deposed.—Khalíl Páshá is advanced to the premiership._
All the efforts employed this year against the Persians, as we have
seen, ended in disappointment, disgrace, and loss. The failure of the
vast army conducted by Mohammed Páshá against a place of such little
importance as Reván, being only a fortress of clay, and the great
expense which this expedition had occasioned, created a tremendous stir
at Constantinople. The emperor was no sooner informed of the disasters
which his army had experienced, and of the utter failure of the
expedition, which were wholly to be attributed to the want of proper
skill in the commander-in-chief, his own son-in-law, Mohammed Páshá,
than his mind was much hurt, and he immediately determined on deposing
him. With this view, and in this state of mind, he assembled the mufti
and all his ministers in the imperial gardens, in order to consult
them on the state of public affairs. Etmekjí Zádeh, who, it will be
remembered, had succeeded Gúrjí Mohammed Páshá in the deputyship of
Constantinople, became exalted in his own imagination at the chance,
as he thought, of his succeeding Mohammed Páshá in all his offices.
In the pride and vanity of his heart he proceeded to the place of
deliberation. Before he reached it, however, the reverend mufti had
an interview with his majesty, who informed him of the purpose he had
formed of conferring the high and important offices of grand vezír
and commander-in-chief of the army on one of his vezírs, and asked
him to tell him who he thought was worthy of being raised to these
high dignities. The mufti replied, “That as Etmekjí Zádeh filled the
office of deputy of Constantinople, the honour might, perhaps, belong
to him.” “That may be true,” said his majesty in return; “but he has
been sometimes guilty of falsehood, and such a person is not fit to
hold the premiership.” The reverend prelate approved of the sentiments
expressed by his majesty, and then added, “that Etmekjí Zádeh was not
only a liar, but also a wicked tyrant.” “Mention, then,” said his
majesty, “some other one.” The reverend prelate without any hesitation
recommended Khalíl Páshá, “an officer,” he said, “who, as he knew,
had gained to himself, by his bravery and skill in the navy, signal
honours, and was every way worthy as well as competent for holding the
high offices now vacant.” “That,” said his majesty, “is the very man I
have been thinking of.” The reverend prelate now took his leave of his
royal master, and had scarcely gone out when Etmekjí Zádeh came in, to
whom the emperor put the same question he had put to the mufti. “Please
your majesty,” replied Etmekjí, “I am at your service, and am willing
to sacrifice my life in the service of the crown.” The emperor was
silent, and the other thinking this silence on the part of the emperor
betokened his majesty’s selection of himself, he went out. Khalíl Páshá
now entered, when his majesty saluted him by informing him that he was
appointed grand vezír and commander-in-chief: “The seals shall be sent
after you,” added the emperor. Khalíl kissed his majesty’s hand for
the honours he had conferred on him, and returned to his own mansion:
so did also the other vezírs, but none of them knew any thing of the
appointment of Khalíl Páshá.
Etmekjí Zádeh, full of the idea of being raised to the premiership,
as he vainly thought, got his table spread out and covered with all
sorts of viands for his friends, and impatiently waited for the arrival
of the seals, which he believed would be sent him. But he waited in
vain: they were sent to Khalíl Páshá. This fact was soon announced
to Etmekjí, even at the very time he was regaling himself with his
friends, as before hinted, and which had such a paralyzing effect on
the constitution of Etmekjí, that his hands refused to touch the food
which stood before him. His friends were all struck with surprise: they
wondered at the sudden change which had appeared in their host: they
were silent and retired. This unexpected piece of information was first
communicated by a messenger who came to call the Reïs effendí, one of
Etmekjí Zádeh’s guests, desiring him to wait on the new minister.
Hasan Aghá, son-in-law to Mesli Aghá, ághá of the janissaries, who fell
before Reván, was, though only a kúl ketkhodá, appointed to succeed
his father-in-law; but this appointment not meeting with his majesty’s
approbation, Hasan Aghá, bostánjí báshí, was appointed to the command
of the janissaries, and was sent off to Erzerúm, where the janissaries
then were.
