Part 20

We now passed on towards the east where the river of Karajubúk issues from the mountains of Joris, and then joins the Araxes; in the summer months this river may be crossed by sheep and goats. We advanced to the north amidst Kents for four hours to Kent Hallí, on the frontier of Eriván; five hundred houses with gardens, a mosque and a bath, on the banks of the Hallí river, which issues from the mountains of Sepend and joins the Aras. Passing on to the north through woods, we came after eight hours march to the pleasant meadow of Tútolúmí, where there are some hundred shady trees, but no village. The Daroghas and Kelenters of the neighbouring kents flocked together to furnish us with necessary provisions. We passed one night here, and next day continued our journey along the Aras, crossed it, and came to Kent Kagáj situated on the eastern bank of the Aras; it has a mosque, a khán, a bath, and three hundred houses, with a great number of rice fields. We passed through sandy ground with great dust, nine hours to the north, and reached Kent Ashárlí in the territory of Eriván, with a thousand houses, a mosque, a khán, and a bath; its product is rice; it takes its name from the inhabitants, who belong to the tribe Ashárlí. Travelling along the Aras through well cultivated fields and gardens, we reached after seven hours the town of Shúreglí, the seat of a Sultán, who commands one thousand horsemen; there is a mosque, a khán and a bath. After ten hours we came to Sheráb Khán with five hundred houses, a mosque and a khán; then to Kent Seif-ud-dín on the frontier of Eriván, and on the banks of the Aras, it was built by Seifkúlí the Khán of Eriván, and belongs to the khass of Eriván, there are a hundred and eighty houses, a mosque, and some plantations of rice. Five hours further to the north along the Aras is the Kent Tílfirák, of a thousand houses, a mosque, a convent, a khán, a bath, and plantations of rice. At the time of the siege of Eriván, Murad IV. cut down seventy thousand trees which were used as bulwarks, but since that time an immense number of trees have grown again. We sent a message from hence to the Khán of Eriván, next day crossed a lively river, halted on a meadow, and met a great procession (Alaï,) which was the Kiaya of the Khán of Eriván who was sent to meet us (Istikbál); we made our entrance into Eriván with him, were saluted by twenty guns, and lodged in a palace of the Khán. Hassan Beg went on from hence with the letters and presents of the Khán of Tabríz to Erzerúm, and I occupied myself in delivering those for the Khán of Eriván.

