Chapter IX (1)

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The Illustrious Ambassador leaves Muscovy, and, after passing
through Lithuania, Poland, and Germany, arrives in Italy.

The following day I was invited to the palace to dine with the Duke. Before sitting down to table, we entered a chamber where I was received by His Highness Marco, and one of the secretaries in a most courteous manner. The Duke entreated me to signify to my Illustrious Signory that he was their good friend, and wished to remain so; that he willingly allowed me to depart, and that if I required anything more I should have it. When the Duke spoke to me I retired from him, but he approached me with great kindness. I answered all his questions, and thanked him appropriately, and we conversed for more than an hour. He showed me, with great good nature, some of his dresses of cloth of gold, lined with ermine, which were most beautiful. We then left this chamber, and soon after sat down to table. The dinner was longer than usual; the dishes more numerous; and many of his barons were present. When the banquet was over, I rose from table and presented myself before his Highness, who, with a loud voice, that everyone might hear, took leave of me in courteous terms, and with great demonstration of good-will towards our Illustrious Signory; and I replied in a becoming manner. I was, afterwards, presented with a large cup of silver filled with their beverage made of honey, and was told to drink the contents, and keep the cup. This custom is observed when they wish to show very great honour either to ambassadors or others. But as there appeared to me too much to drink at once, I drank about a quarter of it, and His Highness, who was aware of my habits, seeing that I could not drink more, ordered the cup to be emptied and given back to me. I kissed his Highness’s hands, and took leave of him. I was accompanied to the staircase by many of his barons, who embraced me with great demonstrations of friendship. I then went home, and had prepared everything for my departure; but Marco wished that I should previously dine with him.

On the 21st of January, 1476, after partaking of a good dinner with Marco and my own people, I took leave of him, and we entered our sani and departed. These sani, which are only used on the ice, somewhat resemble little houses, and are drawn by one horse. Each person has his own. You sit inside with as much clothing as you require and drive the horse. They go very fast and are made to contain all the provisions and everything that is necessary. The Patriarch of Antioch, or Brother Ludovico, who had been detained by the Duke on the representation of Marco, was, after great efforts on my part, released, and was to have accompanied us; but, seeing that he appeared to have no desire to do so, I started alone with my people, and a man was sent by the Duke to accompany me, with orders that I should be provided with other guides from place to place throughout the whole of his territories. In the evening we lodged at a very strange village; and, although I was aware that we should have to undergo many discomforts and hardships, on account of the intense cold of those countries, and from having to travel continually through forests, I welcomed every discomfort and was intent on nothing but travelling day and night; nor had I any fear, so great was my desire to escape from those places and ways of living.

We left this village on the 22nd, and travelled continually through forests, in extreme cold, until the 27th, when we reached a little town called Viesemo. Leaving here, we took guides from place to place, and reached another little town called Smolencho, from which we departed with another guide, leaving the dominions of the Duke of Muscovy to enter Lithuania, which belongs to Casimir, King of Poland. We then proceeded to a small town called Trochi, where we found His Majesty, the said King.

Be it observed that, from the 21st of January, when we left Moscovy, until the 12th of February, when we reached Trochi, we travelled continually through forests. The country was generally flat, with a few hills. Sometimes we found a village where we rested, but usually slept in the forest. At midday we took our meals at places where we found that fires had been made, and the ice had been broken to water the horses by persons who had preceded us. We then added wood to the fire, and sat round it to partake of what little provision we had with us. We certainly underwent great suffering; for when we were warm on one side, we had to turn the other to the fire, and I slept in my sano rather than on the ground. We travelled three days and slept two nights on a frozen river; and we were said to have travelled three hundred miles, which is a great distance. His Majesty having heard of my arrival, sent two gentlemen to congratulate me on my safe arrival, and to invite me to dine with him on the following day. On this day, which was the 15th, the King sent me, as a present, a dress of crimson damask, lined with ermine; and I was taken to the palace in one of the Royal sani drawn by six beautiful horses. Four barons were on foot outside the sano, and others accompanied us with much state. On reaching the presence chamber I found His Majesty seated on a most beautifully adorned throne with two of his sons, young and handsome as angels, at his side clothed in crimson satin. A great many barons and knights of distinction were also present. A seat was placed for me in front of His Majesty, who received me with great affection and made me shake hands with his sons. His kindness and courtesy towards me could not have been greater had he been my father. I wanted, and tried as well as I could, to speak kneeling, but he would not allow me to begin until I had taken a seat, which I was at length obliged to do, in compliance with his repeated commands. I then briefly related to His Majesty the particulars of my voyage, describing what had occurred to me at the Court of Ussuncassan, and giving an account of the power of that monarch and of the customs of his country, which he appeared very desirous to know. I also described the manners and the resources of the Tartars, and spoke of the dangers I had passed on the journey. I was listened to by the King with the greatest attention for half an hour, so pleased did he appear to hear me. I then thanked His Majesty, in the name of our Illustrious Signory, for the present and the honour he had conferred upon me. His Majesty replied by his interpreter that he rejoiced greatly at my arrival, as it was thought when I set out on my journey that I should never return. He then said that he had heard with great interest about Ussuncassan and the Tartars, and that he felt sure that what I had said was true; and, he added, that he had never before met with anyone who had told him the truth. I was finally made to enter another room, where the tables were laid, and where, shortly afterwards, the King and his two sons entered to the sound of trumpets in great state. His Majesty sat down to table, his two sons being on the right hand side, and the chief bishop on the left. I was placed next to the latter, at no great distance from His Majesty. There were also many barons at the tables, but at some distance. I think there might have been, in all, more than forty persons. The viands, as they were brought in on large platters and in great abundance, were always preceded by trumpets, and knives were placed before us after our own fashion. We remained at table about two hours, during which time His Majesty asked me many questions relating to my voyage, which I fully answered. When the repast was over, I rose to take leave of His Majesty, and asked him whether he had any further commands. He replied, very kindly, that he wished to be well recommended to my Illustrious Signory, and commanded his sons to tell me the same. I then took leave of His Majesty and of his sons, with due respect, and was honourably accompanied to the chamber where I lodged. The King gave directions that I should be accompanied by a guide who should see that guides and escorts were provided for me throughout the country, in order that I might travel everywhere in safety.

