village of Ainehájí on the sea-coast, a Turkish village with a mosque
and sixty houses. Eight hours further rowing brought us to the village
of Zeitún-burní (Olive Cape) a port of Nicomedia, where the ships
belonging to the Aghá of the Janissaries take in their cargoes; we
were pleased with the cultivated appearance of the country on either
side the gulf, and at the end of eight hours more came to the large
town of Nicomedia. It was formerly a strong built and populous place,
the ruins of which still remain; and is said to have been built by
Alexander, to whom the foundation of Scutari is also ascribed; and the
canal which was cut from the lake of Sábanja to the gulf on one side,
and from the river Sakaria to the Black Sea on the other, causing Kojá
Ilí and Nicomedia to be completely insulated; but that communication
was choked up by Constantine, and Nicomedia ceased to be an island.
It would be an easy thing to re-establish this canal, by which means
wood might be procured at a very low price. Nicomedia was conquered
by Sultán Orkhán in the year 731 (1330) and destroyed, in order that
it should never again afford shelter to the Infidels. A large square
tower of that period is still standing on the sea-coast, garrisoned
by seamen, which is now a repository for wood and timber. When Orkhán
besieged this town he gave the first command of his troops to Kojá
Baí, to whom he said, “Isnim vár git,” (You have my leave, go,) which
became the name of the town, by contraction of Isnim-git into Ismit.
After the conquest of Nicomedia, and Kojá-Baí had subdued the adjacent
country, it was called after his name Kojá Ilí and Nicomedia was made
the capital of it; but by the order of Sultán Mohammed II., Nicomedia
was added to Anatoli, and many times since has been given as Arpalik
to Vezírs of three tails. The imperial Khass amounts to twenty-six
thousand, five hundred and twenty-six aspers, twenty-five ziámets,
one hundred and eighty-seven timárs. The judge is appointed with three
hundred aspers a day, but his annual revenue may be reckoned at five
thousand, and that of the Páshá at twenty thousand piastres. The port
is much frequented by great merchants; its public officers are, a
commander of the janissaries and Sipahís, a Muftí and Nakíb-ul-ishráf.
The merchants, most of whom trade in wool, are richly dressed; the
invalids of the janissaries (Otúrák) and Kúrijí are wealthy. The town
contains three thousand five hundred elegant houses with gardens.
The largest is the Seráï of Sultán Murád IV. which is appropriated
to the Emperors, and guarded by two hundred Bostánjís; the next is
the Seráï of the Páshá. There are altogether twenty-three quarters,
three of which are occupied by Infidels, and one by Jews; and
twenty-three mosques. At the old market is the mosque of the tribunal
with one minareh; the mosque of Pertev-Páshá, with a leaden cupola
and one mináreh, stands on the sea-shore, it was erected by order of
Pertev-Páshá who was governor here for seven years in the time of
Sultán Súleimán. It is an elegant, bright mosque built by Kojá Sinán.
There is no establishment for reading the Korán or tradition. The best
bath is also that of Pertev-Páshá, it is a fine building, there is good
air and water, and attentive waiters. The bath of Rostem-Páshá, like
the former, is Sinán’s work. The best khán is that of Pertev-Páshá
with seventy fire-places. Besides the kháns, two hundred magazines for
wood and other materials are in the port, one thousand one hundred
shops of handicraftsmen, and forty coffee-houses, the most brilliant
of which is that of the Serdár, famous for its waiters. This town has
no stone-built Bezestán, but many valuable things are notwithstanding
to be met with in the kháns and shops. Near the palace of the Emperor
is the Imperial arsenal. The houses of the town are all on the side of
the mountain, with the windows looking towards the sea. The streets
are all paved with white stone. At the back of the houses the mountain
is laid out in gardens. The inhabitants are healthy, the air and water
being very good; their complexion is white. The woody mountains East
of the town are called Aghá Danesí (sea of trees), an immense forest
in which it is very easy to lose one’s way; here are trees towering
into the skies, under which ten thousand sheep find shelter in their
shade, which the sun’s rays cannot pierce. In these thick forests
are many saw-mills and works which must be seen, for they cannot be
described; they cut trees of one hundred cubits length, and the trees
of Yalova are famous all over the world. At the end of the gulf are
salt-marshes which afford pure salt, and are under the direction of
a salt-inspector. The white cherries and red apples of Nicomedia are
famous.
