Chapter XXIV: Introduction (6)

On his second arrival in Tauris, Ismael committed a most disgraceful act, as he caused twelve of the most beautiful youths in the town to be taken to his palace of Astibisti for him to work his wicked will upon them, and gave them away one by one to his lords for the same purpose; a short time previously he had caused ten children of respectable men to be seized in like manner. When he returned from Sumacchia three Georgian ambassadors arrived and were well received, and a damsel given them as a present. While engaged in these rejoicings, news came that the Usbecs, that is the subjects of the Tartar, had over-run the country of Gesti,[676] whereupon he had to decide to march against him at once, so he took the field and mustered his troops, ordering all his lords to assemble their retainers which they had to maintain during the campaign. In this way forces came together from all sides in numbers sufficient to meet Jeselbas,[677] a great many being necessary as the Tartar was a mighty monarch. I left Tauris on the 1st of May, 1520,[678] during the levying of this army, taking the route to Aleppo, and in spite of some dangerous fellow travellers, and by the favour of God arrived at Albir[679] on the 2nd July, 1520.[680]

FOOTNOTES

[530] Alla ed Douleh.

[531] Erzingan. See p. 7, Caterino Zeno.

[532] Tchimish Gazak, or birthplace of Zimisces; identified by the Armenians with the ancient Hierapolis, though called by its present name after the birth of Zimisces, the Byzantine Emperor; it is now a town of about five thousand inhabitants, but without any relics of the Roman period.

[533] Schamachi.

[534] Shirvan.

[535] Irak-Ajemi.

[536] Bir, on the Euphrates; formerly a large town. It was taken and destroyed by Timour, the ancient Apamea.

[537] Kaiid Beg.

[538] Devetdar, an officer of Mamelukes. Tomant Bey, the last of the Soldans of Cairo, defeated and put to death by Selim I. in 1517, after a gallant resistance to the Turkish arms; he succeeded Campson Gauri.

[539] Orfa, anciently called Edessa by the successors of Alexander, and more recently Rhoa. It became a Roman colony, and one of their chief strongholds against the Parthians. At the time of the Crusades it was the residence of the Courtneys, who were called Counts of Edessa, and was taken from them by Saladin. Timour sacked it in 1426; it is now subject to Turkey. Kinneir, in his _Geographical Memoir of Persia_, says:—“It is situated in a barren country, sixty-seven miles from Bir and two hundred and thirty-two from Diarbekr. The town is surrounded by a stone wall and defended by a citadel. The ditch, which is broad and deep, is hewn out of the rock, and, when necessary, can be filled with water from the river Scirtus. The houses are well built, and the inhabitants, who are composed of Turks, Arabs, Armenians, Jews, and Nestorians, are said to amount to about twenty thousand souls. The chief ornaments of the city are a magnificent mosque consecrated to Abraham, and the cathedral of the Armenians, now fallen to decay. On a mountain, which overlooks and commands the citadel, are the ruins of a building called by the Arabs the Palace of Nimrod, and several extraordinary subterraneous apartments apparently of great antiquity.”

[540] Nimrod.

[541] Now the mosque of Ibrahim al Khaleel.

[542] The same tradition prevails now, and the fish alluded to seem as plentiful as ever, it being held sacrilege to catch them.

[543] The region is now very barren.

[544] Bagdad.

[545] Syria.

[546] Jemeleyn.

[547] Kara Amid, or Amid-Diarbekr. See Zeno.

[548] An error. The Emperor Constantine repaired the old Roman walls only.

[549] These towers were built at various periods by the chiefs of the different dynasties that reigned there. There are inscriptions from Valens down to Sultan Selim, that each successive possessor placed on the walls.

[550] This was the emblem of the Ortokide and Eioobite rulers, and not the Imperial arms.

[551] Despina Khatoon, the latter word meaning “lady” or “madam”, and so “queen”.

[552] Calo Johannes, or Black John. See p. 42, Zeno.

[553] Now the Ooloo Jami.

[554] A stone seat fastened to a wall.

[555] It has only four now.

[556] The Tigris, or Shat (Arabic for river). After the junction of the Euphrates and Tigris, the river, on its way to the Persian Gulf, goes by the name of the Shat ul Arab.

[557] Hisn Keyf and Jezireh.

[558] Kara Amid-Diarbekr.

[559] Kharput, called by Arabic historians Khutburt and Hisn Ziyad, now Mauooriet el Azeezeh in Turkish official documents. It was a chief seat of the Orlokides, and here it was that Balak, the son of Behram, the son of Ortog, confined the gallant crusaders, Jocelyn de Courtenay and Baldwin du Bourg, after they had been liberated by their conquerors, Dejekermish and Soukman Ibn Ortok. Balak destroyed all his prisoners, with the exception of the royal captives, by throwing them over the battlements. It is now fast falling into decay, the fine old castle in the lower part of the town being now in ruins.

[560] Diarbekr.

[561] Mardin, the ancient Roman colony of Marde, still a prosperous town. Kinneir says, “Although in so elevated a situation, it has within itself a plentiful supply of the finest water; and, as the vine is cultivated with success in the recesses of the mountains, wine and brandy (arrack) are made by the Armenians in considerable quantities. The houses are all built of fine hewn stone, and appear to be very old. The windows are small, grated with iron, and, from the position of the town on a declivity, added to the narrowness of the streets, the buildings seem, progressively, to rise one on the top of the other. The population of Merdin amounts to nearly 11,000 souls, of which fifteen hundred are Armenians and two hundred Jews; the remainder are Turks, Arabs, and Kurds. The Armenians have here several churches, and a patriarch who was educated at Rome; he is a well-informed man, highly respected even by the Turks. The walls of the city are kept in tolerable repair, and a few old pieces of cannon are mounted on the towers of the castle, which is now in a very dilapidated state, and has never been completely repaired since the place was taken by Timour. Merdin is forty-six furlongs from Mosul and eighteen from Diarbekr. It is the frontier town of the Pashalik of Bagdad, towards Constantinople, and under the government of a Mussaleem appointed by the Pasha.”

