in the east, and Dervísh Páshá, the grand vezír, remained at home. In
consequence of his utter want of the talents and skill of a general,
and his total unfitness, in every respect, for the important office
assigned him, Ferhád failed most deplorably in obtaining the least
advantage; on the contrary, his conduct was productive of the most
serious evils. Kilmamemkila, the son of Kalander, a noted rebel,
during the time Ferhád was commander-in-chief, entered into Aydin and
Sarúkhán (sanjáks of Anatolia), where he committed the most dreadful
outrages and violence. A number of the inhabitants hastened to
Constantinople and complained bitterly to the emperor against Ferhád
and his adventurers, who, they said, tyrannized over them and oppressed
them. These evils, of course, were attributed, in the first instance,
to the maladministration of the grand vezír, who, instead of having
taken upon himself the charge of the expedition, had sent Ferhád, of
whom we have heard so much, to supply his place. The eyes of the people
began to be opened to see and to appreciate the conduct of the prime
minister, and in their hearts they became totally opposed to him, and
those who had the nearest approach to his majesty’s ear began to urge
his removal. The late reverend mufti, Siná-allah Effendí, who, for
having spoken his mind freely and openly, the reader will remember,
had been turned out of the muftiship, was now again, a third time,
installed into that high office, which Abulmeymín Mustafa Effendí
had scarcely enjoyed three months. Things now began to wear a new
aspect. The maladministration of the grand vezír could no longer be
concealed or connived at. The excesses of Dervísh Páshá and his wicked
government were represented to his majesty, who had hitherto favoured
his minister. These things, with the complaints which had reached him
from Anatolia, greatly excited his displeasure; and so clear and
evident did his minister’s guilty conduct appear, that he became as
much opposed to him as he had previously been swayed by his advice.
The emperor, now thoroughly satisfied of the maladministration of his
minister, summoned the reverend mufti and the reverend professors, in
order to converse with them respecting the grand vezír’s conduct and
mismanagement, and to consult with them as to the person most competent
to fill the office of premier. This consultation, as might easily have
been foreseen, terminated unfavourably to the interests of the grand
vezír, who soon afterwards expiated his crimes by the forfeiture of his
life. A hare’s sleep (_i.e._ a false promise) having been given to him,
he was, for a short time, flattered and caressed, until he was one day
called to the royal palace, when he was suddenly assassinated by the
bostánjís. It is said that he was first strangled with a tent-rope, but
a short time after a movement being perceived in his feet, the emperor
drew his dagger and cut his throat.
_The cause of his death more particularly related._
We have already adverted to the wicked and fraudulent methods which
Dervísh practised during his short vezírship, and for which he suffered
the just reward: the following assisted to accelerate his miserable
end. One of those Jews usually employed by the grandees was engaged in
the service of Dervísh Páshá, and, owing to the fidelity with which
he served his master, he succeeded in securing a very near access to
him. It was a practice among these Jews, when any of them were thus
employed, to keep an account of what they expended as well as of what
they received. The Jew just referred to kept an account of this kind,
and the páshá, his master, had every confidence in his integrity and
honesty, and, in short, intrusted him with all his money transactions.
