'den Sivas'a buradan da Kayseriyye ve Niğde havâlîsine kadar gidip hayli ıslâhât yapdı. Birçok eşkıyâ kesdi. 833 senesinde Amasya'ya avdet edib kayınbirâderi Emîneddîn Mehmed Paşa Sivas beylerbeyi oldu.
Yörgüç Paşa'nın Amasya'da başlatdığı câmi, medrese ve imâreti 834 senesinde hitâma erdi. Pek mutantan bir sûretde resm-i güşâdını [205] yapdı. Müşârün-ileyhin Köprü ve Gümüş kasabalarında kâ'in câmileri de hitâma ermişdi. Bu sene Hacı Şâdgeldi evlâdından Dâvud Beyzâde Mehmed Şâh Bey vefât edib ceddi türbesi civârına defn edildi.⁵⁶¹
Irâk hükümdârı Karakoyunlu Mîrzâ İskender Şâh bin Kara Yûsuf Şâh, Türkistân hükümdârı Aksak Timûr Hân Oğlu Şâhruh Mîrzâ harbinde mağlûben Tokat'a geldiği Yörgüç Paşa tarafından Sultân Murâd'a arz edilmişdi. Sudûr eden irâde üzerine İskender Şâh büyük bir ihtişâm ve saltanatla 834 senesinde Amasya'ya gelip kendisine tahsîs edilen konağa indirildi. Etbâ'ı da mevâki'-i muhtelifede yerleşdirildi.
Ancak İskender Şâh'ın etbâ'ı çokdu. İskender Mîrzâ bunları i'âşede müşkilâta uğramışdı. Bu sebebden etbâ'ı Amasya köylerini hattâ kasabalarını basıp emvâl ve eşyâyı nehb ü gâret, bu uğurda katl-i nüfûs ediyorlardı. Halkın şikâyetleri tevâlî etdiği hâlde İskender Mîrzâ kendisine mükerreren yapılan ihtârâta rağmen aldırış etmedi.
Halk, etbâ'a karşı kendilerini müdâfa'a etmeğe mecbûr olduğundan halk ile etbâ' arasında cereyân eden arbedeler hadd-i ma'rûfu tecâvüz etmişdi. Bundan dolayı Yörgüç Paşa, İskender Mîrzâ'yı ve etbâ'ını 835 senesinde cebren Amasya'dan çıkarıp Âzerbaycân'a doğru yolcu etdi.
836 senesinde "Ahi Darbhâneci" demekle meşhûr olan darbhâne emîni Bedreddîn Mahmûd Çelebi, Amasya'nın Pervâne Bey Mahallesi'nde başlatdığı [206] zâviyesi hitâma erdi. Bu tekkenin şeyhliğini es-Seyyid Sadreddîn Mehmed Horasânî'ye verdi. Buna "Horasânî Baba" denirdi.
Lâkin Yörgüç Paşa'nın nâmına sikke darb etdirmesi, tûl müddet devâm eden vilâyeti, gördüğü hizmetlerin ehemmiyeti, kendisine gurûr ve azamet, fazla ru'ûnet vermiş, etbâ'ına i'timâdı, lâubâliyâne harekâtı halkı şikâyetlere mecbûr etmişdi. 837 senesinde şikâyetler tevâlî ediyordu.
İkinci Sultân Murâd, kendisini tevhîm eden halkın bu şikâyetleri üzerine 838 senesinde Yörgüç Paşa'yı Edirne'ye celb edib muhâfız nasb etdi. Büyük şehzâdesi olan Sultân Ahmed'i de Amasya vâlîsi nasb ederek Şeyhî Paşa'yı terfîk edib Amasya'ya gönderdi.
In Modern English
He is one of the former governors. He came from Ankara as beylerbeyi of Amasya in the month of Shaban 825 [1422]. In his time the province of Amasya was a large eyalet made up of the sanjaks of Amasya, Sivas, Tokat, Eastern Karahisar (Şebinkarahisar), Canik, and Çorum. This eyalet was called the "Rûmiyye Vilâyeti" (Province of Rum).
The commander of the Amasya janissaries was called "sekbanbaşı." At that time the sekbanbaşı was Timur Ağa and the alaybeyi was Osman Paşazâde Kaya Bey. Mevlânâ İsrâfîl was regarded as the şeyhülislam of the province of Amasya.
Bandits had sprung up around Tokat and Sivas. They raided villages and plundered goods, killing and destroying people. Yörgüç Pasha united with the bey of Sivas, Horozoğlu el-Hâc Ahmed Bey. Working with all his strength, he reduced the bandits to ruin.
