Part 3

When Sa’d Vakkás had given me these instructions, I saw flashes of lightning burst from the door of the mosque, and the whole building was filled with a refulgent crowd of saints and martyrs all standing up at once. It was the prophet overshadowed by his green banner, covered with his green veil, carrying his staff in his right hand, having his sword girt on his thigh, with the Imám Hasan on his right hand, and the Imám Hoseïn on his left. As he placed his right foot on the threshold, he cried out “_Bismillah_,” and throwing off his veil, said, “_Es-selám aleik yá ommetí_” (health unto thee, O my people). The whole assembly answered: “Unto thee be health, O prophet of God, lord of the nations!” The prophet advanced towards the _mihráb_ and offered up a morning prayer of two inflexions (_rik’ah_). I trembled in every limb; but observed, however, the whole of his sacred figure, and found it exactly agreeing with the description given in the _Hallyehi khákání_. The veil on his face was a white shawl, and his turban was formed of a white sash with twelve folds; his mantle was of camel’s hair, in colour inclining to yellow; on his neck he wore a yellow woollen shawl. His boots were yellow, and in his turban was stuck a toothpick. After giving the salutation he looked upon me, and having struck his knees with his right hand, commanded me to stand up and take the lead in the prayer. I began immediately, according to the instruction of Belál, by saying: “The blessing of God be upon our lord Mohammed and his family, and may He grant them peace!” afterwards adding, “_Allah ekber_.” The prophet followed by saying the fátihah (the 1st chap. of the Korán), and some other verses. I then recited that of _the throne_. Belál pronounced the _Subhánu’llah_, I the _El-hamdulillah_, and Belál the _Allah ekber_. The whole service was closed by a general cry of “_Allah_,” which very nearly awoke me from my sleep. After the prophet had repeated some verses, from the _Suráh yás_, and other chapters of the Korán, Sa’d Vakkás took me by the hand and carried me before him, saying: “Thy loving and faithful servant Evliyà entreats thy intercession.” I kissed his hand, pouring forth tears, and instead of crying “_shifá’at_ (intercession),” I said, from my confusion, “_siyáhat_ (travelling) O apostle of God!” The prophet smiled, and said, “_Shifá’at_ and _siyáhat_ (_i.e._ intercession and travelling) be granted to thee, with health and peace!” He then again repeated the _fátihah_, in which he was followed by the whole assembly, and I afterwards went round, kissed the hands, and received the blessings of each. Their hands were perfumed with musk, ambergris, spikenard, sweet-basil, violets, and carnations; but that of the prophet himself smelt of nothing but saffron and roses, felt when touched as if it had no bones, and was as soft as cotton. The hands of the other prophets had the odour of quinces; that of Abú-bekr had the fragrance of melons, ’Omar’s smelt like ambergris, ’Osmán’s like violets, Alí’s like jessamine, Hasán’s like carnations, and Hoseïn’s like white roses. When I had kissed the hands of each, the prophet had again recited the _fátihah_, all his chosen companions had repeated aloud the seven verses of that exordium to the Korán (_saba’u-l mesání_); and the prophet himself had pronounced the parting salutation (_es-selám aleïkom eyyá ikhwánún_) from the _mihráb_; he advanced towards the door, and the whole illustrious assembly giving me various greetings and blessings, went out of the mosque. Sa’d Vakkás at the same time, taking his quiver from his own belt and putting it into mine, said: “Go, be victorious with thy bow and arrow; be in God’s keeping, and receive from me the good tidings that thou shalt visit the tombs of all the prophets and holy men whose hands thou hast now kissed. Thou shalt travel through the whole world, and be a marvel among men. Of the countries through which thou shalt pass, of their castles, strong-holds, wonderful antiquities, products, eatables and drinkables, arts and manufacturers, the extent of their provinces, and the length of the days there, draw up a description, which shall be a monument worthy of thee. Use my arms, and never depart, my son, from the ways of God. Be free from fraud and malice, thankful for bread and salt (hospitality), a faithful friend to the good, but no friend to the bad.” Having finished his sermon, he kissed my hand, and went out of the mosque. When I awoke, I was in great doubt whether what I had seen were a dream or a reality; and I enjoyed for some time the beatific contemplations which filled my soul. Having afterwards performed my ablutions, and offered up the morning prayer (_saláti fejrí_), I crossed over from Constantinople to the suburb of Kásim-páshá, and consulted the interpreter of dreams, Ibráhím Efendí, about my vision. From him I received the comfortable news that I should become a great traveller, and after making my way through the world, by the intercession of the prophet, should close my career by being admitted into Paradise. I next went to Abdu-llah Dedeh, Sheïkh of the convent of Mevleví Dervíshes in the same suburb (Kásim-páshá), and having kissed his hand, related my vision to him. He interpreted it in the same satisfactory manner, and presenting to me seven historical works, and recommending me to follow Sa’d Vakkás’s counsels, dismissed me with prayers for my success. I then retired to my humble abode, applied myself to the study of history, and began a description of my birth-place, Islámbúl, that envy of kings, the celestial haven, and strong-hold of Mákedún (Macedonia, _i.e._ Constantinople).

