Chapter VII: Part 7

The conqueror of Nígíssár, Melek Ghází, of the Dánishmend family, is buried near the castle gate. God’s mercy be upon him! Chevregí-boyúk Sultán lies near the great mosque, beneath a cupola. We left this town and advanced towards the east, through mountains and forests. After six hours march we reached Kariebásh Chiftlik, the frontier of Sivás, here bordering the governorships of Erzerúm, with two hundred Armenian houses, and a ziamet. The next day, as soon as we trod the ground of Erzerúm, we offered up a sacrifice of two hundred and seven camels, and the inhabitants of Erzerúm, with the Kiaya of the Chaúshes, the Defter-Emíní, the Chaúshlar-Emíní, the Timár Defterdárí, and other gentlemen of the Diván at their head, came to meet us with presents.

_The Governorship of Erzerúm or Erzenrúm._

It is situated in Azerbeíján and Armenia, and, according to some, erected by Núrshiván; but the truth is that it was by Erzenbaí Ben Softár Ben Kúndúz, of the dynasty of the White Sheep, whose ancestors had come from Mahán, and built the castle of Akhlát, on the borders of the lake Wán; they are all buried at Akhlát, and the ancestors of the Ottomans, Ertoghrúl and Súleimán, derive their lineage from them. Uzún Hassan, having become master of Azerbeiján, built the castle called Hassan, after his name, at Erzerúm. Envious of the conquest of Constantinople by Mohammed II., he began to trespass on the frontiers, and to violate the peace. Mohammed II., in defiance of him, conquered Trebisonde, and defeated him with twenty thousand men in the field of Terjeán. With great difficulty we traversed the rude pass of Iskefser, and in three hours we reached Shákhna, an Armenian village of two hundred houses, where the Armenian girls are wonderfully pretty. From Constantinople to this place we had constantly ascended towards the east, and all the rivers were flowing from that direction towards us; this will show on what high ground Erzerúm is situated. From Shákhna we crossed the Governorship of Erzerúm, which was our allotted province, in different directions to the south, north, east, and west, and shall now describe the stations of these our excursions.

Tekine is a village in the jurisdiction of Iskefser, with one hundred houses, a ziámet. Five hours further on is the village of Chádár, of one hundred houses, in the jurisdiction of Koilí. The castle of Koilí was built by Usún Hassan, from fear of Mohammed II.; it belongs to the sanjak Shuban Kara Hissár, in the province of Erzerúm; it is situated on a high rock, and is one thousand three hundred paces in circumference. Inside are one hundred houses and magazines, an iron gate opens to the west; it has a commander and seventy men; the suburb outside consists of one hundred houses, a mosque and some shops. The castle saluted us with seventeen guns, and the inhabitants met us with presents; they slaughtered ten sheep as a sacrifice, for which they received ten ducats. Two stations north of this village, on the shore of the Black Sea, is Baihssa-bazárí, which a man on foot may reach in one day. In the reign of Ahmed I. the Cossacks of Oczakov pillaged this place: the environs being gardens and flowery meadows are extremely favourable to bees, and the honey of Koilí-hissár, scented with musk and ambergris, is famous; the inhabitants are a turbulent set of people. We descended a deep precipice, and after seven hours reached the village of Doirán. The river here issues from the mountains of Kerkúk, is joined by several streams from the mountains of Koilí-hissár, and below Chehárshenbe by the river of that name, which passes Amasia. The Kerkúk is an excellent freshwater river. The village of Doirán, situated on its banks, in the valley of Akshár, consists of one hundred houses. We now went towards the east four hours, to Anderes on the frontier of Shuban Kara-hissár, in the valley of Akshár, a village of one hundred houses. Having marched two hours towards the east, we reached the Chiftlik of Tabán Ahmed Agha, where the Páshá was presented with an Arabian horse, and with twenty horses for his suite, three thousand sheep, seven strings of camels, seven of mules, and ten purses; it was a great festival, worthy of the Ottoman court itself. In recompense for this great festival, the giver of it, Ahmed Agha, was imprisoned in the Kiaya’s room, and bought his life by the payment of forty purses and seventy camels, by which opportunity I also got a horse. Two hours further on lies the village of Ezbeder, in the territory of Shuban Kara-hissár, an Armenian village surrounded with gardens. Four hours further we reached the valley of Tilismát Za’aba; the torrent of Tilismát Za’aba issues from the neighbouring mountains, and falls into the river Akhlát; there are one hundred houses here built upon rocky ground; the subjects here are all Armenians. A cave is still shown in which there was formerly a treasure, guarded by two swords, which were continually moving up and down, a mast has many times been put beneath them and instantly cut through; a magician has since got possession of the treasure, but the cave still remains to be seen. There is, besides, another talisman somewhere hereabout, but I have not seen it. Five hours from hence is the village Yakúb, on the frontier of Shuban Kara; three hours further on, that of Korkún Kiassí, and in one hour more, the village of Barú; after which we came through the pass of Tekmán, which is closed by the winter for seven or eight months. After having got through it with much difficulty, we reached Kázíoghlíkoí, an Armenian village. Four hours further is the castle of Shírán, on the frontier of Shuban Kara; in four hours the village of Kara Jalar; in five hours the village of Sáríchalar, inhabited by Moslíms and Armenians; in eight hours the village of Sálút, the pass of which we traversed with considerable trouble, and for the space of five hours were crossing the great plain of Kerkúk. At the end of this plain is the village of Genj Mohammed Agha, with two hundred houses and a mosque, on the frontier of the district of Shuban Kara-hissár; five hours to the east is the village of Keremlí, inhabited by Moslíms and Armenians; opposite to it, on a hill, lies the Castle of Dermerí, built in the reign of Sultán Ahmed from fear of the rebels; it is a small castle with a gate to the north, without commander and garrison. Here the Páshá made an excursion (Ilghár), with three hundred horsemen, and we arrived, at the end of twelve hours, at Chághir Kánlí Sultán, who was a great Sheikh in the time of Sultán Mohammed II. His tomb is adorned with several lamps (chirághdán), candelabras (shemidán), censers (búkhúrdán), and vases for sprinkling rose-water (gulábdán). It is a reverential place, where prayers are put up to Heaven. I visited it, and read the Súra Yass there; through the sanctity of this saint the country abounds with cattle. Two Chiftliks are exempted by Imperial diploma from all taxes; the village consists of three hundred houses, with a mosque and a convent, the dervishes of which go bareheaded and barefooted, and wear their hair long. The people carry wooden clubs in their hands, some of them crooked sticks (litúi). They all came to wait on the Páshá, and to exhibit the grants of their foundation. The Páshá asked from whence they dated their immunity, and they invited him to visit their place of devotion (Sema’ákháneh). We followed them to a large place where a great fire was lighted of more than forty waggon-loads of wood, and forty victims sacrificed. They assigned a place for the Páshá at a distance from the fire, and began to dance round it, playing their drums and flutes, and crying “Hú!” and “Allah!” This circular motion being continued for an hour, about an hundred of these dervishes naked, took their children by the hand, and entered the fire, the flames of which towered like the pile of Nimrod, crying “O all constant! O all vivifying!” At the end of half an hour, they came out of the fire, without the least hurt except the singeing of their hair and beards, some of them retiring to their cells, instead of coming before the Páshá, who remained much astonished. They then gave a feast to the Páshá, which was even greater than Ahmed Tabán’s feast. It was surprising that they were enabled to prepare such a feast in so short a time, as the Páshá had arrived suddenly, and by a by-road. The Páshá confirmed their immunities, and gave them a present of one hundred ducats. In sixteen hours more we came to the plain of Terján. The mosque of Sultán Hassan is a praiseworthy monument of Uzún Hassan, but ít stands alone here. Uzún Hassan, who liked the situation, intended to build a town here bearing his name, but Sultán Mohammed II. destroyed all his projects by the famous battle, which was fought on this plain; it was a scene of great slaughter, even now the peasants find bones and hidden treasures when ploughing the field. We crossed this plain hastily, and in eight hours reached the village, where the Kiaya of the Chaúshes had provided a great feast for the Páshá, and presented him with five horses, five purses, and three Georgian slaves. At the end of five hours we reached the village of Púlúr, and in four hours that of Terjánlí Alí Agha, an Armenian village of three hundred houses, a mosque and a bath. Alí Agha gave a grand repast here, accompanied with a present of ten horses, ten purses, ten strings of camels, and five of mules. We went from hence nine hours further, to the village of Mama Khatún, in the district of Erzerúm, consisting of one hundred Mussulman houses; it is a free ziámet.

