the grand vezír, Mohammed Páshá, after the reduction of Osterghún,
appointed his nephew, Serkosh Ibrahím Páshá, beglerbeg of Kaniza,
and another military commander, belonging to Botchkai, to conduct an
expedition of twenty thousand men, composed of Tátárs, Majarians, and
Bosnians, to invade the territories of the enemy. This expedition
commenced marching on the 5th of Jemadi II., and took the road
which led to Vienna. On the confines of Croatia it was opposed by
a considerable body of troops, there assembled for the purpose of
checking its progress. A battle ensued, and the conflict was obstinate
and bloody: several thousands of the infidels perished. Three times did
this mighty army of the Germans attack the Turkish confederates, but
was vanquished in its third attempt.
In the vicinity of the place where the confederates vanquished the
German or Croatian army there were two fortresses or castles, which
were under the dominion of the Pope. The names of these fortresses
or castles were Súnbúrhil and Karmand, which the confederate army
reduced, and slew every living German it found in them. Afterwards ten
thousand of these same confederates marched in the direction of Vienna
and Allemagne on a predatory excursion, and after having ravaged the
countries through which they passed, they returned in triumph. The
quantity of spoil and number of prisoners which they brought back with
them, it is impossible to estimate. Very many of the German nobility
were among the captives, and the Hungarian gentry were glad to come and
join the camp of the confederates. Nevertheless Zerín Oghlí, and Bekár
Oghlí, were not among those who thus joined the camp of the conquerors.
These two Hungarian chiefs considered it beneath their dignity to
bow to Botchkai’s general, one of the two chief commanders of the
confederates, but they sent some of their chief captains as their
proxies.
_Mohammed Páshá, the son of Sinán Páshá, killed._
Mohammed Páshá, son of Sinán Páshá, in consequence of his having been
disappointed in his views of the government of Syria, through the
ill will of Jeghala Zádeh, commander-in-chief of the eastern provinces,
he petitioned the court of Constantinople, and complained against the
serdár. That court, however, was pleased to confer Syria on Osmán Páshá
in preference to him or any one else. When Mohammed Páshá learned that
Osmán was appointed to Syria, he set out in great haste and wrath for
Constantinople, where he meant to prefer his own claims. One day he
entered into conversation with the vezírs, as they sat in council,
about his own affairs; but he was reminded of the maladministration
he himself had been guilty of in the places where he had acted as válí
or governor. As he was retiring from the presence of this council,
more disposed to accuse him than to hear his complaints, he was called
back and conducted into the royal presence. Here he was strictly
interrogated as to his own conduct, but having been unable to answer
the interrogatories which had been put to him, he was put to death in
the royal presence without any further ceremony.
_The emperor, whilst at Adrianople, hears further intelligence as to
the state of the rebellion in Anatolia._
On the 1st of Jemadi I. the emperor went on a hunting excursion to
Chetalmah, and thence, in three days, to Adrianople. He was only eight
days in this city, where he had begun to distribute favours, when he
received intelligence of the state and progress of the rebellion and
disaffection which reigned in the province of Anatolia. In consequence,
therefore, of the above unpleasant intelligence, he set out from
Adrianople, reached the metropolis in six days, and immediately adopted
means for curbing the rebellion and for chastising the rebels in
Anatolia.
Nesúh Páshá, who last year had been transferred from the government
of Haleb, was created commander of the troops employed against the
insurgents in Anatolia. Indeed, it was considered of the utmost
importance, by the government of Constantinople, that a vezír should
be appointed to each of the eastern provinces, in order to check and
subdue any spirit of rebellion which might arise, and which, in fact,
seems to have been very generally the case with them all. Dávud Páshá,
it will be remembered, was appointed to the east, but in consequence
of his having evinced some inability or weakness he was laid aside,
and Kijdehán Alí Páshá was raised to the government of Anatolia in his
stead. He also, it will likewise be remembered, was ordered to join his
troops to those of Nesúh Páshá, and after they (_i.e._ he and Nesúh
Páshá) had succeeded in crushing the rebellion in Anatolia, they were
then to join Jeghala Zádeh, who acted as commander-in-chief against the
Persians.
