_Of the Expeditions of the Capudans from the time of Khair-ad-din Pasha
till that of Pialeh Pasha._
THE EXPEDITIONS OF MOHAMMED PASHA.
After the death of Khair-ad-din Pasha, the vezier Mohammed Pasha was
made capudan, and held that office for two or three years, when he
was presented with the governorship of Roumelia. He was afterwards
appointed grand vezier, and performed the functions of that office at
Scutari.
THE CAPTURE OF TRIPOLI BY SENAN PASHA.
On Mohammed Pashas being made capudan he went on an expedition against
Tripoli (West), which was formerly in the possession of the Tunisian
kings, the Beni Hefs: but about A.H. 916 (A.D. 1510) the Spaniards,
taking advantage of the supineness of the reigning monarch, Mohammed
Ben Hassan, the nineteenth king of that dynasty, who was immersed in
pleasure, captured the castles of Vahran, Bajaiah and Tripoli. The
last of these places had now been forty-two years in their possession,
when his majesty, wishing to reduce it, invited Tourghoudjé Beg, (who
formerly had the sanjak of Karli-Eili [Acarnania], but had now on some
account gone to Moghreb, where he remained two years,) under whose
direction Senan Pasha, A.H. 958 (A.D. 1551) sailed with twenty galleys,
and besieged and took the castle. Tourghoudjé Beg had been promised
the governorship of it for his life, but Senan Pasha gave it to Khadem
Mourad Agha. Tourghoudjé Beg, however, subsequently received it from
the emperor in person, and held it till he was murdered it Malta eleven
years afterwards.
EXPEDITION OF PIRI REIS TO THE EASTERN OCEAN.
Notwithstanding Soleiman Pasha had, when he reduced Aden, left a
garrison in that city, the people joined the Portuguese, the masters of
India, turned away their faces from submission, and delivered up the
fortress to the infidels. To recover it, Piri Pasha, the capudan of
Egypt, (son of the sister of Kemal Reis, and author of the Bahria,[44])
was sent from Suez with a fleet; and leaving the Red Sea, proceeded
by the straits of Babelmandel to Aden, against the fortress of which
he planted his artillery, and having taken it by storm, left in it a
considerable garrison provided with the necessary means of defence.
Davoud Pasha, the governor of Egypt, having represented to the sultan
the importance of the service rendered by Piri Reis, the latter
received in recompense lands to the value of one hundred thousand
aspres.
SECOND EXPEDITION OF PIRI PASHA TO THE EASTERN OCEAN.
Piri Pasha, the capudan of Egypt, left Suez A.H. 959 with a fleet of
thirty sail, consisting of galleys, bashderdés, golettas, and galleons;
and proceeding to Aden by Jedda and Babelmandel, sailed thence towards
Ras-al-had, passing Zaffar and Shedjer. On his route he was overtaken
near Shedjer by a storm, in which several of his barges were destroyed.
With the remains of his fleet he attacked Muscat, a fortress in the
Persian Gulf, in the country of Oman, which he took, and made the
inhabitants prisoners. He then laid waste the islands of Ormuz and
Barkhet. On his arrival at Bassora he heard that the fleet of the
vile infidels was advancing towards him; a report which was confirmed
by the infidel capudan whom he took at Muscat, and who now advised
him to remain no longer in his present situation, on account of the
impossibility of escaping by the strait of Ormuz. The pasha, being
unable to clear the whole of his fleet, departed before the arrival of
the infidels, with three galleys, his private property. One of these he
lost near Bahrein, and with the remaining two returned to Egypt. Of the
vessels left at Bassora, Kobad Pasha, the governor of that city,
offered the command to Ali Beg, a beg of Egypt, and a commander in
the army; who, however, refused it, and returned by land to Egypt:
and the vessels, thus abandoned, were soon destroyed. The pasha of
Egypt, apprised of these events, seized and imprisoned Piri Reis on
his arrival at Cairo, and sent information of the circumstance to
the Sublime Porte, whence he immediately received an order to put
to death the admiral, who was beheaded accordingly in the divan of
Cairo. He left immense riches, which were confiscated to the treasury.
