Part 3

It stands near the town on a rocky place, and all the buildings are covered with lead, like those of old Kaplíjeh. It was formerly a small building, but Sultán Súleimán having been cured of the gout here, he ordered his Vezír, Sárí Rostem Páshá, to build a large bath. The travellers of Múltán, Balkh and Bokhara, say, that they have no where seen a bath so magnificent as this. Its dressing-room is a vast place covered with cupolas, capable of holding a thousand men; on its walls is written in Ta’lík letters, a Turkish verse, saying;

“In life on your apparel lay no stress As every body must his body here undress.”

In the centre of this dressing-room is a basin, and in the middle of the basin a fountain. There are more than a hundred inspectors walking round in high pattens, besides clean waiters (Dellák). The interior basin (the bath itself) has a cupola which some say is one hundred cubits high, it is covered with lead, and pierced with six hundred glass windows; the basin is like a sea into which you descend by six marble steps; at its four corners are figures of lions and dragons, which spout the water from their mouths. In the cooling place (Súklik) is a fountain (jet d’eau) which reaches to the top of the house. On the side of the basin are eight large vaults, underneath each of them is a bathing trough of stone, where those who perform their ablutions can see those who swim in the basin. The floor of the whole bath is paved with variegated marble, as though enamelled by goldsmiths. It has two private cabinets (Khalvetí), in that on the right is a small basin, the water of which is extremely warm, but when mixed with that of a cold spring which is adjacent, a proper temperature is obtained. Though this hotbath is not in such good repute as the former, yet it is a pleasant place, where lovers delight with their beloved, especially in the long winter nights; when these baths are lighted with candles, a thousand tricks are played by the bathers, some diving, some swimming, some wrestling in the water, some swelling their aprons into sails, others spouting water from their mouths, some lying dead flat on the water, others joining hands and imitating the cries of boatmen, “Tírá Molá,” drive the water round like a whirlpool, which forces all those who are in the water to follow the quick rotation of it.

There is also a private hotbath, called Kainárjeh, which, with many others, I did not see, because I was a stranger, and only setting out on my travels.

_Description of the Market of Brússa._

There are nine thousand shops. The Bezestán is a large building with four iron gates secured with iron chains; its cupola is supported by strong columns. It contains three hundred shops (doláb) in each of which merchants reside, who are as rich as the kings of Egypt. The market of the goldsmiths is outside the bezestán, and separate from it; the shops are all of stone. There are also the markets of the tailors, cotton-beaters, capmakers, thread merchants, drapers, linen merchants, cable merchants, and that called the market of the bride, where essence of roses, musk, ambergris, &c. are sold. The brains of the passers by are refreshed with the most delicious odours, and nobody is willing to leave it on account of the fragrance of the perfumes and the politeness of its merchants. These markets are established around the Bezestán, and the shops are arranged in rows. In each corner is a fountain supplying water out of two pipes. In the summer months the servants sprinkle the ground with water, so that the whole market resembles a serdáb or cooling place of Baghdád. The principal men of Brússa sit here during the hottest hours of the day. According to the descriptions of travellers there is no where to be found so pleasant a market place. The market of Haleb and of Alí Páshá at Adrianople are famous, but neither they, nor even those of Constantinople, are to be compared with the markets of Brússa. The saddlers, and the long market are the most crowded; and the one occupied by the sellers of roast meat near the rice khán is very elegant. None of the provisions at Brússa are sold by Infidels but all by true Moslims. The shops of the Sherbet-merchants are adorned with all sorts of cups, and in the summer-time they put flowers into the sherbet and also mix rosewater with it, which is not the custom any where else. The fruit merchants ornament their shops with branches bearing fruit. There are seventy-five coffee-houses each capable of holding a thousand persons, which are frequented by the most elegant and learned of the inhabitants; and three times a day singers and dancers execute a musical concert in them like those of Hossein Bikara. Their poets are so many Hassáns, and their story-tellers (Meddáh) so many Abúl-ma’álí. The one most famous for relating stories from the Hamzeh-námeh is Kúrbání Alí, and Sheríf Chelebí enchanted his hearers by those he told from the Sháh-námeh. Other story-tellers (Kissah Khán) were famous for reciting the tales of Abú Moslem the hatchet-bearer, which may be compared to the memoirs (Seir) of Weissi. All coffee-houses, and particularly those near the great mosque, abound with men skilled in a thousand arts (Hezár-fenn) dancing and pleasure continue the whole night, and in the morning every body goes to the mosque. These coffee-houses became famous only since those of Constantinople were closed by the express command of Sultán Murád IV. There are also no less than ninety-seven Búza-houses, which are not to be equalled in the world; they are wainscoted with fayence, painted, each capable of accommodating one thousand men. In summer the Búza is cooled in ice, like sherbet; the principal men of the town are not ashamed to enter these Búza-houses, although abundance of youths, dancers and singers, girt with Brússa girdles, here entice their lovers to ruin. The roads are paved with large flint-stones, a kind of paving not met with elsewhere; these stones are not the least worn by age, but they are dangerous for horses, who stumble on them because they are so hard and bright.

