Part 14

The workmen are clever in all kind of handicraft, but the tailors and cotton beaters are the most famous, as well as the barbers and confectioners. In the time of the Amalekites, the river Túzánlí did not pass through the town; it was Ferhád, the lover of Shirín, who cut these mountains like cheese, and the traces of his work is yet to be seen in the mountains on the west side of the town.

The situation of this town in a deep valley, and on the banks of a river, contributes to the mildness of the air, and the riches of its cultivation. The windows of the houses look to the west and north; the winter is temperate. The water which Ferhád carried to the town from the opposite mountains is delightful; it is distributed from house to house.

_Of the Walks, and Pilgrimages or Tombs._

There are seventy different walks; the first is that of the bloody fountain (Kánlí bínar;) it is so called because a wicked old woman having brought false news to Ferhád here, of Sherín’s death, he threw his hatchet into the air, and himself down the precipice, by which means he was killed.

The tomb of Ottoman Princes, who are buried in the cypress wood, their names I do not know; the tomb of Zekeria Khalvetí, he was the first disciple of Pír Elias, and is buried near the saddlers’ shops (Serrájiler). The pilgrimage of the Sultán of the faith, the Simorgh of truth Sheikh Abd-ur-rahman Ben Hassám-ud-dín Gomishlí-zadeh, he is the nephew of Pír Elias, and was a dervish of the order of Khalvetí, of whom many miracles are related. The three Princes, sons of Murad II. having visited this Sheikh, two of them kissed his hand, and the third, Mohammed, kissed his feet. The Sheihk took the handkerchief (Reda) he wore on his neck, tied it round the neck of Prince Mohammed, and admonished him to take care of the Moslíms at Constantinople. This Sheikh has left many poems on divine love; his poetical name is Hossámí. His tomb is near that of Pír Elias, in the convent of Yakúb Páshá. Molla Kassem Khatíb Ben Yakúb, who was born and buried at Amasia, one of the deepest of learned divines. Molla Ala-ud-dín Ilíkámi, born and buried at Amasia. Molla Abd-ul-jebbár Ajemí, near the tomb of the Ottoman Princes. Molla Abd-ur-rahman Ben Ali Ben Moyed, born and buried at Amasia. The Sultán of poets, Munírí Efendí, born and buried at Amasia, he improvisated Arabic, Turkish, and Persian poems, and was one of the Vezírs of Prince Ahmed, when Governor of Amasia. The excellent female poet, Mihrmáh Khatún, descending from Pír Elias’s family, was a virtuous lady like Rábie Adúye, who knew seventy scientific books by heart, and beat the most learned men in disputing: her true name being Mihrmáh, she took the name of Mihrí for her poetical surname; she left a Diván, and some theological treatises, and was buried near her grandfather, Sheikh Pír Elias.

Pilgrimage of the Pole of Poles, the Sheikh, _par excellence_, the cream of saints, the column of the Princes, Sheikh Pír Elias. He was one of the Sheikhs of Sultán Bayazíd I., and went with Timúr to Shirván, from whence he returned to Amasia, his birth-place, where he is buried on an elevated spot, called Sevádie, near Amasia. He is famed for many miracles, one of the most celebrated is, that when his corpse was washed, he straightened the hand which had been placed crooked by the washing-man. His mausoleum, with all the foundations belonging to it, was erected by Bayazíd II., son of Sultán Mohammed II. Strangers and poor persons are here most liberally entertained. Praise be to God, that I was so happy as to visit it, and to finish a complete lecture of the Korán there. The pilgrimage of Kelíj Arslán, a Sheikh of the Mevlevís, buried in the convent of that order. The pilgrimage of Ferhád; he is buried on the top of the mountain which he cut for the love of Sherín, and the old woman who was the cause of his death is buried between him and his mistress. The thistles and thorns which grow on the tomb of the old woman prevent the flowers uniting, which grow on the tombs of Ferhád and Sherín.