_Pilgrimage of Mama Khatún._

This lady is buried beneath a cupola, at the foot of a rock; she was the daughter of one of the Princes of the Aúk Koyúnlí, and lies buried here with all her children, but without any keeper attached to her mausoleum, she is buried in a marble coffin; near it is a mosque and a bath. Six hours further is the village of Habs, at the western end of the plain of Erzerúm; it consists of one hundred and fifty Armenian houses. All the principal men of Erzerúm came to this place with presents to meet the Páshá’s Diván. We proceeded with a large retinue for the space of five hours, to the hot-bath, which is also situated at the western end of the plain of Erzerúm, and where every year some person or other is drowned. It is a very useful bath, but too warm to be used without a mixture of cold water. Some of the former princes have built a dressing-room here (jámeghán), and a basin (havúz): the climate is pleasant. The Motesellem Mustafa Agha, here presented the Páshá with an Arabian racehorse, caparisoned with jewels, a sable pelisse, a quiver, and a sword set with jewels, a dagger and a girdle, and ten racehorses, mounted by ten Georgian boys, all armed. His three hundred and seventy slaves were clad in showy dresses, like so many waiting youths in Paradise. He gave also to me, poor Evliyá, a sable fur, some cloth, and one hundred piastres, because I had been master to his son for some time. Our arrival at this hot-bath was exactly the seventieth journey we had made since we left Constantinople, and an entrance in grand procession was organized, which outrivalled in brilliancy those of the greatest Vezírs. Indeed, the Páshá was a Commander-in-Chief (Serdár), who by Imperial rescript (Khattí Sheríf) was allowed even to use the Túghra, or cypher of the Sultán. The troops of Erzerúm paraded on both sides of the way from this hot bath, which is six hours distance from Erzerúm, up to the gates of the town; with cuirasses and casques, bearing long lances, their horses being adorned with knots of sea-horses’ bristles, and various other trappings. The Páshá was surrounded by eight body-guards (Shátir), who wore golden caps on their heads, carried battle-axes in their hands, had golden girdles, and splendid caftáns, walking like the peacocks of Paradise. On the right and left of the Páshá walked the Matarají-bashí (keeper of the leaden bottle, which contains the water for purification), and the Tufenkjí-bashí, or head of the fuzileers, bearing a water-bottle set with jewels, and muskets of costly workmanship. The Páshá passed between two lines, greeting both sides, and the people returned his salute. Four hundred Ulemás all clad in armour were headed by the Imám, and I, poor Evliya, as Múëzzin. Behind us followed the treasurer and the standard-bearer, with the eightfold Turkish music. The Tátár troops, the Muteferrika, the chamberlains, passed, all clad in armour. As soon as the procession drew near Erzerúm, the fortress began to salute by firing the great guns from the highest tower, called Kessik Kala’á, as a selám aleikum, after which the Janissaries fired the guns of the inner castle, and so continued during the procession. But when the Páshá himself entered the gate of Erzenján, the six hundred and seventy guns, which compose the artillery of the fortress, were all discharged at once, and the skies were rent and the earth trembled. Seven regiments of Janissaries lined the way from the gates of the town to the gates of the palace, ready to salute the Páshá, who, as soon as he had entered the palace, was saluted once more by a general discharge of the artillery on the walls. Many hundred victims were sacrificed, and a splendid repast equal to that of Mádí Kerb followed. After dinner the music played, and a diván was held, wherein, after the decision of many lawsuits, the twenty-seven Aghas of the castle, those of the Janissaries, artillerymen, armourers, &c., were invested with seventy brilliant robes of honour, and Molla Chelebí Efendí, the relation of Emír Bokhara, with a green sable pelisse. I received a caftán in my degree of clerk of the custom-house. The governor then most graciously assigned me a lodging in the palace built by Tekelí Mustafa Páshá, where I lived quietly, sometimes keeping company with the Governor, and at others discharging the functions of clerk of the custom-house. I had full opportunity of acquiring the most perfect knowledge of the state of Erzerúm, as I was allowed to see all the kanúns, registers, and protocols.