Dervísh Páshá having begun to build a palace, the outlay was wholly
left to the management of this agent. When it was nearly finished, he
asked the Jew, his factor, for an account of the expenditure, which was
instantly put into his hand. The páshá, on looking over the various
items, perceived that a very large sum had already been expended,
and remarked with astonishment, knitting his brows, that such was
the case, for he was an avaricious, regardless, fraudulent man. The
Jew, conscious of his own honesty, and that he had acted according to
the rules which had been prescribed for his conduct, became greatly
enraged, especially when he perceived that the páshá was seeking his
ruin, and therefore he at once hit on the following cunning stratagem
by which he might be revenged on his unjust master. He took back the
statement of accounts, and, in the presence of the páshá, tore it in
pieces and threw it into the fire, saying, it was not with a view of
robbing his master that he kept a statement of the outlay, for the
whole belonged to him, whose servant he was. “Is it not well known
to you,” added he, “that whatever I may have gained by acting as
your factor, I have not appropriated the least part of it to my own
use? Nevertheless, if you inquire what has been expended, the answer
is easy: I have kept a statement of the expenses, but the páshá has
deceived himself, and has been negligent.” The foolish but avaricious
páshá believed the Jew and dismissed him, but the Jew had not yet done
with him. He instantly set about laying a stratagem, as already hinted,
for ensnaring his obnoxious master. In order to accomplish this, he
instructed some labourers, who were employed at the páshá’s palace,
to dig, by night, underneath the ground, a passage from the páshá’s
palace to the wall of the imperial treasury. And although several men
were employed, during the night, in digging out this subterraneous
passage, yet none, except those in the secret, were aware of it. When
the mouth of the passage was finished, he caused them to build it
up with stones, and then ordered them to retire. The malicious Jew,
after having succeeded thus far in his mischievous plan, entered into
a secret alliance with the kapú ághá, a collector of taxes, and an
enemy to Dervísh Páshá, to whom he communicated the whole secret, and
whom, by making him splendid presents, he gained to act along with him
in the sequel of this mystery. The Jew, after this, wrote a letter to
the kapú ághá, wherein he secretly, as it were, accused the páshá of
dishonest practices, and described to him the subterraneous passage
above-mentioned. The kapú ághá informed his majesty of the fact; and
he, believing the account to be correct, especially when he considered
the numerous complaints which had already been lodged against the
páshá, was roused to indignation against his treacherous and deceitful
minister, and caused him to be slain.
A very short time before this tragical event, a tax of a thousand
akchas for each of the palaces in Constantinople was ordered to be
levied upon the inhabitants, but which the death of Dervísh Páshá
fortunately saved them from paying, and for which they were most
thankful.
Dervísh Páshá perished about the commencement of Shabán, and on the
10th of the same month, Siná-allah Effendí, after mature deliberation,
recommended the celebrated Murád Páshá for the office of grand vezír,
who, in consequence of this, was immediately recalled from Belgrade to
the Sublime Porte.
The following is a copy of the letter which the emperor sent him on
that occasion.
“Murád Páshá, thou art my vezír. Without the advice or persuasion of
any one, but by our own special royal will, we have thought fit to
confer on you the grand vezírship, and have sent you the imperial
seals. It is hoped the Divine Majesty will assist you and further you
in your labours. We shall carefully attend to the endeavours you make
in every department. You will, therefore, be solicitous to come to our
sublime city.”
Murád Páshá, at the time he was thus honoured, was busily engaged
in carrying on negociations for a final peace with Austria, the
preliminaries of which had been entered into some time before. Several
important personages who had an interest in the making of the treaty,
on the part of Hungary, had been invited to Belgrade to consult with
Murád Páshá.
The time we are now speaking of was one of very great pressure and
distraction to the vezír, who found himself involved in pecuniary
difficulties of no small moment; but by the kind intervention of
Chelebí Effendí, cazí of Belgrade, who was become very rich, he was
considerably relieved by a loan of two thousand pieces of gold. But yet
such were the urgent demands made upon him that he found it beyond his
powers to carry on the government. One day some of those soldiers who
served for their food, were detected plundering some shops, and about
fifty of them were publicly scourged before his own tent.
When the vezír Murád Páshá was raised to the dignity of grand vezír, he
did not forget the friendship and generosity of the reverend cazí, and
even before he left Belgrade raised him to the cazíship of Aleppo.
