Of the principal Baths ib.
NOTES 183
THE
TRAVELS
OF
EVLIYA EFENDÍ.
IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE ALL-CLEMENT, THE ALL-MERCIFUL!
To GOD, who ennobles exalted minds by travels, and has enabled me
to visit the holy places; to Him who laid the foundations of the
fortresses of legislation, and established them on the groundwork of
prophecy and revelation, all praise be given: and may the richest
blessings and most excellent benedictions be offered to the most noble
and perfect of all creatures, the pattern of prayer, who said, “Pray as
you see me pray;” to the infallible guide, Mohammed; because it is in
his favour that God, the Lord of empires and Creator of the heavens,
made the earth an agreeable residence for the sons of Adam, and created
man the most noble of all his creatures. Praise to Him, who directs all
events according to His will, without injustice or incongruity! And,
after having offered all adoration to God, let every pious aspiration
be expressed for the prosperity of his shadow upon earth, the ruler of
terrestrial things, the Sultán son of a Sultán, the victorious Prince
Murád Khán, fourth son of Sultán Ahmed Khán, and eighth in descent
from Sultán Mohammed Khán, the Conqueror, the mercy of God rest upon
them all! but most especially on Sultán Murád Gházi, the conqueror of
Baghdád, the great Monarch with whose service I was blessed when I
began to write an account of my travels.
It was in the time of his illustrious reign, in the year A.H. 1041
(A.D. 1631), that by making excursions on foot in the villages and
gardens near Islámbúl (Constantinople), I began to think of extensive
travels, and to escape from the power of my father, mother, and
brethren. Forming a design of travelling over the whole earth, I
entreated God to give me health for my body and faith for my soul;
I sought the conversation of dervíshes, and when I had heard a
description of the seven climates and of the four quarters of the
earth, I became still more anxious to see the world, to visit the Holy
Land, Cairo, Damascus, Mecca and Medina, and to prostrate myself on
the purified soil of the places where the prophet, the glory of all
creatures, was born, and died.
I, a poor, destitute traveller, but a friend of mankind, Evliyà, son
of the dervísh Mohammed, being continually engaged in prayer and
petitions for divine guidance, meditating upon the holy chapters and
mighty verses of the Korán, and looking out for assistance from above,
was blessed in the night _’Ashúrá_, in the month of _Moharrem_, while
sleeping in my father’s house at Islámbúl, with the following vision:
I dreamt that I was in the mosque of Akhí chelebí, near the Yemish
iskeleh-sí (fruit-stairs or scale), a mosque built with money lawfully
gotten, from which prayers therefore ascend to heaven. The gates were
thrown open at once, and the mosque filled with a brilliant crowd who
were saying the morning prayers. I was concealed behind the pulpit,
and was lost in astonishment on beholding that brilliant assembly. I
looked on my neighbour, and said, “May I ask, my lord, who you are,
and what is your illustrious name?” He answered, “I am one of the ten
evangelists, Sa’d Vakkás, the patron of archers.” I kissed his hands,
and asked further: “Who are the refulgent multitude on my right hand?”
He said, “They are all blessed saints and pure spirits, the spirits of
the followers of the Prophet, the Muhájirín, who followed him in his
flight from Mecca, and the Ansárí who assisted him on his arrival at
Medína, the companions of Saffah and the martyrs of Kerbelá. On the
right of the _mihráb_ (altar) stand Abú Bekr and ’Omar, and on the left
’Osmán and ’Ali; before it stands Veis; and close to the left wall of
the mosque, the first Muezzin, Belál the Habeshí. The man who regulates
and ranks the whole assembly is Amru. Observe the host in red garments
now advancing with a standard; that is the host of martyrs who fell in
the holy wars, with the hero Hamzah at their head.” Thus did he point
out to me the different companies of that blessed assembly, and each
time I looked on one of them, I laid my hand on my breast, and felt my
soul refreshed by the sight. “My lord,” said I, “what is the reason of
the appearance of this assembly in this mosque?” He answered, “The
faithful Tátárs being in great danger at Azák (Azof), we are marching
to their assistance. The Prophet himself, with his two grandsons Hasan
and Hosaïn, the twelve _Imáms_ and the ten disciples, will immediately
come hither to perform the appointed morning service (_sabáh-namáz_).
They will give you a sign to perform your duty as _Muezzin_, which
you must do accordingly. You must begin to cry out with a loud voice
‘_Allah Ekber_’ (God is great!) and then repeat the verses of the
Throne (Súrah II. 259). Belál will repeat the ‘_Subhánullah_’ (Glory to
God!), and you must answer ‘_Elhamdu-li-llah_’ (God be praised!) Belál
will answer, ‘_Allah ekber_,’ and you must say ‘_Amín_’ (Amen), while
we all join in the _tevhíd_ (i.e. declaration of the divine unity). You
shall then, after saying ‘Blessed be all the prophets, and praise to
God the Lord of both worlds,’ get up, and kiss the hand of the prophet,
saying ‘_Yá resúlu-llah_’ (O Apostle of God!).”
When Sa’d Vakkás had given me these instructions, I saw flashes of
lightning burst from the door of the mosque, and the whole building
was filled with a refulgent crowd of saints and martyrs all standing
up at once. It was the prophet overshadowed by his green banner,
covered with his green veil, carrying his staff in his right hand,
having his sword girt on his thigh, with the Imám Hasan on his right
hand, and the Imám Hoseïn on his left. As he placed his right foot on
the threshold, he cried out “_Bismillah_,” and throwing off his veil,
said, “_Es-selám aleik yá ommetí_” (health unto thee, O my people).
The whole assembly answered: “Unto thee be health, O prophet of God,
lord of the nations!” The prophet advanced towards the _mihráb_ and
offered up a morning prayer of two inflexions (_rik’ah_). I trembled
in every limb; but observed, however, the whole of his sacred figure,
and found it exactly agreeing with the description given in the
_Hallyehi khákání_. The veil on his face was a white shawl, and his
turban was formed of a white sash with twelve folds; his mantle was
of camel’s hair, in colour inclining to yellow; on his neck he wore
a yellow woollen shawl. His boots were yellow, and in his turban was
stuck a toothpick. After giving the salutation he looked upon me, and
having struck his knees with his right hand, commanded me to stand up
and take the lead in the prayer. I began immediately, according to
the instruction of Belál, by saying: “The blessing of God be upon our
lord Mohammed and his family, and may He grant them peace!” afterwards
adding, “_Allah ekber_.” The prophet followed by saying the fátihah
(the 1st chap. of the Korán), and some other verses. I then recited
that of _the throne_. Belál pronounced the _Subhánu’llah_, I the
_El-hamdulillah_, and Belál the _Allah ekber_. The whole service was
closed by a general cry of “_Allah_,” which very nearly awoke me from
my sleep. After the prophet had repeated some verses, from the _Suráh
yás_, and other chapters of the Korán, Sa’d Vakkás took me by the hand
and carried me before him, saying: “Thy loving and faithful servant
Evliyà entreats thy intercession.” I kissed his hand, pouring forth
tears, and instead of crying “_shifá’at_ (intercession),” I said, from
my confusion, “_siyáhat_ (travelling) O apostle of God!” The prophet
smiled, and said, “_Shifá’at_ and _siyáhat_ (_i.e._ intercession
and travelling) be granted to thee, with health and peace!” He then
again repeated the _fátihah_, in which he was followed by the whole
assembly, and I afterwards went round, kissed the hands, and received
the blessings of each. Their hands were perfumed with musk, ambergris,
spikenard, sweet-basil, violets, and carnations; but that of the
prophet himself smelt of nothing but saffron and roses, felt when
touched as if it had no bones, and was as soft as cotton. The hands
of the other prophets had the odour of quinces; that of Abú-bekr had
the fragrance of melons, ’Omar’s smelt like ambergris, ’Osmán’s like
violets, Alí’s like jessamine, Hasán’s like carnations, and Hoseïn’s
like white roses. When I had kissed the hands of each, the prophet had
again recited the _fátihah_, all his chosen companions had repeated
aloud the seven verses of that exordium to the Korán (_saba’u-l
mesání_); and the prophet himself had pronounced the parting salutation
(_es-selám aleïkom eyyá ikhwánún_) from the _mihráb_; he advanced
towards the door, and the whole illustrious assembly giving me various
greetings and blessings, went out of the mosque. Sa’d Vakkás at the
same time, taking his quiver from his own belt and putting it into
mine, said: “Go, be victorious with thy bow and arrow; be in God’s
keeping, and receive from me the good tidings that thou shalt visit
the tombs of all the prophets and holy men whose hands thou hast now
kissed. Thou shalt travel through the whole world, and be a marvel
among men. Of the countries through which thou shalt pass, of their
castles, strong-holds, wonderful antiquities, products, eatables and
drinkables, arts and manufacturers, the extent of their provinces,
and the length of the days there, draw up a description, which shall
be a monument worthy of thee. Use my arms, and never depart, my
son, from the ways of God. Be free from fraud and malice, thankful
for bread and salt (hospitality), a faithful friend to the good,
but no friend to the bad.” Having finished his sermon, he kissed my
hand, and went out of the mosque. When I awoke, I was in great doubt
whether what I had seen were a dream or a reality; and I enjoyed for
some time the beatific contemplations which filled my soul. Having
afterwards performed my ablutions, and offered up the morning prayer
(_saláti fejrí_), I crossed over from Constantinople to the suburb of
Kásim-páshá, and consulted the interpreter of dreams, Ibráhím Efendí,
about my vision. From him I received the comfortable news that I should
become a great traveller, and after making my way through the world,
by the intercession of the prophet, should close my career by being
admitted into Paradise. I next went to Abdu-llah Dedeh, Sheïkh of the
convent of Mevleví Dervíshes in the same suburb (Kásim-páshá), and
having kissed his hand, related my vision to him. He interpreted it in
the same satisfactory manner, and presenting to me seven historical
works, and recommending me to follow Sa’d Vakkás’s counsels, dismissed
me with prayers for my success. I then retired to my humble abode,
applied myself to the study of history, and began a description of my
birth-place, Islámbúl, that envy of kings, the celestial haven, and
strong-hold of Mákedún (Macedonia, _i.e._ Constantinople).
SECTION I.
Infinite praise and glory be given to that cherisher of worlds, who
by his word “BE,” called into existence earth and heaven, and all
his various creatures; be innumerable encomiums also bestowed on the
beloved of God, Mohammed Al-Mustafà, Captain of holy warriors, heir of
the kingdom of law and justice, conqueror of Mecca, Bedr, and Honaïn,
who, after those glorious victories, encouraged his people by his noble
precepts (_hadís_) to conquer Arabia (Yemen), Egypt (Misr), Syria
(Shám), and Constantinople (Kostantiniyyeh).
_Sayings_ (hadís) _of the Prophet respecting Constantinople_.
The prophet said: “Verily Constantinople shall be conquered; and
excellent is the commander (emír), excellent the army, who shall take
it from the opposing people!”
Some thousands of proofs could be brought to shew, that Islámbúl is
the largest of all inhabited cities on the face of the earth; but the
clearest of those proofs is the following saying of the prophet, handed
down by Ebú Hureïreh. The prophet of God said: “Have you heard of a
town, one part of it situated on the land, and two parts on the sea?”
They answered, “yea! O prophet of God;” he said, “the hour will come
when it shall be changed by seventy of the children of Isaac.” From
(Esau) Aïs, who is here signified by the children of Isaac, the nation
of the Greeks is descended, whose possession of Kostantiniyyeh was thus
pointed out. There are also seventy more sacred traditions preserved by
Mo’áviyyah Khálid ibn Velíd, Iyyúb el-ensárí, and ’Abdu-l-’azíz, to the
same effect, _viz._ “Ah! if we were so happy as to be the conquerors
of Kostantiniyyeh!” They made, therefore, every possible endeavour
to conquer Rúm (the Byzantine empire); and, if it please God, a more
detailed account of their different sieges of Kostantiniyyeh shall be
given hereafter.