On the 16th, we left Trochi and travelled till the 25th, when we reached a place called Ionici. Leaving Ionici, we entered Poland, where we were provided with guides from one place to another, according to the King’s commands. Having arrived at a city called Varsovia, which is under the dominion of two brothers, I was received with much honour, and a guide was provided for me, who accompanied me into Poland. As I have already spoken of this kingdom, I shall only add that it is a fine country, and appears to abound in meat and other provisions, but produces very little fruit of any kind. We saw castles and villages, but no town worth mentioning. Every night we found lodgings, and were well received everywhere. It is a safe country.

It was on the 1st of March, 1477, that we reached this city; and, as we had performed the whole journey from Moscow on the above-mentioned _sani_, I and my people were much fatigued, both on account of the great cold and the other hardships we had endured. I, therefore, remained in this beautiful city until the 5th, as we were lodged in comfortable quarters, and well provided with everything we wanted, and could obtain horses to continue our journey.

On the 5th we left, and came to another small town called Messariza, belonging to the same King. After leaving here we arrived at the frontiers of Poland and Germany, which we passed, not without fear and danger.

On the 9th, we reached Frankfort, a city belonging to the Marquis of Brandenburg, and, having put up at the same house at which I had stayed on my outward journey, the landlord recognised me, and was very much surprised. He received me with great respect and kindness, and said that we had escaped great dangers in crossing the frontiers.

On the 10th, we left Frankfort, and, as we travelled through Germany, found a continual improvement, as well in the villages and castles as in the cities and lodgings. As I was, on the 15th, in the vicinity of a city called Ian, I met Priest Stephano, who was on his way back to me from our Illustrious Signory with my ransom. The joy we both felt at meeting again may be easily imagined, and was certainly due, like everything else, to the Grace of God. When we had embraced each other, and heard all we had to say, we entered the city of Ian, where we rested.

We left here on the 17th, and on the 22nd reached Nuremberg, a very beautiful city, as I have already said. Being much fatigued, and wishing to keep the feast of the Most Holy Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ (and this was my principal reason), I determined to remain here whilst the festival lasted, and we certainly enjoyed a refreshing repose, of which we stood in great need.

On the 26th, we left Nuremberg, which is governed by a municipality, but subject to the Emperor. Every night we lodged in good and important cities,—among others, Augsburg,—and passed through many more.

On the morning of the 4th of April, 1477, which was Good Friday, we arrived at Trent, where, having heard of the miracle of the blessed Simon, I considered it my duty not only to pay respect to his holy remains, and keep Easter Day, but to confess and take the sacrament. On the 6th, therefore, which was Easter Sunday, I took the sacrament, together with my people, and remained in Trent to observe the festival.

On the morning of the 7th, with that easily-imagined longing to reach our own dear land which made every day appear a year, I left Trent after taking leave of its Reverend Bishop, by whom I had been honoured and well received, and came to Scala, the first place belonging to our Illustrious Signory. And, in order to fulfil a vow I had made, I started for S. Maria di Monte Arthon, where I arrived on the 9th at midday. Having satisfied the requirements of my vow and made the promised offering, I took leave of Brother Simone, the prior of the place, and came to the Portello at Padua. Nor did I omit to return thanks to our Lord God and to His dearest Mother, who had saved me from so many perils and hardships, and brought me safely back to where I desired, which was more than I ever expected. And, although I was corporeally in this place, my mind almost doubted the fact, so impossible did it seem when everything was taken into consideration. I had written to my brother and to my family, to let them know that I should arrive at Venice on Thursday, the 10th, about the hour of Vespers; but my longing was so great, that I was unable to observe this arrangement. I embarked, therefore, before daybreak, and reached the Zuffasine about two o’clock in the day. Going alongside, in order to accomplish another vow at S. Maria di Gratia before going home, I met my brother, Messer Agustin, in the Canal della Giudecca, and two of my brothers-in-law. They were very much astonished to see me, as they had made certain that I was dead, and when we had embraced each other affectionately we went to S. Maria di Gratia. As on Thursday there was a Council of Pregadi, I considered it also my duty, before going home, to pay the respects to the Illustrious Signory, and to report how I had executed my commission. I went, therefore, just as I was, to the Council of the Pregadi, and after the necessary salutations, was ordered to mount the rostrum and report what I had to say, which I accordingly did. And, as our Serene Prince was rather unwell, and not at the Council, when I had concluded and taken leave of the Signory, I went to him. He was overjoyed to see me, and I related briefly a part of what I had done. I then went home, and immediately returned sincere thanks to our Lord God, who had vouchsafed me such favour in delivering me from so many dangers, and bringing me back to my family, whom I had so often despaired of ever seeing again.

