Şehzade Ahmet

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In this Ottoman Turkish style name, the given name is Ahmet, the title is Şehzade, and there is no family name.
Şehzade Ahmet
Shezade Ahmet tomb 7873.jpg
Burial place of Ahmet at Muradiye Complex
Bornc. 1465 (1465)
Amasya, Ottoman Empire
Died24 April 1513(1513-04-24) (aged 47–48)
Yenişehir, Bursa, Ottoman Empire
Burial
Muradiye Complex, Bursa
SpouseSittişah Hatun
Gülçiçek Hatun
Names
Turkish: Şehzade Ahmet
Ottoman Turkish: شہزادہ احمد
DynastyOttoman
FatherBayezid II
MotherBülbül Hatun
ReligionIslam

Şehzade Ahmet (Ottoman Turkish: شہزادہ احمد; c. 1465 – 24 April 1513) was an Ottoman prince who fought to gain the throne of the Ottoman Empire in 1512–1513. (Şehzade means Prince)

Background[]

Ahmet was the oldest living son of Bayezid II, the 8th sultan of the Ottoman Empire. His mother was Bülbül Hatun. In Ottoman tradition, all princes (Turkish: şehzade) were required to serve as provincial (sanjak) governors in Anatolia (Asiatic part of modern Turkey) as a part of their training. Ahmet was the governor of Amasya, an important Anatolian city. Although the status was not official, he was usually considered as the crown prince during the last years of his father's reign, in part because of the support of the grand vizier, Hadim Ali Pasha.

Siblings[]

Ahmet had two living brothers. Of the two, Korkut was governing in Antalya and Selim (future sultan Selim I, known as Yavuz) in Trabzon. Custom dictated that whoever first reached Istanbul after the death of the previous sultan had the right to ascend to throne (although disagreements over who had arrived first very often led to civil wars between the brothers, most prominently displayed in the Ottoman Interregnum), so the distances from the sanjaks to Istanbul more or less determined the succession and usually whoever the previous sultan favored the most as his successor. In this respect, Ahmet was the most fortunate because his sanjak was the closest to Istanbul.

Although Selim's son Süleyman (future Suleiman the Magnificent) had been assigned to Bolu, a small sanjak closer to Istanbul, upon Ahmet's objection, he was relocated to Kaffa in Crimea. Selim saw this as an unofficial display of support for his elder brother and asked for a sanjak in Rumeli (the European portion of the empire). Although he was initially refused on the ground that Rumeli sanjaks were not offered to princes, with the support of the vassal Crimean khan Meñli I Giray (who was his father-in-law), he was able to receive the sanjak of Semendire (modern Smederevo in Serbia), which, although it was technically in Rumeli, was quite far from Istanbul. Consequently, Selim chose to stay close to Istanbul instead of going to his new sanjak. His father Beyazıt thought this disobedience insurrectionist; he defeated Selim's forces in battle in August 1511, and Selim escaped to Crimea.[1]

Şahkulu Rebellion[]

Main article: Şahkulu Rebellion

While Beyazıt was fighting against Selim, Ahmet was tasked with suppressing the Şahkulu Rebellion in Anatolia. However, instead of fighting, Ahmet tried to win over the soldiers to his cause for winning the Ottoman throne and left the battlefield. His attitude caused unease among the soldiers; more importantly, his main supporter, Hadim Ali Pasha, lost his life during the rebellion.

Capturing Konya[]

Hearing about Selim's defeat by their father, Ahmet declared himself as the sultan of Anatolia and began fighting against one of his nephews (whose father had already been dead). He captured Konya, and although his father Beyazıt asked him to return to his sanjak, he insisted on ruling in Konya. He also attempted to capture the capital; but he failed because the soldiers blocked his way, declaring their preference for a more able sultan. Selim then returned from Crimea, forced Bayezit to abdicate the throne in favor of himself, and was crowned as Selim I.[2][3]

Battle against Selim[]

Ahmet continued to control a part of Anatolia in the first few months of Selim's reign. Finally, the forces of Selim and Ahmet fought a battle near Yenişehir, Bursa on April 24, 1513. Ahmet's forces were defeated; he was arrested and executed shortly after.

Popular culture[]

A fictionalized version of Şehzade Ahmet is the main antagonist in the video game Assassin's Creed Revelations, voiced by Tamer Hassan. He is fighting with his brother Selim to inherit the Sultanate, while secretly being a member of the ancient Templar Order and attempting to open a library built by the Assassin Altaïr Ibn-LaʼAhad in Masyaf, which is said to contain a powerful weapon. At the end of the game, he is defeated by the protagonist Ezio Auditore da Firenze after a long chase outside Constantinople, and then killed by Selim by being pushed off a cliff. In the game, Ahmet's death occurs in 1512 rather than 1513.