_Peace concluded with Austria._
When Lálá Mohammed Páshá was recalled to Constantinople, the power of
concluding a peace with Austria, as well as the command of the army
of the north, was committed to the vezír, Murád Páshá, who was sent
off to the frontiers of Hungary immediately on his being chosen to
succeed Lálá Mohammed. On reaching Buda he there assembled the troops
who were to act under him, gave a favourable answer with respect to
the conditions proposed by Austria, and nominated his son-in-law Kází
Zádeh, Alí Páshá, beglerbeg of Buda, Hábel Effendí, the cazí of that
place, Nezir-ud-dín Zádeh Mustafa Effendí, a grandee of Buda, and
Khádem Ahmed deputy to Alí Páshá, to proceed to the Straits of Sidova,
somewhere between Komran and Osterghún, where they met the Austrian
commissioners composed of German and Hungarian princes and ambassadors.
Botchkai’s consent and permission had been obtained. The Austrian
commissioners were lodged on the north side of the Danube, and the
Moslem commissioners at Osterghún.
On the 1st of Rajab, the commissioners, on both sides, embarked in
boats on the Danube, and in the middle of that river, they, after
some considerable debate, altercation, and warm contest, concluded a
treaty of peace, the articles of which, we shall here insert. It is to
be observed however that, according to the contract entered into with
Botchkai, the whole of the Majar nation was put under his jurisdiction,
as were also the fortresses of Filk, Yanuk, and all the other places
of strength. Matters remained in this state till the demise of the
late grand vezír, Lálá Mohammed Páshá, when Botchkai ceased pressing
his claims. Murád Páshá, therefore, met the wishes of the other
contracting power, gave his consent to the treaty agreed on by the
comissioners. The following, in substance, is a copy of the articles
of that treaty. The Austrian commissioners, who were vested with full
powers, say, in the document which they signed and presented to the
Moslem commissioners, that they, in the name of Adolphus II., who, by
the grace of God, is emperor of Alaman (Germany), Hungary, Bohemia,
Dalmatia, Croatia, and of the maritime provinces, concluded a treaty
of peace with the commissioners of his sublime majesty, Sultán Ahmed
Khán, for the space of twenty years. (Here the names of the Moslem
commissioners are introduced, and are the same as those formerly
mentioned.) The names of the Austrian commissioners are mentioned at
the commencement of the above document, and are as follows Yanúsh
Amoorlardi, councellor of state, governor of Komran, and captain of
all the frontier troops; Adolphus Ehwalanjan, counsellor of state and
commander-in-chief; Nicolas Ashtwan, kapúdán of the other side of the
Danube; Francis Gusenlegan, kapúdán of this side of the Danube and
counsellor of state; Claudius Rewaid, count of Farsewer.
_Article_ I. That ambassadors of the emperor of Austria shall be
permitted to proceed to the Sublime Porte, and that the correspondence
between the court of Constantinople and that of Vienna be expressed in
such friendly terms as a father writes to his son, or a son to a father.
_Article_ II. That the Ottoman royal letters shall style the emperor of
Austria, Roman Emperor; not king.
_Article_ III. That when, by the grace of God, peace is once concluded,
neither Tátár tribes, nor any other military force belonging to
the Sublime Porte, shall commit any hostility against any of the
territories belonging to the Roman emperor.
_Article_ IV. That the territories belonging to the contracting powers,
whether surrounded by water or not, shall not be injured by either
party; that the villages on the confines of Hungary shall not be
molested by the Osmánlís; that the king of Spain, if he agree to the
treaty, shall also not be molested.
_Article_ V. That all the inhabitants on the frontiers be prohibited
from tresspassing on the confines of either party; that should any
person, from either side, be guilty of the refraction of this article,
and be seized, he shall be presented before the governor or kapúdán of
that place, who shall make proper enquiry as to what he has been guilty
of, and punish or acquit accordingly.
_Article_ VI. No castle or fortress, during the peace, shall be
plundered, attacked, nor taken by any stratagem. If any one of the
fortresses be taken by fraud or craft, it shall be restored. Those
places given to Botchkai shall remain as they were fixed at Vienna.
_Article_ VII. All captives taken before the peace shall be set
at liberty for the ransom that may be stipulated: such as are not
ransomed shall be exchanged for other captives; and no captives shall
be taken after the ratification of this treaty. If by any means any
captive be taken, the party who took him shall liberate him gratis.
