Atçalı Kel Mehmet Efe ( 1780–1830) was a Zeybek who led a local revolt against Ottoman authority and established control of the

Aydın Aydın ( ''EYE-din''; ; formerly named ''Güzelhisar; Greek: Τράλλεις)'' is a city in and the seat of Aydın Province in Turkey's Aegean Region. The city is located at the heart of the lower valley of Büyük Menderes River (ancient ...

region for a short period between 1829 and 1830 (''during the reign of''

Mahmud II Mahmud II (, ; 20 July 1785 – 1 July 1839) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death in 1839. Often described as the "Peter the Great of Turkey", Mahmud instituted extensive administrative, military, and fiscal reforms ...

Early Ages

Kel Mehmet was born in about 1780 to a Turkish peasant family in Atça. According to the legend, while he was an ordinary young man, he witnessed the fight between a tiny, sick dog and three healthy, powerful dogs. After being beaten for a long time, the tiny dog ends up in an alley with no exit. At that point, it fights back with his final energy and gets rid of its opponents. Inspired by the tiny dog, Mehmet established an analogy between the situation and the relation between the Ottoman reign and

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

n peasants, and decided to go out to the mountains as an outlaw.

Revolt

In 1829, Mehmet started a revolt in

Kuyucak Kuyucak is a municipality and district of Aydın Province, Turkey. Its area is 544 km2, and its population is 26,111 (2022). It is from the city of Aydın on the E24 highway that connects İzmir and Denizli, east of İzmir. Kuyucak is near ...

a town near Atça, demanding tax cuts, fair laws, and shorter

military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer military, volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Few nations, such ...

. As the people were tired of the heavy tax load and endless military service from continuous wars of the declining empire, he quickly gained popularity. After he controlled

, people from neighboring regions also subscribed to his authority. Although this was a revolt against the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, he stayed loyal to the

Padishah Padishah (; ) is a superlative sovereign title of Persian origin. A form of the word is known already from Middle Persian (or Pahlavi) as ''pātaxšā(h)'' or ''pādixšā(y)''. Middle Persian ''pād'' may stem from Avestan ''paiti'', and is ...

. Under his rule he collected taxes in the name of the Padishah and sent the money collected to the

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

. On the coins he provided, he wrote his famous quote:
"Vali-i Vilayet Hademe-i Devlet Atçalı Kel Mehmet" (''meaning'' "Head of the Province, Servant of The State, from Atça; the Bald Mehmet").

Death and legacy

The

was struggling with ongoing revolts in those years. Obviously the

didn't approve of Atçalı's rule, and sent his forces to regain control of

. Eventually, Atçalı was killed in a combat against the Sultan's forces in 1830. Due to his courage, he became a prominent figure in the region. He influenced many other

Efe Agencia EFE, S.A. () is a Spanish international news agency, the major Spanish language, Spanish-language multimedia news agency and the world's fourth largest wire service after the Associated Press, Reuters, and Agence France-Presse. EFE was ...

's including Yoruk Ali Efe and Demirci Mehmet Efe. There is a statue of him in Atça.

Early Ages

Revolt

Death and legacy

See also

References

Further reading