in order to exonerate himself from any blame which might attach to
him for not having been so successful in the late war as had been
expected, represented his want of success to the failure of the Tátár
khán’s fulfilling his injunctions to come to his assistance, and to
the smallness of the number of troops which acted under him. This
statement made no pleasant impression on the mind of the emperor, who
was by this time but too much displeased with the grand vezír for the
part he had acted towards this khán on a former occasion, as we have
already related in a preceding chapter. On this account, therefore,
as well as for some offence which the grand vezír had given to the
queen-mother; and also on account of some handsome presents which
Khádum Hasan Páshá had made: and moreover, because Ibrahím’s capacity
for governing had become more and more disputed, the emperor, for
these reasons, one day called the mufti into his royal presence and
began his conversation thus: “I purpose,” said the monarch, “to make a
change in the premiership: whom do you think worthy of being elevated
to that station?” The reverend mufti replied, that if he meant to
dismiss his servant Ibrahím, it must, of course, be for some crime.
What is that crime? The emperor, having thought a little, said “that
there was no end to his crimes,” and adverted to the part he had acted
with regard to the two Tátár princes. “Was it, think you,” said the
sublime monarch, “a crime of small magnitude that he should have been
the means of the death of Fateh Gheráí, and all its consequent evils?”
The reverend mufti, after hearkening to this apostrophe, proposed Jeráh
Páshá, the senior vezír. The emperor demurred, and said Jeráh had no
capacity for managing affairs; and that therefore he preferred giving
the office to Khádum Hasan Páshá, whose superior wisdom and prudence
was spoken of through the whole city of Constantinople. The reverend
mufti bowed, joined in his praises, and exaggerated his endowments.
On the 23d of Rabia II., after the sitting of the diván, the ketkhodá
of the household troops, Abdullah Aghá, was deputed by his majesty to
wait on Ibrahím and receive back the seals from him, and to present
them to Khádum Hasan Páshá. Ibrahím Páshá went to live in his own
garden, near the new emporium at Uskudár.
Khádum Hasan Páshá, in consequence of his splendid gifts and presents
to the queen-mother, and of his many promises of rendering service
to the state, was raised, in the course of that passing week, to
the dignity of grand vezír. This man, as might easily have been
anticipated, was attentive to nothing but his own aggrandizement, and
how to increase his own wealth. During the whole time he continued
in office, he sold places, received immense bribes, and amassed vast
riches. When any one asked him for a situation he used to say: “Do you
know to whom I shall give the presents you have sent me?” and other
similar impertinent questions. This exalted personage, however, soon
fell under the execrations of the people, and became every day more and
more hated and despised, but yet no one was able to oppose him.
One day, when his majesty went to St. Sophia, to offer up his devotions
in that temple, some desperate fellows approached him and requested
permission to slay his minister. His majesty, thinking it was out of
mere ill will they had so petitioned him, did not give his consent, and
they immediately desisted from their purpose. The emperor, however,
mentioned the circumstance to his mother, who let Ghaznafer Aghá into
the secret, and with him she concerted the overthrow of the prime
minister. He maintained that Hasan Páshá not only openly received
bribes, but that he had also cut off the supplies of the queen-mother;
that he had published complaints against her among all ranks of the
community, and thus made her the subject of conversation; that by
these and similar means he sought to rouse her servants to rebellion,
and herself to be removed to a distance from the court, in order that
he might obtain absolute power. All this representation, or rather
accusation, was confirmed by the ághá of the Janissaries, Ternakjí
Hasan. The emperor issued orders to investigate into the fact. But
those who were appointed to do this returned a verdict similar to the
above statement of accusation, or at least confirmatory of it.
In the meantime the reverend mufti, Bostání Zádeh, died, when Hasan
Páshá conferred the duty of expounding the law on the poet Bákí
Effendí, in conjunction with Karah Chelebí Zádeh. But the emperor not
approving of his choice, appointed Khoja Sa’d-ud-dín Effendí, with a
part of whose history we are already acquainted, and whom we saw lately
condemned to live the life of a hermit, to be mufti in room of Bostání
Zádeh. Notwithstanding this, however, Hasan Páshá wrote three times
officially on this subject to Bákí Effendí, and tried what he could to
prevent Sa’d-ud-dín succeeding to the muftiship; a circumstance which
awakened old but buried animosity and unpleasant correspondence between
the old prelate and the grand vezír. The conduct of the latter roused
the emperor’s anger, and without further delay he installed the old
reverend prelate into the office of mufti.
