A creek, which bends in a cracked split from the north to the south, divides Maraş, which is leaning on the skirts of Ahır Mountain by climbing transversely from the south to the north, in two. The water at the bottom of the deep creek, which looks like a formidable earthquake rift, is a faint shimmer. They have already given the frowning cracked split a terrible name as "Kanlıdere". But this name was not attached to it from the outside, the creek drew its own name from its bosom. When Yavuz brought the Dulkadir state to an end on his return from Çaldıran, he appointed Ali Bey from Dulkadir as governor and İskender Bey, one of the beys of Beyazıt town, as the head of sergeants in Maraş. The Grand Mosque belongs to Alaüddevle, the most famous ruler of Dulkadirs.
And The Beyazıdlı Mosque, which is an ornament to the city, was built by İskender's son, Hacı Abdullah Bey. The people of Dulkadir are on the east of the creek, the people of Beyazıd are in the west, the first dynasty is an old state, and the second ones are proud of being Yavuz's first military representative in Maraş. The creek gave right to two noble families from both sides, but the two sides did not give any comfort to the creek in the middle. There are fights between two rival dynasties. Murderers are made and blood is shed. Sometimes mass clashes between supporters of both sides. Sometimes these clashes take the form of a full war. They rest by making armistice and peace from time to time. Once the tiredness has passed, fight again. These red tumults, which lasted for centuries, always passed in this creek. The creek is the border of both sides; the creek is the backbone of the city battle; the creek that divided the city into two also divided the people into two. Calling it Kanlıdere, that's not its name, it's its own. From time to time, famous men who were in the highest office of Maraş grew up from both families. Here, Ömer Pasha, Beylerbey of Maraş, who was commissioned to suppress the bloody incident between the Sayyids and Janissaries in Antep in 1795, was a member of the Dulkadiroğulları. He was martyred by an ambush bullet on the way. And forty years after that, that valiant and mischievous governor Suleyman Pasha, who expelled the forces of Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt from Maraş, is a member of the people of Beyazıt. Why did these two families who raised such men keep fighting in Kanlıdere? Those clashing were not the two families; it was history. The extensive history of Maraş before Yavuz creates turmoil when it is only squeezed into the city after Yavuz. It is the wind that waves the sea; the wind ceases, but the wave does not cease immediately, the dead wave has no wind, but has movement. Yavuz buried the history of Maraş. Kanlıdere is the dead wave of that buried history.
The buried history; what a turbulent and swinging history it was: Maraş was a border town between the Umayyad and Abbasid Muslims and the Byzantines, which was thrown from state to state like a soccer ball. Is the state beyond strong or the near one? Look at Maraş: If the adhan is recited there, the Muslim state is standing, and if the bell is rung, understand that the Muslims are in divergence and the Byzantine has the opportunity. Seljuk came, Byzantium went, and the Arab state left. The Turks came. Maraş is now exchanged between the second Kılıçaslan and the Syrian ruler Nureddin. In the past, the adhan and the bell were throwing the city from horizon to horizon; it stands still where it is now: Those who come are Turks, those who go too. Seljuk is strong; Maraş is the frontier of Anatolia against the south; Seljuk is weak because of the Mongols, and this time Maraş is Egypt's frontier against Anatolia. Either being the first punch or being punched for the first time always against one of the two states either from the north to the south or from the south to the north; what is this? Dulkadirogullari captured this place. Maraş is no longer a frontier, it is a state. State, but small; there is a small but huge Egyptian state on its side; does it ever leave alone? Dulkadir was the one gave his name to the state, his son Karaca Bey was the one who founded the state; the Egyptians defeated Karaca, and the Egyptians had his own brother İbrahim Bey killed his son Halil Bey, who defeated the Egyptians. Here is Karaca's other son, Sulu Bey, defeated the Egyptians, again the same weapon; this time the Egyptians had him killed by his nephew Ali Bey. Defeat armies abroad, and be defeated by treachery domestically. Blessings, on the other side, to the Ottoman state that bordered with it. Maraş is not stuck between two forces, it became the balance between two great states. Look at Nasıreddin Mehmet, the son of Hâlil: Smile at the Egyptian, defeat Karaman, smile at the Ottomans, take Kayseri.
