forth without order, and without any preconcerted plan, just like an
army of locusts; and instead of acting in concert, and under regular
authority, they spread out into small parties, and began to harass and
plunder the country round Pest. They killed a few in these excursions,
and seized a handful of others, with whom they returned to their camp.
The bridge above referred to, though immense labour had been used
in getting it ready, was not as yet fully finished. The enemy, who
had been watching the movements of the Moslems, now put themselves
in motion. They resembled a horde of swine following each other. The
Hungarian cavalry attacked with fury those of the Moslems, and the
bloody contest continued for several hours. It was very awful to see
so many thousands of men in battle-array, some dying on the field and
others drowning in the Danube. An auxiliary force of some hundreds of
Moslems was conveyed over to the aid of their brethren in the island,
whilst the cannon in the camp were made to play on the enemy with some
effect. Dervísh Páshá, who commanded the expedition, was left with
only ten pages around him; but he maintained his ground with matchless
heroism. He tried, though in vain, to rally around him his troops, who
were flying in all directions. Seeing himself abandoned by his men, and
having no hope of succour from any quarter, he rushed in among a body
of the enemy with the few who had remained faithful to him, and died
sword in hand.
In this very disastrous attempt no less than six thousand of the
turbulent segbáns perished. The enemy, on perceiving the advantage
they had gained, advanced their guns to the edge of the river, and
destroyed the bridge which had cost the Moslems so much trouble in
constructing. This was not all. They soon after sent over in boats a
host of troops to the Moslem side of the river, and during the night
effected a number of trenches. They also commenced constructing a
bridge, and every thing seemed to pronounce in favour of the enemy. The
Moslems had met with a severe check, and the enemy was advancing upon
them. For three successive days they remained (_i.e._ the Moslem army)
in a state of apparent inactivity, and the enemy had nearly finished
their new bridge, when, on the fourth day, Delí Hasan Páshá, by order
of the serdár, advanced with his troops to the very edge of the enemy’s
new trenches; but finding it impracticable, from their great depth, to
penetrate them, he returned. He contrived, however, a more effectual
method; this was, to divide his men into two bodies, and cause them
to enter in at the two ends of the trenches. Never was any thing more
decisive. Out of ten thousand of the very best part of the enemy’s
troops, and which had occupied these trenches, only about two hundred
of them escaped the edge of the sword: all the rest perished. The two
hundred who did escape, made towards their boats; but had scarcely
reached the middle of the river, on their return to the Chíl, when
their boats upset and all on board sunk to the bottom.
After these wonderful and auspicious events, the serdár, Mohammed
Páshá, raised his camp and directed his steps towards Buda; but the
enemy, not in the least awed by the heavy loss they had just sustained,
sent another body of several thousands to attack him in the rear. Few
of these returned to their camp. Mohammed Páshá, who had fortunately
received an augmentation of two thousand men from Buda, attacked the
pursuing army from two points, and utterly defeated them. On the 12th
of the month, when engaged in throwing provisions into Buda, the enemy
again advanced, in the hope of thwarting the páshá’s purpose; but they
were met with such vigour, that they were obliged to retrace their
steps as fast as they were able. The enemy now retired upon Pest,
removing, as they advanced on that place, the bridges which they had
constructed on the Danube.
The winter season having set in, the serdár directed his thoughts
towards making arrangements for the better protection of Alba Julia
and Buda. With this view, Hasan Aghá, the túrnají báshí, was left with
a number of troops to watch the movements of the enemy. The válí of
Romeili, Murád Páshá, with his provincials, was left to garrison Buda
itself; and Delí Hasan Páshá, beglerbeg of Bosnia, was sent to Usk. On
the 14th of Rabia II. the commander-in-chief, with the remainder of
his army, returned to Belgrade, which he reached about the end of the
month. The troops were allowed to retire into winter-quarters, and a
report of the whole of the campaign was sent off to Constantinople.
In the month of Moharrem of this year, Súfí Sinán Páshá was recalled
to Constantinople, and raised to the dignity of vezír. The government
of Shám (Syria) was conferred on Ferhád Aghá, who had been deposed
from the ágháship of the janissaries. Núh Páshá was appointed
commander-in-chief in Anatolia, and Háfiz Ahmed Páshá was recalled from
Kutahia to Constantinople. He arrived there on the 24th of Sefer, and
brought fifteen thousand ducats along with him, which were all seized
by the government. The day after his arrival he went and took his seat
in the diván; but towards the evening of the same day, Kásim Aghá, the
ághá of the janissaries, seized him in his own palace, sealed up his
effects, and conducted him to the Seven Towers, whence, after eighteen
days’ confinement, he was set at liberty, and sent off to his own villa
in the neighbourhood of Mikhalij (Moalich). The whole of his property
in Constantinople was taken possession of in the name of the emperor.
