THE BROKEN SWORDS
"Allah Kerim!
Allah akbar!
Great is God and mighty!"
What avails prayer if there be no longer any to hearken? What avails
the bright sword if there be none to wield it? What avails the open
book if there be none to understand what is written therein?
Ye nations of the half-moon! now is the time when the song of the
dervishes, and the scimitar, and the dirk, and the Kuran, can help no
more! From the west and from the north strange people are coming,
armed warriors in serried ranks, like a wall of steel, who are set in
motion, brought to a stand-still, expanded into an endless line,
contracted into a solid mass by a single brief word of command. Before
the charge of their bayonets the ranks of the Janissaries scatter and
disperse like chaff before the wind, and before their fire-vomiting
brazen tubes the flowers of Begtash's garden fall like grass before
the mower. Wise men are with them, who go about in simple black coats,
who know much that ye do not know; each one of whom is capable of
directing a state, and who are equally triumphant on the battle-field
and in the council-chamber.
In vain ye call upon the name of the Prophet, in vain do ye knock at
the gate of Paradise. It is closed. Muhammad slumbers, and the other
prophets no longer trouble themselves about earthly affairs. Paradise
is full already. There they look askance now at new-comers, who reach
the shadow of the tuba-tree without the rumor of victory. The
eternally young houris, from beyond the Bridge of Alsiroth, no longer
smile upon those who fall in battle, for battle has now lost its
glory. Ye must be born again, or die forever.
Look now! the more far-seeing ones among you know what to do. They
send their children far, far away, to the dominions of the Giaours,
there to learn worldly wisdom, and prepare to make great changes in
the empire.
The old dervishes, the friends of the Turks, are excluded from the
Seraglio; they do but creep stealthily up and peep through the guarded
gates, and compare notes with one another, "Behold! within there, they
are doing the work of the stranger, they are teaching the
true-believing warriors to leap to and fro at a word of command, and
twirl their weapons. They have abandoned the jiridé, that
ever-victorious weapon, and have stuck darts at the ends of their
muskets, as do the unbelievers, who dare not come within
sword-distance of the enemy. It is all over, all over with the faith
of Osman."
Most jealous of all these innovations were the priests of Begtash. One
could every moment see them in their ragged, dirty mantles, lounging
about in front of the gates of the Seraglio, impudently looking in
the faces of all who go in and out; and if an imam passed them, or one
of those wise men who favored the innovations, they would spit after
him, and exclaim in a loud voice, "Death to every one who proclaims
the forbidden word!"
Now this forbidden word was the name "Neshandchi." The mob of Stambul
had murdered Mahmoud's father because of this name, which designated a
new order of soldiers, and his successor had been compelled to order
that whoever pronounced this name should be put to death.
The mob would often follow the Grand Vizier all the way to the palace,
reviling him all the way, and shouting up at the windows, "Remember
the end of Bajraktar!"
Bajraktar had been the Sultan's Grand Vizier fourteen years before,
who had wished to reform the Turkish army, on which account a riot
broke out at Stambul, which lasted till the partisans of Bajraktar
were removed from office. As for Bajraktar himself, he was burned to
death in one of his palaces, together with his wife and children.
Every one who took part in these mysterious and accursed deliberations
in the Seraglio, from the lowliest soldier to the sacred and sublime
Sultan himself, carried his life in his hands.
It had long been rumored that some great movement was on foot, and the
priests of Begtash went from town to town through all the Turkish
domains fanning the fanaticism of their beloved children, the
Janissaries, and gradually collecting them in Stambul. In those days
there were more than twenty thousand Janissaries within the walls of
the capital, not including the corporation of water-carriers who
generally made common cause with them in times of uproar. When their
lordships, the Janissaries, set the place on fire, it was the duty of
the water-carriers to put out the flames, whereupon they plundered
comfortably together; hence the ancient understanding between them.