_Description of the Fortress of Erzerúm._

It was wrested out of the hands of Kara Yússúf, the son of Uzún Hassan, by Sultán Mohammed II. The khass of the Vezír is fixed at one million, two hundred and fourteen thousand six hundred aspers; the whole province is divided into twelve sanjaks. The officers are a Defterdár of the treasury, a Kiaya of the Defterdár of the Timárs, a Kiaya and Inspector of the Chaúshes, an Alaï-Beg, and a Cherí-bashí. The sanjaks are as follows:—Kara-hissár, Akií, Pássin, Siper, Hassan, Melázgerd, Tekmán, Kúrúján, Túrtúm, Mujtekerd, Mámreván, and Erzerúm. The khass of the Defterdár of the treasury amounts to one million and fifty-two thousand nine hundred aspers; that of the kiaya of the fiefs to fifty thousand, and that of the Defterdár of the fiefs to twenty thousand two hundred. There are fifty-six ziamets, and two thousand two hundred and nineteen timárs; the feudal militia number five thousand two hundred and seventy-nine swords, and the Jebellís, in time of war, twelve thousand men, besides two thousand men who are furnished by the khass of the Páshá. The soldiers of Erzerúm are stout, brave fellows. The judge is a Molla, with a revenue of five hundred aspers, with three subordinate Naíbs or Vicars. An Agha of the Janissaries, an Agha of the artillerymen, and one of the armourers, who are all in the interior fortress. Abasa Páshá, the famous rebel, one night surprised this fortress, and put the whole garrison of Janissaries to the sword, except the Agha, who was absent that night by accident, and consequently escaped. Abaza remained in rebellious possession of it for ten years, in defiance of seven Vezírs, who marched against him with the power of absolute command, such as Cherkess Mohammed Dishlín Hossein Páshá, Timúr Kázík Khalíl Páshá, &c. but owing to the strength of the fortress, they were unable to reduce the rebel, until Khosrew Páshá assumed the command; he took Abaza prisoner, and carried him with him into the presence of Sultán Murád IV. He obtained a general pardon, and was first made Governor of Bosnia, afterwards of Bude, and finally of Ozakov, which he retained up to the time of the expedition against Eriván. The troops rebelling at that moment, called loudly for Abaza Páshá, which, coming to the ears of the Sultán, he ordered him to be killed, and buried in the tomb of Murád Páshá, near the market of the ink-makers. He escaped, however, and wandered for some time in Arabia and Persia, re-appearing at Erzerúm the same year that we came there. I saw his blood even before my own door, because Silihdár Súleimán Páshá cut his head off on the arrival of our Motessellím, or Páshá’s substitute. Since the rebellion of Abaza, the greatest attention has been paid to this important post by the government; it has been strengthened by an immense artillery, and six companies, so that the whole garrison amounts to two thousand five hundred men, a commander of the castle, Dizdár, and twelve Aghas. In the inner castle are one hundred and eighty cannons, and at the gate of Tabríz, in the centre of the two fortresses, are twelve large cannons, placed there by Murád IV. The fortress is situated at a gun’s shot from Mount Egerlí; on the north and north-west extends the plain of Erzerúm, two miles square, a fertile flowery field, covered with villages.

