Chapter VI: Part 6

The troops under the serdár, however, began to murmur about their pay; yet those of Yanuk were very active; for they erected a bridge across the Danube in the space of three days, which the serdár crossed on the 5th of Rabia II., and marched to Kiris Elias, where he halted. Here he learned that the enemy had broken up their camp, and had returned to their own dominions. On the 8th he reached the plains of Hamza-beg, where the beglerbeg of Buda took his leave of him and departed. Here also the Serdár granted the whole of the troops leave to disperse, and went himself directly to Belgrade, which he reached towards the end of the month; and from that city he sent a statement of the campaign to the court of Constantinople. The beglerbeg of Caramania, Nasúh Páshá, and the beglerbeg of Bosnia, Teryákí Hasan Páshá, remained at Buda: as also did the válí of Merœsh. A thousand of the troops were placed in the garrison. The rest of the troops, after they were allowed to disperse, sought winter quarters, some in Romeili, some in Anatolia, some in Bajka, some in Súmber. The menials of the camp were also permitted to disperse, but their ághás remained at Belgrade.

Proposals of peace with the infidels were at this time attempted, but without any happy result. Khoja Murád Páshá, Hábel Effendí, cazí of Buda, and Alí Páshá, the son-in-law of Murád Páshá, went to the plains of Wáj, after the retreat of the Moslems, and endeavoured to negociate an honourable peace: but the infidels’ noses were in the wind (_i.e._ exercised caution), and the Moslem negociators were obliged to return without accomplishing the object of their mission.

_The Grand Vezír, Ibrahím Páshá, deposed.—Khádum Hasan Páshá succeeds to the premiership._

Satúrjí Mohammed Páshá, the commander-in-chief in the late campaign, in order to exonerate himself from any blame which might attach to him for not having been so successful in the late war as had been expected, represented his want of success to the failure of the Tátár khán’s fulfilling his injunctions to come to his assistance, and to the smallness of the number of troops which acted under him. This statement made no pleasant impression on the mind of the emperor, who was by this time but too much displeased with the grand vezír for the part he had acted towards this khán on a former occasion, as we have already related in a preceding chapter. On this account, therefore, as well as for some offence which the grand vezír had given to the queen-mother; and also on account of some handsome presents which Khádum Hasan Páshá had made: and moreover, because Ibrahím’s capacity for governing had become more and more disputed, the emperor, for these reasons, one day called the mufti into his royal presence and began his conversation thus: “I purpose,” said the monarch, “to make a change in the premiership: whom do you think worthy of being elevated to that station?” The reverend mufti replied, that if he meant to dismiss his servant Ibrahím, it must, of course, be for some crime. What is that crime? The emperor, having thought a little, said “that there was no end to his crimes,” and adverted to the part he had acted with regard to the two Tátár princes. “Was it, think you,” said the sublime monarch, “a crime of small magnitude that he should have been the means of the death of Fateh Gheráí, and all its consequent evils?” The reverend mufti, after hearkening to this apostrophe, proposed Jeráh Páshá, the senior vezír. The emperor demurred, and said Jeráh had no capacity for managing affairs; and that therefore he preferred giving the office to Khádum Hasan Páshá, whose superior wisdom and prudence was spoken of through the whole city of Constantinople. The reverend mufti bowed, joined in his praises, and exaggerated his endowments.

On the 23d of Rabia II., after the sitting of the diván, the ketkhodá of the household troops, Abdullah Aghá, was deputed by his majesty to wait on Ibrahím and receive back the seals from him, and to present them to Khádum Hasan Páshá. Ibrahím Páshá went to live in his own garden, near the new emporium at Uskudár.

Khádum Hasan Páshá, in consequence of his splendid gifts and presents to the queen-mother, and of his many promises of rendering service to the state, was raised, in the course of that passing week, to the dignity of grand vezír. This man, as might easily have been anticipated, was attentive to nothing but his own aggrandizement, and how to increase his own wealth. During the whole time he continued in office, he sold places, received immense bribes, and amassed vast riches. When any one asked him for a situation he used to say: “Do you know to whom I shall give the presents you have sent me?” and other similar impertinent questions. This exalted personage, however, soon fell under the execrations of the people, and became every day more and more hated and despised, but yet no one was able to oppose him.

One day, when his majesty went to St. Sophia, to offer up his devotions in that temple, some desperate fellows approached him and requested permission to slay his minister. His majesty, thinking it was out of mere ill will they had so petitioned him, did not give his consent, and they immediately desisted from their purpose. The emperor, however, mentioned the circumstance to his mother, who let Ghaznafer Aghá into the secret, and with him she concerted the overthrow of the prime minister. He maintained that Hasan Páshá not only openly received bribes, but that he had also cut off the supplies of the queen-mother; that he had published complaints against her among all ranks of the community, and thus made her the subject of conversation; that by these and similar means he sought to rouse her servants to rebellion, and herself to be removed to a distance from the court, in order that he might obtain absolute power. All this representation, or rather accusation, was confirmed by the ághá of the Janissaries, Ternakjí Hasan. The emperor issued orders to investigate into the fact. But those who were appointed to do this returned a verdict similar to the above statement of accusation, or at least confirmatory of it.