The inhabitants of Ormuz, from whom he had extorted large sums of
money, came to complain of his exactions and crave an indemnity; but
no attention was paid to their demands, and the gold was put into
gilt vases and sent to Constantinople. Piri Reis composed a work on
navigation, in which he has given a description of the Mediterranean.
This is the only work of the kind of any authority amongst the Moslems.
EXPEDITION OF MURAD PASHA TO INDIA.
The Sublime Porte now entrusted the command of the fleet to Murad Beg
formerly governor of the sanjak of Katif, and ordered him to remain at
Bassora, with the vessels already in his command, consisting of five
galleys and one goletta. Shortly after, he quitted Bassora, at the
head of a fleet of fifteen galleys and two barges, (one of his galleys
having sunk,) and directed his course towards Egypt. Near Ormuz he met
the infidels’ fleet, which he immediately attacked, and a desperate
engagement ensued, in which Soleiman Reis, (the Capudan Reis,) Rajab
Reis, with a great number of men, obtained the palm of martyrdom, and
many others were wounded. The infidels did considerable damage to the
Moslem ships, which, unable to sustain the continual fire of the enemy,
escaped by night. One of their vessels, which was left behind, was
driven ashore near Lar, and captured by the infidels, part of the crew
escaping and the rest being made prisoners. The remainder of the fleet
returned to Bassora, whence tidings of the sad event were immediately
communicated to the Sublime Porte.
ACCOUNT OF SEIDI ALI, CAPUDAN.
Seidi Ali Ibn Hosein, whose poetical appellation was Katebi, besides
being famed for his poetical productions, was celebrated for his works
on navigation and astronomy, as well in prose as in verse. He was
author of a work called _Mohit_, (the Ocean,) on the Indian Ocean,
and of another called the _Merat al Kainat_, (the Mirror of Creation,)
treating of the science of the astrolabe, of squares, circles, and
sines. He was moreover the translator of a work called the Fat’hia.
There has never been his equal in the arsenal. He served with the
late sultan, Soleiman Khan, at the capture of Rhodes, and afterwards
in Moghreb, and other places with Khair-ad-din Pasha, Senan Pasha,
and many others. His father and grandfather having held the office of
governor of the arsenal ever since the capture of Constantinople, the
science of navigation descended to him as a legacy; and it was on this
account that Sultan Soleiman Khan, about the end of the year 960 (A. D.
1553), rewarded him with the post of capudan of Egypt, and ordered him
to bring to Cairo the vessels which were lying at Bassora.
EXPEDITION OF SEIDI ALI TO THE EASTERN OCEAN.
In the month of Moharrem (December), A. H. 961 (A. D. 1553), the
Capudan Seidi Ali, following the orders he had received, left Aleppo
and proceeded to Bassora by way of Mousul and Baghdad. Favourable winds
now began to blow, and the capudan, in order to avail himself of them,
hastened to equip the five[45] barges that were lying there. Mustapha
Pasha, the governor of Bassora, and a distinguished seaman, was absent
from the city when Seidi Ali arrived; having been ordered by the Porte
to sail with a frigate to Ormuz, and was at this moment on his way
thither. Being informed that the infidels had only four ships, he
immediately communicated the intelligence to Seidi Ali, who thereupon
embarked his troops and quitted Bassora early in the month of Shaban
(July), and joined Mustapha Pasha near Ormuz. Passing Abadan, Desboul,
and Shutar, and coasting Harek and Katif in the neighbourhood of Lahsa,
they arrived at Bahrein, where they had an interview with the governor,
Murad Reis. Here the sailors, by sinking leathern bottles about eight
fathoms into the sea obtained fresh water. They sailed hence to old
Ormuz, Barkhet and Ormuz; after which the sherif Mustapha returned to
the Porte. Seidi Ali then passed the coast of Zaffar, and early on the
morning of the fortieth day, which was the tenth of Ramazan, met the
infidels near the city of Khourfekan. Their fleet consisted of four
immense barges, three large galleons, six Portuguese guard-ships, and
twelve golettas.
THE ENGAGEMENT BETWEEN SEIDI ALI AND THE PORTUGUESE.
