suite settled here with all his family and servants, cultivating
plantations of rice, by which means a great Kent was soon formed.
Five years later Sháh Ismail gave to Reván Kúl, one of his Kháns, an
order to build a castle here, which being finished in seven years, was
named after him, Reván or Eriván. It is situated on the eastern bank
of the Zenghí river, and is of brick and stone. In the year 995 (1586)
Súleimán Khán, having undertaken the expedition against Nakhshiván,
pillaged Eriván, and returned to his residence with immense booty. In
the reign of Murad III. Ferhád Páshá, his general, pillaged Kenje,
Reván, Shamákhí and Nakhshiván, destroyed the palaces of the son of
the Sháh, killed a great number of Persians, fixed his camp before the
castle, and assembled a council of war to deliberate on the siege, and
begun it by digging a ditch on the bank of the Zenghí from south to
north. By the exertion of all the siege was finished in forty days.
Jigálazadeh Yússúf Páshá, who had been bred in the Turkish Harím,
was named the first Commander of Eriván with a garrison of seventy
thousand men. Ferhád Páshá, took care of the repair of the castle of
Shúreglí and Karss, and filled them with Moslim troops. In the same
way the castle of Erdehán and Akhichka were garrisoned, and Ferhád
Páshá returned to Constantinople. Under the government of Jigálazadeh
Yússúf Páshá, the town of Eriván was even in a more flourishing state
than in Súleimán’s time, and the neighbouring villages grew thereby
populous. In the year 1011 (1602), the Persians having usurped the
possession of the castles of the Genge and Shirván, forced the garrison
of Eriván, which had received no succour from Erzerúm, to surrender
to Tokmák Khán, after a siege of seven months; in the year 1037
(1627), the Khán of Eriván, Emírgúneh, having infested the districts
of Kághzemán, Karss, Cheldir, Akhichka and Erdehán, and complaints
having arrived from the Begs of Georgia and from the Governor of
Erzerúm, ambassadors were sent from the Khán of Persia, and at the
same time the Imperial tails fixed at Scutari as the signal of Asiatic
war. In the following year 1044 (1634) Sultán Murad IV. completed
his Imperial camp of Scutarí according to the canons of the Empire,
with the greatest splendour and pomp, heaped presents upon his forty
thousand janissaries and twenty-two thousand sipáhís, left Bairám
Páshá, Kaima Khám at Constantinople, and moved on the 5th of Shewál
from Scutari, marching over Konia and Kaissarie to Sivás; at which
place he appointed his sword-bearer Mustafa to the office of Second
Vezír, and the sword-bearer Mússa Páshá to the post of Quarter-master
General. The Nishánjí was made Silihdár, and Melek Ahmed, Chokadár
(First Lord in waiting). When he entered Erzerúm report was made
to him, that his army then amounted to two hundred thousand men:
Jánpúlád-zadeh Mustafa Páshá, the governor of Rúmelí, alone mustered
thirty-one thousand men, with seventeen hundred excellent horses;
Khalíl Páshá the Governor of Erzerúm fell into disgrace, to the joy of
his enemies, the Silihdár Páshá and Murteza Páshá; the government of
Erzerúm was conferred on the Governor of Damascus, Kúchúk Ahmed, but
the revenues, as barley-money, were given to Silihdár Mustafa Páshá.
The army marched in three days to Hassan Kala’assí, and from thence by
Karss to Eriván. On the 21st day after having left Erzerúm, the army of
two hundred thousand men fixed its camp before Reván. The river Zenghí
was crossed in spite of the long guns of the Persians, with which they
endeavoured to annoy the Ottoman army. On this occasion it happened
that one of the Soláks (bowmen) of the Sultán’s guard, crossing the
river on foot by the side of the Sultán’s horse, was carried away by
the water, the Sultán having observed it rode after him, caught hold
of him by the necklace and dragged him out of the river; this anecdote
is much celebrated in Persia. The river being crossed, the trenches
were opened, and Jánpúlád-zadeh Páshá entered them with the Rúmelian
troops from the side of the gate of Tabríz; on the right Gúnjí Mahomed
Páshá with the Asiatic troops entered the trenches, and in the midst of
them the grand Vezír Tabání Yassí Mohammed Páshá took his station; the
Aghá of the janissaries Kara Mustafa Páshá, with his Kiaya, battered
the castle day and night with a battery of twenty guns, and similar
batteries were prepared on five sides. One day Sultán Murad himself
entered the trenches of the Rúmelian troops, and fired a good shot
at the Khán’s palace from the gun called Karabálí. The governor of
Erzerúm, Kúchúk Ahmed, battered the castle from the north side, and the
Kapúdán Páshá, Delí Hossein, from the hill of Mohana-depeh.