Here I conclude this voyage. I might possibly have written in a more elegant style, but I preferred stating the truth in the way I have done to adorning falsehood in fine and elegant language. And if anything relating to Germany has been omitted, let no one be surprised, as it did not appear to me necessary to speak at length in this relation of a country which is so near and familiar to us.

BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE DOMINIONS OF USSUNCASSAN.

The extensive country of Ussuncassan is bounded by the Ottoman empire and by Caramania. Turcomania, his first province, joins the dominions of the Soldan towards the district of Aleppo. Persia, which Ussuncassan wrested, more by good fortune than superior power, from Iausa, whom he caused to be put to death, has Tauris for its capital and seat of government. At the distance of twenty-four days’ journey from this city, in an east-south-easterly direction is Siras, the last town in Persia. The Persian empire is also bounded by the country of the Zagatai, who were the children of the Tartar Sultan Busech with whom there is frequently war, and who still cause some anxiety. It is also bounded by Media, belonging to Sivanza, the Lord of Sumachi, who pays an annual tribute to Ussuncassan; by Giorgiania, belonging to King Pancrati; and by Gorgora, beyond the plain of Arsigan.[162] It is said that Ussuncassan also possesses some territory on the other side of the Euphrates towards the Ottoman empire. The whole of Persia, as far as Spama,[163] its capital, where I have been, at a six days’ journey from Siras, is a most arid country; there is scarcely a tree to be seen, and the water is for the most part bad. The country is, nevertheless, tolerably well supplied with all kinds of provisions and fruits, which are grown by artificial irrigation. Ussuncassan appeared to me to be about seventy years of age. He was tall, thin, and handsome, but did not appear prosperous. His eldest son, by the Curd lady, was named Gurlumameth; he was very famous, and it was with him that his father was at war. By another wife he had three sons. The eldest, called Sultan Chali, was said to be about thirty-five years of age. It was to him that Ussuncassan had given his city of Siras. The second, named Lacubei, might have been about fifteen years old. The name of the third, a boy of about seven, I do not remember. By another wife he had a son called Masubei, who had made war against him, his father, whom I saw every day, and whom he kept in chains for having conspired with Gurlumameth, and finally had put to death. I was desirous of learning from different persons the extent of Ussuncassan’s resources. Those who give the highest estimate say that he has fifty thousand horsemen, though these are not all of the best. I also wished to know how many men were brought into the field during the war with the Ottoman, and was told that there might have been upwards of forty thousand. This I heard from persons, most of whom had served in that war. But they were of opinion that this army was not intended to fight against the Ottoman, but only to restore Pirameth, the Lord of Caramania, to his country, which was in the possession of the Ottoman. Nor did Ussuncassan exert himself for any other purpose. Those who hold a different opinion are considered by most people to be wrong. I have had the opportunity of hearing and understanding everything, and only state what I have seen and heard. I will refrain from mentioning many other things,—which are, however, not very important,—that I may not make my narrative too long.

END OF THE TRAVELS IN PERSIA OF M. AMBROSIO CONTARINI.

FOOTNOTES

[152] Messeritz, forty-eight miles E.N.E. of Frankfort.

[153] Posen.

[154] Poti.

[155] Kutais.

[156] Gori.

[157] Koum.

[158] Kashan.

[159] Nathunz.

[160] Astrakhan.

[161] That is to say, an Alsatia.

[162] Arsingan.

[163] Isfahan.

ERRATA.

Page 19, Note.—“Tesells”. This word here means “thistles”, “teasells”; and “_garzi_”, in the Italian text, should be “_carde_”.

INDEX.