The Moslems immediately hoisted their colours, weighed anchor, and got
in readiness all their warlike machines. With flags hoisted and sails
spread, and looking in confidence to the Supreme Being, they set up
Mohammedan shouts, and commenced an attack, the fierceness of which
baffles description. By the favour of God, their fire struck one of the
Portuguese galleons, which was wrecked on the island of Fak-al-asad.
They fought bravely till night-fall, when the capudan hoisted the
lights. The infidels however fired a gun as the signal of retreat, and
fled to Ormuz. Thus, by the favour of God, the victory was left to the
Moslems, who, favoured by the winds, departed next day for the city of
Khourfekan, where the troops took in a supply of fresh water, and
after seventeen days’ sailing, arrived in the neighbourhood of Muscat
and Kalat.
SECOND EXPEDITION OF SEIDI ALI, AGAINST THE CAPUDAN OF GOA.
On the morning of the 26th of Ramazan the captain of Goa, the son
of the governor, left the harbour of Muscat, and with his barges,
guard-ships, and galleons, with their mainsails spread and colours
flying, sailed against the Moslems, who, still trusting in God,
remained near the shore prepared for battle.
The enemy’s barges first came up, and attacked the galleys, when a
sharp fire was opened on both sides, and a furious engagement ensued.
The infidels then began to shower down their hand-grenades from the
maintops upon the galleys, one of which and a barge which was near it
they burnt by throwing a bomb into the galley. Five barges and as many
galleys were driven ashore and lost. Another barge was driven ashore
by the violence with which the wind beat against it, and was lost.
At length the sailors and the troops on both sides were exhausted,
the former being unable to pull at the oars, and the latter to work
the guns any longer; they were therefore obliged to cast anchor: but
even in this position they fought for some time with springs to their
cables. They were finally obliged to abandon their boats. Elmshah Reis,
Kara Mustaffa, and Kalfat Mumi, the commanders of the lost galleys, and
Durzi Mustaffa Beg, the Commander of the volunteers, with about two
hundred Egyptian soldiers, reached the shore in safety, and afterwards
returned to the fleet, bringing with them many Arabs to the assistance
of the Moslems. The infidels also recovered the men who were in their
barges which had been driven ashore. This battle was even greater than
that between Khair-ad-din and Andrea Doria. Few soldiers are known to
have ever been engaged in such a fight. At last, when night approached,
a strong gale began to blow, and each of the barges threw out two
stream anchors; but the men on board were so overcome with fatigue,
that they were obliged to stand out from the shore, and sail before the
wind. In this way they came to the coast of Barjash, where, finding
plenty of sea, they succeeded in reaching Bender Shehbar in Mekran.
Here they took in water, and by the direction of a pilot, reached
Bender Goader; the governor of which, Malek Dinar Oghli Jelal-ad-din,
came to examine the state of their fleet, and represented to the sultan
the necessity of sending supplies: in consequence of which, fifty or
sixty vessels with provisions were sent out, and joined them before
they reached Ormuz.
THE RESULT OF SEIDI ALI’S EXPEDITION TO THE INDIAN OCEAN.
From Bender Goader the capudan again sailed with nine vessels for the
Indian Ocean, and directed his course towards Yemen. For a few days
the weather was favourable, and they had arrived in the neighbourhood
of Zaffar and Shedjer, when the westerly winds began to blow, and they
were overtaken by the storm called _the Elephant_, before which they
scudded, being unable even to carry the foresail. Compared with this,
a storm in the Mediterranean is as insignificant as a grain of sand:
day could not be distinguished from night, and the waves rose like
huge mountains. Their vessels were thus greatly injured, and they were
obliged to throw overboard a great part of their ammunition and stores.
In this way they drifted before the wind for ten days, during which
time it rained incessantly, and there was no appearance of daylight.
The sailors here saw immense fishes, of the length of two galleys; at
which their spirits rose, because they consider them animals of good
omen. They also saw sea-horses, huge serpents, tortoises as large as
millstones, and sea-weed. After having been detained a long time, they
at last approached the bay of Chekd.
ACCOUNT OF A WHIRLPOOL.