There are a great number of pilgrimages of great and holy men, but I visited only those I have given an account of, and at each, in honour of their souls, said the Súra Yass, asking for their spiritual assistance. On the third day of our stay the clarions of departure sounded; we took leave of our friends, and travelled the same day through the mountains of Chengelli-bíl, reaching, after six hours march, the station of Kánlí-bínár, which is the spot where Ferhád killed himself. It is a pleasant place, with a luxuriant spring of most delightful water. We watered our horses here, and pitched our tents, and continued our road next morning towards the north for seven hours. We arrived at the village of Ezíl, a district belonging to Amasia, three hundred houses with gardens, a khán, a mosque, and a bath.

_The Town and Castle of Nígíssár._

The next day we reached, in eight hours time, the seat of the Dánishmend family, the old town and stronghold of Nígíssár. Its builder was a Greek Emperor; it was conquered in the year 476 (1083) by Sultan Melek Ghází, of the Dánishmend family, and became the seat of this dynasty; their second residence was Amasia. The Seljúks, who anxiously wished to possess it, laid siege to it several times without success. Its name is a corruption of Níg-hissár, the good castle. It is an ancient, strong-built castle, on a limestone rock, five hundred and sixty paces in circumference, of an hexagon shape: the three gates face the east, west, and south; within the castle are three hundred houses and magazines, and a mosque, which was formerly a church. The garrison is small in number, because it is not a frontier fortress; they only keep watch against rebels; the lower suburb is a large town, but its streets being narrow, and going continually up and down hill, it is with difficulty that a horseman can make his way to the market-place, and for a waggon to do so is out of the question. This town belongs to the khass of the Páshá of Sivás, the residence of a Súbashí of seven hundred purses’ revenue, the judge is appointed with one hundred and fifty aspers, and there is a Muftí, Nakíb, Serdár, and Kiaya-yerí. The town comprises forty-three quarters, with sixty mihráb (Jámí and Mesjids), of which nine are Friday mosques, wherein the Khutbe is performed. The mosque of the castle was formerly a church, an ancient place of worship. To the mosque of Melek Ghází, the visitor descends by five or six steps; it has a slender, thin, well-proportioned minareh: its equal is not to be seen elsewhere. The mosque of Chaplakáneh is faced with bricks. At the west end of the town is the mosque of Júregí; outside of the castle is the mosque of Khalíl Efendí, just finished, faced with brick; also outside of the castle is the mosque of the Muftí. The houses of the town, in the valley, and on the hill, ascending one above the other, are two thousand seven hundred in number, faced either with earth or bricks. There are three baths, viz., that of the Muftí in the castle, that of Chaplakháneh outside of the castle, and that of the Infidels, also outside of the castle, besides forty-five private baths in the palaces.

_The Hot-spring of Nigíssár._

It is a small hot-bath outside of the town to the south; the women and boys of the town wash their clothes here; it is a well-flavoured water, has no sulphurous smell, and is useful as a remedy in leprous and arthritic diseases. It is visited every year, in the month of July, by a great number of people, who amuse themselves for a month, and then return to their homes. There is a college, and house for reading of the Korán and tradition, but no kitchen for the poor; there are seventy schools for boys. The inhabitants are an honest set of people, with some beautiful women amongst them. There are seven convents, the first of which is the great convent of Chevregí; that of Elias-dedeh is not less famous. There are a great number of springs and fountains, which move as many corn and fulling mills, also five hundred elegant shops, but no Bezestán. The narrow street, which leads down from the castle, is lined on both sides with shoemakers’ shops; the principal streets are paved with large slabs. The inhabitants are fresh-coloured lively looking Turks, who pay great attention to strangers. Among the eatables, pomegranates are much famed; they each weigh an occa, and some even as much as five hundred dirhems, and are of the size of a man’s head. The cheese, Kufte and Passdagh of this place are famous; the environs are laid out in rice plantations (Cheltuk). The Black Sea is two journies distance from this place.

_Pilgrimages of Nígíssár._

The conqueror of Nígíssár, Melek Ghází, of the Dánishmend family, is buried near the castle gate. God’s mercy be upon him! Chevregí-boyúk Sultán lies near the great mosque, beneath a cupola. We left this town and advanced towards the east, through mountains and forests. After six hours march we reached Kariebásh Chiftlik, the frontier of Sivás, here bordering the governorships of Erzerúm, with two hundred Armenian houses, and a ziamet. The next day, as soon as we trod the ground of Erzerúm, we offered up a sacrifice of two hundred and seven camels, and the inhabitants of Erzerúm, with the Kiaya of the Chaúshes, the Defter-Emíní, the Chaúshlar-Emíní, the Timár Defterdárí, and other gentlemen of the Diván at their head, came to meet us with presents.