With the exception of the Ulemas, only the blind fakirs of the Omarite
order were admitted into the council of the Divan, and their chief,
Behram, often took counsel with the Sultan for hours together when he
was alone.
On the 23d May, 1826, at the invitation of the chief mufti, all the
Ulemas assembled in the Seraglio and decided unanimously that, in
accordance with the words of the Kuran, it was lawful to fight the
enemy with his own weapons.
Six days later they reassembled, and then the Sheik-ul-Islam laid
before them a fetva, by which it was proclaimed that a standing army
was to be raised for the defence of the realm. In order, however, that
nobody might pronounce the accursed name of Neshandchi, three names
were given to the corps of the army to be raised. The first was
akinji, or "rushers," these were the young conscripts; the second was
taalimlüaske, "practised men," these were selected from the soldiers
of the Seraglio; the third name was khankiar begerdi, and designated
the corps to be chosen from amongst the Janissaries. This name meant
"the will of the emperor," yet the word "khankiar" means, in Turkish,
by itself, "effusion of blood."
When the fetva came to be signed, very few of the leaders of the
Janissaries were present, but amongst those who were was the Janissary
Aga, or colonel, and his name stood there alongside the name of the
Sheik-ul-Islam, the Grand Vizier, and Najib Effendi.
Early next morning the people of Stambul read the fetva, which was
posted up at every corner. The decisive word had been spoken which was
to evoke the bloody spectre to whom so many crowned heads had been
sacrificed.
The first day a fearful expectation prevailed. Every one awaited the
tempest, and prepared for it. The Sultan was passing the time at his
summer palace, Bekshishtash, so, at least, it was said. An anxious,
tormenting, and bloody pastime it proved to be.
In one wing of his palace were the damsels of the harem, in the others
the chief Ulemas and councillors. Mahmoud paced from one room to
another, and found peace nowhere.
Hundreds of times he sat in a row with his wise men, and caused the
annals of the Ottoman Empire by his favorite historian, Ezaad Effendi,
to be read aloud to him, and yet it was a terror to him to listen. The
whole history from beginning to end was written in blood! The same
principles always produced the same fruits! How many Grand Viziers,
how many Padishahs, had not fallen? Their blood had flowed in streams
from the throne, which had never tottered as it now tottered beneath
him. And when he returned to the harem, and the charming odalisks
appeared before him with their music and dances, and Milieva amongst
them, the loveliest of them all, to whom in an hour of rapture he had
given the rose-garden of his realm, Damascus, he bethought him that
perchance to-morrow, or even that very night, those sweetly smiling
heads might all be cut off, seized by their flowing locks and cast in
heaps, while their dear and tender bodies might be sent swimming in
the cold waves of the Bosphorus, to serve as food for the monsters of
the deep. Who knows how many hours, who knows how many moments, they
have still to live?
Every hour, every moment, the tidings arrive from Stambul that the
Janissaries are assembling in menacing crowds, and now the
conflagrations begin; every day fires break out in three or four parts
of the town, but the heavy rains prevented any great damage from being
done. This was always the way in which the riots began in Stambul.
The priests of Begtash stirred up the fanaticism of the masses in
front of the mosques and in the public squares, incited the mob which
had joined the ranks of the Janissaries to acts of outrage against the
Sultan's officials and those of the Ulemas, softas, and Omarite fakirs
who were in favor of the reforms.
On July 14th a rumor spread that a company of Janissaries, actuated by
strong suspicion, had surrounded the cemetery which had been laid out
and enclosed by the Omarite fakir, and cut down all the dervishes they
found there, and amongst them their chief, Behram. They found upon him
a bundle of papers which plainly revealed that a secret understanding
existed between him and the great men of the Seraglio. They also found
in his girdle a metal plate, on which was the following inscription:
"I am Behram, the son of Halil Patrona, the strong man, and of
Gül-Bejáze,[14] the prophetess. My father in his lifetime began a
great work, which after his death I continued. This work will only be
accomplished and confirmed when I am dead and there is no further need
of me. Blessed be he who knoweth the hours of his life and of his
death."