Suddenly the colour of the sea became changed to a whitish hue, and
the sailors began to cry out. The cause of their alarm was what in the
Indian Ocean is called a whirlpool, a thing very common about Gerdefoon
on the Ethiopian coast, and in the bay of Chekd near Sind. It is stated
in maritime works that ships getting into one of these must inevitably
perish. Having sounded, and found they had only five fathoms water,
they took in their sails. Towards morning the wind fell a little, and
they sent up an able seaman to the mast-head, who descried a temple
on the land. Soon after they passed Kormian, Mangalore, and Somnat,
and came very near Div; but the latter place being in the hands of the
infidels, they did not show their sail that day, but made the best
of their way. Again the wind increased, and the helms became quite
unmanageable: the boatswain’s whistle could not be distinguished from
the whistling of the wind, and no one could walk the decks. They were
also obliged to shut up most of the troops in the holds. In short, the
horrors of this day were comparable only to those of the resurrection.
At length they reached the coast of Guzerat, in India, when the sailors
suddenly cried out that a hurricane was before them; upon which they
dropped anchor; but the sea was so heavy that the ships were nearly
upset. The galley-slaves broke their chains, and all the men, stripping
themselves naked, began to provide themselves with barrels and leathern
bottles for their escape. Some of the anchors, however, broke; and thus
the vessels escaped the hurricane. This occurred at a place between
Div and Daman. Towards afternoon the weather became somewhat fairer,
which enabled them to proceed to the port of Daman in the district
of Guzerat, where they anchored about two miles from the shore. For
five days the hurricane continued to blow with great violence, and was
accompanied with incessant rains. The vessels had now shipped much
water; and three of them, losing their anchorage, drifted ashore; but
all on board landed in safety. When the storm had somewhat abated, they
succeeded in gaining the harbour of Daman, where they gave the guns and
ammunition, of the wrecked vessels in charge to Malek Asad, governor
of Daman, and one of the emirs of Sultan Ahmed, the king of Guzerat.
Malek Asad then cautioned them not to go to the castle of Sert, as the
fleet of the infidels was about to attack it. Hearing this, most of the
men, who had already suffered such hardships, landed, and entered the
service of Malek Asad; whilst others of them, after heaping reproaches
on the capudan, seized the boats, in which they reached the shore,
and proceeded overland to Sert. Seidi Ali, with the remaining vessels
and men, directed his course to Sert, which, sometimes sailing, and
sometimes availing himself of the assistance of the oars, he reached in
five days: a period of three months, in which he underwent thousands
of difficulties, having elapsed since he left Bassora. The Moslems at
this place were rejoiced to see them, for the country of Guzerat was
at this time in a very disturbed state. Here also several untoward
events befell them: the supplies for the troops were exhausted; the
ammunition and stores of the vessels were consumed; the vessels
themselves were much injured; and their return to Egypt was considered
quite impossible. Under these circumstances, most of the men entered
the service of the king of Guzerat, and the ships were left empty. The
capudan, having received from the governor of Sert, an undertaking that
the value of the arms and other effects which were left with him should
be sent to the Sublime Porte, set out by land for Constantinople on the
first of Moharrem, A.H. 962 (A. D. 26th November, 1554), accompanied
by fifty attendants. Having travelled through India and Persia, after
an absence of four years, he arrived at Constantinople in the month of
Rajab, 964 (A. D. May, 1557). Shortly afterwards he was admitted to the
royal presence at Adrianople, and had an addition of eighty aspres made
to his salary; whilst all his companions were promoted in Egypt; and
the royal order was issued that they should be paid their four years
salary which was in arrear. The capudan then wrote an account of his
voyages and travels, which he entitled, “The Adventures of Seidi Ali.”
From this work the foregoing particulars are extracted.
THE EXPEDITION OF SENAN PASHA.
In 959 the Capudan Senan Pasha went to sea with one hundred and twenty
vessels, the command of which he held till the end of 960. He died in
961, and was buried at Scutari. The poet Sahari has thus commemorated
the period of his death:
Fate at last gives up the body to decay, even should it be that of Noah
the pilot.
Whenever the huge leviathan Death draws a breath, the ocean seems but a
drop to him.