_The Governorship of Erzerúm or Erzenrúm._

It is situated in Azerbeíján and Armenia, and, according to some, erected by Núrshiván; but the truth is that it was by Erzenbaí Ben Softár Ben Kúndúz, of the dynasty of the White Sheep, whose ancestors had come from Mahán, and built the castle of Akhlát, on the borders of the lake Wán; they are all buried at Akhlát, and the ancestors of the Ottomans, Ertoghrúl and Súleimán, derive their lineage from them. Uzún Hassan, having become master of Azerbeiján, built the castle called Hassan, after his name, at Erzerúm. Envious of the conquest of Constantinople by Mohammed II., he began to trespass on the frontiers, and to violate the peace. Mohammed II., in defiance of him, conquered Trebisonde, and defeated him with twenty thousand men in the field of Terjeán. With great difficulty we traversed the rude pass of Iskefser, and in three hours we reached Shákhna, an Armenian village of two hundred houses, where the Armenian girls are wonderfully pretty. From Constantinople to this place we had constantly ascended towards the east, and all the rivers were flowing from that direction towards us; this will show on what high ground Erzerúm is situated. From Shákhna we crossed the Governorship of Erzerúm, which was our allotted province, in different directions to the south, north, east, and west, and shall now describe the stations of these our excursions.