In place of the mufti of Amasya, Mevlânâ İsrâfîl Çelebi, who died in Zilhicce 825, Sinâneddîn Yûsuf Çelebi, famous among scholars as "Kara Sinan Çelebi of Tokat," passed as a well-known mufti. İsrâfîlzâde Mevlânâ Nasûh Çelebi had also become a madrasa professor.
At the beginning of 826 [1422-23] the grand vizier Bâyezîd Pasha, who had fallen captive to Sultan Mustafa, son of Yıldırım Han, was killed and gave up his life. His brother Hamza Pasha escaped and was assigned to the province of Aydın. At that time the Amasyan Halifetzâde İzzeddîn Hasan Çelebi was chief military judge.
In 827 [1423-24] the Kızıl Koca Oğulları, who had sprung up around Çorum and Osmancık, and their partisans had made the people tremble with plunder and pillage. To trap them, Yörgüç Pasha had a wedding feast arranged for his son Hızır Bey and invited the ringleaders to this banquet.
The bandits took this invitation of Yörgüç Pasha as a sign of his weakness and accepted in order to plunder the city of Amasya. Preparing great and valuable gifts, they came as far as Merzifon with their armed men.
Yörgüç Pasha sent his son Hızır Bey to Merzifon and met them. Hızır Bey brought the bandits and their men down to the city of Amasya in a very showy procession. The bandits and their men were distributed ten by ten to the houses of the notables of the city.
By the instruction he had given, Yörgüç Pasha had the bandits and their men seized and bound within a single night. He shut all of them in the caves on the slope of the upper fortress (Harşena) and killed them by smothering them with straw smoke.
In Ramadan 827 Gümüşlüzâde Pîr Abdurrahmân Çelebi, one of the famous scholars and sheikh of the Pîr İlyâs Halvetî Zawiya, died and migrated to the abode of paradise; in his place Şeyh Hamîdeddîn Mehmed Çelebi, son of İbrâhim, took over. He became sheikh of the Khalwati order.
In 828 [1424-25], Taşanoğlu Haydar Bey (son of Kâsım Bey, grandson of Haydar Bey), who sat in the fortress famous as "Koca Kayası" within the borders of Köprü, relying on the solidity of the fortress and the abundance of provisions and munitions, did not obey Yörgüç Pasha and submitted to no one.
Although Yörgüç Pasha proposed many times that he obey the government, Haydar Bey did not listen. Thereupon he drew to himself Haydar Bey's son Kâsım Bey and his adviser Tayfur Bey, won their hearts, and took the fortress by fighting. He sent Haydar Bey to Amasya. He gave Kâsım and Tayfur Beys zeamet (a large timar).
In Rajab 828 Mehmed Çelebi, the eldest son of Sultan Murad, who sat in the Amasya palace, died at a young age and was buried in the tomb of the princes. The date of death is carved on the gravestone.
In 829 [1425-26], while the beylerbeyi of Rumelia was Şâh Melik Pasha, son of the Amasyan Şâdî Bey, Sultan Mustafa, son of Yıldırım Han, rose in revolt for the third time and set the beys of Rumelia against one another.
For Şâh Melik Pasha had been suddenly removed from office and in his place İshak Pasha, famous as "Kraloğlu" among the converts of Serbian origin, had been sent. Yet until this date converted beys had not been given a rank above sanjak bey.
The beys of Rumelia did not accept İshak Pasha and asked that a beylerbeyi be sent from among the pure Turks. Sultan Murad II, however, wanted them to accept İshak Pasha and set about bringing the opponents into line.
Just at this time Sultan Mustafa rose in revolt and the beys who objected attached themselves to him; the event gained importance. The notables of the state were divided into two sides over this. There were also those who sided with the opponents. The grand vizier Çandarlızâde İbrâhim Pasha was among them.
In Amasya the famous mufti of Amasya, Kara Sinan Efendi, a pupil of Sa'deddîn Taftazânî, who was regarded as the "master of masters," died. In his place Şeyh Mehmed Çelebizâde Tâceddîn İbrâhim Efendi, again of Tokat, became mufti of Amasya.
Sultan Murad II marched on Sultan Mustafa with a great army. In the bloody battle fought around Köstendil he had Sultan Mustafa, son of Yıldırım Han, seized and strangled before his own eyes.
