Part 35

_Article_ VI. No castle or fortress, during the peace, shall be plundered, attacked, nor taken by any stratagem. If any one of the fortresses be taken by fraud or craft, it shall be restored. Those places given to Botchkai shall remain as they were fixed at Vienna.

_Article_ VII. All captives taken before the peace shall be set at liberty for the ransom that may be stipulated: such as are not ransomed shall be exchanged for other captives; and no captives shall be taken after the ratification of this treaty. If by any means any captive be taken, the party who took him shall liberate him gratis. The contracting powers agree, that persons who shall be convicted of seizing captives shall be punished by the government to which they belong.

_Article_ VIII. If any of the inhabitants of Temisvar, of Bosnia, of Agria, or of Kaniza, offend against this treaty, information must be given to their respective governors; and in the event of such offenders not being punished, the beglerbeg of Buda, who shall be appointed superintendent of all these districts, shall be requested to see justice fairly administered. In like manner must the governor of Yanuk, the kapúdáns on this side (the Ottoman side), and the banis of Croatia be instructed to see this treaty respected.

_Article_ IX. The fortresses belonging to both the contracting powers may be repaired; but no new fortress or palanka shall be erected on the frontiers of either country.

_Article_ X. As to the two hundred thousand dollars promised to his Sublime Majesty by this treaty, it is stipulated, that so soon as the imperial ambassador shall have arrived with this sum at Constantinople, the exalted serdár shall send a Sanjak prince with a present suitable to the dignity of the Ottoman court to give to the duke. When the royal presents destined for the Ottoman sultán shall have arrived, the sultán shall return a gift of greater magnitude than usual to the Roman emperor.

_Article_ XI. The Austrian ambassador shall proceed at once to Constantinople with the stipulated sum of money and the royal presents.

_Article_ XII. The peace now concluded shall continue to be maintained for the space of twenty years, commencing from the 1st of the thousand and fifteenth Rajab (_i. e._ from 1st of Rajab 1015) of the Mohammedan era, which is the 1600th of the Christian era: but no more presents than those now mentioned shall be sent for the space of three years. Whatever presents may be thought necessary to be sent after these three years are expired, shall remain undetermined. If during the term of this peace the emperor of the Moslems, or the emperor of Austria, or the king of Hungary, should depart this life, their sons, successors, and relations shall be bound to respect the articles of this treaty, and not to violate the peace on any account.

_Article_ XIII. The palanka of Wáj shall remain in its present (dilapidated) condition, and shall not be enlarged.

_Article_ XIV. When the Austrian ambassadors arrive at Constantinople they shall be allowed whatever they may stand in need of.

_Article_ XV. The villages which paid tribute or taxes before the reduction of Agria (_i. e._ the villages of that district) shall continue to pay the same still.

_Article_ XVI. Those villages which belonged to Filk, Sichan, and Novograde, but now connected with Agria, Khutván, Buda, and Osterghún, shall pay their accustomed dues.

_Article_ XVII. Those villages which were accustomed to pay taxes when Osterghún fell into the hands of the Austrian emperor shall still continue to pay him their dues as formerly. All the other villages on the frontiers shall continue to pay their usual taxes to whichever government they may belong. In consequence of the unsettled state of the district of Kaniza, a person shall be nominated by the Moslem government, who, along with Bíkám Oghlí, shall make enquiry into the state of matters, and determine which of the villages of that district belong to Kaniza, and which not; when their taxes shall be regulated according to what is right.