[Footnote 14: The heroine of Jókai's _White Rose_.]
Those who were acquainted with the life and the end of Halil Patrona
knew right well what this great work was thus mentioned by Behram, who
had lived one hundred and eight years after his father's death, and
had striven all that time to develop and mature the ideas which the
former had vainly attempted to carry out at the point of the sword.
The mob tore the dervish to pieces and distributed his bleeding limbs
as trophies, and then, like wild beasts who have scented blood, they
attacked the castles of the great men. Whom should they fall upon
first? That was the only question.
Suddenly one of the priests of Begtash tore down from the corner of
the street a copy of the fetva which proclaimed the reform and showed
it to the mob. "Behold!" cried he, "here, foremost amongst the names
of the destroyers of the Faith stands the name of the Janissary Aga!
The leader of the Janissaries has himself betrayed his own children.
Death to him!"
"Death to him!" howled the mob, and, seizing their torches, they
rushed towards the palace of the Janissary Aga.
The Janissary Aga heard the tumult, and, quickly dressing a slave in
his robes, mingled with the crowd, and, without being noticed, reached
the palace of the Grand Vizier in safety.
The Grand Vizier was sitting down to supper when the Janissary Aga
rushed in and informed him of his danger. He lost no time in
barricading the gates, and, slipping through his garden with his
servants and his family, escaped across the Bosphorus to the Jali
Kiosk, on the other side of the water. The besieging mob, therefore,
only found empty walls upon which to wreak their fury, and these they
levelled with the ground.
But the Janissary Aga had left his wives and children in his palace,
and these the rioters seized and murdered with the most excruciating
tortures. In the evening twilight the Aga, from his place of safety on
the other side of the water, could see the flames of his palace
shooting up towards the sky, and heard perchance the agonized
death-cries of those he loved best.
A few moments later they were joined by Nedjib Effendi, the
representative of the Viceroy of Egypt, who also took refuge with them
and brought the tidings that the insurgents were in possession of the
whole of Stambul, and had wreaked their savage fury on the families of
the refugee magnates.
The Sultan was standing on the roof of his palace, whence he could
view far away the spreading scarlet glow of the conflagration which
lit up the night with a terrifying glare, whose fiery columns were
reflected in the black Bosphorus.
Panic-stricken fugitives spread the report that the Seraglio itself
was in flames, and indeed it looked in the distance as if the fiery
waves had reached its cupolaed towers.
Mahmoud spent the whole night in prayer. Two hours after midnight a
horseman arrived who had forced his way through Stambul, his good
steed collapsing as it reached the cypress grove of Bekshishtash. The
horseman himself demanded an audience of the Sultan, and was instantly
admitted.
A bright momentary ray of hope was visible on the face of Mahmoud as
he recognized the horseman. It was Thomar, now the Akinji Feriki, the
bravest warrior in the three continents of the Ottoman Empire.
When Mahmoud had quitted the Seraglio he had picked out sixteen young
horsemen from amongst his retinue, and left them behind in the palace,
with the injunction that if a rebellion should break out in Stambul,
which was pretty certainly to be anticipated, they were to cut their
way through the enemy and bring him word thereof. Thomar alone had
arrived--the other fifteen had been killed by the rebels; he had cut
out a road for himself and contrived to reach Bekshishtash.
"The dragon has raised all his twelve heads, my master," said he to
the Sultan; "now is the time to cut them all off, or it will devour
thy empire."
The Sultan, who greatly loved the youth, wiped the sweat from his face
with his own handkerchief, and bade him await him below in the
banqueting-chamber.
And with that he resumed his devotions.
Towards five o'clock, when the sun rose from behind the blue hills of
Asia in all its glory, the Sultan descended from the roof of his
palace and commanded his servants and men-at-arms to form in rank in
front of the palace. All the fighting-men he had with him were a
thousand akinjis and about as many horsemen, silihdars, and bostanjis.
