Narrative of Travels in Europe, Asia, and Africa, in the Seventeenth Century, Vol. I

IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE ALL-CLEMENT, THE ALL-MERCIFUL!

To GOD, who ennobles exalted minds by travels, and has enabled me to visit the holy places; to Him who laid the foundations of the fortresses of legislation, and established them on the groundwork of prophecy and revelation, all praise be given: and may the richest blessings and most excellent benedictions be offered to the most noble and perfect of all creatures, the pattern of prayer, who said, “Pray as you see me pray;” to the infallible guide, Mohammed; because it is in his favour that God, the Lord of empires and Creator of the heavens, made the earth an agreeable residence for the sons of Adam, and created man the most noble of all his creatures. Praise to Him, who directs all events according to His will, without injustice or incongruity! And, after having offered all adoration to God, let every pious aspiration be expressed for the prosperity of his shadow upon earth, the ruler of terrestrial things, the Sultán son of a Sultán, the victorious Prince Murád Khán, fourth son of Sultán Ahmed Khán, and eighth in descent from Sultán Mohammed Khán, the Conqueror, the mercy of God rest upon them all! but most especially on Sultán Murád Gházi, the conqueror of Baghdád, the great Monarch with whose service I was blessed when I began to write an account of my travels.

It was in the time of his illustrious reign, in the year A.H. 1041 (A.D. 1631), that by making excursions on foot in the villages and gardens near Islámbúl (Constantinople), I began to think of extensive travels, and to escape from the power of my father, mother, and brethren. Forming a design of travelling over the whole earth, I entreated God to give me health for my body and faith for my soul; I sought the conversation of dervíshes, and when I had heard a description of the seven climates and of the four quarters of the earth, I became still more anxious to see the world, to visit the Holy Land, Cairo, Damascus, Mecca and Medina, and to prostrate myself on the purified soil of the places where the prophet, the glory of all creatures, was born, and died.

I, a poor, destitute traveller, but a friend of mankind, Evliyà, son of the dervísh Mohammed, being continually engaged in prayer and petitions for divine guidance, meditating upon the holy chapters and mighty verses of the Korán, and looking out for assistance from above, was blessed in the night ’Ashúrá, in the month of Moharrem, while sleeping in my father’s house at Islámbúl, with the following vision: I dreamt that I was in the mosque of Akhí chelebí, near the Yemish iskeleh-sí (fruit-stairs or scale), a mosque built with money lawfully gotten, from which prayers therefore ascend to heaven. The gates were thrown open at once, and the mosque filled with a brilliant crowd who were saying the morning prayers. I was concealed behind the pulpit, and was lost in astonishment on beholding that brilliant assembly. I looked on my neighbour, and said, “May I ask, my lord, who you are, and what is your illustrious name?” He answered, “I am one of the ten evangelists, Sa’d Vakkás, the patron of archers.” I kissed his hands, and asked further: “Who are the refulgent multitude on my right hand?” He said, “They are all blessed saints and pure spirits, the spirits of the followers of the Prophet, the Muhájirín, who followed him in his flight from Mecca, and the Ansárí who assisted him on his arrival at Medína, the companions of Saffah and the martyrs of Kerbelá. On the right of the mihráb (altar) stand Abú Bekr and ’Omar, and on the left ’Osmán and ’Ali; before it stands Veis; and close to the left wall of the mosque, the first Muezzin, Belál the Habeshí. The man who regulates and ranks the whole assembly is Amru. Observe the host in red garments now advancing with a standard; that is the host of martyrs who fell in the holy wars, with the hero Hamzah at their head.” Thus did he point out to me the different companies of that blessed assembly, and each time I looked on one of them, I laid my hand on my breast, and felt my soul refreshed by the sight. “My lord,” said I, “what is the reason of the appearance of this assembly in this mosque?” He answered, “The faithful Tátárs being in great danger at Azák (Azof), we are marching to their assistance. The Prophet himself, with his two grandsons Hasan and Hosaïn, the twelve Imáms and the ten disciples, will immediately come hither to perform the appointed morning service (sabáh-namáz). They will give you a sign to perform your duty as Muezzin, which you must do accordingly. You must begin to cry out with a loud voice ‘Allah Ekber’ (God is great!) and then repeat the verses of the Throne (Súrah II. 259). Belál will repeat the ‘Subhánullah’ (Glory to God!), and you must answer ‘Elhamdu-li-llah’ (God be praised!) Belál will answer, ‘Allah ekber,’ and you must say ‘Amín’ (Amen), while we all join in the tevhíd (i.e. declaration of the divine unity). You shall then, after saying ‘Blessed be all the prophets, and praise to God the Lord of both worlds,’ get up, and kiss the hand of the prophet, saying ‘Yá resúlu-llah’ (O Apostle of God!).”