Adana, 47

Alani, 5, 30

Astrakhan, 29, 150

Baltracan, herb, 102, 103

Barbaro plundered, 51

— returns to Venice, 95

Bendemir, 80

Buza, 31

Cambalu, 75

Chehlminar, 81

Chinese paper money, 77

Contarini leaves Venice, 108

— meets Barbaro, 130

— returns to Venice, 171

Curco, 44

Derbend, 87, 145

Famagosta, 38

Georgia, 36, 90, 117-122, 139-145

Gori, 122

Gothic language, survival of, 30

Hassan Beg, King, his death, 93

Ispahan, 72, 130

Kaffa, 27-29, 116, 140

Kashan, 72

Kinara, 80

Kum, 73, 129

Kutais, 91, 119

Ledil or Volga, 4, 31, 156

Mardin, 48

Mingrelia, 26, 139

Moscow, 32, 158

Novgrod, 34

Orfa, 47

Ormuz, 79

Persian army, 64-68, 137

— king’s jewels, 56, 59

— sports, 53, 54, 62

Poland, 34, 35, 110, 111, 114, 167

Poti, 117

Routes, 82-86

Russia, 31, 33, 157-165

Seleucia, 45

Sena, 129

Sert, 49

Shamakhy, 86

Sultaniah, 68, 128

Tabriz, 51, 125

Tana, 12

Tarsus, 46

Tatar customs, 12, 15, 16, 21, 33, 34, 88, 155

Tumulus, excavation of, 6-8

Varti, 117

Vastan, 51

Uzun Hassan’s dominions, 172, 173

Yezd, 73

A NARRATIVE
OF
ITALIAN TRAVELS
IN
PERSIA,
IN THE
FIFTEENTH AND SIXTEENTH CENTURIES.

Translated and Edited
BY
CHARLES GREY, ESQ.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

TRAVELS IN PERSIA, BY CATERINO ZENO 1

DISCOURSE OF MESSER GIOVAN BATTISTA RAMUSIO ON THE WRITINGS
OF GIOVAN MARIA ANGIOLELLO, ETC. 67

THE TRAVELS OF A MERCHANT IN PERSIA 139

NARRATIVE OF THE MOST NOBLE VINCENTIO D’ALESSANDRI 209

A NARRATIVE OF ITALIAN TRAVELS IN PERSIA.

The close of the fifteenth century is an epoch in the history of the East, and especially of Persia, of which but little is known. The blast of Timour’s invasion had swept over that historic land and left it desolate. These four Accounts of Travels by Europeans are, therefore, especially interesting in a geographical and historical point of view, and will, with the books of Barbaro and Contarini, which are in Ramusio’s collection, complete the series of Italian voyages about that period. In order clearly to understand the facts brought forward, it will be necessary to glance at the motives of policy which started the embassies, and the historical changes which influenced their results.

In Eastern Europe the Byzantine empire had, after a long and gradual decline, at length crumbled into ruins beneath the power of the Ottomans, which threatened to be as great a scourge to Europe as that of Timur (or Tamerlane) had been to Asia, while the stability and vitality of their empire offered a great contrast to the ephemeral character of Timur’s dominion. Singly, the powers of Christendom could in vain hope to withstand their terrible foe; and Venice, the Great Republic, then rich and flourishing, with a far-sighted policy, endeavoured to induce all the Christian princes to make common cause against the Ottoman Turks.

Hungary and Poland were engaged in continuous warfare with the Musulmans; but the petty jealousies, which no danger, however imminent, could lull, caused the other powers to look coldly on the proposed alliance. Venice, in her need, then cast her eyes to the East, where she found a new dynasty firmly established in the ancient kingdom of Persia, the inveterate foe of the house of Othman. That country, after the death of Timour, had been nominally subject to his descendants, though two rival Toorkoman tribes had established principalities in Azerbigan and Diarbekr. These were the Kara Koinlu, and Ak-koinlu, or the Black and White Sheep, between whom a deadly feud existed; the former were the first to rise to power, under their chief, Kara Mahomed; while his son, the famous Kara Yusuf, threw off the yoke of the descendants of Timour in 1410. Secunder, the son of Kara Yusuf, waged war with Shah Rokh; and, after his death, his brother Jehan Shah, in 1437, not only overran Irak, Fars, and Kerman, but in 1457 besieged and pillaged Herat. The Kara Koinlus kept the throne until 1486.

KARA KOINLU RULERS.

In that year the chief of the rival tribe of the Ak-koinloos, named Uzun Hassan, who had established himself at Diarbekr, succeeded in defeating Jehan Shah in a battle in which the latter fell. The Ak-koinloos were now masters of Persia, and Uzun Hassan carried his victorious arms against Sultan Abouseyd, the reigning prince of the house of Timour, who also fell before him.

Malcolm’s account of the reign of Uzun Hassan is very meagre. He was the chief of the Ak-koinlu, or Turks, of the tribe of White Sheep, and established a powerful principality at Diarbekr. He defeated and killed Jehan Shah and his son Hassan Aly, whom he had taken prisoner, with all his family. The dynasty which Uzun Hassan founded is termed Bâyenderee; the family date their rise from the reign of Timour, who made them grants of land in Armenia and Mesopotamia. Hassan, after defeating his rival, engaged in a war with Sultan Abouseyd. He owed his triumph to his skill and activity in a predatory warfare, and at last having taken his enemy prisoner, made himself master of a great part of the dominions of the house of Timour. Malcolm says: “Uzun Hassan, after making himself master of Persia, turned his arms in the direction of Turkey; but his career was arrested by the superior genius of the Turkish emperor, Mahomet II; he suffered a signal defeat, which terminated his schemes of ambition. He died after a reign of eleven years, at the age of seventy. All authors agree in ascribing valour and wisdom to this prince. We are told by an European ambassador, who resided at his court, that he was a tall thin man, of a very open countenance, and that his army amounted to fifty thousand horse, a great proportion of which were of very indifferent quality.” He adds that this ambassador was an envoy from Venice, sent by that Republic to solicit the aid of Uzun Hassan against the Ottoman. The personage alluded to by Malcolm must have been M. Josafat Barbaro, the successor of M. Caterino Zeno.

