TURKOMANS BETWEEN TWO EMPIRES: THE ... - Bilkent University

and brothers. As a matter of fact, as will be indicated, there was a considerable number
of Tatar soldiers in his army when Selim landed on Kili shores. 1460 Nevertheless,
Ottoman historians do not provide clear indication to this marriage.
Ottoman sources unanimously record that despite the very successful
achievements of Prince Selim in the Province of Trabzon, Bayezid II did not appreciate
his efforts. The reason stemmed from domestic politics. Towards the end of the first
decade of the sixteenth-century, Bayezid’s health deteriorated so much that he totally
left the state affairs to his viziers. 1461 The most important issue discussed in the Porte
was the determination of the successor of Bayezid. As all sources agreed, Bayezid and
leading statesmen were openly in favor of Ahmed, the governor of Amasya. 1462 Idrīs-i
Bitlisī records, for example, that in the last years of his reign, Bayezid’s health seriously
deteriorated. Consequently, complete disarray in the state affairs became inevitable. At
the end, leading statesmen were summoned and they decided to enthrone Ahmed during
the lifetime of Bayezid. According to Idrīs, they preferred Ahmed because they had
good relations with him. In this way they could save their posts in the post-Bayezid
period. 1463
It must have been because of this fact that Selim’s success was disregarded in
Istanbul. Contemporary sources record that the central administration was favoring
1460
See, for example, FSH, p. 107. The archival evidence regarding Selim’s movement will be delineated
in the following pages.
1461
See, for example, IDRS, p. 87; KPZ8b, p. 39; ANMB, pp. 181-2.
1462
KPZ’s account on the issue, for example, runs, “...Ol zamanda Tavāsī Ali Paşa vezir-i a’zam olub,
rü’ūs-i hadem arasında sadr idi, ve Mustafa Paşa vezir-i sāni olub sāhib-i sā’ib-tedbīr, müşīr-i celīlü’lkadr
idi. Ve sā’ir erkān u a’yānun ekseri kendü hevalarına teka’üd ve inzivalarına mülā’im oldığı ecilden
merhūm Sultan Ahmede intisāb idüb, atası yirine pādişāh oldığın isterlerdi...” KPZ8b, p. 39. HSE writes
in the same manner, “[Bayezid II] gönlünü Sultan Ahmed’den yana kaydırmış bulunması, padişahlık
otağından lütuf yellerini onun emel bahçelerine doğru estirdikten başka, Ahmed’i veliahd edinmesi niyeti
de kesinleşmiş gibi bulunuyordu.” HSE4, p. 11. ‘Ali, on the other hand, records an important detail: ‘the
viziers were favoring Ahmed but begs of Rumelia and the Janissaries were favoring Selim.’ ALI, p. 934.
1463
IDRS, p. 87.
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