On his return to Edirne Murad II removed Çandarlızâde İbrâhim Pasha from office; in his place he made Hacı İvaz Pasha, son of Fahreddîn of Tokat, grand vizier. Quite a few beys among the opponents met disaster.
In 830 [1426-27] Hüseyin Bey, son of Alp Arslan, bey of Canik, at the incitement of some emirs, had ceased to obey Yörgüç Pasha's orders. Yörgüç Pasha sent Polad Bey, one of his own slaves, with a sufficient force.
Although Hüseyin Bey repented of his unwarranted conduct and asked to be forgiven, Polat Bey seized and bound this poor man and sent him under guard to Amasya. On Yörgüç Pasha's later petition he was forgiven and became sanjak bey of Gümülcine in Rumelia.
In return for these services Yörgüç Pasha was given the vizierate. Sultan Murad's trust in him was extraordinary, and he received special permission to have coins and akçe struck in his own name. These akçe were called "Yörgüç Pasha Akçesi." Yörgüç Pasha's standing and worth rose.
On the fifteenth of Cemâziyelâhir 830 Muslihzâde Şemseddîn Mehmed Şâh Çelebi, judge of Amasya, died, and on the sixteenth the eldest of his sons, Nizâmeddîn Abdurrahmân Çelebi, became judge of Amasya in his place. He was called "Şâh Çelebi."
In 831 [1427-28] there was a severe crisis among the statesmen in Edirne and Bursa, the centers of the state. The question of raising devshirmes to beylerbeyilik had produced this crisis. The devshirmes demanded the equality commanded by the religion of Islam and the reward of their services.
The Turkish soldiers, clinging to their nationality, said that we cannot give our own government and independence with our own hands and by our own consent to our own slaves, that the end of this would be destructive for Turkishness.
Sultan Murad the Second was inclined to please the devshirmes. For their services were great. In the end statesmen such as the grand vizier Hacı İvaz Pasha and Fenârîzâde Mehmed Şâh Efendi were killed. Çandarlızâde İbrâhim Pasha died of poisoning. The chief military judge Ferîdeddîn Mehmed Çelebi was removed from office.
Of the Turks, Sinan Pasha, son of Âsâyiş Bey, became beylerbeyi of Rumelia, and of the devshirmes Karaca Pasha beylerbeyi of Anatolia. The beylerbeyi of Anatolia, the Amasyan Hamza Pasha, was removed from office; Osmancıklı Koca Nizâmeddîn Mehmed Pasha became grand vizier, and Ankaralı Veliyyeddîn Efendi chief military judge.
Şeyhî Pasha of Kırşehir, who served as vizier and nişancı, was also removed from office, and Hibetullâh Çelebi, famous as "Bergamalı Hatîb Pasha," became vizier and nişancı. The government staff was changed completely.
The former chief military judge Ferîdeddîn Mehmed Çelebi was the first professor of the madrasa Çelebi Sultan had built in Merzifon and a pupil of Seyyid Şerîf Cürcânî. When removed from office he came to Merzifon and became for the second time professor of the Sultâniyye Madrasa. But the end of Hamza Pasha, Bâyezîd Pasha's brother, could not be ascertained.
This year es-Seyyid Sadreddîn Mehmed bin es-Seyyid Hüseyn el-Hüseynî el-Horasânî, one of the Zeyniyye sheikhs, came to Amasya and was respected for his learning and descent from the Prophet. When the mufti of Amasya, Tokatlı Tâceddîn Çelebi, died, the Amasyan Pîr Sun'ullâh Çelebi, one of the great scholars, became mufti in his place.
Yörgüç Pasha, to investigate the events that had arisen around Sivas, Darende, and Divriği and to punish those responsible, set out from Amasya in 832 [1428-29] and went to Darende. In his place he appointed his brother-in-law Emîneddîn Mehmed Pasha as deputy governor.
Emîneddîn Mehmed Pasha is the son of Mustafa Bey of the Hacı Şâdgeldi Pashazâdes. With Yörgüç Pasha's former steward el-Hâc Mehmed Ağa, he administered the province of Amasya well. Mehmed Pasha used to call Yörgüç Pasha "Enişte Pasha" (Brother-in-law Pasha).
Yörgüç Pasha went from Darende to Sivas and from there as far as the surroundings of Kayseri and Niğde and established considerable order. He killed many bandits. When he returned to Amasya in 833 [1429-30], his brother-in-law Emîneddîn Mehmed Pasha became beylerbeyi of Sivas.