Murteza Páshá, with the Sipáhís, were placed as sentinels on the side
of the earth castle, while Mússa and Cana’an Páshá with the Moteferrika
kept guard over the Imperial tent. The castle was surrounded by troops
in the space of five hours, and every day many thousand Sunnís came to
claim mercy. On the ninth day they asked to capitulate, and Emírgúneh
brought the keys. The next day the Persian Aghá of the Fusileers, Mír
Fettáh, was allowed to kiss the Emperor’s feet, and to return with
the garrison to Nakhshiván. Emírgúneh, by birth a Georgian, and Aded
Khán kissed the Emperor’s feet, and each received an Imperial tent as
a present. The Islamitic prayer was proclaimed, all the banners and
standards waving during seven days and nights on the walls; after each
prayer the Mohammedan shout (Allah) was repeated three times, and at
night a great number of candles and lamps were lighted. The castle was
repaired in forty days, and Mustafa Páshá appointed Governor of Eriván,
with forty thousand men as garrison. Sultán Murad appointed the Khán
Emírgúneh first governor of Haleb, but afterwards removed him and gave
the government to Kúchúk Ahmed Páshá. Emírgúneh remained the favourite
of Sultán Murad IV. until the death of the Sultán, when he was killed
by Kara Mustafa Páshá.
The towns of Shureglí, Joris, Behestán, Khúí, Ordúbárí and Tabríz were
pillaged during seven days and nights, together with the castles of
Bágjenán, Aján, Kuherán, Kúmla, Merend, and Selmás, after which havoc
he returned by Betlis, and Diarbekr to Constantinople. The Sháh then
laid siege to Eriván for the space of seven months, which received no
relief on account of the enmity existing between the Grand Vezír Tabání
Yassí and Murteza Páshá, who was shut up in Eriván. The latter having
no subsistence left, killed himself by swallowing his diamond ring,
and the next day the whole garrison, half naked and starved, threw
themselves on the mercy of the Persians and were killed by them, a
great number being driven into the Aras, of whom a few being saved by
charitable Sunnís fled to Karss and Bayazíd. Sultán Murad IV. hearing
this sad account, girt himself on two sides with the sword of religious
zeal and high enterprise, with the intention to conquer Baghdád, and to
deliver the tomb of the great Imám Na’amán Ben Thábet out of the hands
of the Infidels.
Eriván meanwhile remained in the hands of the Persians, who increased
its flourishing state; it could not however resist an assault of the
Ottoman army for seven days, because it is only surrounded by a simple
wall. It is situated on the bank of the Zenghí, extending from the
south to the north, having so little breadth, that the balls fired
on it by Sultán Murad bounded from one extremity of the town to the
other; many of these balls are even now seen fixed in the towers. The
walls built by Ferhád Páshá are forty royal cubits high; those built
by Tokmák Khán, fifty cubits high and twenty broad; it has no ditch on
the side of the Zenghí, but it has a wall on the south, north and east
sides, which however is not deep, being a marshy ground. It has three
iron gates; to the south, the gate of Tabríz; to the north, the gate of
the Meidán called Yaila Kapússí, on this spot they play Maïl; to the
west, the gate of the bridge; there are seven hundred cannons large and
small, which remained from the time of the Ottomans, and an immense
number of other stores, because it is the frontier of Azerbeiján. It is
garrisoned by three thousand men of the fortress, three thousand men of
the Khán, and seven thousand men of the province. Sometimes its Khán
enjoyed the title of Khán of Kháns. A judge, Nakíb, Kelenter, Darogha,
Múnshí, Yessaúl-aghá, Kúrújí, Ishek Aghá, Dízchoken Aghá, seven
Mihmandárs and Sháhbenders, keep public order. The town consists of one
thousand and sixty elegant houses covered with earth, the best is the
palace of the Khán much embellished by Emírgúneh. Near it is the mint
where large and small silver coins (Abbássí and Bestí) are coined. The
suburb outside of Yaila Kapússí is called the old town; at the head of
the bridge is the Khán’s garden, and a suburb with mosque and bath. In
the year 1045 (1635), when the Persians conquered this fortress, they
also built a castle on the east side, with walls of clay and straw,
which is even more solid than stone. At the time I was looking at all
the curiosities of Eriván, I received an invitation from the Khán to
assist at the ceremony of the circumcision of his sons. His Kiaya gave
me ten tománs of Abbássí, for the expenses of the journey, and I began
my journey from Eriván to Shirván, by Shamákhí, Tiflís, Termís, Aras
and Bakú. We first travelled to the north through cultivated fields of
rice, along the river Zenghí to Kent Khoja, the khass of the Khán of
Eriván, with five hundred houses, a mosque and a bath; then fourteen
hours further to Kent Demijí Hassan, which was anciently a town of
the Turcomans, and is even now inhabited by a Turcoman tribe. It was
destroyed by Murád IV. We arrived at last at Genje.