_Description of the great river Euphrates._

The great river Euphrates flows through the middle of the plain of Erzerúm. Its source is at the bottom of the pilgrimage of Dúmlibaba, on the east side of Georgia; it flows towards the west, causing in its way many marshes and canals, passes before the village of Kián, the castle of Kemáni, through the Yaila of a thousand lakes, inhabited by the Curds Izúlí, joins the Murád (the name of which it assumes), and passes like a sea in the neighbourhood of Malatia to Samosat, Kala’aí Rúm, Birejík, the bridge Búmbúja, Bálissa, Ja’aber, Rakie, Rahbie, Karkessia, Ania, Hita, Ebyár, Takúk, Helle, and Kúfa; it is joined at Kaverna by the Shatt-ul-arab (Tigris), and thus becomes an immensely large river, which is ascended by Indian ships from Bassra; the whole extent, with all its windings, is four hundred farsangs; it passes four hundred towns and villages. In the plain of Erzerúm its water is very sweet and palatable, well worth being recorded in the Korán by the verse:—“And we gave you to drink of the water of the Euphrates.” Besides the Euphrates no less than seventy-two rivers descend from the mountains of Erzerúm and Diárbekr. Makrisí says, that the Tigris and Euphrates were dug out by Daniel with the assistance of Angels. The Tigris is the Shatt, which rises east of Diárbekr, between Torjíl and Miafarekein, receives an infinite number of springs, and goes to Hossní Kaifa and Mossul. This river unites the upper and lower Zarb, and becomes a tremendous and roaring stream which is called the mad Zarb. It was of the river Euphrates that the prophet is reported to have said:—“O inhabitants of Cufa, your river Euphrates takes up two channels of Paradise.” Imám Ja’afer is reported to have said in praise of this river:—“If the inhabitants of Irák and Rúm were acquainted with all the excellent qualities of the Euphrates, they would build a wall on each side of it. Whoever bathes therein three times, may be certain of being cured of many diseases.” Another tradition on the Euphrates is reported by Abúhoreirí, as follows:—“The last day shall not arrive till the Euphrates flows not from a mountain of gold, on which men are killing each other; ninety-nine shall be killed out of each hundred, and yet every one shall say, ‘perhaps it is I who may be saved.’” The Euphrates and Orontis (A’assí), are the only two rivers which touch the frontier of the Holy Land. The Euphrates freezes in the winter so that during two months many caravans cross it, but it never freezes south of Erzerúm; it is a sweet clear water, and a great comfort to the inhabitants of Erzerúm, though they have the spring, called the Source of Paradise, within their walls.

_Of the Form and Size of the Fortress of Erzerúm._

It consists of two castles of a square form, the distance between the two walls is seventy paces; the ditch is eighty paces broad, and twenty deep, but, on the side of the Gurjí and Erzenján gates, the ditch is not so deep: the whole circumference is eighty thousand paces, and it has three gates, that to the west is the gate of Erzenján, where the ditch is crossed by a bridge; the second to the east, and the third to the north, are likewise entered by crossing bridges. The first, which is the Georgian gate (Gúrji), is double, like that of Erzenján; but that of Tabríz, as it is close to the walls of the inner castle, is only a single one. The guns are all pointed towards the quarters of the town Dáragháj and Gumishlí Kunbed. Within the outer castle is an immense tower reaching to the skies, known by the name of Kessik Kulle, on the top of which is a high wooden Koshk; as it is one hundred cubits high, ten guns pointed from thence in all directions, intercept even the flight of birds. The height of the wall of the inner castle is seventy cubits; the other walls are but from forty to fifty cubits high; there are two hundred and ten strong towers, and two thousand and eighty battlements round the castle, and seventeen hundred houses, all covered with earth (_terrasses_) in the ancient style, so also are all the villages which I saw in the whole government of Erzerúm.

_Praise of the Palaces of Erzerúm._

The palace of the Páshá has no less than one hundred and ten rooms of various sizes, for the Diván and Koshks; of the last, the two finest are those of Tayár Páshá, and of Benlí Páshá, with a bath and a fine fountain. On the outside, above the stables, are the rooms for the watchmen; the court-yard is a spacious place where they play the jeríd. It has two gates, one is that of the Diván, opening on the great road, the other is a secret gate, always kept shut. Erzerúm contains seventy quarters of Moslíms, and seven of Infidels. There are no Armenians, Copts, or Jews; if any make their appearance they run the risk of being killed. In the quarter called the Source of Paradise the houses are built of stone; most of them are only one story high, because the air is sharp and the winter severe. It has been known to snow here for ten or eleven months in the year, which is the reason that the greatest part of the houses are built of one story, like a bath, with windows, and a felt door on the top.

