and cotton beaters are the most famous, as well as the barbers and
confectioners. In the time of the Amalekites, the river Túzánlí did
not pass through the town; it was Ferhád, the lover of Shirín, who cut
these mountains like cheese, and the traces of his work is yet to be
seen in the mountains on the west side of the town.
The situation of this town in a deep valley, and on the banks of a
river, contributes to the mildness of the air, and the riches of its
cultivation. The windows of the houses look to the west and north; the
winter is temperate. The water which Ferhád carried to the town from
the opposite mountains is delightful; it is distributed from house to
house.
_Of the Walks, and Pilgrimages or Tombs._
There are seventy different walks; the first is that of the bloody
fountain (Kánlí bínar;) it is so called because a wicked old woman
having brought false news to Ferhád here, of Sherín’s death, he threw
his hatchet into the air, and himself down the precipice, by which
means he was killed.
The tomb of Ottoman Princes, who are buried in the cypress wood,
their names I do not know; the tomb of Zekeria Khalvetí, he was the
first disciple of Pír Elias, and is buried near the saddlers’ shops
(Serrájiler). The pilgrimage of the Sultán of the faith, the Simorgh
of truth Sheikh Abd-ur-rahman Ben Hassám-ud-dín Gomishlí-zadeh, he is
the nephew of Pír Elias, and was a dervish of the order of Khalvetí,
of whom many miracles are related. The three Princes, sons of Murad
II. having visited this Sheikh, two of them kissed his hand, and the
third, Mohammed, kissed his feet. The Sheihk took the handkerchief
(Reda) he wore on his neck, tied it round the neck of Prince Mohammed,
and admonished him to take care of the Moslíms at Constantinople.
This Sheikh has left many poems on divine love; his poetical name
is Hossámí. His tomb is near that of Pír Elias, in the convent of
Yakúb Páshá. Molla Kassem Khatíb Ben Yakúb, who was born and buried
at Amasia, one of the deepest of learned divines. Molla Ala-ud-dín
Ilíkámi, born and buried at Amasia. Molla Abd-ul-jebbár Ajemí, near the
tomb of the Ottoman Princes. Molla Abd-ur-rahman Ben Ali Ben Moyed,
born and buried at Amasia. The Sultán of poets, Munírí Efendí, born
and buried at Amasia, he improvisated Arabic, Turkish, and Persian
poems, and was one of the Vezírs of Prince Ahmed, when Governor of
Amasia. The excellent female poet, Mihrmáh Khatún, descending from
Pír Elias’s family, was a virtuous lady like Rábie Adúye, who knew
seventy scientific books by heart, and beat the most learned men in
disputing: her true name being Mihrmáh, she took the name of Mihrí for
her poetical surname; she left a Diván, and some theological treatises,
and was buried near her grandfather, Sheikh Pír Elias.
Pilgrimage of the Pole of Poles, the Sheikh, _par excellence_, the
cream of saints, the column of the Princes, Sheikh Pír Elias. He
was one of the Sheikhs of Sultán Bayazíd I., and went with Timúr to
Shirván, from whence he returned to Amasia, his birth-place, where he
is buried on an elevated spot, called Sevádie, near Amasia. He is famed
for many miracles, one of the most celebrated is, that when his corpse
was washed, he straightened the hand which had been placed crooked by
the washing-man. His mausoleum, with all the foundations belonging to
it, was erected by Bayazíd II., son of Sultán Mohammed II. Strangers
and poor persons are here most liberally entertained. Praise be to
God, that I was so happy as to visit it, and to finish a complete
lecture of the Korán there. The pilgrimage of Kelíj Arslán, a Sheikh of
the Mevlevís, buried in the convent of that order. The pilgrimage of
Ferhád; he is buried on the top of the mountain which he cut for the
love of Sherín, and the old woman who was the cause of his death is
buried between him and his mistress. The thistles and thorns which grow
on the tomb of the old woman prevent the flowers uniting, which grow on
the tombs of Ferhád and Sherín.
There are a great number of pilgrimages of great and holy men, but
I visited only those I have given an account of, and at each, in
honour of their souls, said the Súra Yass, asking for their spiritual
assistance. On the third day of our stay the clarions of departure
sounded; we took leave of our friends, and travelled the same day
through the mountains of Chengelli-bíl, reaching, after six hours
march, the station of Kánlí-bínár, which is the spot where Ferhád
killed himself. It is a pleasant place, with a luxuriant spring of most
delightful water. We watered our horses here, and pitched our tents,
and continued our road next morning towards the north for seven hours.
