Part 6

Yildirim Báyazíd wisely made Edreneh (Adrianople) the second seat of empire, and besieged Islámból during seven months with an army of a hundred thousand men, till the infidels cried out that they were ready to make peace on his own terms, offering to pay a yearly tribute (kharáj) of 200,000 pieces of gold. Dissatisfied with this proposal, he demanded that the Mohammedans (ummeti Mohammed) should occupy, as of old in the days of ’Omar ibn ’Abdu-l-’azíz, and Hárúnu-r-Rashíd, one half of Islámból and Ghalatah, and have the tithe of all the gardens and vineyards outside of the city. The Tekkúr king (_i.e._ the Emperor) was compelled of necessity to accept these terms, and twenty thousand Musulmáns having been introduced into the town, were established within their former boundaries. The Gul jámi’í, within the Jebálí kapú-sí, was purified with rose-water from all the pollutions of the infidels, whence it received its name of Gul-jámi’í (_i.e._ Rose mosque). A court of justice was established in the Sirkehjí Tekiyeh in that neighbourhood; Ghalatah was garrisoned with six thousand men, and half of it, as far as the tower, given up to the Mohammedans. Having in this manner conquered one half of Islámból, Báyazíd returned victorious to Edreneh. Soon afterwards Tímúr Leng issuing from the land of Írán with thirty-seven kings at his stirrup, claimed the same submission from Báyazíd, who, with the spirit and courage of an emperor, refused to comply. Tímúr, therefore, advanced and encountered him with a countless army. Twelve thousand men of the Tátár light-horse (eshkinjí), and some thousands of foot soldiers, who, by the bad counsels of the vazír, had received no pay, went over to the enemy; notwithstanding which Báyazíd, urged on by his zeal, pressed forwards with his small force, mounted on a sorry colt, and having entered the throng of Tímúr’s army, laid about him with his sword on all sides, so as to pile the Tátárs in heaps all around him. At last, by God’s will, his horse that had never seen any action fell under him, and he, not being able to rise again before the Tátárs rushed upon him, was taken prisoner, and carried into Tímúr’s presence. Tímúr arose when he was brought in, and treated him with great respect. They then sat down together on the same carpet (sejjádeh) to eat honey and yóghúrt (clotted cream). While thus conversing together, “I thank God,” said Tímúr, “for having delivered thee into my hand, and enabled me to eat and discourse with thee on the same table; but if I had fallen into thy hands, what wouldst thou have done?” Yildirim, from the openness of his heart, came to the point at once, and said, “By heaven! if thou hadst fallen into my hand, I would have shut thee up in an iron cage, and would never have taken thee out of it till the day of thy death!” “What thou lovest in thy heart, I love in mine,” replied Tímúr, and ordering an iron cage to be brought forthwith, shut Báyazíd up in it, according to the wish he had himself expressed. Tímúr then set out on his return, and left the field open for Chelebí Sultán Mohammed to succeed his father Yildirim. He immediately pursued the conqueror with 70,000 men, and overtaking him at Tashák-óvá-sí, smote his army with such a Mohammedan cleaver, that his own men sheltered themselves from the heat of the sun under awnings made of the hides of the slain, whence that plain received the ludicrous name by which it is still known. But, by God’s will, Yildirim died that very night of a burning fever, in the cage in which he was confined. His son Mohammed Chelebí, eager to avenge his father, continued to drive Tímúr forwards, till he reached the castle of Tókát, where he left him closely besieged. He then returned victorious, carrying the illustrious corpse of his father to Brúsah, where it was buried in an oratory in the court before his own mosque. His brothers ’Ísá and Músá disputed his right to the empire; but Mohammed, supported by the people of Rúm, was proclaimed khalífah at Edreneh (Adrianople), where he remained and finished the mosque begun by his father. On hearing of these contentions for the empire, the king (tekkúr) of Islámból danced for joy. He sent round cryers to make proclamation that, on pain of death, not a Muselmán should remain in the city of Kostantín, allowing only a single day for their removal: and he destroyed a great number of them in their flight to Tekirtágh (Rodostó) and Edreneh (Adrianople). The empire, after the demise of Chelebí Mohammed, was held first by Murád II., and then by Mohammed (II.) the conqueror, who during his father’s lifetime was governor (hákim) of Maghnísá (Magnesia), and spent his time there in studying history, and in conversing with those excellent men ’Ak-Shemsu-d-dín, Karah-Shemsu-d-dín, and Sívásí, from whom he acquired a perfect knowledge of the commentaries on the Korán and the sacred traditions (hadís). While he was at Maghnísá, having heard that the infidels from Fránsah (France) had landed at ’Akkah (Acri), the port of Jerusalem, on the shore of the White Sea, and in the dominions of Keláún, Sultán of Egypt, and taken possession of ’Askelán and other towns, from which they had carried off much plunder and many prisoners to their own country, he was so much grieved at the thoughts of thousands of Muselmáns being carried into captivity, that he shed tears. “Weep not, my Emperor,” said Ak-shemsu-d-dín, “for on the day that thou shalt conquer Islámból, thou shalt eat of the spoils and sweetmeats taken by the unbelievers from the castle of ’Akkah: but remember on that day to be to the faithful an acceptable judge as well as victor (_kúzí ve-ghází rází_), doing justice to all the victorious Moslims.” At the same time taking off the shawl twisted round his Turban, he placed it on Mohammed’s head, and announced the glad tidings of his being the future conqueror of Islámból. They then read the noble traditions (_hadís_) of what the Prophet foretold relative to Islámból, and observed that he was the person to whom these traditions applied. Mohammed on this, covering his head with Ak-Shemsu-d-din’s turban (_’urf_), said: “Affairs are retrieved in their season!” and, recommending all his affairs to the bounty of the Creator, returned to his studies.