_Of the Mosques._

There are seventy-seven mihrábs; the oldest is the great mosque inside the gate of Tabríz, with a minareh in the ancient style, built by the Princes of the Akche Koyúnlí, two hundred feet square. The mimber and mihráb are also in the ancient style; it is supported by two hundred columns of fir-tree, and the cupola is also of wood; on one side of the mosque the biscuit for the garrison of Eriván is kept. On the east side of this mosque, close to the wall, is an old college with two minarehs; some say that they were built by the Princes of the Akche Koyúnlí, while others ascribe them to Uzún Hassán; in short, it is an old prayer-place, which has been cruelly damaged in the different sieges of Erzerúm, and never been repaired because it was never endowed. Within the gates of Tabríz are two tall minarehs, the shining porcelain of which dazzles the eyes of beholders; tumblers exhibit their skill on ropes extended between these two high minarehs. Sultán Murad IV. converted the ruined mosque into a cannon foundry. God grant it may be repaired! The mosque of Lále Mustafa Páshá, before the gate of the Seraï on the great road, built by the grand Vezír of Sultán Súleimán. Its cupola is built in the style of those of Constantinople, eighty feet square, and covered with lead. Its mihráb, mimber, and mahfíl are very simple. Outside is a stone bench, but the courtyard is narrow. It is the work of the great architect Sinán. Its sheikh is Wání Efendí, one of the most learned divines, and famed commentators, a second Na’amán, an eloquent man, whose renown is spread all over the empire; its Imám is a high-minded priest, who knows the whole Korán by heart, whose reading plunges those who listen into the depths of meditation. He is a most perfect musician, and is called the Imám of the Janissaries; and if the Muëzzin, a second Belál (the Prophet’s Muëzzin) ascends the minareh, and proclaims with David’s voice Mahommed’s shout, “God is great, God is great,” all hearers begin to tremble, every person leaves his business or repast, and hastens to the mosque. All the inhabitants of Erzerúm are devout, pious men. Ja’afer Efendi’s mosque is a pleasing new built mosque, with a high cupola and gate, a courtyard and a spouting fountain; the windows are guarded with iron gratings. In the inner castle is an old mosque much frequented. Outside of the gate of Erzenján is the Páshá’s mosque, covered with lead, and outside of the gate of Tabríz, on the edge of the ditch, is the mosque of Mohammed Páshá, with one minareh, and with a terrace. Besides these great mosques (Jami’í), there are also seventy-seven mesjíds, one hundred and ten schools for boys, convents, and houses for reading the Korán.

_Fountains._

On the market-place, is the Source of Paradise, Jennet-bunár; and outside of the gate of Erzenján is the Camel fountain; on the fountain of Mustafa Páshá on the edge of the ditch, outside the gate of Tabríz is this inscription from the Korán saying:—“there are flowing fountains in it (Paradise).” There are seventy Se-bílkháneh, or places where water is distributed.

_Of the Baths, Kháns, Market-places and Markets._

The most elegant bath is that of Ja’afer Efendí, there are seventy kháns, some of them for Caravans (Caravanseraï); some for merchants (Kháns, _par excellence_); some for unmarried workmen (barracks); of the latter there are ten, where foreign workmen find accommodation. The Bezestán has eight hundred shops, four gates and a stone cupola. The markets of the saddlers, goldsmiths, button-makers and tailors are very elegant. The mint is near the gate of Erzenján.

_Of the Inhabitants, Climate, Products, &c._

The inhabitants are all Turkomans and Armenian kurds, of lively complexion, middle size, stout, strong in youth, and vigorous in old age. From ten to twenty-five years of age they are extremely fine, but after that they quickly become hairy men, good natured and brave. The principal men dress in sable furs, the Ulemás in ferrájís of cloth and caftáns of Bogassin; the workmen wear abbas, and sometimes a caftán of Bogassin. During three months the air is mild and pleasant; the water is sweet and extremely wholesome for the women; whoever drinks of the spring called the Source of Paradise in the summer, understands in its full sense, the verse of the Korán, “Water vivifies all things.” Seeds ripen here in sixty days, and bring forth fruit from eighty to one hundred fold; there are seven sorts of corn, one of which is as white as camel’s teeth. The workmanship of the tailors and goldsmiths is very skilful. They make two kinds of pies here, one of chicken and the other of a sort of vegetable called Cheresh; white and excellent pastry (Chorek), white bread called Koláj, and meat roasted on stoves, &c. Their beverages are Sherbet of Ribbes, and excellent Búza.

The walks are the place of the Jeríd; at the mills in the meadow; the place of Gumishlí Kunbed (the silver vault), and the Convent of Abd-ur-rahman Ghází.

_Genealogies of Erzerúm._

Outside of the gates of the fortress on the east, west and north sides, is the suburb, inhabited by more than thirty thousand Rayas; on the south side, from the gate of Tabríz to that of Erzenján a wall has been begun, had it been finished, it would have made Erzerúm an amazingly strong fortress. Between this wall and the castle is the suburb divided into seven quarters. The suburb of the Tabríz gate extends from the quarters of Dáragách, and that of Dúlúkler to Gumishlí Kunbed. The suburb of the Georgians on the north side, is the quarter of the rich merchants; here is the custom-house where I was employed as clerk: round it are the houses of Persian, Indian, and Chinese merchants, next to the custom-houses of Constantinople and Smyrna, that of Erzerúm is the most busy. The suburb of Erzenján extends, on the eastern side of the castle-gate, from the Camel fountain to the mill of Alí. This suburb being mostly inhabited by Armenians, there are thirteen churches here. The Infidels wear variegated turbans, and blue coats, and the lower classes wear felt, with coarse shoes called Chárk; their women wrap white sheets round their heads, and the Musselmán women wear pointed caps of gold and silver stuff, velvet trowsers and yellow boots: they are extremely pretty, their teeth as well arranged as their words; with their beautiful hair, dragging a thousand lovers after them as slaves. The men are long-lived, in society may be found many men past seventy years of age, with full use of all their faculties. They generally speak a peculiar dialect, but their divines and poets speak with great eloquence, and their story-tellers delight intelligent people by their tales of Hamza, and by Chinese shades. There are also many Santons and holy men, of whom Allahán-dede was famous for his uxoriousness. Though the air of Erzerúm is cold, yet its vegetables are abundant, its soil being extremely fertile, and blessed with productions of all kind, which makes Erzerúm one of the cheapest places in the world. Though Erzerúm has neither gardens nor vineyards, yet it is famed for roses; some winter apples and pears are the only fruits which are found here. Plane-trees and willows are in abundance in all the walks and in the rose-gardens; on account of their long winter and short summer, the sowing and harvest is over in two months. At the time I was at Erzerúm there happened, in the month of July, when the horses were out at grass, such a storm of lightning, thunder, hail and snow, that all the horses broke away and ran half mad to the neighbouring villages. The length and severity of the winter here is explained by the following tale. They asked a Dervish “from whence he came?” he said, “from the snow of Divine Mercy;” they asked, “what was the name of the place;” “Erzerúm,” said the Dervish, which may be spelled Erezolúm (cruel to man); they continued to ask “whether he had seen any summer there.” The Dervish said, “By God, I remained there eleven months and nine and twenty days, the people said that summer was coming, but I did not see it. It happened, however, that a cat, which ran over the roofs of the houses, became froze there while in the act of running, and remained so for the space of nine months, when the spring arriving, the cat began to thaw, cried ‘Miaú!’ and fell down.” This tale has become a common proverb. It is really a fact, that if a man touches a piece of iron with his wet hand during winter, they freeze together, and cannot be separated without tearing off the skin. I have passed forty days in the coldest weather at Assov, and in the desert of Kipchák, but I never felt cold like this; the people are, however, very healthy. The fruits come from Isper, Tortúm, and Erzenján; peaches, apricots, and grapes are sold at the weight of an occa for a para; a waggon-load of melons or water-melons may be had for ten paras. Eatables are found here in great perfection, but there is no wood, the mountains being naked; wood is nevertheless very cheap, as it is brought from mountains at two journey’s distance; a mast of from thirty to forty cubits length is sold for forty aspers. The Páshá’s wood is brought to the town by the camels of the caravans, which arrive at the custom-house. An agha has the inspection of the wood; the poor people burn cow-dung. The Rayas place the stove in the middle of the house, on the sides of which the cattle stand; the house is as warm as a bath, and they cook their bones and offal on the fire.

