Part 43

Messengers, with valuable gifts and rich presents for the Ottoman emperor, from the válí of Holland, a country bordering on the ocean on the north of France, with some large merchant-vessels carrying a variety of merchandize from the same country, arrived this year at the port of Constantinople. When the owners or skippers of these vessels asked leave to depart, they were allowed to do so, and so also were the messengers or ambassadors who had been honoured with lodgings in the imperial gardens of Scutari.

Kitanjí Omar Páshá was commissioned by the Ottoman government to proceed to Walachia and Moldavia, with the view of fixing and settling the authority of the Voivodas who had been appointed by government in these provinces, for since the days of the apostate Michael these countries had been in a most unsettled state. The chief of Transylvania, during the troubles which reigned in these two provinces, found means to attach some few fortresses to the jurisdiction of Temisvar; but when he learned that Sultán Ahmed Khán was in Adrianople, he became terrified, and instantly relinquished Lipova and Yanova, which of course were taken possession of by some of the border chieftains.

Afterwards, when a Polish army entered the territories of Moldavia, the governor of Silistria, Delí Hasan Páshá, marched against it and routed it.

_A mosque is built in the garden of Stavros._

No mosque having hitherto been built in the garden of Stavros, orders were issued this year to erect one, besides some other necessary erections. The household troops and the attendants of the grand vezír finished the whole in the space of forty days. The emperor sometimes resided in this garden, and not unfrequently amused himself by sailing in his pleasure-boat in the straits of Constantinople.

_Sultán Ahmed Khán resolves on a second journey to Adrianople._

Sultán Ahmed Khán, of restless disposition, like his great ancestor, Sultán Selím Khán, resolved on again visiting the city of Adrianople. Accordingly the grand vezír, Nesúh Páshá, the nobles, the emperor’s favourites, and ághás of the stirrup, were ordered, on the 9th of Shevál, to repair a second time to Adrianople. In conformity to custom, the vezírs and ulemá accompanied his majesty as far as Dávud Páshá, where they all took leave of him and returned to the city. At Burghas the emperor took up his lodgings in the mansion of Mohammed Páshá, the martyr, and attended the chase. On his first going forth to this sport, and whilst endeavouring to raise the wild beasts, a huge boar, resembling the devil, presented himself, and in his fury and rage terrified every one away: the emperor alone had courage to seize a spear, and, like a flash of burning light, attacked the ferocious animal. The grand vezír hurried forward to aid his master, and on finding, brave and powerful as the sultán really was, and though he had succeeded in stupifying the wild beast, that he had not yet killed it, immediately thrust his spear into the body of the wild boar, when the dogs instantly fell upon it. It amused the emperor exceedingly to see the manner in which the dogs applied their teeth to the carcass of the wild beast. In three days after this event the emperor reached Adrianople, where he spent the winter, alternately following the chase and attending to religious solemnities.

_Nesúh Páshá’s enmity to the lord high treasurer, Etmekjí Zádeh. Ahmed Páshá._

Nesúh Páshá, the grand vezír, having a second time accompanied Sultán Ahmed Khán to Adrianople, acquired, by his apparent diligence in serving his royal master, a peculiar intimacy with him; but Etmekjí Zádeh, from his office in the vezírship and in the treasury, stood in the way of his arriving at the possession of absolute sway. Nesúh Páshá thirsted for this; and being, moreover, a man without the least virtue, he could not endure to see the prosperity of Etmekjí Zádeh, and therefore not only hated and envied him, but also sought opportunity to ruin him. Thinking he had something to accuse him of, and by which at least he hoped to lessen him in the esteem of his master, he represented to his majesty the pusillanimity which he discovered during the late war with Persia. This he did whilst travelling to Adrianople, and recurred to this part of Etmekjí’s history so frequently, that his majesty determined on depriving him of his office as lord high treasurer, and also of the government of Caramania, to which he had been appointed. Nesúh had the envious satisfaction of seeing the object of his hatred humbled; but by the intervention of Etmekjí’s friends in about a week afterwards he was raised to the government of Aleppo, and Lunka Zádeh was made lord high treasurer in his room: Abdulbákí Páshá was made second treasurer, and Kalander was made third.