In the meantime the reverend mufti, Bostání Zádeh, died, when Hasan Páshá conferred the duty of expounding the law on the poet Bákí Effendí, in conjunction with Karah Chelebí Zádeh. But the emperor not approving of his choice, appointed Khoja Sa’d-ud-dín Effendí, with a part of whose history we are already acquainted, and whom we saw lately condemned to live the life of a hermit, to be mufti in room of Bostání Zádeh. Notwithstanding this, however, Hasan Páshá wrote three times officially on this subject to Bákí Effendí, and tried what he could to prevent Sa’d-ud-dín succeeding to the muftiship; a circumstance which awakened old but buried animosity and unpleasant correspondence between the old prelate and the grand vezír. The conduct of the latter roused the emperor’s anger, and without further delay he installed the old reverend prelate into the office of mufti.

Khoja Effendí (_i.e._ Sa’d-ud-dín), the new mufti, Ghaznafer Aghá, and Ternakjí Aghá, all three joined in accusing Hasan Páshá. They represented his conduct with regard to the queen-mother, and the other enormities of his life, in such a clear light before the emperor, as showed him to be worthy of death. He was accordingly seized on the 2d of Ramazán, conveyed on board a vessel, and was conducted to the Seven Towers by Ferhád Aghá, the chief of the Bostánjís, and in five or six days afterwards he was strangled during the night. The ághá of the Janissaries, Ternakjí Hasan Aghá, sealed the doors of his palace, and transferred the whole of his property to the imperial coffers; but it did not amount to what was anticipated.

_Jeráh Mohammed Páshá raised to the premiership._

The grand vezírship having again become vacant, there was some disposition shown to recall Ibrahím Páshá to that important office; but by the dexterity of the reverend prelate, his old enemy, this was thwarted, and Jeráh Mohammed Páshá was appointed to fill that high station.

_The enemy gains advantage at Yanuk by stratagem._

The city and fortress of Yanuk about this time was put under the government of Mahmúd Páshá, who had formerly been ághá of the Janissaries, and subsequently beglerbeg of Fajir. The enemy permitted no grain of any kind to be brought or conveyed to Yanuk, but in order to corrupt and pervert the inhabitants, as well as the troops who were in it, they permitted great quantities of wine to be carried thither both in boats and waggons. In consequence of this traffic in wine, the people of Yanuk acquired the habit of drinking, and so very relaxed did they become, that their ramparts and gates were no longer watched with that care and vigilance which was the case before wine was introduced amongst them. Regardless alike of the Páshá’s warnings as of every other advice, they vainly confided in the natural and artificial strength of the place, and were no longer the active vigilant men they used to be.

The beglerbeg of Yanuk was in the habit of receiving from the sanják of Petcheví an annual quantity of grain, amounting to two or three hundred waggons, but which, when returning, were frequently intercepted by the enemy, who on all such occasions carried off the oxen. In this way above five or six thousand of these animals had been stolen at various times, and driven away into the enemy’s dominions. This great loss the people of the sanják of Petcheví were obliged to sustain; but other districts fared worse, and had not even so much as one left them. In fact, some of the peasants were under the necessity of ploughing their lands by their own strength and that of their wives.

About the commencement of the month of Ramazán this year, the enemy committed great cruelty and excess. They attacked several hundreds of waggons which were carrying provisions to Yanuk and Agria. The escort of cavalry which accompanied these waggons, on seeing the enemy, fled, leaving the poor drivers to shift for themselves. The number of these amounted to about three hundred, who were either killed or made prisoners. Between one and two thousand oxen and waggons were carried off by the enemy.

The two thousand regular troops, and the two thousand Kúl-oghláns, which had been left to garrison Yanuk, had most of their families in the districts of Petcheví, Koban, and Alba Julia, and were therefore strongly inclined on this account to abandon Yanuk altogether. The fortress of Tata, which the year before had been demolished, and its inhabitants destroyed, was allowed to remain in its state of ruin and dilapidation.

The people of Yanuk appeared to be bound over by some spell or infatuation not easily accounted for, if we except their propensity for wine, which brought its own punishment. A swine of the name of Palghi, kapúdán of Komran, sent some thousands of his foot soldiers to surround Yanuk, whilst he himself with a thousand or two of cavalry made his way towards its gate. The inhabitants and garrison were in a profound state of inactivity and carelessness, and knew nothing of the enemy’s approach. The gate was barricaded only with a single bar of fir wood, and their drawbridge was not let down. Some few of these apostate infidels who came to attack the place approached about midnight to the gate, and feigned an alarm. The centinel, a boy, awaking from his sleep, asked, “Who’s there?” They replied: “We are come from Petcheví with provisions, were very near meeting the enemy, and have with much difficulty escaped to this place. They are still in hard pursuit of us, and will soon have us in their power, unless you open your gate and let us in. Open then the gate, and let in the waggons loaded with provisions.” As this conversation with the watch ended, the rest came forward with their wooden mortars and placed them in front of the gate, whilst the boy said he would run and inform the kapújí, and did so. The treacherous enemy lost no time, for the centinel was scarcely gone when they attacked the gate, splintered it to pieces, and rushed in on the devoted people: some were lying drunk, some asleep, and all in a state of total negligence and unconcern. Now the work of destruction commenced. The troops in it saw when it was too late their danger, but the sight of the enemy only roused them to madness. They fought with the most desperate fury, and perished in the conflict. Thus did Yanuk fall into the hands of the execrated enemy. The stratagem succeeded.