_Description of Mount Egerlí._

This is a high mountain, at half an hour’s distance on the south side of Erzerúm, its name is derived from its form, which is like a saddle (Eger); its top is bifurcated, it abounds in medical herbs, particularly in the Tútia flower, the scent of which perfumes the air. Oculists come here to collect the plant Tútia, and with it cure people who have been diseased for forty years. The odour of aromatic plants and scented flowers fills the atmosphere.

_Praise of Balaam, the son of Baúr._

I once played Jeríd at the foot of this mountain, when I fell from the horse, and in falling said to myself, “Where art thou now, saddle-mountain (Egerlítág)?” Having recovered my senses I mounted another horse, and galloping full speed towards the mountain, I ascended it. I saw on the top a large tomb, on which I first said a fátihah, and having measured it by my steps, I found it eighty paces in length, with two columns, which marked the situation of the head and the feet. I was looking on the tomb, when a bad smell arose, very disagreeable both to me and my servants, who held the horses; I looked on the grave, and saw that the earth within it, being black and greasy, was boiling like gruel in a pan. I then returned, and having related my adventure in the Páshá’s company in the evening, Ja’afer Efendi of Erzerúm, a learned and elegant writer, warned me not to visit this place any more, because it was the grave of Balaam, the son of Baúr, who had died an Infidel by the curse of Moses, and whose grave was now boiling, both in winter and summer, by subterraneous fire. At the foot of the same mountain, Abd-ur-rahman Ghází, the standard-bearer of the prophet, lies buried. One day I ascended from the south side of the convent about two thousand paces, when I saw on the second top of this bifurcate mountain a tremendous dragon turned into black stone. It measured seven hundred and seventy paces from the head to the tail, the head looks to the field of Erzerúm, the tail to the castle of Meláz Kerd. If snow falls on the mountains, the figure of this black dragon is easily distinguished from the windows of the Páshá’s palace; the circumference of its body is two hundred paces, each of its four feet is as large as ten men put together, and its tail is raised like a minareh. It remained whole until the reign of Selím I. when it was broken by an earthquake, so that its fragments now lay scattered about. The head was then split asunder, and one of the eye-balls rolled down on the south side towards Melázguerd, where it lies on the plain like a cupola; the left eye-ball of the same size, yet remains in the petrified head, and is seen very distinctly with its ears, tongue, nose, and mouth every time it snows, because no snow will remain on this black stone, but melts away, and renders more prominent the black colour of it. In winter the stone becomes hot, and emits vapour; in summer it is cold, and exhales a pleasant odour. The legend reports that this most tremendous dragon was changed into stone by the Prophet’s standard-bearer, when it came to swallow up the inhabitants of Erzerúm as food for its young, who were shut up in a cave of Mount Siján, on the borders of the lake Ván.

_Pilgrimages; Tomb of Sheikh Kárzúní._

His name is Ibrahím, his surname Abú Ishak, a native of the town Kárzún, where he was born in the year 352 of the Hejira. In his travels he visited Brússa and Adrianople and returned to Erzerúm, where he settled in a great tower within the gate of Tabríz; his tomb-keeper is a white-bearded woman, whom I saw when I visited the tomb. Shehíd Murteza Páshá, who was shut up seven months in Eriván, is buried at the foot of Abú Ishak Kárzúní, with Abaza Páshá, who was killed by Dishlín Hossein Páshá. Opposite to the Páshá’s palace, in a pointed vault, lies Sultán Kássim, the son of Mahmúd Gazneví, and near him his sister Fírúzeh Khánum. Outside of the gate of Erzenján, above the camel’s fountain, Jánpúland-zadeh, lies Mustafa Páshá, who after the conquest of Eriván was killed by the grand Vezír Mohammed Pásha. He was a protector of my father and myself. Abd-ur-rahman, the standard-bearer of the Prophet, is buried at the foot of Egerlítágh, in a fine convent. Outside of the gate of Tabríz, at the place called Gumishlí Kunbed (the silver vault), because it was once faced with silver, reposes Sultán Mahmúd, the Gasnevide, on whose marble coffin is written only the word Mahmúd. There are besides many other pilgrimages, which I had no opportunity of visiting.