Had it not been for the interposition of the vezír, Hasan Páshá, and
others, he certainly would have been put to death. In the month of
Moharrem, also, Sáa’tjí Hasan Páshá was appointed to the government of
Erzerúm, and was sent away during the severity of the winter by sea
to Tribazond. Núh Páshá, who had been appointed commander-in-chief in
Anatolia over the troops who were to act against the insurgents in
that quarter, was displaced by the grand vezír, Yemishjí Hasan Páshá,
in consequence of an old grudge which he still continued to cherish
against him, and Nesúh Páshá, beglerbeg of Haleb, was appointed in his
room. Nesúh Páshá was a man of great worth, probity, and experience. He
was ordered to go to Larenda, in his native country.
_The grand vezír Yemishjí Hasan Páshá is deposed.—Dies by a violent
death._
The grand vezír, Yemishjí Hasan Páshá, took care to appoint skilful
commanders every where on the Turkish frontiers; succeeded in crushing
the sedition which had broken out in the city, and in restoring
tranquillity; tamed the spirit of his factious and turbulent troops,
and took ample vengeance on all his enemies. In short, Hasan Páshá,
the prime minister, was without a rival, and acted with absolute
authority. His success was his ruin. His insolent vapouring pride and
vanity grew to such a height, that even the friendship of those who
were most attached to him was turned into hatred and enmity, and their
esteem into disgust. The reverend mufti, Mustafa Effendí, Mustafa son
of Rázieh, the ághá of the janissaries, Kásim Aghá, besides other
persons of note, began now to cherish an utter aversion towards this
unsufferably proud and haughty vezír. These great men, and others of
their order and rank, ventured, at last, to make a communication of his
tyranny and misrule to the emperor; who, on receiving it, immediately
wrote to the mufti, and others learned in the law, with regard to the
nature of the misconduct charged against his vezír, and requested their
opinion. These great and wise men acted their own part, and the result
was, that both secret and open hostility began to be exercised against
the grand vezír. It was alleged that he had the settled intention of
banishing the queen-mother; that to accomplish this he had secured
the concurrence of the janissaries, by promising to break open the
treasury-chest of St. Sophia, and distributing the money in it amongst
them. Kásim Aghá, to give this story the appearance of veracity,
pretended he was able to substantiate the whole by credible witnesses.
In short, the emperor and his mother were thoroughly persuaded of the
truth of these allegations, and the following assertion had the effect
of strengthening his majesty’s convictions: “If your majesty,” said
his accusers, “were just now to send for the seals of office, he would
refuse to deliver them up.”
One day, when the grand vezír, without entertaining the least suspicion
of what was going on against him, went to Dávud Páshá on a visit to
the emperor, and not finding the ághá of the palace, felt some concern
as to how he might be introduced to his majesty, and therefore sent
in a note intimating he had important communications to make to his
royal ear; instead of having been graciously invited to enter, as he
expected, he was coolly told, he would have an opportunity of laying
his communications before the diván. This cold reception, as well as
the answer which was returned him, he was at no loss to interpret:
he perceived at once a change had taken place in his majesty’s mind
towards him. He waited, therefore, with anxiety for the meeting of
the diván, which took place on the Saturday following. Prior to the
meeting of the diván, however, the ághá of the janissaries wrote a
note to his majesty, which insinuated that there was great danger to
be apprehended from the grand vezír, and that if prompt measures were
not immediately taken with him, a serious tumult would most certainly
ensue. In the diván, he stated the same things at great length, and
concluded by saying, “that if instant precaution was not taken to
thwart the purposes of the proud vezír, the seditious doctrines he had
sown among the janissaries would soon, he was afraid, be felt in all
their mischievous consequences. Try,” continued the ághá, “and require
him to deliver up the seals of his vezírship, and I am willing to
forfeit your majesty’s good-will if the janissaries do not rise to a
man in resistance.” This speech excited his majesty’s anger.