_The Persian ambassador is imprisoned._
As soon as the sháh of Persia had learned that a mighty army was
marching against his dominions, he sent off an ambassador, as before
related, not with two years’ tribute of silk and presents, which he
owed, but with one year’s only. On the arrival of the ambassador in the
city of felicity (Constantinople), accommodations were afforded him,
but the usual honours were denied. In fact, the monarch was so much
enraged, that he afterwards sent him to the Seven Towers.
In the meantime the new grand vezír was busily employed in making
preparations for renewing the war against Persia, and an imperial
letter, with money for the journey, was sent to the khán of the Crimea,
Ján Beg, calling upon him to join the royal camp with a Tátár army.
The disappointed Etmekjí Zádeh entered into wicked and treacherous
designs against the new grand vezír. One of his creatures was brought
before the diván for having murdered a servant who had belonged to the
prime minister, for which he was instantly dispatched by order of the
emperor. Etmekjí himself was notorious for his acts of corruption, and
was therefore banished the seat of government.
The preparations for renewing the war being fully completed, the grand
vezír and commander-in-chief, with his newly organized army, passed
over to Scutari. Etmekjí Zádeh’s ambition was again awakened; he
thought he should now be made káímakám of Constantinople, which office
he lately held; but he was again disappointed, for the emperor had
conferred that responsible situation on Súfí Mohammed Páshá, governor
of Buda, who was instantly recalled and installed. Etmekjí Zádeh could
bear his disappointments no longer, and overcome with grief he was
taken ill. But we must, for a little, advert to some other events which
claim our attention.
The governor of Kaniza, Ahmed Páshá, Ghraj-ban Gasper, who had been
raised to the principality of the island of Naxia, and the hákim of
Prague arrived in Constantinople with credentials from the emperor
Mathias, requesting a conference with respect to the late treaty of
peace. It would appear that before the treaty was finally settled the
commandant of Buda, Alí Páshá, was removed from the frontiers, and
Hasan Páshá was appointed in his stead; the latter, not knowing the
advance which had been made towards laying a foundation for a solid
peace, disturbed the tranquillity of the country in several instances,
and committed some serious evils besides. However, he died, and Alí
Páshá, at the establishment of the peace, being again re-appointed
to the government of Buda, not only restored peace and good order,
but also settled the boundaries of the villages belonging to both
countries, and the payment of all dues, as they had been in the days
of Soleimán. It was in reference to these and similar matters that
the personages before-mentioned came to Constantinople, in order that
they, along with Charizghal, the Austrian ambassador at the court of
Constantinople, might be able to arrange matters in conformity to the
articles of the peace.
_Iskander Páshá marches against the Cossacks._
The emperor having determined on rooting out the troublesome and
factious Cossacks on the Black Sea, ordered his fleet to be in
readiness, and commanded Iskander Páshá, governor of Bosnia, to conduct
the Romeilian troops by land against them; but both the expeditions
against the Cossacks did not proceed till after the new year. About
this time the Transylvanian ambassador arrived, and informed the
government of Turkey, that certain German princes who had committed
violence and robbery on the borders of Transylvania, but who had been
severely chastised, and obliged to retire in disgrace, were again
threatening to invade that country with their collective force. The
Osmánlí government, in order to maintain its guardianship over that
country, and to awe the invaders, sent a number of troops towards its
frontiers, and wrote for an explanation to the Austrian ambassador
at the court of Constantinople. The ambassador replied, that his
master was wholly ignorant of the fact. The Ottoman emperor was
unwilling to enter into any hostile attitude, but found it requisite
to support his allies; especially as one of the engagements entered
into with the emperor of Austria was in favour of Transylvania. The
emperor, therefore, in accordance with his own peculiar engagements
with Transylvania, wrote to Iskander Páshá, who had been appointed
to conduct the land expedition against the Cossacks, to take fifteen
thousand of the troops, foot and horse, under his own command, conduct
them in person, or give the command to some other fit officer, and
oppose the threatened invasion of Transylvania. “You are by all means,”
said the emperor in his letter, “to deliver out of their hands the
fortress of Yanovah.”