_Concerning Nesúh Páshá._

On the 4th of Moharrem in this year, Nesúh Páshá, who, by the instrumentality of the late grand vezír, Mohammed Páshá, had been appointed to the government of Baghdád, went to take possession of his new government. On reaching the Euphrates he learned, that Píáleh Páshá, the deposed governor of Bassora, had succeeded in gaining the good-will of the people of Baghdád, and that by means of flattery and promises he had secured the affections of the soldiery. He also received intelligence concerning the rebel Mohammed, son of Túyel Ahmed Oghlí, who had been válí of Irák. The beglerbeg of Wærka, Mír Sheríf, whom Nesúh met on his march to Baghdád, showed him much respect, and promised him his support. Nesúh was furnished with letters and robes of honour to Seyed Khán Beg, one of those Kúrd princes who, before Nesúh’s time, had come on business to Baghdád: also to the begs of Sehran, and to Obrish Oghlí Emír Ahmed, an Arab prince. These letters enjoined the several parties above specified, in the most flattering manner, to attach themselves without delay to the interests of Nesúh Páshá, the emperor’s commander-in-chief, and to proceed with him to Baghdád then in the hands of the rebels.

Obrish Oghlí, and the other chiefs, sent the commander-in-chief deceitful answers; and after waiting at Mosul for nearly six weeks for their arrival, he found at last that he had been duped by their fraud. To add to his distress, he found also, that the letter which he had sent off to Seyed Khán had been intercepted, and that the rebels were thus apprized of his march upon Baghdád.

It may be proper to observe, however, that before the imperial letters above alluded to arrived, the Válí Páshá, Píáleh Páshá, and Emír Sheríf Páshá, had advanced as far as Arabel, whence they wrote to Seyed Khán, and to the emírs of Seheran to join them, but without any good result. The Turkoman tribe, however, which for some insignificant advantage had been tempted to revolt, joined the rebels. Upon this, and trusting to the promises of Abúrish Oghlí, they entered the city of Baghdád on the 3d of Shabán, the very day fixed on by him, but they neither heard nor saw any thing of him. The Kurds and Arabian insurgents, who had been sent by Arazil and Abúrish Oghlí, and who now supported Túyel Oghlí in his rebellion, also entered Baghdád, and prepared for resistance. Túyel, it would appear, had secretly succeeded, by means of 30,000 ducats, in bribing a number of faithless mercenaries, who served in the army under Nesúh. Túyel, in consequence of the success his bribery had met with, ventured out of the city and offered battle to Nesúh. At the commencement of this engagement, the superiority of Nesúh’s troops over their adversaries seemed evident; but a body of the mercenaries who had been bribed joining the insurgents, the remainder of the army fled from the field. This catastrophe was attended with terrible consequences to Nesúh; yet although his army, by this revolt, was considerably weakened, he nevertheless, with Válí Páshá, Píáleh Páshá, and Mír Sheríf, fought with unparalleled bravery. Válí Páshá fell on the field of battle, and Nesúh was wounded in two places. A considerable number of brave soldiers who fought under the banner of Nesúh, besides many princes who had attended Mír Sheríf, also died martyrs in this bloody contest. Nesúh and Mír Sheríf however, when they perceived the battle turning against them, succeeded in getting their fighting Muselmans to retire from the unequal conflict. Nesúh retreated to an island which belonged to Mír Sheríf, where he remained until the severe cold weather set in, and thence he sent a report of his misfortunes to the court of Constantinople. Túyel, not long after this victory which he had gained, was murdered in the city of Baghdád.

_Death of Botchkai._

Petrus, the pope’s legate in Hungary, and Arúmendi, Botchkai’s intimate friend, informed the court of Constantinople that King Botchkai Ashetwan had departed this life on the 5th of Ramazán. Some time before his death he summoned to his presence the two above-mentioned persons, and nominated as his successor his sister’s son-in-law, his own vezír, the bravest prince that was in Hungary, one Hemon; and whose name had been inserted in the contract between Botchkai and the Ottoman government as the successor of Botchkai to the crown of Transylvania. Hemon having been raised to the throne of Transylvania, as now described, the Sublime Porte sent him a robe of honour lined with wolf-skin, and a sanják, as tokens of esteem. This Hemon, called also Hemon Baturi, was a descendant of the ancient kings of Transylvania, and on this account was chosen successor to Botchkai.

_Other events of the current year._

On the night of the 4th of Moharrem a destructive fire broke out in the Jewish quarter of the city: the desolating element reaching as far as Khoaja Páshá’s bath, and Khoaja’s academy, and destroying squares and streets in its progress. The damage which this fire occasioned was immense.