We have to relate, however, that Nesúh Páshá, and the troops under
his command, sustained a serious defeat at the bridge of Bolawadin.
At this bridge Nesúh, on the 1st of Rajab, was met by one Túyel, who
headed a body of insurgents: the one army was at one end and the
other at the other. Nesúh made all the preparations his circumstances
could allow for commencing an engagement, putting his foot and horse
in order of battle. The sound of his drums and trumpets reached the
very parapets of heaven: his artillery was drawn up in regular order,
and made to face the enemy. Nesúh thought his formidable appearance
would have deterred the insurgents from ever attempting the bridge
or river; but he was mistaken. The cavalry of these long-tailed and
curiously-turbanned heretics had scarcely begun to move, than they
instantly crossed the river or bog and put their swords and spears into
immediate requisition against Nesúh’s cavalry. These, as well as the
whole of the rest of the Osmánlí army, gave way; most of them were cut
to pieces, and those who fell into the hands of these barbarians were
dragged into the presence of Túyel, where, for the most part at least,
they suffered a more ignominious death: Nesúh himself was indebted to
the swiftness of his horse for the safety of his life. He fled, and
never checked the bridle of his charger till he reached a place called
Bekár-báshí, in the city of Seyed.
Túyel, who was left master of the field, and of the whole baggage of
the conquered Osmánlís, set fire to the city of Bolawadin, massacred
the whole of its inhabitants with the utmost ferociousness, and
desolated the whole of that region from one end to the other.
Nesúh Páshá, after resting himself about two days, went to Kutahia,
where Kijdehán, against whom he entertained an old grudge, then was,
laid the whole blame of his defeat on his shoulders, and slew the
innocent without mercy.
Kijdehán was a man that possessed a bitter and scurrilous tongue, and
who spared nobody. To escape, therefore, the reproaches of his tongue,
_i.e._ that he and those of his men who, like himself, had escaped the
general carnage, might not be made the subjects of his ridicule and
bitter reproach, he slew him. This, also, is asserted in the Fezliké,
that, before this, and prior to the defeat he had sustained at the
bridge of Bolawadin, he most unworthily, as well as unjustly, traduced
the character of the inestimable and highly-respected Mohammed Chávush
of Caramania, whom he crucified at Iconium, where he had met with him.
This Mohammed Chávush was son to Karah Alí, and was raised to the
situation he held in Caramania from the Chávush báshás.
Well aware that his conduct and ill fame would eventually reach the
ears of the emperor, and that his displeasure might easily be excited
against him, so as to make him the object of his vengeance, he, in
order to prevent these results, determined on going to Constantinople.
Accordingly he set out for Scutari, and thence to the Sublime Porte:
went to the royal palace, and caused it to be announced that he
had come from Anatolia to implore further aid to be sent to that
quarter. Having been called to enter the royal presence, he gave such
a representation of the state of matters as actually succeeded in
inclining the emperor to cross over into Anatolia and take a personal
share in the war with the insurgents. He, therefore, called together
the khoaja effendí, the reverend mufti and the vezírs, and confronted
them with Nesúh Páshá, in order to converse on the subject with him.
At this interview with Nesúh, however, there was much disputing and
great contention. All were opposed to the emperor’s determination;
but he himself remained inflexible. The emperor’s best friends used
their utmost efforts to dissuade him from the purpose he had formed,
by endeavouring to point out to him a variety of dangers; but all in
vain, and the consequence was, when they saw he could not be moved from
his resolution, they all withdrew very much displeased. The vezírs,
however, commenced making the necessary preparations for the emperor’s
intended journey, but at the same time used a variety of methods, such
as representing to him that the fleet had not arrived, and that at any
rate the season for safe sailing was fast passing away, in order, if
possible, to induce him to alter his mind; but all to no purpose.