He himself first went to take leave of his womenkind.
Those who had seen his face but an hour ago were amazed at the change
that had come over it. Its generally mild and peaceful expression had
given place to a proud resentment and a death-defying audacity. He
embraced his wife and the Sultana Asseki, and finally his son, the
heir to the throne. Not a tear was visible on his face as he embraced
his beloved ones. They all noticed a new vigor flashing from his eyes;
he looked as if he were inspired. He had no need now for any to
encourage him.
As he held one arm round his wife and the other round his child, he
said to them, "And now I go. My path leads me into Stambul; whether it
will lead me back again I know not. But I swear that if I do return it
will be as the veritable ruler of my realm. What will ye do if I
perish?"
The face of Milieva glowed at this question. She led Mahmoud aside
into the back part of the room. There the Sultan perceived a large
heap of pillows and cushions.
"If Mahmoud perishes," said the Circassian girl, enthusiastically,
"those who loved him will discover a way of following him; yea, thine
enemies, when they look for us, will only find our ashes here."
Mahmoud kissed the girl on the forehead; she was indeed worthy to sit
at the foot of the throne.
With that he descended into the court-yard, and they led his good
steed in front of the arched door. The Sultan beckoned to Thomar to
hold the reins while he mounted, then he detached an agate from the
heron plume that waved above his turban, and fastened it on the fez of
the youth as he knelt before him.
"I name thee leader of the akinjis; and now whoever has a sword, let
him show that he is worthy of our ancestors!"
With these words the Padishah drew his scimitar, and, galloping to the
front of his horsemen, took the place of command. A moment later the
little host was already on its way to Stambul. In front marched the
akinjis with glittering bayonets; in the centre was the Sultan with
his suite; the rear was brought up by the horsemen and the gardeners.
Every one of them was resolved to die honorably and gloriously.
On reaching the city the bold band met at first with but little
opposition, for they came unawares. The rebels were weary from the
exertions of the previous night. After putting out the conflagration
the mob had set to work plundering, and towards morning the greater
part of it had dispersed amongst the coffee-houses and other places of
amusement.
Mahmoud and his aggressive band met with no opposition right up to the
Seraglio. The streets indeed were thronged by a noisy mob, but it made
way at once before the serried ranks of the akinjis. None insulted the
Sultan by so much as an offensive word; on the contrary, cries of
admiration were audible here and there. Men were astounded when they
beheld the Padishah appear with a handful of armed men amidst the
raging tempest, and permitted him to enter the gates of the Seraglio
in peace.
The shout bursting through all the doors, which resounded for some
minutes from the inside of the place, announced to those outside what
courage the appearance of the Sultan had instilled into the hearts of
those of his warriors who were shut up in the Seraglio.
Kara Makan, full of amazement, withdrew the bulk of the rebels from
the Grand Signior's palace and massed the Janissaries near the
Etmeidan, where banners were hoisted side by side with the subverted
kettles. At the corners of the streets the wild priests of Begtash
continued to incite the agitated mob with hoarse cries, and from the
summits of the minarets the horns of the rebels sounded continuously,
only ceasing at such times as the imams summoned the people of Osman
to glorify Allah, about the fifth hour of the day. At the sound of the
namazat even the furious popular tempest abated, only beginning again
when the last notes of the call to prayer ceased to resound.
Stambul was literally turned upsidedown, and the dregs were swimming
on the surface. The confraternity of porters, the water-carriers, the
boatmen, all stood by the Janissaries and swelled enormously the bulk
of the rebels. Every mosque, every barrack, was in their power; even
the towers of the Dardanelles had opened their gates to the Jamaki,
who were in alliance with the Janissaries. The Sultan was shut up in
his own palace.
The Janissaries intended to carry the edifice of the Sublime Porte by
assault, and had, therefore, sent forth criers to the jebejis, or
camp-blacksmiths, who were encamped with the heavy cannons on the
grounds of the Mosque of Sophia, to invite them to begin the siege.