[562] According to Kinneir this is not the case now. See preceding note.

[563] Jezireh, on the Tigris, representing the old fortress of Bezabde, was an important town till the invasion of Timour, by whom it was taken and destroyed. It was a chief seat of the Atabegs, the ruins of whose castle still exist.

[564] Hesn Keyf.

[565] Sultan Khalil, the Eioobite. His tomb exists there yet. Hesn el Kahef or Hesn Keyf, three hours and a half from Redhwanis, mentioned by Procopius as Ciphas, while an Armenian author, writing about the first crusade, speaks of it under the name of Harsenko, and says that after the defeat of Baldwin de Bourg, Count of Edessa, and Jocelyn de Courtenay by Dejekermish and Soukman, which resulted in the capture of those two chiefs, Jocelyn was sent a prisoner to Hesn Keyf, while Baldwin was incarcerated at Mosul. They were ransomed for a considerable sum, but fell into the hands of Balak the son of Behram, the son of Ortok, who confined them at Kharput. The modern town is perched on the top of a steep and nearly inaccessible rock, having at the eastern end the old castle built by the Ortokides on the ruins of a more ancient edifice. In a small plain at the foot of the mountains that here press down upon the Tigris, are the ruins of the old town of the same name, the seat of the Ortokides and Eioobites. A noble bridge of three large and three smaller pointed arches, but now in ruins, spanned the river close under the town. But by far the most interesting relics of the place are the myriads of grots that stretch for three miles in one direction, and occupy the sides of six other separate ravines, scooped out of the hills to the east of, and round the town. They exist, tier above tier, in parallel lines all up to the top, communicating with each other by stairs and by a narrow zigzag path, that passing each cell reaches from the highest cave to the plain. In the same manner the water of some springs on the top of the hill was conducted by a narrow channel past each of them and within easy reach of their inhabitants.

[566] Tigris.

[567] It is now a miserable village of one hundred and fifty houses only.

[568] Brother-in-law.

[569] Kizzilbashes, or red-heads. The seven Turkish tribes who bore this name were the “Oostkajalu,” “Shamlu,” “Nikallu,” “Baharlu,” “Zulkudder,” “Kajar,” and “Affshar.”

[570] Khatun “lady” or “princess.”

[571] Irak Ajemi.

[572] From the courtyard of the old castle at the eastern end of the modern town, a curious covered way, containing a winding stair of two hundred steps, is scooped out of the solid rock, leading down to the river. A little farther on are the remains of a similar stair, which, like the former, was evidently used by the townspeople to supply themselves with water from the Tigris. Where the stairs are at all exposed to the attack of an enemy from the opposite side, they are pitted with innumerable small holes, probably caused by flights of arrows that had been shot against these exposed parts to prevent any communication with the river.

[573] The foundations are Parthian. The only remaining arch fell in last year—1869.

[574] Tchimishgazak. In ruins now.

[575] Now Keffendo. The ruins are situated in the narrow gorge of the Bitlis valley.

[576] Saert, on the Bohtan Su or Eastern Tigris, also called Asaerd and Mobaelra, has been identified by d’Anville and Kinneir as the ancient Tigranocerta, though Mr. Ainsworth more recently has combated that idea, as no ruins are to be seen above ground. Tacitus and Strabo both place Tigranocerta near Nisibin; but coins of Tigranes are to be found here.

[577] Sassone.

[578] Arzen, on the Huzu Arzen, near the village of Giri Hassan, has fallen into ruins, which are still very extensive. Numerous coins have been found here.

[579] Orfà, Kara Amid (Diarbekr), Mardin, Jezireh, Hesn Keyf, and Saert.

[580] Jemeleyn.

[581] Keffendo.

[582] The Bitlis Tchai, rising near the Van Lake, flows into the Bohtan Su or Eastern Tigris.

[583] Modern travellers give a very different account of this region.

[584] Caravan Bashi.

[585] Bitlis. See Zeno, p. 8.

[586] The Bitlis Tchai. See p. 156.

[587] Sheibani Khan, Yeshilbash. See Zeno, p. 55.

[588] Yezd.

[589] Sheibani Khan was a descendant of Gengis Khan, and an enemy of the house of Timour.

[590] Tadvan, on the Van Lake.

[591] Van, the ancient Artemita, according to Kinneir, is situated two miles from the lake. “It is surrounded with a good wall and deep ditch, and has four gates: one, corresponding with the palace of the governor; another, to the east, called the Gate of Tauris; the third, to the south, called the Middle Gate; and the fourth, fronting the lake, known by the appellation of the Gate _Sinla_. On the north is a castle built on a high and perpendicular hill, which rises abruptly from the plain. This fortress can only be approached by one passage, so narrow as to admit only two persons abreast; it is always supplied with corn and military stores, and in the centre of the works stands the palace of the Aga of the Janissaries. This city is abundantly supplied with water and provisions; the houses are built of stone and tile; the streets are spacious and well paved; and the population is said to amount to fifty thousand souls, two-thirds of which number are Turks, and the remainder Kurds and Armenians. The air is pure, and the environs of the city delightful.”