_Pilgrimages of Nicomedia._
On the west side of the town is the tomb of Sheikh-zadeh Mohammed
Efendí, a great Sheikh of the order of Khalvetís, and a great
alchemist. He distributed food and clothes amongst the brethren of
his order, though he never had any fixed revenue. I was entertained
for ten days in the house of my relation Kúl-oghlí Mohammed Chelebí
in this town; then embarked and went to the opposite shore only three
miles distance, whence after a journey of thirty miles, we reached
the port of Deal, the further side of which is called Gebízeh’s Deal,
while this side is called Hersek’s Deal or tongue. The origin of this
tongue of land is ascribed to a Dervish, who having been refused a
passage by the ferryman, took up earth in his apron, and threw it
into the water, where it grew out immediately into a point, on which
he walked to the length of twelve thousand paces, to the great fright
of the ferrymen, who saw that he was going to unite the two shores
and stop their living. They ran after him, and did not desist from
entreating him, till he left the remainder of the sea open, and entered
their boat. He is buried at the Deal of Gebízeh, on the spot called
Deal-bábá. At Hersek Deal is a large Khán for travellers who wait there
for a passage; Hersek-oghlí Ahmed Páshá was Vezír to Mohammed II., and
this Khán, built by him, bears his name. We set sail, and at the end
of fifty miles reached the castle of Kara Yalaváj, built by a Greek
princess, and named Kara Yalaváj-oghlí, who conquered it in the time of
Osmán. The castle was destroyed at the siege, which was difficult and
prolonged, the ruins still remain; in the time of Ilderím this castle
was said to belong to the sanjak of Brússa. The judge is appointed with
one hundred and fifty aspers. There is a commanding officer of the
janissaries and a Súbashi, the town has seven-hundred houses, faced
with brick, and seven mihrabs. In the Market-place is a mosque with a
minareh capable of holding a great number of people, one bath, three
kháns and from forty to fifty shops, but the air being very heavy,
agues frequently prevail. Its yoghúrd and fruits are excellent. Having
visited all that was worth seeing here, we entered our chariots (araba)
took a south east direction, and at the end of five hours arrived at
Germáb Jihán-námah, a pleasure spot in the midst of thick forests,
where we found a couple of hundred tents. We pitched ours and entered
into conversation with the guests, who come here after taking a course
of the purgative waters at Deal, to cleanse themselves in the hotbath,
which was built in the time of Yanko Ben Madián. Helena, the daughter
of Yanko, being leprous and exiled to these mountains, discovered by
accident the marvellous quality of these waters; by bathing in them,
she became cured of her leprosy in forty days, which was the cause
of this building being erected. Her father built six cupolas, of
which two are yet existing, with a large basin beneath, the water of
which is extremely hot, but is pleasant when mixed with cold. These
baths are frequented by a great many people in the cherry season. We
remained here a whole week, after which we again started, and at the
end of a five hours journey, came to the castle of Samánlí, which was
conquered in Sultán Osmán’s time by Samánlí-oghlí from whom it took
its name. Its castle is in ruins, and there are but an hundred and
fifty houses with gardens, a mosque and three mesjids, belonging to the
district of Yalova. The air is heavy. We embarked for the island of
Heibelí, distant twenty miles, which is nine miles in circumference,
and which we have already mentioned in our journey to Brússa. Six
miles further on is the island Táshánlí, which derives its name (Hare