SECTION II.
_An Account of the Foundation of the ancient City and Seat of Empire
of the Macedonian Greeks_ (_Yúnániyyáni Mákedúniyyah_), i.e. _the
well-guarded Kostantiniyyeh, the envy of all the Kings of the Land of
Islám_.
It was first built by Solomon, and has been described by some thousands
of historians. The date of its capture is contained in those words of
the Korán, “The exalted city” (_beldah tayyibeh_), and to it some
commentators apply the following text: “Have not the Greeks been
vanquished in the lowest parts of the earth?” (Kor. xxx. 1.) and
“An excellent city, the like of which hath never been created.” All
the ancient Greek historians are agreed, that it was first built by
Solomon, son of David, 1600 years before the birth of the Prophet;
they say he caused a lofty palace to be erected by Genii, on the spot
now called Seraglio-Point, in order to please the daughter of Saïdún,
sovereign of Ferendún, an island in the Western Ocean (_Okiyúnús_).
The second builder of it was Rehoboam (_Reja’ím_), son of Solomon; and
the third Yánkó, son of Mádiyán, the Amalekite, who reigned 4600 years
after Adam was driven from Paradise, and 419 years before the birth of
Iskender Rúmí (Alexander the Great), and was the first of the Batálisah
(Ptolemies?) of the Greeks. There were four universal monarchs, two
of whom were Moslims and two Infidels. The two first were Soleïmán
(Solomon) and Iskender Zú’l karneïn (the two-horned Alexander), who is
also said to have been a prophet; and the two last were Bakhtu-n-nasr,
that desolation of the whole face of the earth, and Yánkó ibn Mádiyán,
who lived one hundred years in the land of Adím (Edom).
SECTION III.
_Concerning the Conquest of the Black Sea._
This sea, according to the opinion of the best mathematicians, is only
a relic of Noah’s flood. It is eighty fathoms (_kúláj_) deep, and,
before the deluge, was not united with the White Sea. At that time the
plains of Salániteh (Slankament), Dóbreh-chín (Dobruczin), Kej-kemet
(Ketskemet), Kenkús and Busteh, and the vallies of Sirm and Semendereh
(Semendria), were all covered with the waters of the Black Sea, and at
Dúdushkah, on the shore of the Gulf of Venice, the place where their
waters were united may still be seen. Parávádí, in the páshálik of
Silistirah (Silistria), a strong fortress now situated on the highest
rocks, was then on the sea-shore; and the rings by which the ships were
moored to the rocks are still to be seen there. The same circumstance
is manifested at Menkúb, a days journey from Bághcheh seráï, in the
island of Krim (Crimea). It is a castle built on a lofty rock, and yet
it contains stone pillars, to which ships were anciently fastened. At
that time the island of Krim (Crimea), the plains of Heïhát (Deshti
Kipchák), and the whole country of the Sclavonians (Sakálibah), were
covered with the waters of the Black Sea, which extended as far as
the Caspian. Having accompanied the army of Islám Giráï Khán in his
campaign against the Muscovites (Moskov), in the year——, I myself have
passed over the plains of Haïhát; at the encampments of Kertmeh-lí,
Bím, and Ashim, in those plains, where it was necessary to dig wells
in order to supply the army with water, I found all kinds of marine
remains, such as the shells of oysters, crabs, cockles, &c., by which
it is evident that this great plain was once a part of the Black Sea.
Verily God hath power over every thing!
The fourth builder of Constantinople was Alexander the Great, who
is also said to have cut the strait of Sebtah (Ceuta), which unites
the White Sea (Mediterranean) with the ocean. Some say the Black Sea
extends from Azák (Azof), to the straits of Islámbúl (the canal of
Constantinople), the sea of Rúm (Greece), from thence to the straits of
Gelíbólí (Gallipoli, _i.e._ the Hellespont), the key of the two seas,
where are the two castles built by Sultán Mohammed the Conqueror, and
that all below this forms the White Sea. Having often made an excursion
in a boat, when the sea was smooth and the sky clear, from the Cape of
the Seven Towers (_Yedí kullah búrunú_), near Islámbúl, to the point
of Kází Koï (called Kalámish), near Uskudár (Scutari), I have observed
in the water a red line, of about a hand’s breadth, drawn from one of
these points to the other. The sea to the north of the line is the
Black Sea; but to the south of it, towards Kizil Adá, and the other
(Princes’) islands, is called, on account of its azure (_níl_) hue,
the White Sea; and the intermixture of the two colours forms, by the
command of God, as wonders never fail, a red seam (_ráddeh_), which
divides the two seas from each other. This line is always visible,
except when strong southerly winds blow from the islands of Mermereh
(Marmora), when it disappears, from the roughness of the sea. There is
also a difference in the taste of the waters on each side of this line;
that towards the Black Sea being less salt and bitter than that towards
the White Sea: to the south of the castles (of the Dardanelles), it
is still more bitter, but less so than in the ocean. No sea has more
delicious fish than the Black Sea, and those caught in the Strait of
Islámbúl are excellent. As that strait unites the waters of the Black
and White Seas, it is called, by some writers, the confluence of two
seas (_mereju’l bahreïn_).
The fifth builder of Constantinople was a king of Ungurús (Hungary),
named Púzantín (Byzantinus), son of Yánkó Ibn Mádiyán, in whose time
the city was nearly destroyed by a great earthquake, nothing having
escaped except a castle built by Solomon, and a temple on the site of
Ayá Sófiyyah. From Púzantín, Islámbúl was formerly called Púzenteh
(Byzantium).
The sixth builder was one of the Roman emperors; the same as built
the cities of Kóniyah, Níkdeh and Kaïsariyyah (Cæsarea). He rebuilt
Islámbúl, which, for seventy years, had been a heap of ruins, a nest
of serpents, lizards, and owls, 2288 years before its conquest by
Sultán Mohammed.
The seventh builder of the city of Mákedún was, by the common consent
of all the ancient historians, Vezendún, one of the grandsons of Yánkó
Ibn Mádiyán, who, 5052 years after the death of Adam, being universal
monarch, forced all the kings of the earth to assist him in rebuilding
the walls of Mákedún, which then extended from Seraglio point (_Seráï
búrunú_), to Silivrí (_Selymbria_), southwards, and northwards as far
as Terkós on the Black Sea, a distance of nine hours’ journey.
Both these towns were united by seven long walls, and divided by seven
ditches a hundred cubits wide. The remains of these walls, castles,
and ditches, are still visible on the way from Silivrí to Terkós; and
the kháns, mosques, and other public buildings in the villages on that
road, as Fetehkóï, Sázlí-kóï, Arnáúd-kóï, Kuvúk-dereh, ’Azzu-d-din-lí,
Kiteh-lí, Báklálí, and Túrk-esheh-lí, are all built of stones taken
from these walls; the remains of some of their towers and seven ditches
appearing here and there. Chatáljeh, which is now a village in that
neighbourhood, was then a fortified market-town close to the fortress
of Islámbúl, as its ruins shew. The line of fortifications which
then surrounded the city may still be traced, beginning from Terkós
on the Black Sea, and passing by the villages of Bórúz, Tarápiyah
(_Therapia_), Firándá near Rum-ili hisár, Ortahkóï, Funduklí, to the
point of Ghalatah, and from thence to the lead-magazines, St. Johns
fountain (_Ayá Yankó áyázmah-sí_), the Ghelabah castle, the old
arsenal, the castle of Petrínah, the Arsenal-garden-Point, the castle
of Alínah, the village of Súdlíjeh, and the convent of Ja’fer-ábád. All
these towns and castles were connected by a wall, the circuit of which
was seven days’ journey.
_Concerning the Canal from the river Dóná_ (Danube).
King Yánván, wishing to provide water for the great city of Islámbúl,
undertook to make a canal to it from the Danube. For that purpose he
began to dig in the high road near the castles of Severin and Siverin,
not far from the fortress of Fet’h-islám, on the bank of that river;
and by those means brought its waters to the place called Azád-lí, in
the neighbourhood of Constantinople. He afterwards built, in the bed of
the river, a barrier of solid stone, with an iron gate, which is still
to be seen, as the writer of these sheets has witnessed three different
times, when employed there on the public service. The place is now
called the iron gate of the Danube (_Dóná demir kapú-sí_), and is much
feared by the boat-men, who sometimes unload their vessels there, as,
when lightened of their cargoes, they can pass over it in safety.
He also built another wear or barrier in the Danube, now called
Tahtah-lú sedd, upon which many ships perish every year. It was when
that river overflowed in the spring, that king Yánván opened the iron
gate and the barrier, to allow the stream to pass down to Islámbúl,
where it discharges itself into the White Sea, at the gate called
Istirdiyah kapú-sí (the Oyster-gate), now Lan-ghah kapú-sí. All this
was done by king Yánván during the absence of king Vezendún, who was
gone on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. On his return, his uncle Kójah
Yánván went over to Scutari to meet him; and as soon as they met:
“Well, my uncle,” said Vezendún, have you succeeded in your undertaking
with regard to the Danube?”—“I dragged it, O king,” said he, “by the
hair, like a woman, into Mákedúniyyah (Constantinople), through which
it now runs.” Scarcely had he uttered this haughty answer, when, by the
command of God, the river suddenly returned, deserting its new bed, and
bursting forth in a large fountain, at a place called Dóna-degirmánlerí
(the Mills of the Danube), between Várnah and Parávádí, where a mighty
stream turns a great number of mills, which supply all the people of
Dóbrújah with flour. Another branch of the Danube bursts forth near
Kirk Kilisá (the Forty Churches), from the rocks of Bunár-hisár (Castle
of the Source). A third branch broke out in the lakes of Buyúk and
Kuchúk Chekmejeh, whence it unites with the Grecian (Rúmí) sea. The
proof that all these streams have their source in the Danube is that
they contain fish peculiar to that river, such as tunnies, sturgeons,
&c., as I myself have more than once witnessed, when observing what
the fishermen caught in the lakes just named. It is also mentioned in
the historical work entitled _Tohfet_, that Yilderim Báyazíd (Bajazet)
when he conquered Nigehbólí (Nicopolis) and Fet-h-islám, having heard
of the ancient course of the Danube, caused straw and charcoal to be
passed into it through the iron gate, and that they afterwards appeared
again at the above-named lakes Bunár-hisár and Dónah-degirmánlerí. When
travelling with the Princess Fatimah, daughter of Sultán Ahmed, and
Suleïmán Beg, we stopped at the village of Azád-lí, between Chatáljeh
and Islámbúl, where there are evident marks of the ancient channel
of the Danube, cut by art through rocks towering to the skies. We
penetrated into those caverns on horseback, with lighted torches, and
advanced for an hour in a northerly direction; but were obliged to
return by bad smells, and a multitude of bats as big as pigeons. If
the sultáns of the house of ’Osmán should think it worth their while,
they might, at a small expense, again bring the waters of the Danube by
Yeníbághcheh and Ak-seráï to Islámbul.
The eighth builder of that city was a king of the name of Yaghfur,
son of Vezendún, who placed no less than three hundred and
sixty-six talismans (one for every day in the year) near the sea at
Seraglio-Point, and as many on the hills by land, to guard the city
from all evil, and provide the inhabitants with all sorts of fish.
The ninth builder was Kostantín (Constantine), who conquered the
ancient town and gave his name to the new city. He built a famous
church on the place where the mosque of Mohamed II. now stands, and a
large monastery, dedicated to St. John, on the hill of Zírek-báshí,
with the cistern near it; as well as the cisterns of Sultán Selím,
Sívásí tekiyeh-sí, near Ma’júnjí Mahal-leh-si, and Kedek-Páshá. He
erected the column in the _táúk-bázár_ (poultry market), and a great
many other talismans.
SECTION IV.
_Concerning Constantine, the ninth Builder, who erected the Walls and
Castle of Constantinople._
He was the first Roman emperor who destroyed the idols and temples of
the Heathens, and he was also the builder of the walls of Islámbúl.