We arrived at the village of Ezíl, a district belonging to Amasia,
three hundred houses with gardens, a khán, a mosque, and a bath.
_The Town and Castle of Nígíssár._
The next day we reached, in eight hours time, the seat of the
Dánishmend family, the old town and stronghold of Nígíssár. Its builder
was a Greek Emperor; it was conquered in the year 476 (1083) by Sultan
Melek Ghází, of the Dánishmend family, and became the seat of this
dynasty; their second residence was Amasia. The Seljúks, who anxiously
wished to possess it, laid siege to it several times without success.
Its name is a corruption of Níg-hissár, the good castle. It is an
ancient, strong-built castle, on a limestone rock, five hundred and
sixty paces in circumference, of an hexagon shape: the three gates face
the east, west, and south; within the castle are three hundred houses
and magazines, and a mosque, which was formerly a church. The garrison
is small in number, because it is not a frontier fortress; they only
keep watch against rebels; the lower suburb is a large town, but its
streets being narrow, and going continually up and down hill, it is
with difficulty that a horseman can make his way to the market-place,
and for a waggon to do so is out of the question. This town belongs to
the khass of the Páshá of Sivás, the residence of a Súbashí of seven
hundred purses’ revenue, the judge is appointed with one hundred and
fifty aspers, and there is a Muftí, Nakíb, Serdár, and Kiaya-yerí.
The town comprises forty-three quarters, with sixty mihráb (Jámí and
Mesjids), of which nine are Friday mosques, wherein the Khutbe is
performed. The mosque of the castle was formerly a church, an ancient
place of worship. To the mosque of Melek Ghází, the visitor descends by
five or six steps; it has a slender, thin, well-proportioned minareh:
its equal is not to be seen elsewhere. The mosque of Chaplakáneh
is faced with bricks. At the west end of the town is the mosque of
Júregí; outside of the castle is the mosque of Khalíl Efendí, just
finished, faced with brick; also outside of the castle is the mosque
of the Muftí. The houses of the town, in the valley, and on the hill,
ascending one above the other, are two thousand seven hundred in
number, faced either with earth or bricks. There are three baths, viz.,
that of the Muftí in the castle, that of Chaplakháneh outside of the
castle, and that of the Infidels, also outside of the castle, besides
forty-five private baths in the palaces.
_The Hot-spring of Nigíssár._
It is a small hot-bath outside of the town to the south; the women
and boys of the town wash their clothes here; it is a well-flavoured
water, has no sulphurous smell, and is useful as a remedy in leprous
and arthritic diseases. It is visited every year, in the month of July,
by a great number of people, who amuse themselves for a month, and
then return to their homes. There is a college, and house for reading
of the Korán and tradition, but no kitchen for the poor; there are
seventy schools for boys. The inhabitants are an honest set of people,
with some beautiful women amongst them. There are seven convents, the
first of which is the great convent of Chevregí; that of Elias-dedeh
is not less famous. There are a great number of springs and fountains,
which move as many corn and fulling mills, also five hundred elegant
shops, but no Bezestán. The narrow street, which leads down from the
castle, is lined on both sides with shoemakers’ shops; the principal
streets are paved with large slabs. The inhabitants are fresh-coloured
lively looking Turks, who pay great attention to strangers. Among the
eatables, pomegranates are much famed; they each weigh an occa, and
some even as much as five hundred dirhems, and are of the size of a
man’s head. The cheese, Kufte and Passdagh of this place are famous;
the environs are laid out in rice plantations (Cheltuk). The Black Sea
is two journies distance from this place.
_Pilgrimages of Nígíssár._
The conqueror of Nígíssár, Melek Ghází, of the Dánishmend family, is
buried near the castle gate. God’s mercy be upon him! Chevregí-boyúk
Sultán lies near the great mosque, beneath a cupola. We left this town
and advanced towards the east, through mountains and forests. After
six hours march we reached Kariebásh Chiftlik, the frontier of Sivás,
here bordering the governorships of Erzerúm, with two hundred Armenian
houses, and a ziamet. The next day, as soon as we trod the ground of
Erzerúm, we offered up a sacrifice of two hundred and seven camels,
and the inhabitants of Erzerúm, with the Kiaya of the Chaúshes, the
Defter-Emíní, the Chaúshlar-Emíní, the Timár Defterdárí, and other
gentlemen of the Diván at their head, came to meet us with presents.