Uzun Hassan had already been in collision with the Turks, having, when ruler of Diarbekr, undertaken to defend Calo Johannes of the noble house of the Comneni, one of the last of the Christian emperors of Trebizond, against Mahomet II. This alliance had been cemented by his marriage with the beautiful princess Despina, daughter of Calo Johannes, in which manner he was connected with some of the princely families of Venice, so that the way for an embassy was easily paved. The Venetians might hope much from the ambitious and turbulent character of the Persian prince; and in this they were not disappointed, as it needed but little persuasion to induce the hitherto almost invincible soldier to take up arms against his hereditary foe. Worn out by a state of anarchy, rival chiefs and tribes struggling for power before the land had fully risen again after the blast of foreign conquest had passed over it, the ancient glory of Persia had paled before the brighter light of its rival; but the old hatred still remained, with the will, if not the power, to oppose the Turkish arms. An embassy to Uzun Hassan being determined on, the difficult task of sending an envoy still remained. The duty would be a hazardous one, as any one proceeding from Venice to Persia would have to run the gauntlet of the Turks. The sister of Queen Despina had married Nicolo Crespo, the Duke of the Archipelago, whose four daughters were in turn wedded to four of the merchant princes of Venice, one of whom was M. Caterino Zeno, a man of courage and talent. He, of all others, appeared the fittest to undertake this honourable but perilous mission, and the patriotism of Zeno induced him to overlook the dangers he would run in traversing hostile and almost unknown regions before reaching his destination. He was rewarded for his courage by arriving safely in the presence of the king, though not without meeting serious obstacles in his journey through Caramania.

Zeno was well received by the monarch; and, being supported in his arguments by his aunt, the Queen Despina, succeeded in inducing Uzun Hassan to take up arms against the Turk.

In 1472 the Persians marched into the Turkish dominions and ravaged them, but a flying column under Mustafà, the second son of Mahomet II, routed a force of Persians under one of Uzun Hassan’s generals. In the following year the Grand Turk invaded Persia with an immense army, but met with a severe check while endeavouring to cross the Euphrates near Malatia, and was forced to retreat. Uzun Hassan, however, following up his success too rashly, was routed by the Turks at Tabeada. M. Caterino Zeno was then sent as ambassador from Uzun Hassan to various Christian princes, among others to Poland and Hungary, to incite them to take up arms against the Ottoman. M. Josafat Barbaro and Ambrogio Contarini were sent from Venice to take his place at the Persian Court; but no arguments could again induce the Persian monarch to meet the Turks in the field.

The account of Zeno’s Travels in Ramusio’s collection was prepared from Zeno’s letters, as the editor was never able to get possession of a copy of Zeno’s book. For this reason the geographical details in these Travels are not so explicit as in the others, and Ramusio has in his book put Zeno’s narrative after several others, although in date he was the first. It is supplemented by a sketch of Persian history subsequent to M. Caterino’s embassy, taken from other sources. MM. Barbaro and Contarini succeeded Zeno. The account of their travels will form a separate work.

The second author in this collection is a M. Giovan Maria Angiolello, who was in the service of the Turks, and present in their campaign against the Persians. He describes, shortly, the rise of Uzun Hassan, and gives a full description of the Turkish invasion from the Turkish point of view, and the details of the march. Unghermaumet’s rebellion against his father Uzun Hassan is also mentioned by him as well as by Zeno. After the death of Uzun Hassan and his son Yakoob, Persia fell into a state of anarchy caused by the civil wars between various members of the dominant Akkoinloo family; from this the country rose at length, through the process of a revolution, almost without a parallel in the history of the world. Not only was there a change in the dynasty and form of government, but the empire was revived in a native Persian family, and an end was put to the long foreign domination. More than all, the very religion of the people was essentially altered: a fact which, by widening the gulf which separated them from their surrounding enemies, consolidated the empire and created a nationality. The family which now rose on the ruins of the Ak-koinlu power traced their descent from Ali, the son-in-law of the Prophet, through Mussa, the Seventh Imaum:—

The chiefs of this family were regarded by the Persians as saints, and when Sheikh Hyder, a son-in-law of Uzun Hassan, rose in arms against Rustan, King of Persia, he was joined by great numbers. This insurrection was, however, ineffectual, and it was reserved for Sheikh Hyder’s son, afterwards Shah Ismail Sofi, to overthrow the fast decaying power of the Ak-koinlus, which was still further weakened by the struggle for the throne between two brothers named Alwung Beg and Morad Khan. The victorious career of Ismail is treated of by Angiolello, as also his wars with the Uzbegs under Sheibani Khan, and the Turks under Selim I, the former of whom were routed at the great battle of Merv Shah Jehan in 1514; but from the latter Ismail sustained a defeat in the plains of Chalderan, near Khoi, which left Tauris at the mercy of Selim. Angiolello, leaving Persian history, gives a full and animated account of Selim’s expedition against Egypt, which resulted in the conquest by the Turks of that great country and the deaths of the two last Soldans, Khafur el Ghouri and Tomant Bey.