_Description of the Town of Eriván (Reván)._

In the year 810 (1407) Khoja Khán Lejchání, a rich merchant of Timúr’s suite settled here with all his family and servants, cultivating plantations of rice, by which means a great Kent was soon formed. Five years later Sháh Ismail gave to Reván Kúl, one of his Kháns, an order to build a castle here, which being finished in seven years, was named after him, Reván or Eriván. It is situated on the eastern bank of the Zenghí river, and is of brick and stone. In the year 995 (1586) Súleimán Khán, having undertaken the expedition against Nakhshiván, pillaged Eriván, and returned to his residence with immense booty. In the reign of Murad III. Ferhád Páshá, his general, pillaged Kenje, Reván, Shamákhí and Nakhshiván, destroyed the palaces of the son of the Sháh, killed a great number of Persians, fixed his camp before the castle, and assembled a council of war to deliberate on the siege, and begun it by digging a ditch on the bank of the Zenghí from south to north. By the exertion of all the siege was finished in forty days. Jigálazadeh Yússúf Páshá, who had been bred in the Turkish Harím, was named the first Commander of Eriván with a garrison of seventy thousand men. Ferhád Páshá, took care of the repair of the castle of Shúreglí and Karss, and filled them with Moslim troops. In the same way the castle of Erdehán and Akhichka were garrisoned, and Ferhád Páshá returned to Constantinople. Under the government of Jigálazadeh Yússúf Páshá, the town of Eriván was even in a more flourishing state than in Súleimán’s time, and the neighbouring villages grew thereby populous. In the year 1011 (1602), the Persians having usurped the possession of the castles of the Genge and Shirván, forced the garrison of Eriván, which had received no succour from Erzerúm, to surrender to Tokmák Khán, after a siege of seven months; in the year 1037 (1627), the Khán of Eriván, Emírgúneh, having infested the districts of Kághzemán, Karss, Cheldir, Akhichka and Erdehán, and complaints having arrived from the Begs of Georgia and from the Governor of Erzerúm, ambassadors were sent from the Khán of Persia, and at the same time the Imperial tails fixed at Scutari as the signal of Asiatic war. In the following year 1044 (1634) Sultán Murad IV. completed his Imperial camp of Scutarí according to the canons of the Empire, with the greatest splendour and pomp, heaped presents upon his forty thousand janissaries and twenty-two thousand sipáhís, left Bairám Páshá, Kaima Khám at Constantinople, and moved on the 5th of Shewál from Scutari, marching over Konia and Kaissarie to Sivás; at which place he appointed his sword-bearer Mustafa to the office of Second Vezír, and the sword-bearer Mússa Páshá to the post of Quarter-master General. The Nishánjí was made Silihdár, and Melek Ahmed, Chokadár (First Lord in waiting). When he entered Erzerúm report was made to him, that his army then amounted to two hundred thousand men: Jánpúlád-zadeh Mustafa Páshá, the governor of Rúmelí, alone mustered thirty-one thousand men, with seventeen hundred excellent horses; Khalíl Páshá the Governor of Erzerúm fell into disgrace, to the joy of his enemies, the Silihdár Páshá and Murteza Páshá; the government of Erzerúm was conferred on the Governor of Damascus, Kúchúk Ahmed, but the revenues, as barley-money, were given to Silihdár Mustafa Páshá. The army marched in three days to Hassan Kala’assí, and from thence by Karss to Eriván. On the 21st day after having left Erzerúm, the army of two hundred thousand men fixed its camp before Reván. The river Zenghí was crossed in spite of the long guns of the Persians, with which they endeavoured to annoy the Ottoman army. On this occasion it happened that one of the Soláks (bowmen) of the Sultán’s guard, crossing the river on foot by the side of the Sultán’s horse, was carried away by the water, the Sultán having observed it rode after him, caught hold of him by the necklace and dragged him out of the river; this anecdote is much celebrated in Persia. The river being crossed, the trenches were opened, and Jánpúlád-zadeh Páshá entered them with the Rúmelian troops from the side of the gate of Tabríz; on the right Gúnjí Mahomed Páshá with the Asiatic troops entered the trenches, and in the midst of them the grand Vezír Tabání Yassí Mohammed Páshá took his station; the Aghá of the janissaries Kara Mustafa Páshá, with his Kiaya, battered the castle day and night with a battery of twenty guns, and similar batteries were prepared on five sides. One day Sultán Murad himself entered the trenches of the Rúmelian troops, and fired a good shot at the Khán’s palace from the gun called Karabálí. The governor of Erzerúm, Kúchúk Ahmed, battered the castle from the north side, and the Kapúdán Páshá, Delí Hossein, from the hill of Mohana-depeh.

Murteza Páshá, with the Sipáhís, were placed as sentinels on the side of the earth castle, while Mússa and Cana’an Páshá with the Moteferrika kept guard over the Imperial tent. The castle was surrounded by troops in the space of five hours, and every day many thousand Sunnís came to claim mercy. On the ninth day they asked to capitulate, and Emírgúneh brought the keys. The next day the Persian Aghá of the Fusileers, Mír Fettáh, was allowed to kiss the Emperor’s feet, and to return with the garrison to Nakhshiván. Emírgúneh, by birth a Georgian, and Aded Khán kissed the Emperor’s feet, and each received an Imperial tent as a present. The Islamitic prayer was proclaimed, all the banners and standards waving during seven days and nights on the walls; after each prayer the Mohammedan shout (Allah) was repeated three times, and at night a great number of candles and lamps were lighted. The castle was repaired in forty days, and Mustafa Páshá appointed Governor of Eriván, with forty thousand men as garrison. Sultán Murad appointed the Khán Emírgúneh first governor of Haleb, but afterwards removed him and gave the government to Kúchúk Ahmed Páshá. Emírgúneh remained the favourite of Sultán Murad IV. until the death of the Sultán, when he was killed by Kara Mustafa Páshá.

The towns of Shureglí, Joris, Behestán, Khúí, Ordúbárí and Tabríz were pillaged during seven days and nights, together with the castles of Bágjenán, Aján, Kuherán, Kúmla, Merend, and Selmás, after which havoc he returned by Betlis, and Diarbekr to Constantinople. The Sháh then laid siege to Eriván for the space of seven months, which received no relief on account of the enmity existing between the Grand Vezír Tabání Yassí and Murteza Páshá, who was shut up in Eriván. The latter having no subsistence left, killed himself by swallowing his diamond ring, and the next day the whole garrison, half naked and starved, threw themselves on the mercy of the Persians and were killed by them, a great number being driven into the Aras, of whom a few being saved by charitable Sunnís fled to Karss and Bayazíd. Sultán Murad IV. hearing this sad account, girt himself on two sides with the sword of religious zeal and high enterprise, with the intention to conquer Baghdád, and to deliver the tomb of the great Imám Na’amán Ben Thábet out of the hands of the Infidels.