On the 27th of the month Gúrjí, Mohammed Páshá, lately removed from the government of Egypt, was appointed to the government of Bosnia; and the government of Kaniza was conferred on Aghá Khosrú Páshá. On the 11th of Rabia II., in consequence of the rebel Kalander Oghlí having gone to the vicinity of Kewah, all the cavalry, Chashingírs and Chávushes, who had any property in that quarter, were ordered to repair thither. On the 16th of Jemadi I. the government received information that the insurgent Jánbúlát had suddenly fallen on the governor of Aleppo, Hasan Páshá, brother to Tarnákjí, and had slain him. On the same day intelligence was also received that Alí Páshá, the son of the same Jánbúlát, who had raised the standard of rebellion in the jurisdiction of Aleppo, had fought and overcome in battle Emír Seif Oghlí, beglerbeg of Tripoli, in Syria, who had been obliged to take refuge in that city. On the 21st, the master of the horse, Ja’fer Aghá, having been appointed governor of Ethiopia, his predecessor was removed to Yemen, where he succeeded Sinán Páshá, who had been ordered to return to Turkey. On the 18th of Ramazán, Kalander Oghlí, with the rebels under his command, most completely overthrew and defeated Hasan Páshá, beglerbeg of Anatolia; also Ahmed, the former governor of that province, and the beg of Sarúkhán, Hájí Beg, in the neighbourhood of Sarúkhán. Kalander Oghlí, after having obtained this decisive victory, threatened to attack Magnesia, and it was, therefore, found necessary to strengthen Brúsa. On the third of Dhu’l hijja, several of the youths attached to the royal house were promoted to offices of honour, according to the usual rule. A number of other promotions and changes took place, but they are not worth while mentioning.

EVENTS OF THE YEAR 1016, H.

_The grand vezír, Murád Páshá, returns to court._

Murád Páshá, after the peace between Turkey and Austria was fully settled and agreed to, enjoyed, at Belgrade, some degree of quiet and tranquillity, until he was suddenly recalled to court. The official messenger who had carried to Murád Páshá the emperor’s orders, no sooner arrived at the place of his destination, than Murád Páshá, along with the Austrian ambassadors, who had carried with them thither the sum of money stipulated by the treaty of peace, set out in the greatest haste for the Sublime Porte, where they arrived about the end of Moharrem.

Not long after his arrival in the metropolis, it was resolved, in consequence of the harrassing state of the eastern provinces and the continued aggressions of the Persians, that the grand vezír, Murád Páshá, should be sent with a splendid army to bring the countries of the east into a state of tranquillity and subordination, and to act against the Persians.

In consequence of the long-continued war which the Ottomans had been obliged to carry on against the northern infidels, and which drained to so great a degree the military resources of the empire, the inland provinces were, in a manner, left destitute of sufficient military force to preserve them quiet and peaceable. Anatolia, when thus freed of the presence of the military, became much disturbed by every kind of faction, rebellion, and insubordination: each faction had its own leader or chieftain. They procured supplies of arms, formed themselves into companies of foot and horse, and presented every where a most formidable appearance.

One of the leaders of these rebels was Abdul helím, better known by the name of Karah Yázijí (usually called Scrivano), who was at one time in the suite of the governor of the province. At first he was only segbán, but afterwards he became súbáshlik. The discontented portion of the inhabitants of Anatolia chose this man for their chieftain, who, by his wicked devices, soon brought the whole country into a state of insubordination and violence. In 1009 he pillaged and sacked the countries of Chorum, Sivás, and Tokat. Sometimes victorious, sometimes defeated, he was, at last, obliged to betake himself to the mountains of Jánbeg.

Another of these rebel-chiefs was one Hasan Páshá. Being governor of the province, his cruelty, oppression, and injustice became so intolerable, that he was necessitated, for the safety of his life, to take flight. He joined the infamous Scrivano at the moment he was beset in the fortress of Ráh, and effected his deliverance, but he himself being taken, was delivered over to the Moslem commander, who sent him to Constantinople, where he suffered the punishment deserved by his crimes.