It has been said that the commander of the Janissaries of Yanuk was brought alive, but in a state of drunkenness, before the above-mentioned impious Palghi, kapúdán of Komran, and that ten or fifteen thousand pieces of gold were found in his possession. After interrogating him, the story goes on to say, as to what he meant to do with such a quantity of money, and asking him why he had not laid it out on the garrison, or if he thought that his money would watch the fortress, the commander caused his head to be cut off and fixed upon a pole. The same account also states that, notwithstanding the general carnage, five or six Muselmans made their escape to Buda; the rest were totally annihilated. The beglerbeg of Buda sent a report of this disastrous affair to the commander-in-chief, which reached him on the 29th of Shabán.

The wooden mortars or guns above alluded to were something in the form of a cannon—large mortars made of bronze, and surrounded by five or six iron rings on the outside. Each mortar had two ears of the same metal with itself, and the whole piece or apparatus was placed in a wooden frame or case about as large as a small mat or carpet (about the size of a hearthrug) and four or five fingers thick, and in which these ears were fixed. The point of the mortar was seen outside of the frame, and when it was charged with powder a circular plate was firmly fixed to its mouth by ropes or straps. These mortars were placed on two-wheeled carriages, which were provided with a long rod or pole behind them to prevent the wheels or carriage, when the mortars were discharged, from diverging from the proper line. Such were the instruments employed on the above occasion.

_The Moslems determine on attacking Warad._

When the winter season was nearly over, and the approach of spring at hand, Satúrjí Mohammed Páshá, who had taken up his winter quarters in Belgrade, and still retained the office of commander-in-chief, though in the last campaign he had accomplished nothing of importance, but permitted Yanuk to fall, and who seemed pleased with the apology which the Tátár khán thought proper to offer for his negligence, determined on renewing hostilities as soon as the season should permit. Accordingly every preparation necessary for the undertaking was seen to, and his camp was soon pitched in the plains of Belgrade. A great quantity of money and of troops were on this occasion ordered to be sent to him.

In a council held at Constantinople it was declared, by persons well acquainted with the state and condition of the frontiers, that the fortresses of Lipa, Yanwa, Warad, and Jena, in the jurisdiction of Temiswar, had been seized on by the enemy, and that if active measures were not timely adopted, Temiswar would most assuredly be wrested also from the Moslem grasp.

Whilst the council was employed in consulting about these matters, official documents were received from the commander-in-chief, which confirmed the statements before made. It was the opinion of the grand vezír, Jeráh Mohammed Páshá, that as the enemy was in possession of the districts about Yanuk and Osterghún, the commander-in-chief should direct his movements against the Transylvanians, who had, as before observed, invaded the jurisdiction of Temiswar. As the frontier fortresses in that quarter were all well furnished with men and provisions, he observed, it seemed most prudent on this account to make Transylvania the scene of the war. They all agreed that unless the Transylvanians were thoroughly chastised, it would be impossible to keep Valachia and Moldavia in a state of subjection. The royal mandate for commencing this war was issued and sent to the commander-in-chief, accompanied by a robe of honour. At the same time letters, and also money, according to ancient custom, were sent to the khán of the Tátárs, desiring him to assist the serdár with a Tátár army. The feudal tenantry in Turkey who held superiorities sold them, received double wages, and took their dependants. Five hundred yúks of money from the imperial coffers were sent along with the camp, and the above tenantry for the serdár. They departed from Constantinople for Belgrade in the beginning of Shabán, which happened to be his majesty’s birth-day. The camp of the serdár was erected on a hill called Khúnkár, in the plains of the last-mentioned city, on the 12th of Ramazán. On the 23rd of Shevál Válí Páshá, the beglerbeg of Romeili, who had wintered at Uskúb, joined the commander-in-chief’s camp at the above place. On the 14th of Dhu’l kada the serdár himself joined his army; and, after having had information as to the certainty of the Tátár khán’s approach, sent off couriers to the different cazís along the Danube, ordering them to have provisions in readiness.

After it had been fully resolved on to carry the war into Transylvania, a bridge was commenced on the 9th of Dhu’l hijja at a place or promontory on the Danube called _Táshluk Búrún_, somewhere below Belgrade, and which was completed in eighteen days, though it extended 1,850 cubits in length.

On the day the army began to cross over into the country of Transylvania the serdár received certain information that the Tátár khán with his army had reached Rusjuk. The provincial troops of Caramania and Merœsh, with their respective chiefs, who had been sent to garrison Buda, passed through the plains of Belgrade and followed the grand army into Transylvania. Towards the end of Dhu’l hijja the Moslem serdár or commander-in-chief joined his army, which halted in the plains of Petcheva; but we must defer relating the history of this war till we review the events of the following year.

_State of affairs in Bassra._

It was during this year that the hidden natural corruption and depravity of Seyid Mobárek manifested itself, and when thousands of detestable and wicked wretches joined in the rebellion which he was the means of exciting in the jurisdiction of Bassra, who committed every sort of devastation in the cities, towns, and villages throughout the provinces of Bassra and Lahsa, killing, destroying, and plundering where they were able. The government of Baghdád having been conferred on the celebrated vezír, Hasan Páshá, about the commencement of Ramazán, he was also appointed commander-in-chief over all the forces in Baghdád, Sheherzúl, and in all the places appertaining to them.

