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

the tribal forces from Dulkadir-oğlu, Ramazan-oğlu, Turgut-oğlu 1595 , and Yumlu
tribe. 1596 It is interesting to note that in a contemporary report, all these tribal forces in
Alaeddin’s army are called ‘Karamanī’. 1597 At first Alaeddin took the control of the city.
But heavy taxes levied by him and the plunder of his tribal soldiers soon turned the
public opinion against Alaeddin. 1598
Another contemporary report of a spy called Mir-ālem Mustafa clearly puts
forward the fact that Ahmed’s most trusted forces were from ex-Karaman tribes. The
same report also proves the assertion that in case of difficulty, these forces would easily
abandon Ahmed since they were alien to the Ottoman regime. The report, after stating
that Ahmed was wandering in the Marmara region, runs,
Sultan Ahmed ahvālinden istifsār olunursa cümle bin beşyüz mikdārı ādemi
vardur. Ve oğlu ile beğlerbeğisi yanında dahī beş yüz mikdārı ādem kalub ulūfeci
tāifesinden ekseri ulūfe verilmedüğü sebebden dağılmışdur. Ve beğlerden
Karaoğlu Ahmed Beg ve Ramazanoğlu ve Şehsüvaroğlu ve Turgutoğlu vardur.
Şimdiki halde beş bin ādemle Kütahya’ya gelmek kābildür, beş bin ādeme cevap
virmek kudreti yokdur. Şöyle ma’lum olına. Taş Đli beğlerine ve Karaman
beğlerine defaatle ulaklar varub ta’cil gelesiz deyu ikdam olundukda
Osmanlunun bir ādeti vardur, sefer adın ile on gün bir yerde ve on beş gün bir
yerde oturur, ādem eskidür, bizim ana kudretimiz yetişmez. Đnşaallah düşman
üzerine gelicek varalum deyu def’-i vakt iderler, bi’l-külliye gelmezler deyu
Çavuşbaşı kulunuz cevab virüb inandurdu. 1599
Upon learning that Selim moved from Istanbul towards Anatolia, Ahmed
attempted to gather further soldiers. Again, his principal source of manpower was tribes
of Taş-ili. In mid-July 1512, he sent a decree to Turgutoğlu Musa Beg, who was
assigned to the governorship of Turgud-ili by Ahmed, ordering to join the forces of
1595 ULCY2, p. 132.
1596 “... Ve Sultan Ali ahvālinden sorarsanız Bursa’ya avārız akçesine varub bazı Yumlu tāyifesi şenā’at
idüb şehir halkı dahī el bir idüb iki yüz mikdārı ādemilerini helāk kovdular. ...” See TSA, document E
2667. Also consider TNSS, p. 4.
1597 TSA, document E 6333.
1598 See TSA, document E 5452. Also see KPZ9, pp. 71-2; TNSS, pp. 4-5; ALI, p. 1059.
1599 TSA, document E 2667.
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