The emissaries of the Janissaries, in brief, savage harangues, called
upon the jebejis to put their hands to the bloody work. The latter
listened to them, but for a long time hesitated. Suddenly a shot fired
from amongst the crowd struck one of the speakers, who fell down dead,
whereupon the other jebejis rushed upon the envoys of the Janissaries,
cut them down, and, flinging their severed heads into a heap, shouted,
"Long live the Sultan!" and with that they proceeded in force to the
Seraglio, took up their positions in front of it, and turned their
guns against the rebels.
Towards mid-day, amidst strains of martial music, the Kapudan Pasha
Ibrahim, whose nickname was "The Infernal," arrived with four thousand
marines and fourteen guns. A quarter of an hour later were to be seen
in the proximity of the Jali Kiosk the overwhelming forces of the
Grand Vizier Muhammad, who, under the protection of the night, had got
together the hosts of Asia, which had always been opposed to the
Janissaries. The Janissary Aga was there, too, with the Komparajis
from Tophana. The concentrating masses welcomed one another with
blood-thirsty greeting. It was evident, from the faces of their
leaders, that they were determined not to retreat a step on the path
they had taken. The last hour of the Janissaries, or of the Ottoman
Empire, had struck.
And now the gates of the Seraglio were thrown open, and, escorted by
the high officers of state and the Ulemas, the Sultan came forth.
The Ulemas, the imams, and the officers of the army stood in a
semicircle round the gate. The Sultan remained standing on the highest
step. There he stood in the full regalia of the padishahs, holding in
one hand the banner of the Prophet and in the other a drawn sword.
"What do the rebels desire," exclaimed, with a loud, penetrating
voice, the Sheik-ul-Islam, "who rise up against Allah and against the
Head of the Faith, the Padishah?"
The chief mufti replied with unction: "It is written in the Kuran, 'If
the infidels rise against their brethren, let them die the death!'"
"Then swear by the banner of the Prophet that ye will root out them
who have risen up against me!"
The viziers kissed the holy flag and took the oath to defend it to the
last drop of their blood.
"And now close the gates!" commanded the Sultan; and immediately he
sent orders to the warders of all the gates of Stambul to let nobody
either out or in. One of the opposing hosts was never to leave the
city alive.
"Long life to the Sultan! Death to the Janissaries!" resounded from
fifteen thousand lips in front of the Seraglio.
The Sultan would have led his army in person against the rebels, but
his generals fell down on their knees and implored him in the name of
the Prophet not to expose his life to danger. Let him at least give
his sword to the Grand Vizier, that he might not soil it in the blood
of rebels.
So the gates were shut. This circumstance filled the hearts of the
rebels with terror. They foresaw that this day would not be followed
by another; the hand of indulgence, of reconciliation, now grasped the
weapons of war, of massacre.
They all assembled round the Etmeidan, pulled down the buildings in
the street, and made barricades of them. 'Tis a bad sign for a
rebellion when it has to look to its defence.
The forces of the Grand Vizier slowly approached amidst the roll of
kettle-drums; the Derben Aga appeared in front of the barricades of
the Janissaries, with the sanjak-i-sherif in his hand, and summoned
the rebels to disperse and return to the allegiance of the sacred
banner. The rebels drowned his speech in curses, and above the curses
rose the thundering voice of Kara Makan hounding on the fanatical mob
against the destroyers of the faith of Osman.
"Wipe out these new ordinances, give up the heads of the godless ones
who signed their names below the khat-i-sherif--to wit the Janissary
Aga, the Grand Vizier, the chief mufti, and Nedjib Effendi! This is
what the ortas of the Janissaries demand and their honest
confederates, the Jamaki, the Kayikjis, and the Hamaloks, who remain
faithful to the God of the Moslemin."
Thrice did the Derben Aga summon the rebels to surrender, and thrice
did he receive the same answer. They demanded the heads of the
viziers.