_Stations of our military expedition to the Castle of Shúshík._

Letters of complaint arrived from Genj Alí Khán, the Khán of Eriván, stating that the rebellious Beg of the Castle of Shúshík had broken the peace by inroads into the Persian districts of Eriván. The sanjak Begs, Timariots and Zaims were summoned to take the field with half of their contingents, and to assemble at the Silver vault. The Páshá himself fixed his tent there, with seventy banners of Segbán or Seimen and Sárija (irregular troops), and four thousand regulars. The Beglerbegs assembled around him, pitching their tents according to the orders issued. It was an army of seventy-six thousand men. When the Persian Envoy saw this immense army collected, he repented of his complaint against the Beg of Shúshík, because he was afraid that this army might receive orders to lay siege to Eriván. Alaja Atlí Hassan Agha, with a thousand horse, was named Quarter-master (Konákjí-bashí); he took the van with the tails and tens. Sídí Ahmed Páshá was named Chárkají, or leader of the vanguard, and Bákí Páshá, Dúmdár, or leader of the rearguard. The army set out from the Silver vault in such order that the Persian Envoys and Khans remained quite perplexed. After four hours march it reached the place called the Camel’s Neck (Deve-boiní), where the Páshá, commander-in-chief, gave an entertainment to all the Begs and Beglerbegs, after which every one retired to his tent; this is a pleasant meadow, where our horses were refreshed with excellent trefoil, it is also the commencement of the field of Pássin. In winter time snow lies here to the height of a minareh, and many caravans have been lost in it. It was the snow that prevented Tabáni Yassí Mohammed Páshá from passing the Deve-boiní, and as he did not arrive before Eriván soon enough, that fortress was taken from the Osmanlís after seven months siege by the Persians. Three hours further towards the east, we arrived at the village Ja’afer Efendí, where Ja’afer Efendí, its owner, gave a splendid entertainment to the Páshá, with a present of three horses, and three boys. It is a well cultivated Armenian village of three hundred houses. We marched five hours across the plain of Pássin to the strong fortress of Rúm Hassan, renovated by Uzún Hassan, the Sultán of Azerbeiján; it is a lofty castle which was taken by Sultán Súleimán out of the hands of the children of Kara Yússúf, and is now the seat of the sanjak Beg of Pássin, in the province of Erzerúm. The khass amounts, according to the canon of Sultán Súleimán, to twelve thousand four hundred aspers; there are six Zaims, and three hundred and twenty-five Timariots. An Alaï Beg, Cherí-bashí, and Yuz-bashí (Colonel, Captain, and Lieutenant), are the officers of the feudal militia. In the time of war, the number of the troops amounts to fifteen hundred, the half of which now joined the Páshá’s army. The castle saluted the Páshá, as soon as his tent was fixed, with a great noise of guns and muskets. The Páshá sent an order to the commander to place the whole garrison under arms on the walls, as he wished to enter in state. When we entered it shouts of Allah rent the skies, and the reports of the guns shook them, so that the Persian Envoy was quite perplexed, putting the finger of astonishment to his lips. In the inside of the castle, the space between the outer and inner gate was set round with armour and different kinds of weapons, and beginning from the hot-bath gate, both sides of the road were lined, two deep, by armed men, who gave the salute. The prayer of Friday was performed in the mosque, and when we left it all the walls were covered with flags and banners of different colours. The Páshá entered the inner castle, where the guns of Sultán Súleimán, of forty four spans length, were fired, and the balls were thrown as far as the Bridge of the Shepherds, Shobán Jissrí. Here the company sat down to a splendid dinner, after which the Beg and Dizdár were invested with robes of honour. The Páshá returned to his tent, where he received the visit of the judge (appointed with one hundred and fifty aspers), the Serdár of the Janissaries, the Kiaya-yerí of the Sipáhís, of the Muftí, the Nakib-ul-ishráf, and other principal men (Ayán.)

_Size and Form of the Fortress Hassan._

It is situated on the northern side of the field of Pássin, on an isolated high cliff, so high, that to look down from the side of the hot-bath makes the head giddy. Inside there is nobody but the Imám, the Múezzin, and the Dizdár, or commander. Horses and asses cannot get up to this place. There is a small Koshk built for Murad IV. by our protector Melek Ahmed Páshá, who, at the time of the expedition to Eriván, was the imperial sword-bearer, having succeeded the former sword-bearer, who was removed from his office because the coverlet of the Sultán’s bed was set fire to by a spark one night. The circumference of the castle is one thousand paces, without a ditch; an iron gate opens to the west. On the north side, below the upper or innermost castle, is another castle with two walls, whose circumference is six thousand paces. It is an oblong square, of a shining whiteness. The walls are but eighteen yards high, but they are double, and on three sides the ditch is very deep, so that there is no fear of an enemy; the ground being marshy, no trenches can be opened. Its three gates are: on the west side, the gate of Erzerúm, a great gate with iron wings; the gate of the hot-bath, and a secret gate, shut to the east side; there is a garrison of seven hundred men, with a well-filled arsenal, and sixty large and small guns. Towards the south opens the plain of Pássin, which is seven journies long. The houses, five hundred and ninety in number, are all stone-built winter houses: the town consists of nine quarters, with as many mosques. The mosque of Súleimán is a low terraced mosque, with one minareh in the ancient style; there is no Bezestán or Medresse, but six schools for boys, a khán, and a bath. The inhabitants are a brave set of people, kind to foreigners. There are some men of wit and learning. The great poet Nefií Efendí was born here; no gardens exist round the castle, because it is too cold, nevertheless, vegetables are found here in abundance. Bread and honey are rather to be suspected, for I, myself, poor Evliyá, having eaten some honey in the commander’s house, became in half an hour so giddy that I thought of throwing myself down from the castle.