_Description of the important town of Genje._
It was wrested from the hands of Sháh Tahmás, in the year 1014 (1065),
by Kojá Ferhád Páshá. At the time when Mohammed Páshá the Kiaya of Sárí
Ahmed Páshá, was governor of Genje, the Sháh besieged it for seven
months, and killed the whole garrison. Since that time it remained in
the possession of the Persians, a large town, but the Sháh destroyed
its castle; it is now an elegant town of six thousand houses with
gardens and vineyards, a khán, a bath, and imáret, situated in a large
plain. Its gardens are watered by the Kúrek, which joins the Kúr; the
Kiblah side of the town is a mountainous tract, and the foot of the
mountains is cultivated in gardens and vineyards; the silk of Genje
is famous. On the plain round Genje are seven districts of Infidel
villages, where cotton, silk and rice are cultivated; here are rich
Moghs (ancient Persians, worshippers of fire) and beautiful youth of
both sexes; the horse-shoes of Genje are not less famous than the silk.
The town is governed by a Khán, who commands three thousand men. The
public officers (the Khán included) are twelve in number, in honour of
the twelve Imáms. Its first Ottoman governor was Khádim Hassan, who
conquered Berda’a.
_Pilgrimages (or Tombs) of Martyrs._
Twelve thousand Moslims, who had surrendered the castle by capitulation
to the Sháh, were unmercifully killed, and are now buried outside the
town in a place called Shohedaí Ervám (martyrs of Rúm). We remained
three days as guests in the khán of the town, and continued our journey
with about fifty companions to the north; on our right was the Khánlik
of Loristán. After seven hours march we arrived at Gilkzár Ahmedí,
formerly a town, but now a kent of seven hundred houses, the khass
of the Khán of Genje, with a mosque, a khán, and a bath; fine silk
is manufactured here. Nine hours further, is the Kent of Megúchúr of
seven hundred houses, with a mosque, and a fine garden. On the opposite
shore of the Kúr is a great kent called Kendere; we passed in boats to
Megúchúr, the frontier of Genje, and after eight hours we reached the
great town of Aras.
The town of Aras was built by Keyúmerth, and conquered in the year
985 (1577), by Kara Mustafa Páshá, the Vezír of Murad III. Emír Khán
arrived with forty thousand men to succour the town, and finding it
taken he fought a battle, which terminated in his being made prisoner,
and all his troops consisting of Turcomans, Koks, Doláks, and Georgians
were dispersed. They were routed for the second time by the Kiaya of
Uzdemir-oghlí on the banks of the Kúr river which swallowed up a great
number of them, the bridge having broken down under the weight of the
fugitives; their bones are yet seen in heaps, and the bridge still
lies in ruins. The Turkish general having convinced himself of the
importance of the town of Aras, situated between Genje and Shirván,
collected masons and workmen, and enclosed the town with a wall,
including the garden Sháh Khiabán, which was outside of the town; three
gates led through this wall of clay, the circumference of which is nine
thousand six hundred paces. It was finished in forty days, and the
governorship, with the rank of a Begler Beg, conferred on Kaitáss-Beg,
who had been brought up in the Harím of Sultán Murad. From its
situation at the foot of a mountain, the town resembles that of Brússa,
surrounded with gardens of fruits and flowers, vineyards and rosebeds.
It consists of ten thousand houses with terraces, and forty mosques; in
the castle are those of Murad III., of Ferhád Páshá, and of Kara Sinán.
The Turkomans and Komúks of Dághistán, pronounce the name of this town
Arash. In the beginning of the reign of Sultán Mustafa, this town like
that of Merend fell into the hands of the Persians. Forty quarters may
now be reckoned, and as many mosques, sixteen baths, eight hundred
shops, and seven coffee-houses. The youth are gazelle-eyed, with faces
shining like the sun, because their women are Georgians, Dadiáns,
Achikbásh, and Shúshád. The air is mild and the water of the royal
mountain (Sháhkúh) most excellent. Around it are seven great districts
each of which reckons one hundred populous kents, the most populous is
that of Levend Khán near Aras. On crossing the bridge of Uzdemir-oghlí
Osmán Páshá, the traveller arrives at the district of Palvanaí, and the
district of Shair Abadán, where a castle is seen on a rock, the name of
which I do not remember.