Mahmoud's predecessor had, on a similar request, surrendered the heads
of the viziers. Mahmoud broke his sword in two above their heads, and
throwing the broken pieces in the dust, exclaimed:
"Just as I now break in two this sword and nobody shall weld it
together again, so also shall ye be overthrown and none shall raise
you up again."
The next moment the cannons of Ibraham the Infernal thundered forth
their volleys from the Etmeidan. The bombs tore through the rickety
wooden barriers, and through the breach thus made rushed Hussein Pasha
at the head of the akinjis with Thomar Bey by his side.
The appearance of the detested new soldiers was greeted by the
Janissaries with a furious howl, but the very first moment convinced
them that the bayonet was a very much more powerful weapon than the
dirk. Thomar Bey headed the charge in person, making a way for himself
with his bayonet and clearing the ranks of the insurgents like a sharp
wedge.
On this side there was no deliverance, so now, with the fury of
despair, the insurgents flung themselves on the guns of Ibraham Pasha,
three times charging his death-vomiting batteries, and, thrice
recoiling, leaving the ground covered with their corpses, the terrible
grape-shot mowing them down in heaps.
It was all, all over. The flowers of Begtash's garden, vanquished,
humbled by the new soldiers, fled for refuge to the huge quadrangular
barracks which occupied the ground at the rear of the Etmeidan.
Kara Makan did not live to experience that hour of humiliation; a
cannon-ball took off his head so cleanly that his body could only be
identified by his girdle.
Within the walls of the barracks the Janissaries made ready for their
last desperate combat. It was now late. Ibrahim the Infernal began to
bombard the barracks with red-hot bullets, and within an hour's time
the whole of the enormous building was in flames. Those who were
inside the gates remained there, for there they were doomed to perish
together. Amidst the roaring of the flames their death-cries were
audible, but the flames grew stronger every moment and the cry of
their mortal anguish waxed fainter. The generals stood around the
building, and tears glittered in more eyes than one; after all, it had
been a valiant host!
Had been! Those words explain their doom.
On that day twenty thousand Janissaries fell by the command of the
Padishah. Those whom the bullet and the sword did not reach perished
by the axe and the bowstring. Their bodies were given to the
Bosphorus, and for a long time afterwards the billows of distant seas
cast their headless trunks on the shores of countries far away. These
were the flowers of Begtash.
And so the name of the Janissaries was blotted out of the annals of
Ottoman history.
The wearing of their uniforms and their insignia was forbidden under
sentence of death. Their barracks were levelled with the ground, their
banners were torn to bits, their kettles were smashed to pieces, their
memory was made accursed.
The order of the Priests of Begtash was abolished forever, their
religious homes were destroyed, their possessions confiscated.
Thus came to an end a soldiery which had existed for centuries, which
the wise Chendereli founded, and which had won so many glorious
triumphs for the Ottoman arms. It was now unlawful to mention its very
name.
But when the bloody work was done, the Ottoman nation arose again full
of fresh vigor, and it owed a new life, full of glorious days, to the
hand which delivered the empire from its two greatest
enemies--Tepelenti and the Janissaries.
GLOSSARY OF THE TURKISH WORDS USED IN THIS STORY
AGA--a military and aulic title.
AKINJI--a sort of irregular cavalry.
ANADOLI HISSAR--eastern castle.
AZAB--irregular infantry.
BAIRAM--the great Muhammadan ecclesiastical feast.
BAYADERE--a dancing-girl.
BEY--a dignitary next below a pasha.
BOSTANJI--originally the gardeners of the Seraglio, subsequently
attendants, body-guards.
CHORBAJI--a Janissary officer.
CIAUS--palace officials employed as attendants, messengers, envoys.
DERBEND AGA--the chief of the street watchmen.
DIRHAM--a coin worth about 2-½_d._
DIVAN--council of state.
DZHIN--a huge supernatural being.
EFFENDI--a title of honor.
ETMEIDAN--the headquarters of the Janissaries.