When Sa’d Vakkás had given me these instructions, I saw flashes of lightning burst from the door of the mosque, and the whole building was filled with a refulgent crowd of saints and martyrs all standing up at once. It was the prophet overshadowed by his green banner, covered with his green veil, carrying his staff in his right hand, having his sword girt on his thigh, with the Imám Hasan on his right hand, and the Imám Hoseïn on his left. As he placed his right foot on the threshold, he cried out “Bismillah,” and throwing off his veil, said, “Es-selám aleik yá ommetí” (health unto thee, O my people). The whole assembly answered: “Unto thee be health, O prophet of God, lord of the nations!” The prophet advanced towards the mihráb and offered up a morning prayer of two inflexions (rik’ah). I trembled in every limb; but observed, however, the whole of his sacred figure, and found it exactly agreeing with the description given in the Hallyehi khákání. The veil on his face was a white shawl, and his turban was formed of a white sash with twelve folds; his mantle was of camel’s hair, in colour inclining to yellow; on his neck he wore a yellow woollen shawl. His boots were yellow, and in his turban was stuck a toothpick. After giving the salutation he looked upon me, and having struck his knees with his right hand, commanded me to stand up and take the lead in the prayer. I began immediately, according to the instruction of Belál, by saying: “The blessing of God be upon our lord Mohammed and his family, and may He grant them peace!” afterwards adding, “Allah ekber.” The prophet followed by saying the fátihah (the 1st chap. of the Korán), and some other verses. I then recited that of the throne. Belál pronounced the Subhánu’llah, I the El-hamdulillah, and Belál the Allah ekber. The whole service was closed by a general cry of “Allah,” which very nearly awoke me from my sleep. After the prophet had repeated some verses, from the Suráh yás, and other chapters of the Korán, Sa’d Vakkás took me by the hand and carried me before him, saying: “Thy loving and faithful servant Evliyà entreats thy intercession.” I kissed his hand, pouring forth tears, and instead of crying “shifá’at (intercession),” I said, from my confusion, “siyáhat (travelling) O apostle of God!” The prophet smiled, and said, “Shifá’at and siyáhat (i.e. intercession and travelling) be granted to thee, with health and peace!” He then again repeated the fátihah, in which he was followed by the whole assembly, and I afterwards went round, kissed the hands, and received the blessings of each. Their hands were perfumed with musk, ambergris, spikenard, sweet-basil, violets, and carnations; but that of the prophet himself smelt of nothing but saffron and roses, felt when touched as if it had no bones, and was as soft as cotton. The hands of the other prophets had the odour of quinces; that of Abú-bekr had the fragrance of melons, ’Omar’s smelt like ambergris, ’Osmán’s like violets, Alí’s like jessamine, Hasán’s like carnations, and Hoseïn’s like white roses. When I had kissed the hands of each, the prophet had again recited the fátihah, all his chosen companions had repeated aloud the seven verses of that exordium to the Korán (saba’u-l mesání); and the prophet himself had pronounced the parting salutation (es-selám aleïkom eyyá ikhwánún) from the mihráb; he advanced towards the door, and the whole illustrious assembly giving me various greetings and blessings, went out of the mosque. Sa’d Vakkás at the same time, taking his quiver from his own belt and putting it into mine, said: “Go, be victorious with thy bow and arrow; be in God’s keeping, and receive from me the good tidings that thou shalt visit the tombs of all the prophets and holy men whose hands thou hast now kissed. Thou shalt travel through the whole world, and be a marvel among men. Of the countries through which thou shalt pass, of their castles, strong-holds, wonderful antiquities, products, eatables and drinkables, arts and manufacturers, the extent of their provinces, and the length of the days there, draw up a description, which shall be a monument worthy of thee. Use my arms, and never depart, my son, from the ways of God. Be free from fraud and malice, thankful for bread and salt (hospitality), a faithful friend to the good, but no friend to the bad.” Having finished his sermon, he kissed my hand, and went out of the mosque. When I awoke, I was in great doubt whether what I had seen were a dream or a reality; and I enjoyed for some time the beatific contemplations which filled my soul. Having afterwards performed my ablutions, and offered up the morning prayer (saláti fejrí), I crossed over from Constantinople to the suburb of Kásim-páshá, and consulted the interpreter of dreams, Ibráhím Efendí, about my vision. From him I received the comfortable news that I should become a great traveller, and after making my way through the world, by the intercession of the prophet, should close my career by being admitted into Paradise. I next went to Abdu-llah Dedeh, Sheïkh of the convent of Mevleví Dervíshes in the same suburb (Kásim-páshá), and having kissed his hand, related my vision to him. He interpreted it in the same satisfactory manner, and presenting to me seven historical works, and recommending me to follow Sa’d Vakkás’s counsels, dismissed me with prayers for my success. I then retired to my humble abode, applied myself to the study of history, and began a description of my birth-place, Islámbúl, that envy of kings, the celestial haven, and strong-hold of Mákedún (Macedonia, i.e. Constantinople).