Khoja Effendí (_i.e._ Sa’d-ud-dín), the new mufti, Ghaznafer Aghá,
and Ternakjí Aghá, all three joined in accusing Hasan Páshá. They
represented his conduct with regard to the queen-mother, and the other
enormities of his life, in such a clear light before the emperor, as
showed him to be worthy of death. He was accordingly seized on the 2d
of Ramazán, conveyed on board a vessel, and was conducted to the Seven
Towers by Ferhád Aghá, the chief of the Bostánjís, and in five or six
days afterwards he was strangled during the night. The ághá of the
Janissaries, Ternakjí Hasan Aghá, sealed the doors of his palace, and
transferred the whole of his property to the imperial coffers; but it
did not amount to what was anticipated.
_Jeráh Mohammed Páshá raised to the premiership._
The grand vezírship having again become vacant, there was some
disposition shown to recall Ibrahím Páshá to that important office;
but by the dexterity of the reverend prelate, his old enemy, this was
thwarted, and Jeráh Mohammed Páshá was appointed to fill that high
station.
_The enemy gains advantage at Yanuk by stratagem._
The city and fortress of Yanuk about this time was put under the
government of Mahmúd Páshá, who had formerly been ághá of the
Janissaries, and subsequently beglerbeg of Fajir. The enemy permitted
no grain of any kind to be brought or conveyed to Yanuk, but in order
to corrupt and pervert the inhabitants, as well as the troops who were
in it, they permitted great quantities of wine to be carried thither
both in boats and waggons. In consequence of this traffic in wine, the
people of Yanuk acquired the habit of drinking, and so very relaxed did
they become, that their ramparts and gates were no longer watched with
that care and vigilance which was the case before wine was introduced
amongst them. Regardless alike of the Páshá’s warnings as of every
other advice, they vainly confided in the natural and artificial
strength of the place, and were no longer the active vigilant men they
used to be.
The beglerbeg of Yanuk was in the habit of receiving from the sanják of
Petcheví an annual quantity of grain, amounting to two or three hundred
waggons, but which, when returning, were frequently intercepted by the
enemy, who on all such occasions carried off the oxen. In this way
above five or six thousand of these animals had been stolen at various
times, and driven away into the enemy’s dominions. This great loss the
people of the sanják of Petcheví were obliged to sustain; but other
districts fared worse, and had not even so much as one left them. In
fact, some of the peasants were under the necessity of ploughing their
lands by their own strength and that of their wives.
About the commencement of the month of Ramazán this year, the enemy
committed great cruelty and excess. They attacked several hundreds of
waggons which were carrying provisions to Yanuk and Agria. The escort
of cavalry which accompanied these waggons, on seeing the enemy,
fled, leaving the poor drivers to shift for themselves. The number of
these amounted to about three hundred, who were either killed or made
prisoners. Between one and two thousand oxen and waggons were carried
off by the enemy.
The two thousand regular troops, and the two thousand Kúl-oghláns,
which had been left to garrison Yanuk, had most of their families in
the districts of Petcheví, Koban, and Alba Julia, and were therefore
strongly inclined on this account to abandon Yanuk altogether. The
fortress of Tata, which the year before had been demolished, and its
inhabitants destroyed, was allowed to remain in its state of ruin and
dilapidation.
The people of Yanuk appeared to be bound over by some spell or
infatuation not easily accounted for, if we except their propensity
for wine, which brought its own punishment. A swine of the name of
Palghi, kapúdán of Komran, sent some thousands of his foot soldiers to
surround Yanuk, whilst he himself with a thousand or two of cavalry
made his way towards its gate. The inhabitants and garrison were in a
profound state of inactivity and carelessness, and knew nothing of the
enemy’s approach. The gate was barricaded only with a single bar of fir
wood, and their drawbridge was not let down. Some few of these apostate
infidels who came to attack the place approached about midnight to
the gate, and feigned an alarm. The centinel, a boy, awaking from his
sleep, asked, “Who’s there?” They replied: “We are come from Petcheví
with provisions, were very near meeting the enemy, and have with much
difficulty escaped to this place. They are still in hard pursuit of
us, and will soon have us in their power, unless you open your gate
and let us in. Open then the gate, and let in the waggons loaded with
provisions.” As this conversation with the watch ended, the rest came
forward with their wooden mortars and placed them in front of the gate,
whilst the boy said he would run and inform the kapújí, and did so.