FETVA--the opinion or judgment of a mufti.
FIRAK--bodies of troops.
FIRMAN--a decree issued by the Sultan.
GIAOUR--an infidel.
ICHOGLANLER--pages of non-Muhammadan parentage brought up at the
Sultan's palace.
IMAM--a priest who recites the canonical prayers.
JAMAK--the servant of a Janissary.
JANISSARIES--literally, "new soldiers" (jeni-cheri), originally
captive children brought up to be soldiers. This corps was for
centuries the flower of the Ottoman army.
JANISSARY AGA--the chief of the Janissaries.
JERID--a stick used as a dart in military exercises.
KADI--a judge.
KADUN-KEIT-KHUDA--guardian of the harem.
KAPU-AGASI--Lord Chamberlain.
KAPUDAN PASHA--Lord High Admiral.
KAPUJI--gate-keeper of the Seraglio.
KAPUJI PASHA--the introducer of the ambassadors.
KAPU-KIAJA--chief magistrate.
KHAT-I-SHERIF--a command either signed by the Sultan or issued
directly through him.
KHUMBARAJI--a bombardier.
KIZLAR-AGASI--chief inspector of the harem.
MOLLAH--the title of the highest grade of Ulemas.
MUEZZIN--the caller to prayer.
MUFTIS--those of the Ulemas who publish or seal the fetvas or other
public documents.
MURSHID--a spiritual guide.
NAMAZAT--the canonical prayer.
ODALISK--a concubine; literally, chambermaid.
ORTA--a company of Janissaries.
PALIKÁR--"strong youth," a name given to themselves by the Klephts,
freebooters of Thessaly.
PARA--a farthing.
REIS-EFFENDI--Minister of Foreign Affairs.
SANDJAK-I-SHERIF--the sacred banner of the Prophet.
SERAGLIO }
SERAI } The Sultan's court.
SERAI-AGASI--chief inspector of the Seraglio.
SERASKIER--a commander-in-chief.
SHEIK-UL-ISLAM--the chief of all the muftis and Ulemas.
SILIHDARS--one of the six divisions of the mercenary cavalry, also
the Sultan's armor-bearers.
SIPAHIS }
SPAHIS } One of six divisions of the mercenary cavalry.
SULIOTES--a warlike Hellenized race of Albanian origin in the Pachalik
of Janina.
SULTANA-ASSEKI--The Sultan's consort.
SULTANA-VALIDEH--the Sultan's mother.
TIMARIOTES--Turkish feudal militia.
TOPORABAJI--gunners.
TOPIJIS--gunners.
ULEMAS--the learned men, including the muftis, the mollahs, the
kadis--in short, all the legal and ecclesiastical functionaries.
THE END
Transcriber's Note: The following typographical errors present in the
original text have been corrected for this electronic edition.
In Chapter I, "superflous cracks and crevices" was changed to
"superfluous cracks and crevices".
In Chapter II, "siezed him" was changed to "seized him".
In Chapter III, "ninrethullita" was changed to "nimetullahita", and
"It must not he supposed" was changed to "It must not be supposed".
In Chapter IV, "the besieging Pehlivan" was changed to "the besieging
Pehliván".
In Chapter VIII, "Meccao and Medina" was changed to "Mecca and
Medina", and "Procelain Chamber" was changed to "Porcelain Chamber".
In Chapter IX, "hill, morever" was changed to "hill, moreover", "wont
you" was changed to "won't you", and a question mark was changed to an
exclamation point after "thy daughter Milieva".
In Chapter X, "La Gullia" was changed to "La Gulia", "to horribly
tortured Turks" was changed to "of horribly tortured Turks", and "rank
or general" was changed to "rank of general".
In Chapter XVIII, "silchidars" was changed to "silihdars".
In the Glossary, "Silchidars" was changed to "Silihdars".
Several names and words were spelled inconsistently in the original
text. Except as noted above, these variant spellings have been
left as they originally appeared.