_Description of the Hot-baths._

On the south side of the lower town (Robáth), on the Kiblah side, are several hot-baths; seven of them are covered with small cupolas, and in eight other places the water is boiling in the open air, each place being used for different animals, such as horses, mules, camels, sheep, and others. The water of these hot-baths is carried to distant places on camels, and those who are afflicted with leprosy are cured if they drink of it.

Three hours to the east from hence, we came to the village of Sefer Agha, consisting of one hundred Armenian houses, in the field of Pássin. Three hours further on, is the great Bridge of the Shepherds (Chobán Koprissí). It is called so because it was built by Melek Sultán, of the dynasty of the shepherds (Chobán). It is vaulted like a rainbow over the river Aras, which comes from the great Gok-yaila, and flows to the east; passes under Melázjerd, before the village of Artof, the castle of Khinis, beneath the bridge of Altún Khalkalí, supplies water to many hundred villages below the Bridge of the Shepherds, joins the Zengi river below Eriván, which falls into the Kúr (Cyrus), and with it disembogues into the Caspian Sea. The river Aras (Aranes) is an impetuous river, which, at the melting of the snow, rages like the sea. The army passed during three days over the bridge, with the Páshá himself in grand state. After seven hours we came to the village of Great Artof, in the sanjak of Khinis, a village of one hundred Armenian houses. Eight hours further to the east, is the village of Kúzúlí Sultán Baba, belonging to Khinis. The castle, which lies six hours further on, was built by Shah Shapúr, the uncle of Uzún Hassan, the Prince of Azerbeiján. It was conquered by Sultán Súleimán, and is now the seat of a sanjak Beg belonging to Erzerúm. The khass is forty-eight thousand four hundred aspers, two ziamets, and four hundred and twenty-five timárs, with the Jebellís, two thousand men, besides one thousand men of the Páshá’s troops, all Kurds of the tribe Mahmudí. The judge is appointed with one hundred and fifty aspers; there is no Serdár, Kiaya-yerí, Muftí, or Nakíb, but there is a Disdár.

_Size and Form of the Castle of Khinis._

It is three journies distance (if you walk fast) from Erzerúm, and is a square, strong built castle, in the centre of a piece of high table land, surrounded on all sides by lofty mountains. The height of the castle wall is ten cubits, it is six thousand paces in circumference, with a gate to the north. In the eastern quarter of the castle is a clear fountain. Below the castle, at the foot of the wall, is an iron grating, which intercepts the stream, and distributes its water into the gardens. The gate of the castle is near this spring; there are within the castle twelve hundred Kurdish houses, and seven mosques, a khán, a bath, and some small streets; the houses are all covered with earth, and no bricks are to be seen. The inhabitants are all Mahmúdí Kurds, rich in sheep and goats; every year they repair with their cattle to the mountains of Boyúk-gol-yaila. Here the Beg of Melázjerd, in his quality of sanjak Beg of Erzerúm, came with three thousand well-armed Mahmúdí Kurds. He was invested with a robe of honour, and presented with a Chelenk, and took the van of the army. Ghazí Sídí Ahmed Páshá, commanding an army of fifty-three thousand men, with twelve guns and two culverins, directed his march from Khinis to Shúshík, and the Páshá, our master, remained with twelve hundred men on the field of Khinis. We now marched to the east, through precipices, for six hours, till we came to Khássík, a Kurdish village of two hundred houses, and I, poor Evliyá, advanced with two hundred horse to the castle of Zia-ud-dín, nine hours further; it is a strong castle in the territory of Azerbeiján, built by the Princes of that name. It is the frontier of the sanjak of Khinis; its keys were surrendered to the Ottomans after the conquest of Ván, and the inhabitants were exempted from all duties. There is no Serdár and Kiaya-yerí; there is a mosque and six hundred houses, with terraces and lower stories only, a khán, a bath, and from forty to fifty shops. The inhabitants are brave and honest.

_Description of the Hot-bath._

Between the river Aras, the lake of Ván, and the castle of Arjesh, is a famous hot-bath, in the neighbourhood of the castle Zia-ud-dín. It is a curious fact that the springs rise in five or six different places; at some of them the water is as cold as ice, in others it boils like gruel. Here is a spring so cold that the hand cannot bear it, and close to it one in which eggs and sheep’s feet are cooked. Only one of these hot springs is covered with a cupola, the rest are exposed to the open air; every one is large enough to drive a mill. We now turned to the west, along the mountains of Súnjáb-Ainí, and arrived after nine hours at the castle of Atík, built like the former, by Zia-ud-dín, the Prince of Azerbeiján; it is a square castle on a rock.

_Description of the Castle of Shúshek or Shúshík._