with letters to his highness, the khán of the Tátárs, requesting
conditions of peace, or rather requesting the khán to intercede with
the Ottoman emperor and endeavour to bring about a peace. About the
same time also a great quantity of rain fell, which exceedingly annoyed
the Moslem troops.
On the 9th of Sefer Mustafa Páshá, the beglerbeg of Erzerúm, joined the
grand army with his provincials. On the 11th, the whole army crossed
the Murish, but experienced the greatest difficulty in doing so. They
marched along its banks for several stages, and stopped at a bridge
near a deserted palanka, called Ordúbek. At length, after experiencing
a thousand hardships in crossing rivers and passing through extensive
marshes, they arrived in the plains of Warad on the 24th of the month,
where they were joined by the beglerbeg of Wán, Yúsuf Páshá having
previously been joined, whilst at Ordúbek, by the army of Gula. Two
badlooshkas also, the one from Gula and the other from Temiswar, were
sent to them. The Tátár khán, on the army’s leaving Jenad, took a
different route with the intention of distressing and annoying the
peasantry throughout the country, and joined the grand army again at
Warad.
The fortress of Warad, before which the Moslem army took up its
position on the 29th, was situate on the boundaries which separate
Germany and Transylvania, was very strong, and surrounded by suburbs
and villages. So very large and extensive a place was Warad that it
could easily contain twenty thousand troops. Its gardens reached from
the suburbs to Pest, and its country houses and other dwellings were no
less extensive in number, it is conjectured, than the number which at
that time were between Constantinople and the gardens of Dávud Páshá.
It is impossible to describe accurately the whole of the gardens and
orchards, and the multitude of the inhabitants of Warad. Some one or
two years before the period we are now speaking of, a German army of
several thousands took possession of it, and had it in subjection when
the orthodox army, under the grand vezír and commander-in-chief Jeráh
Mohammed Páshá, appeared before it. The suburbs and villages were
inhabited by Hungarians.
_Warad besieged._
When the Tátár troops advanced to attack the suburbs of Warad, the
inhabitants came boldly forth, and for a whole day and night fought
with courage. But the Tátárs no sooner succeeded in setting fire to
their dwellings than they retired, put their families into waggons, and
tried to escape through their postern gates. The Tátárs pursued them
with vigour, slew the grown-up, made the young prisoners, and returned
with immense booty.
Immediately after these things, the khán of the Tátárs, and the serdár
of the Moslems, and other great men in the army formed themselves into
a council of war, and took into consideration whether they should
proceed onwards and desolate the country, or stop where they then were
and endeavor to vanquish the fortress of Warad. The whole council were
unanimous in thinking the latter plan the most advisable. So important
and so strong a place, and so very near the frontiers of the Ottoman
dominions, and which at once formed a key to Germany and Transylvania,
they unanimously considered ought not to be allowed to remain in the
hands of the enemy, and they therefore determined at once on reducing
it.
On the first of Rabia II., therefore, the army entered the suburbs, the
houses of which were well-built and handsome, and instead of preparing
themselves trenches, took possession of them. With the three pieces of
ordnance which they had brought along with them, they began battering
the fortress; but they found, when it was too late to rectify their
mistake, they had commenced a work far beyond their strength, and one
which they had not maturely considered. They discovered their rashness,
but not in sufficient time to correct their mistake. The object of the
expedition into the country, at the commencement of their operations,
was to lay it waste, and therefore they did not encumber themselves
with many cannon, that they might the more conveniently traverse the
territories of Transylvania, and thoroughly chastise the inhabitants.
They had no more cannon, therefore, than the three now mentioned:
neither were they provided with any apparatus for carrying on a siege.
This want they now began to feel when it could not be easily and
speedily remedied; and to subdue a place of such great strength as
Warad possessed, would require, they saw, an immense length of time.