Some time before this appointment took place, however, the inhabitants, when they first became aware of the cruelties practised by these rebels, sent an embassy to the Sháh of Persia, beseeching him to send them succour to enable them to resist the encroachments of the rebels. Their request was complied with: he sent them three hundred Kizilbáshes under the command of three leaders, but who in fact became more terrible oppressors than the faction had been whom they came to repel. The cure was worse than the disease. A representation of this circumstance was communicated to the court of Constantinople, who about the end of Dhu’l hijja wrote expressly, and in the most peremptory manner, to the sháh in reference to these matters.

Among the appointments to office which took place when Jeráh entered on the premiership, the following may be mentioned. Jeghala Zádeh Sinán Páshá was created kapúdán or lord high admiral; and Khezr Páshá, from among the vezírs, was honoured with the government of Egypt. It belongs to this period to mention, also, that in consequence of the beglerbeg of Caramania having been employed with his provincial troops in the Hungarian wars, the country was in a great measure left naked and without protection. About three thousand insurgents took advantage of this, and collected together in the absence of the governor and his troops, and committed the most horrid excesses; but the inhabitants uniting together opposed them and slew the greater part of these reptiles.

But of all the remarkable events which had taken place during this period, the following is the most astonishing. It has been recorded by the pen of some one in a collection of facts, that on Friday the 18th of Rabia II., about mid-day, the lady of Bekerbeg, the beglerbeg of Shám Sheríf (the noble city of Damascus), a woman of high rank, called Ayesha, the daughter of a respectable officer in the army, was delivered, after only three months pregnancy, of two male children, and shortly after she brought forth twelve more, fully formed, but not living, female children; in all two males and twelve females. Such a phenomenon as this was is certainly not beyond the range of possibility; but physicians denominate such occurrence _an error in nature_.

EVENTS OF THE YEAR 1007, H.

_Account of the late expedition continued from last year._

We have already, in a former section, noticed the purport of this expedition, and left the grand army encamped in the plains of Petcheva. On the 25th of Dhu’l hijja of that year they reached Betchgarak, where they halted for some time.

About the middle of the thousand and seventh Moharrem (_i.e._ about the middle of the month Moharrem, 1007 of the Hijrah), Válí Páshá, beglerbeg of Romeili, died; and Mohammed Páshá, beglerbeg of Anatolia, who had been stationed at Usk, was appointed to succeed him, and immediately joined the grand army. Mohammed Páshá was succeeded at Usk by Súfí Sinán Páshá, beglerbeg of Agria; and he again was succeeded by Bektásh Páshá, governor of Solnuk.

At Betchgarak, a place rendered sacred by the death of the late beglerbeg of Romeili, the army remained full fifty-five days waiting for the arrival of the Tátár khán and his subsidiary troops.

During the stay of the grand army at this place, it happened that messengers arrived from Buda who informed the commander-in-chief that the fortress of Tata had been taken by the enemy, and immediately after this other messengers brought him intelligence from Alba Julia that Pulata was besieged. Without loss of time, therefore, and in the utmost haste, he issued orders to the troops of Semendria to march to Buda and strengthen that garrison.

In the meantime, information reached the Moslem camp that Ghází Gheráí Khán, with his Tátár troops had arrived in the neighbourhood; and on the 26th of Moharrem the khán joined the royal army with forty-five thousand men. The Moslem serdár, on his approach, went out with great pomp and shew, to meet his royal highness, and to perform the honours due to him, and which were usual on such occasions; he also prepared a splendid entertainment for him and his suite. The royal khán, in his turn, made a suitable acknowledgment to the serdár and to the other magnates of the Moslem camp. After the entertainment was over, the serdár conducted his royal highness to his pavilion, and returned to his own. He caused, however, another tent to be erected for the khán near his own, and one for his females; and provided them with every thing necessary for their accommodation and comfort. To each of one hundred of the khán’s mirzás a robe of honour was given: but to the royal auxiliary himself a splendid robe, an embroidered coat, two Agria horses, and a saddle and bridle richly ornamented with gold and precious gems were presented.

On the 27th, the commander-in-chief or serdár, the princes and commanders of regiments went to pay their respects to his royal highness, when a royal mandate which had been received from Constantinople was read in the presence of these august personages. After the mandate was read, the khán, the serdár, and the other dignitaries present, stood up, offered up a prayer, and then immediately entered into consultation as to the best means for accomplishing the object of the expedition. The question as to the route they should take formed one of the topics which occupied their minds on this important occasion. After a good deal of conversation on this subject, the chiefs of the borders observed, that there were three roads which penetrated Transylvania. The first led to the fortress of Lipovah; the second, to Sibish and Loghúsh; and the third, to Warad. His royal highness Ghází Gheráí observed, it would be most proper to go by the one which could be shown to be the most eligible for the transporting of cannon and heavy baggage, and on which they could most easily defend themselves in the event of being attacked. One of the most distinguished of the border leaders replied by saying: “Sire, the roads of Sibish and Loghúsh, and of Lipovah, are both difficult and dangerous, and afford no means of defence against the enemy should they be disposed to attack us. The road leading to Warad, on the contrary, is broad and open, and on this account, as well as others, it is the most preferable one: besides, it is the only one of the three in which we can most efficiently as well as conveniently, accomplish our object—the chastising of the Transylvanians.” “But,” said the khán, “will the infidels of Warad not endeavour to intercept or ensnare us? In the event of their attempting any of these expedients, is there no danger, and shall we not be obliged to relinquish our object? In the event of our succeeding in reducing it, can we keep possession of it after we have taken it?” He asked further, whether the reduction of the place would likely occupy much time. With the view of doing honour to the prowess of the serdár, it was replied, though falsely, that two or three pieces of ordnance were quite sufficient for the purpose of accomplishing the reduction of Warad; and that, afterwards, they could advance against Zighmund (probably the prince of Transylvania). This representation weighed with the council. Etmekjí Zádeh, the defterdár of the expedition, attended to every thing necessary for the attempt, and provided the army with apparatus for occupying the fortress.

