Part 11

Mohammed being, like Jem, a very passionate Emperor, severely rebuked the architect for not having built his mosque of the same height as Ayá Sófiyah, and for having cut down the columns, which were each worth the whole tribute of Rúm (Asia Minor). The architect excused himself by saying, that he had cut down two columns three cubits each on purpose to give his building more solidity and strength against the earthquakes, so common in Islámból, and had thus made the mosque lower than Ayá Sófiyah. The Emperor, not satisfied with this excuse, ordered both the architects hands to be cut off, which was done accordingly. On the following day the architect appeared with his family before the tribunal of the Kází, styled Islámból-Mollá-sí, to lay his complaint against the Emperor and appeal to the sentence of the law. The Judge immediately sent his officer (Kiahyà) to cite the Emperor to appear in court. The Conqueror, on receiving this summons, said, “The command of the Prophet’s law must be obeyed!” and immediately putting on his mantle and thrusting a mace into his belt, went into the Court of Law. After having given the selám aleïk, he was about to seat himself in the highest place, when the Kází said, “Sit not down, Prince, but stand on thy feet, together with thine adversary, who has made an appeal to the law. The Mi’már Báshí (head architect) thus made his complaint: “My Lord (Sultánum)! I am a perfect master builder and a skilful mathematician; but this man, because I made his mosque low and cut down two of his columns, has cut off my two hands, has ruined me, and deprived me of the means of supporting my family. It is thy part to pronounce the sentence of the noble law.” The Judge then said to the Emperor, “What sayest thou, Prince? Have you caused this man’s hands to be cut off innocently?” The Emperor immediately replied, “By heaven! my Lord (Sultánum), this man lowered my mosque; and for having cut down two columns of mine, each of which was worth the tribute from Misr (Egypt), and thus robbed my mosque of all renown, by making it so low, I did cut off his hands: it is for thee to pronounce the sentence of the noble law.” The Kází immediately answered: “Prince (Begum), Renown is a misfortune! If a mosque be upon a plain, and low and open, worship in it is not thereby prevented. If thy stone had been a precious stone, its value would have been only that of a stone; but of this man, who has now for these forty years subsisted by his skilful workmanship, you have illegally cut off the hands. He can henceforward do nothing more than cohabit with his wife. The maintenance of him and his numerous family necessarily, by law, falls upon thee. What sayest thou, Prince (Begum)?” Sultán Mahommed answered: “Thou must pronounce the sentence of the law!” “This is the legal sentence,” replied the Kází, “that if the architect requires the law to be strictly enforced, your hands be cut off; for if a man do an illegal act which the noble law doth not allow, that law decrees that he shall be requited according to his deeds.” The Sultán then offered to grant him a pension from the public treasury of the Musulmáns. “No!” returned the Móllá; “it is not lawful to take this from the public treasury: the offence was yours; my sentence, therefore, is, that from your own private purse you shall allow this maimed man ten aspers (akchahs) a-day.” “Let it be twenty aspers a-day,” said the Conqueror; “but let the cutting off of his hands be legalized.” The architect, in the contentment of his heart, exclaimed, “Be it accounted lawful in this world and the next!” and, having received a patent for his pension, withdrew. Sultán Mohammed also received a certificate of his entire acquittal. The Kází then apologized for having treated him as an ordinary suitor; pleading the rigid impartiality of law, which requires justice to be administered to all without distinction; and entreating the Emperor to seat himself on the sacred carpet (sejjádeh). “Efendí,” said the Sultán, somewhat irritated, and drawing out his mace from under the skirt of his robe, “if thou hadst shewn favour to me, saying to thyself, ‘This is the Sultán,’ and hadst wronged the architect, I would have broken thee in pieces with this mace!” “And if thou, Prince (Begum),” said the Kází, “hadst refused to obey the legal sentence pronounced by me, thou wouldst have fallen a victim to Divine vengeance; for I should have delivered thee up to be destroyed by the dragon beneath this carpet.” On saying which he lifted up his carpet, and an enormous dragon put forth its head, vomiting fire from its mouth: “Be still,” said the Kází, and again laid the carpet smooth; on which the Sultán kissed his noble hands, wished him good day, and returned to his palace.