_The Governorship of Erzerúm or Erzenrúm._
It is situated in Azerbeíján and Armenia, and, according to some,
erected by Núrshiván; but the truth is that it was by Erzenbaí Ben
Softár Ben Kúndúz, of the dynasty of the White Sheep, whose ancestors
had come from Mahán, and built the castle of Akhlát, on the borders
of the lake Wán; they are all buried at Akhlát, and the ancestors of
the Ottomans, Ertoghrúl and Súleimán, derive their lineage from them.
Uzún Hassan, having become master of Azerbeiján, built the castle
called Hassan, after his name, at Erzerúm. Envious of the conquest of
Constantinople by Mohammed II., he began to trespass on the frontiers,
and to violate the peace. Mohammed II., in defiance of him, conquered
Trebisonde, and defeated him with twenty thousand men in the field of
Terjeán. With great difficulty we traversed the rude pass of Iskefser,
and in three hours we reached Shákhna, an Armenian village of two
hundred houses, where the Armenian girls are wonderfully pretty. From
Constantinople to this place we had constantly ascended towards the
east, and all the rivers were flowing from that direction towards us;
this will show on what high ground Erzerúm is situated. From Shákhna we
crossed the Governorship of Erzerúm, which was our allotted province,
in different directions to the south, north, east, and west, and shall
now describe the stations of these our excursions.
Tekine is a village in the jurisdiction of Iskefser, with one hundred
houses, a ziámet. Five hours further on is the village of Chádár, of
one hundred houses, in the jurisdiction of Koilí. The castle of Koilí
was built by Usún Hassan, from fear of Mohammed II.; it belongs to
the sanjak Shuban Kara Hissár, in the province of Erzerúm; it is
situated on a high rock, and is one thousand three hundred paces in
circumference. Inside are one hundred houses and magazines, an iron
gate opens to the west; it has a commander and seventy men; the suburb
outside consists of one hundred houses, a mosque and some shops. The
castle saluted us with seventeen guns, and the inhabitants met us
with presents; they slaughtered ten sheep as a sacrifice, for which
they received ten ducats. Two stations north of this village, on the
shore of the Black Sea, is Baihssa-bazárí, which a man on foot may
reach in one day. In the reign of Ahmed I. the Cossacks of Oczakov
pillaged this place: the environs being gardens and flowery meadows
are extremely favourable to bees, and the honey of Koilí-hissár,
scented with musk and ambergris, is famous; the inhabitants are a
turbulent set of people. We descended a deep precipice, and after seven
hours reached the village of Doirán. The river here issues from the
mountains of Kerkúk, is joined by several streams from the mountains of
Koilí-hissár, and below Chehárshenbe by the river of that name, which
passes Amasia. The Kerkúk is an excellent freshwater river. The village
of Doirán, situated on its banks, in the valley of Akshár, consists
of one hundred houses. We now went towards the east four hours, to
Anderes on the frontier of Shuban Kara-hissár, in the valley of Akshár,
a village of one hundred houses. Having marched two hours towards the
east, we reached the Chiftlik of Tabán Ahmed Agha, where the Páshá
was presented with an Arabian horse, and with twenty horses for his
suite, three thousand sheep, seven strings of camels, seven of mules,
and ten purses; it was a great festival, worthy of the Ottoman court
itself. In recompense for this great festival, the giver of it, Ahmed
Agha, was imprisoned in the Kiaya’s room, and bought his life by the
payment of forty purses and seventy camels, by which opportunity I also
got a horse. Two hours further on lies the village of Ezbeder, in the
territory of Shuban Kara-hissár, an Armenian village surrounded with
gardens. Four hours further we reached the valley of Tilismát Za’aba;
the torrent of Tilismát Za’aba issues from the neighbouring mountains,
and falls into the river Akhlát; there are one hundred houses here
built upon rocky ground; the subjects here are all Armenians. A cave
is still shown in which there was formerly a treasure, guarded by two
swords, which were continually moving up and down, a mast has many
times been put beneath them and instantly cut through; a magician has
since got possession of the treasure, but the cave still remains to be
seen. There is, besides, another talisman somewhere hereabout, but I