SECTION I.

Infinite praise and glory be given to that cherisher of worlds, who by his word “BE,” called into existence earth and heaven, and all his various creatures; be innumerable encomiums also bestowed on the beloved of God, Mohammed Al-Mustafà, Captain of holy warriors, heir of the kingdom of law and justice, conqueror of Mecca, Bedr, and Honaïn, who, after those glorious victories, encouraged his people by his noble precepts (_hadís_) to conquer Arabia (Yemen), Egypt (Misr), Syria (Shám), and Constantinople (Kostantiniyyeh).

_Sayings_ (hadís) _of the Prophet respecting Constantinople_.

The prophet said: “Verily Constantinople shall be conquered; and excellent is the commander (emír), excellent the army, who shall take it from the opposing people!”

Some thousands of proofs could be brought to shew, that Islámbúl is the largest of all inhabited cities on the face of the earth; but the clearest of those proofs is the following saying of the prophet, handed down by Ebú Hureïreh. The prophet of God said: “Have you heard of a town, one part of it situated on the land, and two parts on the sea?” They answered, “yea! O prophet of God;” he said, “the hour will come when it shall be changed by seventy of the children of Isaac.” From (Esau) Aïs, who is here signified by the children of Isaac, the nation of the Greeks is descended, whose possession of Kostantiniyyeh was thus pointed out. There are also seventy more sacred traditions preserved by Mo’áviyyah Khálid ibn Velíd, Iyyúb el-ensárí, and ’Abdu-l-’azíz, to the same effect, _viz._ “Ah! if we were so happy as to be the conquerors of Kostantiniyyeh!” They made, therefore, every possible endeavour to conquer Rúm (the Byzantine empire); and, if it please God, a more detailed account of their different sieges of Kostantiniyyeh shall be given hereafter.

SECTION II.

_An Account of the Foundation of the ancient City and Seat of Empire of the Macedonian Greeks_ (_Yúnániyyáni Mákedúniyyah_), i.e. _the well-guarded Kostantiniyyeh, the envy of all the Kings of the Land of Islám_.

It was first built by Solomon, and has been described by some thousands of historians. The date of its capture is contained in those words of the Korán, “The exalted city” (_beldah tayyibeh_), and to it some commentators apply the following text: “Have not the Greeks been vanquished in the lowest parts of the earth?” (Kor. xxx. 1.) and “An excellent city, the like of which hath never been created.” All the ancient Greek historians are agreed, that it was first built by Solomon, son of David, 1600 years before the birth of the Prophet; they say he caused a lofty palace to be erected by Genii, on the spot now called Seraglio-Point, in order to please the daughter of Saïdún, sovereign of Ferendún, an island in the Western Ocean (_Okiyúnús_).

The second builder of it was Rehoboam (_Reja’ím_), son of Solomon; and the third Yánkó, son of Mádiyán, the Amalekite, who reigned 4600 years after Adam was driven from Paradise, and 419 years before the birth of Iskender Rúmí (Alexander the Great), and was the first of the Batálisah (Ptolemies?) of the Greeks. There were four universal monarchs, two of whom were Moslims and two Infidels. The two first were Soleïmán (Solomon) and Iskender Zú’l karneïn (the two-horned Alexander), who is also said to have been a prophet; and the two last were Bakhtu-n-nasr, that desolation of the whole face of the earth, and Yánkó ibn Mádiyán, who lived one hundred years in the land of Adím (Edom).

SECTION III.