_Begzádeh, a celebrated spáhí, assassinated._

Etmekjí Zádeh having been, as before observed, appointed to the government of Aleppo, the grand vezír sent him off to take charge of it. About this time Begzádeh, one of the most celebrated spáhí chiefs, a native of Khorassan, and a man of intrepid bravery and fortitude, incurred the displeasure of the grand vezír. This spáhí, when he first entered the service, had only a salary of twelve akchas; but by his bravery, and other splendid talents which he possessed, he came at last to have the command of twelve thousand spáhís, who were entirely obedient to his will. This Begzádeh came to Constantinople when Nesúh Páshá was there, but feared to have any interview with him. At length, however, Soklún Mesli Aghá, the ághá of the janissaries, undertook to introduce him to the grand vezír, promising by an oath no injury would happen to him. The other consented, and the vezír, after he was introduced to him, took special care to show him every mark of esteem and respect due to his character and station, promising, at the same time, to attend to all his requests. This state of affairs continued for about four months, during the whole of which time Begzádeh had constant access to the grand vezír, and shared in his apparent kindness. The deceitful vezír, however, had formed the plan of murdering him. He several times proposed to the ághá above-mentioned to perpetrate this deed, but Mesli pleaded his promise and oath, and would not consent to be guilty of so base a crime. The grand vezír was determined, and under the pretext of settling some business which related to the Turcomans, sent off Begzádeh to Aleppo. Immediately after his departure for that city the grand vezír sent an order to Etmekjí Zádeh, the válí of Aleppo, to take away the life of Begzádeh. The order was thus: “Your head or his.” This was sent off by the notorious executioner, Káísh Mohammed. The válí no sooner received this peremptory mandate than he, though reluctantly, entered into the views of the grand vezír, because, in fact, he felt afraid of him. On the last day of one of the festivals, as Begzádeh was reclining on a pillow and trimming his beard, Káísh Mohammed rose up and left the company, but soon returning again with a hatchet he had in readiness, with one blow cut off one of his ears, when instantly Begzádeh, though a powerful man, fell down on one side and gave up the ghost. The grand vezír rewarded Káísh Mohammed for this deed of blood with an ágháship, and sent the hateful wretch into Romeili. He was a most merciless, blood-thirsty villain, and the instrument by which very many lost their lives. He at last, however, perished by the hands of the kizilbáshes.

_Other events and circumstances of this year._

On the 10th day of Moharrem, Chokadár Khás, Mohammed Aghá, was appointed to the command of the janissaries, and in four or five months afterwards was raised to the government of Romeili. One of the seven daughters of the late Sultán Murád Khán was given away in marriage, and the rest of them were similarly disposed of. On the 1st of Shevál, the royal prince, Sultán Hasan, was born, and Omar Aghá was sent to Adrianople, where the emperor then was, to inform him of the birth of this prince. In the month of Shevál, at the time the emperor was preparing to go to Adrianople, and when he entered into the garden of Floreiya, he conferred on Khalíl Páshá the second kapúdánship. The guardianship of the foot of the throne was given to Gúrjí Mohammed Páshá, who had been deputy of Constantinople. A royal edict to build ten more galleys at the royal expense, was issued this year. An order was also issued, during the time the emperor was at Adrianople, to build a palace in the royal garden, near the port of Constantinople. On the 25th of Shevál, the day on which his majesty reached Adrianople, the Bostánjí báshí, Hasan Aghá, who had remained in Constantinople, received the sanják of Sefd (in Syria). The country adjacent, which belonged to Maán Oghlí, who by this time had fled to Europe, was annexed to Sefd. Kashiki Hasan Aghá was made Bostánjí báshí. The lately-created válí of Sefd went to Adrianople to do homage to the emperor for the dignity and honour conferred on him, and afterwards set out for his new government.