_Description of the bridge of Erghándí._

A market for weavers is established on both sides of the bridge of Erghándí at Gokdereh (the valley of Olympus) the small windows of each shop look on to the torrent of Gokdereh, which flows beneath. The shops are covered with lead, and the bridge is shut in on two sides by iron gates pierced with loopholes. A part of the bridge is reserved for the use of strangers to fasten up their horses. There is no covered bridge like this, either in Arabia, Persia or Turkey. The name of this bridge, Erghándí, is derived from the word Erghalándí, which signifies, “it has been shaken,” and to which the following tradition is attached:—

In the time of Sultán Orkhán, a warrior, going early to the bath here, heard a voice, saying, “Shall I come out or not?” The soldier being a brave fellow, called out, “Come out,” adding a curse or two; when out broke from the place whence the sound came, a rich treasure, with great shaking and trembling of the earth (Erghálandí). The soldier, upon seeing such a quantity of gold coins, went and related the story to Orkhán, who advised him to spend in pious works, what Heaven had thus granted him. He took the treasure to his home, paid a tenth of it to the revenue, and then built this bridge, which took its name from the circumstance. There are forty-eight large and small bridges in and about Brússa. The streets and some of the markets are adorned with festoons of grapes, which grow here in great plenty, and others with tall plane-trees and willows. Brússa is truly a garden-town; the number of gardens is said to be forty-seven thousand, all abundantly supplied with water.

_Description of the Walks and pleasure-places of Brússa._

Of these there are no less than three hundred and sixty-five, so that there is one for every day in the year. The finest is that of Búnár-báshí, where if you eat roast meat and drink of the water, you feel hungry again immediately; of such digestive power is the water: a mosque adorns this famous walk. The walk of the Mevleví-kháneh, or convent of Dervishes, built by Orkhán, where twice a week the Mevlevís assemble for their religious dances (sima’á), and afterwards take their pleasure in the fields. The walk of Abdál Murád Sultán is situate in a valley high up on Mount Olympus, whence the finest view of Brússa is obtained. The verdure is so luxuriant, that the earth seems covered with green velvet. There are plane-trees, willows, cypresses and box-trees, of an immense height, under the shade of which ten thousand men may procure shelter. Swings are fastened with ropes to some of these trees, where lovers and their beloved swing each other. There are benches for company and benches for prayer; it is a most delightful place, and extends as far as the eye can reach. The walk of Fissdíklí is adorned with pine-trees, and is a secluded but very pleasant corner. The walk of Karanfillí, on the way to Kaplíjah, is a resting-place. The walk of Kaplí Kiaya is a fine spot without any buildings, and surrounded by woods, and that of Abd-ul-múmen is above all praise. Outside of the town, to the east, in a chesnut-wood, half an hour’s distance from the foot of Mount Olympus, stands the fountain of A’ssá, which is said to have rushed forth by a miracle, when the great Saint Emír Sultán struck his staff (a’ssá) into the ground on this spot. The chesnuts are grafted trees, each not weighing above forty drachms. The walk of Sobrán is also adorned with chesnut-trees. The place of Ulumest is a convent for the accommodation of strangers. The pleasure-place of Kazí-yailá (the judge’s Alp) is situate half-way up Mount Olympus, and is ascended from below in five hours. The Okmeïdán, or archery-ground, is so pleasant a place, that it is beyond all description. The walk of the Monks’ mountain (Olympus) obtained its name from its having been the retreat of Greek Monks.