The royal mount, opposite the town, is the summer abode of the
Turcomans. Amidst the districts of Aras is also that of Shekí, which
is now governed by the governor of Aras, though it was sometimes ruled
by the power of the Princes of Dághistán. The Khán of Aras leads
twenty-three thousand men into the field. Twelve public officers keep
order in the town. After a stay of three days in this town, we advanced
to the north, and after two stations reached the castle of Shekí.
_Description of the Castle of Shekí._
It was built by Alexander a Prince of the Shúshads, from whose hands
it passed into those of the Prince of Dághistán, and then into those
of the Persians. Lala Kara Mustafa Páshá, the Vezír of Murad III.
conquered it, and it was conferred on Erkelád Beg, the son of Levend
Khán. In the beginning of the reign of Sultán Mustafa it returned into
the possession of the Persians, and is now the seat of a Sultán, who
commands one thousand men. It is a nice castle built on a rock, its
circuit three thousand paces, a ditch is not required; its two gates
are that of Genje and that of Shirván; though situated on the frontier
of Dághistán it is reckoned to belong to Georgia, the more so as its
builder was a Georgian; there are three thousand houses, and seven
mihrabs; in the market is the mosque of Mirza Alí Beg, in the castle
that of Lagúsh-oghlí Ahmed Beg; that of Murad III. is falling into
decay. In the gardens great quantities of silk are produced. At a
journey’s distance east of this castle passes the river Kanúk, flowing
into the Zenghí. Advancing to the north, we crossed the river of
Uzdemir-oghlí Osmán Páshá and arrived at the place Koyún-gechid, where
we saw piles of human bones; our companion Yasser Alí Aghá told us,
that it was on this spot that Mustafa Páshá, the general of Murad III.,
was attacked by the Kháns of Tabríz, Lor, Nakhshiván, and Karabágh,
who with more than two hundred thousand men surrounded him. Koja Lala
Mustafa Páshá ordered a general attack, which was instantly made on
one side by Uzdemir-oghlí, on the second by Mohammed, the governor of
Haleb, and on the third by Mustafa, the governor of Mera’ash, who cut
to pieces more than a thousand men, and drove the rest like sheep to
the ferry of Koyún-gechid, where a great many of them were drowned,
some in the river Kanúk and some in the Kapúr. In short there remained
altogether more than forty thousand men on the field of battle, whose
bones are piled up as an everlasting monument; I said a Fátihah for
their souls, and crossed the sheep’s ferry. Further on to the north
we passed the white river (Aksú), which is called by the Persians
the river of Gilán. It comes from the mountains of Aras, and flows
into the Kúr. At the end of three hours we entered the district of
Mahmúdabád consisting of two hundred highly cultivated kents, which
produce a thousand Yúks of silk, each kent resembling a large town. The
inhabitants are Turkománs, Kok, Dulák, Moghols, and Ettels.
_Account of the Tribe of Ettels._
Ettel signifies in the Mogolic language, tongue of dogs; they take this
name from their war-cry, which is a kind of howling. Near Márdín, in
the sanjak of the mountains, which I entered with Melek Ahmed Páshá,
the Ettels are a tribe like that of the hairy Kurds, impure, impious,
irreligious robbers, who pretend to be of Hamza’s sect, keep neither
prayer-hours nor fasts, are ignorant of moral duties and of God. Seven
or eight of them share a woman amongst them; if she gets with child,
her seven or eight keepers after some time assemble, and the woman
gives an apple into the child’s hand, the man to whom the child gives
it is reckoned to be the father, and henceforth the woman belongs
exclusively to him, without any man being allowed to raise pretensions
to her. The famous sect of the candle-extinguishers (Múm sonduren),
must be a branch of them, because I saw or heard nothing of them any
where else. It is a certain fact that they drink out of the shoes of
their Sháhs, to whom they are most obedient.