In Petcheví’s narrative it is said that Dúmnah, the widow of Eremia
(Jeremiah), the former voivoda of Moldavia, had great possessions in
Poland, and that an infidel of the name of Korsákí, of the race of
Russian and Polish nobles, was her son-in-law. This Korsákí, wishing
to recover Moldavia for her youngest son, raised an army of twenty
thousand native Russian vagabonds, and another of as many Poles,
entered Moldavia, took possession of that province, and thrust out
Stephan, whom the Osmánlí government had fixed there as voivoda of the
country. To reinstate the ex-voivoda, Serkosh Ibrahím Páshá, governor
of Silistria, the begs of Bender and Akkerman, and a Tátár army were
instantly dispatched; but were completely defeated and routed in the
very first engagement. At this time, Iskander Páshá, who had been
removed from Agria, was employed in some service in Constantinople. The
káímakám, Gúrjí Mohammed Páshá, appointed him governor of Bosnia; and
afterwards sent him into Moldavia with the Bosnian, Serm, Semendrian,
Alájahisár and Walehet troops. Ibrahím Páshá, with the Silistrian
troops, was ordered to join Iskander’s camp. Iskander Páshá, having
penetrated into Moldavia with his mighty force, met with the army
of Dúmnah, headed by Korsákí, her son-in-law, near a village called
Istaphanish, where a most sanguinary battle took place, but in which
the Moslems were triumphant. The two sons of Dúmnah, and her son-in-law
Korsákí, were made prisoners; and all the three, along with five
hundred Cossacks who carried muskets, were sent bound in chains to
Constantinople. So many living prisoners had not, in modern times, been
presented before the royal diván.
Iskander Páshá, the conquering Iskander, was every where hailed as the
deliverer of the country: he again placed the ex-voivoda Istaphan in
his former government, and succeeded in restoring peace and good order.
It is worthy of remark, before closing the events of this year, that
the daughter of Dúmnah, the wife of Korsákí, a woman of extraordinary
excellence, fell into the hands of a Tátár, and could no where be
found. She was, however, afterwards ransomed for thirty thousand
dollars, and was found pregnant by the Tátár, to whom she had borne two
daughters; a circumstance which, for a time, was much talked of both in
Poland and amongst the Moslems.
_The grand vezír and commander-in-chief goes to Diárbeker, where he
winters.—Ján Beg Gheráí, the khán of Crimea, joins the royal camp._
On the 8th of Jemadi II. the grand vezír and commander-in-chief passed
over with a splendid army to Scutari; but because of the great distance
of the Persian frontiers he was ordered to winter at Diárbeker. On
arriving in this city he was informed that his highness the khán of
the Crimea, Ján Beg Gheráí, had left Kaffa with an army forty thousand
strong, and that he was on his march to join the grand army. The
commanding general, however, sent him word, that before joining the
royal camp at Diárbeker he should ravage the frontier territories of
Persia, _viz._ Gunjah, Nakhcheván, and Jelha; which he did, carrying
off about a thousand captives, and as many cattle. On approaching the
royal camp, the grand vezír and commander-in-chief went out to meet his
highness the khán of the Crimea, and conducted him to his tent. After
the table was removed, the grand vezír presented his highness the khán,
in the name of the emperor, with a splendidly ornamented sword, a steed
richly caparisoned, and five thousand pieces of gold, for the purpose
of covering his expences in the war. His mirzás were also presented
with robes of honour: the Osmánlí beglerbegs bowed and did obeisance in
his presence, and then conducted him to his own camp. After a day or
two the island of Ebn Omar, in the jurisdiction of Mír Sheríf Páshá,
was assigned to him and his Tátár army for winter-quarters.
_A division is sent to protect Gúrjistán (Georgia) from the grasp of
the heretics._
In the meantime the governor of Gúrili sent letters to the commanding
general, informing him of the intention of the kizilbáshes of subduing
the province of Gúrjistán (Georgia). The general, in order to afford
protection to Gúrjistán, sent the beglerbeg of Batum, Omar Páshá, and
his provincial troops; also Murteza Beg, beg of Childer, Sefer Páshá,
and other chiefs of that nation; and the emírs of Gúrilí, of Dadyou,
and of Askukbásh, with their respective provincial troops, to the aid
of the Georgians. Moreover, the whole of the janissaries in Erzerúm
and in Trebizond, with their respective officers, and the governors of
Dághistán, were ordered to join the camp of Omar Páshá, to whom the
chief command was committed.