’Isá (Jesus) having appeared to him in a dream, and told him to send
his mother Helláneh (Helena) to build a place of worship at his
birth-place Beïtu-l-lahm (Bethlehem), and another at the place of
his sepulchre in Kudsi Sheríf (Jerusalem), he despatched her with an
immense treasure and army to Felestín (Palestine); she reached Yáfah
(Jaffa), the port of Jerusalem, in three days and three nights, built
the two churches named above, and a large convent in the town of
Nábulús.
_The Discovery of the true Cross._
By the assistance of a monk called Magháriyús (Macarius), she found
the place where the true cross was buried. Three trees in the form of
crosses were found in the same grave, and the moment, as the Christians
relate, a dead body was touched by them, it came to life again: this
day was the 4th of Eïlúl (September), which is therefore celebrated by
the Christians as the feast of the Invention of the Cross, and has ever
since been held as a great festival by the Greeks. Helláneh also built
the convent of the Kamámeh (_i.e._ the church of the holy sepulchre) on
the spot where the dead body had been restored to life, spent immense
sums of money in repairing and adorning the mosque of Al-aksá built on
the site of the temple of Solomon, restored Bethlehem, and did many
other charitable and pious works. She then returned to Islámbúl, and
presented the wood of the cross to her son Constantine, who received
it with the greatest reverence, and carried it in solemn procession
to the convent on the summit of Zírek-báshí. The noblest monuments of
his power and resolution to surpass all other princes in the strength
and durability of his works, are the walls of Constantinople. On the
land side of the city, from the Seven Towers at its western extremity
to Iyyúb Ansárí, he built two strongly fortified walls. The height of
the outer wall is forty-two cubits, and its breadth ten cubits; the
inner wall is seventy cubits high and twenty broad. The space between
them both is eighty cubits broad, and has been converted into gardens
blooming as Irem; and at present, in the space between the Artillery
(Tóp-kapú) and Adrianople gates (Edreneh-kapú), are the summer-quarters
(_yáïlák_) of the Zagharjíes, or 64th regiment of the Janissaries.
Outside of the exterior wall he built a third, the height of which,
measured from the bottom of the ditch, is twenty-five cubits, and its
breadth six cubits; the distance between this and the middle wall
being forty cubits: and beyond the third wall there is a ditch one
hundred cubits broad, into which the sea formerly passed from the Seven
Towers as far as the gate of Silivrí; and being admitted on the other
side from the gate of Iyyúb Ansárí to the Crooked gate (Egrí-kapú),
the town was insulated. This triple row of walls still exists, and
is strengthened by 1225 towers, on each of which ten watchful monks
were stationed to keep watch, day and night. The form of Islámbúl is
triangular, having the land on its western side, and being girt by the
sea on the east and north, but guarded there also by a single embattled
wall, as strong as the rampart of Gog and Magog. Constantine having,
by his knowledge of astrology, foreseen the rise and ascendancy of the
Prophet, and dreading the conquest of his city by some all-conquering
apostle of the true faith, laid the foundation of these walls under
the sign of Cancer, and thus gave rise to the incessant mutinies by
which its tranquillity has been disturbed. It is eighteen miles in
circuit; and at one of its angles are the Seven Towers pointing to the
Kiblah (Meccah). The Seraglio-point (Seráï-búruní) forms its northern,
and the gate of Iyyúb its third and north-western angle. Constantine
having taking to wife a daughter of the Genoese king (Jenúz Králí),
allowed him to build some strong fortifications on the northern side of
the harbour, which were called Ghalatah, from the Greek word _ghalah_
(γάλα, milk), because Constantine’s cow-houses and dairy were situated
there.
_Names of Constantinople in different Tongues._
Its first name in the Latin tongue was Makdúniyyah (Macedonia); then
Yánkóvíchah in the Syrian (Suryání), from its founder Yánkó. Next
in the Hebrew (’Ibrí) Alkesándeïrah (Alexandria) from Alexander;
afterwards Púzenteh (Byzantium); then for a time, in the language
of the Jews, Vezendúniyyeh; then by the Franks Yaghfúriyyeh. When
Constantine had rebuilt it the ninth time, it was called Púznátiyám
in the language of the Greeks, and Kostantaniyyeh; in German
Kostantín-ópól; in the Muscovite tongue Tekúriyyah; in the language
of Africa, Ghiránduviyyeh; in Hungarian, Vizendú-vár; in Polish,
Kanátúryah; in Bohemian, Aliyáná; in Swedish (Esfaj), Khiraklibán;
in Flemish, Isteghániyyeh; in French, Aghrándónah; in Portuguese,
Kósatiyah; in Arabic, Kostantínah; in Persian, Kaïsari Zemín; in
Indian, Takhti Rúm (the throne of Rome); in Moghól, Hákdúrkán; in
Tátár, Sakálibah; in the language of the ’Osmánlús, Islámbúl. Towards
the sea it was never defended by a ditch, which is there superfluous,
but by a single wall; but to guard the entrance of the Bosporus and
Hellespont, and to increase the security of the city, the castles
called Kilídu-l-bahreïn (_i.e._ the key of the two seas), were built.
It is said to have had three hundred and sixty-six gates in the time of
Constantine, who left only twenty-seven open, and walled up the rest,
the places of which are still visible.
SECTION V.
_Concerning the circumference of Constantinople._
In the year 1044 (1634) when I was first come to years of manhood, and
used to walk with my friends all over Islámbúl, at the time that Sultán
Murád IV. had marched against (Riván) Eriván, and Kójah Baïrám Páshá
was left as Káyim-makám (viceroy), he used to visit my late father;
and, in the course of conversation, inquire about the history of
Islámbúl. “My lord,” said my father, “it has been built nine times, and
nine times destroyed; but had never, since it has been in the hands of
the house of ’Osmán, fallen into such decay as now, when waggons might
be any where driven through the walls.” He then suggested to the Páshá,
that this city, being the envy of the kings of the earth, and the royal
residence of the house of ’Osmán, it would be unworthy him to suffer
its walls to remain in that ruinous condition during the period of his
government; and that when the Sultán returned victorious from Riván, he
would be overjoyed on seeing “the good city,” his nest, as brilliant
as a pearl, and compensate this service by large remunerations, while
the name of the Páshá would also be blessed by future generations for
so meritorious a work. All who were present applauded what my father
had said, and he concluded by repeating the _Fátihah_. The Mólláhs
of Islámbúl, Iyyúb, Ghalatah, and Uskudár (Scutari), the Shehr emíní
(superintendent of the town), four chief architects, Seybánbáshí (the
third in rank among the officers of the Janissaries), and all other men
in office were immediately summoned together, with the Imáms of the
4,700 divisions (mahallah) of the city, for the purpose of giving aid
in repairing the fortifications. Many thousands of masons and builders
having been assembled, the great work was begun, and happily finished
in the space of one year, before the return of the Sultán from his
victorious campaign at Riván.
On receiving intelligence of the conquest of that fortress the joy
was universal, and the city was illuminated for seven days and seven
nights. It was then that a causeway, twenty cubits broad, was formed
at the foot of the wall, along the sea-shore, from Seraglio-Point to
the Seven Towers; and on it a high road was made for the convenience of
the sailors, who drag their vessels by ropes round the point into the
harbour. Close to the wall, all the houses, within and without, were
purchased by government, and pulled down to make room for the road, and
I then was enabled to measure the circumference of the city, by pacing
it round as I shall now explain.
Having said a _bismillah_ on setting out, and going along the edge
of the ditch, from the Seven Towers to Abú Iyyúb Ensárí, I found the
distance measured 8,810 paces, exclusive of the eight gates. From the
little gate of Iyyúb to the Garden-gate (Bághcheh kapú), including
the Martyrs gate (Shehíd kapú-sí), a space comprehending fourteen
gates, there are 6,500 paces. The new palace (Yení seráï), which is
the threshold of the abode of felicity (Asitánehi Dáru-s-se’ádet),
beginning from the barley-granary (Arpá-enbárí), which is near the
head-lime-burners gate (kirej-chí báshí kapú-sí), has, in its whole
circumference, sixteen gates, ten of which are open, and six closed,
except on extraordinary occasions. The entire circuit of this new
palace, built by Mohammed (II.) the conqueror, is 6,500 paces. The
distance from the Stable gate (Akhór-kapú), along the new-made high
road to the angle of the Seven Towers, measures 10,000 paces, and
comprehends seven gates. According to this calculation, the whole
circumference of Islámbúl measures 30,000 paces, having ten towers in
every thousand paces, and four hundred towers in the sum total; but,
taking into the account those in the triple wall on the land side,
there are altogether 1,225 large towers; of which, some are square,
some round, some hexagonal. When Baïrám Páshá had undertaken a complete
repair of the fortifications, he ordered the walls to be measured by
the builders’ ell (arshín), and the whole circumference of the city was
found to be exactly 87,000 ells or cubits (zirá’).
In the time of Kostantín (Constantine), there were five hundred cannons
planted on the arsenal (Tóp-khánah) near the lead-magazine, of which
the iron gates are still visible; the same number was planted near
Seraglio-Point, and a hundred round the foot of the Maiden’s Tower
(Kiz kulleh-sí, _i.e._ the Tower of Leander). Not a bird could cross
without being struck from one of these three batteries, so secure
was Islámbúl from any hostile attack. There was then a triple chain
drawn from Ghalatah to Yemish Iskeleh-sí, upon which a large bridge
was built, affording a passage for comers and goers, and opening when
necessary to allow the ships to go through. There were two other
bridges also across the sea, from Balát kapú-sí (Palace gate) to
the garden of the arsenal (Ters-kháneh-bághcheh-sí), and from Iyyúb
to Súdlíjeh. In the time of Yánkó Ibn Mádiyán, also, a triple chain
of iron was drawn across the straits of the Black Sea (Karah deniz
bóghází), at the foot of the castle called Yórúz (_i.e._ the castle of
the Genoese), in order to prevent the passage of the enemy’s ships.
I have seen fragments of these chains, which are still preserved at
Islámbúl in the magazines of the arsenal, each ring of which is as
wide across as a man’s waist, but they now lie covered with sand and
rubbish. Islámbúl was then in so flourishing a state, that the whole
shore to Silivrí one way, and to Terkóz on the Black Sea the other,
was covered with towns and villages to the number of twelve hundred,
surrounded by gardens and vineyards, and following each other in
uninterrupted succession. Constantine, having reached the summit of
greatness and power, could easily have conquered the world, but he
preferred employing the remainder of his life in the embellishment of
his capital. On the great festivals, such as the Red-egg-days (Kizil
yúmurtah gúnlerí, _i.e._ Easter), Mother Meryem’s days (the Feasts
of the Virgin), Isvat Nikólah (St. Nicolas), Kásim (St. Demetrius),
Khizr Ilyás (St. George), Aúsh-dús, (i.e. the Feast of the Exaltation
of the Cross, on the 14th of September), the casting of the crosses
into the water (the Epiphany), the days of Karah-kóndjólóz (probably
days on which evil spirits were exorcised), and on all Sundays (Bázár
gúnlerí, _i.e._ market days), the walls of Constantinople were covered
with scarlet cloth, and the emperor himself, having his beard adorned
with pearls, and the Kayanian crown of Alexander on his head, walked in
solemn procession through the streets of the city.
_The number of Paces between each of the twenty-seven Gates._
From the Kóshk (Kiosk) to the gate of the Seven Towers 1,000 paces.
From thence to the Silivrí-gate 2,010
To the Yení-kapú (New-gate) 1,000
To the Tóp-kapú (Cannon-gate) 2,900
To the Adrianople-gate 1,000
To the Egrí-kapú (Crooked-gate) 900
These six gates are all on the west side of the city, looking towards
Adrianople.
From thence to the Iyyúb Ensárí-gate 1,000 paces.