_A Dissertation on Mountains._

God created one hundred and forty-eight mountains, as locks of the earth, which is held together by them when shaken by earthquakes; this is hinted in the verses of the Korán, “His (God’s) are the keys of the earth and Heaven;” and again, “and the mountains as pales”. According to geographers there are in the first climate, nineteen; in the second, twenty-seven; in the third, thirty-one; in the fourth, twenty-four; in the fifth, twenty-nine; in the sixth, thirty-six; and in the seventh, thirty-seven great mountains. The root of all mountains is mount Káf, thus designated by the verse of the Korán, “Káf and the glorious Korán;” it surrounds the earth and is reached by the Kalmúks beyond the ice-sea; they call it in their language Yaldarák Ták. If it pleases God, I shall describe it when I undertake that journey. Since the time of Alexander none but the Kalmúks have seen Mount Káf, they assemble every forty or fifty years to the number of seventy, or eighty thousand, in order to visit it. The Caucasus (Kúh-al-burz) faces the desert of Tartary called Heihát, the great mountain of Germany (Riesengeburg), and the mountain of the moon twenty farsangs beyond the equator, where the Nile originates. Mount Olympus was the first of these mountains which I ascended with a goodly company; we took litters, tents and all necessary preparations with us, and set out from Búnár-báshí ascending during five hours. The first height, Ghází Yailá, is so called because the Moslim victors (Ghází) had a station here during the siege of Brússa, which lasted a whole year. It is a pleasant spot with meadows and chesnut-trees, a small rivulet running through it is full of trout. From this place a full view of the town of Brússa is obtained. Five hours further on is the table-land called Sobrán Yailássí, a large plain with chesnut-woods; trout are also found in the lakes of it; we took a great many of them, and ate them fried with fresh butter; each fish seemed like one of the dishes Jesus multiplied amongst the people (six thousand men). Some hundred thousand sheep graze here, descended from the forty thousand sheep of Sultán Osmán: the shepherds are Turks, they brought us some sheep as a present, which we immediately roasted, and passed the night in the open air. Next day we mounted again in a south-east direction (Kibláh) the road lined with hyacinths, roses, basilicon, and other flowers, the scent of which perfumed our brains. We refreshed ourselves with water from the living spring, and came after three hour’s travelling to the place called Menzíl Bakajak, where we halted three days and three nights in the woods, delighting in fresh fish and roasted sheep. This place is called Bakajak, or look-out, because from hence on the nights previous to Ramazán they watch for the new moon, and, as soon as they see it, light a fire to give notice to the town, where the guns are fired to announce the commencement of the fast. This look-out is on the top of an isolated rock, which stretches towards the town like an elephant’s proboscis and hangs over so deep a precipice that nobody dares look down. From it the plain Filehdár, with all its villages, fields, and cultivated grounds appear, like a picture on paper. It is so steep and prominent that the great mosque, the castle and bezestán of Brússa seem as it were sinking into the base of the mountain, and from the summit cannot be seen at all. Rocks towering to the sky take the appearance here of many strange shapes, such as dragons, elephants and eagles. We mounted still further in the direction of the Kiblah through flowery meadows, where no tall trees were to be seen, and after five hours came to the station of Sultán Suleïmán’s fountain-head. A delightful spot with a spring of water so cold that a man cannot take out of it three stones in succession. There is here a large mass of rock the size of the cupola of a bath, which vibrates on being touched, and also many rivulets containing trout of one or two becas each. These rivulets and brooks being frozen in the winter, the head ice-man, (Kárjí-báshí) sends two or three hundred persons to cut the ice, which, transparent as crystal and brilliant as diamonds, is used in summer to cool their sherbet by the inhabitants of Constantinople and Brússa. Some hundred ass-loads are every day embarked at Modania for the use of the coffee-houses, Imperial kitchens, and the Imperial Harím; for the Vezírs, the Kází-askers, and the Muftis.