The serdár was most sensibly touched when he discovered his error, and
was seriously affected by the mistake he had committed. He now began,
though too late, to reflect, that this same fortress, in former days,
had withstood, for the space of forty-five days, the utmost efforts of
one of the earlier kings, without being vanquished. Seeing he had no
chance of succeeding without a sufficient number of cannon, he wrote to
Súfí Sinán Páshá, beglerbeg of Agria, to join his camp, and to forward
without delay ten pieces of ordnance and other apparatus from the
fortress of Agria. In consequence of remissness or fraud, however, this
order was not complied with; or if complied with, was too late to be of
any use to the besiegers. All the powder and ball which could be found
in Gula and in the palankas round about, were expended without making
any impression on Warad. Two mines were also sprung, but with no better
effect.
The Tátárs, at this time, requested permission to range the country,
and commit what devastation they could, but the serdár refused to
give his consent; saying, he hoped to God they would yet take Warad,
and they would afterwards proceed together. It happened also, in the
mysterious providence of God, that for the space of forty days it
rained successively, and the rain which thus fell ran in torrents
through the plains and valleys. The ground everywhere round Warad
became soft, and in several places marshes were formed. The ditches
which the Janissaries had prepared were all filled with water and clay,
and the Janissaries themselves were forced to retire to their tents.
The whole of the army in these adverse circumstances became completely
discouraged, particularly the officers. The stream which issued from
the city swelled to such a degree as to become unpassable. In fact, it
was at last impracticable to go from one tent to another. The winds
also rose so awfully high as to tear away the very poles of the tents
out of the ground, and the cattle sunk to their bellies in the mud.
The troops also were for several days without meat, but this want was
supplied by a great number of sheep which had been driven to the plains
of Warad. The most of these sheep were sent thither by the peasants
of Solnuk, and nearly filled the whole country round Warad. The cursed
prince of Transylvania, they were also informed, had secured himself in
inaccessible mountains.
The Moslem army were thus exposed to all the inclemency of the weather,
and to every possible hardship, and distressed and annoyed by the
water which ran in torrents through their camp. In short, all this
accumulation of adverse circumstances completely overcame the spirit of
the Moslem troops: they became totally heartless, and could do nothing.
In the midst of all these indescribable distresses they were informed
by messengers from Buda that no fewer than 80,000 of the enemy had
attacked and destroyed Old Buda, and that at that very moment their
large cannon were employed in battering Buda itself. They added, that
if immediate aid were not afforded, Buda could not fail to fall into
the enemy’s hands. They had heard at an earlier period of the same day
on which this news was brought them, that a heavy body of the enemy had
passed through Yanuk and Wáj, and had gone to Old Buda. The persons who
brought the above intelligence maintained it was of no use to send one
or two thousand men; it was absolutely necessary, they said, that the
serdár should go in person with his whole army.
These sad and unwelcome messengers astonished and confounded the
afflicted serdár and his suffering army by the intelligence they
brought him. But his misfortunes were only increasing. The very
adverse circumstances in which the Moslem army were placed, and the
advance of the enemy against Buda, afforded a favourable opportunity
to the treacherous Michael, of cursed memory, to cross the Danube,
to attack the vezír Háfiz in Nicopolis, causing him to seek his
safety in flight; and to commit the most dreadful depredations. This
information became no sooner public, and its truth confirmed, than it
increased, of course, the embarrassments of Satúrjí Mohammed Páshá, the
commander-in-chief. But they had still to increase: Tata, Besperim,
and Papa also fell into the hands of the hateful infidel enemy. These
things were more than sufficient to confound all judgment. They were
awful, terrible, and afflictive beyond expression: nevertheless, the
serdár still bore up under all the misfortunes of the campaign. He
determined, notwithstanding his perilous condition, to afford what aid
he could to the quarter above mentioned. Yet in a council afterwards
held, and in which the khán and the other magnates of the army were
consulted, the difficulty of sending foot soldiers became quite
apparent. Not only the distance but the difficulty which such troops
would have to encounter in crossing rivers like seas, the Danube, and
the Tise (Tibiscus), was clearly discerned to be beyond the power of
any but horsemen to accomplish. It was therefore agreed that a party of
some thousands of the Tátár rangers should be despatched without any
further delay as far as Pest, where they were to spread a report that
the khán and the serdár would soon appear with their respective troops,
and afford them effectual aid. This measure, it was conjectured, would
have the effect of strengthening such as had not fallen into the hands
of their enemy, and of discouraging, if possible, the latter. The Tátár
detachment proceeded.