To the Balát kapú-sí (the gate of the Palatium) 700
Fánús-kapú-sí (Fanal-gate) 900
To the Petrah-kapú 600
To the Yení-kapú (New-gate) 100
To the Ayà-kapú 300
To the Jubálí-kapú 400
To the Un-kapání-kapú (Flour-market-gate) 400
The Ayázmah-kapú (Fountain-gate) 400
To the Odún-kapú (Timber-gate) 400
To the Zindán-kapú-sí (Prison-gate) 300
To the Báluk-bázárí-kapú (Fish-market-gate) 400
To the Yení jáma’-kapú-sí (New Mosque-gate) 300
This, which is also called the Válideh kapú-sí (Queen Mothers-gate),
was erected in order to give access to the new mosque built by that
princess.
From thence to Shehíd kapú-sí (Martyr’s-gate) 300 paces.
These fourteen gates, from Iyyúb-kapú-sí to Shehíd-kapú-sí, all open
to the sea-shore, and face the north. The gates in the circuit of
the imperial palace (_seráï humáyún_) are all private, and are, 1.
the Kirech-jí (lime-burners); 2. the Oghrún, from which the corpses
of criminals executed in the seraglio are thrown into the sea; 3.
the Bálukchí (fishmongers); 4. the Ich ákhór (privy stable gate),
looking southward; and 5. the gate of Báyazíd khán, which also faces
the south, but is not always open. 6. The imperial (Bábi humáyún) or
gate of felicity (Bábi Sa’ádet), also open to the south, and within
it there are three gates in the same line: one of them is the (7.)
Serví-kapú-sí (the cypress gate), by which the Sultán issues when he
visits Sancta Sophia, or takes his rounds through the city in disguise;
another is (8.) Sultán Ibráhím’s gate, also opening to the south,
near the cold spring (_sóúk cheshmeh_); a third is (9.) the Sókóllí
Mohammed Páshá kapú-sí, a small gate near the Aláï-kóshk, looking
to the west; a fourth, also facing westward, is (10.) Suleïmán Khán
kapú-sí, a small gate now always shut. (11.) The iron gate (Demir kapú)
is a large portal facing the west, and appropriated to the use of the
Bóstánjís and imperial favourites (Musáhibler, _i.e._ Ἑταίροι). The
above-mentioned eight private gates, from the Akhór kapú to the Demir
kapú, all open into the city; but there are nine other private gates
opening to the sea on the Seraglio-Point, and facing the north.
The whole circuit of the Seraglio measures 6,500 paces.
From the Privy Stable to the Public Stable-gate
(kháss-ú-’ám ákhór kapú-sí), there are 200
From thence to the Chátládí (Broken-gate) 1,300
To the Kúm-kapú (Sand-gate) 1,200
To the Lánkah-gate 1,400
Thence to the gate of Dáúd Páshá 1,600
To the Samátíyah-gate 800
To the Nárlí-gate 1,600
To the gate of the inner castle of the Seven Towers 2,000
Seven of these gates open towards the east, and as the winds blow from
the south-east with great violence, the quay built by Baïrám Páshá
was soon destroyed, so that when I paced the circuit, as mentioned
above, in the reign of Ibráhím Khán, I was obliged to pass between the
Stable-gate and the Seven Towers, within the walls. I then found the
whole circuit to be 29,810 paces; but, in Baïrám Páshá’s time, when I
went outside the walls, it measured exactly 30,000 paces, or 87,000
builders’ cubits (_mïmár arshúní_).
SECTION VI.
_On the wonderful Talismans within and without Kostantíneh._
First talisman. In the ‘Avret-Bázárí (female-slave-market), there is a
lofty column (the pillar of Arcadius) of white marble, inside of which
there is a winding staircase. On the outside of it, figures of the
soldiers of various nations, Hindustánies, Kurdistánies, and Múltánies,
whom Yánkó ibn Mádiyán vanquished, were sculptured by his command; and
on the summit of it there was anciently a fairy-cheeked female figure
of one of the beauties of the age, which once a year gave a sound, on
which many hundred thousand kinds of birds, after flying round and
round the image, fell down to the earth, and being caught by the people
of Rúm (Romelia), provided them with an abundant meal. Afterwards,
in the age of Kostantín, the monks placed bells on the top of it, in
order to give an alarm on the approach of an enemy; and subsequently,
at the birth of the Prophet, there was a great earthquake, by which
the statue and all the bells on the top of the pillar were thrown down
topsy-turvy, and the column itself broken in pieces: but, having been
formed by talismanic art, it could not be entirely destroyed, and part
of it remains an extraordinary spectacle to the present day.
Second talisman. In the Táúk-Bázár (poultry-market) there is another
needle-like column (the pillar of Theodosius), formed of many pieces
of red emery (_súmpáreh_) stone, and a hundred royal cubits (_zirá’
melikí_) high. This was also damaged by the earthquake which occurred
in the two nights during which the Pride of the World was called into
existence; but the builders girt it round with iron hoops, as thick as
a man’s thigh, in forty places, so that it is still firm and standing.
It was erected a hundred and forty years before the era of Iskender;
and Kostantín placed a talisman on the top of it in the form of a
starling, which once a year clapped his wings, and brought all the
birds in the air to the place, each with three olives in his beak and
talons, for the same purpose as was related above.
Third talisman. At the head of the Serráj-kháneh (saddlers’ bazar), on
the summit of a column stretching to the skies (the pillar of Marcian),
there is a chest of white marble, in which the unlucky-starred daughter
of king Puzentín (Byzantius) lies buried; and to preserve her remains
from ants and serpents was this column made a talisman.
Fourth talisman. At the place called Altí Mermer (the six marbles),
there are six columns, every one of which was an observatory, made by
some of the ancient sages. On one of them, erected by the Hakím Fílikús
(Philip), lord of the castle of Kaválah, was the figure of a black fly,
made of brass, which, by its incessant humming, drove all flies away
from Islámból.
Fifth talisman. On another of the six marble columns, Iflátún (Plato)
the divine made the figure of a gnat, and from that time there is no
fear of a single gnat‘s coming into Islámbúl.
Sixth talisman. On another of these columns, the Hakím Bokrát
(Hippocrates) placed the figure of a stork, and once a year, when it
uttered a cry, all the storks which had built their nests in the city
died instantly. To this time, not a stork can come and build its nest
within the walls of Islámból, though there are plenty of them in the
suburbs of Abú Iyyúb Ensárí.
Seventh talisman. On the top of another of the six marble columns,
Sokrát the Hakím (_i.e._ Socrates the sage) placed a brazen cock, which
clapped its wings and crowed once in every twenty-four hours, and on
hearing it all the cocks of Islámbúl began to crow. And it is a fact,
that to this day the cocks there crow earlier than those of other
places, setting up their _kú-kirí-kúd_ (_i.e._ crowing) at midnight,
and thus warning the sleepy and forgetful of the approach of dawn and
the hour of prayer.
Eighth talisman. On another of the six columns, Físághórát (Pythagoras
the Unitarian), in the days of the prophet Suleïmán (Solomon), placed
the figure of a wolf, made of bronze (_túj_), the terror of all other
wolves; so that the flocks of the people of Islámból pastured very
safely without a shepherd, and walked side by side with untamed wolves
very comfortably.
Ninth talisman. On another of these columns were the figures in brass
of a youth and his mistress in close embrace; and whenever there was
any coolness or quarrelling between man and wife, if either of them
went and embraced this column, they were sure that very night to have
their afflicted hearts restored by the joys of love, through the power
of this talisman, which was moved by the spirit of the sage Aristatálís
(Aristotle).
Tenth talisman. Two figures of tin had been placed on another of the
six columns by the physician Jálínús (Galen). One was a decrepit old
man, bent double; and opposite to it was a camel-lip sour-faced hag,
not straighter than her companion: and when man and wife led no happy
life together, if either of them embraced this column, a separation was
sure to take place. Wonderful talismans were destroyed, they say, in
the time of that asylum of apostleship (Mohammed), and are now buried
in the earth.
Eleventh talisman. On the site of the baths of Sultán Báyazíd Velí
there was a quadrangular column, eighty cubits high, erected by an
ancient sage named Kirbáriyá, as a talisman against the plague, which
could never prevail in Islámból as long as this column was standing. It
was afterwards demolished by that sultán, who erected a heart-rejoicing
_hammám_ in its place; and on that very day one of his sons died of the
plague, in the garden of Dáúd Páshá outside of the Adrianople-gate, and
was buried on an elevated platform (_soffah_) without: since which time
the plague has prevailed in the city.
Twelfth talisman. In the Tekfúr Seráï, near the Egrí kapú, there was a
large solid bust of black stone, on which a man named Muhaydák placed
a brazen figure of a demon (_’afrít_), which once a year spit out fire
and flames; and whoever caught a spark kept it in his kitchen; and, as
long as his health was good, that fire was never extinguished.
Thirteenth talisman. On the skirt of the place called Zírek-báshí there
is a cavern dedicated to St. John, and every month, when the piercing
cold of winter has set in, several black demons (_kónjólóz_) hide
themselves there.
Fourteenth talisman. To the south of Ayá Sófiyah there were four lofty
columns of white marble, bearing the statues of the four cherubs
(_kerrúblir_), Gabriel (Jebráyíl), Michael (Míkáyíl), Rafael (Isráfíl),
and Azrael (Azráyíl), turned towards the north, south, east, and west.
Each of them clapped his wings once a year, and foreboded desolation,
war, famine, or pestilence. These statues were upset when the Prophet
came into existence, but the four columns still remain a public
spectacle, near the subterraneous springs (_chukúr cheshmeh_) of Ayá
Sófiyah.
Fifteenth talisman. The great work in the Atmeïdán (Hippodrome), called
Milyón-pár (Millium?), is a lofty column, measuring a hundred and fifty
cubits (_arshún_) of builders measure. It was constructed by order of
Kostantín, of various coloured stones, collected from the 300,000
cities of which he was king, and designed to be an eternal monument of
his power, and at the same time a talisman. Through the middle of it
there ran a thick iron axis, round which the various coloured stones
were placed, and they were all kept together by a magnet, as large as
the cupola of a bath (_hammám_), fixed on its summit. It still remains
a lasting monument; and its builder, the head architect, Ghúrbárín by
name, lies buried at the foot of it.
Sixteenth talisman. This is also an obelisk of red coloured stone,
covered with various sculptures, and situate in the At-meïdán. The
figures on its sides foretell the different fortunes of the city. It
was erected in the time of Yánkó ibn Mádiyán, who is represented on
it sitting on his throne, and holding a ring in his hand, implying
symbolically, ‘I have conquered the whole world, and hold it in my
hands like this ring.’ His face is turned towards the east, and kings
stand before him, holding dishes, in the guise of beggars. On another
are the figures of three hundred men engaged in erecting the obelisk,
with the various machines used for that purpose. Its circumference is
such that ten men cannot span it; and its four angles rest on four
brazen seats, such that, when one experienced in the builders art has
looked at it, he puts his finger on his mouth.
Seventeenth talisman. A sage named Surendeh, who flourished in the days
of error, under king Púzentín, set up a brazen image of a triple-headed
dragon (_azhderhá_) in the Atmeïdán, in order to destroy all serpents,
lizards, scorpions, and such like poisonous reptiles: and not a
poisonous beast was there in the whole of Mákedóniyyah. It has now the
form of a twisted serpent, measuring ten cubits above and as many below
the ground. It remained thus buried in mud and earth from the building
of Sultán Ahmed’s mosque, but uninjured, till Selím II., surnamed
the drunken, passing by on horseback, knocked off with his mace the
lower jaw of that head of the dragon which looks to the west. Serpents
then made their appearance on the western side of the city, and since
that time have become common in every part of it. If, moreover, the
remaining heads should be destroyed, Islámból will be completely eaten
up with vermin. In short, there were anciently, relating to the land
at Islámból, three hundred and sixty-six talismans like those now
described, which are all that now remain.