The emperor, finding himself in a great measure at ease and free from care, determined on taking some recreation in a pleasure-boat or yacht, and therefore ordered one to be constructed. The whole of the river Tonja, as far as his place of hunting, was cleared of wood, stones, and every thing that might obstruct the passage of his yacht, by janissaries, spáhís, and other soldiers, which they accomplished in a short time. He ordered the boat to be brought from Constantinople to Rudosjuk, which was transported from that place to the river Tonja on sledges. After the new yacht was painted and ornamented, he employed it for the purpose for which it had been made. He ordered another, of a peculiar construction, to be conveyed from Gallipoli to Adrianople.

_The treaty of peace with Persia adverted to._

This year a copy of the articles of agreement entered into with the sháh of Persia was written out by the reverend mufti, Mohammed Effendí, and sent to the court of Persia. In conformity to ancient treaties it was agreed: 1st, That the Persians should make use of no expressions of contempt, of execration, of reproach, or of abuse against the chosen friends and contending heroes of the faith, the prelates and priests of Islamism, and the orthodox followers of the same. 2d, None worthy of the name of Iránís, of whatever class (according to the agreement which sháh Tehemasp had promised to abide by), were to be obliged to hear wicked or profane reading, or explanations (of the law); and all of this name who wished to enter the Osmánlí dominions, were not to be prohibited. 3d, Such Musselmans as were in service or in garrisons at the making of this treaty, were not to be vexed or oppressed. 4th, The frontier lines were to remain as they were in the reign of Sultán Selím Khán. 5th, The estates which belonged to Sanjár Oghlí, of happy memory, were to be added to the territories of Baghdád, without any resistance being offered. 6th, When the chief cities in the district of Sheherirúz were set free from the power of Helú Khán, they were never again to receive any aid or assistance from the Persians. 7th, All pilgrims, travelling from the east by the way of Aleppo and Shám, were not to be allowed to travel by the road of Baghdád and Bassora, without a sufficient guard. 8th, To Shamkhál Khán and other rulers in Dághistán, who from ancient times had been on a friendly footing with Turkey, or to any part of their dominions, no injury was to be done; they were also, by the same treaty, to sustain no loss whatever. 9th, When once the Turkish fortresses or redoubts, which had been erected for the purpose of preventing unfortunate Russians[24] from passing and repassing, were relinquished, the sháh was, under no pretext whatever, to place garrisons in them. 10th, The frontiers were to be protected.

In conformity to the spirit of this treaty, the frontier páshás, _viz._ the válí of Baghdád, Mohammed Páshá, and the beglerbeg of Wán, Mohammed Páshá, received an imperial commission to proceed and settle, along with the Persian commissioners, the line of frontier between the dominions of the Ottoman emperor and those of the sháh of Persia.

EVENTS OF THE YEAR 1023, H.

_The Moslem Emperor returns to Constantinople._

In the commencement of the month of Moharrem the happy and fortunate monarch Sultán Ahmed Khán began to retrace his steps towards his royal residence at the Sublime Porte. The troops who had accompanied his majesty to Adrianople were, previous to his own departure, allowed to return home. His majesty himself accomplished the journey in fifteen days, seven of which he rested, having arrived at Constantinople about the middle of the month. The day on which he entered the city two of his sons, Sultán Osmán and Sultán Mohammed, mounted on swift chargers, went out to meet their royal father, and returned along with him, riding in front of the janissaries. Some few days after his arrival in the royal residence he retired into the Terskháneh, and resided for a while in the mansion which he had ordered to be erected in it, and was now completed. Being naturally fond of this garden, he caused it to be decorated with flowers and shrubs taken from the interior garden of his seraglio or harem.

_The admiral, Khalíl Páshá, goes to sea._

The admiral Khalíl Páshá set sail with forty-five vessels for Beshektásh, whence, after a few days’ riding, he proceeded to the island of Scio, which he reached after a sail of twenty-two days. Here he learned that no less than twenty-seven hostile ships had entered a harbour belonging to the island of Skyro, but which, he afterwards heard, had gone to the island of Súsam. Thither he directed his course, having been previously joined by Mímí Beg, kapúdán of Rhodes, with twenty galleys: but before the Turkish fleet could make up to them they escaped through the straits of the islands of Andro and Istendil (Tino), and made their way to some of the sea-ports belonging to his holiness the pope. Khalíl Páshá on the 2d of Jemadi I. arrived before Corone, passed Modon, and on the 15th reached Avarín (Navarin): thence he sent out two vessels for the purpose of reconnoitring the coast. After having got all his ships properly pitched at this place, he again, on the 21st, set sail with fifty-nine ships of various size towards the shores of the infidels. After passing Messina, he reached the island of Malta on the 28th of the month; on the same day he effected a descent on that island.