Subsequently, Abdál Sinán, when Mi’már Báshí, added some embellishments to this mosque, and, at a later period, ’Alí Kúshjí, the celebrated astronomer, erected a school for the instruction of Muselmán children in the Korán within the precincts (harem) of this mosque, near the Dyer’s gate (Bóyájíler kapú-sí) opposite to the great dome. The same astronomer also placed there a sun-dial, which has not its equal in the whole world. It is engraved on a square marble tablet, according to that text of the Korán:—“Dost thou at all know how thy Lord hath extended the shadow?”

After these events, in the reign of Báyazíd Velí, there was a great earthquake at Islámból for seven days and six nights. The castle of Ghalatah was damaged in many places; but it was repaired by the architect, Murád, who recorded the date of the repairs in an inscription engraved in the Jellí character on a square marble tablet. The reparations of the city were finished in sixty days. It is written, that this was the severest earthquake since the time of Yánkó ibn Mádyán. Báyazíd afterwards built a bridge of fourteen arches over the river Sakariyah, at the town of Keïveh, in the Sanják of Izmít (Nicomedia); another of nineteen arches, over the river Kizil Irmák, at the city of ’Osmánjik; and a third of nineteen arches, over the Gedúz (Hermus), in the province of Sárú khán; after which he began to build the mosque that bears his name, near the old palace in Islámból. Its foundations were laid in the year 903 (A.D. 1498), and it was finished in A.H. 911 (1505-6). It is built nearly in the same style as the mosque of his father Mohammed the Conqueror; but its two minarets are contiguous, not to it, but to the two rows of houses built on each side for the accommodation of strangers, which were subsequently added to the mosque.