_Iskander Páshá concludes a peace with the Cossacks._
Iskander Páshá, who had been appointed to chastise the Cossacks on the
borders of the Black Sea, but who had been called away to support the
Transylvanian kingdom against the aggressions of some German princes,
now, accompanied by Betlan Gabor, and the voivadas of Valachia and
Moldavia, with their respective armies, besides a division which he
himself conducted from Buda, advanced so far as a palanka, called
Búdila, on the banks of the Túrla (Tyras), which runs through Moldavia.
The hettman of the Poles, and Istanislar Zulghosh, commander-in-chief
and minister of Sigismund, king of Poland, with a Polish army, were
posted at a place called Bazuja. As both armies were on the eve of
commencing the work of death, ambassadors from both sides entered
opportunely into a reciprocal conference with regard to the conduct of
the Cossacks, and the result was: 1st, That the hettman became security
for the Cossacks, that they should no more enter the Black Sea by
the river Ouzi, and vex or molest the Moslem population residing on
its shores. 2d, That they should never again invade the kingdoms of
Transylvania, Moldavia, and Valachia. 3d, That they should never permit
Hootaba Oghlí Shirnán, nor any other to pass through their territories
with the view of disturbing the peace and tranquillity of any or all
of these kingdoms or countries. He agreed, moreover, in the fourth
place, that the gifts and presents usually sent to the khán should be
punctually remitted as in former times. All these stipulations, which
the hettman agreed to guarantee, were signed by himself and other
responsible persons in his camp; were also written out in the Turkish
and Polish languages, and a copy of them sent with his ambassador to
the court of Constantinople. It was agreed by Iskander Páshá, on
the part of the Tátárs, that they should not invade or molest the
territories of Poland. These stipulations, on both sides, were ratified
and signed on the 6th of Ramazán of this present year, when commercial
intercourse was again opened between the countries included in this
treaty.
This year the emperor of Austria sent his most favoured minister, the
governor or kapúdán of the city of Prague, to Constantinople with his
tribute of gifts and presents to the emperor of the Ottomans. The
Austrian ambassador having been required to remain at Constantinople
till the commissioners formerly mentioned had come to an amicable
conclusion with respect to the affairs which had called them together,
did so, until he was required by letters to repair to the borders, as
affairs were on the eve of being settled. He accordingly set out for
Buda, where the commissioners then were, and, after every thing was
finally settled, he was permitted to return to his own country.
_Concerning the naval affairs of this year._
The lord high-admiral, Alí Páshá, with the view of distressing the
infidel coasts, sailed for the Mediterranean with the Turkish fleet.
He foolishly neglected, before going to sea, to condemn such of his
ships as were not sea-worthy; and, as if he had been educated for
the naval service, he set sail of his own accord. On the evening of
the 20th of Shabán, as he reached the wide and extended ocean, a
tremendous hurricane arose which soon forced the vessels of the fleet
to separate from each other. On the following morning, the hurricane
still continuing, he perceived this to have been the case: four ships,
containing ammunition and arms, two galleys having janissaries on
board, besides five other vessels, were wrecked, and every soul on
board of them perished. Two large vessels and one galley were driven
by the winds to the coasts of Tripoli West, but were not injured. The
galley which had a company of troops on board, for seven days and as
many nights was driven at the mercy of the tempest. Soídán Oghlí,
who at this time was beg of Tripoli, supplied these vessels with
every thing that they required, and sent them back. After a period of
twenty-days the remaining part of the scattered fleet collected round
the kapúdán, at Corone, when it was discovered that eleven vessels had
perished. The time for sailing being now over, the fleet returned to
the port of Constantinople in the month of Dhu’l Kaddah.