The mosque, madrasa, and imaret that Yörgüç Pasha had begun in Amasya were completed in 834 [1430-31]. The opening was held with a very splendid ceremony. The said person's mosques in the towns of Köprü and Gümüş were also finished. This year Mehmed Şâh Bey, son of Dâvud Bey, of the line of Hacı Şâdgeldi, died and was buried near his grandfather's tomb.
When the Karakoyunlu Mîrzâ İskender Şâh bin Kara Yûsuf Şâh, ruler of Iraq, was defeated in a war with Şâhruh Mîrzâ, son of Aksak Timur Han, ruler of Turkestan, and came to Tokat, Yörgüç Pasha had reported him to Sultan Murad. On the order that came, İskender Şâh came to Amasya in 834 with great splendor and sovereignty and was installed in the mansion set aside for him. His men were also settled in various places.
But İskender Şâh's men were many. İskender Mîrzâ had fallen into difficulty in supporting them. For this reason his men were raiding the villages and even the towns of Amasya, plundering goods and belongings and killing people in the process. Although the people's complaints followed one another, İskender Mîrzâ paid no heed to the warnings repeatedly made to him.
Since the people were forced to defend themselves against these men, the quarrels between the people and the men had gone beyond the bounds of custom. For this reason Yörgüç Pasha in 835 [1431-32] forcibly drove İskender Mîrzâ and his men out of Amasya and sent them toward Azerbaijan.
In 836 [1432-33] the mint overseer Bedreddîn Mahmûd Çelebi, famous as "Ahi Darbhâneci," finished the zawiya he had begun in the Pervâne Bey quarter of Amasya. He gave the sheikhship of this tekke to es-Seyyid Sadreddîn Mehmed Horasânî. He was called "Horasânî Baba."
But Yörgüç Pasha's having coins struck in his own name, the length of his governorship, and the importance of the services he had rendered had given him arrogance and haughtiness and excessive show; his trust in his men and his indifferent conduct had also forced the people to complain. In 837 [1433-34] the complaints followed one another.
Murad II, made suspicious by these complaints of the people, in 838 [1434-35] summoned Yörgüç Pasha to Edirne and appointed him guardian. He also appointed his eldest prince Sultan Ahmed governor of Amasya and sent him to Amasya, adding Şeyhî Pasha to his side.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- vâlî-i sâbık: former governor
- beylerbeyi: governor of an eyalet; both administrator and commander of the region
- sekbânbaşı: one of the senior commanders in the janissary corps
- alaybeyi: commander of the sanjak's soldiers (alay)
- eşkıyâ: member of a band that waylays travelers and raids villages
- târumâr etmek: to scatter completely
- velîme: a meal given on a wedding or similar occasion
- sergerde: ringleader
- avene: men, helpers, partisans
- mühtedî: a person who became Muslim later
- devşirme: in the Ottomans, youths collected from Christian families and trained for the palace and the army
- ze'âmet: timar of high annual income
- kâ'im-makâm: deputy
- lala: senior statesman in charge of a prince's education and administrative affairs
Who Yörgüç Pasha Was
Where and when Yörgüç Pasha was born is not known. In the sources his name appears as Yörgüç, Yörgeç, or Yörgenç. According to inscriptions and gravestones his name is Yörgüç and his epithet Celâleddin. The genealogies put forward for his lineage are inconsistent. In the inscription of the mosque he had built in Amasya, on his gravestone, and in his endowment deed, his father's name is written as Abdullah. For this reason the genealogies saying that he descended from Atabek Nâsırüddin Ahmed or was linked to Mihal Bey are doubtful. The title "atabeg" in the inscription is probably also a reference not to his father but to his own lalaship.
It is understood that he received a good education. When in 1414 Çelebi Mehmed sent his twelve-year-old son Murad to Amasya with the beylik of the province of Rum, he had given Yörgüç Pasha with him as his lala. His star shone with Murad's accession to the throne. The revolt of Düzmece Mustafa that arose in the first year of Murad II's reign was put down at his urging, and Yörgüç Pasha was appointed beylerbeyi of Rum. Encyclopedic sources give this appointment as 826 [1423]. Hüsameddin, however, writes that he came from Ankara in the month of Shaban 825. The one-year difference may rest on separate dates for the appointment and the actual arrival in Amasya; but this cannot be said with certainty.
