(1.) “Lasia.”—The territory of the Lazi was part of Colchis, and lay
between the Phasis and Armenia. The mountainous country belonged at
that time to the empire of Trebizond.—BRUUN.
(2.) “Kayburt.”—Neumann is persuaded that Schiltberger alludes to
Baïbourt (or Païpourt), a very ancient fortress to the north-west
of Erzeroum, that was restored by Justinian I. Procopius (_De Bell.
Pers._, iii, 253) calls it Baerberdon. Bishop Aïvazoffsky is of
opinion that “Kayburt” stands for Kaïpourt, called Kharpert by the
natives, situated in a far more fertile country than is Baïbourt. In
Marco Polo’s time, Paipurth was a castle on the road from Trebizond
to Tabrecz; and we learn from Barbaro that the fortress of Carpurth,
distant a five days’ journey from Erzingan, was the residence of
Despina Caton, a princess of Trebizond, the consort of Hassan
Bey.—BRUUN.
(2A.) “Kayburt”, in a fertile country, is doubtlessly Kharput,
distant seventy miles, in a direct line, from Erzingan. The Special
Correspondent of _The Times_ (January 20th, 1879), has lately described
this place as being situated on the edge of a cliff at the top of a
mountain in a very picturesque situation; but very difficult to get
at, for it takes an hour to ride from the level of the plain to the
town. The plain of Kharput is twenty miles long and twelve miles wide,
presenting 153,600 acres of splendid land, well irrigated, and in a
high state of cultivation.—ED.
(3.) “Kamach.”—Kemakh is on the site of the ancient city of Ani,
thirty miles from Erzingan and close to the Euphrates, and not to be
confounded with the Ani referred to in Chapter xiii, note 2. Near
Kemakh was the temple of Jupiter, constructed by Tigranes, and the city
afterwards became the principal seat of the worship of Hormuzd; it was
also a state prison, and the burial-place of the Arsacidæ (Ritter, _Die
Erdkunde_ etc., x, 782–789). Constantine Porphyrogenitus called this
stronghold of the Byzantines, Κάμαχα. Kemakh was celebrated among
the Turks for its fine linen, as Erzingan was noted for its good
breed of sheep, and Baïbourt for the beauty of its women. “Kamahoum
besy—Erdshenshan kousy—Baibourdin kysy.”—BRUUN.
(4.) “nobody knows where it goes.”—This observation on the peculiarities
of the Upper Euphrates, is confirmed by other authors (Procopius, _De
Bell. Pers._, i, 17; and Ritter, _Die Erdkunde_ etc., x, 736). On
emerging from a narrow valley, the river completely disappears amongst
reeds, which, though annually taken and burnt, again grow very fast,
and so thickly, that carts might be driven over them to cross the
river.—BRUUN.
(4A.) The recent survey of the Euphrates shows that the river really
disappears in the Lamloun marshes, its width diminishing to 120 yards
towards the town of Lamloun. It again widens at Karayem, where the
Serayah branch on the western side, and the Nahr Lamloun branch on the
eastern side, reunite with the main stream. Colonel Chesney makes no
allusion whatever to an overgrowth of reeds, and adds (_Exped. to the
Euphr. and Tigris_, i, 58, 59): “Being thus reunited to its former
waters, and at the same time free from those marshes in which it had
been supposed to be lost, the Euphrates suddenly reappears on its
former scale, enclosed between high banks covered with jungle.”—ED.
(5.) “Karasser; it is fertile in vineyards.”—Several travellers and
authors, such as Aboulfeda, Tavernier, Otter, Golius, Ritter, etc.,
have represented, that the best wines of the country were to be
obtained at Amadia, fifteen miles from Kohrasar—“Karasser”—which Hammer
(_Denkschr. d. Kön. Akad. d. Wissensch._, ix) fancifully transfers to
Kara-hissar in Armenia. Kohrasar is quite uninhabited and deserted,
but the ruins of what were at one time magnificent churches and other
edifices, excited the admiration of Tavernier (_Six Voy. en Turquie_,
etc., en 1642) and Ainsworth (_Trav. in Asia Minor_, etc., 1842). They
indicate the site of the ancient city of Constantine. It is to be
deplored that those travellers could not afford the time to explore the
locality.—BRUUN.
(6.) “the people are warlike”.—The warlike inhabitants of Black Turkey
were the Turkomans of the White Sheep, who, under Kara Yelek, their
chief, seized upon Amid (Amed, Hamith, Karamid), the capital of
Dyarbekr, in Mesopotamia, after the death of Timour; it is now known
by the same name as the province, but was called Kara Amid—Amid the
black—from the colour of its walls. Many traces of its grandeur are
left. The academician, Baïer (_De numo Amid._, 545), shows that it was
constructed by Severus Alexander, and fortified by Justinian.—BRUUN.