His brother, Delí Hasan, was another of these rebel-chiefs. He followed in the footsteps of Scrivano, and was murdered, as the reader may remember, when on his way from Temisvar to Belgrade.

Kalander Oghlí, called also Mohammed, likewise headed the revolt. He was at first in the service of some of the beglerbegs, and afterwards a lieutenant to a great man who had employed him. When Jeghala Zádeh was commander-in-chief in the east, Kalander Oghlí insinuated himself, in some way or other, into his favour, from which he received some benefit. In 1013 he selected a number of rebels and became their chief. Being bold and intrepid as well as wicked, he committed very serious evils; but we shall afterwards have to advert to his history.

Another of these malignants was one Karah Seyed, a wretch who was so thoroughly embued with evil qualities, as to be an object of general detestation and hatred. The miseries, murders, and spoliation which this fiend committed were horrible. He joined his fortunes with those of Kalander; but placing confidence in him was like placing confidence in a mud-wall.

The next of these villains that we shall notice are Túyel and Yúsuf Páshá, who, like those already mentioned, met with the fate they deserved. The greater number of those who had been engaged in the recent and former rebellions were either killed or dispersed, or perished in some other way. The most infamous of those who still remained in open rebellion were Alí Beg, son of Jánbulát, and Kalander Oghlí; but Murád Páshá was preparing to chastise them.

_Murád Páshá gains a victory over the rebels._

The grand vezír, Murád Páshá, no sooner returned to Constantinople, than he commenced preparations for the war in the east. On the 19th of the 1016th Sefer (_i. e._ on the 19th of the month Sefer of this year) he passed over to Scutari, and on the 7th of Rabia I. he marched direct towards Aleppo. The beglerbegship of Romeili was conferred on Tarnákjí Hasan Páshá, and that of Anatolia on Marjol Hasan Páshá. Khalíl Aghá, colonel of the janissaries, was appointed chief herald. Bákí Páshá was made treasurer for the army, and the dignity of káímakám was conferred on Mustafa Páshá, of the garrison of Brúsa, who took possession of his new office on the 22d of the month Sefer.

When the serdár, Murád Páshá, conspicuous in dignity, reached Iconium, Kalander Oghlí, who on two former occasions had opposed and defeated two páshás, and who had spread the most terrible consternation throughout the country, hearing of Murád’s march on Iconium, determined to fall upon Ancora, the inhabitants of which had done him considerable injury. Thinking this was the best time to be revenged on them, he left Sarúkhán and directed his movements towards Ancora.

In the meantime, however, Murád, after a few days’ rest at Iconium, made some new arrangements. He appointed Bábá Akhí Zádeh, who was orthodox in his views and sentiments, to the high-priest’s office, which happened at that time to be vacant. A considerable number of the inhabitants, who had been active in the rebellion, he caused to be executed; and filled the wells of Iconium with their vile bodies. One of those who suffered death on that occasion was a cursed heretic of the name of Ahmed Beg. Murád Páshá also crucified a man named Mustafa, stabbed the deputy-governor, when Abdur-rahmán was cazí of Iconium, burned the palace of Delí Ahmed, the governor of Caramania, the owner of it losing his life in the flames, and put to the sword more than a thousand souls, who had either been infected with heresy, or who had taken part in the rebellion. In short, Murád Páshá marched about in the character of a prince, and put to death whomever he pleased. When this Ahmed Beg, the scourge of the whole country, was brought before this deep-discerning commander, the páshá thus addressed him: “I am about leaving you at Iconium till my return from taking vengeance on the son of Jánbulát: guard the city and keep a good look out. But should you require aid for this purpose, what number of men do you think you could muster?” The fearless wretch replied, “thirty thousand at least.” The commander expressed, though feignedly, his approbation, and dismissed him: but in an oration to those who, it would seem, had pleaded in his behalf, he observed that to leave alive upon the earth a man, who, in his absence, could raise thirty thousand men, and to permit him to have the power of fortifying the city against him, would not be acting wisely. In this way, and by these arguments, he put to silence the friends and advocates of Ahmed Beg; and shortly afterwards, caused him to be strangled, and his carcass thrown into a well.