In the meantime, the commander-in-chief was still looking in vain for
the arrival of the cannon from Agria. But, alas! he was disappointed.
Súfí Sinán Páshá arrived in the camp empty-handed. On being
interrogated why he did not send the ten pieces of cannon as commanded,
he returned for answer the senseless excuse, that no buffaloes could be
had to transport them. It can easily be imagined what was the grief and
affliction of the Moslem army, but it cannot be described. The whole
of the provisions which they had been able to find in the vicinity of
Warad was consumed, and the Tátárs were obliged to bring from a great
distance to the camp what flour or grain they were able to find. A keil
(measure) of barley was sold from three to five pieces of gold.
The serdár, it must be acknowledged, was the cause of the long delay of
the Moslem army before Warad, and of course, at least in some degree,
of the evils to which they had been subjected. We have already observed
how he refused to allow the Tátárs to go on a predatory excursion
through the country, saying he hoped God would give him the victory in
a day or two. He was miserably mistaken in his hopes, and accomplished
nothing; at least nothing good, as we have seen. The weather now became
so very cold that the men could keep neither hands nor feet warm.
Perceiving, therefore, that Warad was not to be subdued by the means
which he possessed, and as he had caused it to be reported about Pest
that he had raised the siege and had gone to Solnuk with the view of
succouring Buda, the serdár began to retreat. In consequence, however,
of the rivulets every where having swollen into rivers from the late
rains, the páshá of Temiswar, Ismael Páshá, was instructed to advance
and erect bridges for the army; but he did not erect even one; the
army had therefore, in consequence of this neglect, to do the best
they could. They crossed no fewer than twelve rivers, three of which,
however, had bridges over them, of the above description, by means of
rafts, and underwent immense difficulty and danger at every one which
they crossed. Numberless poor animals perished in these waters, and
the troops suffered most severely from the cold. The flour which they
carried along with them was spoiled and caused disease among the men,
and they were therefore obliged to throw it away. Their three pieces
of ordnance they succeeded in getting across these rivers by means of
strong ropes, and Khoja Murád Páshá, who was beglerbeg of Diárbeker,
Mohammed Páshá, beglerbeg of Haleb, and Súfí Sinán Páshá, in order
to encourage the troops, put their own necks into yokes, and helped
to drag them onwards. The distance between Warad and Gula was about
three days’ journey, but required twelve days on this occasion to
accomplish it, during the whole of which time they suffered a thousand
difficulties. Hundreds of men were left on the road by reason of the
cold or hunger, or sunk into the mud.
The army was met by Iskander Beg, who was afterwards created páshá,
and the ketkhodá of Teryákí, Hasan Páshá, in the plains of Gula, who
confirmed the intelligence they formerly had received that Besperim,
Polata, and Tata had fallen into the hands of the enemy, and earnestly
requested the serdár to send off, as soon as possible, what succours
he was able to the aid of those places which had been enabled still
to hold out. The serdár gave him fine promises and sent him away next
morning.
The army moved from Gula (Julia) to Solnuk. At both these places they
were obliged to pay a piece of gold for a loaf of bread. They expected
that at the latter place, where they halted a whole day, boats with
provisions would have been waiting for them; but in this also they
were grievously disappointed. When the troops saw that no boats with
provisions had arrived by the river Tise (Tibiscus), they were roused
into rage and commenced a tumult. Some of the Janissaries rushed upon
the serdár’s tent and pulled it down about his head. Each of them had
taken a piece of wood in his hand, with which they so belaboured the
poor commander-in-chief that he lay half murdered. They broke his skull
with their bludgeons and his arm with a stone, and afterwards commenced
the work of spoliation in his kitchen. It is certain that if some of
the other officers had not come to his assistance, they would have cut
him to pieces. The tent of the treasurer, Etmekjí Zádeh, shared the
same fate: it was not only thrown down but robbed, and he himself only
escaped with his life, which was entirely owing to the intervention of
some of their superiors. They now abandoned the idea of proceeding to
Buda. Towards evening the serdár was seen stepping round the tents, and
seemed as if afraid and ashamed to enter his own.