Tekine is a village in the jurisdiction of Iskefser, with one hundred houses, a ziámet. Five hours further on is the village of Chádár, of one hundred houses, in the jurisdiction of Koilí. The castle of Koilí was built by Usún Hassan, from fear of Mohammed II.; it belongs to the sanjak Shuban Kara Hissár, in the province of Erzerúm; it is situated on a high rock, and is one thousand three hundred paces in circumference. Inside are one hundred houses and magazines, an iron gate opens to the west; it has a commander and seventy men; the suburb outside consists of one hundred houses, a mosque and some shops. The castle saluted us with seventeen guns, and the inhabitants met us with presents; they slaughtered ten sheep as a sacrifice, for which they received ten ducats. Two stations north of this village, on the shore of the Black Sea, is Baihssa-bazárí, which a man on foot may reach in one day. In the reign of Ahmed I. the Cossacks of Oczakov pillaged this place: the environs being gardens and flowery meadows are extremely favourable to bees, and the honey of Koilí-hissár, scented with musk and ambergris, is famous; the inhabitants are a turbulent set of people. We descended a deep precipice, and after seven hours reached the village of Doirán. The river here issues from the mountains of Kerkúk, is joined by several streams from the mountains of Koilí-hissár, and below Chehárshenbe by the river of that name, which passes Amasia. The Kerkúk is an excellent freshwater river. The village of Doirán, situated on its banks, in the valley of Akshár, consists of one hundred houses. We now went towards the east four hours, to Anderes on the frontier of Shuban Kara-hissár, in the valley of Akshár, a village of one hundred houses. Having marched two hours towards the east, we reached the Chiftlik of Tabán Ahmed Agha, where the Páshá was presented with an Arabian horse, and with twenty horses for his suite, three thousand sheep, seven strings of camels, seven of mules, and ten purses; it was a great festival, worthy of the Ottoman court itself. In recompense for this great festival, the giver of it, Ahmed Agha, was imprisoned in the Kiaya’s room, and bought his life by the payment of forty purses and seventy camels, by which opportunity I also got a horse. Two hours further on lies the village of Ezbeder, in the territory of Shuban Kara-hissár, an Armenian village surrounded with gardens. Four hours further we reached the valley of Tilismát Za’aba; the torrent of Tilismát Za’aba issues from the neighbouring mountains, and falls into the river Akhlát; there are one hundred houses here built upon rocky ground; the subjects here are all Armenians. A cave is still shown in which there was formerly a treasure, guarded by two swords, which were continually moving up and down, a mast has many times been put beneath them and instantly cut through; a magician has since got possession of the treasure, but the cave still remains to be seen. There is, besides, another talisman somewhere hereabout, but I have not seen it. Five hours from hence is the village Yakúb, on the frontier of Shuban Kara; three hours further on, that of Korkún Kiassí, and in one hour more, the village of Barú; after which we came through the pass of Tekmán, which is closed by the winter for seven or eight months. After having got through it with much difficulty, we reached Kázíoghlíkoí, an Armenian village. Four hours further is the castle of Shírán, on the frontier of Shuban Kara; in four hours the village of Kara Jalar; in five hours the village of Sáríchalar, inhabited by Moslíms and Armenians; in eight hours the village of Sálút, the pass of which we traversed with considerable trouble, and for the space of five hours were crossing the great plain of Kerkúk. At the end of this plain is the village of Genj Mohammed Agha, with two hundred houses and a mosque, on the frontier of the district of Shuban Kara-hissár; five hours to the east is the village of Keremlí, inhabited by Moslíms and Armenians; opposite to it, on a hill, lies the Castle of Dermerí, built in the reign of Sultán Ahmed from fear of the rebels; it is a small castle with a gate to the north, without commander and garrison. Here the Páshá made an excursion (Ilghár), with three hundred horsemen, and we arrived, at the end of twelve hours, at Chághir Kánlí Sultán, who was a great Sheikh in the time of Sultán Mohammed II. His tomb is adorned with several lamps (chirághdán), candelabras (shemidán), censers (búkhúrdán), and vases for sprinkling rose-water (gulábdán). It is a reverential place, where prayers are put up to Heaven. I visited it, and read the Súra Yass there; through the sanctity of this saint the country abounds with cattle. Two Chiftliks are exempted by Imperial diploma from all taxes; the village consists of three hundred houses, with a mosque and a convent, the dervishes of which go bareheaded and barefooted, and wear their hair long. The people carry wooden clubs in their hands, some of them crooked sticks (litúi). They all came to wait on the Páshá, and to exhibit the grants of their foundation. The Páshá asked from whence they dated their immunity, and they invited him to visit their place of devotion (Sema’ákháneh). We followed them to a large place where a great fire was lighted of more than forty waggon-loads of wood, and forty victims sacrificed. They assigned a place for the Páshá at a distance from the fire, and began to dance round it, playing their drums and flutes, and crying “Hú!” and “Allah!” This circular motion being continued for an hour, about an hundred of these dervishes naked, took their children by the hand, and entered the fire, the flames of which towered like the pile of Nimrod, crying “O all constant! O all vivifying!” At the end of half an hour, they came out of the fire, without the least hurt except the singeing of their hair and beards, some of them retiring to their cells, instead of coming before the Páshá, who remained much astonished. They then gave a feast to the Páshá, which was even greater than Ahmed Tabán’s feast. It was surprising that they were enabled to prepare such a feast in so short a time, as the Páshá had arrived suddenly, and by a by-road. The Páshá confirmed their immunities, and gave them a present of one hundred ducats. In sixteen hours more we came to the plain of Terján. The mosque of Sultán Hassan is a praiseworthy monument of Uzún Hassan, but ít stands alone here. Uzún Hassan, who liked the situation, intended to build a town here bearing his name, but Sultán Mohammed II. destroyed all his projects by the famous battle, which was fought on this plain; it was a scene of great slaughter, even now the peasants find bones and hidden treasures when ploughing the field. We crossed this plain hastily, and in eight hours reached the village, where the Kiaya of the Chaúshes had provided a great feast for the Páshá, and presented him with five horses, five purses, and three Georgian slaves. At the end of five hours we reached the village of Púlúr, and in four hours that of Terjánlí Alí Agha, an Armenian village of three hundred houses, a mosque and a bath. Alí Agha gave a grand repast here, accompanied with a present of ten horses, ten purses, ten strings of camels, and five of mules. We went from hence nine hours further, to the village of Mama Khatún, in the district of Erzerúm, consisting of one hundred Mussulman houses; it is a free ziámet.