SECTION I.

Infinite praise and glory be given to that cherisher of worlds, who by his word “BE,” called into existence earth and heaven, and all his various creatures; be innumerable encomiums also bestowed on the beloved of God, Mohammed Al-Mustafà, Captain of holy warriors, heir of the kingdom of law and justice, conqueror of Mecca, Bedr, and Honaïn, who, after those glorious victories, encouraged his people by his noble precepts (hadís) to conquer Arabia (Yemen), Egypt (Misr), Syria (Shám), and Constantinople (Kostantiniyyeh).

Sayings (hadís) of the Prophet respecting Constantinople.

The prophet said: “Verily Constantinople shall be conquered; and excellent is the commander (emír), excellent the army, who shall take it from the opposing people!”

Some thousands of proofs could be brought to shew, that Islámbúl is the largest of all inhabited cities on the face of the earth; but the clearest of those proofs is the following saying of the prophet, handed down by Ebú Hureïreh. The prophet of God said: “Have you heard of a town, one part of it situated on the land, and two parts on the sea?” They answered, “yea! O prophet of God;” he said, “the hour will come when it shall be changed by seventy of the children of Isaac.” From (Esau) Aïs, who is here signified by the children of Isaac, the nation of the Greeks is descended, whose possession of Kostantiniyyeh was thus pointed out. There are also seventy more sacred traditions preserved by Mo’áviyyah Khálid ibn Velíd, Iyyúb el-ensárí, and ’Abdu-l-’azíz, to the same effect, viz. “Ah! if we were so happy as to be the conquerors of Kostantiniyyeh!” They made, therefore, every possible endeavour to conquer Rúm (the Byzantine empire); and, if it please God, a more detailed account of their different sieges of Kostantiniyyeh shall be given hereafter.

SECTION II.

An Account of the Foundation of the ancient City and Seat of Empire of the Macedonian Greeks (Yúnániyyáni Mákedúniyyah), i.e. the well-guarded Kostantiniyyeh, the envy of all the Kings of the Land of Islám.