In consequence of all these disastrous events and distressing
circumstances, the strong fortress of Buda was committed to God, and
the Moslem army marched towards Segdin. Here they fortunately fell
in with a number of boats loaded with provisions on the Tise, when a
distribution of provisions immediately took place, which refreshed and
recruited the much-weakened strength of the army, at least in some
degree.
The accounts of the burning and destroying of the city or suburbs of
Buda, and all the evils which befell its inhabitants, must be reserved
to a future chapter. In the mean time, however, the unfortunate serdár,
pressed down and grieved with the misfortunes which had befallen his
orthodox army, became quite changed in his constitution. His soul
was vexed within him: his body became poor and lean; and in this
broken-down condition he retired to Belgrade. His royal highness,
the khán of the Crimea, went to Sonbúr, and his troops went into
winter-quarters in the sanják of Segdin. The beglerbeg of Romeili was
sent with his provincials to the sanják of Petcheví. The Janissaries and
other troops, after having been paid their arrears, were also sent into
winter quarters. The money necessary for paying these arrears had to be
borrowed from the rich men and merchants of Belgrade.
These arrangements were no sooner over than a very heavy fall of snow
fell, and a most intense cold commenced.
Thus ended this unfortunate campaign. No advantage was gained, but much
loss was sustained.
_Concerning the fall of Besperim, Polata, Tata, and the siege of Buda._
At the time it was first determined to carry the war into Transylvania,
the five thousand cavalry and the twelve thousand foot soldiers,
sent last year from Europe to Maximilian, the commander-in-chief of
the infidels, and an army of more than sixty thousand foot and horse
soldiers, composed of Germans, Hungarians, and other nations, under
Maximilian’s brother, the archduke Mathias, assembled near Yanuk, and
resolved on aiding and supporting the prince of Transylvania. When the
Moslem serdár, however, laid siege to Warad, as before mentioned, the
prince of Transylvania retired to the mountains, and there fortified
himself among inaccessible rocks. On this account the imperial troops
were not so necessary, at least such a powerful augmentation as that
above alluded to; therefore when the enemy perceived that Buda was
left in a defenceless state in consequence of the expedition which had
entered Transylvania, they immediately marched against that place.
This was the most proper time, said they to themselves, to endeavour
to take Buda; and though they should not happen to be successful in
the attempt, yet they would at least effect a manœuvre in favour
of Warad, and thus save it from the grasp of the Moslems, who had now
commenced laying siege to it.
These mighty hosts of the enemy on their way to Buda reduced the
fortresses of Besperim, Polata, Papa, and Tata, all of them places of
strength which belonged to the Ottoman empire; and in Rabia II. they
encamped before Old Buda with more than forty pieces of ordnance and
other apparatus of war. The greater number of the enemy’s troops was
transported thence in boats on the Danube to Buda itself, to which they
laid siege in this same month. After a few days of hostile operation
they laid the walls of the city even with the ground. When they had
accomplished this they commenced attacking the citadel both from the
land and water at the same time. On the seventh day of the siege the
bloody contest was renewed at sun-rise, and continued till the going
down of the same. The beglerbeg of Merœsh, Sinán Páshá, and the
ex-beglerbeg of Papa, Semender Páshá, who had come from Alba Julia to
aid the Budians; these two heroes from among the besieged died martyrs
on this day of unparalleled cruelty and blood. Teryákí Hasan Páshá,
governor of Bosnia, and Mohammed Beg, beg of Semendria, were wounded;
and many others whose days were numbered fell by the hands of these
infidels.
This numerous host of vile idolators continued their attacks
unremittingly, and maintained a continual brisk fire, which so
completely annoyed the besieged that they found themselves necessitated
to give way and retire from the city, and seek shelter in the inner
fortress. This movement they accomplished during the night season,
but by doing so they left the city entirely naked and defenceless.