Along the shore, at the distance of about a mile from each other, a set of towers had been erected, which, by means of igniting in succession a certain quantity of gunpowder in each, communicated a signal to the chief fortress of the island. This was done on this occasion; and in a very short time some thousands, foot and horse, came rushing forth to meet the invaders, when a most terrible battle ensued, and was maintained till after mid-day. Several hundreds of these infidels became food for the sword, and a good number of them were taken prisoners. The deputy grand master, the lords of Malta, with several other persons of distinction, fell in the struggle. The heroic and warlike Moslems followed up their advantages to the very walls of their chief city or fortress; burned the whole of their harvest of anise and cummin; cut down their olive and other fruit trees; carried off their flocks of sheeps and herds of cattle; and reached the fleet at the time of the evening prayers. The fleet now sailed past the city, when each galley, as it passed, fired a broadside against it, and directed its course towards Tripoli in Barbary; but not before they had committed some more mischief on another part of the island.[25]

The fleet, as we have already observed, sailed for Tripoli. The distance between Malta and Tripoli is two hundred and twenty miles, and the fleet did not reach the harbour of the latter place till the 2d of Jemadi II., having left Malta about the end of Jemadi I. The inhabitants of Tripoli were at this time in a most disorganized state. One Seferdeíá had usurped the government, had been guilty of murder, robbery, and every species of oppression, and even refused to permit the Turkish fleet to enter the harbour. By wise and prudent management, however, this Seferdeíá was induced to come on board the báshtirdeh (the admiral’s ship), when his person was instantly secured and placed in irons. His associates and followers, on learning the fate of their chief, shut themselves up in the city, determined on resisting and fighting to the last. But by the timely mediation of a number of reverend fathers their misconduct was overlooked, and the city was again restored to its former government. The whole of the property and wealth which the rebel Seferdeíá had accumulated was registered, and afterwards confiscated. After these proceedings had ended, the admiral ordered his pavilion to be erected on shore; held a council for examining into the nature and extent of the crimes which the rebel-prisoner had committed, and proofs of which the nobles, ulemá, and the people in general furnished in abundance. The admiral, after hearing all the evidence which was brought before him in regard to Seferdeíá’s crime, and finding that the general voice demanded his life, ordered him to be brought forward, caused his crimes to be recorded, and afterwards hanged him in front of the gate of the city.

The fleet left Tripoli on the 10th of the last-mentioned month, and arrived before Navarin on the 14th of the same. The ships which had been sent out to reconnoitre the enemy’s coasts joined the fleet at the last-mentioned station, bringing along with them a prize laden with wheat.

_Punishment inflicted on the infidels of Maneíah._

The Turkish fleet reached Yaswah on the 24th of the last-mentioned month, where it was joined by three vessels belonging to Tunis, commanded by Murád Beg. The inhabitants of the mountain of Maneíah, in the Morea, had formerly been visited by an army, which had taken ample vengeance on them for their hostile and rebellious spirit. Such of them, at that time, as had not perished, or who had not been made captives, submitted themselves, and were pardoned: but ever since the year 1020, forgetting their former visitation, and the promises which they then made, they have manifested nothing but a spirit of rebellion. Arslán Páshá, with some Romeilian troops, was sent to chastise them and bring them again under subjection. The admiral, who had had orders to render him, towards the end of the voyage, every assistance, no sooner reached Yaswah than he landed a number of his troops for this express purpose. The páshá proceeded with this reinforcement to the mountains, and soon brought the rebels to their senses, having killed many of them and taken a number of others prisoners. They agreed to pay the ordinary taxes, and promised never to show insubordination in future.