[592] Peygri, now Beygir Kellah, hardly on the lake, but a short distance from it, on a small stream falling into the same.

[593] Arjish, Ardh-el Jivaz.

[594] Iklat, a very ancient Armenian town. Subsequently it became the seat of the Eioobites, and then of the Ak-koinloo.

[595] Arjish (the ancient Arzes) is a town containing six thousand inhabitants, situated on the north-west side of the lake, three days’ journey from Van.

[596] Island of Ak-Tamar, the seat of the Catholicos of the Armenians, described by Layard.

[597] Vastan in ruins to the south of the lake, nearly opposite the island of Aktamar.

[598] There are numerous cuneiform inscriptions on the castle walls, of which it is curious he should make no mention.

[599] Khoi.

[600] Marand, a town about halfway between Tabreez and Khoi, seems, by the name, to denote the town mentioned; but the traveller here expressly states that it is between Van and Khoi; so we must look for it somewhere on the blank space of Kiepert’s map to the east of Lake Van.

[601] Doulet Khaneh.

[602] Harem.

[603] Marand. See p. 164.

[604] Sofian, on the Ak Tchai, a tributary of the Aras, on the direct route to Tabreez.

[605] Hassan Beg.

[606] Tauris, or Tabreez, as it is now called, is supposed by most to be the ancient Ecbatana. Kinneir says:—

“The Persians conceive Zobeida, the celebrated wife of Haroun-ul-Rashid to be its founder; but, as they are in general very ignorant regarding the history of their cities, little reliance can be placed on any information obtained from them. That Tauris was a favourite residence of Haroun-ul-Rashid cannot be denied, and, although he might not actually have founded the city, he may yet have improved and embellished it to a considerable degree. It was, in the days of Chardin, one of the largest and most populous cities in the East, and contained, according to that traveller, five hundred thousand inhabitants. But no town has experienced to a greater degree the ravages of war. Situated towards the frontiers of contending empires, it has alternately been in the hands of the Turks, Tartars, and Persians, and has been taken and sacked eight different times; but its ruin has been chiefly owing to the number of earthquakes, which have at different times levelled its proudest edifices with the dust.

“Tabreez does not now contain more than thirty thousand inhabitants, and is, upon the whole, one of the most wretched cities I have seen in Persia. It is seated in an immense plain at the foot of a mountain, on the banks of a small river, whose waters are consumed in the cultivation of the land. It is surrounded with a decayed wall, and the only decent house in the place is a new barrack, erected by the Prince for the accommodation of his troops. The ruins of the ancient city are very extensive and very mean, being nothing but a confused mass of old mud walls.

“The observations of the gentlemen of the Mission give the latitude of Tabreez in 38 deg. 10 min. N., and 46 deg. 37 min. E.”

The population and trade of Tabreez have greatly increased since Kinneir’s time, partly owing to the intercourse with Russia; it has now nearly eighty thousand inhabitants.

[607] The followers of what is called the “Shiah sect”, curse the memories of Abu Bekr, Omar, and Othman, whom they look upon as usurpers of Ali’s rights; and they despise all the “Soonee”, or body of traditions collected during their reigns, which are venerated by all orthodox Mahometans. They believe that Ali, the beloved son-in-law of Mohammed, is almost equal to the Prophet himself; and that if Mohammed is the Apostle, Ali and his descendants, the twelve Imaums, were the Vicars of God. These Imaums all suffered martyrdom, except Mahadi, the last, and he is said to have mysteriously disappeared, and is believed to be still alive. The twelve Imaums are—

1. Ali, the son-in-law of Mohammed.
2. Hassan } his sons.
3. Hossein }
4. Zein al Abudeen. Put to death by Caliph Walid I.
5. Mohammed al Badkir. Put to death by Caliph Hashem.
6. Jaffier al Sadiek.
7. Moôssâh Kazim, from whom the Suffavean } All put to death,
family is descended. } generally by order
8. Ali Riza; buried at Meshed. } of the Caliphs.
9. Mohammed al Takec. }
10. Ali al Nukec. }
11. Hassan Askeri. }
12. Mohammed al Mahadi. Mysteriously disappeared.

[608] The Lake of Urumea, into which the Adschy Tchai, the river close to Tabreez, flows.

[609] From the Caspian.

[610] Ghilan.

[611] Bagdad, Kashan, and Yezd.

[612] Caravan serai.

[613] Ormuz.

[614] Hesht Behesht, eight heavens.

[615] Calo Johannes. See Zeno, p. 9.

[616] “Queen Despina.”

[617] Uzun Hassan, at the time of his marriage with Despina, was not King of Persia but only Prince of Diarbekr. Trebizond was taken by Mahomet II, Grand Turk, in 1461.

[618] He was strangled by his half-brothers after Uzun Hassan’s death.

[619] Tocat, Malatia, and Sivas. See Zeno.

[620] Amida Diarbekr. See Zeno, p. 6.

[621] Orfà (Edessa). See Zeno, p. 98.

[622] Kalat en Nejm.

[623] A son of Yakoob Sultan; his brother, Murad Khan, disputed the throne with him, and seized Fars and Babylonia.

[624] Sheikh Hyder. See Zeno, p. 42.

[625] Ardebil.

[626] Martha.

[627] Schamachi.

[628] Derbend.

[629] Demir Kapoo, or “iron gate”, it is sometimes called.

[630] The island of Ak Tamar, the seat of the Armenian Catholicos.

[631] Arminig.

[632] Ghilan.

[633] Pyrcall.