Eriván meanwhile remained in the hands of the Persians, who increased its flourishing state; it could not however resist an assault of the Ottoman army for seven days, because it is only surrounded by a simple wall. It is situated on the bank of the Zenghí, extending from the south to the north, having so little breadth, that the balls fired on it by Sultán Murad bounded from one extremity of the town to the other; many of these balls are even now seen fixed in the towers. The walls built by Ferhád Páshá are forty royal cubits high; those built by Tokmák Khán, fifty cubits high and twenty broad; it has no ditch on the side of the Zenghí, but it has a wall on the south, north and east sides, which however is not deep, being a marshy ground. It has three iron gates; to the south, the gate of Tabríz; to the north, the gate of the Meidán called Yaila Kapússí, on this spot they play Maïl; to the west, the gate of the bridge; there are seven hundred cannons large and small, which remained from the time of the Ottomans, and an immense number of other stores, because it is the frontier of Azerbeiján. It is garrisoned by three thousand men of the fortress, three thousand men of the Khán, and seven thousand men of the province. Sometimes its Khán enjoyed the title of Khán of Kháns. A judge, Nakíb, Kelenter, Darogha, Múnshí, Yessaúl-aghá, Kúrújí, Ishek Aghá, Dízchoken Aghá, seven Mihmandárs and Sháhbenders, keep public order. The town consists of one thousand and sixty elegant houses covered with earth, the best is the palace of the Khán much embellished by Emírgúneh. Near it is the mint where large and small silver coins (Abbássí and Bestí) are coined. The suburb outside of Yaila Kapússí is called the old town; at the head of the bridge is the Khán’s garden, and a suburb with mosque and bath. In the year 1045 (1635), when the Persians conquered this fortress, they also built a castle on the east side, with walls of clay and straw, which is even more solid than stone. At the time I was looking at all the curiosities of Eriván, I received an invitation from the Khán to assist at the ceremony of the circumcision of his sons. His Kiaya gave me ten tománs of Abbássí, for the expenses of the journey, and I began my journey from Eriván to Shirván, by Shamákhí, Tiflís, Termís, Aras and Bakú. We first travelled to the north through cultivated fields of rice, along the river Zenghí to Kent Khoja, the khass of the Khán of Eriván, with five hundred houses, a mosque and a bath; then fourteen hours further to Kent Demijí Hassan, which was anciently a town of the Turcomans, and is even now inhabited by a Turcoman tribe. It was destroyed by Murád IV. We arrived at last at Genje.

_Description of the important town of Genje._

It was wrested from the hands of Sháh Tahmás, in the year 1014 (1065), by Kojá Ferhád Páshá. At the time when Mohammed Páshá the Kiaya of Sárí Ahmed Páshá, was governor of Genje, the Sháh besieged it for seven months, and killed the whole garrison. Since that time it remained in the possession of the Persians, a large town, but the Sháh destroyed its castle; it is now an elegant town of six thousand houses with gardens and vineyards, a khán, a bath, and imáret, situated in a large plain. Its gardens are watered by the Kúrek, which joins the Kúr; the Kiblah side of the town is a mountainous tract, and the foot of the mountains is cultivated in gardens and vineyards; the silk of Genje is famous. On the plain round Genje are seven districts of Infidel villages, where cotton, silk and rice are cultivated; here are rich Moghs (ancient Persians, worshippers of fire) and beautiful youth of both sexes; the horse-shoes of Genje are not less famous than the silk. The town is governed by a Khán, who commands three thousand men. The public officers (the Khán included) are twelve in number, in honour of the twelve Imáms. Its first Ottoman governor was Khádim Hassan, who conquered Berda’a.