The contracting powers agree, that persons who shall be convicted of
seizing captives shall be punished by the government to which they
belong.
_Article_ VIII. If any of the inhabitants of Temisvar, of Bosnia, of
Agria, or of Kaniza, offend against this treaty, information must be
given to their respective governors; and in the event of such offenders
not being punished, the beglerbeg of Buda, who shall be appointed
superintendent of all these districts, shall be requested to see
justice fairly administered. In like manner must the governor of Yanuk,
the kapúdáns on this side (the Ottoman side), and the banis of Croatia
be instructed to see this treaty respected.
_Article_ IX. The fortresses belonging to both the contracting powers
may be repaired; but no new fortress or palanka shall be erected on the
frontiers of either country.
_Article_ X. As to the two hundred thousand dollars promised to his
Sublime Majesty by this treaty, it is stipulated, that so soon as the
imperial ambassador shall have arrived with this sum at Constantinople,
the exalted serdár shall send a Sanjak prince with a present suitable
to the dignity of the Ottoman court to give to the duke. When the
royal presents destined for the Ottoman sultán shall have arrived, the
sultán shall return a gift of greater magnitude than usual to the Roman
emperor.
_Article_ XI. The Austrian ambassador shall proceed at once to
Constantinople with the stipulated sum of money and the royal presents.
_Article_ XII. The peace now concluded shall continue to be maintained
for the space of twenty years, commencing from the 1st of the thousand
and fifteenth Rajab (_i. e._ from 1st of Rajab 1015) of the Mohammedan
era, which is the 1600th of the Christian era: but no more presents
than those now mentioned shall be sent for the space of three years.
Whatever presents may be thought necessary to be sent after these three
years are expired, shall remain undetermined. If during the term of
this peace the emperor of the Moslems, or the emperor of Austria, or
the king of Hungary, should depart this life, their sons, successors,
and relations shall be bound to respect the articles of this treaty,
and not to violate the peace on any account.
_Article_ XIII. The palanka of Wáj shall remain in its present
(dilapidated) condition, and shall not be enlarged.
_Article_ XIV. When the Austrian ambassadors arrive at Constantinople
they shall be allowed whatever they may stand in need of.
_Article_ XV. The villages which paid tribute or taxes before the
reduction of Agria (_i. e._ the villages of that district) shall
continue to pay the same still.
_Article_ XVI. Those villages which belonged to Filk, Sichan, and
Novograde, but now connected with Agria, Khutván, Buda, and Osterghún,
shall pay their accustomed dues.
_Article_ XVII. Those villages which were accustomed to pay taxes when
Osterghún fell into the hands of the Austrian emperor shall still
continue to pay him their dues as formerly. All the other villages on
the frontiers shall continue to pay their usual taxes to whichever
government they may belong. In consequence of the unsettled state of
the district of Kaniza, a person shall be nominated by the Moslem
government, who, along with Bíkám Oghlí, shall make enquiry into the
state of matters, and determine which of the villages of that district
belong to Kaniza, and which not; when their taxes shall be regulated
according to what is right.
_Concerning Nesúh Páshá._
On the 4th of Moharrem in this year, Nesúh Páshá, who, by the
instrumentality of the late grand vezír, Mohammed Páshá, had been
appointed to the government of Baghdád, went to take possession of
his new government. On reaching the Euphrates he learned, that Píáleh
Páshá, the deposed governor of Bassora, had succeeded in gaining the
good-will of the people of Baghdád, and that by means of flattery
and promises he had secured the affections of the soldiery. He also
received intelligence concerning the rebel Mohammed, son of Túyel Ahmed
Oghlí, who had been válí of Irák. The beglerbeg of Wærka, Mír Sheríf,
whom Nesúh met on his march to Baghdád, showed him much respect, and
promised him his support. Nesúh was furnished with letters and robes of
honour to Seyed Khán Beg, one of those Kúrd princes who, before Nesúh’s
time, had come on business to Baghdád: also to the begs of Sehran, and
to Obrish Oghlí Emír Ahmed, an Arab prince. These letters enjoined the
several parties above specified, in the most flattering manner, to
attach themselves without delay to the interests of Nesúh Páshá, the
emperor’s commander-in-chief, and to proceed with him to Baghdád then
in the hands of the rebels.