It was first built by Solomon, and has been described by some thousands of historians. The date of its capture is contained in those words of the Korán, “The exalted city” (beldah tayyibeh), and to it some commentators apply the following text: “Have not the Greeks been vanquished in the lowest parts of the earth?” (Kor. xxx. 1.) and “An excellent city, the like of which hath never been created.” All the ancient Greek historians are agreed, that it was first built by Solomon, son of David, 1600 years before the birth of the Prophet; they say he caused a lofty palace to be erected by Genii, on the spot now called Seraglio-Point, in order to please the daughter of Saïdún, sovereign of Ferendún, an island in the Western Ocean (Okiyúnús).

The second builder of it was Rehoboam (Reja’ím), son of Solomon; and the third Yánkó, son of Mádiyán, the Amalekite, who reigned 4600 years after Adam was driven from Paradise, and 419 years before the birth of Iskender Rúmí (Alexander the Great), and was the first of the Batálisah (Ptolemies?) of the Greeks. There were four universal monarchs, two of whom were Moslims and two Infidels. The two first were Soleïmán (Solomon) and Iskender Zú’l karneïn (the two-horned Alexander), who is also said to have been a prophet; and the two last were Bakhtu-n-nasr, that desolation of the whole face of the earth, and Yánkó ibn Mádiyán, who lived one hundred years in the land of Adím (Edom).

SECTION III.

Concerning the Conquest of the Black Sea.

This sea, according to the opinion of the best mathematicians, is only a relic of Noah’s flood. It is eighty fathoms (kúláj) deep, and, before the deluge, was not united with the White Sea. At that time the plains of Salániteh (Slankament), Dóbreh-chín (Dobruczin), Kej-kemet (Ketskemet), Kenkús and Busteh, and the vallies of Sirm and Semendereh (Semendria), were all covered with the waters of the Black Sea, and at Dúdushkah, on the shore of the Gulf of Venice, the place where their waters were united may still be seen. Parávádí, in the páshálik of Silistirah (Silistria), a strong fortress now situated on the highest rocks, was then on the sea-shore; and the rings by which the ships were moored to the rocks are still to be seen there. The same circumstance is manifested at Menkúb, a days journey from Bághcheh seráï, in the island of Krim (Crimea). It is a castle built on a lofty rock, and yet it contains stone pillars, to which ships were anciently fastened. At that time the island of Krim (Crimea), the plains of Heïhát (Deshti Kipchák), and the whole country of the Sclavonians (Sakálibah), were covered with the waters of the Black Sea, which extended as far as the Caspian. Having accompanied the army of Islám Giráï Khán in his campaign against the Muscovites (Moskov), in the year——, I myself have passed over the plains of Haïhát; at the encampments of Kertmeh-lí, Bím, and Ashim, in those plains, where it was necessary to dig wells in order to supply the army with water, I found all kinds of marine remains, such as the shells of oysters, crabs, cockles, &c., by which it is evident that this great plain was once a part of the Black Sea. Verily God hath power over every thing!

The fourth builder of Constantinople was Alexander the Great, who is also said to have cut the strait of Sebtah (Ceuta), which unites the White Sea (Mediterranean) with the ocean. Some say the Black Sea extends from Azák (Azof), to the straits of Islámbúl (the canal of Constantinople), the sea of Rúm (Greece), from thence to the straits of Gelíbólí (Gallipoli, i.e. the Hellespont), the key of the two seas, where are the two castles built by Sultán Mohammed the Conqueror, and that all below this forms the White Sea. Having often made an excursion in a boat, when the sea was smooth and the sky clear, from the Cape of the Seven Towers (Yedí kullah búrunú), near Islámbúl, to the point of Kází Koï (called Kalámish), near Uskudár (Scutari), I have observed in the water a red line, of about a hand’s breadth, drawn from one of these points to the other. The sea to the north of the line is the Black Sea; but to the south of it, towards Kizil Adá, and the other (Princes’) islands, is called, on account of its azure (níl) hue, the White Sea; and the intermixture of the two colours forms, by the command of God, as wonders never fail, a red seam (ráddeh), which divides the two seas from each other. This line is always visible, except when strong southerly winds blow from the islands of Mermereh (Marmora), when it disappears, from the roughness of the sea. There is also a difference in the taste of the waters on each side of this line; that towards the Black Sea being less salt and bitter than that towards the White Sea: to the south of the castles (of the Dardanelles), it is still more bitter, but less so than in the ocean. No sea has more delicious fish than the Black Sea, and those caught in the Strait of Islámbúl are excellent. As that strait unites the waters of the Black and White Seas, it is called, by some writers, the confluence of two seas (mereju’l bahreïn).