On the death of his father Murád II., ambassadors to congratulate him were sent by all monarchs, except Uzún Hasan, Prince (Sháh) of Azerbáïján, of the family of Karah Koyúnlí; against him, therefore, he first turned his arms, and defeated him in the field of Terján.

_Account of the Rise of Mohammed II., the Father of Victory._

He mounted the throne on Thursday the 16th Moharrem 855 (A.D. 1451), at the age of twenty-one years. My great grandfather, then his standard-bearer, was with him at the conquest of Islámból. He purchased with the money arising from his share of the booty, the houses within the U’n kapání, on the site of the mosque of Sághirjílar, which he built after the conquest of the city by Mohammed II., together with a hundred shops settled on the mosque as an endowment (_vakf_). The house in which I was born was built at the same time, and with money so acquired. The patents (_baráts_) for the mosques and the shops, however, were made out in the conquerors name, and signed with his cypher (_tughrà_), the administration of the endowment being vested in our family. From the deeds relative to it now in my hands, I am well acquainted with the dates of all the events of his reign. He was a mighty but bloodthirsty monarch. As soon as he had mounted the throne at Adrianople, he caused Hasan, his younger brother by the same mother, to be strangled, and sent his body to Brúsah, to be interred there beside his father. He conquered many castles in the country round Brúsah, built those called the key of the two seas, on the strait of the White Sea, and two likewise on that of the Black Sea, and levied a tribute on Islámból. According to the peace made by Yildirim, a tithe of the produce of all the vineyards round was to be paid to the Sultán, before any infidel could gather a single grape. After the lapse of three years, some grapes having been gathered by the infidels in violation of this article of the treaty, in the vineyards of the Rúmílí hisár (_i.e._ the European castle on the canal of Constantinople), a quarrel ensued, in which some men were killed. Mohammed, when this was reported to him, considered it as a breach of the treaty, and immediately laid siege to Islámból, with an army as numerous as the sand of the sea.

SECTION X.