The treacherous enemy lost no time, for the centinel was scarcely gone
when they attacked the gate, splintered it to pieces, and rushed in on
the devoted people: some were lying drunk, some asleep, and all in a
state of total negligence and unconcern. Now the work of destruction
commenced. The troops in it saw when it was too late their danger, but
the sight of the enemy only roused them to madness. They fought with
the most desperate fury, and perished in the conflict. Thus did Yanuk
fall into the hands of the execrated enemy. The stratagem succeeded.
It has been said that the commander of the Janissaries of Yanuk
was brought alive, but in a state of drunkenness, before the
above-mentioned impious Palghi, kapúdán of Komran, and that ten or
fifteen thousand pieces of gold were found in his possession. After
interrogating him, the story goes on to say, as to what he meant to do
with such a quantity of money, and asking him why he had not laid it
out on the garrison, or if he thought that his money would watch the
fortress, the commander caused his head to be cut off and fixed upon a
pole. The same account also states that, notwithstanding the general
carnage, five or six Muselmans made their escape to Buda; the rest
were totally annihilated. The beglerbeg of Buda sent a report of this
disastrous affair to the commander-in-chief, which reached him on the
29th of Shabán.
The wooden mortars or guns above alluded to were something in the form
of a cannon—large mortars made of bronze, and surrounded by five or six
iron rings on the outside. Each mortar had two ears of the same metal
with itself, and the whole piece or apparatus was placed in a wooden
frame or case about as large as a small mat or carpet (about the size
of a hearthrug) and four or five fingers thick, and in which these ears
were fixed. The point of the mortar was seen outside of the frame, and
when it was charged with powder a circular plate was firmly fixed to
its mouth by ropes or straps. These mortars were placed on two-wheeled
carriages, which were provided with a long rod or pole behind them to
prevent the wheels or carriage, when the mortars were discharged, from
diverging from the proper line. Such were the instruments employed on
the above occasion.
_The Moslems determine on attacking Warad._
When the winter season was nearly over, and the approach of spring at
hand, Satúrjí Mohammed Páshá, who had taken up his winter quarters
in Belgrade, and still retained the office of commander-in-chief,
though in the last campaign he had accomplished nothing of importance,
but permitted Yanuk to fall, and who seemed pleased with the apology
which the Tátár khán thought proper to offer for his negligence,
determined on renewing hostilities as soon as the season should permit.
Accordingly every preparation necessary for the undertaking was seen
to, and his camp was soon pitched in the plains of Belgrade. A great
quantity of money and of troops were on this occasion ordered to be
sent to him.
In a council held at Constantinople it was declared, by persons well
acquainted with the state and condition of the frontiers, that the
fortresses of Lipa, Yanwa, Warad, and Jena, in the jurisdiction of
Temiswar, had been seized on by the enemy, and that if active measures
were not timely adopted, Temiswar would most assuredly be wrested also
from the Moslem grasp.
Whilst the council was employed in consulting about these matters,
official documents were received from the commander-in-chief, which
confirmed the statements before made. It was the opinion of the grand
vezír, Jeráh Mohammed Páshá, that as the enemy was in possession
of the districts about Yanuk and Osterghún, the commander-in-chief
should direct his movements against the Transylvanians, who had, as
before observed, invaded the jurisdiction of Temiswar. As the frontier
fortresses in that quarter were all well furnished with men and
provisions, he observed, it seemed most prudent on this account to make
Transylvania the scene of the war. They all agreed that unless the
Transylvanians were thoroughly chastised, it would be impossible to
keep Valachia and Moldavia in a state of subjection. The royal mandate
for commencing this war was issued and sent to the commander-in-chief,
accompanied by a robe of honour. At the same time letters, and also
money, according to ancient custom, were sent to the khán of the
Tátárs, desiring him to assist the serdár with a Tátár army. The feudal
tenantry in Turkey who held superiorities sold them, received double
wages, and took their dependants. Five hundred yúks of money from the
imperial coffers were sent along with the camp, and the above tenantry
for the serdár. They departed from Constantinople for Belgrade in the
beginning of Shabán, which happened to be his majesty’s birth-day. The
camp of the serdár was erected on a hill called Khúnkár, in the plains
of the last-mentioned city, on the 12th of Ramazán. On the 23rd of
Shevál Válí Páshá, the beglerbeg of Romeili, who had wintered at Uskúb,
joined the commander-in-chief’s camp at the above place. On the 14th of
Dhu’l kada the serdár himself joined his army; and, after having had
information as to the certainty of the Tátár khán’s approach, sent off
couriers to the different cazís along the Danube, ordering them to have
provisions in readiness.
