Part 48

Some time before the last events which we have recorded took place, Gurgrofshá, a relative of the king of Poland, and one of his privy counsellors, arrived in Constantinople as ambassador from the court of Poland, complaining of several inroads having been made upon the dominions of Poland by the Tátárs, even since the time of the last treaty, and praying that that part of the treaty which referred to the Tátárs maintaining the peace might be enforced. The grand vezír immediately wrote to Ján Beg, khán of the Crimea, to maintain the peace inviolate.

_An ambassador arrives from Fez._

The ambassador of the Pádisháh of Fez arrived at Constantinople with letters and some valuable presents for the Ottoman emperor. He also complained of some depredations which had been committed by some of the wild and wandering Arabs in the districts near Bussorah, and praying that a stop might be put to their ravages. A messenger was instantly despatched with respect to this matter to the proper quarter.

_A phenomenon._

There appeared one evening in the heavens a bright pillar or column which shone like a comet; the appearance of which occasioned among the people a variety of conjectures.

_Death of Etmekjí Zádeh Ahmed Páshá._

We lately left this man chagrined and sick, because of the repeated disappointments which he had met with. On his first appearance in public life he was employed as a collector of taxes at Adrianople, and by degrees rose to one of the most important offices in the state, that of lord high treasurer: which office he held for several years, till he was created káímakám of Constantinople. When Oghuz Mohammed Páshá, the emperor’s son-in-law, was deposed, and Khalíl Páshá, lord high admiral of the fleet, succeeded him in the premiership, Etmekjí Zádeh felt as if he had been neglected because that office had not been conferred on himself. When this same minister went afterwards on the expedition against the Persians, Etmekjí thought and expected he would again be made deputy of the Sublime Porte; but the appointment of Súfí Mohammed Páshá to this office showed him his expectations had been vain. The consequence was, that he became sorrowful and dangerously ill. His illness increased with his grief, and after giving a hundred _yúks_ of money for the purpose of repairing the fortress of Uzí, and for erecting a fortification at Kilbúrún on the opposite side, and nominating the reverend mufti his executor for paying such sums of money as he had appropriated for pious purposes, he died about the beginning of the following year. A thousand _yúks_ of money which had not been disposed of before his death were appropriated to the imperial coffers. He was interred in the tomb of the honourable Mahmúd Effendí of Scutari, who had performed the funeral service in Báyazíd’s mosque. A school in Constantinople, an inn in Adrianople, an unfinished edifice, besides several other buildings for benevolent purposes, are monuments of his generosity. He was one of the most celebrated men of his day.

_On the state of the coin._

About the commencement of the month of Moharrem of this year a firmán was issued to coin new silver coin and the piece of ten aspres, and Beker Effendí, the second defterdár, was made inspector of the mint. By means of a sum of ten purses of gold he established other mints in other parts of the empire. After a certain time had elapsed, the new coin was ordered to be put in circulation, and the old condemned. The new coin having been discovered to be deficient, however, the old, which possessed full weight, was again allowed to come into use.

_The seals of the premiership are again conferred on Mohammed Páshá, the emperor’s son-in-law._

Súfí Mohammed Páshá was, at the time of Sultán Osmán Khán’s inauguration, deputy of the Sublime Porte; but for some mismanagement of which he had been guilty at the ceremonies which took place on that occasion, and for the vast treasures he, for want of judgment, had expended at that time, was disgraced and turned out of office, and Mohammed Páshá, the emperor’s son-in-law, was made káímakám in his stead. The reverend mufti, who had been implicated in the affair of the late deputy, Súfí Mohammed Páshá, was removed by the emperor from being head of religion and science, whilst that distinguished honour was conferred on his own chaplain, Omar Khoaja: the reverend mufti, Isaád Effendí, retaining only the prerogative of issuing _fetvás_. About the beginning of the month of Sefer this year, Khalíl Páshá, in consequence of the want of skill and good generalship which he had manifested in the late war with the Persians, was formally deposed, and the káímakám or deputy of the Sublime Porte, Mohammed Páshá, the emperor’s son-in-law, was created grand vezír in his stead. When Khalíl Páshá reached Scutari on his way back, he was presented with the government of Syria, which, however, he declined: he preferred retiring with two domestics into a cell in Mohammed Effendí’s convent, alleging that he was an old man of the poor and indigent ancient sheíkhs, and wished for no new preferment. By Mohammed Effendí’s intercession in his behalf, however, his fault was overlooked.

_The arrival of a Persian ambassador._

In the month of Jemadi I., the Persian ambassador, Búrún Kásim, sometimes called Kásim Beg, but in his credentials, Alí Sultán Khalífeh, arrived at Scutari with one hundred loads of silk, four elephants, and one rhinoceros, with other gifts for the emperor of the Ottomans. From Scutari he passed over to the imperial city, and was lodged in the palace of Pertev Páshá. His letter to the emperor specified, in all its various ramifications, the treaty signed by Khalíl Páshá.