The emperor, notwithstanding all the efforts which had been employed
to dissuade him from his undertaking; notwithstanding, also, that the
winter had fully set in, and the roughness of the sea, he continued
bent on proceeding. A royal firmán was sent off to Nukásh Hasan Páshá
to have the palace at Brúsa in a state of complete preparation for
the arrival of his majesty, and Dervísh Aghá, bostánjí báshí, who
was afterwards created a vezír, but subsequently assassinated, was
appointed commandant of Istámbol.
In the meantime, however, the empress-mother took her journey to the
other world, and her remains were conducted by her royal son and the
great men of the state, to St. Sophia, where the funeral service was
performed. They were afterwards interred in the tomb of Sultán Mohammed
III., on which occasion charities and alms deeds were attended to in
behalf of the deceased.
It was thought that the death of his mother might have so affected
the sultán as to cause him to give up all thoughts of his intended
expedition into Anatolia; but it had no such effect. On the seventh
day after his mother’s decease, he became quite impatient, ordered
the only three galleys which were then in the harbour to be held in
readiness, and on the 2d day of Rajab he set sail for Brúsa. On the
day after his arrival in Brúsa, he summoned his vezírs, the military
judges, and other magnates, to assemble in council in the royal palace
of that place, where he himself was. Súfí Sinán Páshá, the káímakám,
who had taken no active hand in making preparations for the emperor’s
expedition, was not called, or if called, did not attend. Dávud Páshá
and Nesúh Páshá had both been previously sent to keep possession of two
places on the frontiers. Mohammed Páshá, son of Ové Páshá, likewise
made no movement towards Brúsa, but he wrote to the emperor’s chaplain,
informing him that he had twenty thousand troops in full readiness.
“If I shall be called,” said he, in his communication to the royal
chaplain, “to be exalted to the vezírship, without either the aid of
troops or apparatus from the government, I will go, and to the utmost
of my power, endeavour to reduce the insurgents.” The title of vezír,
and the appointment to the chief command, was forthwith sent him, and
he was invited to wait on his majesty in his palace at Brúsa, in order
that his majesty might confer with him respecting the enemy against
whom he was to proceed. Mohammed, however, acknowledged neither the one
nor the other of these royal intimations; nor did he think it worth
his while to come to Brúsa to wait on his benefactor; or to proceed a
single step against the insurgents. On the contrary, he went to Gúzel
Hisár, where he gave himself up to every variety of pleasure. The
reverend tutor felt disgrace and grief at the shameful way the cunning
páshá had duped him, and, in fact, poor Khoaja Effendí, in consequence
of this, most completely lost his influence with the emperor.
On the 14th of the last mentioned month (_viz._ Rajab), about four
or five thousand spáhís, who had fled to Anatolia to escape the
vengeance of Yemishjí Hasan Páshá, which had been excited against them
in consequence of the tumult which the spáhí legion had raised in
Constantinople in the days of the late emperor, and for which many of
their superiors had been put to death, returned to their obedience, and
were again received into favour. These spáhís were as great rebels as
any in Anatolia, and committed every species of robbery and spoliation.
On making their submission they appeared armed and accoutred before
Súfí Sinán Páshá, the vezírs and the military judges, and preferred
the grounds on which they conceived they had been aggrieved, and which
had led them to act as they had done. Their case was laid before his
majesty, who not only forgave them, but also restored their officers
to their former situations, rewarded them with tokens of favour by
conferring robes on them, distributed to them their pay, and dividing
them into two bodies sent one division to Kutahia to remain under the
orders of Dávud Páshá, and the other under Nesúh Páshá.