_Description of the Ice-worm._

This is a worm, which is found in the midst of ice and snow as old as the creation, but is difficult to find; it has forty feet, and forty black spots on its back, with two eyes as red as rubies, all ice, without a tongue, and its interior filled with an icy fluid; it shines like a diamond but melts quickly away, because it is all ice. In size, it is like those cucumbers which are sold for seed at Lángabestán, sometimes larger, sometimes smaller. The ice-worm I brought to Sultán Ibrahím was smaller than a cucumber. It is an aphrodisiac, sharpens the sight, and makes a man as healthy and vigorous as a new-born child. It is rarely found, and falls but to the lot of kings! It is said that on the Caucasus they are of the size of dogs, with four feet, living and walking among the ice and snow. Faith be upon the teller! I have not seen them.

Above the station of Súleimán vegetation ceases and the mountain is barren. Kulleí Jehán, the tower of the world, is on the topmost peak of the monk’s mountain (Olympus) whence beneath your feet the clouds may be seen passing over the town. It is a journey of two days from Brússa to the top; being so very high it is entirely barren; the mountains of Cútahía are seen from the south side; the mountains of Sogúd from the East, and from the west side the mountains of Galipolis, beyond the White Sea. The summits of the Seven Towers and of the Minárehs of Sultán Ahmed, may be discerned from hence when the sun shines on Constantinople. From its height, it is so much exposed to the wind, that if men did not cling to, or shelter themselves behind, the rocks, the wind would blow them away like cotton. On the highest spot is a burying place, the four sides composed of immense stones; it is the tomb of Sa’dán the son of Landha, who is said to have taken refuge here from fear of Hamzah. Near it is a deep dark cave which leads to seventy or eighty small cells, where Monks resided in the time of the Byzantine Empire; on some of them are inscriptions in Greek and Latin, two thousand years old. People who come to the top also write their names in this place. We again mounted our horses and came after ten hours ride, ascending and descending, to the Victor’s height, Ghází Yailá, from whence, after another ride of ten hours, we arrived at Brússa.

_Language, Dress, and Manufactures of the Inhabitants of Brússa._

There are many thousand rich merchants and learned divines who dress in sable pelisses. Being in Asia, the language is related to the Turkish, hence they say Ahmed Chepú instead of Ahmed Chelebí; Memet Chepú instead of Mohammed Chelebí; Assmíl instead of Ismaíl; Jafár instead of Ja’fer, besides some words and expressions entirely unknown; young men of the town however speak with great purity. Their principal occupation is the cultivation of silk, the manufacture of velvets and other stuffs of Brússa called Sereng and Chátma, it is also famed for the manufacture of cushions for sofas.

_The Climate of Brússa._

The longest day is fifteen hours: the inhabitants are fresh-coloured on account of the healthy air, but as Mount Olympus intercepts the southerly winds, the air is dull and heavy when they blow. The youth are numerous and have been celebrated in many a town-revolt (Shehrengíz). The women are exquisite beauties, with well-arranged teeth, and well-arranged words; their hair curled and dressed in tresses is celebrated in the poetical expression Kessúí merghúleh. The men attain a very old age; in short the pleasant advantages which this town affords are not to be met with elsewhere. The people are of a graceful stature, silver bodies, cautious, and so eloquent that when they speak they never fail to produce the greatest effect on their hearers.

_The Eatables, Beverages and Fruits of Brússa._

The first is white bread of the kind called Súmún, which is as good as the best of Constantinople; then that sort of bread called Chákil, like white roses; the Gozlemeh, the Kerdeh, a kind of roast mutton dressed over a stove (Tennúr). The sheep which are very fat come from Mount Olympus. The white Halvá of Brússa is also celebrated.

The beverages are the delicious water of the head fountain Búnár-báshí and seventeen other principal springs; excellent coffee from Yemen, very good búza, the sherbet Khanedán-beg (smiling Prince), that of Tírelí-oghlí, Karan-fillí and Shujáb.