The following morning the infidels occupied the vacant city, and with
all imaginable speed erected their forty pieces of heavy ordnance on
batteries against the inner fortress, and commenced directing more
than one thousand shots per day against it, besides the springing of
numerous mines. Night and day this machinery was employed without
interruption, and every other effort they could devise, in trying to
reduce the inner fortress. The besieged, however, held out manfully.
The place had been previously strengthened and put in a condition of
defence; but they sent off one messenger after another with letters to
the serdár and to the khán, when lying before Warad, calling on them to
come to their aid; and assuring them if they did not come, Buda would
fall a prey to the enemy. But the serdár was unable to afford them
the relief they required. With part of their forces they lay before
Warad, and the rest had scattered themselves through the country.
However, the khán sent them a chosen body of about seven thousand
Tátárs under the command of Shubá Mirzá. These were soon followed by
Bektásh Páshá, governor of Agria, with his Agrian troops; and these
again by two Tátár sultáns, with twenty thousand Tátár troops, which
his royal highness had succeeded in collecting for the same purpose.
Kalkái Selámet Gheráí, the brother of the khán, who had just at that
time returned from a plundering excursion, was likewise sent forward to
Buda with the party under his command, and which amounted to several
thousands. The beglerbeg of Buda, Mikaeljelí Ahmed Páshá, succeeded to
the beglerbegship of Sinán Páshá, who perished in the siege of the city
as before observed; and Soleimán Páshá, the beglerbeg of Temiswar, who
was at that time in the Moslem camp along with the serdár, succeeded
to the beglerbegship of Buda. This last, and a few hundred chosen
veterans, besides seven Sanjak begs, set out for Buda, which, by the
time they had reached it, had been forty days exposed to the efforts
of the infidels. It was the opinion of the acting commander-in-chief
in Buda, Ahmed Páshá, that it would be impossible for them to maintain
Buda, and, at the same time, protect Pest; he recommended, therefore,
that the garrison and people in Pest should join the besieged in Buda.
Whilst this imprudent project was in contemplation, the beg of Solnuk,
commonly called the _Earless_ Osmán Beg, a chief who had formerly
manifested a variety of heroic deeds at Timúr-kapú, reached Buda with a
valiant band of borderers from Solnuk in sufficient time to frustrate
the proposed project. Taking some of the men of Pest along with him,
he hastened towards Buda; forwarded a number of cannon; the other
troops formerly mentioned joined him: and, on his appearing with this
accumulated army before the citadel of Buda, the troops within it
were encouraged to come forth and receive their deliverers. All these
together formed a very considerable army, and were now in a condition
to cope with their enemies. Accordingly they were not long in employing
the force they had thus mustered, and with one consent attacked their
bitter foe with such vigour and resolution that they soon forced them
to raise the siege and to retire. Before they were expelled the city,
however, they burned and destroyed its temples and mosques, large
buildings, and public streets; and then withdrew to the valley of Wáj.
Thus, God Almighty saved the fortress of Buda from the hand of malice
and injustice.
_Khádem Háfiz Ahmed Páshá routed at Nicopolis by the odious Michael._
Háfiz Ahmed Páshá having been appointed to guard the banks of the
Danube, made Widin his head-quarters. Ramazán Zádeh, the governor
of Adna, who had been appointed along with him to the same service,
removed from Widin in Rabia II. of this same year, and went along with
a number of Sanjak begs towards Rusjuk and Selistria, places within
the jurisdiction allotted to them, but stopped at a place not far from
Nicopolis, called the plains of Sinadin.
When the odious and hateful Michael had learned that an expedition had
been sent into Transylvania, he feigned to have repented of all his
wicked deeds, and retired from public view. But he no sooner heard of
the fate of that expedition than he again began to exercise his cunning
to the prejudice of the Osmánlís. Accordingly, he sent a messenger, a
despicable wretch called Dimoo, to crave in the most humble and abject
manner conditions of peace from Háfiz Páshá. The deceitful messenger
had no sooner found access to the Páshá, and told the purport of his
errand, than he granted permission to the odious wretch Michael to come
and prostrate himself before him.