_Concerning the Conquest of the Black Sea._

This sea, according to the opinion of the best mathematicians, is only a relic of Noah’s flood. It is eighty fathoms (_kúláj_) deep, and, before the deluge, was not united with the White Sea. At that time the plains of Salániteh (Slankament), Dóbreh-chín (Dobruczin), Kej-kemet (Ketskemet), Kenkús and Busteh, and the vallies of Sirm and Semendereh (Semendria), were all covered with the waters of the Black Sea, and at Dúdushkah, on the shore of the Gulf of Venice, the place where their waters were united may still be seen. Parávádí, in the páshálik of Silistirah (Silistria), a strong fortress now situated on the highest rocks, was then on the sea-shore; and the rings by which the ships were moored to the rocks are still to be seen there. The same circumstance is manifested at Menkúb, a days journey from Bághcheh seráï, in the island of Krim (Crimea). It is a castle built on a lofty rock, and yet it contains stone pillars, to which ships were anciently fastened. At that time the island of Krim (Crimea), the plains of Heïhát (Deshti Kipchák), and the whole country of the Sclavonians (Sakálibah), were covered with the waters of the Black Sea, which extended as far as the Caspian. Having accompanied the army of Islám Giráï Khán in his campaign against the Muscovites (Moskov), in the year——, I myself have passed over the plains of Haïhát; at the encampments of Kertmeh-lí, Bím, and Ashim, in those plains, where it was necessary to dig wells in order to supply the army with water, I found all kinds of marine remains, such as the shells of oysters, crabs, cockles, &c., by which it is evident that this great plain was once a part of the Black Sea. Verily God hath power over every thing!

The fourth builder of Constantinople was Alexander the Great, who is also said to have cut the strait of Sebtah (Ceuta), which unites the White Sea (Mediterranean) with the ocean. Some say the Black Sea extends from Azák (Azof), to the straits of Islámbúl (the canal of Constantinople), the sea of Rúm (Greece), from thence to the straits of Gelíbólí (Gallipoli, _i.e._ the Hellespont), the key of the two seas, where are the two castles built by Sultán Mohammed the Conqueror, and that all below this forms the White Sea. Having often made an excursion in a boat, when the sea was smooth and the sky clear, from the Cape of the Seven Towers (_Yedí kullah búrunú_), near Islámbúl, to the point of Kází Koï (called Kalámish), near Uskudár (Scutari), I have observed in the water a red line, of about a hand’s breadth, drawn from one of these points to the other. The sea to the north of the line is the Black Sea; but to the south of it, towards Kizil Adá, and the other (Princes’) islands, is called, on account of its azure (_níl_) hue, the White Sea; and the intermixture of the two colours forms, by the command of God, as wonders never fail, a red seam (_ráddeh_), which divides the two seas from each other. This line is always visible, except when strong southerly winds blow from the islands of Mermereh (Marmora), when it disappears, from the roughness of the sea. There is also a difference in the taste of the waters on each side of this line; that towards the Black Sea being less salt and bitter than that towards the White Sea: to the south of the castles (of the Dardanelles), it is still more bitter, but less so than in the ocean. No sea has more delicious fish than the Black Sea, and those caught in the Strait of Islámbúl are excellent. As that strait unites the waters of the Black and White Seas, it is called, by some writers, the confluence of two seas (_mereju’l bahreïn_).

The fifth builder of Constantinople was a king of Ungurús (Hungary), named Púzantín (Byzantinus), son of Yánkó Ibn Mádiyán, in whose time the city was nearly destroyed by a great earthquake, nothing having escaped except a castle built by Solomon, and a temple on the site of Ayá Sófiyyah. From Púzantín, Islámbúl was formerly called Púzenteh (Byzantium).

The sixth builder was one of the Roman emperors; the same as built the cities of Kóniyah, Níkdeh and Kaïsariyyah (Cæsarea). He rebuilt Islámbúl, which, for seventy years, had been a heap of ruins, a nest of serpents, lizards, and owls, 2288 years before its conquest by Sultán Mohammed.

The seventh builder of the city of Mákedún was, by the common consent of all the ancient historians, Vezendún, one of the grandsons of Yánkó Ibn Mádiyán, who, 5052 years after the death of Adam, being universal monarch, forced all the kings of the earth to assist him in rebuilding the walls of Mákedún, which then extended from Seraglio point (_Seráï búrunú_), to Silivrí (_Selymbria_), southwards, and northwards as far as Terkós on the Black Sea, a distance of nine hours’ journey.