_Pilgrimages (or Tombs) of Martyrs._

Twelve thousand Moslims, who had surrendered the castle by capitulation to the Sháh, were unmercifully killed, and are now buried outside the town in a place called Shohedaí Ervám (martyrs of Rúm). We remained three days as guests in the khán of the town, and continued our journey with about fifty companions to the north; on our right was the Khánlik of Loristán. After seven hours march we arrived at Gilkzár Ahmedí, formerly a town, but now a kent of seven hundred houses, the khass of the Khán of Genje, with a mosque, a khán, and a bath; fine silk is manufactured here. Nine hours further, is the Kent of Megúchúr of seven hundred houses, with a mosque, and a fine garden. On the opposite shore of the Kúr is a great kent called Kendere; we passed in boats to Megúchúr, the frontier of Genje, and after eight hours we reached the great town of Aras.

The town of Aras was built by Keyúmerth, and conquered in the year 985 (1577), by Kara Mustafa Páshá, the Vezír of Murad III. Emír Khán arrived with forty thousand men to succour the town, and finding it taken he fought a battle, which terminated in his being made prisoner, and all his troops consisting of Turcomans, Koks, Doláks, and Georgians were dispersed. They were routed for the second time by the Kiaya of Uzdemir-oghlí on the banks of the Kúr river which swallowed up a great number of them, the bridge having broken down under the weight of the fugitives; their bones are yet seen in heaps, and the bridge still lies in ruins. The Turkish general having convinced himself of the importance of the town of Aras, situated between Genje and Shirván, collected masons and workmen, and enclosed the town with a wall, including the garden Sháh Khiabán, which was outside of the town; three gates led through this wall of clay, the circumference of which is nine thousand six hundred paces. It was finished in forty days, and the governorship, with the rank of a Begler Beg, conferred on Kaitáss-Beg, who had been brought up in the Harím of Sultán Murad. From its situation at the foot of a mountain, the town resembles that of Brússa, surrounded with gardens of fruits and flowers, vineyards and rosebeds. It consists of ten thousand houses with terraces, and forty mosques; in the castle are those of Murad III., of Ferhád Páshá, and of Kara Sinán. The Turkomans and Komúks of Dághistán, pronounce the name of this town Arash. In the beginning of the reign of Sultán Mustafa, this town like that of Merend fell into the hands of the Persians. Forty quarters may now be reckoned, and as many mosques, sixteen baths, eight hundred shops, and seven coffee-houses. The youth are gazelle-eyed, with faces shining like the sun, because their women are Georgians, Dadiáns, Achikbásh, and Shúshád. The air is mild and the water of the royal mountain (Sháhkúh) most excellent. Around it are seven great districts each of which reckons one hundred populous kents, the most populous is that of Levend Khán near Aras. On crossing the bridge of Uzdemir-oghlí Osmán Páshá, the traveller arrives at the district of Palvanaí, and the district of Shair Abadán, where a castle is seen on a rock, the name of which I do not remember.

The royal mount, opposite the town, is the summer abode of the Turcomans. Amidst the districts of Aras is also that of Shekí, which is now governed by the governor of Aras, though it was sometimes ruled by the power of the Princes of Dághistán. The Khán of Aras leads twenty-three thousand men into the field. Twelve public officers keep order in the town. After a stay of three days in this town, we advanced to the north, and after two stations reached the castle of Shekí.

_Description of the Castle of Shekí._

It was built by Alexander a Prince of the Shúshads, from whose hands it passed into those of the Prince of Dághistán, and then into those of the Persians. Lala Kara Mustafa Páshá, the Vezír of Murad III. conquered it, and it was conferred on Erkelád Beg, the son of Levend Khán. In the beginning of the reign of Sultán Mustafa it returned into the possession of the Persians, and is now the seat of a Sultán, who commands one thousand men. It is a nice castle built on a rock, its circuit three thousand paces, a ditch is not required; its two gates are that of Genje and that of Shirván; though situated on the frontier of Dághistán it is reckoned to belong to Georgia, the more so as its builder was a Georgian; there are three thousand houses, and seven mihrabs; in the market is the mosque of Mirza Alí Beg, in the castle that of Lagúsh-oghlí Ahmed Beg; that of Murad III. is falling into decay. In the gardens great quantities of silk are produced. At a journey’s distance east of this castle passes the river Kanúk, flowing into the Zenghí. Advancing to the north, we crossed the river of Uzdemir-oghlí Osmán Páshá and arrived at the place Koyún-gechid, where we saw piles of human bones; our companion Yasser Alí Aghá told us, that it was on this spot that Mustafa Páshá, the general of Murad III., was attacked by the Kháns of Tabríz, Lor, Nakhshiván, and Karabágh, who with more than two hundred thousand men surrounded him. Koja Lala Mustafa Páshá ordered a general attack, which was instantly made on one side by Uzdemir-oghlí, on the second by Mohammed, the governor of Haleb, and on the third by Mustafa, the governor of Mera’ash, who cut to pieces more than a thousand men, and drove the rest like sheep to the ferry of Koyún-gechid, where a great many of them were drowned, some in the river Kanúk and some in the Kapúr. In short there remained altogether more than forty thousand men on the field of battle, whose bones are piled up as an everlasting monument; I said a Fátihah for their souls, and crossed the sheep’s ferry. Further on to the north we passed the white river (Aksú), which is called by the Persians the river of Gilán. It comes from the mountains of Aras, and flows into the Kúr. At the end of three hours we entered the district of Mahmúdabád consisting of two hundred highly cultivated kents, which produce a thousand Yúks of silk, each kent resembling a large town. The inhabitants are Turkománs, Kok, Dulák, Moghols, and Ettels.