_Description of the Mosque of Sultán Báyazíd II._

It is a square building supporting a large dome, flanked by semi domes on the south-eastern (Kiblah), and opposite sides. On the right and left of the mosque there are two purple columns of porphyry, of which the like are to be found only in the mosque of Sultán Kaláún, in Caïro; and there is suspended from these a double row of lamps. On the right side of the mosque an elevated gallery has been constructed for the use of the Sultáns of the house of ’Osmán at the public service on Fridays. Sultán Ibráhím subsequently enclosed three sides of the gallery with gilt gratings, so that it resembles a beautiful cage, or net-work, or rather a palace of the immortals. The Mihráb, Minber, and Mahfil, though made of marble, are simple and unornamented; and on the first are inscriptions written in beautiful characters. The mosque has five gates, and the outer court (harem) is adorned with stone benches (soffahs), and on each side a cloister, supported by variegated columns; and in the centre there is a large basin, where all the congregation renew their ablutions. A cupola, supported by eight white marble columns, was placed over the basin by Sultán Murád IV., the Conqueror of Baghdád. On different sides of it four lofty cypresses have been planted. When the foundations of this noble mosque were laid, the Mi’már Báshí having asked the Sultán where he should place the mihráb, was desired by his Majesty to tread upon his foot; having done which, he immediately had a vision of the noble Ka’bah, and knew, consequently, where to place the mihráb. He, therefore, prostrated himself at the Sultán’s feet and began the work, the Sultán having previously offered up a prayer, accompanied by two inclinations of the body, for its happy completion. On the first Friday after it was finished, when there was an assembly of some thousands, the congregation, knowing that the Sultán had never in his life failed to offer up the afternoon (’asr) and evening (’ashà) prayers, insisted on his performing the functions of Imám. The Sultán, being aware that no one present was so well acquainted with those services as himself, consented to perform them. As this mosque was entirely built with lawful money, it has great spiritual advantages; and being situated in the centre of the markets of Islámból, is crowded day and night by thousands of devout Muselmáns, who are offering up their prayers there without ceasing; so that it has often happened that before one party has got through the afternoon (’asr) service, as far as the Ayetu-l Kursí (the verse of the throne, Kor. ii. 256), another coming in prevents the first from finishing. The pipes of the basin in the court are never closed, but pour forth streams of water day and night, because the congregation never fails. This mosque is always illuminated by flashes of light; and before the window of the mihráb there is a garden like that of Irem, adorned with various fruits and flowers, where, beneath a monument of white marble, covered with lead, rest the remains of its founder. Round the inner and outer courts of this mosque there are shops of all kinds of trades, with a public kitchen, a refectory, and hostel for travellers; a school for instructing the poor and rich in the Korán; and a college for lectures on the art of reciting it. This court has six gates; and is adorned, externally, with lofty trees, most of them mulberries, under the shades of which some thousands of people gain a livelihood by selling various kinds of things. Outside of this court there is a large valley, called the Meïdán of Sultán Báyazíd, adorned on its four sides with shops; and on one side by the great college of the same Sultán, which has seventy cupolas. The superintendent (Názir) of this mosque is the Sheïkhu-l Islám (_i.e._ the Muftí); he also gives the public lectures in this college. He delivers his lectures once a week, and the students receive a monthly stipend, besides an allowance for meat and wax-lights: this is a very well-endowed foundation. This mosque has altogether 2,040 servants; and none has a better salary than the Muvakkit, or Regulator of Time; because all the seamen and mariners in the empire of Islám depend, for the regulation of time, on the Muvakkit of Sultán Báyazíd Khán; and as the mihráb of this mosque was miraculously placed in the true position of Kiblah: all sea-captains regulate their compasses by it; and all the infidel astronomers in Firengistán, as is universally known, correct their watches and compasses by the mosque of Sultán Báyazíd. Besides this mosque, that Emperor built sixty other places of worship in the countries which he conquered. The mosque and convent of Emír Bokhárí, as well as the mosque of Ghalatah-seráï, were built by him. May God reward all his pious works! His conquests are as follows: The castles of Motón and Korón, Arkáriyah, Kalámitah, Kalávertah, Holómích, Tiribólíchah (Tripolizza), Bállí-Bádrah (Palæ Patræ, _i.e._ Patras), and Anávárín (Navarino), in the year 906 (1500-1). All the above castles are in the southern and western parts of the Peninsula (Morea). He also conquered the castle of Ainah-bakhtí (Naupaktus or Lepanto), A.H. 905 (A.D. 1499, 1500). The fortresses of Kilì and Ak-kirmán were taken in the 889 (A.D. 1484). The castles Várnah, Avlóniyah, and in Arnáútluk (Albania) Durráj (Durazzo), were captured, and a tribute imposed upon Karah Boghdán (Moldavia), in the year 918 (A.D. 1512). After having conquered these and many other castles, he was defeated in a second engagement with his son Selím I., at Chórló (Τούρουλος or Τζορλοῦ), where he was deserted by all his servants, who followed Selím to Islámból and proclaimed him Emperor. Báyazíd Khán was immediately ordered to retire to Dímah-tókah (Dymóticho for Didymótichon); but having reached Hávusah, a small town one days journey distant from Edreneh (Adrianople), died there. Various reports were circulated respecting the cause of his death. Some say that he died sighing, and crying out, “O King Jem!” Others, that having been poisoned by his son, he exclaimed, “May thy life be short, but thy victories many!” His corpse was buried within the precincts of his mosque. He reigned thirty-three years, and was succeeded by his son Selím I., who began his victorious course by a signal defeat of Sháh Ismá’íl, King of Írán, on the plains of Cheldir, beneath the castle of Ak hichkah, where 200,000 Kizil-báshes (Persians) were put to the sword. The Sháh himself escaped with difficulty, accompanied by only seven horsemen, and his Queen Tájlí Khánum was taken prisoner, together with three hundred female captives, who were entrusted to the care of the Defterdár Tájir-zádeh Ja’fer Chelebí, and conducted by him to the threshold of Felicity (the Sublime Porte). In this victorious campaign the following castles were conquered:—Kars, Ak-hichkah, Erdehán, Hasan, Erz Rúm, Baïbúd, Iánijah, Kumákh, Karah-Hamíd, Diyár-Bekr, and forty other castles with their dependencies. Sultán ’Aláu-d-daulah, of the Zúl-kadriyyeh family, Lord of Mer’ash, was also defeated and killed, and his head, together with those of seventy other great chiefs (Bóï Beg), was sent to Ghaurí, Sultán of Egypt, against whom a campaign was immediately commenced: in the course of which Súltán Selím conquered Halebu-sh-shuhbá (the bright), with its twenty, Shám (Damascus), with its forty-two castles; Tarábulu-Shám (Tripoli), with its seventy castles, occupied by the Durúzí (Druzes); Beïtu-l-mokaddas (Jerusalem), Ghazah, and Ramlah, with seventeen castles. In that paradisiacal country, Shám (Syria), he took up his winter-quarters; and in the ensuing year he fought, on the plain of Kákún, the great battle in which Sultán Ghaúrí was routed and slain. The wreck of the army of the Cherákis (Circassians) fled to Misr (Caïro), with Selím Khán at their heels; and after one continued battle for a whole month, the province of Misr (Egypt), with its three hundred cities and seven thousand villages, was given up to the conqueror in the year 922 (A.D. 1516). Híreh Beg was appointed Governor of Misr (Caïro); and Kemàl Páshà-zádeh Ahmed Efendí, Military Judge. Possession was taken of Mekkah and Medínah, and Selím assumed the title of Servant of the two noble Mosques, and exalted his victories to the skies. On his returning to Islámból, he laid the foundation of the mosque which bears his name, but did not live to finish it. He was buried in the kubbeh, opposite the Mihráb. He was born in Tarabefzún (for Tarábuzún, _i.e._ Trebizonde), of which he was Governor while a Prince. He reigned nine years, during which the Khotbah was said in his name in one thousand and one mosques. He was succeeded by his son, the determined supporter of the faith, and the breaker of the heads of the people who contemplated rebellion, the tenth of the Sultáns of the house of ’Osmán, Sultán Suleïmán Khán el Ghází, who finished the mosque begun by his father.