After it had been fully resolved on to carry the war into Transylvania,
a bridge was commenced on the 9th of Dhu’l hijja at a place or
promontory on the Danube called _Táshluk Búrún_, somewhere below
Belgrade, and which was completed in eighteen days, though it extended
1,850 cubits in length.
On the day the army began to cross over into the country of
Transylvania the serdár received certain information that the Tátár
khán with his army had reached Rusjuk. The provincial troops of
Caramania and Merœsh, with their respective chiefs, who had been
sent to garrison Buda, passed through the plains of Belgrade and
followed the grand army into Transylvania. Towards the end of Dhu’l
hijja the Moslem serdár or commander-in-chief joined his army, which
halted in the plains of Petcheva; but we must defer relating the
history of this war till we review the events of the following year.
_State of affairs in Bassra._
It was during this year that the hidden natural corruption and
depravity of Seyid Mobárek manifested itself, and when thousands of
detestable and wicked wretches joined in the rebellion which he was the
means of exciting in the jurisdiction of Bassra, who committed every
sort of devastation in the cities, towns, and villages throughout the
provinces of Bassra and Lahsa, killing, destroying, and plundering
where they were able. The government of Baghdád having been conferred
on the celebrated vezír, Hasan Páshá, about the commencement of
Ramazán, he was also appointed commander-in-chief over all the forces
in Baghdád, Sheherzúl, and in all the places appertaining to them.
Some time before this appointment took place, however, the inhabitants,
when they first became aware of the cruelties practised by these
rebels, sent an embassy to the Sháh of Persia, beseeching him to
send them succour to enable them to resist the encroachments of the
rebels. Their request was complied with: he sent them three hundred
Kizilbáshes under the command of three leaders, but who in fact became
more terrible oppressors than the faction had been whom they came to
repel. The cure was worse than the disease. A representation of this
circumstance was communicated to the court of Constantinople, who about
the end of Dhu’l hijja wrote expressly, and in the most peremptory
manner, to the sháh in reference to these matters.
Among the appointments to office which took place when Jeráh entered
on the premiership, the following may be mentioned. Jeghala Zádeh
Sinán Páshá was created kapúdán or lord high admiral; and Khezr Páshá,
from among the vezírs, was honoured with the government of Egypt. It
belongs to this period to mention, also, that in consequence of the
beglerbeg of Caramania having been employed with his provincial troops
in the Hungarian wars, the country was in a great measure left naked
and without protection. About three thousand insurgents took advantage
of this, and collected together in the absence of the governor and his
troops, and committed the most horrid excesses; but the inhabitants
uniting together opposed them and slew the greater part of these
reptiles.
But of all the remarkable events which had taken place during this
period, the following is the most astonishing. It has been recorded
by the pen of some one in a collection of facts, that on Friday the
18th of Rabia II., about mid-day, the lady of Bekerbeg, the beglerbeg
of Shám Sheríf (the noble city of Damascus), a woman of high rank,
called Ayesha, the daughter of a respectable officer in the army, was
delivered, after only three months pregnancy, of two male children,
and shortly after she brought forth twelve more, fully formed, but
not living, female children; in all two males and twelve females.
Such a phenomenon as this was is certainly not beyond the range of
possibility; but physicians denominate such occurrence _an error in
nature_.
EVENTS OF THE YEAR 1007, H.
_Account of the late expedition continued from last year._
We have already, in a former section, noticed the purport of this
expedition, and left the grand army encamped in the plains of Petcheva.
On the 25th of Dhu’l hijja of that year they reached Betchgarak, where
they halted for some time.
About the middle of the thousand and seventh Moharrem (_i.e._ about
the middle of the month Moharrem, 1007 of the Hijrah), Válí Páshá,
beglerbeg of Romeili, died; and Mohammed Páshá, beglerbeg of Anatolia,
who had been stationed at Usk, was appointed to succeed him, and
immediately joined the grand army. Mohammed Páshá was succeeded at Usk
by Súfí Sinán Páshá, beglerbeg of Agria; and he again was succeeded by
Bektásh Páshá, governor of Solnuk.
At Betchgarak, a place rendered sacred by the death of the late
beglerbeg of Romeili, the army remained full fifty-five days waiting
for the arrival of the Tátár khán and his subsidiary troops.