_Pilgrimage of Mama Khatún._

This lady is buried beneath a cupola, at the foot of a rock; she was the daughter of one of the Princes of the Aúk Koyúnlí, and lies buried here with all her children, but without any keeper attached to her mausoleum, she is buried in a marble coffin; near it is a mosque and a bath. Six hours further is the village of Habs, at the western end of the plain of Erzerúm; it consists of one hundred and fifty Armenian houses. All the principal men of Erzerúm came to this place with presents to meet the Páshá’s Diván. We proceeded with a large retinue for the space of five hours, to the hot-bath, which is also situated at the western end of the plain of Erzerúm, and where every year some person or other is drowned. It is a very useful bath, but too warm to be used without a mixture of cold water. Some of the former princes have built a dressing-room here (jámeghán), and a basin (havúz): the climate is pleasant. The Motesellem Mustafa Agha, here presented the Páshá with an Arabian racehorse, caparisoned with jewels, a sable pelisse, a quiver, and a sword set with jewels, a dagger and a girdle, and ten racehorses, mounted by ten Georgian boys, all armed. His three hundred and seventy slaves were clad in showy dresses, like so many waiting youths in Paradise. He gave also to me, poor Evliyá, a sable fur, some cloth, and one hundred piastres, because I had been master to his son for some time. Our arrival at this hot-bath was exactly the seventieth journey we had made since we left Constantinople, and an entrance in grand procession was organized, which outrivalled in brilliancy those of the greatest Vezírs. Indeed, the Páshá was a Commander-in-Chief (Serdár), who by Imperial rescript (Khattí Sheríf) was allowed even to use the Túghra, or cypher of the Sultán. The troops of Erzerúm paraded on both sides of the way from this hot bath, which is six hours distance from Erzerúm, up to the gates of the town; with cuirasses and casques, bearing long lances, their horses being adorned with knots of sea-horses’ bristles, and various other trappings. The Páshá was surrounded by eight body-guards (Shátir), who wore golden caps on their heads, carried battle-axes in their hands, had golden girdles, and splendid caftáns, walking like the peacocks of Paradise. On the right and left of the Páshá walked the Matarají-bashí (keeper of the leaden bottle, which contains the water for purification), and the Tufenkjí-bashí, or head of the fuzileers, bearing a water-bottle set with jewels, and muskets of costly workmanship. The Páshá passed between two lines, greeting both sides, and the people returned his salute. Four hundred Ulemás all clad in armour were headed by the Imám, and I, poor Evliya, as Múëzzin. Behind us followed the treasurer and the standard-bearer, with the eightfold Turkish music. The Tátár troops, the Muteferrika, the chamberlains, passed, all clad in armour. As soon as the procession drew near Erzerúm, the fortress began to salute by firing the great guns from the highest tower, called Kessik Kala’á, as a selám aleikum, after which the Janissaries fired the guns of the inner castle, and so continued during the procession. But when the Páshá himself entered the gate of Erzenján, the six hundred and seventy guns, which compose the artillery of the fortress, were all discharged at once, and the skies were rent and the earth trembled. Seven regiments of Janissaries lined the way from the gates of the town to the gates of the palace, ready to salute the Páshá, who, as soon as he had entered the palace, was saluted once more by a general discharge of the artillery on the walls. Many hundred victims were sacrificed, and a splendid repast equal to that of Mádí Kerb followed. After dinner the music played, and a diván was held, wherein, after the decision of many lawsuits, the twenty-seven Aghas of the castle, those of the Janissaries, artillerymen, armourers, &c., were invested with seventy brilliant robes of honour, and Molla Chelebí Efendí, the relation of Emír Bokhara, with a green sable pelisse. I received a caftán in my degree of clerk of the custom-house. The governor then most graciously assigned me a lodging in the palace built by Tekelí Mustafa Páshá, where I lived quietly, sometimes keeping company with the Governor, and at others discharging the functions of clerk of the custom-house. I had full opportunity of acquiring the most perfect knowledge of the state of Erzerúm, as I was allowed to see all the kanúns, registers, and protocols.

_Description of the Fortress of Erzerúm._