_Description of the Mosque of Sultán Selím I._

He began it as a monument to the illustrious memory of his father, in the year 927 (A.D. 1521), and finished it in the year 933 (A.D. 1527). It is a lofty mosque, in the interior of Islámból, on the summit of one of the hills which overlook the canal; but it has no fine columns within it like the other mosques. It is only an elevated dome supported by four walls, but such as to raise the admiration of all who are masters in mathematics, and to be pointed at as a proof of the great skill of the old architect Sinán. On examining it, all mathematicians are astonished; for its dome is found, on admeasurement, to be one span wider than that of Ayá Sófiyah. It appears, in truth, to be an azure vault, like the vault of the sky; but is not so high as that of Ayá Sófiyah, since it measures only fifty-eight builder’s cubits in height. The cause of its not having been made more lofty, is the elevation of the hill upon which it stands. On the right side of its precincts (harem) there is a deep cistern, made in the time of the infidels; and on the north side is the ascent called the Forty Stairs, though there are fifty-four steps. The declivity on each side is very steep and precipitous; the architect Sinán, therefore, with a prudent foresight, in order to avoid all risk from earthquakes, gave a very moderate height to the mosque. The platform (mahfil) for the Muëzzins is placed upon marble columns, adjoining to the wall on the right hand; the Minber and Mihráb are of white marble, in a plain style. On the left side of the mosque there is a gallery supported by columns for the use of the Emperor: this was enclosed like a cage, with a gilt grating, by Sultán Ibráhim. Round the cupola there is a gallery where lamps are lighted on the blessed nights. The mosque is ornamented with some thousand trophies suspended around it, but has no other distinction on the inside. Opposite to the windows on the side of the Mihráb, is the sepulchre of Selím Khán, in a delightful garden, where the sweet notes of nightingales are heard. It is a hexagonal building, surmounted by a cupola. This mosque has three gates, of which that looking towards the Kiblah is always open. On the right and left of the mosque there are hostels for travellers; and there are also, on the right and left side, two minárehs, with one gallery each; but they are not so high as other minárehs. The court of the mosque (harem) is paved with white marble, has three gates, and stone benches (soffahs) all round. There is a basin in the centre of the court, which constantly supplies the Muselmán congregation with fresh and running water for their ablutions. Sultán Murád IV. placed a pointed dome over it, supported by eight columns, and there are four cypresses on the different sides of it. Outside of this court is a large enclosure (harem), planted with trees of various kinds, and entered by three gates. On the south (Kiblah) is the gate of the mausoleum (Turbeh); on the west, that of the market; on the north, that of the Forty Stairs. Below the market, looking towards the Chukúr Bóstán there is a large school for boys, a public refectory (Mehmán-seráï), and lodgings for men of learning and students. The bath (hammám) is three hundred paces beyond this enclosure; but there are no other colleges nor hospitals.

_Description of the Fifth Imperial Mosque; that of Sultán Suleïmán._