island) from the infinite number of hares, found there; it is only one
mile in circumference, and is uncultivated. The tree Rakíta (?) grows
on this island. After rowing eight miles we came to the island of
Búrgházlí with a strong but small castle, situate on the chalk cliffs
by the sea-shore. The island is eleven miles in circumference, and is
called Búrgház from its castle ([Greek: pyrgos]) it has three hundred
houses with fine gardens and good wells, and is ruled by a Súbashí
and Yassakjí, the inhabitants are all Greeks, and are rich masters of
boats. The island abounds in goats and hares. Their wealth is ascribed
by the author of the Taríkhí Yalován, to the loss of a richly laden
Spanish fleet which was wrecked among the Prince’s Islands in the time
of the Greek Emperors, the cargo of which being thrown on shore or
fished up by divers, enriched the inhabitants of Kizilata (Prince’s
Island), Heibelí (Khalki), Borgházlí (Antigone), Táshánlí (Platys
or Oxia), and Kanálí (Proti). The latter island is eight miles in
circumference, has a convent and a village of one hundred houses. Ten
miles distant from it is Kizilata (the Prince’s Island), a cultivated
island of twenty miles in circumference, with a village of two hundred
Greek houses. It is called Kizilata or the red island, from the
appearance of its mountains, and is near Scutari. On its four sides
Daliáns (look-outs for catching fish) are established. These islands
are seven altogether, ruled by the Bostanjí-báshí, and form part of
the Captain Páshá’s province, who appoints the Súbashí and a Yassakjí.
These seven islands are eighteen miles distance from Constantinople, in
a line between Constantinople and Yelova. I passed seven days visiting
these isles, the weather being unfavourable. At last the wind became
fair, and I entered Constantinople on the first of Rebi-ul-ákhir, after
a month’s absence, landing at Wood-gate. I kissed the hands of my
father and mother, presented them with some gifts from Nicomedia, and
received their benediction. Ketánjí Omer Páshá, an old and particular
friend of my father having been named governor of Trebisonde, he
appointed my father as his Kapú Kiaya or agent at Constantinople, and I
accompanied him on the journey to his government.
JOURNEY TO BATUM AND TREBISONDE.
In the beginning of Jemazi-ul-akhir, 1050, after having taken leave of
my friends, I embarked at the Flour-hall in the ship called Kara-mursal
of Fertíl-oghlí of Trebisonde, and in three hours time arrived at
Yenikoí on the Bosphorus, which has been already described in the
first volume. We there took in five hundred quintals of biscuit, and
ten boat-loads of ballast. In seven hours more we reached the castle
of Kavák, which was built by Sultán Murád IV. as stated in the first
volume. Here we read a Fátihah for a prosperous voyage through the
mouth of the Bosphorus, and, trusting in God, we sailed along the
Asiatic rocks, and arrived at the harbour of Irva on the frontiers of
Kojá-Ilí, a district with a Súbashí, a mosque, a khán, from forty to
fifty magazines, and one hundred houses faced with brick and surrounded
with gardens. The south and south-east sides are all gardens. We took
in water, and advanced by rowing, along the Asiatic shore. At the end
of thirty-six miles we came to Shila, a jurisdiction of Kojá-Ilí, here
are six hundred houses faced with brick, with a garden to each, and
a mosque at the head of the harbour. The small town of Kefken has a
bath, some shops and a khán. One hundred miles further on we arrived
at the island of Kerpe, which is twenty miles in circumference, but is
uninhabited; it is but a mile distant from the continent of Kojá-Ilí.
The small town of Kándria, with gardens, mosque, khán and bath, is
in the mountains of Kándrí at four hours distance from the island.