To his friends Senan was another Joseph; to his enemies he was a dart.
Come, Sahari, let us offer up a prayer for him; “May God make glad his
pure spirit!”
The invisible Spirit has revealed the time of his death. “The capudan
has joined the Divine Mercy.”
THE APPEARANCE OF TORGHUDJEH BEG.
Torghudjeh was the son of a rayah called Veli, and was born at a
village in the neighbourhood of Seroloz, of the sanjak of Mantesheh.
Being of a brave spirit, at an early age he excelled in archery and
wrestling. He afterwards applied himself to navigation, in which he
acquired considerable fame, and was made capudan of a privateer. On
one occasion, as he was oiling his vessel, Oghlan, an infidel captain,
fell upon him, and carried him prisoner to Genoa. On this account
Khair-ad-din Pasha sailed against the Genoese with a fleet, threatening
that if they did not give up Torghudjeh he would spoil all their
villages: whereupon they immediately released him. The pasha also in
a divan spoke so highly of him, saying, Torghudjeh was braver than
himself, that they gave him a galley. After this he was in numerous
engagements with Khair-ad-din Pasha in the south, by which he became
rich, and increased the number of his ships to twenty-five, with which
he began to cruise about. Having obtained information of the position
of Senan Pasha, who was then at sea, he came out to meet him from
the south. On their approach they saluted each other; but the salute
from Torghudjeh’s ships being much louder than that of Senan Pasha,
the latter suspected him; and artfully representing to the Porte that
his not joining him was a proof of disaffection, and that to subdue
him would be a difficult matter, recommended that he should be called
to the capital. Thither Torghudjeh immediately proceeded with eight
vessels, and made offers of submission. With him also came his brave
companions in arms, Ghazi Mustaffa, Oluj Ali, Hassan Keleh, Mohammed
Reis, Sanjakdar Reis, Deli Jafar, and Kara Kazi, to each of whom a
fanar,[46] and a stipend of seventy or eighty aspres were allotted.
Both before and after his journey to the Sublime Porte, Torghudjeh was
engaged in several memorable battles; a few of which we shall mention.
THE OCCURRENCE AT JARBA.
Whilst Torghudjeh was a capudan of the volunteers, he was on one
occasion lying in a harbour called Kantar, in the island of Jarba,
where he intended to oil his ships, amounting to eighteen, when
Jeghaleh, a Venetian commander, came down upon him with a hundred and
fifty vessels, blocked up the entrance to the harbour, threw overboard
their ballast, and sat down to enjoy themselves; conceiving, that when
Torghudjeh had exhausted his stock of provisions, they could take him
and his ships without any effort. They even wrote to Genoa, saying
they had secured the pirate Torghudjeh and his ships; and several of
their gentlemen fitted out a vessel, and with the intention of taking
a voyage of pleasure, sailed towards Jarba. Torghudjeh, on his part,
trusted in God, by whose providence there was in the neighbourhood a
small river, navigable by boats, which
emptied itself into the sea. He therefore set his men to work, and cut
a canal two miles in length, by which he conveyed his vessels to sea.
He left a tent which he had pitched on the shore, and the infidels
supposed he was safe in it. He then proceeded to a place about sixty
miles distant, where he completed the oiling of his vessels, and again
put out to sea. On his way he met the gentlemen on their voyage of
pleasure, and took them prisoners. When the infidels found out that
Torghudjeh had made his escape, thinking he had carried his ships
overland, they were confounded, and declared that he must be a magician.
CAPTURE OF INFIDEL VESSELS.
Torghudjeh now became the drawn sword of Islamism, and a brave and
famous corsair. He frequently attacked the infidels ships, and
destroyed their barges. He once met, at Mania, two barges, laden with
corn from Salonica, bound to Venice, which he seized, showing no
quarter to those on board. But his feats of this sort are numerous.
THE VISIT OF TORGHUDJEH TO MOGHREB, AND THE INVITATION TO HIM FROM THE
EMPEROR.