During the stay of the grand army at this place, it happened that
messengers arrived from Buda who informed the commander-in-chief that
the fortress of Tata had been taken by the enemy, and immediately after
this other messengers brought him intelligence from Alba Julia that
Pulata was besieged. Without loss of time, therefore, and in the utmost
haste, he issued orders to the troops of Semendria to march to Buda and
strengthen that garrison.
In the meantime, information reached the Moslem camp that Ghází Gheráí
Khán, with his Tátár troops had arrived in the neighbourhood; and on
the 26th of Moharrem the khán joined the royal army with forty-five
thousand men. The Moslem serdár, on his approach, went out with great
pomp and shew, to meet his royal highness, and to perform the honours
due to him, and which were usual on such occasions; he also prepared a
splendid entertainment for him and his suite. The royal khán, in his
turn, made a suitable acknowledgment to the serdár and to the other
magnates of the Moslem camp. After the entertainment was over, the
serdár conducted his royal highness to his pavilion, and returned to
his own. He caused, however, another tent to be erected for the khán
near his own, and one for his females; and provided them with every
thing necessary for their accommodation and comfort. To each of one
hundred of the khán’s mirzás a robe of honour was given: but to the
royal auxiliary himself a splendid robe, an embroidered coat, two
Agria horses, and a saddle and bridle richly ornamented with gold and
precious gems were presented.
On the 27th, the commander-in-chief or serdár, the princes and
commanders of regiments went to pay their respects to his royal
highness, when a royal mandate which had been received from
Constantinople was read in the presence of these august personages.
After the mandate was read, the khán, the serdár, and the other
dignitaries present, stood up, offered up a prayer, and then
immediately entered into consultation as to the best means for
accomplishing the object of the expedition. The question as to the
route they should take formed one of the topics which occupied their
minds on this important occasion. After a good deal of conversation on
this subject, the chiefs of the borders observed, that there were three
roads which penetrated Transylvania. The first led to the fortress of
Lipovah; the second, to Sibish and Loghúsh; and the third, to Warad.
His royal highness Ghází Gheráí observed, it would be most proper to
go by the one which could be shown to be the most eligible for the
transporting of cannon and heavy baggage, and on which they could most
easily defend themselves in the event of being attacked. One of the
most distinguished of the border leaders replied by saying: “Sire, the
roads of Sibish and Loghúsh, and of Lipovah, are both difficult and
dangerous, and afford no means of defence against the enemy should
they be disposed to attack us. The road leading to Warad, on the
contrary, is broad and open, and on this account, as well as others, it
is the most preferable one: besides, it is the only one of the three
in which we can most efficiently as well as conveniently, accomplish
our object—the chastising of the Transylvanians.” “But,” said the khán,
“will the infidels of Warad not endeavour to intercept or ensnare us?
In the event of their attempting any of these expedients, is there no
danger, and shall we not be obliged to relinquish our object? In the
event of our succeeding in reducing it, can we keep possession of it
after we have taken it?” He asked further, whether the reduction of
the place would likely occupy much time. With the view of doing honour
to the prowess of the serdár, it was replied, though falsely, that two
or three pieces of ordnance were quite sufficient for the purpose of
accomplishing the reduction of Warad; and that, afterwards, they could
advance against Zighmund (probably the prince of Transylvania). This
representation weighed with the council. Etmekjí Zádeh, the defterdár
of the expedition, attended to every thing necessary for the attempt,
and provided the army with apparatus for occupying the fortress.
In consequence, however, of the great length of time which had elapsed,
since leaving Belgrade, including the fifty-five days they had to wait
for the khán, the half of the season for carrying on hostilities was
past, but still they were determined to do what they could. About the
middle of the month Sefer, one Yúghen, an ághá of Temiswar, and one
who was well acquainted with the roads, was appointed to conduct the
Moslem army to Warad. They reached a fortress on the river Murish,
called Jenad, before which they sat down and prepared for laying siege
to it. After the firing of a few guns, however, its inhabitants and
garrison became dismayed, abandoned it, and fled to the mountains and
thickets adjacent. This fortress, of course, was immediately taken
possession of, whilst the Tátár troops pursued the fugitives; killed
some, and took most of the rest prisoners. One hundred and fifty of
these vile wretches were brought to the door of the serdár’s tent, and
there beheaded. Jenad was put under the jurisdiction of prince Ibrahím
Shikshái, inspector of Belgrade.
From Jenad the army marched to a palanka called Dilagúsh, and thence
proceeded to Arad, of which, finding it deserted by its inhabitants,
they took possession.