[634] See Zeno, pp. 48, 49.

[635] Astrabad, Sari.

[636] See Zeno, pp. 50, 56.

[637] Schamachi. See Zeno, p. 56.

[638] See Zeno, p. 46.

[639] Stepmother, according to others.

[640] Perhaps Alanja, near Maragha, on a small stream falling into Lake Urumia; but Zeno says it was to the north of Tauris.

[641] This is rather a contrast to his previous assertion, that he was one of the most bloodthirsty tyrants that ever existed. See p. 191.

[642] Murad Khan, brother of Alumut.

[643] This by no means equals the slaughter caused by Timour at Ispahan.

[644] See Zeno, pp. 53, 54.

[645] Sultan Khalil, the Eiobbite.

[646] Hesn Keyf. See p. 108.

[647] Ajem.

[648] Jemeleyn.

[649] Kharput.

[650] Alla-ed Douleh, named Becarbec.

[651] See Angiolello, p. 108.

[652] Kaisarieh.

[653] Marash. See Zeno, p. 54.

[654] El Bostan or Albistan. See Zeno, p. 54.

[655] Kara Dagh, Black Mountain.

[656] Malatia.

[657] Tchimish Gazak.

[658] Next page says 4000.

[659] Kharput.

[660] Nevruz, New Year’s day, at the vernal equinox.

[661] Kashan.

[662] Ispahan, which rose to its greatest prosperity under Shah Abbas.

[663] Shiraz.

[664] Caierbec, notorious for his treachery against Khafoor el Ghouri, the Soldan of Egypt, in his war with Selim I. See Angiolello, p. 122.

[665] Sheibani Khan. See Zeno, p. 56.

[666] Khorassan.

[667] Herat. See Zeno, p. 56.

[668] Astrabad, a city of about fifty thousand inhabitants, is situated near the mouth of the river Ester, on a bay of the Caspian. It is the capital of a small province of the same name often included in Mazanderan; it is also a treasure city of the reigning family, being the centre of their hereditary possessions.

[669] Probably one of the ports of Mazanderan; perhaps Balfrush. Zeno.

[670] Shirvan.

[671] Kara Bagh Dagh, or Mountain of Kara Bagh.

[672] Baku, after which the Caspian is sometimes named.

[673] Derbend. See Zeno.

[674] Probably the names of the twelve Imaums.

[675] La Illaha illa Allah. Ismael Wely Allah.

[676] Yezd.

[677] Sheibani Khan.

[678] The battle of Merv took place in 1514.

[679] Bir or Birajik.

[680] He does not mention the Turkish invasion of Persia, under Selim I, in 1514, which must have come under his notice, if, as he says, he remained in Tauris till 1520.

NARRATIVE

OF THE

MOST NOBLE VINCENTIO D’ALESSANDRI,

Ambassador to the King of Persia for the Most Illustrious Republic of Venice.

VINCENTIO D’ALESSANDRI.

[Sidenote: Introduction.]

I have now undertaken to give an account to your most Illustrious Government of the regions and kingdoms which are in Persia, of the produce, of the character of the people, of the person of the king, and the qualities of his mind, the government of the Court, the manner and custom of determining the affairs of State, of things of importance in the administration of justice, of the revenue and expenditure, of the number and quality of the Sultans, who are nothing but commanders of the soldiery, and in fine of all that may appear to me worthy of your greatness.

[Sidenote: Ismail, King of Persia, by breaking his word, seizes the kingdom.]

This king, named Tamas,[681] is of the house of Scili, a family illustrious from an antiquity of 980 years, coming in a direct line from Ali,[682] who was the son-in-law of Mahomet their Prophet. He was the son of Ismail the First, the father of whom was named Serdiadar,[683] a man of great goodness and learning, and considered by his people a saint, saying that it had been predicted a thousand years before, that his son should yet be king. Thus, Ismail, after having promised the kingdom to the son of the daughter of the King Ussuncassano, with no fear of God seized it for himself, causing the head of the aforesaid son to be cut off. In this way, although much harassed by the Ottoman Emperors, fortune was favourable to him, as he was the first who began to reduce the greatness of that power, and to recover some of the principal fortresses from Sultan Selim, who was the father of Sultan Suliman. This prince took possession of Coninut,[684] a populous city of the greatest importance, a centre of manufactures, in a most beautiful situation, which being strong by nature, is now made almost impregnable by the industry of the Ottomans, governed by a Pasha of high rank. Dependent on this place are plains and fortresses which are all called Dirabech[685] by this same Ismail. Ismail had three other sons besides the present king, who was the eldest,—Elias Mirisce,[686] Saine Mirisce, and Baiaram Mirisce. Elias was a man of great valour and daring, who during a peace with the king, Barcam, King of Sirvan,[687] took both his city and country, which is very large and of great importance on the shores of the Caspian Sea.[688] All this territory came into the hands of his brother, who failed to show his gratitude towards him for the acquisition of so vast a region, and so was the cause of his becoming his enemy, and joining the Ottomans. He excited Sultan Suliman to march with a great army against his brother, taking in his country the town of Vam, then the principal fortress of Persia, six days distant from Tauris. For this reason the king caused him to be killed, as he had already done to Saine Mirisce, his second brother, fearing lest he also should rise against him, and as their father had already died a natural death, there only remained one brother, who had a principality in India.