Obrish Oghlí, and the other chiefs, sent the commander-in-chief
deceitful answers; and after waiting at Mosul for nearly six weeks for
their arrival, he found at last that he had been duped by their fraud.
To add to his distress, he found also, that the letter which he had
sent off to Seyed Khán had been intercepted, and that the rebels were
thus apprized of his march upon Baghdád.
It may be proper to observe, however, that before the imperial letters
above alluded to arrived, the Válí Páshá, Píáleh Páshá, and Emír Sheríf
Páshá, had advanced as far as Arabel, whence they wrote to Seyed Khán,
and to the emírs of Seheran to join them, but without any good result.
The Turkoman tribe, however, which for some insignificant advantage
had been tempted to revolt, joined the rebels. Upon this, and trusting
to the promises of Abúrish Oghlí, they entered the city of Baghdád
on the 3d of Shabán, the very day fixed on by him, but they neither
heard nor saw any thing of him. The Kurds and Arabian insurgents,
who had been sent by Arazil and Abúrish Oghlí, and who now supported
Túyel Oghlí in his rebellion, also entered Baghdád, and prepared for
resistance. Túyel, it would appear, had secretly succeeded, by means
of 30,000 ducats, in bribing a number of faithless mercenaries, who
served in the army under Nesúh. Túyel, in consequence of the success
his bribery had met with, ventured out of the city and offered battle
to Nesúh. At the commencement of this engagement, the superiority of
Nesúh’s troops over their adversaries seemed evident; but a body of the
mercenaries who had been bribed joining the insurgents, the remainder
of the army fled from the field. This catastrophe was attended with
terrible consequences to Nesúh; yet although his army, by this revolt,
was considerably weakened, he nevertheless, with Válí Páshá, Píáleh
Páshá, and Mír Sheríf, fought with unparalleled bravery. Válí Páshá
fell on the field of battle, and Nesúh was wounded in two places. A
considerable number of brave soldiers who fought under the banner of
Nesúh, besides many princes who had attended Mír Sheríf, also died
martyrs in this bloody contest. Nesúh and Mír Sheríf however, when they
perceived the battle turning against them, succeeded in getting their
fighting Muselmans to retire from the unequal conflict. Nesúh retreated
to an island which belonged to Mír Sheríf, where he remained until
the severe cold weather set in, and thence he sent a report of his
misfortunes to the court of Constantinople. Túyel, not long after this
victory which he had gained, was murdered in the city of Baghdád.
_Death of Botchkai._
Petrus, the pope’s legate in Hungary, and Arúmendi, Botchkai’s intimate
friend, informed the court of Constantinople that King Botchkai
Ashetwan had departed this life on the 5th of Ramazán. Some time before
his death he summoned to his presence the two above-mentioned persons,
and nominated as his successor his sister’s son-in-law, his own vezír,
the bravest prince that was in Hungary, one Hemon; and whose name
had been inserted in the contract between Botchkai and the Ottoman
government as the successor of Botchkai to the crown of Transylvania.
Hemon having been raised to the throne of Transylvania, as now
described, the Sublime Porte sent him a robe of honour lined with
wolf-skin, and a sanják, as tokens of esteem. This Hemon, called also
Hemon Baturi, was a descendant of the ancient kings of Transylvania,
and on this account was chosen successor to Botchkai.