_Talismans relating to the Sea._
First talisman. At the Chátládí-kapú, in the side of the palace of
an emperor whom the sun never saw, there was the brazen figure of a
demon (_dív_) upon a square column, which spit fire, and burnt the
ships of the enemy whenever it was they approached from the White Sea
(Archipelago).
Second talisman. In the galley-harbour (_kadirghah límání_) there was
a brazen ship, in which, once a year, when the cold winter-nights had
set in, all the Witches of Islámból used to embark and sail about till
morning, to guard the White Sea. It was a part of the spoils captured
with the city by Mohammed II. the conqueror.
Third talisman. Another brazen ship, the counterpart of this, was
constructed at the Tóp-khánah (cannon-foundery), in which all the
wizards and conjurors kept guard towards the Black Sea. It was broken
in pieces when Yezíd Ibn Mo’áviyyah conquered Ghalatah.
Fourth talisman. At Seraglo-Point there was a triple-headed brazen
dragon, spitting fire, and burning all the enemy’s ships and boats
whichever way they came.
Fifth talisman. There were also, near the same place, three hundred
and sixty-six lofty columns bearing the figures of as many marine
creatures; a White sun fish (_khamsín bálighí_) for example, which,
when it uttered a cry, left not a fish of that kind in the Black Sea,
but brought them all to Makedún, where all the people got a good
bellyful of them.
The sixth talisman was, that, during all the forty days of Lent, all
kinds of fish were thrown ashore by the sea, and caught without any
trouble by the people of Rúm (Turkey).
All these talismans having been overthrown by the great earthquake on
the night of the prophets birth, the columns which bore them still lie
strewed like a pavement along the Seraglio-Point, from the Selímiyyeh
Kóshk, to the castle of Sinán Páshá, and are manifest to those who
pass along in boats. Though upset they still retain their talismanic
virtues, and every year bring many thousand fishes to the shore.
There were also twenty-four columns round Islámból, each bearing a
talisman. All could be visited by a man in one day, provided it was a
day of fifteen hours: now the longest day at Islámból, from sun-rise
to sun-set, is fifteen hours and a half. That city is situated in the
middle of the fifth climate, and therefore enjoys excellent air and
water.
SECTION VII.
_Concerning the Mines within and without the City of Kostantín._
By God’s will there was anciently a great cavern in Islámból, below
the Sultán’s mosque (Sultán jámi’-sí), filled with sulphur, nitre, and
black powder, from which they drew supplies in time of need. Having,
by the decree of heaven, been struck by lightning in the time of
Kostantín, or, according to our tradition, at the time of the taking of
the city by the conqueror, all the large buildings over the cavern were
blown up, and fragments of them scattered in every direction; some may
still be seen at Uskudár (Scutari), others at Salájak búruní, and Kází
kóï (Chalcedon); one large piece, particularly, called the Kabá-tásh,
and lying in the sea before the chismehler tekkiyeh, to the north of
the village of Funduk-lí, near Tóp-khánah, was probably thrown there
when the city was blown up.
In the neighbourhood of the castle of Kúm-búrghaz, half a days journey
from the Seven Towers, to the south of Islámból, a fine white sand is
found, in great request among the hour-glass makers and goldsmiths of
Islámból and Firengistán (Europe).
Near the privy-garden of Dáúd Páshá, outside of the Adrianople-gate,
there are seven stone quarries, which appear to be inexhaustible. It is
called the stone of Khizr, because it was pointed out by that prophet
for the construction of Ayá Sófiyah.
A kind of soft clay (_tín_) like electuary (_ma’jún_), found near the
suburb of Abú Iyyúb ansárí, is called tín ansárí; it has a sweet scent
like terra sigillata (_tiní makhtúm_), from the island of Alimání
(Jezírehi Alimání, i.e. Lemnos); and it is used for the sigillate earth
found at Lemnos; making jugs, a draught from which refreshes like a
draught of the water of life.
From a pool (_buheïreh_) between the suburbs of Iyyúb Sultán and
Khás-kóï, divers bring up a kind of black clay, which is excellent for
making jugs, cups, plates, and all kinds of earthenware.
The springs of Jendereh-jí, in the delightful promenade (_mesíreh-gáh_)
called Kághid Khánah (Kïahet-haneh, or les eaux douces, _i.e._
fresh-water springs), are famous all over the world. The root of a kind
of lign-aloes (_eker_) is found there superior to that of Azák (Assov),
the city of Kerdeh, or the canal of the castle of Kanizzhah. One of
its wonderful properties is, that when a man eats of it it occasions a
thousand eructations; it fattens tortoises marvellously, and the Franks
of Ghalatah come and catch them, and use them in all their medicines
with great advantage.
At Sárí Yár, north of Kághid Kháneh, a kind of fermented clay is found,
which smells like musk, and is used in making jugs and cups, which are
much valued, and offered as presents to the great.
At the village of Sári Yár, near the entrance of the strait of the
Black Sea, there is a lofty mountain of yellow-coloured earth, covered
with gardens and vineyards up to its summit. On its outside, near to
the sea-shore, there is a cavern containing a mine of pure gold, free
from any alloy of Hungarian (Ungurús) Búndúkání brass. From the time
of the infidels till the reign of Sultán Ahmed, it was an imperial
domain, farmed out for one thousand yúk of aspers (loads, each equal
to 100,000). The Defterdár, Ekmek-ji-zádeh Ahmed Páshá, closed it, as
bringing little into the treasury; it is now, therefore, neglected, but
if opened again by the Sultán’s order would be found a very valuable
mine.
From this mountain in the valley of Gók-sú, near the castles (_hisár_)
on the Bosphorus, a kind of lime is obtained which is whiter than snow,
cotton, or milk, and cannot be matched in the world.
In the same favourite place of resort, the valley of Gók-sú, a kind of
red earth is found, of which jugs, plates, and dishes are made; and the
doctors say, that pure water drunk out of vessels made of this earth
cures the básuri demeví (blood-shot eyes?).
In the mountains near the town of Uskudár (Scutari), is found a kind of
fossil whetstone (_kayághán_), which breaks in large slabs, and is much
used for tombstones.
Beneath the palace known by the name of Ghalatah-seráï, above the
suburb of Tóp-khánah, is an iron mine, called the mine of old Islámból,
and the ore extracted from it is known by that name all over the world.
Not a soul in the universe knew any thing of it till Khizr pointed it
out, in the time of king Ferendú, for the building of Ayá Sófiyah; and
all the ironwork of that edifice, as well as the iron hoops round the
column in Táúk-bázár [Forum Theodosii], were made of iron from Eskí
Stámból. The mine was worked till the time of Sultán Báyazíd Velí, who
was much pleased with the air and water of the place, and often spent
some time there; and having been admonished in a dream by the Prophet,
founded a hospital and college on the spot; and having finally made
it a school for pages of the seraglio, the mine was abandoned. The
humble writer of this remembers, in the time of his youth, when ’Osmán
the Martyr was on the throne, there was between the lead-magazine
(_kúrshúnlí makhzen_) and Tóp-kapú a manufactory of Damascus blades,
made from the iron of this mine, where Mohamed the Conqueror, who
established it, had most excellent blades made. I myself have seen
Mustafá, the head sword-maker of Sultán Murád IV., and master of little
David, working in that manufactory. It was a large building, outside of
the walls, on the sea-shore. Afterwards, when Sultán Ibráhím ascended
the throne, Kara Mustafá Páshá became a martyr, and every thing was
thrown into confusion; this building was turned into a house for the
Jews, by ’Alí Aghá, superintendant of the custom-house, and neither the
name, nor any trace of the mine or the sword manufactory, are to be
found.
The thirteenth mine is that mine of men, the Good City, _i.e._
Kostantiniyyeh, which is an ocean of men and beautiful women, such as
is to be found no where else. It is said, that if a thousand men die
and a thousand and one are born, the race is propagated by that one.
But Islámból is so vast a city, that if a thousand die in it, the want
of them is not felt in such an ocean of men; and it has therefore been
called Káni Insán, a mine of men.
SECTION VIII.
_Sieges of Constantinople._
In the forty-third year of the Hijreh (A.D. 663), Mo’áviyyah became
Commander of the Faithful; and in the course of his reign sent his
commander in chief Moslemah, son of ’Abdu-l-malik, at the head of a
hundred thousand men of the Syrian army, with two hundred ships, and
two hundred transports laden with provisions, ammunition, &c. from the
port of Shám-Tarah-bólús (Tripoli in Syria), and trusting in God, first
against the island of Máltah, which at that time was Rodós (Rhodes),
and of which they made a conquest almost as soon as they disembarked.
They next proceeded to the islands of Istánkóï (Cos), Sákiz (Scio),
Medellí (Mitylene), Alimániyah (Lemnos), and Bózjah (Tenedos), which
were taken in a few days; and they immediately afterwards laid siege
to Kostantaniyyeh, having taken four hundred ships in their passage,
and intercepted all vessels laden with provisions coming from the White
or Black Sea. The infidels soon sued for peace, on condition of paying
the annual tribute of a galley laden with money; and the victorious
general returned to Arabia with joy and exultation, carrying with him
the impure son of that erring king (_királ_) Herkíl (Heraclius) as a
hostage, with treasures to the amount of some millions of piastres.
_Second Siege._ In the fifty-second year of the Hijrah of the pride
of the world (A.D. 671), Ebú Iyyúb Ansárí, the standard-bearer of
the Prophet, and ’Abdullah ibn ’Abbás ibn Zeïd, proceeding with some
thousands of the illustrious companions of the Prophet, and 50,000
brave men, in two hundred ships, followed by reinforcements under the
command of Moslemah, first carried supplies to the warriors of Islám in
garrison at Rodós, and then, casting anchor before the Seven Towers and
landing their men, laid siege to Islámból by sea and land. Thus, for
six months, did this host, which had the fragrance of Paradise, contend
day and night with the infidels. By the wise decree of God. Ebú Iyyúb
their leader suffered martyrdom in one of these assaults, by an arrow
from a cross-bow: but, according to a sure tradition, he was received
into mercy (_i.e._ he died) of a disorder in his bowels.
_Third Siege._ In the year of the Hijrah 91 (A.D. 710), by order of the
khalif Suleïmán, son of ’Abdu-llah of the Bení Ummayyah, his nephew
’Omar ibn ’Abdu-l-’azíz marched by land against Islámból with 87,000
men, who ravaged Ghalatah with fire and sword, and having carried
off an immense booty, crossed over into Anátólí (Natolia); and after
having laid siege to Sínób, which made its peace at a great price, and
Kastemúní, the capture of which likewise it did not please God to make
easy to him, he returned to Syria (Shám).
_The fourth Siege._ In A.H. 97 (A.D. 716), the same khalif again sent
his nephew ’Omar ibn ’Abdu-l-’azíz against Islámból, with an army of
120,000 men by land, and 80,000 embarked in three hundred ships at
sea. They established their winter-quarters that year in the town
of Belkís-Aná, near Aïdinjik (Cyzicus), in the district of Brúsah,
and in the following spring they laid siege to Islámból, and reduced
the inhabitants to the greatest distress, by laying waste all the
surrounding fields and meadows.
_The fifth Siege._ In the year of the Hijrah——, ’Omar ibn
’Abdu-l-’azíz, having become khalif of Shám (Syria), sent an army of
100,000 men, by land and by sea, against Islámból, and crossing the
Strait of the Black Sea at Ghalatah, conquered it, and built the mosque
of the lead magazines; and the mosque of the Arabs (’Arab jámi’sí)
in that suburb was likewise named from its having been built by him.
Having erected a lofty heaven-aspiring tower at Ghalatah, he called it
Medíneto-l Kahr (the City of Oppression). He made peace with the Tekkúr
of Islámból on condition that Mohammedans should be allowed to settle
in that city, from the Crooked (Egrí) and Adrianople gates, and the
hill on which the Suleïmániyyah stands, to that of Zírek-báshí, and
from thence by the flour-market (ún-kapání) as far as Iyyúb Ensárí.