And the king, wishing to marry him to one of his daughters, sent to summon him, but the people would never consent to let him go to Casmen, fearing lest he should do him some harm. The sons of this king are eleven, born from different wives, eleven say sons and three daughters; the eldest, named Cababinde[689] Mirisce, aged forty-three years, is a man of a quiet disposition, and does not trouble himself about the affairs of this world, contenting himself with a small domain given him by his father in the region of Carasam, called Cheri. This Cababinde has three sons, the eldest of whom[690] is fifteen years of age, of noble aspect and lofty spirit, and is tenderly loved by the king for his virtues, and also because none of his other sons have children.

Ismail, the second son, is forty-one years of age, of robust frame and daring spirit, of great courage, and loving war; he has proved his valour on many occasions against the Ottomans, and particularly against the Bassa of Esrom,[691] as, with a small force of cavalry, he broke the army of the Bassa, which was very numerous; and if the latter had not quickly retreated, would have made himself master of the city. On this account, Maesum Bech, the chief vizier of the king, perceived that this young man had ambitious views, and that he had assembled an army without leave from his father, and entered the country of the Ottomans in a time of peace; considering this a want of obedience, he showed the king some letters sent to the Sultans throughout the provinces, inciting them to rise for a war against the Ottomans. In this way he persuaded the king to place him in a fortress, with a guard of Sultans and many soldiers. It is now more than seventeen years ago since he was thrown into prison, and this very year they have taken away the guard, but not set him at liberty. The king, wishing to gratify him, has sent him many beautiful women to be companions to him, but he never will have any intercourse with them,[692] saying that he will support with patience his imprisonment by his father, but that it would be too heavy a burden for him to see his children prisoners too; and that slaves are not worthy of ladies.

And this same Ismail is particularly beloved by his father, but his fear of him is great, seeing how ardently he is desired as ruler by all the people; and the Sultans are especially afraid of him from his too proud disposition; so that if he ever comes to succeed to the throne he may have to replace a great number of the chiefs of the soldiery, and to oppose all his brothers, who have taken possession of many portions of the kingdom.

Sultan Caidar Mirisce,[693] the third son and Lieutenant of his father, is eighteen years old, of small stature, most fascinating and handsome in appearance, and excelling in oratory, elegance and horsemanship, and most beloved by his father; he is very fond of hearing people discourse about war, although he does not show himself much fitted for that exercise, from his too delicate and almost feminine nature; he is of good intellect, for his age is grave enough, and shows that he understands the affairs of government, and knows how the other monarchs of the world rule.

[Sidenote: Negligence of the king.]

[Sidenote: Tyranny of the ministers.]

Sultans Mustaffa, Umircan, and Ennit Mirisce, are all three between fourteen and fifteen years old, and show great talent; the others also, between eight and eleven years, are at Carassam for instruction, except a young one of five years, who is with his father, as at that age he is very cheerful and pleasing. The daughters are all married to relations, to whom great possessions are given with them as dowries. The king is in the sixty-fourth year of his age, and the fifty-first of his reign, is of middling stature, well formed in person and features, although dark, of thick lips, and a grisly beard; he is more of a melancholy disposition than anything else, which is known by many signs, but principally by his not having come out of his palace for the space of eleven years, nor having gone once to the chase nor any other kind of amusement, to the great dissatisfaction of his people, who according to the customs of that country, not seeing their king, can only with the greatest difficulty make their petitions, and cannot have a voice in the decisions of justice; so that day and night they cry aloud before the palace for justice, sometimes a thousand, more or less. And the king, hearing the voices, usually orders them to be sent away, saying that there are judges deputed in the country, with whom rests the administration of justice, not taking into consideration that these things are against the tyrannical Judges and Sultans, who usually wait in the street to assassinate the people, seen by me as well as by many other people. I have been told as a fact, that in the book of lawsuits there are written more than ten thousand persons who have been killed during the last eight years. This evil comes principally from the Cuzzi,[694] who, as they do not receive pay, are forced to take bribes, and do so the more, as they see that in the matter of law affairs the king takes no thought or care. Hence it arises that throughout the kingdom the roads are unsafe, and in the houses themselves one runs great dangers, and the Judges nearly all allow themselves to be corrupted by money.

In truth, one may say that this king never had any inclination for war, although he talks a great deal as if he did, being a man of very little courage. And if, indeed, in any case he has shown himself with an army in the field, he did not do so from freewill, but of necessity; never having dared to show his face to the enemy, so that, to his infinite disgrace, he has lost in his reign the important city of Babilonia, near the river Euphrates, which belonged to a lord Scharafbech,[695] ruler of some people who are called Chinedi,[696] who as he was not afforded assistance against the Turks, was chased away by them. Besides, near this is a place called Bichillas,[697] a pass of great importance, and the key to the following cities and regions, namely, Chilach, Ergis, Vastan, Adalgeras, Berghieri, Cassan, and Van,[698] a city and fortress of much importance, and a great extent of country belonging to the above-mentioned places, which would be enough for a great Principality, all of which were lost. But what above all is his greatest enjoyment, are women and money, and these women have acquired such an influence over his mind, that he remains a long time with them deliberating and consulting about affairs of state; and although this king is miserly by nature, with them one may say that he is a spendthrift, giving them money, jewels, and things in great quantities. The women at times have permission from the king to come out of the palace; those, indeed, who have children, under the pretext of seeing them when they are ill. And I saw the mother of the Sultan Mustaffa Mirisce, who was slightly indisposed, come out with her face covered with a black veil, riding like a man, accompanied by four slaves and six men on foot.

[Sidenote: Great avarice of the King of Persia.]