_Ebn Kalander goes to Ancora._

Kalander Oghlí, well knowing that to encounter the serdár would be his certain destruction, retired, as we have already seen, towards Ancora. On his march to this place he picked up all the cattle and horses which fell in his way, and passed by the confines of Caramania, plundering and robbing every town and village through which he marched. On approaching Ancora he forwarded a messenger to announce his arrival, as if he had been commissioned by royal authority.

In the city of Ancora there lived, at that time, one Ahmed Effendí Zádeh Waldin, who had been present in the royal camp during the war that was carried on against Hungary; and who, from the high opinion entertained of his abilities, was appointed cazí of Ancora, with the view of seeing its unfinished fortifications completed, and of preserving the place against the aggressions of the rebels. When the above messenger, accompanied by four hundred men, presented himself before the city, this judge of the law proposed answering him thus: that it was unlawful to permit an armed troop of criminals to enter the city; that the gates must not be opened to them; and that if it should be necessary to act on the defensive, they would sooner fight than allow them entrance. This decisive method of answering the intruders was not only approved of by the rest of the citizens, but communicated by them to the messengers, who carried it to Kalander. This information enraged him greatly, but he soon hit on a stratagem which he put into practice. He appeared before the walls of the city, and sending a messenger, with conditions of peace, requested the judge of the law to come out and confer with him on certain points; intimating, at the same time, that he would be entirely swayed by the judgment of the reverend Effendí. The judge prepared himself, and came forth with a certain number of horsemen, to meet his opponent, who was attended by his suite; and both, sitting on horseback, entered into close conversation. Kalander commenced thus: “The emperor has assigned to me, in perpetual possession, this province, and has given the adjacent sanjáks to my followers. Why have you declined receiving us into the city? Why have you shut its gates against my herald?” The judge boldly replied, “If this country be conferred on you, as you say, why are you not come with the royal standard unfurled? You have the appearance of a band of robbers. You have trampled down the corn-fields belonging to the Muselmans; you have violently carried away the property of the country; you have driven your cattle into our corn-fields. The eyes of the citizens are afraid to dwell upon public robbers; and their hearts failed them when they heard of your approach. This, then, is the reason why they have shut their gates against your herald. They were alarmed, lest, as soon as you should enter, you would commence the work of cruelty, robbery, and death; but now that you have exhibited the royal pleasure, we are your servants. Therefore, we request that you draw out a list of what you deem necessary, and send it to us by faithful men. But, in order that you may tranquillize the fears of the citizens, it will be proper for you to retire to some considerable distance from their view. When they perceive your peaceful conduct, I shall not fail to do what I can to interest the people of the city in your behalf; then I shall come forth to you into our own camp, and learn from you what honours you will confer on me, in return: as soon as the people are quieted you may enter the city.”

This seemingly gracious reception so intoxicated Kalander and his followers, that about thirty of these wretches, accompanied by their chief’s deputy, actually went into the city and delivered to the judge a list of such things as they principally required—such as trowsers, coats, and other articles. Whilst they were waiting a few days for the articles in question, Kalander’s deputy began to discover the villany of his base nature. In fact, he was hardly two days in the city when he began to lay his hands on the beautiful young females he saw, which exasperated the people to such a degree that they were on the point of murdering him. The judge, at the moment they were about to take summary vengeance on the wretch, interfered and restrained their fury, by representing to them that by their acting in such a manner they would endanger the lives of other Muselmans as well as their own. Under the pretext, therefore, of delivering the audacious wretch out of their hands, he thrust him into prison in the inner fortress. His companions he distributed among different families in the character of guests, as they supposed, where he told them they would receive the rights of hospitality, and where they would be protected from insult in case of any tumult arising. The cazí, in this way, got them all safely lodged within the citadel, and not one of them was able to make his escape.