He built the rose-mosque (Gul-jámi’í) in the market of Mustafá Páshá,
erected the court of justice near the Sirkehjí-tekiyeh, and formed a
new district of the town at the summer-quarters of Kójah Mustafá Páshá,
near the Seven Towers. Another condition on which this unilluminated
Tekkúr (emperor) obtained peace, was the annual payment of a tribute
(kharáj) of 50,000 pieces of gold. ’Omar ibn ’Abdu-l-’azíz fixed
his winter-quarters at Ghalatah for that year, having received the
tribute due for three hundred years in consequence of a former treaty,
departed, leaving Suleïmán ibn ’Abdu-l Malik governor of Ghalatah,
and appointing Moselmah his Grand Vizír. His fleet having met near
Rodostò one of two hundred sail, sent by the infidels to succour the
Tekkúr, a great battle ensued; and just as the infidels were about to
be destroyed, a stormy wind sprung up and drove both fleets on shore,
notwithstanding all the cherubims in heaven emulated the zeal of the
true believers on earth. The Moslims disembarked, laid waste all the
villages round about, carried away more than 3,000 horses, asses, and
mules, and 23,000 prisoners. The treasures taken from the ships which
were sunk, were so great, that God only knows their amount; and the
number of the dust-licking infidels passed over the edge of the sword
such that their bones lie piled up in heaps in a well known valley,
called even now ‘Omar Kírdúghí Jórdú, _i.e._ ‘the camp broken up by
‘Omar.’ After gaining another signal victory by sea and land, he
returned into Syria (Shám).
_The sixth Siege._ In the year of the hijrah 160 (A.D. 777) Merván
ibnu-l Hakem besieged Islámból with an army of 150,000 Moslims and a
fleet of a thousand ships during six months, added three new districts
and built a mosque in the Mahommedan part of the city, and compelled
Mesendún, son of Herakíl (Heraclius), to pay a yearly tribute of
500,000 golden tekyánúses, (_i.e._ coins called Decianus).
_The seventh Siege._ Seventy-four years after the peace made with
Merván, in the year of the hijrah 239 (A.D. 853-4), after the conquest
of Malatíyyah, Islámból was pillaged by the khalif Yahyá son of ’Ali,
who returned to Kharrán (Charrhæ) after having smote 20,000 infidels
with the edge of the sword.
_The eighth Siege._ Sixteen years afterwards, A.H. 255 (A.D. 869),
I’liyá (Elias) son of Herakíl being king (királ) of Islámból,
Harúnu-r-rashíd marched from his paradisiacal abode at the head of
50,000 troops; but finding it difficult to effect the conquest of the
city, he made peace on condition of receiving as much ground within
the walls as a bulls hide would cover. He therefore cut the hide into
strips, so as to enclose space enough in the district of Kójah Mustafá
Páshá for building a strong castle, and he fixed the annual tribute at
50,000 fulúrí (florins). He then returned to Baghdád, having levied the
tribute (kharáj) due for the last ten years.
About this time the infidels, taking advantage of the dissensions which
prevailed among the Muselmáns respecting the khalífat, massacred all
those established in Islámból and Ghalatah, not however without great
loss on their own side, the king and royal family being all slain;
in consequence of which Ghirándó Mihál (Grando Michael), a grandson
of Herakíl who had come from Firengistán, was made king; and on that
very day Seyyid Bábá Ja’fer, one of the descendants of Imám Hoseïn,
and Sheïkh Maksúd, one of the followers of Veïsu-l-Karní, sent by
Hárúnu-r-rashíd as ambassadors, entered Islámból. They were attended by
three hundred fakírs and three hundred followers, and were received by
the new king with innumerable honours. The Sheïkh asked and obtained
permission to bury the remains of the many thousand martyrs who had
been slain in the late massacre, which lasted seven days and seven
nights. He immediately set to work, and with the aid of his own three
hundred fakírs and Bábá Ja’fer’s three hundred followers, buried those
many thousand martyrs in the places where they had died. In the ancient
burying ground behind the arsenal, there are large caverns and ancient
vaults, where, from the time of ’Omar ibn ’Abdu-l-’azíz, some thousand
companions (of the Prophet) had been buried. To that place Sheïkh
Maksúd carried some thousand bodies of these martyrs, and buried them
there, where, on a hewn stone, there is written in large and legible
characters, so that it may be easily read, this inscription, said to be
by the Sheïkh’s own blessed hand:
These are the men who came and went!
In this frail world (_dári fenà_) what have they done?
They came and went, what have they done?
At last to th’ endless world (_dári bakà_) they’re gone.
It is to this day celebrated throughout the world as an extraordinary
inscription, and is visited by travellers from Rúm (Greece), ’Arab
(Arabia), and ’Ajem (Persia). Some of them, who, in the expectation of
finding hidden treasures, began to work at these ancient buildings with
pickaxes like _Ferhád’s_, perished in the attempt, and were also buried
there. Some holy men make pilgrimages to this place barefoot on Friday
nights, and recite the chapter entitled Tekásur (Korán, chap. 102); for
many thousands of illustrious companions (of the Prophet) _Mohájirín_,
(who followed him in his flight), and _Ansárs_ (auxiliaries) are buried
in this place. It has been also attested by some thousands of the
pious, that this burial ground has been seen some thousands of times
covered with lights on the holy night of _Alkadr_ (_i.e._ sixth of
_Ramazán_).
In short, Seyyid Bábá Ja’fer, Hárúnu-r rashíd’s ambassador, having been
enraged, and taking offence at his not having been well received by the
king Ghirándó Míhál, reproached him bitterly, and suffered martyrdom
by poison in consequence of it. He was buried by Sheïkh Maksúd, who
received an order to that effect, in a place within the prison of
the infidels, where, to this day, his name is insulted by all the
unbelieving malefactors, debtors, murderers, &c. imprisoned there. But
when (God be praised!) Islámból was taken, the prison having likewise
been captured, the grave of Seyyid Ja’fer Bábá Sultán, in the tower of
the prison [the Bagno], became a place of pilgrimage, which is visited
by those who have been released from prison, and call down blessings in
opposition to the curses of the unbelievers.
_The ninth Siege._ Three years after that great event related above,
Hárúnu-r-rashíd marched from Baghdád with an immense army, to require
the blood of the faithful from the infidels of Rúm (Asia Minor and
Greece), and having reached Malatiyyah, which was conquered by Ja’fer
Ghází, surnamed Seyyid Battál, that hero led the vanguard of the army
into Rúm; and Hárún himself brought up the rear with reinforcements.
Having taken possession of the straits, they blockaded the city,
cut off all its supplies, gave no quarter, slew 300,000 infidels,
took 70,000 prisoners, and made an immense booty, which they sent to
Haleb (Aleppo) and Iskenderún, and then returned laden with spoils to
Baghdád. Yaghfúr (void of light), the king at that time, was taken
prisoner and carried before Hárún, who gave him no quarter, but ordered
him to be hung in the belfry of Ayá Sófiyyah (Sancta Sophia). Having
been from my infancy desirous of seeing the world, and not remaining in
ignorance, I learned the Greek and Latin languages of my friend Simyún
(Simeon) the goldsmith, to whom I explained the Persian glossary of
Sháhidí, and he gave me lessons in the Aleksanderah (Alexandra), _i.e._
the History of Alexander. He also read to me the history of Yanván,
from which these extracts are taken. But after the race of the Cæsars
(Kayásirah) became extinct in Kanátúr, Kostantiniyyah fell into the
hands of various princes, till the house of ’Osmán arose in A.H. 699
(A.D. 1300), and, at the suggestion of ’Aláu-d-dín the Seljúkí, first
turned its attention to the conquest of that city.
SECTION IX.
_Concerning the Sieges of Constantinople by the Ottoman Emperors._
The first portion of the descendants of Jafeth which set its foot
in the country of Rúm (Asia Minor) was the house of the Seljúkians,
who, in alliance with the Dánishmendian Emírs, wrested, in A.H. 476
(A.D. 1083), the provinces of Malatiyyah, Kaïsariyyah, ’Aláiyyah,
Karamán, and Kóniyah from the hand of the Greek emperors (Kaïsari
Rúm Yúnániyán). They first came from Máveráu-n-nehr (Transoxiana).
On the extinction of the Seljúkian dynasty, A.H. 600 (A.D. 1204),
Suleïmán-sháh, one of the begs (lords) of the town of Máhán in
Túrán, and his son Ertoghrul, came into Rúm, to the court of Sultán
’Aláu-d-dín. The latter having been set on his feet as a man
(er-toghrílúb), and made a beg by that prince, made many brilliant
conquests, and, at the death of ’Aláu-d-dín, was elected sovereign in
his stead, by all the great men (a’yán) of the country. He died at
the town of Sukúdjuk, and was succeeded by his son ’Osmán, who was
the first emperor (pádisháh) of that race. He resided at ’Osmánjik,
from whence the dazzling beams of the Mohammedan faith shed their
light over Anátólí, Germiyán, and Karamán. In the time of his son and
successor, the victorious Órkhán, seventy-seven heroes, friends of God
(evliyáu-llah, _i.e._ saints) fought under the banners of the Prophet.
It was in his reign, that the holy (velí) Hájí Begtásh, who had been
in Khorasán, one of the followers of our great ancestor, that Túrk of
Túrks, Khójah Ahmed Yaseví, came over to his camp with three hundred
devout (sáhibi sejjádeh) fakírs carrying drums and standards, and, as
soon as they had met Órkhán, Brúsah was taken. From thence he proceeded
to the conquest of Constantaniyyeh. His son, Suleïmán Beg, joined by
the permission and advice of Begtásh and seventy great saints (evliyà),
with forty brave men, such as Karah Mursal, Karah Kójah, Karah Yalavà,
Karah Bíghà, Karah Síghlah, in short forty heroes (bahádur) called
_Karah_ (black), crossed over the sea on rafts, and set foot on the
soil of Rúm, shouting Bismillah, the Mohammedan cry of war. Having
laid waste the country on all sides of the city, they conquered, on a
Friday, the castle of Ip-salà (it is called Ip-salà by a blunder for
Ibtidà salà, _i.e._ the commencement prayer), and having offered up the
Fridays prayer there, they pushed on to the gates of Adrianople, taking
Gelíbólí (Galipoli), Tekir-tághí (Rodosto), and Silivrì (Selymbria) in
their way, and returned victorious, laden with spoils and captives,
after an absence of seven days, to Kapú-tághí on the Asiatic shore,
from whence they marched with their booty into Brúsah. The brain of the
whole army of Islám being thus filled with sweetness, the shores of Rúm
were many times invaded, all the neighbouring country was laid waste,
nor were the infidels (káfirs) able to make any resistance; while the
Moslim heroes found means of raising a noble progeny by being tied with
the knot of matrimony to the beautiful virgins whom they carried off.
Sultán Murád I., who succeeded Órkhán, following the advice formerly
given by Aláu-d-dín Sultán and Hájí Begtásh, made himself master of the
country round Kostantaniyyeh before he attempted the conquest of the
city itself. He therefore first took Edreneh (Adrianople), and filled
it with followers of Mohammed coming from Anátólí, while the infidels
could not advance a step beyond Islámból. However, they contrived to
assemble an army of 700,000 men in the plain of Kós-óvà (Cossova),
near the castle of Vechteren in Rúm-ílí (Romelia), where, by the
decree of the Creator of the world, they were all put to the sword by
the victorious Khudávendikár (Murád); but while walking over the dead
bodies in the field of battle, praising God, and surveying the corpses
of the infidels doomed to hell (dúzakh), he was slain by a knife
from the hand of one Velashko, who lay among the slain. The assassin
was instantly cut to pieces, and Murád’s son, Yildirim Báyazíd Khán,
mounted the throne. In order to avenge his father’s death, he fell
like a thunderbolt on Káfiristán (the land of the unbelievers), slew
multitudes of them, and began the tenth siege of Kostantaniyyeh.