The river Sakaria here disembogues into the Black Sea; it rises from
the mountains of Cútahia, goes to Kiva, a place belonging to the
district of Nicomedia, and falls into the Black Sea near Kerpe. There
being no wind we rowed ten miles further on, and came to Akcheshár,
a Voivode’s residence in Kojá-Ilí, here is a judge with an income of
one hundred and fifty aspers. It was formerly a fine town, but burnt
by the accursed Cossacks in the reign of Ahmed I. There are now only
six hundred Turkish houses, some faced with brick, and others of wood;
on the market-place stands a brick-built mosque, forty shops but no
Bezestán, a bath and three kháns, one of which was formerly covered
with lead. The cultivation of the place is now in a very low state.
It is the harbour of Bolí; on the shore are seventy magazines full of
wood and timber. Mountain on mountain rises on the east side of the
town, and gardens appear one above the other; the people are healthy
on account of the purity of the air. We passed Ereglí (Heraclea) and
the tower of the shepherds (Chobán Kúlessí) a small castle on a lime
cliff, but not garrisoned. Near it is the statue of the builder, very
like life. We passed the rivers Túfadár and Bárten, the last of which
is a great river, where Egyptian ships enter to be loaded. The Castle
of Bárten was built by the Genoese; and is situated at the end of a
gulf eighteen miles in depth. We went from hence eighteen miles further
north, and arrived at Amassra (Amastris) built by the Greek Emperors,
the seat of a Voivode belonging to the sanjak of Bolí. The castle is
a strong square building on a high hill, it was attacked at different
times by the Russians, who were always compelled to retreat. It has no
Dizdár, but a judge with an income of one hundred and fifty aspers,
and a commanding officer of the janissaries. In the castle is a mosque
and some mesjíds, but no dining or reading establishment. Amassra is
situated on the east of Sinope, distant five days journey by land, and
one hundred miles by sea. It is also on the east side of Heraclea, at
a distance of four days journey by land, and fifty miles by sea. The
climate and fruits of this place are much praised. On the east and west
side are two excellent ports, the safest refuge in the world; at the
eastern harbour is a bath, and good magazines. The river Kayú forms the
frontier between the sanjak of Bolí and Kastemúní. It is forty miles
from here to the harbour of Kadoz; at the distance of seventy miles is
reached the point of Kerenbe, a cape like that of Sinope; on the rocks
are some remarkable inscriptions.
The castle of Ainebolí was built by the Genoese, and is now the seat
of a Súbashí, subordinate to Kastemúní; the judge is appointed with
one hundred and fifty aspers. There is a commanding officer of the
janissaries, a Dizdár and garrison. The castle is a strong pentagon on
the seashore; its gate looks to the east, the houses are all faced with
brick, in the market-place are mosques and mesjíds, a bath and shops,
it is the landing-place of Kastemúní, but has no good harbour. We rowed
from hence till we came in sight of the cape of Sinope, and anchored
before Shátir-koí, a pleasant village, where all the passengers went
on shore. The high mountains (Balkán) are covered with tall trees,
which afford excellent timber for the large ships that are built here.
The inhabitants are all ship-builders. Sixty miles to the north, along
the seashore, lies the village of Istefan belonging to Kastemúní; the
houses are faced with brick, and seven miles beyond is the town of
Sinope.
_Description of the Ancient Town of Sinope._
Omer Ben Abd-ul-assíz, the nephew of Súleimán Ben Abd-ullah of the
Ommiades, having laid siege to Constantinople without effect, also
besieged this castle, but retreated without taking it. It was conquered
by Úlú-Beg the Lord of Kastemúní, and again in the year 796 by Ilderím.
As it is an extremely strong fortress, it was with difficulty taken
after the third siege. It is a free fief entirely separated from
Kastemúní; a Dizdár, Serdár, a judge, Muftí, and Nákíb-ul-ishráf, are
the authorities of the place.