The Kızıl Koca Oğulları and Koca Kayası
The Kızıl Koca Oğulları episode Hüsameddin ties to 827 coincides with a struggle that also appears in other sources. It is understood that these highway bands around Amasya and Tokat were under the orders of four brothers and that Akkoyunlu Karayülük Osman Bey, Dulkadıroğlu Hasan Bey, and Bayındıroğlu Halil Bey also supported them. Yörgüç Pasha brought these rebels under obedience. The detail of the wedding-feast trap and the smothering in the caves that Hüsameddin narrates is not found in encyclopedic summaries. For this reason it should be read as a detail the author relays from local narratives and records. In footnote number 558 Hüsameddin objects to historians who find this conduct cruel and writes that they did not take into account that the bandits had thrown hundreds of innocents alive into the fire.
The bringing under obedience of Haydar Bey, ruler of Koca Kayası near Köprü, and of Hasan Bey, son of Alp Arslan, ruler of Canik, is also mentioned in other sources. There it is noted that Hasan Bey was seized and sent to the sultan in Bursa, and that the Ordu and Çarşamba surroundings in the hands of the Tâceddinoğulları were thus annexed to Ottoman administration (1427). Hüsameddin, however, gives the name of the bey of Canik as Hüseyin and places the event in 830 [1426-27]. The difference in name and date is noteworthy, while the event is the same.
İskender Mirza and the Yörgüç Pasha Akçe
That the Karakoyunlu ruler İskender Mirza, defeated by Şâhruh, settled in Tokat with Murad II's permission to pass the winter is written in other sources as well. There it is narrated that with spring the Karakoyunlu soldiers plundered the surroundings, that Yörgüç Pasha reported the situation to the sultan, and that when the Anatolian beylerbeyi Timurtaşoğlu Umur Bey was sent to Tokat the Karakoyunlus left the region. Hüsameddin, however, brings İskender Mirza to Amasya and settles him there, and writes that Yörgüç Pasha sent him away by force. The core of the event is the same, the detail different.
There is also a disagreement on the "Yörgüç Pasha Akçe." Hüsameddin writes that the pasha received special permission to have coins struck in his name and ties the people's later discontent to this coinage as well. In the encyclopedic source, however, it is noted that the information that permission was given for money to be struck in his name and that these akçe were called Yörgüç Pasha akçe is doubtful.
His Works and His End
Yörgüç Pasha had various charitable works built in Amasya, Tokat, Gümüş, Köprü, Havza, and İskilip. From endowment deed texts and tahrir registers it is understood that he had built in Amasya a mosque, madrasa, imaret, and two baths, in Tokat a bath and han, in Gümüş a mosque, in Havza an imaret, in Kavak a mosque, and in İskilip a bath. The mosques in Amasya, Gümüş, Kavak, and Köprü and the bath in Tokat have reached the present day.
The complex in Amasya is on the bank of the Yeşilırmak, in the Gökmedrese quarter at the southern exit of the city. According to the inscription above the entrance door of the mosque it was built in 834 [1430]; Hüsameddin's record "it was completed in the year 834" agrees with this. The complex is regarded as the first Ottoman complex built about forty years after the city passed to Ottoman rule. The mosque is of inverted-T plan, and red and white stone are used together in its walls. Its madrasa, bath, han, and imaret have not reached the present day; only the mosque and the tomb west of the entrance eyvan remain standing. In the tomb are the sarcophagi of Yörgüç Pasha, his son Yûnus Bey, and his daughters Hundi Hatun and Sitti Hatun.
Yörgüç Pasha died in Zilhicce 845 (April-May 1442) and was buried in the tomb of his mosque. Hüsameddin also places his death in the year 845 (entry 34). It is known that of his sons Hızır and Mustafa fell martyr at the Battle of Varna.
The Political Ground of the Text
For the years 829 and 831 Hüsameddin narrates the reaction of the Turkish beys to the rise of statesmen of devshirme origin in Rumelia. He returns to the subject in more detail in the entry on Mehmed Pasha (entry 35) and complains that this contention is never mentioned in the histories of Turkey. The rivalry between the viziers from the Çandarlı family and the devshirme viziers also holds an important place in modern sources narrating the time of Murad II.
A Note for the Reader
The text narrates Yörgüç Pasha's years of governorship in sequence and places the changes of muftis, judges, and sheikhs in Amasya within this flow. A large part of these details is not found in encyclopedic summaries. The marginal note of the Şerh-i Mufassal that Hüsameddin mentions in the footnotes and the miscellany he saw in the Veliyyeddin Efendi Library, later burned in a fire, point to documents on which the book rests and which today are largely inaccessible.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 3, p. 467–469. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
Books