Dervísh Aghá, who had been appointed in his majesty’s absence to the
commandership of Constantinople, was forbidden to exercise any further
authority in that capacity, on account of some misconduct which he had
been guilty of. Mustafa Páshá, one of the vezírs, was sent back to act
in his stead.
On the 16th his majesty, after having paid a visit to the sepulchres
of his ancestors, and the tombs of the venerable saints, returned and
bathed himself in a fountain. On the 19th he set sail from Modanieh,
and arrived in the imperial city on the same day.
_An overture made to Túyel._
On the 9th of Shabán of this year, a conciliatory letter was sent to
Túyel, the chief ring-leader among the insurgents, and also the offer
of a beglerbegship; but no answer as to his having accepted the offer
made to him, was returned: on the contrary, acting under the influence
of his brother, his violence and cruelty increased beyond all bounds.
The káímakám, in order to put a stop to the enormities which this rebel
and others were guilty of, and which were every day increasing, tried
to ensnare this terrible rebel. To induce him to throw down the weapons
of his rebellion, the deputy proposed joining Anatolia, Sivás, and
Haleb into one, and to offer the government of these united districts
to Túyel. When the deputy presented this proposal, and also a letter he
had received from Túyel, on the 17th of the last mentioned month, for
his majesty’s approbation, however, he met with a serious repulse, and
for his temerity was turned out of office. Khezer Páshá was raised to
the deputyship.
On the 24th, the chief butler, Mohammed Aghá, was raised to the
government of Syria. On the 9th of Ramazán, the bostánjí báshí, Dervísh
Aghá, was created admiral: he was highly esteemed by the emperor. On
the 9th of Shevál, the cazí of Constantinople, Rezván Effendí, was
degraded, and Hasan Effendí, son of Akhí, succeeded him in the cazíship.
_The grand vezír, Mohammed Páshá, is recalled to Constantinople._
When tidings of the disgrace and ignominy which befell Jeghala Zádeh
in the east, and of his death at Diárbeker, had reached the royal ear,
it was resolved on, in council, to send a statement of the affairs of
the east to Mohammed Páshá, the commander-in-chief at Belgrade, and
to request him to return to Constantinople, in order that he might
proceed to the east and take the command of the troops there. In the
royal communication which, in conformity to the above resolution was
sent to him, it was thus stated: that in the event of his declining to
accept the proposal sent him, he might remain where he was, but only
in the character of second vezír, and to return the seals of office.
But before these communications had reached the grand vezír he had
petitioned to be allowed to return to the seat of government.
_A commotion among the Janissaries and Spáhís._
A little after the commencement of the month of Ramazán, the
janissaries, in consequence of not having received the pay and clothing
that were due to them, began to show signs of impatience and insolence.
The spáhís, following their example, the very next day began to talk
loudly about their own dues, and soon acquired a most dangerous aspect.
Without ceremony, and in no way intimidated by their vicinity to the
royal palace, they threw stones at their officers before its very gate,
gave the most abusive language to the treasurer, and threatened him
in no measured terms. They complained of the person who had formerly
weighed out their money to them, and got him turned out of office. His
friends, however, interfered, and asked the reason of depriving him of
his official situation, but to no purpose. The discontent and tumult
increased, and at length reached the ears of the emperor. On the 23d
of Ramazán, early in the morning, the emperor, dressed in a scarlet
robe, very indicative of the state of his mind, for he was enraged,
came forth and sat down in Báyazíd’s portico; called together his
vezírs, ághás, notaries, and other principal officers, and delivered
a very warm and animated speech, in their hearing, to the mob; and in
which he severely rebuked them. He said, that though he had written
to them, that so soon as his treasurer, who was engaged in collecting
the taxes, should return, their wages and all their just rights would
be punctually attended to, they, instead of giving credit to his royal
word, as they ought to have done, and behaving themselves orderly,
became unruly, turbulent, and abusive, and that, too, before the very
portals of his palace.