(7.) “Bestan.”—This name is probably intended for Bistan, near the
eastern frontier of the pashalik of Soulimanieh. It is now a village of
no importance, but near it are the ruins of an ancient castle, also the
tumuli known as the Roustan tepe and Shah tepe, in which many objects
of antiquity have been found. Judging by its style of architecture,
the castle, constructed of bricks, is believed to be of the Sassanian
period; but it may have been occupied at a later date, even to the time
of Schiltberger, when it was, perhaps, the capital of Kourdistan. The
pasha’s residence at Soulimanieh is a modern edifice, having been built
towards the end of the 18th century (Ritter, _Die Erdkunde_ etc., xi,
566).—BRUUN.
(8.) “Zuchtun.”—The noxious nature of the climate on the eastern
sea-board of the Black Sea, has been fully proved by Russian garrisons
to their cost, and especially at “Zuchtun” or Soukhoum Kaleh. Near this
place stood the ancient Dioscurias, subsequently called Sevastopolis,
after an old Roman fortress in the neighbourhood. It was of great
strategic importance to the Empire in the reign of Justinian (_Novell.
constit._, 28; and Procopius, _De Bell. Goth._, iv, 4), and became
a prosperous commercial port after the Black Sea was opened to the
Italians. The Genoese established a consulate at Savastopoli, which was
maintained until the year 1449 (_Zap. Odess. Obstschest._, v,
809).—BRUUN.
(8A.) “Zuchtun”, intended, as shown above, for Soukhoum, and named
Soukhoum Kaleh in the year 1578, when Amurat III., as suzerain of
Abhase, Mingrelia, Imeritia, and Gouria, arrogated to himself the
right to fortify and occupy it as one of two points on the coast (Poti
being the other), is the chief town of Abhase, and distant about sixty
miles to the north of Poti. The yearly mortality, according to late
official returns (1874), was reported as being at the rate of 3 per
centum.
The small, square, flat cap seen by Schiltberger, is now in great
measure substituted in Abhase by the g’h’tapt or bashlyk, a pointed
head-covering of great antiquity, adopted in winter by the troops in
Russia, and in fashion among the ladies in that country; but it is
still extensively worn by the Imeritians and Mingrelians, who call
it papanaky, and consider it sufficient covering for their heads of
bushy hair, of which they are very proud, and which they periodically
shave to improve the growth. The flat cap, or papanaky, is a small
lozenge-shaped piece of leather, cloth, or silk, laid over the fore
part of the head, and fastened with strings under the chin. When worn
by nobles, the papanaky of velvet is made very ornamental, with gold
and silver embroidery. Their Mussulman conquerors used to call the
Imeritians, bashashyk—bare-heads (_The Crimea and Transc._, i, 120; ii,
35, 135).—ED.
(9.) “Kathon.”—There can be little doubt that Batoum is here intended,
a place which appears as Vati or Lovati, in the charts of the 14th
century.—BRUUN.
(9A.) In the present chapter, the capital of Mingrelia is called
“Kathon”; in chapter 67, it is named “Bothan”. Neumann suggests that
for “Kathon” we should read Gori; Professor Bruun is of opinion
that Batoum is intended, and Hammer (_Denkschr. d. Kön. Akad. d.
Wissensch._, ix) thinks that “Kathon” should be Kargwel or Karduel, and
“Bothan”, Cotaïs; but it may fairly be inferred from Schiltberger’s
account, that this “Kathon” or “Bothan”, as it also appears in the
editions of 1475 (?), 1549, and 1814, stands for Poti. In both chapters,
the author speaks of the chief town of “Megral”, “Magrill”—Mingrelia—as
being situated on the Black Sea, and says that on leaving it, he rode
along the sea-shore until he reached a mountainous country. Poti, the
ancient Phasis, a place of importance from the most remote times,
lays in an unexceptionably flat country, from which it would have been
necessary for Schiltberger, who was effecting his escape and must
therefore have been travelling south, to ride fully ten miles by the
sea-side, before he could have reached a highland. Gori and Koutaïs,
being inland towns, are quite out of the question, and had the author
got to Batoum, he would already have been in a mountainous country, and
need not have described his ride before attaining it. I cannot find any
record that Batoum, situated in Lazistan, formerly included in Colchis,
ever formed part of the principality of Mingrelia.—ED.
(10.) “Merdin”.—With the exception of the citadel, which remained in
the hands of a prince of the Ortok dynasty, this place, formerly a
chief town of Mesopotamia, had to submit, with many others, to the
yoke of Timour. Upon the death of the conqueror, his heir, afterwards
assassinated by Kara Yelek, called to his assistance Kara Youssouf,
chief of the Turkomans of the Black Sheep, and gave to him Mardin, in
exchange for Mosoul, where he was poisoned. His son transferred the
royal residence to Sindjar, and died of the plague in the year 814 of
the Hegira. These were the last members of the Ortok dynasty, which
reigned three hundred years.—BRUUN.