_Death of Sultán Ahmed Khán.—Sultán Mustafa Khán is inaugurated._
The disease of the stomach, by which his majesty had been afflicted,
became, during the first ten days of the month of Dhu’l Kaddah, so much
increased as entirely to resist the skill of the physicians; and on
Thursday night (_i.e._ the night preceding Thursday), the 23d of Dhu’l
Kaddah (November 17th, 1617), he passed into the eternal world.
In consequence of the tender age of the heir-apparent, his uncle,
Sultán Mustafa, in conformity to his deceased brother’s own choice
and agreement, succeeded to the throne of the Ottoman empire. Before
the hour of morning prayers, therefore, the káímakám or deputy of
Constantinople, Mohammed Páshá, the reverend mufti, Isaád Effendí, and
the other nobles and grandees of the state, assembling together in
the royal diván, prepared a chair of state; and on Thursday the 12th
of Teshrín Sání (November), Sultán Mustafa ascended the throne of the
khalifat, and was solemnly inaugurated by the assembled nobles and
grandees; heralds being sent to proclaim the same in the royal mosques.
On the same day, the remains of Sultán Ahmed Khán were carried out
into the court of the palace, whence, after the metropolitan priest
had performed the funeral obsequies, they were borne to the place of
interment, accompanied by all the vezírs and grandees, walking on foot
and dressed in mourning.
_Character of Sultán Ahmed Khán._
The pious royal defunct was a prince who, discarding envy, was the
protector and encourager of the learned and the lovers of concord. He
was the friend and support of the neglected, infirm, and poor, who
were obedient to the laws, and of those who rooted out wickedness
and heresy. He ascended the throne of his illustrious progenitors
when he was only fourteen, and reigned fourteen years. His gracious
but powerful firmáns were some of the benefits he conferred, and his
reign is embalmed in the pages of poetry as the most prosperous. He
was a zealous and active emperor, who incessantly manifested his good
disposition.
It is related by Shábán Deddán, who had performed the office of washing
the emperor, that he had perceived in the emperor’s beard two white
hairs, which he (the emperor) during his life time would not allow to
be extracted. “When with astonishment, and desirous of information,
I showed them to his nearest relatives,” says Deddán, “they informed
me, that these two hairs began to appear after the commander-in-chief
had been sent against the Persians.” He was a prince who was kind to
persons of every class, whose conduct deserved to be esteemed. In
short, religion prospered during his reign. The benefits he conferred
on Medina and Mecca exceeded those of all his predecessors. He
purchased the two palaces in the At Meidán, belonging to Ahmed Páshá
and Mohammed Páshá, on the area of which he caused a splendid temple
to be built, which has not its equal on the face of the earth. In the
galleries, on the tops of its six minarets, are shown the number of
the Osmánlí Sultáns who have reigned; and from which also the Moslem
muezzíns (public criers) proclaim the joys of paradise. Its lamps are
all suspended: some of them are covered over with gold, and others are
ornamented with gems. Both within and without, the utmost skill of the
artist has been expended. This unequalled temple is very lofty. Some
of the beautiful buildings which surround it are also memorials of the
royal founder.
_Concerning Sultán Ahmed Khán’s sons._
Sultán Mustafa Khán, the paternal uncle of the heir-apparent, Sultán
Osmán Khán, who afterwards fell a martyr in a tumult of the people,
mounted the Ottoman throne. The mother of Osmán was a noble and august
lady, and the principal concubine of his father. The royal offspring,
Sultán Mohammed, when preparing for the northern wars, was, through
the perfidy of Osmán, murdered. Sultán Murád Khán, the conqueror of
Baghdád, another of the royal princes, became sáhibkirán (emperor).
His august mother, called the Moon-faced, was a favourite of Ahmed his
father. Sultán Báyazíd was born three months later than Murád, and
died a martyr. Sultán Soleimán shared the same fate with Báyazíd, and
in the same year. Sultán Kásim was as successful in arms as Murád had
been. His mother was also a favourite of the deceased emperor. Ibrahím
became emperor, as we shall afterwards see. His mother, like those
already mentioned, was a favourite of Ahmed.
_Vezírs who were contemporary with Sultán Ahmed Khán._