Both these towns were united by seven long walls, and divided by seven ditches a hundred cubits wide. The remains of these walls, castles, and ditches, are still visible on the way from Silivrí to Terkós; and the kháns, mosques, and other public buildings in the villages on that road, as Fetehkóï, Sázlí-kóï, Arnáúd-kóï, Kuvúk-dereh, ’Azzu-d-din-lí, Kiteh-lí, Báklálí, and Túrk-esheh-lí, are all built of stones taken from these walls; the remains of some of their towers and seven ditches appearing here and there. Chatáljeh, which is now a village in that neighbourhood, was then a fortified market-town close to the fortress of Islámbúl, as its ruins shew. The line of fortifications which then surrounded the city may still be traced, beginning from Terkós on the Black Sea, and passing by the villages of Bórúz, Tarápiyah (_Therapia_), Firándá near Rum-ili hisár, Ortahkóï, Funduklí, to the point of Ghalatah, and from thence to the lead-magazines, St. Johns fountain (_Ayá Yankó áyázmah-sí_), the Ghelabah castle, the old arsenal, the castle of Petrínah, the Arsenal-garden-Point, the castle of Alínah, the village of Súdlíjeh, and the convent of Ja’fer-ábád. All these towns and castles were connected by a wall, the circuit of which was seven days’ journey.

_Concerning the Canal from the river Dóná_ (Danube).

King Yánván, wishing to provide water for the great city of Islámbúl, undertook to make a canal to it from the Danube. For that purpose he began to dig in the high road near the castles of Severin and Siverin, not far from the fortress of Fet’h-islám, on the bank of that river; and by those means brought its waters to the place called Azád-lí, in the neighbourhood of Constantinople. He afterwards built, in the bed of the river, a barrier of solid stone, with an iron gate, which is still to be seen, as the writer of these sheets has witnessed three different times, when employed there on the public service. The place is now called the iron gate of the Danube (_Dóná demir kapú-sí_), and is much feared by the boat-men, who sometimes unload their vessels there, as, when lightened of their cargoes, they can pass over it in safety.

He also built another wear or barrier in the Danube, now called Tahtah-lú sedd, upon which many ships perish every year. It was when that river overflowed in the spring, that king Yánván opened the iron gate and the barrier, to allow the stream to pass down to Islámbúl, where it discharges itself into the White Sea, at the gate called Istirdiyah kapú-sí (the Oyster-gate), now Lan-ghah kapú-sí. All this was done by king Yánván during the absence of king Vezendún, who was gone on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. On his return, his uncle Kójah Yánván went over to Scutari to meet him; and as soon as they met: “Well, my uncle,” said Vezendún, have you succeeded in your undertaking with regard to the Danube?”—“I dragged it, O king,” said he, “by the hair, like a woman, into Mákedúniyyah (Constantinople), through which it now runs.” Scarcely had he uttered this haughty answer, when, by the command of God, the river suddenly returned, deserting its new bed, and bursting forth in a large fountain, at a place called Dóna-degirmánlerí (the Mills of the Danube), between Várnah and Parávádí, where a mighty stream turns a great number of mills, which supply all the people of Dóbrújah with flour. Another branch of the Danube bursts forth near Kirk Kilisá (the Forty Churches), from the rocks of Bunár-hisár (Castle of the Source). A third branch broke out in the lakes of Buyúk and Kuchúk Chekmejeh, whence it unites with the Grecian (Rúmí) sea. The proof that all these streams have their source in the Danube is that they contain fish peculiar to that river, such as tunnies, sturgeons, &c., as I myself have more than once witnessed, when observing what the fishermen caught in the lakes just named. It is also mentioned in the historical work entitled _Tohfet_, that Yilderim Báyazíd (Bajazet) when he conquered Nigehbólí (Nicopolis) and Fet-h-islám, having heard of the ancient course of the Danube, caused straw and charcoal to be passed into it through the iron gate, and that they afterwards appeared again at the above-named lakes Bunár-hisár and Dónah-degirmánlerí. When travelling with the Princess Fatimah, daughter of Sultán Ahmed, and Suleïmán Beg, we stopped at the village of Azád-lí, between Chatáljeh and Islámbúl, where there are evident marks of the ancient channel of the Danube, cut by art through rocks towering to the skies. We penetrated into those caverns on horseback, with lighted torches, and advanced for an hour in a northerly direction; but were obliged to return by bad smells, and a multitude of bats as big as pigeons. If the sultáns of the house of ’Osmán should think it worth their while, they might, at a small expense, again bring the waters of the Danube by Yeníbághcheh and Ak-seráï to Islámbul.