The Kaitáks are about twenty thousand men on the frontiers of
Dághistán, who sometimes come to the towns of Aras and Shekí; a strange
race of men like the beast of the day of judgement, with heads in the
form of kettles, brows two fingers broad, shoulders so square that a
man may easily stand upon them, thin limbs, round eyes, large heels,
and red faces. They pretend to be Sháfítes; if they come to the market
of Aras and Shekí, they come on waggons, or ride on buffaloes, because
horses and asses could not carry their weight: as they pass with their
turbans of the size of a cupola, saluting on both sides with great
dignity, they seem to be of the race of Dejál (the Antichrist) true
Oghúzians. These Kaitáks come originally from the province of Mahán,
are Mogholian Turks, and therefore speak the Mogolic language, of
which I could only collect a few words, as I remained but two days
among them. I saw these people in the district of Mahmúdabád, and
after having travelled further to the north, reached the kent Chailán
on the frontier of Shirván on the banks of the river of Guílán, with
six hundred houses of Turcomans and Oghúzians. Further on is the town
Niázabád on the frontier of Shirván built by Yezdejerd-sháh, great
ruins of its ancient magnificence are yet extant, it was ruined by
the Moghols, who united with the Komúks and Kaitáks of Dághistán. In
the reign of Murad III., Ferhád Páshá fixed his winter quarters here,
and levelled the castle, when he left it in the spring. It is now the
frontier between Dághistán and Persia, with forty quarters and as
many mosques, a khán, bath and market-place, the seat of a Sultán who
commands a thousand men. There are twelve magistrates; according to
the statement of the Kelenter, there are more than six thousand houses
surrounded by gardens. It is a pity that its strong castle lies in
ruins; if God should again grant that it be restored to the Ottoman
power, it might be easily repaired, and become a very strong castle.
This town is surrounded by an endless plain on all four sides.
_Pilgrimage of Ashár-Baba._
Ashár-Baba was one of the disciples of our great ancestor the Turk
of Turks, Khoja Ahmed Yessúí; as the rites of Yessúí are liked in
Persia the convent at this place is inhabited by more than a hundred
Dervishes. It is a general pilgrimage, the inhabitants profess to be of
the sect of Hanefí. We here took some companions and advanced to the
north to the kent Ferrakhzád on the frontier of Shamákhi, and on the
bank of the white river (Aksú) with five hundred houses, a mosque, a
khán, a bath and a small market. The mihmándár of this place paid me
many attentions. We advanced to the north amongst shady groves, dined
at a hunting place of Sháh Khoda-bende, and arrived at Nílchaí, the
same as blue river (Goksú), which coming from Dághistán joins the Kúr
at this place.
_Praise of Mount Caucasus._
The rivers which come from Mount Caucasus, on the south, flow into
the Kúr, and those towards the north, straight into the Caspian Sea.
Again there are rivers on the south side, which fall into the Black
Sea, and on the north side into the Kúbán. Mount Caucasus is the
greatest mountain in the world, its tracts are ruled by five different
monarchs, and to the south the Abáza tribes are settled to the extent
of eighty journies. On the east side on the border of the mountain are
the Mingrelians, Georgians, Ajíkbásh, Shúshád, Kúrdíl, and Dadián to
the extent of forty journies. Again there is the province of Tiflís on
the Persian frontier, and the throne of the Alans (Serer-ul-allán) on
the border of Mount Caucasus nineteen journies long; Dághistán, within
Mount Caucasus, twenty journies long to the north. Inside of Mount
Caucasus is also Circassia inhabited by the tribes Kabartaí, Bestí,
Púltakaí, Khatúkaí, Memsúkh, Bozadúk, Takakú, Zana, Shefáke and other
Circassian tribes, eighty-one journies. According to this reckoning the
extent of all the tracts of Mount Caucasus is two hundred and forty
journies. It is so high that it is seen at ten days distance. God
has created on the surface of the earth one hundred and forty-eight
mountains, twelve of the highest _par excellence_, are, Mount Caucasus,
Mount Bingol, Mount Demavend, Mount Siján, Mount Kamar, the mountains
in Germany at the source of the Danube; the mount Samúr, where the
Zeiro and the Dniester take their origin. No man has ever reached half
the height of Mount Caucasus: passing on our way through the districts
of Dághistán we saw its top wrapped in clouds. But we shall now return
to the description of our journey.
The kent of Kokchaí (the blue river) is a great place with a Kelenter
and Mihmándár, seven hundred houses with gardens. The inhabitants are
Sunnís, who pay tribute to Sháh Ismail for permission to wear beards.
We continued our journey through fields to the north, for seven
hours, and reached the kent Aksú, on the territory of Shamákhí, of
one thousand houses, a mosque, khán and bath. The White River passes
through the place and flows into the Kúr, it comes from the mountains
of Shirván, waters the fields of Shamákhí and falls into the Kúr.
_Description of the Town of Shamákhí._