The multitude, at hearing the emperor’s speech, were completely
confounded, and not one of them was able to say a single word in reply,
or in justification of the conduct they had manifested. One Yúsuf Aghá,
however, head of the Moghreb and Yemin regiments, advanced and thus
addressed his majesty. “May it please your majesty, the sole cause of
the unreasonable conduct which has been manifested is attributable
to the slaves brought up in the royal haram, and those foreigners
who have been introduced into the spáhí legion at the request of the
khán of the Crimea.” His majesty, on hearing the sentiments expressed
by Yúsuf Aghá, enquired the names of the persons who had excited the
irregularity and tumult which had prevailed. The vezír pointed out
to him the ringleaders, and immediately a sign was given to take
vengeance on them for their folly and temerity. Shahbáz Aghá, chief
of the salihdárs; Koorgha Zádeh, notary to the spáhí legion; and Yek
Cheshm Mohammed Effendí, were made the objects of imperial vengeance on
this occasion. Others who had been involved in the same condemnation
with the above were also visited with a similar punishment. The
comptroller of the cavalry, after he was conducted to the place of
execution, escaped the death which awaited him by the intervention of
the grand vezír, who interceded in his behalf. The ketkhodá of the
spáhís escaped in a similar way.
The grand sultán, after these various instances of his severity and
justice, concluded his harangue by warning the tumultuous soldiery
(spáhís) of their danger; assuring them, that if ever afterwards they
should manifest a similar spirit of insubordination, he would take
vengeance on their whole legion; and dismissed the crowd, desiring them
at the same time to remove the bodies of their companions from the
place of execution.
The officers belonging to the spáhís were all changed; and the
treasurer, Etmekjí Zádeh, no sooner arrived than the wages of the spáhí
troops were forthwith paid them.
_The commander-in-chief arrives at Constantinople._
When the hostilities which for a long time had raged on the frontiers
of Hungary, had ceased to threaten the peace and security of the
Ottoman dominions, the rebellion in Anatolia began to wear a much more
serious aspect than it had done at any former period. The grand vezír,
Mohammed Páshá, as we formerly mentioned, was fixed on to take the
chief command in Anatolia, with the view of bringing the troubles of
that country to a termination. The celebrated Mohammed Páshá no sooner
received the royal intimation on this head than he appointed Teryákí
Páshá, beglerbeg of Romeili, as his deputy at Belgrade, whither he had
called him; and Kúski Mohammed Effendí as defterdár in his absence.
Having committed the management of the affairs of the frontiers to
these two officers, he left Belgrade on the fourth day of the grand
festival (_i.e._ Easter), and arrived at the Sublime Porte on the 7th
of Dhu’l Kadah, when his majesty showed him every token of esteem and
respect.
_Delí Hasan killed at Temisvar._
We have had frequent occasion to advert to the history of Delí Hasan,
the brother of Karah Yázijí (Scrivano). We have mentioned how he had
been raised to the government of Bosnia; the evil deeds he had been
there guilty of; his expulsion thence; and his subsequent appointment
to the government of Temisvar. Here he acted nearly two years in the
character of válí, and had it in his power, by good conduct, to remove
the unfavourable impressions which his former deportment had but too
justly given rise to.
After the reduction of Osterghún, his excellency the
commander-in-chief, sent word to the inhabitants of Temisvar to have an
eye on Delí Hasan, and to watch his movements. This hint was enough.
One day some of the garrison of Temisvar went out as if they had
meant to follow the chase, but instead of this fell upon Delí Hasan
and his suite, the latter of whom they killed. Delí Hasan fled to
Belgrade, where Ghází Hasan Páshá, the káímakám, received him as his
guest. He afterwards, however, placed him within the fortress, and
sent an account of his arrival at Belgrade to Constantinople; whence
a sentence of death against Delí Hasan, his brother’s son, Kúchuk
Beg, was instantly returned, and both of them underwent that sentence
accordingly.