Family[]

Consorts

Ahmed had two known consorts:

  • Sittişah Hatun, mother of Şehzade Osman;[4][5]
  • Gülçiçek Hatun (buried in Amasya);[6][7]
Sons

Ahmet had five sons;

  • Şehzade Murad (died of natural causes, c. 1519, Ardabil, buried near Shaykh Safi al-Din Ardabili), governor of Bolu, married and had two sons, and one daughter;
    • Şehzade Mustafa (killed by Selim I, 14 May 1513, Amasya);[8][9]
    • Şehzade Mehmed (killed by Selim I, September–October 1512, Amasya);[8][9]
    • Asitanşah Sultan;[10]
  • Şehzade Süleyman (died of Plague, 24 April 1513, Cairo, buried in Havşi Sultan Mosque), governor of Koca, and Çorum 1509 – 1513,[8] married and had two daughters;
  • Şehzade Alaeddin Ali (died of Plague, 14 May 1513, Cairo, buried in Havşi Sultan Mosque), governor of Bolu 1509 – 1513,[8] married the daughter of his aunt Aynışah Hatun, and Ahmed Mirza,[8] and had one daughter;
    • Hvandi Sultan, married to Sunullah Bey, governor of Kastamonu;[11]
  • Şehzade Osman (killed by Selim I, 14 April 1513, Amasya,[8][9] buried in Sultan Bayezid Mosque, Amasya), governor of Osmancık 1509 – 1513;[8]
  • Şehzade Kasım (c. 1501 – killed by Selim I, 30 January 1518, Cairo, buried in Havşi Sultan Mosque);
Daughters

Ahmet had four daughters:

  • Kamerşah Sultan, married, in 1508 to Damad Mustafa Bey, governor of Midilli, and son of Iskender Pasha;[12][13]
  • Fatma Sultan, married, in 1508 to Damad Mehmed Bey, Ser-ulufeciyan (head of the Janissary Cavalry Corps), and son of Damad Koca Davud Pasha;[12][13]
  • An unnamed daughter, married, in 1508 to Damad Suleiman Bey, Silahdar (keeper of the sword);[13]
  • An unnamed daughter, married to Damad Ahmed Bey;[10]

References[]

  1. ^ Prof. Yaşar Yüce-Prof. Ali Sevim: Türkiye tarihi Cilt II, AKDTYKTTK Yayınları, İstanbul, 1991 pp 226-231
  2. ^ Joseph von Hammer: Geschichte der osmanischen Dichtkunst (condensation Mehmet Ata) Millitet yayınları, İstanbul pp 229-236
  3. ^ NicolaeJorga:Geschichte des Osmanischen, (trans. by Nilüfer Epçeli), Yeditepe yayınevi, İstanbul, ISBN 975-6480-19-X, p.263-264
  4. ^ Yardımcı, İlhan (1976). Bursa tarihinden çizgiler ve Bursa evliyaları. Yürdav Basım, Yayım. p. 38.
  5. ^ Demirel, Hâle (2006). MAHKEME SİCİLLERİNE GÖRE XVI. YÜZYIL İLK YARISINDA BURSA VAKIFLARI. p. 17.
  6. ^ Tarih incelemeleri dergisi - Volumes 11-12. Ege Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi. 1996. p. 98.
  7. ^ Yasar, Hüseyin Hüsameddin; Yılmaz, Ali; Akkuş, Mehmet (1986). Amasya tarihi, Volume 1. Amasya Belediyesi kültür yayınları. pp. 99, 170.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Yelçe, Nevin Zeynep (2009). The Making of Sultan Süleyman: A Study of Process/es of Image-Making and Reputation Management. pp. 48–49, 64–65.
  9. ^ a b c Al-Tikriti, Nabil Sirri (2004). Şehzade Korkud (ca. 1468-1513) and the Articulation of Early 16th Century Ottoman Religious Identity – Volume 1 and 2. pp. 95, 316–17.
  10. ^ a b Belgeler, Türk tarih belgeleri dergisi, Volumes 9-11. Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi. 1979. p. 49.
  11. ^ Göyünç, Nejat (1990). The Journal of Ottoman Studies: Ta'rih Başlıklı Mihasebe Defteri. p. 33.
  12. ^ a b Uluçay, M. Çağatay (1985). Padişahların kadınları ve kızları. Türk Tarih Kurumu. pp. 51 n. 24, 46 n.16.
  13. ^ a b c Turan, Ebru (2009). The marriage of Ibrahim Pasha (ca. 1495-1536) - The rise of Sultan Süleyman's favourite to the grand vizierate and the politics of the elites in the early sixteenth-century Ottoman Empire. pp. 18–9 n. 61.
Retrieved from ""