In consequence, however, of the great length of time which had elapsed, since leaving Belgrade, including the fifty-five days they had to wait for the khán, the half of the season for carrying on hostilities was past, but still they were determined to do what they could. About the middle of the month Sefer, one Yúghen, an ághá of Temiswar, and one who was well acquainted with the roads, was appointed to conduct the Moslem army to Warad. They reached a fortress on the river Murish, called Jenad, before which they sat down and prepared for laying siege to it. After the firing of a few guns, however, its inhabitants and garrison became dismayed, abandoned it, and fled to the mountains and thickets adjacent. This fortress, of course, was immediately taken possession of, whilst the Tátár troops pursued the fugitives; killed some, and took most of the rest prisoners. One hundred and fifty of these vile wretches were brought to the door of the serdár’s tent, and there beheaded. Jenad was put under the jurisdiction of prince Ibrahím Shikshái, inspector of Belgrade.

From Jenad the army marched to a palanka called Dilagúsh, and thence proceeded to Arad, of which, finding it deserted by its inhabitants, they took possession.

Shortly after this, messengers arrived from the prince of Transylvania with letters to his highness, the khán of the Tátárs, requesting conditions of peace, or rather requesting the khán to intercede with the Ottoman emperor and endeavour to bring about a peace. About the same time also a great quantity of rain fell, which exceedingly annoyed the Moslem troops.

On the 9th of Sefer Mustafa Páshá, the beglerbeg of Erzerúm, joined the grand army with his provincials. On the 11th, the whole army crossed the Murish, but experienced the greatest difficulty in doing so. They marched along its banks for several stages, and stopped at a bridge near a deserted palanka, called Ordúbek. At length, after experiencing a thousand hardships in crossing rivers and passing through extensive marshes, they arrived in the plains of Warad on the 24th of the month, where they were joined by the beglerbeg of Wán, Yúsuf Páshá having previously been joined, whilst at Ordúbek, by the army of Gula. Two badlooshkas also, the one from Gula and the other from Temiswar, were sent to them. The Tátár khán, on the army’s leaving Jenad, took a different route with the intention of distressing and annoying the peasantry throughout the country, and joined the grand army again at Warad.

The fortress of Warad, before which the Moslem army took up its position on the 29th, was situate on the boundaries which separate Germany and Transylvania, was very strong, and surrounded by suburbs and villages. So very large and extensive a place was Warad that it could easily contain twenty thousand troops. Its gardens reached from the suburbs to Pest, and its country houses and other dwellings were no less extensive in number, it is conjectured, than the number which at that time were between Constantinople and the gardens of Dávud Páshá. It is impossible to describe accurately the whole of the gardens and orchards, and the multitude of the inhabitants of Warad. Some one or two years before the period we are now speaking of, a German army of several thousands took possession of it, and had it in subjection when the orthodox army, under the grand vezír and commander-in-chief Jeráh Mohammed Páshá, appeared before it. The suburbs and villages were inhabited by Hungarians.

_Warad besieged._

When the Tátár troops advanced to attack the suburbs of Warad, the inhabitants came boldly forth, and for a whole day and night fought with courage. But the Tátárs no sooner succeeded in setting fire to their dwellings than they retired, put their families into waggons, and tried to escape through their postern gates. The Tátárs pursued them with vigour, slew the grown-up, made the young prisoners, and returned with immense booty.

Immediately after these things, the khán of the Tátárs, and the serdár of the Moslems, and other great men in the army formed themselves into a council of war, and took into consideration whether they should proceed onwards and desolate the country, or stop where they then were and endeavor to vanquish the fortress of Warad. The whole council were unanimous in thinking the latter plan the most advisable. So important and so strong a place, and so very near the frontiers of the Ottoman dominions, and which at once formed a key to Germany and Transylvania, they unanimously considered ought not to be allowed to remain in the hands of the enemy, and they therefore determined at once on reducing it.

On the first of Rabia II., therefore, the army entered the suburbs, the houses of which were well-built and handsome, and instead of preparing themselves trenches, took possession of them. With the three pieces of ordnance which they had brought along with them, they began battering the fortress; but they found, when it was too late to rectify their mistake, they had commenced a work far beyond their strength, and one which they had not maturely considered. They discovered their rashness, but not in sufficient time to correct their mistake. The object of the expedition into the country, at the commencement of their operations, was to lay it waste, and therefore they did not encumber themselves with many cannon, that they might the more conveniently traverse the territories of Transylvania, and thoroughly chastise the inhabitants. They had no more cannon, therefore, than the three now mentioned: neither were they provided with any apparatus for carrying on a siege. This want they now began to feel when it could not be easily and speedily remedied; and to subdue a place of such great strength as Warad possessed, would require, they saw, an immense length of time. The serdár was most sensibly touched when he discovered his error, and was seriously affected by the mistake he had committed. He now began, though too late, to reflect, that this same fortress, in former days, had withstood, for the space of forty-five days, the utmost efforts of one of the earlier kings, without being vanquished. Seeing he had no chance of succeeding without a sufficient number of cannon, he wrote to Súfí Sinán Páshá, beglerbeg of Agria, to join his camp, and to forward without delay ten pieces of ordnance and other apparatus from the fortress of Agria. In consequence of remissness or fraud, however, this order was not complied with; or if complied with, was too late to be of any use to the besiegers. All the powder and ball which could be found in Gula and in the palankas round about, were expended without making any impression on Warad. Two mines were also sprung, but with no better effect.