In the meantime, the ketkhodá of the kapújís went to the grand vezír,
and informed him how matters stood, and of the part Kásim Aghá had
acted; and also that the military judges demanded his presence in the
diván. The grand vezír, however, did not think proper to appear in
the diván; but this ághá, bent on ruining him, did not leave a stone
unturned in trying to accomplish his purpose. Towards evening, one
Turk Ahmed Aghá, a kapújí báshí, brought the vezír a written message,
which purported to be from his majesty. On reading this document, he
set off in a sorrowful mood towards the imperial gardens, but contrived
at the same time to send word to those ághás who were his friends, of
the emperor’s purpose to deprive him of his office; and who immediately
went to stir up the janissaries to offer resistance. They assembled
themselves together in a tumultuous manner, hastened to Kásim Aghá’s
gate, and charged him with being the cause of the emperor’s change
of mind towards the grand vezír, shut him up in one of his rooms,
and made his gate fast with locks and bars: thence they proceeded to
the mufti and military judges, and threatened that if they did not
immediately induce the emperor to restore Yemishjí Hasan Páshá to the
premiership they would burn down their dwellings, and shed the blood
of any who should venture to oppose them. They also wrote out their
own sentiments, in order to present them to his majesty, but which
they delayed sending till the following day. After having menaced the
reverend and learned gentleman above-mentioned, they returned to pay
Kásim Aghá a second visit; but he had effected his escape, and had gone
to Jeráh Mohammed Páshá. On not finding Kásim Aghá a prisoner in his
own house as they had left him, the enraged janissaries took the seals
of his ágháship, and conferred them on Turk Ahmed Aghá. The vezírship
they conferred on Sárukjí Mustafa Páshá, who had been governor of Wán;
but the seals of the premiership they meant to confer on Yávuz Alí
Páshá, who was expected from Egypt.
Such were the transactions which took place on the above occasion, and
such the result. The diván, as a matter of prudence, was forbidden to
meet for a week.
On the following morning the infuriated janissaries, with one accord,
proceeded to the emperor’s palace, and demanded with a loud voice that
Yemishjí Hasan Páshá should be reinstated in the premiership. This
demand, however, was only made to the officers and servants of the
palace, but no doubt with the view of their communicating the desire of
the janissaries to the royal ear.
It happened that on that day the reverend mufti, and other spiritual
dignitaries, had gone with their retinue to the royal palace, where
they met the new-made ághá of the janissaries, Turk Ahmed, and whom
they earnestly exhorted to retrace his steps, and not follow irregular
courses. In short, this mode of address made an impression on the
mind of Turk Ahmed, and it seems to have communicated itself to the
rest of the mutineers; for we find the janissaries suddenly changed
their minds, and said, “It is no matter of ours who is at the helm of
affairs: the emperor may appoint whom he pleases.” The unfortunate
grand vezír’s friends among the ketkhodás and chief chávushes, and some
others, still maintained his cause, and continued for a while longer
to persevere in his behalf; but they, too, when they saw that their
perseverance would end in no good in his behalf, followed the example
of the others.
This unsettled state of things continued for the space of ten days,
when ten eunuchs, under the command of the bostán báshí, by supreme
authority suddenly seized on Yemishjí Hasan Páshá in the royal mint,
dragged him forth into the garden of Khundán Aghá, and there despatched
him, leaving his friends and followers to lament over him. Thus ended
the life and activities of Yemishjí Hasan Páshá.
It may not be improper briefly to advert here to the cause of that
enmity which excited Kásim Aghá against the grand vezír, and which had
its origin in the following circumstance.
When Háfiz Ahmed Páshá was sent to the Seven Towers, and his property
seized, that part of it which was not considered fit to be appropriated
to his majesty’s own use was ordered to be sold. Kásim Aghá was the
person appointed to execute this business in the first instance; but
the grand vezír, on the part of the diván, associated with Kásim
the son Poghacha, the third treasurer. The latter, perceiving some
disposition to purloin in the former, withstood him. Kásim, fired with
indignation, said that the emperor had committed to him the sale of the
confiscated property, and asked him, with an air of disdain, by whose
authority he had ventured to mix in matters that did not belong to him.
The other defended himself, and maintained that it was the special
duty of the defterdárs to attend to matters of that kind, and not to
ághás. “Why,” said Kásim, in wrath, “I hope it will be my lot one day
to dispose in this very way of your property, and of the property of
him who sent you hither.” The treasurer, who was not possessed of
superabundant meekness, communicated these unguarded sayings to the
grand vezír, and of course displeased him exceedingly. When Kásim, some
time afterwards, appeared before him, he reproved him for his conduct,
and threatened to be revenged on him. This, then, was the cause of that
hostility and ill will manifested by Kásim Aghá, as above related, and
which also led him to other actions not less vindictive and cruel.
After the murder of the grand vezír had been perpetrated, he not only
got the treasurer, Altí Poghacha’s son deposed, but succeeded also in
keeping him confined in the Seven Towers for a considerable time, and
caused the whole of his property to be confiscated—thus verifying, in
part at least, the truth of his own prediction. Yemishjí Hasan Páshá’s
secretary he caused to be arrested, and made him advance security for
his future conduct. Yáishá Zádeh Hamzah Effendí, the _reïs-ul-ketáb_,
or _reïs-effendí_, was by his means sent to prison, and the whole of
his property would also have been confiscated, had it not been for
the good offices of the ághá of the salihdárs, who interfered in his
behalf. Kátibmim, the secretary to Jeráh Mohammed Páshá, was made
reïs-effendí in room of Hamza Effendí.