_Mímí Páshá falls a martyr._

About this time a sword and two robes of honour were transmitted to the kapúdán páshá, Khalíl Páshá, from the court of Constantinople. Ma’áraf Beg, called Sanjován Oghlí, and the beg of Damietta, Mímí Beg, were ordered, towards the end of Rajab, to go and guard the island of Borák. After having reached this island they ordered all their vessels to be properly pitched, and went to wait on the governor of the island. On their return, however, to their ships they were suddenly attacked by a party which had belonged to an enemy’s vessel, when, by the permission of God, Mímí Beg fell a martyr. The son of Sanjován made his escape in some way or other, but their two vessels were carried off by the enemy. The admiral, on the 10th of Ramazán, reached the island of Mewkina, where he captured a prize; on the 14th he arrived at Scio, and reached the port of Constantinople on the 25th of Shevál.

_The cossacks become troublesome._

The tribe of cossacks had been in the habit of coming along the Black Sea in skiffs, and ravaging the villages on the banks of the Danube, near the mouth of that river. In the month of Rajab of this year a party of them, conducted by some apostate runaways, came and reduced the city of Sinope, called Medinet-alashuk, situate on the shores of the Black Sea, in the province of Anatolia. The inhabitants of this ancient city were no way apprehensive of danger from these cossacks, and before they had the least intimation of their approach were attacked by this horde, who slew every Muselman that fell in their way. They plundered and ransacked the city, made its families slaves, and then set fire to the buildings. In short, they not only desolated the whole place, but robbed and spoiled every house and family in the neighbourhood, and afterwards set off in their boats. Ibrahím Páshá, who had been sent to guard the mouth of the Danube, hearing of the fate of Sinope, immediately prepared his boats, sixty in number, and sailed down one of the outlets of that river with the view of intercepting them, but in vain. The accursed infidels heard of this fleet of boats that was waiting their arrival, and therefore, before coming up to the mouth of the river, they drew to shore, fixed their boats on a kind of drays, and proceeded overland towards a part of the river higher up. Though they found means of avoiding Ibrahím and his fleet of boats, they did not escape the Tátárs. A party of this hardy and fearless race of men fell upon them just as they were in the act of launching their boats, and recovered the whole of the property and families they had carried off with them. Numbers of these barbarians perished in the struggle, and others of them were made prisoners. Some few of their boats which had succeeded in getting off before the Tátárs came upon them, were pursued by Ibrahím, and were either sunk or taken. In the beginning of Ramazán twenty cossacks were sent as trophies, under the charge of some of Ibrahím Páshá’s men, to the Sublime Porte. It is said, that one messenger after another had arrived in Constantinople with information respecting the assault which Sinope had sustained from the cossacks; and that when the emperor asked the grand vezír, Nesúh Páshá, concerning the truth of the matter, he declared, though falsely, that he knew nothing about it. The emperor, however, was not satisfied with this answer, and applied to the learned mufti for information, who unhesitatingly told him the truth. The emperor was exceedingly angry at the grand vezír for the falsehood he had told him.

_Some fortresses built on the Ouzi (Borysthenes)._

About this time Ahmed Páshá, the beglerbeg of Romeili, crossed the Danube with his provincial troops, and proceeded, in conformity to imperial orders, to the ford of Aksú, the place at which the mischievous cossacks in Moldavia were accustomed to cross, where he was ordered to erect two fortresses, one on each side of that ford. On arriving at the place of his destination he found that the persons who had been appointed to provide materials for the proposed buildings had, in fact, done nothing. The journey to Aksú was a pathless desert of twenty days’ march, and presented nothing but brackish water and barrenness the whole way. The páshá sent a report to the emperor of the state of things, and was recalled; but as the infidels had been threatening another irruption, the páshá repaired and strengthened all the other fortresses in that quarter. About this same time, also, Karah Kásh Mohammed Páshá, beglerbeg of Kaniza, rebuilt or repaired about ten of the fortresses which had formerly been wrested from the infidels, and had lain waste or unoccupied ever since. Three new ones were added to these, and whilst employed in erecting them the infidels became alarmed, and sent friendly letters; because, in fact, they began to anticipate, when they perceived the activity of the Osmánlís, that the peace was at an end.