The Tátárs, at this time, requested permission to range the country, and commit what devastation they could, but the serdár refused to give his consent; saying, he hoped to God they would yet take Warad, and they would afterwards proceed together. It happened also, in the mysterious providence of God, that for the space of forty days it rained successively, and the rain which thus fell ran in torrents through the plains and valleys. The ground everywhere round Warad became soft, and in several places marshes were formed. The ditches which the Janissaries had prepared were all filled with water and clay, and the Janissaries themselves were forced to retire to their tents. The whole of the army in these adverse circumstances became completely discouraged, particularly the officers. The stream which issued from the city swelled to such a degree as to become unpassable. In fact, it was at last impracticable to go from one tent to another. The winds also rose so awfully high as to tear away the very poles of the tents out of the ground, and the cattle sunk to their bellies in the mud. The troops also were for several days without meat, but this want was supplied by a great number of sheep which had been driven to the plains of Warad. The most of these sheep were sent thither by the peasants of Solnuk, and nearly filled the whole country round Warad. The cursed prince of Transylvania, they were also informed, had secured himself in inaccessible mountains.

The Moslem army were thus exposed to all the inclemency of the weather, and to every possible hardship, and distressed and annoyed by the water which ran in torrents through their camp. In short, all this accumulation of adverse circumstances completely overcame the spirit of the Moslem troops: they became totally heartless, and could do nothing. In the midst of all these indescribable distresses they were informed by messengers from Buda that no fewer than 80,000 of the enemy had attacked and destroyed Old Buda, and that at that very moment their large cannon were employed in battering Buda itself. They added, that if immediate aid were not afforded, Buda could not fail to fall into the enemy’s hands. They had heard at an earlier period of the same day on which this news was brought them, that a heavy body of the enemy had passed through Yanuk and Wáj, and had gone to Old Buda. The persons who brought the above intelligence maintained it was of no use to send one or two thousand men; it was absolutely necessary, they said, that the serdár should go in person with his whole army.

These sad and unwelcome messengers astonished and confounded the afflicted serdár and his suffering army by the intelligence they brought him. But his misfortunes were only increasing. The very adverse circumstances in which the Moslem army were placed, and the advance of the enemy against Buda, afforded a favourable opportunity to the treacherous Michael, of cursed memory, to cross the Danube, to attack the vezír Háfiz in Nicopolis, causing him to seek his safety in flight; and to commit the most dreadful depredations. This information became no sooner public, and its truth confirmed, than it increased, of course, the embarrassments of Satúrjí Mohammed Páshá, the commander-in-chief. But they had still to increase: Tata, Besperim, and Papa also fell into the hands of the hateful infidel enemy. These things were more than sufficient to confound all judgment. They were awful, terrible, and afflictive beyond expression: nevertheless, the serdár still bore up under all the misfortunes of the campaign. He determined, notwithstanding his perilous condition, to afford what aid he could to the quarter above mentioned. Yet in a council afterwards held, and in which the khán and the other magnates of the army were consulted, the difficulty of sending foot soldiers became quite apparent. Not only the distance but the difficulty which such troops would have to encounter in crossing rivers like seas, the Danube, and the Tise (Tibiscus), was clearly discerned to be beyond the power of any but horsemen to accomplish. It was therefore agreed that a party of some thousands of the Tátár rangers should be despatched without any further delay as far as Pest, where they were to spread a report that the khán and the serdár would soon appear with their respective troops, and afford them effectual aid. This measure, it was conjectured, would have the effect of strengthening such as had not fallen into the hands of their enemy, and of discouraging, if possible, the latter. The Tátár detachment proceeded.

In the meantime, the commander-in-chief was still looking in vain for the arrival of the cannon from Agria. But, alas! he was disappointed. Súfí Sinán Páshá arrived in the camp empty-handed. On being interrogated why he did not send the ten pieces of cannon as commanded, he returned for answer the senseless excuse, that no buffaloes could be had to transport them. It can easily be imagined what was the grief and affliction of the Moslem army, but it cannot be described. The whole of the provisions which they had been able to find in the vicinity of Warad was consumed, and the Tátárs were obliged to bring from a great distance to the camp what flour or grain they were able to find. A keil (measure) of barley was sold from three to five pieces of gold.