On one occasion, when this chief was beg of Carli-Eili (Acarnania), he
met a Venetian barge, the captain of which, not supposing Torghudjeh
to be the principal capudan, and desirous of availing himself as much
as possible of the wind, which was then in his favour, neglected to
lower his sails, (a mark of respect always shown to great capudans,) or
offer any presents. At this, Torghudjeh Beg took umbrage, and began to
fire upon the barge from the three ships that were with him. The wind
having fallen, she was soon taken; but the capudan having lost one of
his brave companions in the conflict, put every one of the infidels to
the sword, and burnt the barge. The Venetian ambassador at the Porte,
on hearing of this circumstance, went to Rustam Pasha, and lodged a
complaint against Torghudjeh. Rustam Pasha, considering Torghudjeh
as the enemy of his brother, bore him great hatred, and obtained
permission to send a chiaoush to have him summoned to the Porte.
Torghudjeh, however, aware of his purpose, sailed with all his vessels
to Moghreb, where he remained two years an outlaw. When the capture
of Western Trabalos became necessary, the late Sultan Soleiman Khan,
whom he had offended, from motives of policy promised him safety, and
sent him a copy of the holy book (the Koran) and a golden sword, with
a promise that if he should succeed in reducing Trabalos, he should
enjoy the begler-begship of that place during his life. The Capudan
Senan Pasha was sent with a fleet, and by the direction of Torghudjeh,
Trabalos was taken; but its government was given to Senan Pasha; which
offended Torghudjeh, who immediately weighed anchor, and directed his
course towards Moghreb. He was followed by all the capudans, whose
orders were to obey his commands. Senan Pasha being thus left alone,
Torghudjeh directed them to return, and some of them with great
difficulty reached the Porte.
THE EXPEDITION OF TORGHUDJEH TO BASTIA.
In some historical works it is recorded that, in A. H. 960, Torghudjeh
took the command of one hundred and twenty galleys, and sailed to
Novocacia. Afterwards, in the month of Rajab, 961, he sailed up the
gulf, and besieged Bastia, a Spanish castle on the Italian coast.
After many attempts, he was on the point of taking it, when four
thousand horse and three thousand infantry came to the assistance of
the besieged, and repulsed the Moslems several times. At length, by
the favour of God, on the seventh of Ramazan, the abject wretches
outside the walls were defeated, and the infidels inside were obliged
to fly and abandon the castle. The Moslems allowed forty or fifty of
the principal inhabitants their liberty, but put all the others into
chains. With the wealth which they found in the castle, and about seven
thousand prisoners, they then sailed to Avlona, in the neighbourhood
of which the Albanian rebels, by the aid of the governor Ahmed Beg,
were vanquished both by sea and land, and rewarded according to their
demerits. The Moslems now returned to the Porte with riches far
exceeding what they had anticipated. The emperor, who duly appreciated
merit, offered Torghudjeh, in addition to his office of capudan,
the begler-begship of Algiers. Rustam Pasha, however, prevented his
obtaining the latter post, insinuating that Torghudjeh having acquired
wealth abroad, had no wish to be employed in the service of the
Sublime Porte; and in consequence the sanjak of Carli-Eili (Acarnania)
was given to him; but this he declined to accept. The emperor then
determined to go out against him, and had actually taken horse for that
purpose, when Torghudjeh came out to meet his sovereign, and in person
petitioned for the governorship of Trabalos. This was granted him, and
he immediately proceeded to Trabalos west, and held his office till he
was slain at Malta.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] His entire name is مصطفي بن عبد الله حاجي خليفه Mustaffa Ben
Abdullah Haji Khalifeh. He was also called كاتب چلبي Katib Chelebi.
[2] To this work, and more especially to the invaluable “History of
the Ottoman Empire,” by J. Von Hammer, the translator is principally
indebted for this biographical notice of the author.
[3] A compendious work on Geography, published at Constantinople, A. D.
1732.
[4] _Aker sū dekermenler_: mills moved by running water.
[5] Probably Citadini.
[6] Azabs are the militia of Turkey.
[7] The name of the castle is not given, but it is probable it was Kafa.
[8] _Sakalaba._ The countries to the north of the Black Sea, as Poland,
Russia, &c.
[9] This is a chronogram. The letters of the word _shafakat_, a favour,
make up the number 880.