The Third Book of Travels from Ramusio is that of an unnamed author trading from Damascus and Aleppo to Persia, where he remained upwards of eight years, from 1511 to 1520; so that he also was an eye-witness of the glory of Shah Ismail. The style of this latter is more involved; but while his historical facts correspond, his description of the towns and country is more detailed, as is but natural, from his occupation, which was more suited than that of an ambassador for gaining geographical information. He opens his narrative by describing, with a good deal of minuteness, the route from Aleppo to Tauris, finishing with an account of that city and of the historical events that took place during his stay.

There is a long gap between these two latter writers and Vincentio d’Alessandri, an envoy from Venice in 1571 to the Court of Shah Tahmasp, the son and successor of Shah Ismail Sofi, who had died in 1524. This writer is mentioned by Knolles in his General History of the Turks, from whom the following account of the intermediate history is also taken. In the year 1534 Solyman was persuaded by Ibrahim Pasha to make war on Persia, stirred up against the new Shiah religion which had been introduced by Shah Ismail Sofi. The purpose of Ibrahim was also furthered by a Persian named Ulemas, brother-in-law of the King Tahmasp, who had revolted from him,[164] fearing to be called to account for his extortion. After making preparations, Solyman sent Ibrahim and Ulemas with an army into Syria, and in the spring they advanced, without resistance, as far as Tauris. Tahmasp, the Persian monarch, was then absent, engaged in a war with Kezienbassa, Prince of the Corasine Hyrcanians; but, hearing of the taking of his capital, returned in haste for the defence of his empire. Solyman, on reports reaching him of the successes of his generals, crossed the Euphrates at Malatia, and joined them at Tauris. Tahmasp, not daring to join battle with Solyman, retreated to the mountains above Sultania, where the Turkish army, endeavouring to follow him, was greatly distressed, and forced to retreat from the inclemency of the weather. Solyman now retired to Mesopotamia, where he took Bagdad and added the provinces of Babylonia and Mesopotamia to the Turkish empire. In the following year, 1535, Solyman again entered Tauris and ransacked it; but, finding that nothing was to be done against Tahmasp, withdrew to his own dominions greatly harassed on his journey by Persian cavalry, who at last surprised and routed his army near Betilis, under the command of Delimenthes. This last reverse was the occasion of the fall of the great Pasha Ibrahim, the friend and counsellor of Solyman, by whose orders he was murdered. Ulemas was afterwards made Governor of Bosina. In 1549 the cause of Ercases Imirza, Prince of Shirvan and brother of Shah Tahmasp, was espoused by Solyman against Tahmasp; but, in a tedious war, except the capture of Van by the Turks, nothing of any importance took place, as the Persian monarch, pursuing his usual tactics, acted on the defensive, and retreated to the mountains. Discord being sown between Solyman and Ercases Imirza, the latter fled to Chaldea, where he was treacherously delivered into the hands of Tahmasp, who caused him to be murdered in prison. Bajazet, the son of Solyman, after his rebellion in 1556, fled for safety to the Court of Tahmasp, who received him with favour at first; but his mind becoming embittered against him, he caused his followers to be dispersed and slain, and Bajazet himself to be cast into prison. Solyman used all the means in his power to have Bajazet delivered into his hands, but Tahmasp would not consent; but afterwards, in consideration of a large sum of money, agreed to allow him to be made away with.[165] Bajazet accordingly was strangled, with his four sons. On the accession of Selim II, Tahmasp sent ambassadors to Constantinople to ratify a peace between them, which was concluded in the year 1568. About Vincentio d’Alessandri Knolles says, A.D. 1571:—