The serdár, it must be acknowledged, was the cause of the long delay of the Moslem army before Warad, and of course, at least in some degree, of the evils to which they had been subjected. We have already observed how he refused to allow the Tátárs to go on a predatory excursion through the country, saying he hoped God would give him the victory in a day or two. He was miserably mistaken in his hopes, and accomplished nothing; at least nothing good, as we have seen. The weather now became so very cold that the men could keep neither hands nor feet warm. Perceiving, therefore, that Warad was not to be subdued by the means which he possessed, and as he had caused it to be reported about Pest that he had raised the siege and had gone to Solnuk with the view of succouring Buda, the serdár began to retreat. In consequence, however, of the rivulets every where having swollen into rivers from the late rains, the páshá of Temiswar, Ismael Páshá, was instructed to advance and erect bridges for the army; but he did not erect even one; the army had therefore, in consequence of this neglect, to do the best they could. They crossed no fewer than twelve rivers, three of which, however, had bridges over them, of the above description, by means of rafts, and underwent immense difficulty and danger at every one which they crossed. Numberless poor animals perished in these waters, and the troops suffered most severely from the cold. The flour which they carried along with them was spoiled and caused disease among the men, and they were therefore obliged to throw it away. Their three pieces of ordnance they succeeded in getting across these rivers by means of strong ropes, and Khoja Murád Páshá, who was beglerbeg of Diárbeker, Mohammed Páshá, beglerbeg of Haleb, and Súfí Sinán Páshá, in order to encourage the troops, put their own necks into yokes, and helped to drag them onwards. The distance between Warad and Gula was about three days’ journey, but required twelve days on this occasion to accomplish it, during the whole of which time they suffered a thousand difficulties. Hundreds of men were left on the road by reason of the cold or hunger, or sunk into the mud.

The army was met by Iskander Beg, who was afterwards created páshá, and the ketkhodá of Teryákí, Hasan Páshá, in the plains of Gula, who confirmed the intelligence they formerly had received that Besperim, Polata, and Tata had fallen into the hands of the enemy, and earnestly requested the serdár to send off, as soon as possible, what succours he was able to the aid of those places which had been enabled still to hold out. The serdár gave him fine promises and sent him away next morning.

The army moved from Gula (Julia) to Solnuk. At both these places they were obliged to pay a piece of gold for a loaf of bread. They expected that at the latter place, where they halted a whole day, boats with provisions would have been waiting for them; but in this also they were grievously disappointed. When the troops saw that no boats with provisions had arrived by the river Tise (Tibiscus), they were roused into rage and commenced a tumult. Some of the Janissaries rushed upon the serdár’s tent and pulled it down about his head. Each of them had taken a piece of wood in his hand, with which they so belaboured the poor commander-in-chief that he lay half murdered. They broke his skull with their bludgeons and his arm with a stone, and afterwards commenced the work of spoliation in his kitchen. It is certain that if some of the other officers had not come to his assistance, they would have cut him to pieces. The tent of the treasurer, Etmekjí Zádeh, shared the same fate: it was not only thrown down but robbed, and he himself only escaped with his life, which was entirely owing to the intervention of some of their superiors. They now abandoned the idea of proceeding to Buda. Towards evening the serdár was seen stepping round the tents, and seemed as if afraid and ashamed to enter his own.

In consequence of all these disastrous events and distressing circumstances, the strong fortress of Buda was committed to God, and the Moslem army marched towards Segdin. Here they fortunately fell in with a number of boats loaded with provisions on the Tise, when a distribution of provisions immediately took place, which refreshed and recruited the much-weakened strength of the army, at least in some degree.

The accounts of the burning and destroying of the city or suburbs of Buda, and all the evils which befell its inhabitants, must be reserved to a future chapter. In the mean time, however, the unfortunate serdár, pressed down and grieved with the misfortunes which had befallen his orthodox army, became quite changed in his constitution. His soul was vexed within him: his body became poor and lean; and in this broken-down condition he retired to Belgrade. His royal highness, the khán of the Crimea, went to Sonbúr, and his troops went into winter-quarters in the sanják of Segdin. The beglerbeg of Romeili was sent with his provincials to the sanják of Petcheví. The Janissaries and other troops, after having been paid their arrears, were also sent into winter quarters. The money necessary for paying these arrears had to be borrowed from the rich men and merchants of Belgrade.

These arrangements were no sooner over than a very heavy fall of snow fell, and a most intense cold commenced.

Thus ended this unfortunate campaign. No advantage was gained, but much loss was sustained.

_Concerning the fall of Besperim, Polata, Tata, and the siege of Buda._

At the time it was first determined to carry the war into Transylvania, the five thousand cavalry and the twelve thousand foot soldiers, sent last year from Europe to Maximilian, the commander-in-chief of the infidels, and an army of more than sixty thousand foot and horse soldiers, composed of Germans, Hungarians, and other nations, under Maximilian’s brother, the archduke Mathias, assembled near Yanuk, and resolved on aiding and supporting the prince of Transylvania. When the Moslem serdár, however, laid siege to Warad, as before mentioned, the prince of Transylvania retired to the mountains, and there fortified himself among inaccessible rocks. On this account the imperial troops were not so necessary, at least such a powerful augmentation as that above alluded to; therefore when the enemy perceived that Buda was left in a defenceless state in consequence of the expedition which had entered Transylvania, they immediately marched against that place. This was the most proper time, said they to themselves, to endeavour to take Buda; and though they should not happen to be successful in the attempt, yet they would at least effect a manœuvre in favour of Warad, and thus save it from the grasp of the Moslems, who had now commenced laying siege to it.