Yildirim Báyazíd wisely made Edreneh (Adrianople) the second seat of
empire, and besieged Islámból during seven months with an army of
a hundred thousand men, till the infidels cried out that they were
ready to make peace on his own terms, offering to pay a yearly tribute
(kharáj) of 200,000 pieces of gold. Dissatisfied with this proposal,
he demanded that the Mohammedans (ummeti Mohammed) should occupy, as
of old in the days of ’Omar ibn ’Abdu-l-’azíz, and Hárúnu-r-Rashíd,
one half of Islámból and Ghalatah, and have the tithe of all the
gardens and vineyards outside of the city. The Tekkúr king (_i.e._
the Emperor) was compelled of necessity to accept these terms, and
twenty thousand Musulmáns having been introduced into the town, were
established within their former boundaries. The Gul jámi’í, within the
Jebálí kapú-sí, was purified with rose-water from all the pollutions of
the infidels, whence it received its name of Gul-jámi’í (_i.e._ Rose
mosque). A court of justice was established in the Sirkehjí Tekiyeh
in that neighbourhood; Ghalatah was garrisoned with six thousand men,
and half of it, as far as the tower, given up to the Mohammedans.
Having in this manner conquered one half of Islámból, Báyazíd returned
victorious to Edreneh. Soon afterwards Tímúr Leng issuing from the
land of Írán with thirty-seven kings at his stirrup, claimed the
same submission from Báyazíd, who, with the spirit and courage of an
emperor, refused to comply. Tímúr, therefore, advanced and encountered
him with a countless army. Twelve thousand men of the Tátár light-horse
(eshkinjí), and some thousands of foot soldiers, who, by the bad
counsels of the vazír, had received no pay, went over to the enemy;
notwithstanding which Báyazíd, urged on by his zeal, pressed forwards
with his small force, mounted on a sorry colt, and having entered the
throng of Tímúr’s army, laid about him with his sword on all sides,
so as to pile the Tátárs in heaps all around him. At last, by God’s
will, his horse that had never seen any action fell under him, and he,
not being able to rise again before the Tátárs rushed upon him, was
taken prisoner, and carried into Tímúr’s presence. Tímúr arose when
he was brought in, and treated him with great respect. They then sat
down together on the same carpet (sejjádeh) to eat honey and yóghúrt
(clotted cream). While thus conversing together, “I thank God,” said
Tímúr, “for having delivered thee into my hand, and enabled me to eat
and discourse with thee on the same table; but if I had fallen into
thy hands, what wouldst thou have done?” Yildirim, from the openness
of his heart, came to the point at once, and said, “By heaven! if thou
hadst fallen into my hand, I would have shut thee up in an iron cage,
and would never have taken thee out of it till the day of thy death!”
“What thou lovest in thy heart, I love in mine,” replied Tímúr, and
ordering an iron cage to be brought forthwith, shut Báyazíd up in it,
according to the wish he had himself expressed. Tímúr then set out
on his return, and left the field open for Chelebí Sultán Mohammed
to succeed his father Yildirim. He immediately pursued the conqueror
with 70,000 men, and overtaking him at Tashák-óvá-sí, smote his army
with such a Mohammedan cleaver, that his own men sheltered themselves
from the heat of the sun under awnings made of the hides of the slain,
whence that plain received the ludicrous name by which it is still
known. But, by God’s will, Yildirim died that very night of a burning
fever, in the cage in which he was confined. His son Mohammed Chelebí,
eager to avenge his father, continued to drive Tímúr forwards, till
he reached the castle of Tókát, where he left him closely besieged.
He then returned victorious, carrying the illustrious corpse of his
father to Brúsah, where it was buried in an oratory in the court before
his own mosque. His brothers ’Ísá and Músá disputed his right to the
empire; but Mohammed, supported by the people of Rúm, was proclaimed
khalífah at Edreneh (Adrianople), where he remained and finished the
mosque begun by his father. On hearing of these contentions for the
empire, the king (tekkúr) of Islámból danced for joy. He sent round
cryers to make proclamation that, on pain of death, not a Muselmán
should remain in the city of Kostantín, allowing only a single day
for their removal: and he destroyed a great number of them in their
flight to Tekirtágh (Rodostó) and Edreneh (Adrianople). The empire,
after the demise of Chelebí Mohammed, was held first by Murád II.,
and then by Mohammed (II.) the conqueror, who during his father’s
lifetime was governor (hákim) of Maghnísá (Magnesia), and spent his
time there in studying history, and in conversing with those excellent
men ’Ak-Shemsu-d-dín, Karah-Shemsu-d-dín, and Sívásí, from whom he
acquired a perfect knowledge of the commentaries on the Korán and the
sacred traditions (hadís). While he was at Maghnísá, having heard that
the infidels from Fránsah (France) had landed at ’Akkah (Acri), the
port of Jerusalem, on the shore of the White Sea, and in the dominions
of Keláún, Sultán of Egypt, and taken possession of ’Askelán and
other towns, from which they had carried off much plunder and many
prisoners to their own country, he was so much grieved at the thoughts
of thousands of Muselmáns being carried into captivity, that he shed
tears. “Weep not, my Emperor,” said Ak-shemsu-d-dín, “for on the day
that thou shalt conquer Islámból, thou shalt eat of the spoils and
sweetmeats taken by the unbelievers from the castle of ’Akkah: but
remember on that day to be to the faithful an acceptable judge as well
as victor (_kúzí ve-ghází rází_), doing justice to all the victorious
Moslims.” At the same time taking off the shawl twisted round his
Turban, he placed it on Mohammed’s head, and announced the glad tidings
of his being the future conqueror of Islámból. They then read the
noble traditions (_hadís_) of what the Prophet foretold relative to
Islámból, and observed that he was the person to whom these traditions
applied. Mohammed on this, covering his head with Ak-Shemsu-d-din’s
turban (_’urf_), said: “Affairs are retrieved in their season!” and,
recommending all his affairs to the bounty of the Creator, returned to
his studies.
On the death of his father Murád II., ambassadors to congratulate
him were sent by all monarchs, except Uzún Hasan, Prince (Sháh) of
Azerbáïján, of the family of Karah Koyúnlí; against him, therefore, he
first turned his arms, and defeated him in the field of Terján.
_Account of the Rise of Mohammed II., the Father of Victory._
He mounted the throne on Thursday the 16th Moharrem 855 (A.D. 1451),
at the age of twenty-one years. My great grandfather, then his
standard-bearer, was with him at the conquest of Islámból. He purchased
with the money arising from his share of the booty, the houses within
the U’n kapání, on the site of the mosque of Sághirjílar, which he
built after the conquest of the city by Mohammed II., together with
a hundred shops settled on the mosque as an endowment (_vakf_). The
house in which I was born was built at the same time, and with money
so acquired. The patents (_baráts_) for the mosques and the shops,
however, were made out in the conquerors name, and signed with his
cypher (_tughrà_), the administration of the endowment being vested
in our family. From the deeds relative to it now in my hands, I am
well acquainted with the dates of all the events of his reign. He
was a mighty but bloodthirsty monarch. As soon as he had mounted the
throne at Adrianople, he caused Hasan, his younger brother by the same
mother, to be strangled, and sent his body to Brúsah, to be interred
there beside his father. He conquered many castles in the country round
Brúsah, built those called the key of the two seas, on the strait of
the White Sea, and two likewise on that of the Black Sea, and levied
a tribute on Islámból. According to the peace made by Yildirim, a
tithe of the produce of all the vineyards round was to be paid to the
Sultán, before any infidel could gather a single grape. After the lapse
of three years, some grapes having been gathered by the infidels in
violation of this article of the treaty, in the vineyards of the Rúmílí
hisár (_i.e._ the European castle on the canal of Constantinople), a
quarrel ensued, in which some men were killed. Mohammed, when this
was reported to him, considered it as a breach of the treaty, and
immediately laid siege to Islámból, with an army as numerous as the
sand of the sea.
SECTION X.
_The last Siege of Kostantaniyyeh by Mohammed II. the Conqueror._
In the year of the Hijrah 857 (A.D. 1453), Sultán Mohammed encamped
outside of the Adrianople gate, with an immense army of Unitarians
(Muvahhedín); and some thousands of troops from Arebistán, who crossed
the Strait of Gelíbólí (Gallipoli), and having joined the army of
Islám, took up their quarters before the Seven Towers. All the troops
from Tokát, Sívás, Erzrúm, Páï-búrt, and the other countries taken
from Uzún Hasan, crossed the strait near Islámból, and encamped on the
’Ok-meïdán in sight of the infidels. Trenches, mines, and guns were
got ready, and the city was invested by land on all sides; it was only
left open by sea. Seventy-seven distinguished and holy men beloved by
God (Evliyáu-llah) followed the camp; among them were Ak-Shemsu-d-dín,
Karah-Shemsu-d-dín, Sívásí, Mollá Kúrání, Emír Nejárí, Mollá Fenárí,
Jubbeh ’Alí, Ansárí-Dedeh, Mollá Púlád, Ayà Dedeh, Khorósí Dedeh,
Hatablí Dedeh, and Sheïkh Zindání. The Sultán made a covenant with
them, promising that one-half of the city (devlet) should belong to
them, and one-half to the Muselmán conquerors; “and I will build,”
said he, “for each of you a convent, sepulchral chapel, hospital,
school, college, and house of instruction in sacred traditions
(Dáru-l-hadís).” The men of learning and piety were then assembled in
one place; proclamation was made that all the troops of Islám should
renew their ablutions, and offer up a prayer of two inflections. The
Mohammedan shout of war (Allah! Allah!) was then thrice uttered, and
according to the law of the Prophet, at the moment of their investing
the city, Mahmúd Páshá was sent with a letter to the Emperor (Tekkúr)
of Constantaniyyeh. When the letter had been read and its contents
made known, relying on the strength of the place and the number of
his troops, the Emperor proudly sent the ambassador back, saying, “I
will neither pay tribute, nor surrender the fortress, nor embrace
Islám.” On one side, the troops of Islám surrounded the walls like
bees, crying out Bismillah, and beginning the assault with the most
ardent zeal; on the other, the besieged, who were twice one hundred
thousand crafty devils of polytheists, depended on their towers and
battlements by land, and feared no danger by sea, the decrees of fate
never entering into their thoughts. They had five hundred pieces of
ordnance at Seraglio Point, five hundred at the Lead-magazines (on the
Ghalatah-side), and one hundred, like a hedge-hog’s bristles, inside
and outside of the Kíz kulleh-sí (Tower of Leander), so that not a
bird could fly across the sea without being struck from these three
batteries. The priests (pápás), monks, and patriarchs encouraging those
polluted hosts to the battle, promised some useless idols, such as Lát
and Menát, to each of the infidels. The ’Osmánlús, in the mean time,
began to batter the walls, and received reinforcements and provisions;
while the Greeks, who were shut out of the canals of Constantinople and
the Dardanelles by the castles built there, could obtain none. After
the siege had been carried on for ten days, the Sultan assembled his
faithful sheiks, saying, “See to what a condition we are reduced! The
capture of this fortress will be very difficult, if the defence of it
is thus continued from day to day.” Ak-Shemsu-d-dín told him that he
must wait for a time, but would infallibly be conqueror: that there was
within the city a holy man named Vadúd, and that as long as he lived
it could not be taken; but that in fifty days he would die, and then
at the appointed hour, minute, and second, the city would be taken.
The Sultán therefore ordered Tímúr-tásh Páshá to employ 2,000 soldiers
in constructing fifty galleys (kadirghah), in the valley near Kághid
kháneh, and some villages were plundered to provide them with planks
and other timber for that purpose. Kójah Mustafá Páshá had previously
constructed, by the labour of all his Arab troops, fifty galleys and
fifty horse-boats (káyik), at a place called Levend-chiftlik, opposite
to the Ok-meïdán. The galleys built at Kághid kháneh being also ready
on the tenth day, the Sultán went on that day to the Ok-meïdán, with
some thousands of chosen men, carrying greased levers and beams to move
the said ships. By the command of God, the wind blew very favourably;
all sails were unfurled, and amidst the shouts of the Moslims crying
_Allah! Allah!_ and joyful discharges of muskets and artillery, a
hundred and fifty ships slid down from the Ok-meïdán into the harbour.