“Whilest these things were in doing, the Venetians, the more
to entangle the Turke, thought it good to make proofe, if
they might by any means stirre up Tamas, the Persian king,
to take up armes against him; who, as hee was a prince of
great power, so did hee exceedingly hate the Turks, as well
for the difference between the Persians and them about matters
of their vaine superstition, as for the manifold injuries he
had oftentimes sustained. There was one Vincent Alexander,
one of the secretaries for the State, who, having escaped out
of prison at Constantinople, was but a little before come to
Venice, a warie wise man, and of great experience, who, for his
dexteritie of wit and skilfulnesse in the Turkish language,
was thought of all others most fit to take in hand so great a
matter. He having received letters and instructions from the
Senat, and furnished with all things necessarie, travelling
through Germanie, Polonia, and the forrests of Mæsia, in
Turkish attire, came to Moneastron, a port towne upon the side
of the Euxine or Black Sea, at the mouth of the great river
Boristhenes, where he embarked himself for Trapezond, but
was by a contrarie wind driven to Sinope, a citie of great
trafficke; from whence he travelled, by rough and broken ways,
to Cutay, keeping still upon the left hand because he would not
fall upon any part of the Turk’s armie (which was then marching
towards Cyprus through all those countries); neverthelesse,
he fell upon a part thereof, from which he with great danger
rid himselfe, beinge taken for a Turke, and by blind and
troublesome wayes, through rockes and forrests, arrived at
length at Erzirum, a strong citie of the Turks, then upon the
frontiers of the Turk’s dominions toward the Georgians. This
journey of Alexander’s was not kept so secret, but that it
was vented at Constantinople by a spie, who, under the colour
of friendship haunting the Venetian embassadour’s house at
Pera, had got certaine knowledge of the going of Alexander in
Persia. Whereupon, certaine courrours were sent out with all
speed to beset the three straight passages into Persia, whereby
it was supposed he must of necessitie passe, with certaine
notes also of the favour of the man, of his stature, and other
marks wherby he was best to be knowne. But he in so dangerous
a countrie doubting all things, and fearing such a matter,
leaving his companie behind him, with incredible celeritie
posted from Erzirum to Tauris, and was a great way gone before
the Turk’s courrours came into those quarters; who, yet hearing
of him, followed after as far as they durst, but could not
overtake him. Alexander, comming to Tauris, understood that
the court lay at Casbin, about twelve days’ journey farther up
into the country. Comming thither the 14th of August of this
year, 1571, he chanced to meet with certaine English marchants,
with whom he had beene before acquainted; by whose helpe he not
only got to speak with Ayder Tamas, the king’s third sonne, but
learned of them also the manners and fashions of the Persian
court, and how to beare himselfe therein. The Persians, by
reason of the intolerable heate, doe most of their business at
that time of the yeare by night. Wherefore, Alexander, about
midnight brought in to Aider, declared unto him the cause of
his comming: and the next night admitted into the speech of
his aged father, delivered his letters of credence, and in the
name of the Senat, declared unto him, with what perfidious
dealing Selymus, the Turkish emperor, was about to take away
Cyprus from the Venetians, with what greedinesse and pride
he had set upon the Christians, and that discharged of that
warre, he would of all likelyhood set upon the Persians;
having the selfesame quarrell unto the Persians that he had
unto the Venetians, that is, an ardent and insatiable desire
of soveraignetie; a sufficient cause for the greedie Turke
to repute every king, the richer that he was, the more his
enemie. After that, setting foorth to the full the prowesse of
the Christians, the wonderfull preparation they had made, both
at sea and land, he persuaded the king, with all his power,
to invade the Turke, now altogether busied in the warres of
Cyprus; and to recover againe such parts of his kingdom as
Solyman, the father of Selymus, had taken from him. Warres,
he said, were more happily managed abroad than at home; that,
sithence he alone (the Christian princes all then at quiet)
had withstood the Turk’s whole force and power, he needed not
now to doubt of his most prosperous successe, the Christian
princes now joyning with him. That he was much unmindful of his
former losses and wrongs, if he thought he enjoyed an assured
peace, which he should find to be nothing els but a deferring
of war unto more cruell times; and that the Turke, if he should
overrun Cyprus, would forthwith turne his victorious arms upon
him. The end of one warre was (as he said) but the beginning
of another; and that the Turkish empire could never stay in
one state; and that he would observe not the Turke’s words,
but his deeds; and how that the Othoman emperours, according
to the oportunitie of the times, used by turnes sometimes
force, sometimes deceit, as best served their purposes. That no
princes had at all times, by dissembled peace and uncertaine
leagues, more deluded some, untill they had oppressed others.
He wished also, that at length this his cunning dealing might
appeare unto the world; and that princes would thinke, that
being combined together, they might more easily overcome the
Turke, than being seperated, defend their owne; that in former
times, sometimes will, sometimes occasion, was wanting to them
to unite their forces; and that, therefore, they should now
combine themselves for their common good against the common
enemie; that it conserned no lesse the Persians than the
Christians, to have the power of the Turke abated; and that
this taking up of armes should be for the good of the Persian
king, howsoever things should fall out; if well, he should
then recover what he had before lost, with much more that was
the Turke’s; if otherwise, yet by voluntarie entering into
armes, to countenance himselfe, and to give the Turks occasion
to think that he feared him not, which was (as he said) the
only way to preserve their common safetie, which would be unto
all the confederat princes easie enough, if they themselves
made it not more difficult than the power of the enemie. The
speech of the embassadour was willingly heard; whereunto the
king answered, that he would consider thereupon what he had to
doe; and, in the meanwhile, a faire house was appointed for
the embassadour and his followers, and bountifull allowance
appointed for the king’s charge. He was also many times
sumptuously feasted by the noblemen whom he still requested to
be mediatours unto the king, to take that honourable warre in
hand. The king had at that time a sonne called Ismael, a man
of great spirit, whom he then kept in durance, for that he,
with too much insolencie, made roades into the frontiers of the
Turke’s dominions, to the disturbance of the leagues his father
had before made with the late Turkish emperor, Solyman: unto
him, Alexander having accesse, was of him courteously heard,
who, fretting and languishing for verie griefe of revenge
upon the Turkes, wished that either the king, his father, had
his mind, or he himselfe the power of a king, and said, That
if ever it were his good fortune to obtaine, he would indeed
shew what he then in mind thought. But of him more shall be
said hereafter. Whilest this matter went more slowly forward
in the Persian court than the embassadour would have had it,
newes was brought unto the court of the great victorie which
the Christians had much about that time obtained of the Turkes
at sea; upon which occasion the embassadour solicited the king
more earnestly than before, to make himselfe partaker of the
victorie of the Christians by entring into confederation with
them, and by taking up of armes, rather than to hold uncertain
friendship with the Turkes in their miseries, by whom he had
been so often wronged. This he said, was the only time for
the Persian king to recover his former glorie, the like offer
whereof would neither often chance, neither long stay; and that
if he suffered so fit an opportunitie to slip away, he should
afterwards in vaine wish for the same, when it were so late.
This so wholsome counsell was well heard, but prevailed nothing
to stir up the aged king, who, then troubled with rebellion
in Media, or wearie of the former warres he had had with the
Turke, and glad of such peace as he had then with him, answered
the embassadour: That, for as much as the Christian princes had
made a perpetuall league amongst themselves, he would for two
yeares expect the event, and afterward, as occasion served, so
to resolve upon peace or warre. This improvident resolution
of the king brought afterward unprofitable and too late
repentance unto the whole Persian kingdome, when, as within a
few yeares after, all the calamities which the Senat had by
their embassadour (as true prophets) foretold, redounded unto
the great shaking thereof. For the Cyprian warre once ended,
and peace concluded with the Venetians, Amurath, the sonne of
Selymus, succeeding his father in the Turkish empire, invading
the Persian king, tooke from him the great country of Media,
now called Silvan, with a great part of Armenia the Great, and
the regall citie of Tauris, as shall be here after in due place
declared. At which time the Persian, who now refused to take up
armes or join in league with the Christian princes, repented
that he had not before hearkened unto the wholsome counsell of
the Venetians; and, taught by his owne harmes, wished in vaine
that the Christian princes would againe take up armes and joyne
with him against the Turke.”