The fruits are forty-day pears, exquisite grapes, apricots, cherries, and chesnuts famous all over the world. These chesnuts, weighing forty drachms each, are put on spits with the meat, the juice of which penetrates them; they grow so succulent that it is almost impossible to leave off eating them till one dies. The seven day mulberries are also famous. The plain of Filehdár is laid out in mulberry plantations, because the chief product of Brússa is silk, which is said not to be equalled by the Persian silk of Shirwán.

The manufactures are those of ruby-coloured velvet, like that made at Genoa, Brússa linen of different colours, aprons called Kirk-kalem, purses of silk, silken nets, and finally cushions of cut velvet called Chátma munakkash katífeh.

_Visit to the Monuments and Tombs of the first Ottoman Sultáns._

The Seljúk family arrived in the country of Rúm (the Asiatic provinces of the Roman Empire) in the year 476 (1083). They first allied themselves with the Danishmend family, and occupied with them the districts of Malatia, Cæsarea, Alayeh, and Konia. The Seljúkians took up their residence in the latter town, while the Danishmend family resided in those of Sivás and Erzerúm. Melek Ghází died at Nigissár and is buried there; Ala-ud-dín the prince of the Seljúk family, called Toghrúl-beg, the ancestor of the Ottoman family from Mahán was a relation of his, and created him a Beg; he made some inroads from Konia on Nicæa, Brússa and Nicomedia. Ertoghrúl-beg, who was invested with drum and banner, had not yet the right of striking coins and of the Friday prayer, he was buried at Sogudjek near Nicæa. His son Osmán-beg was the first absolute monarch of the Ottoman family whose name was struck on the coin, and prayer said by Túrsún Fakíh, 699 (1299). He married the daughter of Sheikh Edebálí who became the mother of Orkhán, and through whom the Ottoman Sultáns are related to the prophet. Until the time of Mohammed II. these princes were called Beg. Mohammed II. was the first called Sultán by Akshems-ud-dín and whose name was struck upon coins. Selím I. was then proclaimed servant of Mecca and Medina by Kemál-páshá-zadeh, and Ebúsúd Efendí the famous Muftí added to the title of Sultán Súleimán, that of Sultán of two lands, and Khakán of two seas, because he had conquered Baghdád and Rodos, but if he lost either of them he was to lose the title also.

_Short account of the Conquests of Osmán Khán._

He conquered the castles of Bílejik, Ainegol, Kara-hissár, Inogí, Iznik, Kopru-hissár, Elibád-hissár, Castel, Kítah, Bígha, &c. Osmán-beg reigned twenty-one years after the death of Sultán Ala-ud-dín, and died at the age of sixty-nine, after having reigned twenty-six years, at the moment Brússa fell into the hands of his son.

_Conquests of Sultán Orkhán._

The Castles of Yází, Kogreh, and in Rúmelí, Yanbolí, Galibolí, Moderní, Kojá Elí, Iznikmid, Belakabád, Brússa, Taraklí, Goinek, Karassí, Bálikersí, Bergama, Adremyt, Ashlúna, Rodosto, and Búlair; the last was conquered by Súleimán-páshá, Orkhán’s son, who lies buried there.

_Visit to Sultán Orkhán’s Tomb._

Sultán Orkhán died in the year 771 (1369), he is buried with his father Osmán beneath a cupola in the mosque of the inner castle; he died, after a reign of forty-one years, at the age of sixty-four; he was a mild monarch, a father to the poor, and a warrior in the ways of God. The divines of his time were David Kaissarí of Caramania, he was named Kaissarí because he was brought up at Cæsarea, he commented on the text of Mohay-ud-dín Arabí and was a second Taftazání in mystic science. He was the first Professor (Muderris) of the College which Sultán Orkhán built at Nicæa. Molá Ala-ud-dín commonly called Eswed Khojá (the black master) who commented doctrinally on the work Moghní-ul-lebíb and also on the book, Wikayit. Molá Jenderelí Kará Khalíl, who was first created Kází-asker of Anatolia by Orkhán. Molá Hassan Kaissarí, one of the greatest Jurisconsults; he wrote a good commentary on Andalusian prosody, he was a disciple of Mohay-ud-dín, and completed his education at Damascus.

_Notice of Hájí Begtásh, the great Saint._