_The last Siege of Kostantaniyyeh by Mohammed II. the Conqueror._

In the year of the Hijrah 857 (A.D. 1453), Sultán Mohammed encamped outside of the Adrianople gate, with an immense army of Unitarians (Muvahhedín); and some thousands of troops from Arebistán, who crossed the Strait of Gelíbólí (Gallipoli), and having joined the army of Islám, took up their quarters before the Seven Towers. All the troops from Tokát, Sívás, Erzrúm, Páï-búrt, and the other countries taken from Uzún Hasan, crossed the strait near Islámból, and encamped on the ’Ok-meïdán in sight of the infidels. Trenches, mines, and guns were got ready, and the city was invested by land on all sides; it was only left open by sea. Seventy-seven distinguished and holy men beloved by God (Evliyáu-llah) followed the camp; among them were Ak-Shemsu-d-dín, Karah-Shemsu-d-dín, Sívásí, Mollá Kúrání, Emír Nejárí, Mollá Fenárí, Jubbeh ’Alí, Ansárí-Dedeh, Mollá Púlád, Ayà Dedeh, Khorósí Dedeh, Hatablí Dedeh, and Sheïkh Zindání. The Sultán made a covenant with them, promising that one-half of the city (devlet) should belong to them, and one-half to the Muselmán conquerors; “and I will build,” said he, “for each of you a convent, sepulchral chapel, hospital, school, college, and house of instruction in sacred traditions (Dáru-l-hadís).” The men of learning and piety were then assembled in one place; proclamation was made that all the troops of Islám should renew their ablutions, and offer up a prayer of two inflections. The Mohammedan shout of war (Allah! Allah!) was then thrice uttered, and according to the law of the Prophet, at the moment of their investing the city, Mahmúd Páshá was sent with a letter to the Emperor (Tekkúr) of Constantaniyyeh. When the letter had been read and its contents made known, relying on the strength of the place and the number of his troops, the Emperor proudly sent the ambassador back, saying, “I will neither pay tribute, nor surrender the fortress, nor embrace Islám.” On one side, the troops of Islám surrounded the walls like bees, crying out Bismillah, and beginning the assault with the most ardent zeal; on the other, the besieged, who were twice one hundred thousand crafty devils of polytheists, depended on their towers and battlements by land, and feared no danger by sea, the decrees of fate never entering into their thoughts. They had five hundred pieces of ordnance at Seraglio Point, five hundred at the Lead-magazines (on the Ghalatah-side), and one hundred, like a hedge-hog’s bristles, inside and outside of the Kíz kulleh-sí (Tower of Leander), so that not a bird could fly across the sea without being struck from these three batteries. The priests (pápás), monks, and patriarchs encouraging those polluted hosts to the battle, promised some useless idols, such as Lát and Menát, to each of the infidels. The ’Osmánlús, in the mean time, began to batter the walls, and received reinforcements and provisions; while the Greeks, who were shut out of the canals of Constantinople and the Dardanelles by the castles built there, could obtain none. After the siege had been carried on for ten days, the Sultan assembled his faithful sheiks, saying, “See to what a condition we are reduced! The capture of this fortress will be very difficult, if the defence of it is thus continued from day to day.” Ak-Shemsu-d-dín told him that he must wait for a time, but would infallibly be conqueror: that there was within the city a holy man named Vadúd, and that as long as he lived it could not be taken; but that in fifty days he would die, and then at the appointed hour, minute, and second, the city would be taken. The Sultán therefore ordered Tímúr-tásh Páshá to employ 2,000 soldiers in constructing fifty galleys (kadirghah), in the valley near Kághid kháneh, and some villages were plundered to provide them with planks and other timber for that purpose. Kójah Mustafá Páshá had previously constructed, by the labour of all his Arab troops, fifty galleys and fifty horse-boats (káyik), at a place called Levend-chiftlik, opposite to the Ok-meïdán. The galleys built at Kághid kháneh being also ready on the tenth day, the Sultán went on that day to the Ok-meïdán, with some thousands of chosen men, carrying greased levers and beams to move the said ships. By the command of God, the wind blew very favourably; all sails were unfurled, and amidst the shouts of the Moslims crying _Allah! Allah!_ and joyful discharges of muskets and artillery, a hundred and fifty ships slid down from the Ok-meïdán into the harbour. The terrified Káfirs cried out “What can this be?” and this wonderful sight was the talk of the whole city. The place where these ships were launched is still shown, at the back of the gardens of the arsenal (Ters kháneh), at the stairs of Sháh-kulí within the Ok-meïdán.