_A remarkable phenomenon._

In a communication from Mohammed Páshá, commandant of Buda, it was stated, that one afternoon, about the middle of the month of Shabán there appeared, in the German peleponesus on the north of Hungary, a black circular cloud, from which blood dropped like rain. This atmospheric appearance was accompanied by a most tremendous burst of thunder, and in the cloud there was seen the appearance of fiery crosses. After this cloud had condensed itself, a great quantity of smoke began to issue from it in all directions; and shortly afterwards another tremendous burst of thunder was heard. Those who heard it were stupified and confounded: the cattle in the field fell upon their knees, turned their heads towards the heavens, and then fled wild in all directions, many of which were never afterwards found. Some short time after the last burst of thunder, three successive sounds were heard issuing from the heavens, which, from their hideousness, might have awakened the dead. From this cloud, also, descended black round hail or balls, about the size of a cubit, which rolled along the ground. Some of these hail-stones which were taken up weighed three kintals.

_Betlan Gabor._

After Betlan Gabor had been fully established in the government of Transylvania, he accompanied Iskander Páshá in his expedition against the Poles, on which occasion he led ten thousand foot and twelve thousand horse into the country of Moldavia, near the fortress of Sordukna; but, in consequence of the peace which on that occasion was entered into with the ambassador of the king of Poland, he returned home with his troops.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] See preface to a translation of the Maritime Wars of the Turks, by James Mitchell.

[2] Author of the Maritime Wars of the Turks, and other celebrated works in Turkish.

[3] بيمارم اي اجل بوكيجه بكله يانم آل

[4] ناصيمده كاتب قدرة نه يازدي بلمدم آه كيم بوكلشن عالمده هركز كو لدم

[5] Ancient heroes of Persian fable.

[6] Why Agria is thus termed cannot be discovered; but it is probable the writer meant to convey the idea, that the success which attended the Moslem arms at that place, only led the Osmánlís into all the misfortunes which afterwards befell them.

[7] A wakáyat is about 2-1/4 lb.

[8] A kantar is about 120 lb. weight.

[9] سحر سامري, or the magic of Samri, who, according to Mohammed, induced the children of Israel to worship the golden calf in the absence of Moses.

[10] The translator feels at a loss to discover who this valas pádisháh was, but thinks the writer meant to convey some sentiment under the form of a metaphor. The words of the text are: ولاس پادشاهي ابراهيم خان بوسالده شاه عباس بنچه سنه كرفتار اولمشدر

[11] This was Yemishjí Hasan Páshá, the grand vezír, when on his way to Constantinople. It will be remembered under what circumstances he gave up the chief command to Mohammed Páshá at Buda; and also that Pest was at that time in the hands of the enemy. It is to the subsequent history of the contest between the Musselmans and the Austrians that the writer seeks now to draw the attention of his reader.

[12] The vezírs of the kubba or cupola are those immediately under the grand vezír.

[13] A work on Mohammedan jurisprudence.

[14] Thus did his majesty verify his threatening to Sárukjí Páshá, when, after appointing him to the deputyship, he pointed to the dead carcass of Kásim Páshá.

[15] A Mohamedan writer, usually called by the first of these appellations, and frequently quoted by Naima in this history.

[16] There is something irrelevant in this. Botchkai is represented as having been raised to the sovereignty of Hungary, and not of Transylvania. The first of these is written مجار Majar, which is Hungary; and the second اردل Ardil, which is Transylvania, and which is said in the text to have been supplied with a new sovereign in room of Botchkai, who was created king of Majar or Hungary by the Ottoman emperor. But it seems not unlikely that by Majar, lower Hungary is meant, and of which Ardil or Transylvania was considered a portion. We find the word هونغاريا _Hungaria_ employed, a few sentences afterwards, to mean the country of which the emperor of Austria’s brother was duke.

[17] Probably Paul V., who was certainly capable of doing what Naima here asserts. He has been charged by others of having fostered civil war in Bohemia, Hungary, England, France, and Germany.

[18] Rodolph II.; but his name is not mentioned in the text.

[19] اژدر هاي دم بريده

[20] A sort of military farmers, who rented the revenues of Egypt.

[21] A yúk is about 1,000 dollars.

[22] A gold coin, a drachm and a half weight.

[23] The night of power, the 27th of Ramazán, when the koran began to descend from heaven.

[24] Russian pilgrims either going to or coming from Jerusalem.

[25] The letters which had been sent from the fleet stated that the descent had been altogether sudden and unexpected at first. The fleet, these letters said, on arriving before or opposite a monastery on the island not far from the city, the admiral forbade Mímí Beg to leave his ship; but he landed his janissaries and other troops, who as soon as they individually reached the shore, such was their eagerness, cried out _Allah! Allah!_ as they proceeded; which so alarmed the inhabitants that they all fled into the city with their servants. The Moslems, on reaching the monastery, were obliged, by reason of the cannon which played upon them from the fortress, to give up; and because they found it impracticable to keep the footing they had gained, they were constrained to return to their vessels. Forty or fifty were left on the island, but they effected no good whatever. The fleet, we are told on the same authority, seized, between Messina and Malta, on its return, a vessel, the crew of which informed the admiral that the twenty-seven ships he had been in quest of had entered Messina, where there were several other vessels belonging to the enemy.

[26] A rude race living in the mountains of Lebanon and in Kúrdistán.

[27] Búrún signifies nose.

END

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