have not seen it. Five hours from hence is the village Yakúb, on the
frontier of Shuban Kara; three hours further on, that of Korkún Kiassí,
and in one hour more, the village of Barú; after which we came through
the pass of Tekmán, which is closed by the winter for seven or eight
months. After having got through it with much difficulty, we reached
Kázíoghlíkoí, an Armenian village. Four hours further is the castle
of Shírán, on the frontier of Shuban Kara; in four hours the village
of Kara Jalar; in five hours the village of Sáríchalar, inhabited by
Moslíms and Armenians; in eight hours the village of Sálút, the pass
of which we traversed with considerable trouble, and for the space of
five hours were crossing the great plain of Kerkúk. At the end of this
plain is the village of Genj Mohammed Agha, with two hundred houses
and a mosque, on the frontier of the district of Shuban Kara-hissár;
five hours to the east is the village of Keremlí, inhabited by Moslíms
and Armenians; opposite to it, on a hill, lies the Castle of Dermerí,
built in the reign of Sultán Ahmed from fear of the rebels; it is a
small castle with a gate to the north, without commander and garrison.
Here the Páshá made an excursion (Ilghár), with three hundred horsemen,
and we arrived, at the end of twelve hours, at Chághir Kánlí Sultán,
who was a great Sheikh in the time of Sultán Mohammed II. His tomb
is adorned with several lamps (chirághdán), candelabras (shemidán),
censers (búkhúrdán), and vases for sprinkling rose-water (gulábdán). It
is a reverential place, where prayers are put up to Heaven. I visited
it, and read the Súra Yass there; through the sanctity of this saint
the country abounds with cattle. Two Chiftliks are exempted by Imperial
diploma from all taxes; the village consists of three hundred houses,
with a mosque and a convent, the dervishes of which go bareheaded and
barefooted, and wear their hair long. The people carry wooden clubs
in their hands, some of them crooked sticks (litúi). They all came to
wait on the Páshá, and to exhibit the grants of their foundation. The
Páshá asked from whence they dated their immunity, and they invited
him to visit their place of devotion (Sema’ákháneh). We followed them
to a large place where a great fire was lighted of more than forty
waggon-loads of wood, and forty victims sacrificed. They assigned a
place for the Páshá at a distance from the fire, and began to dance
round it, playing their drums and flutes, and crying “Hú!” and “Allah!”
This circular motion being continued for an hour, about an hundred of
these dervishes naked, took their children by the hand, and entered
the fire, the flames of which towered like the pile of Nimrod, crying
“O all constant! O all vivifying!” At the end of half an hour, they
came out of the fire, without the least hurt except the singeing of
their hair and beards, some of them retiring to their cells, instead
of coming before the Páshá, who remained much astonished. They then
gave a feast to the Páshá, which was even greater than Ahmed Tabán’s
feast. It was surprising that they were enabled to prepare such a
feast in so short a time, as the Páshá had arrived suddenly, and by a
by-road. The Páshá confirmed their immunities, and gave them a present
of one hundred ducats. In sixteen hours more we came to the plain of
Terján. The mosque of Sultán Hassan is a praiseworthy monument of Uzún
Hassan, but ít stands alone here. Uzún Hassan, who liked the situation,
intended to build a town here bearing his name, but Sultán Mohammed II.
destroyed all his projects by the famous battle, which was fought on
this plain; it was a scene of great slaughter, even now the peasants
find bones and hidden treasures when ploughing the field. We crossed
this plain hastily, and in eight hours reached the village, where
the Kiaya of the Chaúshes had provided a great feast for the Páshá,
and presented him with five horses, five purses, and three Georgian
slaves. At the end of five hours we reached the village of Púlúr, and
in four hours that of Terjánlí Alí Agha, an Armenian village of three
hundred houses, a mosque and a bath. Alí Agha gave a grand repast here,
accompanied with a present of ten horses, ten purses, ten strings of
camels, and five of mules. We went from hence nine hours further, to
the village of Mama Khatún, in the district of Erzerúm, consisting of
one hundred Mussulman houses; it is a free ziámet.