The millet (dárú, _i.e._ sorghum) which was scattered there under the ships (in order to make them slide down more readily) grew, and is to this day growing in that place. All the victorious Moslims went on board armed cap-à-pie, and waited till the ships built by Tímúr-tásh at Kághid kháneh made their appearance near Iyyúb (at the extremity of the harbour), in full sail, with a favourable wind. They soon joined the fleet from Ok-meïdán, amid the discharge of guns and cannons, and shouts of _Hóï Hóï!_ and _Allah! Allah!_ When the Káfirs saw the illustrious fleet filled with victorious Moslims approach, they absolutely lost their senses, and began to manifest their impotence and distress. Their condition was aptly expressed in that text (Kor. II, 18): “They put their fingers in their ears, because of the noise of the thunder, for fear of death!” and they then began to talk of surrendering on the twentieth day. Pressed by famine and the besieging army, the inhabitants deserted through the breaches in the walls, to the Moslims, who, comforted by their desertion, received them well. On that day, the chiefs (báïs) of Karamán, Germiyán, Tekkeh-ílí, Aïdin, and Sáríkhán, arrived with 77,000 well-armed men, and gave fresh life to the hearts of the faithful. Tímúr-tásh having passed over with his fleet to the opposite side, landed his troops on the shore of Iyyúb, where he attacked the gates of Iyyúb and Sárí-Sultán; Mulá Pulád, a saint who knew the scripture by heart and worked miracles, attacked that of Pulád; and Sheikh Fanárí took post at the Fener kapú-sí (the Fanal-gate). The Káfirs built a castle there in one night, which would not now be built in a month, and which is actually standing and occupied. A monk named Petro having fled from that castle with three hundred priests, all turned Moslims, and that gate was called from him Petró kapú-sí. Having by God’s will conquered the newly-built castle that night, he received a standard and the name of Mohammed Petro. Ayà-dedeh was stationed with three hundred Nakshbendí Fakírs before the gate of Ayá, where he fell a martyr (to the faith), and was buried within the walls, at our old court of justice the Tekiyéh (convent) of Sirkehjí; in the same manner, the gate at which Jubbeh ’Alí was posted, was called the Jebálí gate, in memory of him, Jebálí being erroneously written for Jubbeh ’Alí. He was the sheikh (i.e. spiritual guide) of Keláún, Sultán of Egypt, and having come to Brúsah for the purpose of being present at the taking of Islámból, became a disciple of Zeïnu-d-dín Háfí, and was called Jubbeh ’Alí, from his always wearing a jacket (jubbeh) made of horse-cloth; he was afterwards, when Mohammed marched against Islámból, made chief baker (ekmekchí-báshí), and provided, no creature knows how, from one single oven the whole army, consisting of many hundred thousand servants of God, with bread as white as cotton. He did not embark at the Ok-meïdán, but with three hundred Fakírs, disciples of Zeïnu-d-dín Háfí, who, having spread skins upon the sea near the garden of the arsenal, employed themselves in beating their drums and tambours, and singing hymns in honour of the unity (tevhíd) of God. They then, unfurling the standard of Háfí, passed over the sea clearer than the sun, standing on their skins as on a litter, to the terror of the infidels doomed to hell! Jubbeh ’Alí having taken up his from the sea, was posted at the Jebálí gate. After the conquest he voluntarily fell a martyr, and was interred in the court of the Gul-jámi’í (the rose-mosque), where an assemblage of Fakírs afterwards found a retreat from the world. Khorós dedeh was engaged at the Un-kapání gate, which therefore bears his name; and below it, on the left hand as one enters, there is a figure of a cock (khorós). He was a Fakír, and one of the disciples of my ancestor Ahmed Yeseví. He came from Khurasán, when old and sickly, with Hájí Begtásh, in order to be present at the siege of Islámból, and got the nickname of Khorós-dedeh (father cock), from his continually rousing the faithful, by crying out, “Arise, ye forgetful!” Yáúzún Er, who was a very pious man, built within the Un-kapání a mosque in honour of him; it is now in the Sighirjílar chárshu-sí (beast market), and named afterwards the mosque of Yáúzún Er. Khorós-dedeh died sometime afterwards near the gate called after his name, and was buried near the high-road, outside of the Un-kapání gate, beside my ancestor. A conduit for religious ablutions has been erected near it, and is now visited as a place of pilgrimage. ’Alí Yárík, Bey of Ayázmánd, a nephew of Uzún-Hasan, of the Karákoyúnlí family, attacked the Ayázmah gate. He dug a well there for the purpose of renewing his ablutions; hence the gate received the name Ayázmah (Ἁγίασμα) kapú-sí: the water is pure spring-water, though on the edge of the sea. Sheïkh Zindání was a descendant of Sheïkh Bábá Ja’fer, who having come as ambassador in the time of Hárúnu-r-Rashíd, was poisoned by the king (_i.e._ emperor), and buried within the Zindán kapú-sí (prison-gate). Sheïkh Zindání visited this place, having come from Edirneh (Adrianople) with “the conqueror,” at the head of 3,000 noble Seyyids (descendants of Mohammed), who gave no quarter, soon made the Zindán kapú-sí his castle, and having entered it, made a pilgrimage to his ancestor’s tomb, and laid his own green turban on the place where Bábá Ja’fer’s head rested. He continued for seventy years after the conquest as Turbehdár (warden of the sepulchre) and built a convent there. The Emperor, as he had made a prison in that place, called it Zindán kapú-sí (the Bagnio), and it was conquered by Zindání. The Sheïkh having appointed in his stead a Sayyid of the same pure race, to take charge of the tomb of Ja’fer Bábá, accompanied Sultán Báyazíd in his expedition against Kilí (Kilia) and Ak-kirmán, in the year 889 (A.D. 1484). He died at Edirneh (Adrianople), after his return with Báyazíd from those conquests, and on that occasion the Sultán caused all the prisoners in the public prison there to be set at liberty for the good of the Sheïkh’s soul, and erected a chapel (turbeh) over his tomb, outside of the Zindán Kulleh-sí, having attended his funeral in person. His turbeh is now a great place of pilgrimage, and all his children are buried there. It is called the Ziyáret-gáh of ’Abdu-r-ruuf Samadání. The wardens of the tomb of Bábá Ja’fer at Islámból are still members of his family, and their genealogical tree is as follows: ’Abdu-r-ruuf Samadání (otherwise called Sheïkh Zindání) son of Sheïkh Jemálu-d-dín, son of Bint-Emír Sultán, son of Eshrefu-ddín, son of Táju-d-dín, son of the daughter of Seyyid Sikkín (buried near Ak-Shemsu-d-dín, at Túrbahlí Kóï), son of Ja’fer Bábá (buried at Islámból), the son of Mohammed Hanifí, from whom my ancestor Ahmed Yeseví was also descended; our genealogical trees were therefore well known to me.