Especially his son Fat Suleiman: Neither war nor noise; eat, drink and enjoy. What is the point of ruling if you cannot enjoy? Four women and countless odalisques; forty-five cradles rock in his palace every day. The beauty of his five grown daughters is legendary. Âşıkpaşazade tells abot this. Murad II said to his vizier Çandarlı: “Halil, I wish you get my son Mehmed Sultan married. I say let's get the daughter of Dulkadir's son. And she is Turkmen, she will be truthful with us.” They gave Siti Hatun, the most beautiful of the five girls, to Fatih. How proud he was when his son-in-law took İstanbul. Süleyman Bey died of joy and pleasure! Skender, the eldest of his four sons, was on the throne, Budak, the second son, was in Egypt, and the third, Şehsüvar, was next to Fatih. The Egyptian got Skender killed through Budak. Fatih sent Şehsüvar and had Budak fired. The Egypt sent a large army against Şehsüvar and was badly defeated. They sent another army and got defeated again. Then, they applied imposture, but they could not buy the Turkmen Beys over. The third battle, the final battle: The hero Şehsüvar was hanged in Cairo. The last of the four siblings, Alaüddevle, his real name is Bozkurt; the toughest of the Dulkadirs. A big, ruddy, imposing man. He took the throne with the help of Fatih. He gave his daughter Ayşe Hatun to Beyazıt. This lady would give birth to Yavuz. He gave another daughter to the sultan of Egypt. Two glorious grooms on both sides; Dulkadir country is at the last limit of its perfection; Alaüddevle is now a vigorous old man with white hair. The beauty of her daughter, Benli Hatun, became famous as far as the Iranian palace. Shah Ismail wanted, but he did not give because he is a Shiite. The young and proud shah suddenly fell upon Maraş with an army that destroyed everywhere like an earthquake. Alaüddevle fled to the mountains in terror. The Shah took the dead of the Dulkadir people from the graves and had their bones burned, and had one of Alâüddevle's captured sons and three grandchildren cooked in the fire and fed to his soldiers.
Seven or eight years later, Yavuz went to Çaldıran. What a great opportunity for Alaüddevle; he was going to take his full revenge on the shah. But what was it? The old Dulkadir was not an enemy to the shah, but to the sultan. He tried to stab Yavuz in the back. Our history books call it treason. However, he sensed where the real danger would come from: It was very sweet to take revenge on the shah, but to lose his independence to the sultan, it was completely painful. On the one hand, the memory of the distant past, on the other hand, the danger of the near future. The pleasure was to go over shah; the duty was to stand against the sultan; emotion on the one hand, will on the other; ninety-year-old Alâüddevle put duty over pleasure, prioritized independence over revenge, and knew how to suppress the voice of his heart with his mind. He was really a tough guy. On his return from Çaldıran, Yavuz commissioned Grand Vizier Sinan Pasha and Şehsüvar's son Ali Bey to eliminate Alâüddevle. The Dulkadir treasure found in Maraş is much richer than that of Shah Ismail. Ninety-year-old head of Alâüddevle was cut away in the battle. Yavuz was his daughter's son, and Ali Bey was his brother's son; the one who cut off the head was his nephew and the one who made the head cut was his grandson. Dulkadir's independence was gone, his throne was left. Ali Bey, who sat on the throne, did not have a crown on his head, but he had loyalty in his heart. He was very useful in Çaldıran and Mercidabık. He was the one who suppressed the most dangerous rebellions in the early days of Suleiman. But Serdar Ferhad Pasha was jealous of him. Since he mentioned the sultan’s name in Turkmen, which was considered rude, he provoked the sultan and took an edict to his murder: For the sake of speaking Turkish, a great Turkish hero would be decapitated. Against the flattery of all Ottoman histories that talk about that event, only Müverrih Âli's "Künh-ül-ahbar" tells the story with dignity. It was not easy to openly murder Ali Bey, who had an important force. They tried to murder him in a treacherous way. They invited him to the army to go to a war. He took his for sons with him. The children would have had a hunch. When they said, "It is not good for all of us to go together, either you go or we go," he replied, "I am Ali Osman, who am I afraid of?" It turns out that the others were not afraid of Allah either. They strangled him along with his four sons. Kanlıdere, Kanlıdere, why did two families, on either side of it, fight for four centuries? On one side of it sits the grudge of history, on the other side the memory of Yavuz. The Dulkadirs and Beyazıts were two symbols from two states. Kanlıdere is a grumbling revenge of a bloody history. The empire collapsed. The French invaded Maraş. Kanlıdere no longer has a right and a left side, there is the integrity of Maraş Turkishness in the middle. It repulsed the French with its prancing integrity tanks and batteries. Four centuries old Kanlıdere suddenly became Şanlıdere after that twenty-three-day war. And Kanlıdere was buried together with the empire.