The terrified Káfirs cried out “What can this be?” and this wonderful
sight was the talk of the whole city. The place where these ships were
launched is still shown, at the back of the gardens of the arsenal
(Ters kháneh), at the stairs of Sháh-kulí within the Ok-meïdán.
The millet (dárú, _i.e._ sorghum) which was scattered there under the
ships (in order to make them slide down more readily) grew, and is to
this day growing in that place. All the victorious Moslims went on
board armed cap-à-pie, and waited till the ships built by Tímúr-tásh
at Kághid kháneh made their appearance near Iyyúb (at the extremity of
the harbour), in full sail, with a favourable wind. They soon joined
the fleet from Ok-meïdán, amid the discharge of guns and cannons,
and shouts of _Hóï Hóï!_ and _Allah! Allah!_ When the Káfirs saw
the illustrious fleet filled with victorious Moslims approach, they
absolutely lost their senses, and began to manifest their impotence
and distress. Their condition was aptly expressed in that text (Kor.
II, 18): “They put their fingers in their ears, because of the noise
of the thunder, for fear of death!” and they then began to talk of
surrendering on the twentieth day. Pressed by famine and the besieging
army, the inhabitants deserted through the breaches in the walls, to
the Moslims, who, comforted by their desertion, received them well. On
that day, the chiefs (báïs) of Karamán, Germiyán, Tekkeh-ílí, Aïdin,
and Sáríkhán, arrived with 77,000 well-armed men, and gave fresh life
to the hearts of the faithful. Tímúr-tásh having passed over with his
fleet to the opposite side, landed his troops on the shore of Iyyúb,
where he attacked the gates of Iyyúb and Sárí-Sultán; Mulá Pulád, a
saint who knew the scripture by heart and worked miracles, attacked
that of Pulád; and Sheikh Fanárí took post at the Fener kapú-sí (the
Fanal-gate). The Káfirs built a castle there in one night, which
would not now be built in a month, and which is actually standing and
occupied. A monk named Petro having fled from that castle with three
hundred priests, all turned Moslims, and that gate was called from him
Petró kapú-sí. Having by God’s will conquered the newly-built castle
that night, he received a standard and the name of Mohammed Petro.
Ayà-dedeh was stationed with three hundred Nakshbendí Fakírs before
the gate of Ayá, where he fell a martyr (to the faith), and was buried
within the walls, at our old court of justice the Tekiyéh (convent)
of Sirkehjí; in the same manner, the gate at which Jubbeh ’Alí was
posted, was called the Jebálí gate, in memory of him, Jebálí being
erroneously written for Jubbeh ’Alí. He was the sheikh (i.e. spiritual
guide) of Keláún, Sultán of Egypt, and having come to Brúsah for the
purpose of being present at the taking of Islámból, became a disciple
of Zeïnu-d-dín Háfí, and was called Jubbeh ’Alí, from his always
wearing a jacket (jubbeh) made of horse-cloth; he was afterwards, when
Mohammed marched against Islámból, made chief baker (ekmekchí-báshí),
and provided, no creature knows how, from one single oven the whole
army, consisting of many hundred thousand servants of God, with bread
as white as cotton. He did not embark at the Ok-meïdán, but with three
hundred Fakírs, disciples of Zeïnu-d-dín Háfí, who, having spread
skins upon the sea near the garden of the arsenal, employed themselves
in beating their drums and tambours, and singing hymns in honour of
the unity (tevhíd) of God. They then, unfurling the standard of Háfí,
passed over the sea clearer than the sun, standing on their skins as
on a litter, to the terror of the infidels doomed to hell! Jubbeh
’Alí having taken up his from the sea, was posted at the Jebálí gate.
After the conquest he voluntarily fell a martyr, and was interred in
the court of the Gul-jámi’í (the rose-mosque), where an assemblage of
Fakírs afterwards found a retreat from the world. Khorós dedeh was
engaged at the Un-kapání gate, which therefore bears his name; and
below it, on the left hand as one enters, there is a figure of a cock
(khorós). He was a Fakír, and one of the disciples of my ancestor
Ahmed Yeseví. He came from Khurasán, when old and sickly, with Hájí
Begtásh, in order to be present at the siege of Islámból, and got the
nickname of Khorós-dedeh (father cock), from his continually rousing
the faithful, by crying out, “Arise, ye forgetful!” Yáúzún Er, who
was a very pious man, built within the Un-kapání a mosque in honour
of him; it is now in the Sighirjílar chárshu-sí (beast market), and
named afterwards the mosque of Yáúzún Er. Khorós-dedeh died sometime
afterwards near the gate called after his name, and was buried near
the high-road, outside of the Un-kapání gate, beside my ancestor. A
conduit for religious ablutions has been erected near it, and is now
visited as a place of pilgrimage. ’Alí Yárík, Bey of Ayázmánd, a nephew
of Uzún-Hasan, of the Karákoyúnlí family, attacked the Ayázmah gate.
He dug a well there for the purpose of renewing his ablutions; hence
the gate received the name Ayázmah (Ἁγίασμα) kapú-sí: the water is
pure spring-water, though on the edge of the sea. Sheïkh Zindání was a
descendant of Sheïkh Bábá Ja’fer, who having come as ambassador in the
time of Hárúnu-r-Rashíd, was poisoned by the king (_i.e._ emperor), and
buried within the Zindán kapú-sí (prison-gate). Sheïkh Zindání visited
this place, having come from Edirneh (Adrianople) with “the conqueror,”
at the head of 3,000 noble Seyyids (descendants of Mohammed), who
gave no quarter, soon made the Zindán kapú-sí his castle, and having
entered it, made a pilgrimage to his ancestor’s tomb, and laid his
own green turban on the place where Bábá Ja’fer’s head rested. He
continued for seventy years after the conquest as Turbehdár (warden
of the sepulchre) and built a convent there. The Emperor, as he had
made a prison in that place, called it Zindán kapú-sí (the Bagnio),
and it was conquered by Zindání. The Sheïkh having appointed in his
stead a Sayyid of the same pure race, to take charge of the tomb of
Ja’fer Bábá, accompanied Sultán Báyazíd in his expedition against Kilí
(Kilia) and Ak-kirmán, in the year 889 (A.D. 1484). He died at Edirneh
(Adrianople), after his return with Báyazíd from those conquests, and
on that occasion the Sultán caused all the prisoners in the public
prison there to be set at liberty for the good of the Sheïkh’s soul,
and erected a chapel (turbeh) over his tomb, outside of the Zindán
Kulleh-sí, having attended his funeral in person. His turbeh is now a
great place of pilgrimage, and all his children are buried there. It
is called the Ziyáret-gáh of ’Abdu-r-ruuf Samadání. The wardens of the
tomb of Bábá Ja’fer at Islámból are still members of his family, and
their genealogical tree is as follows: ’Abdu-r-ruuf Samadání (otherwise
called Sheïkh Zindání) son of Sheïkh Jemálu-d-dín, son of Bint-Emír
Sultán, son of Eshrefu-ddín, son of Táju-d-dín, son of the daughter of
Seyyid Sikkín (buried near Ak-Shemsu-d-dín, at Túrbahlí Kóï), son of
Ja’fer Bábá (buried at Islámból), the son of Mohammed Hanifí, from whom
my ancestor Ahmed Yeseví was also descended; our genealogical trees
were therefore well known to me.
Kámkár Beg, of Kútáhiyeh, was one of the Germiyán-óghlú (_i.e._ the
children of Germiyán). He, with three thousand young heroes, assailed
the Shehíd kapú-sí (martyrs-gate). As it is near Ayá Sófiyah, the
Christians assembled there in great multitudes, opened the gate, and
sallying forth with great fury, made all their Muselmán assailants
martyrs. In the time of Hárúnu-r-rashíd, also, some of the illustrious
auxiliaries of the Prophet (_ansár_) quaffed the cup of martyrdom
there, hence it has been named the Martyrs (Shuhúd) gate, though
incorrectly called by the vulgar, Jews’ (Juhúd) gate. The gates of the
royal palace (Khúnkár seráï) sustained no siege; but the gate near the
Seven Towers was attacked by Karamán-óghlú with the new reinforcements.
The troops from Tekkehbáï were posted before Silivrí-gate; those from
Aïdín, before the new gate (Yení kapú); those from Sárúkhán, before
the Cannon-gate (Tóp kapú-sí), where they were slain, and replaced
by those from Munteshá. The force from Isfendiyár was ordered to
besiege the Adrianople-gate (Edirneh kapú-sí), and that from Hamíd, the
Crooked-gate (Egrí kapú). So that Islámból was besieged on two sides,
and nothing but the Kúm kapú (Sand-gate) on the sea-shore, and the wall
from the Seven Towers to Seraglio-Point, remained free from attack. At
the Seven Towers, the poet Ahmed Páshá, disregarding the fire of the
infidels made several breaches. At the Silivrí-gate, Haïder Páshá’s
fire gave not a moments respite to the infidels. At the new gate (Yení
kapú), Mahmúd Páshá, commander of the troops from Aïdín, stormed the
wall which he had battered three times without success. The commander
at the Tóp kapú-sí was Nishání, also called Karamání Mohammed Páshá,
a disciple of Jellálu-d-dín Rúmí. He had given devilish (_khabelí_)
proofs of his valour in the war against Uzún Hasan. While he stood
at the Cannon-gate, not a cannon could the Káfirs discharge. At the
Edirneh-gate (Adrianople), the commander was Sa’dí Páshá, who having
dwelt along with Jem-Sháh in Firengistán, had learned many thousand
military arts. Being united heart and soul with the valiant men from
Isfendiyár stationed at that gate, they vied with him in their heroic
deeds, remembering the prophetic tradition that says “We shall be the
conquerors of Kostantaniyyeh” (Constantinople). Seven places are yet
shewn near that gate where they battered down the wall. Hersek-Oghlú
Ahmed Páshá had the command at the Crooked-gate (Egrí-kapú), where by
many straight-forward blows he sidled himself into the midst of the
infidels till he reduced them all to a mummy.
In this way Kostantaniyyeh had been besieged for twenty days, without
any signs of its being conquered. The Moslem warriors, the seventy
Unitarians, and three thousand learned ’Ulemás, favourites of God
(Evliyá-llah), masters of the decrees of the four orthodox sects, began
to be afflicted by the length of the siege, and with one accord offered
up their prayers to the Creator for his aid, when suddenly there was
darkness over Islámból, with thunder and lightning; a fire was seen
to ascend to the vault of heaven from the Atmeïdán; the strongest
buildings flew into the air, and were scattered over sea and land. On
that day three thousand infidels fled from the city, through alarm and
terror. Some were honoured by the profession of Islám, and admitted
into the emperors service; others fled to different countries; but the
rest, who would not abandon the faith of the Messiah, set to work to
repair the breaches, and continued firm in their resistance. They were
much pressed, however, by want of food and ammunition.
On the thirtieth day of the siege, Sultán Mohammed having placed the
’Urf (_i.e._ the judicial turban) on his head, and sky-coloured boots
on his feet, mounted a mule which might rival Duldul (Mahomet’s steed),
made the round of the walls, and distributed largesses among his
troops. He then passed over with many thousand men from Iyyúb to Kághid
khánah, and crossing the streams of Alí Beg Kóï and Kághid Khánah came
to the place called Levend-chiftlik, where forty ships (firkatah)
had also been built. These, like the former, they moved on rollers
to the Ok-meïdán, and launched them at the Sháh-kúlí stairs into the
sea, filled with some thousand scarlet scull-capped Arabs, burning as
brandy, and sharp as hawks.
SECTION XI.