This Kásim, though only an ághá, seems to have acted with as much
authority and controul, in fact, as if he had been possessed of
absolute and supreme dominion over the lives and fortunes of men. We
shall hear more of him just now, and still more afterwards.
_Kásim Páshá is made Governor of Constantinople._
In consequence of the káímakám having been afflicted with the gout, he
found himself unable to attend his duty in the diván, and therefore did
not appear there, except on the days on which petitions were presented
to his majesty. Hamza Páshá, the lord high chancellor, acted for him,
and gave him a detail of all such matters as usually came before that
assembly.
One day, however, Kásim Páshá (very lately only an ághá) invented
some means or other of getting the reverend mufti, Mustafa Effendí,
invited to the royal palace, where the emperor conversed with him on
topics of a general nature, and afterwards suddenly adverted to the
case of the afflicted Jeráh Páshá; spoke of the excellent fitness
of Kásim Páshá for the despatch of public affairs, and so forth. It
now began to be circulated abroad that the mufti had said that Jeráh
Páshá, the most laborious and active of all the emperor’s servants,
and the most beloved among the list of vezírs, was, in consequence of
disease, unable to attend to the arduous services which his responsible
situation demanded, or even to be present in the diván. The part which
Hamza Páshá, the lord high chancellor, had acted in the diván, was
mentioned with approbation, and, in words, encouraged; but the affairs
of government, it was said, had become so very great and numerous,
that it was absolutely impossible for him, however willing he might
be, to fulfil the duties of the governor or deputy of Constantinople;
and therefore it was considered more advantageous to the state to
allow Jeráh Páshá to retire, and appoint another able person to the
deputyship. It was urged that Kásim Páshá was a man every way qualified
for the high situation, and on the 8th of Jemadi II. Jeráh was informed
that his further continuance in office was dispensed with, and that
Kásim Páshá was appointed to succeed him.
Kásim Páshá entered on the duties of his high station with zeal and
alacrity, and, along with the mufti, attended incessantly to all the
variety of business which came before him, with the most consummate
skill and prudence. Mustafa Páshá, one of the vezírs, on account of
some impropriety which appeared in his conduct, was sent to Anatolia,
and Kúrd Páshá was appointed to fill his situation in the diván.
The mufti and the new deputy took care, however, to get their own
friends and favourites into comfortable and snug places, by turning
others out.
Yemishjí Hasan Páshá was deposed in the month of Rabia II. and
assassinated in Jemadi II. following of this current year. In
consequence of there having been no vezír in the diván at the death of
the late grand vezír, who was considered worthy of wearing the robes of
the premier, the seals were deposited, in the meantime, in the treasury
of the Soleimáníyeh. Jeráh Páshá, the deputy of Constantinople, and his
successor Kásim Páshá, attended to the duties peculiar to the premier’s
office till a new one was appointed, which was not long after. Yávuz
Alí Páshá having been recalled from the government of Egypt, he
appointed the oldest of the emírs of that province to act as his
deputy, and immediately commenced his journey towards Constantinople.
His near approach to that city was no sooner ascertained, than the
seals of the grand vezírship were sent him by the hands of Kúlí Dilsiz,
a relation of his own. This took place in Jemadi II., about the time
the late grand vezír was assassinated.
_The commencement of a rupture with Persia._
This year, one thousand and twelve, is recognized in the history of the
empire as a year of defection and rebellion. It was this year that the
ungracious Sháh Abbás, the king of Persia, violated his engagements
with the Sublime Porte, by stirring up rebellion and exercising tyranny
and oppression on her frontiers. The governors and commanders on the
frontier provinces had hitherto manifested the strictest obedience
and good government, but now became tyrants through the influence of
Persia. Neglecting the law of God and despising the commands of the
emperor, they began to exercise their tyranny and oppression not only
on the peasantry but even on those in power. In short, the Persians
succeeded amazingly in perverting and corrupting the hitherto faithful
Moslems on the frontiers.
Amongst those who had been thus gained over by one means or other to
the side of the heretical Persians was one Ghází Beg, a descendant of
Sháh Kúlí of Kúrdistán, and governor of Silmás. He and some of his
followers dreading the resentment of the Sublime Porte, wrote letters
to the Persian sháh to take them under his protection, and requested
him to send them aid. The fox-like sháh, however, cunningly put off
granting them their request for some little time, thinking it too early
for bringing about the base designs he had formed against the Osmánlís.
He, however, sent to Ghází Beg, by a hypocritical impure wretch of the
name of Jemshíd, a cap, a sword, and a shawl, flattering him with every
sort of promise of support from the sháh. Ghází Beg, thinking he had
got all he wanted, began to force the people of his government to wear
caps similar to the heretical one which was sent to him, instead of
those they usually wore. In short, Ghází Beg and his associates became
complete heretics and did not scruple to show it.