In the year 1576 troubles arose in the Persian kingdom consequent on the death of Tahmasp, which were taken advantage of by Sultan Murad III. Tahmasp had eleven sons; Mahomed Khodabendeh, who suffered from a weakness in his eyes; Ismael, a turbulent warrior, confined in the fortress of Cahaca, between Tauris and Casbin; Hyder, the third, with a powerful party in the State; and the others, Mahmoud, Solyman, Mustafa, Emanguli, Alichar, Ahmed, Abrahim, and Ismael the younger.

Before his death he appointed Ismael his successor, to the great discontent of Hyder, who, being in the palace, caused himself to be crowned; but Ismael’s friends being strong he was imprisoned in his palace and soon after murdered. Ismael, on ascending the throne, caused his eight younger brothers to be murdered, and greatly oppressed the country;[166] he himself, after a year’s reign, met with his fate, being murdered by his sister. The Persian chiefs raised Mahomed Khodabendeh to the throne, who, in endeavouring to avenge his brothers’ deaths, caused great discord in the kingdom, of which Murad determined to take advantage, inducing the Georgians under Levent Ogli and the people of Shirvan to revolt. After a few years, however, the incapable Mahomet was dethroned by the Persian nobles to make way for his son Abbas. This prince, perhaps the best ruler Persia had had for many centuries, began to reign in 1585, and is known to history as Shah Abbas the Great.

FOOTNOTES

[164] According to Alessandri, Shah Tahmasp would allow no one to be avaricious but himself.

[165] Angerius Busbequius legationis Turcicæ epist. 4.

[166] He also sent to put Mahomed Khodabendeh to death, but died himself before the order was executed.

TRAVELS IN PERSIA, BY CATERINO ZENO.

RAMUSIO’S PREFACE.[167]

Having undertaken to describe a journey made in Persia by M. Caterino Zeno, knight, at the time that our Republic, being at war with the Turk, desired that he should be harassed on the East by the arms of the king Ussun Cassano, who, some years before with great skill in the art of war, had made himself Master of Persia, and a great part of the neighbouring provinces; I have considered it suited to my undertaking, to treat of all the wars, which were waged in Persia, both between the members of the royal family and by the Persians against the Turks. And particularly to narrate the manner in which this Ussun Cassano, a poor nobleman, and the weakest in condition of many brothers[168] (Giausa,[169] the eldest, having become King of Persia), not possessing more than thirty soldiers besides a small castle, afterwards raised himself to such grandeur, that he had the courage to dispute the empire of all Asia with the Ottoman house, which, under Mahomet II,[170] was a terror to the East.

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Travels to Tana and PersiaChapter IX (1)

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