_Other events of the current year._
On the night of the 4th of Moharrem a destructive fire broke out in
the Jewish quarter of the city: the desolating element reaching as far
as Khoaja Páshá’s bath, and Khoaja’s academy, and destroying squares
and streets in its progress. The damage which this fire occasioned was
immense.
On the 27th of the month Gúrjí, Mohammed Páshá, lately removed from
the government of Egypt, was appointed to the government of Bosnia;
and the government of Kaniza was conferred on Aghá Khosrú Páshá. On
the 11th of Rabia II., in consequence of the rebel Kalander Oghlí
having gone to the vicinity of Kewah, all the cavalry, Chashingírs
and Chávushes, who had any property in that quarter, were ordered
to repair thither. On the 16th of Jemadi I. the government received
information that the insurgent Jánbúlát had suddenly fallen on the
governor of Aleppo, Hasan Páshá, brother to Tarnákjí, and had slain
him. On the same day intelligence was also received that Alí Páshá,
the son of the same Jánbúlát, who had raised the standard of rebellion
in the jurisdiction of Aleppo, had fought and overcome in battle Emír
Seif Oghlí, beglerbeg of Tripoli, in Syria, who had been obliged to
take refuge in that city. On the 21st, the master of the horse, Ja’fer
Aghá, having been appointed governor of Ethiopia, his predecessor was
removed to Yemen, where he succeeded Sinán Páshá, who had been ordered
to return to Turkey. On the 18th of Ramazán, Kalander Oghlí, with the
rebels under his command, most completely overthrew and defeated Hasan
Páshá, beglerbeg of Anatolia; also Ahmed, the former governor of that
province, and the beg of Sarúkhán, Hájí Beg, in the neighbourhood of
Sarúkhán. Kalander Oghlí, after having obtained this decisive victory,
threatened to attack Magnesia, and it was, therefore, found necessary
to strengthen Brúsa. On the third of Dhu’l hijja, several of the
youths attached to the royal house were promoted to offices of honour,
according to the usual rule. A number of other promotions and changes
took place, but they are not worth while mentioning.
EVENTS OF THE YEAR 1016, H.
_The grand vezír, Murád Páshá, returns to court._
Murád Páshá, after the peace between Turkey and Austria was fully
settled and agreed to, enjoyed, at Belgrade, some degree of quiet and
tranquillity, until he was suddenly recalled to court. The official
messenger who had carried to Murád Páshá the emperor’s orders, no
sooner arrived at the place of his destination, than Murád Páshá, along
with the Austrian ambassadors, who had carried with them thither the
sum of money stipulated by the treaty of peace, set out in the greatest
haste for the Sublime Porte, where they arrived about the end of
Moharrem.
Not long after his arrival in the metropolis, it was resolved, in
consequence of the harrassing state of the eastern provinces and the
continued aggressions of the Persians, that the grand vezír, Murád
Páshá, should be sent with a splendid army to bring the countries of
the east into a state of tranquillity and subordination, and to act
against the Persians.
In consequence of the long-continued war which the Ottomans had been
obliged to carry on against the northern infidels, and which drained
to so great a degree the military resources of the empire, the inland
provinces were, in a manner, left destitute of sufficient military
force to preserve them quiet and peaceable. Anatolia, when thus freed
of the presence of the military, became much disturbed by every kind
of faction, rebellion, and insubordination: each faction had its own
leader or chieftain. They procured supplies of arms, formed themselves
into companies of foot and horse, and presented every where a most
formidable appearance.
One of the leaders of these rebels was Abdul helím, better known by the
name of Karah Yázijí (usually called Scrivano), who was at one time
in the suite of the governor of the province. At first he was only
segbán, but afterwards he became súbáshlik. The discontented portion of
the inhabitants of Anatolia chose this man for their chieftain, who,
by his wicked devices, soon brought the whole country into a state
of insubordination and violence. In 1009 he pillaged and sacked the
countries of Chorum, Sivás, and Tokat. Sometimes victorious, sometimes
defeated, he was, at last, obliged to betake himself to the mountains
of Jánbeg.