_Pilgrimage of Mama Khatún._
This lady is buried beneath a cupola, at the foot of a rock; she was
the daughter of one of the Princes of the Aúk Koyúnlí, and lies buried
here with all her children, but without any keeper attached to her
mausoleum, she is buried in a marble coffin; near it is a mosque and
a bath. Six hours further is the village of Habs, at the western end
of the plain of Erzerúm; it consists of one hundred and fifty Armenian
houses. All the principal men of Erzerúm came to this place with
presents to meet the Páshá’s Diván. We proceeded with a large retinue
for the space of five hours, to the hot-bath, which is also situated
at the western end of the plain of Erzerúm, and where every year some
person or other is drowned. It is a very useful bath, but too warm to
be used without a mixture of cold water. Some of the former princes
have built a dressing-room here (jámeghán), and a basin (havúz): the
climate is pleasant. The Motesellem Mustafa Agha, here presented the
Páshá with an Arabian racehorse, caparisoned with jewels, a sable
pelisse, a quiver, and a sword set with jewels, a dagger and a girdle,
and ten racehorses, mounted by ten Georgian boys, all armed. His three
hundred and seventy slaves were clad in showy dresses, like so many
waiting youths in Paradise. He gave also to me, poor Evliyá, a sable
fur, some cloth, and one hundred piastres, because I had been master
to his son for some time. Our arrival at this hot-bath was exactly
the seventieth journey we had made since we left Constantinople, and
an entrance in grand procession was organized, which outrivalled in
brilliancy those of the greatest Vezírs. Indeed, the Páshá was a
Commander-in-Chief (Serdár), who by Imperial rescript (Khattí Sheríf)
was allowed even to use the Túghra, or cypher of the Sultán. The troops
of Erzerúm paraded on both sides of the way from this hot bath, which
is six hours distance from Erzerúm, up to the gates of the town; with
cuirasses and casques, bearing long lances, their horses being adorned
with knots of sea-horses’ bristles, and various other trappings. The
Páshá was surrounded by eight body-guards (Shátir), who wore golden
caps on their heads, carried battle-axes in their hands, had golden
girdles, and splendid caftáns, walking like the peacocks of Paradise.
On the right and left of the Páshá walked the Matarají-bashí (keeper
of the leaden bottle, which contains the water for purification), and
the Tufenkjí-bashí, or head of the fuzileers, bearing a water-bottle
set with jewels, and muskets of costly workmanship. The Páshá passed
between two lines, greeting both sides, and the people returned his
salute. Four hundred Ulemás all clad in armour were headed by the
Imám, and I, poor Evliya, as Múëzzin. Behind us followed the treasurer
and the standard-bearer, with the eightfold Turkish music. The Tátár
troops, the Muteferrika, the chamberlains, passed, all clad in armour.
As soon as the procession drew near Erzerúm, the fortress began to
salute by firing the great guns from the highest tower, called Kessik
Kala’á, as a selám aleikum, after which the Janissaries fired the guns
of the inner castle, and so continued during the procession. But when
the Páshá himself entered the gate of Erzenján, the six hundred and
seventy guns, which compose the artillery of the fortress, were all
discharged at once, and the skies were rent and the earth trembled.
Seven regiments of Janissaries lined the way from the gates of the town
to the gates of the palace, ready to salute the Páshá, who, as soon as
he had entered the palace, was saluted once more by a general discharge
of the artillery on the walls. Many hundred victims were sacrificed,
and a splendid repast equal to that of Mádí Kerb followed. After dinner
the music played, and a diván was held, wherein, after the decision
of many lawsuits, the twenty-seven Aghas of the castle, those of the
Janissaries, artillerymen, armourers, &c., were invested with seventy
brilliant robes of honour, and Molla Chelebí Efendí, the relation of
Emír Bokhara, with a green sable pelisse. I received a caftán in my
degree of clerk of the custom-house. The governor then most graciously
assigned me a lodging in the palace built by Tekelí Mustafa Páshá,
where I lived quietly, sometimes keeping company with the Governor, and
at others discharging the functions of clerk of the custom-house. I had
full opportunity of acquiring the most perfect knowledge of the state
of Erzerúm, as I was allowed to see all the kanúns, registers, and
protocols.
_Description of the Fortress of Erzerúm._