I
When Sultan Suleiman had taken up his winter residence in Aleppo, I,
the author of these pages, was appointed to the Admiralship of the
Egyptian fleet, and received instructions to fetch back to Egypt the
ships (15 galleys), which some time ago had been sent to Basrah on
the Persian Gulf. But, "Man proposes, God disposes." I was unable to
carry out my mission, and as I realized the impossibility of returning
by water, I resolved to go back to Turkey by the overland route,
accompanied by a few tried and faithful Egyptian soldiers. I traveled
through Gujarat, Hind, Sind, Balkh, Zabulistan, Bedakhshan, Khotlan,
Turan, and Iran, _i.e._, through Transoxania, Khorassan, Kharezm,
and Deskti-Kiptchak; and as I could not proceed any farther in that
direction, I went by Meshed and the two Iraks, Kazwin and Hamadan, on
to Bagdad.
Our travels ended, my companions and fellow-adventurers persuaded
me to write down our experiences, and the dangers through which we
had passed, an accurate account of which it is almost impossible to
give; also to tell of the cities and the many wonderful sights we had
seen, and of the holy shrines we had visited. And so this little book
sees the light; in it I have tried to relate, in simple and plain
language, the troubles and difficulties, the suffering and the distress
which beset our path, up to the time that we reached Constantinople.
Considering the matter it contains this book ought to have been
entitled, "A tale of woe," but with a view to the scene of action I
have called it "Mirror of Countries," and as such I commend it to the
reader's kind attention.