This king uses many contrivances for promoting his pleasures, and for this keeps people on purpose; and those who do most for it are greatly rewarded. He also gives women slaves to the Sultans, that they may not be an expense to him, and when he orders them to be brought to him, they are ornamented with jewels and rich garments. Although, in the things mentioned, the great avarice of the king is plainly to be seen, I shall go on to give to your Excellencies some particulars which will make it more evident. This king sent to the East for Boscasinian cloth, and to Carassam for close velvets and other silken fabrics, and to Aleppo for woollen cloths, and from these stuffs he had clothes given as payment to the soldiers, at ten times their value. He will accept any sort of present, however small, nor does he always make one in return. As another instance, a soldier, in time of war, captured the son of a certain Orbech, one of the king’s greatest enemies, who has great power on the frontiers of Cinasari, and to whom the king is forced to give every year four hundred talleri, which in our coinage make eight thousand scudi, that he may not molest the caravans coming from India. Another soldier offered to give this soldier, for his prisoner, a village and a thousand scudi, but he would not give him up, and presented him instead to the king, hoping to obtain a greater reward; the king, however, only gave him a horse in exchange for a prisoner of such importance. He shows the greatest liberality in making provisions for people, by appointing them to places which are never paid, except by force of great obligations and presents. He gives up, as a favour, many kinds of tribute, and taxes, but for the most it is not so in reality, since after two or three years, he generally requires all the arrears at once, as he did at the time when I was at his Court, in the territory of Zutta, inhabited by Armenians, who were all exempted from tribute. He suddenly required all the arrears, which caused the ruin of these poor Christians. Sending the majordomo of Sultan Caiadar Mirisce,[699] lieutenant of the king, to collect these moneys, he required twenty-five loads of cloths and shawls in addition, as he is accustomed to change his garments fifty times a day, which are afterwards distributed to the people at ten times their value. And no one dares to show reluctance in taking these clothes, but rather to be grateful to be allowed to have them.

[Sidenote: Very heavy tolls in Persia.]

[Sidenote: Service of the king.]

[Sidenote: Seraglio.]

This king sells jewels and makes other bargains, buying and selling with the cunning of a small merchant. It is true that six years ago he did a magnanimous act, having taken away all the tolls in his kingdom, which were greater than any others in the world, since he takes a seventh part of the merchandise, besides what is taken by the officials. It has, however, been said, that he had a dream in which the Angels took him by the throat, and asked him whether it was becoming to a king, surnamed the Just, and descended from the house of Ali, to get such immense profits by the ruin of so many poor people; and then ordered him to free the people from them. The king on waking, and full of fear, commanded that in all parts of his empire the tolls should be taken off. By this deed it is evident that he repented; as in the time past, in order to accumulate money, he did thousands and thousands of actions unworthy not only of a king but of a man, which I will not particularize for fear of wearying you with their length; but will go on to speak of his court, which is divided into two departments, one the service of the king, and the other the council of state. The king’s service is divided into three classes; first, the women, daughters of Sultans, bought by the king, or received as presents into his harem, which is thus called from them, the Seraglio, as the abode of the women. They are all Georgian and Circassian slaves, and he is attended by them when he sleeps in the palace. When he sleeps out, he is attended by slaves in the lower duties, as in dressing and undressing; these are of the number of forty or fifty, and keep in order the tents and the larder.

[Sidenote: Pay of the attendants.]

[Sidenote: Loans.]

The third class of people who attend him are the noble sons of Sultans, who do not sleep in the royal palace, but come morning and evening from their houses to their attendance, and generally are about one hundred in number. The king is served by them in turn, by handing water to him, by presenting to him his robes, and by following him when he walks in the gardens. Pay is given by the king to the servants who attend him, from fifteen years of age to twenty-five and even thirty, as long as they have no beard. In this manner, in proportion to their service, he lends some twenty, some twenty-five, and some fifty thousand scudi, at twenty per cent., to some for ten, and others for twenty years, receiving for himself the interest from year to year. They then lend it on good security, at sixty and eighty per cent. to nobles of the Court who are in expectation of receiving rank and appointments from the sovereign, and if it happens that those who have borrowed the money do not compound for the capital with him who has advanced the money, they sell their houses and possessions, nor is any compensation to be had afterwards.

[Sidenote: Rewards of the nobles.]

The rewards of service of the nobles are the appointments of the Court as centurions and captains of the king’s guard, also Sultanates, which mean governorships of the provinces; these all belong to the service of the person of the king.

[Sidenote: Order of the Council.]

[Sidenote: Council.]

The Council is really one body, in which the king is the sole President, with the intervention of twelve Sultans, men of long experience in affairs of State. It is remarkably well attended by those Sultans who from time to time come to the Court, and who all enter the Council, which is held every day except when the king goes to the bath, or has his nails cut; the time of this council in summer as well as winter is from the twenty-second hour of the day, and according to the matters in hand, continues till the third, fourth, and sixth hour of the night. The king sits upon a Masthean, not very high from the ground, and behind his shoulders his sons sit when they are at Court, especially Sultan Caidar Mirise,[700] who, as Lieutenant of his father, does not leave the king’s sight. The Sultan Councillors, who are four in number, named viceroys, sit in front. The king introduces the subjects, and discourses about them, asking their opinions from the Sultans, and each one as he states his opinion, rises, and comes near the king, speaking aloud, that he may be heard by his colleagues. If, in the course of argument, the king hears anything which strikes him, he has it noted by the grand Councillors, and very often takes a note of it with his own hand; and thus in their order in which the king inquires of them, the Sultans give their opinions. When the king has no doubt about the matter in question, it is settled at the first Council; and if he has doubts, he hears the arguments of the full Council, and then settles it after private consideration. In the number of the consulting Sultans is included the Curzibassa, chief of the king’s guard, although he may not be a Sultan. The grand Councillors have no vote, and can say nothing unless they are called upon by the king; they, although of great dignity, cannot rise to the rank of Sultan, nor to any other appointments belonging to the military service, even if they are nobly born.