The inhabitants are a commercial people, being mechanics and merchants,
with some Sheikhs and Ulemas. They commonly wear ferrájís of cloth
and caftáns of Bogassin. The mountains on the east and Kiblah side
of the town are laid out in gardens. The town of Kastemúní is three
journies distant on the east side. Sinope is situated on a cape of the
Black sea, which bears the same name. Opposite to it on the European
shore of the Black sea are the rocks of Kilghra Sultán, and the
Black sea appears between them like a straight, which widens towards
Constantinople and Trebisonde. Sinope is five hundred miles distant
from Constantinople, and lies on the west side of Samsún at four
journies distance. The castle stands on a high hill with triple walls
of Shedád (gigantic or cyclopean) and was built by the Greeks. It is
seven thousand paces in circumference, and has six thousand six hundred
battlements, and eight gates, viz. the sand-gate, the place-gate, the
arsenal-gate, the new-gate, the hospital-gate, the gate of the inner
castle, (Lonjá), the Oghran gate, and the gate of the inner castle
towards the sea. All these gates are of iron and double. The lower part
of the castle on the seashore is washed by the waves on the two sides,
its form is an oblong square; viewed from the top of Mount Búzdepeh it
appears like a ship’s deck divided into three parts. The commander is
a constant prisoner, for the inhabitants are empowered by an Imperial
rescript to kill him if he goes further from the castle than the
distance of a cannon’s shot. The garrison consists of six hundred brave
warlike men. In the time of Sultán Ahmed, on a dark night, the Cossacks
took the town by escalade, and the great Vizír Nassif Páshá, was put
to death for having concealed it from the Sultán. It was retaken from
the Infidels and garrisoned with fifty additional men, and provided
with one thousand quintals of powder, a great number of large and small
guns, and other arms. From that period the watch has been kept nightly
by two hundred officers and Chaúches, and after the music of sunset the
guards, cry their “all’s well,” (Yeg dir Allah). The Infidels tried
several times to retake it, but were routed and driven back in great
confusion, and God be thanked! they have made no new attempt since
the reign of Sultán Murád IV. The town is divided into twenty-four
quarters, those of the Infidels are on the sea-beach; one thousand one
hundred Infidels pay the tribute (Kharráj) and one hundred are exempted
because they are employed in renewing the fortifications; there are
five thousand and sixty ancient houses of stone, with slated roofs,
facing the sea to the west. The oldest mosque is that in the castle of
Ala-ud-dín which has a lead-covered cupola, and a mináreh one hundred
paces long, in a fair proportion, with three gates. The mihráb and the
place of the Muëzzins are of exquisite workmanship, but the minber
is so elegant that angels alone could adequately describe it; I will
make the attempt, but it will be like a drop in the ocean or a mote in
the sun. It was composed by ancient masters of six different kinds of
marble, which are so well put together that even the cleverest artists,
such as Jemshíd would be unable to discover the joints. All the flowers
and blossoms of the earth are here skilfully engraved and carved, so
that in all Islám there is no minber to be compared with this, unless
it be that of the great mosque at Brússa, which, nevertheless, cannot
compete with it in the abundance of floral ornament; in short, all
travellers and artists who behold this minber, place the finger of
astonishment on their mouths, for it seems more like a supernatural
than a human work. Being situated in the suburb of the Castle, it is
always crowded with people whose prayers are put up to Heaven. The
remaining mosques are the Súleimánie in the inner castle with one
mínáreh; the new mosque near the gate of the Meidán (Almeida); the
Ayá Sofiáh, an old mosque faced with brick, the mosque Kefelí outside
of the gate of the Meidán, and that of Mohammed Aghá with a well
proportioned mínáreh.
The Baths are as follows:—The bath in the upper part of the market
is a double one, that of the lower is a single one like that on the
sea-shore, Yallí, the building, the air and the water are equally
pleasant and agreeable. There is the college of Sultán Ala-ud-dín and
sixty abecedarian schools. When I visited this town, the inhabitants
boasted, that there were two thousand boys and girls who had learned
reading and knew the Korán by heart. There is an Imaret, a house
for lectures on Tradition, and three for reading the Korán, and one
thousand shops, full of valuable goods; provisions, the white bread
especially, and beverages are good. The harbour is excellent, affording
shelter for ships against all quarters of the wind; there is no better
port in the Black sea unless it be that of Báliklava; the best water
is found here, and the beautiful symmetry of the Turkish youth of both
sexes is to be attributed to the mildness of the climate.