The eighth builder of that city was a king of the name of Yaghfur, son of Vezendún, who placed no less than three hundred and sixty-six talismans (one for every day in the year) near the sea at Seraglio-Point, and as many on the hills by land, to guard the city from all evil, and provide the inhabitants with all sorts of fish.

The ninth builder was Kostantín (Constantine), who conquered the ancient town and gave his name to the new city. He built a famous church on the place where the mosque of Mohamed II. now stands, and a large monastery, dedicated to St. John, on the hill of Zírek-báshí, with the cistern near it; as well as the cisterns of Sultán Selím, Sívásí tekiyeh-sí, near Ma’júnjí Mahal-leh-si, and Kedek-Páshá. He erected the column in the _táúk-bázár_ (poultry market), and a great many other talismans.

SECTION IV.

_Concerning Constantine, the ninth Builder, who erected the Walls and Castle of Constantinople._

He was the first Roman emperor who destroyed the idols and temples of the Heathens, and he was also the builder of the walls of Islámbúl. ’Isá (Jesus) having appeared to him in a dream, and told him to send his mother Helláneh (Helena) to build a place of worship at his birth-place Beïtu-l-lahm (Bethlehem), and another at the place of his sepulchre in Kudsi Sheríf (Jerusalem), he despatched her with an immense treasure and army to Felestín (Palestine); she reached Yáfah (Jaffa), the port of Jerusalem, in three days and three nights, built the two churches named above, and a large convent in the town of Nábulús.

_The Discovery of the true Cross._

By the assistance of a monk called Magháriyús (Macarius), she found the place where the true cross was buried. Three trees in the form of crosses were found in the same grave, and the moment, as the Christians relate, a dead body was touched by them, it came to life again: this day was the 4th of Eïlúl (September), which is therefore celebrated by the Christians as the feast of the Invention of the Cross, and has ever since been held as a great festival by the Greeks. Helláneh also built the convent of the Kamámeh (_i.e._ the church of the holy sepulchre) on the spot where the dead body had been restored to life, spent immense sums of money in repairing and adorning the mosque of Al-aksá built on the site of the temple of Solomon, restored Bethlehem, and did many other charitable and pious works. She then returned to Islámbúl, and presented the wood of the cross to her son Constantine, who received it with the greatest reverence, and carried it in solemn procession to the convent on the summit of Zírek-báshí. The noblest monuments of his power and resolution to surpass all other princes in the strength and durability of his works, are the walls of Constantinople. On the land side of the city, from the Seven Towers at its western extremity to Iyyúb Ansárí, he built two strongly fortified walls. The height of the outer wall is forty-two cubits, and its breadth ten cubits; the inner wall is seventy cubits high and twenty broad. The space between them both is eighty cubits broad, and has been converted into gardens blooming as Irem; and at present, in the space between the Artillery (Tóp-kapú) and Adrianople gates (Edreneh-kapú), are the summer-quarters (_yáïlák_) of the Zagharjíes, or 64th regiment of the Janissaries.

Outside of the exterior wall he built a third, the height of which, measured from the bottom of the ditch, is twenty-five cubits, and its breadth six cubits; the distance between this and the middle wall being forty cubits: and beyond the third wall there is a ditch one hundred cubits broad, into which the sea formerly passed from the Seven Towers as far as the gate of Silivrí; and being admitted on the other side from the gate of Iyyúb Ansárí to the Crooked gate (Egrí-kapú), the town was insulated. This triple row of walls still exists, and is strengthened by 1225 towers, on each of which ten watchful monks were stationed to keep watch, day and night. The form of Islámbúl is triangular, having the land on its western side, and being girt by the sea on the east and north, but guarded there also by a single embattled wall, as strong as the rampart of Gog and Magog. Constantine having, by his knowledge of astrology, foreseen the rise and ascendancy of the Prophet, and dreading the conquest of his city by some all-conquering apostle of the true faith, laid the foundation of these walls under the sign of Cancer, and thus gave rise to the incessant mutinies by which its tranquillity has been disturbed. It is eighteen miles in circuit; and at one of its angles are the Seven Towers pointing to the Kiblah (Meccah). The Seraglio-point (Seráï-búruní) forms its northern, and the gate of Iyyúb its third and north-western angle. Constantine having taking to wife a daughter of the Genoese king (Jenúz Králí), allowed him to build some strong fortifications on the northern side of the harbour, which were called Ghalatah, from the Greek word _ghalah_ (γάλα, milk), because Constantine’s cow-houses and dairy were situated there.

_Names of Constantinople in different Tongues._