[Sidenote: Knighthood.]

Knighthood is really more for deserving than for noble persons. While the Council is sitting every night, there is also a guard of three hundred armed Curzi, who, when the Council is up, do not leave, but remain to guard the king.

As it seems to me that I have at last discoursed enough about the king’s court, I will go on to speak of the guard of the state, of the government and capitals of the provinces and the pursuits of the people.

[Sidenote: Boundaries of Persia.]

[Sidenote: Kingdoms possessed by the King of Persia.]

[Sidenote: Metropolitan cities.]

The country possessed by the King of Persia is bordered on the east by the Indies, which are between the rivers Ganges and Ondo (Indus); on the west by the river Tigris, which divides Persia from Mesopotamia, now called Diarbech, and running towards the frontiers of Babilonia enters the Euphrates,[701] then flowing together in one bed through Bolsora,[702] into the Persian Gulf, towards the south; on the north by the Caspian Sea, called also the sea of Baccu,[703] and by Tartary of the great Cattai. In this country there are the following regions possessed by this king, namely, Sunan,[704] the ancient kingdom of the Medes, Aras, near Greater Armenia, Carassan, Chiessen,[705] Cheri,[706] Diargomet, and Gilari,[707] which is now in a disturbed state, owing to an insurrection of the people. There are fifty-two cities in this realm: the chief are Tauris, metropolis of the whole kingdom, Carbin, Curassam, Naesimen,[708] Samachi,[709] and others I will not name, but must mention that there is not one in the whole kingdom which is walled, but all are open; the buildings are wretched, and the houses all of mud and cut straw, mixed together; neither are there mosques nor anything else to adorn these cities, although their sites are generally beautiful. The roads are disagreeable, from the great quantity of dust and mud by turns, rendering them difficult for travelling.

[Sidenote: Abundance of corn.]

[Sidenote: Agriculture or irrigation of the fields in Persia.]

There is a very great abundance of corn, and generally the plains are beautiful; in the country they are accustomed to conduct the water to irrigate the fields, one week in one place, and the other in another, and thus they give sufficient water to the grain and vines. In spite of the scarcity of rain, in the ascents and other places, where water cannot be brought, they grow grass. There is also a great quantity of live stock, and particularly of sheep, of such a size, that I had seen some in Tauris, whose tails weighed ten bisti, or rather ten battuarii, which in our weights make nine pounds. With all this the supply has to be immense, as no people in the world eat more than the Persians, it being the custom for both old and young to eat four times a day, the excellence of the water helping the digestion.

[Sidenote: Women and their habits.]

In the cities and towns they do not use many ornaments; everyone sleeps on the ground, and those who are of some position use a mattress on the carpet, others a simple mat. The women are mostly ugly, though of fine features and noble dispositions, their customs not being so refined as those of the Turkish ladies. They wear robes of silk, veils on their heads, and show their faces openly. They have pearls and other jewels on their heads, and on this account pearls are in great demand in these regions, as it is not very long since they came into use.

[Sidenote: Love and reverence of the people of Persia for the king.]

[Sidenote: Superstition of the Persian people.]

[Sidenote: Factions at Tauris.]

The reverence and love of the people for the king, notwithstanding the things mentioned above, which make one think he ought to be hated, are incredible, as they worship him not as a king, but as a god, on account of his descent from the line of Ali, the great object of their veneration. Those who are in sickness or hardships do not call to aid the name of God so much as that of the king, making vows to present him with some gift, and some go to kiss the doors of the palace, that house being considered fortunate which is able to get some cloth or shawl from the king, or else some water in which he has washed his hands, which they consider a preventive of fever. To pass over many other things I might say about this matter, I will only mention that not only the people, but his own sons and the sultans speak to him as if they could not find epithets worthy of such greatness, saying, “Thou art the living faith, and in thee we believe.” And not only in the neighbouring cities can one observe these signs of reverence, but also in the distant towns and places many hold that besides having the prophetic spirit, he has the power of raising the dead and of working other like miracles, saying that, as Ali, their chief saint, had eleven male children, this king has received from the Majesty of God the same favour as Ali. It is true that in the city of Tauris he is not held in such veneration as in the other places, for which reason it is said that he has left it and gone to stay at Casin,[710] seeing that he was not esteemed there as he wished. The city is divided into two factions, one called Nausitai, and the other Himicaivartu, which comprehend the nine municipal districts, five in one and four in the other, and all the citizens, about twelve thousand in number. These factions had always been at enmity, and slaughtered each other every day, nor could the king or any others put a stop to it, as the hatred between them had lasted more than thirty years.

[Sidenote: A curious and remarkable case.]

Certainly, one may say that the chiefs of districts are more masters of the city than the king, since the origin of their discord was that the price of meat having risen a little higher than usual, the chiefs of the districts went to the palace of the sultans and killed all the servants, and the sultan himself, if there was anything against him; then they went to the houses of those servants who were not present, broke in the doors, killed them, and carried their heads to the palace. Nor did they do these things secretly, so that from that time no attempt has been made against their freedom; so much so, that in past times they have slain sultans only to preserve some one of their privileges.

[Sidenote: Situation of the city of Tauris.]