I visited the tombs of Sídí Belál Sultán, Súbhan Khojá, that of Jují
Sultán, in the green monument within the Castle; that of Kází-Beg
Sultán in the college of Ala-ud-dín, that of Bekir Khojá below it, that
of Imrza Efendí at the Sand-gate, and those of Hamza and Emír Efendi
near it.
South of the town is the high mountain called, Búzdepeh (ice peak)
opposite to which the rocks of Kilghra are seen on the European shore;
foxes, jackals and bears abound on this mountain. We spent three days
in this town, then re-embarked and at the end of three miles came to
Findíják-ághzí, whose inhabitants are all boatmen and ship-builders.
The river Kizil Irmák here enters the sea, it rises from a mountain
in the sanjak of Angora, passes under the bridge of Cháshnegvír to
the castle of Osmánjík, and to Hájí Hamza near Túsia, it derives the
name red river from its reddish colour. Higher up the river in the
mountains are found cornelians large enough for handles of knives and
daggers; no village in the neighbourhood is cultivated through fear of
the Cossacks; forty miles further on we came to Báfra, the seat of a
Súbashí subordinate to the sanjak of Jáník. The judge is appointed with
one hundred and fifty aspers a day; there is a separate Serdár (officer
of the janissaries). The distance from Samsún is a day’s journey.
Báfra lies south-west of Samsún and at two farsangs distance from the
Black sea. The Kizíl-Irmák, which comes from the district of Gunánabád
flows on the west side of Báfra, and near this place it is crossed by
a bridge of fir-trees, which forms a wooden arch from one side of the
shore to the other; it is well worth seeing. There are two mosques and
two baths at Báfra, and the houses are all built of fir.
_Description of the Castle of Samsún._
It was first taken from the Greeks, who built it, by Ala-ud-dín a
prince of the Seljúk family, and afterwards by Sultán Ilderím; it is
the seat of a voivode subordinate to the sanjak of Jáník. The judge’s
provision is fixed at one hundred and fifty aspers. Order is kept
by a commanding officer of the janissaries (Serdár Kiayayerí), and
the commander of the castle, Dizdár, but there is neither Muftí nor
Nakíb-ul-ishráf. The inhabitants are all packers and boatmen, no great
rich men (Awán) but a number of Ulemás. Every body dresses according
to his means. The distance between Sinope and Samsún is by sea one
hundred and fifty miles, and five days journey by land. Sinope lies
to the south of Samsún, which is a strong fortress on the seashore.
In the time of Mohammed III. the conqueror of Erla, the Cossacks
took this castle and destroyed the fortifications in some places,
which, after they were driven away, were repaired, and the garrison
strengthened, with great store of ammunition; it is now five thousand
paces in circumference, has seventy towers, two thousand battlements
and four gates. The river of Chárshenbe-Bazárí, which passes before
Amasia, disembogues in the Black Sea on the east side of Samsún. It
is a large river, not fordable, rises in the sanjak of Bolí, goes to
Tokát, and then passes before Amasia; hence originates the proverb
coarsely applied by the inhabitants of Tokát to those of Amasia; “you
drink what we have defiled.” The water of Samsún is called bad, it is
however clear and transparent. The houses are faced with brick and
surrounded with gardens, it has a mosque and kháns, but no college or
reading establishment, seven abecedarian schools, a bath, and a market,
but no port. It is an open place but the anchoring ground good. The
grapes and pears of Samsún are pickled (túrshí) and sent in casks to
Constantinople; its cables, ropes and resin are famous. The town is
situated on the edge of a gulf. We visited all that was to be seen at
this place and then re-embarked with our companions.
_Description of the Castle of Onia._