These mighty hosts of the enemy on their way to Buda reduced the fortresses of Besperim, Polata, Papa, and Tata, all of them places of strength which belonged to the Ottoman empire; and in Rabia II. they encamped before Old Buda with more than forty pieces of ordnance and other apparatus of war. The greater number of the enemy’s troops was transported thence in boats on the Danube to Buda itself, to which they laid siege in this same month. After a few days of hostile operation they laid the walls of the city even with the ground. When they had accomplished this they commenced attacking the citadel both from the land and water at the same time. On the seventh day of the siege the bloody contest was renewed at sun-rise, and continued till the going down of the same. The beglerbeg of Merœsh, Sinán Páshá, and the ex-beglerbeg of Papa, Semender Páshá, who had come from Alba Julia to aid the Budians; these two heroes from among the besieged died martyrs on this day of unparalleled cruelty and blood. Teryákí Hasan Páshá, governor of Bosnia, and Mohammed Beg, beg of Semendria, were wounded; and many others whose days were numbered fell by the hands of these infidels.

This numerous host of vile idolators continued their attacks unremittingly, and maintained a continual brisk fire, which so completely annoyed the besieged that they found themselves necessitated to give way and retire from the city, and seek shelter in the inner fortress. This movement they accomplished during the night season, but by doing so they left the city entirely naked and defenceless. The following morning the infidels occupied the vacant city, and with all imaginable speed erected their forty pieces of heavy ordnance on batteries against the inner fortress, and commenced directing more than one thousand shots per day against it, besides the springing of numerous mines. Night and day this machinery was employed without interruption, and every other effort they could devise, in trying to reduce the inner fortress. The besieged, however, held out manfully. The place had been previously strengthened and put in a condition of defence; but they sent off one messenger after another with letters to the serdár and to the khán, when lying before Warad, calling on them to come to their aid; and assuring them if they did not come, Buda would fall a prey to the enemy. But the serdár was unable to afford them the relief they required. With part of their forces they lay before Warad, and the rest had scattered themselves through the country. However, the khán sent them a chosen body of about seven thousand Tátárs under the command of Shubá Mirzá. These were soon followed by Bektásh Páshá, governor of Agria, with his Agrian troops; and these again by two Tátár sultáns, with twenty thousand Tátár troops, which his royal highness had succeeded in collecting for the same purpose. Kalkái Selámet Gheráí, the brother of the khán, who had just at that time returned from a plundering excursion, was likewise sent forward to Buda with the party under his command, and which amounted to several thousands. The beglerbeg of Buda, Mikaeljelí Ahmed Páshá, succeeded to the beglerbegship of Sinán Páshá, who perished in the siege of the city as before observed; and Soleimán Páshá, the beglerbeg of Temiswar, who was at that time in the Moslem camp along with the serdár, succeeded to the beglerbegship of Buda. This last, and a few hundred chosen veterans, besides seven Sanjak begs, set out for Buda, which, by the time they had reached it, had been forty days exposed to the efforts of the infidels. It was the opinion of the acting commander-in-chief in Buda, Ahmed Páshá, that it would be impossible for them to maintain Buda, and, at the same time, protect Pest; he recommended, therefore, that the garrison and people in Pest should join the besieged in Buda.

Whilst this imprudent project was in contemplation, the beg of Solnuk, commonly called the _Earless_ Osmán Beg, a chief who had formerly manifested a variety of heroic deeds at Timúr-kapú, reached Buda with a valiant band of borderers from Solnuk in sufficient time to frustrate the proposed project. Taking some of the men of Pest along with him, he hastened towards Buda; forwarded a number of cannon; the other troops formerly mentioned joined him: and, on his appearing with this accumulated army before the citadel of Buda, the troops within it were encouraged to come forth and receive their deliverers. All these together formed a very considerable army, and were now in a condition to cope with their enemies. Accordingly they were not long in employing the force they had thus mustered, and with one consent attacked their bitter foe with such vigour and resolution that they soon forced them to raise the siege and to retire. Before they were expelled the city, however, they burned and destroyed its temples and mosques, large buildings, and public streets; and then withdrew to the valley of Wáj.

Thus, God Almighty saved the fortress of Buda from the hand of malice and injustice.

_Khádem Háfiz Ahmed Páshá routed at Nicopolis by the odious Michael._

Háfiz Ahmed Páshá having been appointed to guard the banks of the Danube, made Widin his head-quarters. Ramazán Zádeh, the governor of Adna, who had been appointed along with him to the same service, removed from Widin in Rabia II. of this same year, and went along with a number of Sanjak begs towards Rusjuk and Selistria, places within the jurisdiction allotted to them, but stopped at a place not far from Nicopolis, called the plains of Sinadin.

When the odious and hateful Michael had learned that an expedition had been sent into Transylvania, he feigned to have repented of all his wicked deeds, and retired from public view. But he no sooner heard of the fate of that expedition than he again began to exercise his cunning to the prejudice of the Osmánlís. Accordingly, he sent a messenger, a despicable wretch called Dimoo, to crave in the most humble and abject manner conditions of peace from Háfiz Páshá. The deceitful messenger had no sooner found access to the Páshá, and told the purport of his errand, than he granted permission to the odious wretch Michael to come and prostrate himself before him.

On that same day, the Páshá was employed in fitting up and adorning his tents on the banks of the Danube, but ordered a boat to be held in readiness for conveying Michael across when he arrived. Soon after the deception had thus far succeeded, a number of waggons covered over with scarlet cloth appeared at some little distance from the Páshá’s camp, which the fraudulent messenger when interrogated concerning them said were waggons conveying presents and treasures to the Páshá.