Kámkár Beg, of Kútáhiyeh, was one of the Germiyán-óghlú (_i.e._ the children of Germiyán). He, with three thousand young heroes, assailed the Shehíd kapú-sí (martyrs-gate). As it is near Ayá Sófiyah, the Christians assembled there in great multitudes, opened the gate, and sallying forth with great fury, made all their Muselmán assailants martyrs. In the time of Hárúnu-r-rashíd, also, some of the illustrious auxiliaries of the Prophet (_ansár_) quaffed the cup of martyrdom there, hence it has been named the Martyrs (Shuhúd) gate, though incorrectly called by the vulgar, Jews’ (Juhúd) gate. The gates of the royal palace (Khúnkár seráï) sustained no siege; but the gate near the Seven Towers was attacked by Karamán-óghlú with the new reinforcements. The troops from Tekkehbáï were posted before Silivrí-gate; those from Aïdín, before the new gate (Yení kapú); those from Sárúkhán, before the Cannon-gate (Tóp kapú-sí), where they were slain, and replaced by those from Munteshá. The force from Isfendiyár was ordered to besiege the Adrianople-gate (Edirneh kapú-sí), and that from Hamíd, the Crooked-gate (Egrí kapú). So that Islámból was besieged on two sides, and nothing but the Kúm kapú (Sand-gate) on the sea-shore, and the wall from the Seven Towers to Seraglio-Point, remained free from attack. At the Seven Towers, the poet Ahmed Páshá, disregarding the fire of the infidels made several breaches. At the Silivrí-gate, Haïder Páshá’s fire gave not a moments respite to the infidels. At the new gate (Yení kapú), Mahmúd Páshá, commander of the troops from Aïdín, stormed the wall which he had battered three times without success. The commander at the Tóp kapú-sí was Nishání, also called Karamání Mohammed Páshá, a disciple of Jellálu-d-dín Rúmí. He had given devilish (_khabelí_) proofs of his valour in the war against Uzún Hasan. While he stood at the Cannon-gate, not a cannon could the Káfirs discharge. At the Edirneh-gate (Adrianople), the commander was Sa’dí Páshá, who having dwelt along with Jem-Sháh in Firengistán, had learned many thousand military arts. Being united heart and soul with the valiant men from Isfendiyár stationed at that gate, they vied with him in their heroic deeds, remembering the prophetic tradition that says “We shall be the conquerors of Kostantaniyyeh” (Constantinople). Seven places are yet shewn near that gate where they battered down the wall. Hersek-Oghlú Ahmed Páshá had the command at the Crooked-gate (Egrí-kapú), where by many straight-forward blows he sidled himself into the midst of the infidels till he reduced them all to a mummy.

In this way Kostantaniyyeh had been besieged for twenty days, without any signs of its being conquered. The Moslem warriors, the seventy Unitarians, and three thousand learned ’Ulemás, favourites of God (Evliyá-llah), masters of the decrees of the four orthodox sects, began to be afflicted by the length of the siege, and with one accord offered up their prayers to the Creator for his aid, when suddenly there was darkness over Islámból, with thunder and lightning; a fire was seen to ascend to the vault of heaven from the Atmeïdán; the strongest buildings flew into the air, and were scattered over sea and land. On that day three thousand infidels fled from the city, through alarm and terror. Some were honoured by the profession of Islám, and admitted into the emperors service; others fled to different countries; but the rest, who would not abandon the faith of the Messiah, set to work to repair the breaches, and continued firm in their resistance. They were much pressed, however, by want of food and ammunition.