And since this city is the metropolis of the whole empire, it seems to me that I ought to say something about it.[711] This city, therefore, is situated in a large plain not far from some hills, and in the neighbourhood of a height where used to be an ancient castle, as may be seen from the ruins; its circumference, although it has no walls, is fifteen miles and more in a long shape. From a place called Nassa, as far as the gate of the city, towards Casbin, is almost a short day’s journey in distance, with, however, numberless gardens and open places. The streets are forty-five in number, and in each there is a grove of trees, so that one may say that there is a garden for every street. The air is most salubrious in winter as well as summer. The fruits surpass those of every other country in goodness and quality. This city is commercial, as in it the goods and caravans of all parts of the kingdom come together, but its business has suffered much from war. As, for instance, in the past, two (loads) of silk, with which the country abounds, were worth more than four hundred sequins, and are now worth only two hundred. The merchandize which comes viâ Ormus, is taken care of by no one, as the route used to be through Aleppo, where there is now no traffic. They are still brought to Constantinople by land, and thence taken to Bogdania,[712] being dispersed through Poland, Denmark, Sweden, and other places, but the expenses are so great, that the profits are very small, in spite of the risk, as told me by some Armenians whom I met in Tauris, and afterwards in Tripoli. Commerce was still on the downhill road, until an English gentleman,[713] named Mr. Thomas, of London, arrived in this city with a great quantity of cloth through Muscovy, with the title of ambassador from the queen. Having died, the ruler of Siruan[714] took away all his things, so that his companions had to spend a great deal of money to get them back; so that, on this account, one cannot hope to negotiate or continue traffic with these countries.

[Sidenote: Silken goods.]

[Sidenote: Mines.]

In the kingdom of Carassam[715] they worked cloths of silk and especially velvets, which are equal in excellence to the Genoese; in other parts they work on smooth stuffs and damask, but not with the finish they have in Italy. In this country of Persia there are no mines of gold and silver or of copper, but only of iron; so that those who introduce silver from Turkey gain twenty per cent., gold fourteen and fifteen per cent., and copper sometimes eighteen and sometimes twenty per cent.; it is true that there are great expenses, as the exportation of metals is forbidden.

[Sidenote: No duties in Persia.]

[Sidenote: Taxes on houses.]

[Sidenote: Male animals do not pay tribute in Persia.]

[Sidenote: Income and expenditure of the King of Persia.]

This king, unlike other states, gets none of his revenues from duties, as they do not exist in this kingdom, but has a sixth part of the produce of the land, of corn and other plants; on vines and grass land, for one thousand archi of ground an annual payment of sixty-six pieces of gold, which is rather more than four sequins of gold. Archi are a measure, of which ten go to an ordinary field; so that one pays less than half a ducat for a field, and houses pay five per cent. on their rent. Christians in some regions pay five, in others seven and eight ducats, per house, according to the goodness and wealth of the country they inhabit. And on animals, for every herd of forty sheep he receives a tribute of fifteen bisti a year, which make three ducats of our money, but which male animals do not pay; for every cow they paid the sum of two ducats a year of our money, and so on; these make up the income of the king, which is said to amount to three millions of gold. The expenditure, which really comes from the treasury, is very small, as he is under obligation to pay only five thousand soldiers, called Curzi, who act as his body-guard, and are selected from the best and finest men in the realm; nor these even does he pay in money, but gives them uniforms and horses, putting on them whatever value he thinks fit in advance for their salaries.

[Sidenote: Soldiery of the King of Persia easily brought together.]

[Sidenote: Persian arms.]

He has eleven sons, and each of them has a sumptuous and separate court, but no one knows what he gives them. There are fifty sultans, by whom all the soldiery of the kingdom is made up, as it is divided into fifty parts, except that which he and his sons keep, which is not subject to governors. These same commanders have the charge of from five hundred to three thousand horsemen each, and from the regions assigned to them get as large an income as will support their retainers and cavalry, and enable them to muster them frequently; so that the king, in case of war, has nothing else to do but to send messengers to the sultans a month or two before, who, as they are always prepared, come without difficulty to the rendezvous. In all, they may amount to sixty thousand cavalry, notwithstanding that on paper the muster is much higher. They are generally men of fine aspect, robust, well-made, of great courage, and very warlike. They use for arms swords, lances, arquebuses, which all the soldiers can use; their arms also are superior and better tempered than those of any other nation. The barrels of the arquebuses are generally six spans long, and carry a ball a little less than three ounces in weight. They use them with such facility, that it does not hinder them drawing their bows nor handling their swords, keeping the latter hung at their saddle-bows till occasion requires them. The arquebus then is put away behind the back, so that one weapon does not impede the use of another.

[Sidenote: Persian horses and how they were introduced.]

The horses are so well trained and are so good and handsome that there is now no need to have them brought from other countries; this has happened since the arrival of Sultan Bayazeth,[716] who fled into Persia with some magnificent Caramanian and Arab horses, which were given away throughout the country, and afterwards when he was executed by order of the king, there were a thousand horses and mares in existence. On this account there has never been so fine a breed, and the Ottomans even have not got one like it. This Bayazeth also brought thirty pieces of artillery, which were taken to San Marco, towards the Caspian Sea; but not so the money and other spoils.

[Sidenote: Strength of the King of Persia.]

The strength of the king lies in his having caused them to lay waste the country on the frontiers of the Turk on every side for six days’ journey in distance, and to pull down every castle in the district, in order to strengthen himself by the Turks having no inclination to seize and hold it. I shall now speak of the relations and understandings between him and the neighbouring princes.

[Sidenote: Claims of the King of Persia to countries taken from him by the Ottoman.]

[Sidenote: Allegiance and dependence.]