[10] Sultan Mohammed Khan, the conqueror of Constantinople, died at
Mal-dipa, A. H. 886, A. D. 1481.
[11] A species of light-sailing vessels.
[12] Levend; a sort of volunteers who serve in the Turkish navy.
[13] Kili, the ancient Lycostomos, a town on the northern mouth of the
Danube.
[14] One of the Sultan’s titles.
[15] In the original the date is 970; but this is evidently a mistake,
as may be seen below; or by consulting the author’s chronological
tables.
[16] Cantemir in giving an account of this expedition doubts whether
it was the king of France who assisted the Venetians on this occasion,
because the Turks call all the European nations Franks; but our author
generally distinguishes France by the name of _Fransa_.
[17] _Rafezi_, the Mohammedan sect of the Shiites, or followers of Ali,
which chiefly prevails in Persia. The Turks consider them heretics.
[18] In the original _surkh ser_, red heads, a term of contempt applied
by the Turks to the Persians.
[19] The first chapter of the Koran.
[20] The Grand-master.
[21] His name _Keman-Kesh_ signifies an archer.
[22] _Khotba_ is an harangue read by the mullahs in the mosques, in
which the reigning prince is mentioned and prayed for.
[23] _Sanjak_, the standard given to governors of districts under begs.
[24] A _yūk_ is one hundred thousand aspres, or a thousand dollars.
[25] مدجل This name is frequently given throughout the work to the
Andalusian Moors; but I have never seen it used by any other author,
nor can I discover its origin. The only instance in which a similar
word occurs is in the following passage in Don Quixote: “The Moors of
Arragon are in Barbary called Tagarins; and those of Grenada go by the
name of _Mudajares_.”—Story of the Captive.
[26] The name by which Khair-ad-din is generally called in European
histories.
[27] _Chiaoush_, a messenger of the Porte.
[28] See p. 43.
[29] Literally, _to rub his face on the threshold_.
[30] _Irakin_, the name given to two countries, one of which, generally
called Irak Arabi, is Babylonia; and the other, Irak Adgemi, or Persian
Irak, is a large province of Persia.
[31] _Istakbal_, a ceremonious procession to meet any great man.
[32] _Bashderdé_, a commanders galley.
[33] Rashid had been supplanted by his brother Hassan, and applied to
Khair-ad-din for assistance in regaining his kingdom. Khair-ad-din,
eager to add Tunis to his other possessions, induced Rashid to
accompany him to Constantinople, under the pretence of obtaining
the aid of the Ottoman arms. On their arrival there, Khair-ad-din
communicated his designs to the sultan, who immediately gave orders for
the preparation of a fleet. Rashid already considered himself restored
to his kingdom; but just as the fleet was about to sail, he was seized
by the command of the sultan, and was never after heard of. Such was
the _provision_ made for him at the Sublime Porte!
[34] _Tabor_, a Polish word, signifying a wall or fence made with the
baggage, carriages, &c.
[35] _These islands._ In the text the word is جزاير by which also
Algiers is called; but it being also the form of the Arabic plural
of جزيره an island, and the Turkish plural, جزيره لر occurring
a little after, I am inclined to think that the islands of Majorca,
Minorca, &c. are meant.
[36] In the original it is Majorca, but from the context this appears
to be a mistake, which indeed might easily be made, the difference
between [Arabic:] and [Arabic:] being small. Hammer in his “_Geschichte
des Osmanischen Reichs_,” in a note on this event makes it Minorca.
[37] Literally “_rubbed his face against the royal stirrup_.”
[38] Literally, “_the battle market having been kept hot from morning
till afternoon_.”
[39] _Merted_, probably Zea.
[40] _Sam_, a sort of Simmoom.
[41] According to Rycaut, Prevesa had just been taken by the Patriarch
Grimmanus, who had the command of the Pope’s galleys. The grand fleet
had left this place before Khair-ad-din’s arrival.
[42] _Bikli_, “the moustached.”
[43] The numerical value of مات رئس البحر is 953.
[44] A work on navigation, of which further mention is made below, p.
72.
[45] If these are the barges mentioned at p. 72, this should of course
be read _fifteen_.
[46] _Fanar_, a small vessel.