_Account of the Tribe of Ettels._

Ettel signifies in the Mogolic language, tongue of dogs; they take this name from their war-cry, which is a kind of howling. Near Márdín, in the sanjak of the mountains, which I entered with Melek Ahmed Páshá, the Ettels are a tribe like that of the hairy Kurds, impure, impious, irreligious robbers, who pretend to be of Hamza’s sect, keep neither prayer-hours nor fasts, are ignorant of moral duties and of God. Seven or eight of them share a woman amongst them; if she gets with child, her seven or eight keepers after some time assemble, and the woman gives an apple into the child’s hand, the man to whom the child gives it is reckoned to be the father, and henceforth the woman belongs exclusively to him, without any man being allowed to raise pretensions to her. The famous sect of the candle-extinguishers (Múm sonduren), must be a branch of them, because I saw or heard nothing of them any where else. It is a certain fact that they drink out of the shoes of their Sháhs, to whom they are most obedient.

The Kaitáks are about twenty thousand men on the frontiers of Dághistán, who sometimes come to the towns of Aras and Shekí; a strange race of men like the beast of the day of judgement, with heads in the form of kettles, brows two fingers broad, shoulders so square that a man may easily stand upon them, thin limbs, round eyes, large heels, and red faces. They pretend to be Sháfítes; if they come to the market of Aras and Shekí, they come on waggons, or ride on buffaloes, because horses and asses could not carry their weight: as they pass with their turbans of the size of a cupola, saluting on both sides with great dignity, they seem to be of the race of Dejál (the Antichrist) true Oghúzians. These Kaitáks come originally from the province of Mahán, are Mogholian Turks, and therefore speak the Mogolic language, of which I could only collect a few words, as I remained but two days among them. I saw these people in the district of Mahmúdabád, and after having travelled further to the north, reached the kent Chailán on the frontier of Shirván on the banks of the river of Guílán, with six hundred houses of Turcomans and Oghúzians. Further on is the town Niázabád on the frontier of Shirván built by Yezdejerd-sháh, great ruins of its ancient magnificence are yet extant, it was ruined by the Moghols, who united with the Komúks and Kaitáks of Dághistán. In the reign of Murad III., Ferhád Páshá fixed his winter quarters here, and levelled the castle, when he left it in the spring. It is now the frontier between Dághistán and Persia, with forty quarters and as many mosques, a khán, bath and market-place, the seat of a Sultán who commands a thousand men. There are twelve magistrates; according to the statement of the Kelenter, there are more than six thousand houses surrounded by gardens. It is a pity that its strong castle lies in ruins; if God should again grant that it be restored to the Ottoman power, it might be easily repaired, and become a very strong castle. This town is surrounded by an endless plain on all four sides.

_Pilgrimage of Ashár-Baba._

Ashár-Baba was one of the disciples of our great ancestor the Turk of Turks, Khoja Ahmed Yessúí; as the rites of Yessúí are liked in Persia the convent at this place is inhabited by more than a hundred Dervishes. It is a general pilgrimage, the inhabitants profess to be of the sect of Hanefí. We here took some companions and advanced to the north to the kent Ferrakhzád on the frontier of Shamákhi, and on the bank of the white river (Aksú) with five hundred houses, a mosque, a khán, a bath and a small market. The mihmándár of this place paid me many attentions. We advanced to the north amongst shady groves, dined at a hunting place of Sháh Khoda-bende, and arrived at Nílchaí, the same as blue river (Goksú), which coming from Dághistán joins the Kúr at this place.

_Praise of Mount Caucasus._