The fifth builder of Constantinople was a king of Ungurús (Hungary), named Púzantín (Byzantinus), son of Yánkó Ibn Mádiyán, in whose time the city was nearly destroyed by a great earthquake, nothing having escaped except a castle built by Solomon, and a temple on the site of Ayá Sófiyyah. From Púzantín, Islámbúl was formerly called Púzenteh (Byzantium).

The sixth builder was one of the Roman emperors; the same as built the cities of Kóniyah, Níkdeh and Kaïsariyyah (Cæsarea). He rebuilt Islámbúl, which, for seventy years, had been a heap of ruins, a nest of serpents, lizards, and owls, 2288 years before its conquest by Sultán Mohammed.

The seventh builder of the city of Mákedún was, by the common consent of all the ancient historians, Vezendún, one of the grandsons of Yánkó Ibn Mádiyán, who, 5052 years after the death of Adam, being universal monarch, forced all the kings of the earth to assist him in rebuilding the walls of Mákedún, which then extended from Seraglio point (Seráï búrunú), to Silivrí (Selymbria), southwards, and northwards as far as Terkós on the Black Sea, a distance of nine hours’ journey.

Both these towns were united by seven long walls, and divided by seven ditches a hundred cubits wide. The remains of these walls, castles, and ditches, are still visible on the way from Silivrí to Terkós; and the kháns, mosques, and other public buildings in the villages on that road, as Fetehkóï, Sázlí-kóï, Arnáúd-kóï, Kuvúk-dereh, ’Azzu-d-din-lí, Kiteh-lí, Báklálí, and Túrk-esheh-lí, are all built of stones taken from these walls; the remains of some of their towers and seven ditches appearing here and there. Chatáljeh, which is now a village in that neighbourhood, was then a fortified market-town close to the fortress of Islámbúl, as its ruins shew. The line of fortifications which then surrounded the city may still be traced, beginning from Terkós on the Black Sea, and passing by the villages of Bórúz, Tarápiyah (Therapia), Firándá near Rum-ili hisár, Ortahkóï, Funduklí, to the point of Ghalatah, and from thence to the lead-magazines, St. Johns fountain (Ayá Yankó áyázmah-sí), the Ghelabah castle, the old arsenal, the castle of Petrínah, the Arsenal-garden-Point, the castle of Alínah, the village of Súdlíjeh, and the convent of Ja’fer-ábád. All these towns and castles were connected by a wall, the circuit of which was seven days’ journey.

Concerning the Canal from the river Dóná (Danube).

King Yánván, wishing to provide water for the great city of Islámbúl, undertook to make a canal to it from the Danube. For that purpose he began to dig in the high road near the castles of Severin and Siverin, not far from the fortress of Fet’h-islám, on the bank of that river; and by those means brought its waters to the place called Azád-lí, in the neighbourhood of Constantinople. He afterwards built, in the bed of the river, a barrier of solid stone, with an iron gate, which is still to be seen, as the writer of these sheets has witnessed three different times, when employed there on the public service. The place is now called the iron gate of the Danube (Dóná demir kapú-sí), and is much feared by the boat-men, who sometimes unload their vessels there, as, when lightened of their cargoes, they can pass over it in safety.

He also built another wear or barrier in the Danube, now called Tahtah-lú sedd, upon which many ships perish every year. It was when that river overflowed in the spring, that king Yánván opened the iron gate and the barrier, to allow the stream to pass down to Islámbúl, where it discharges itself into the White Sea, at the gate called Istirdiyah kapú-sí (the Oyster-gate), now Lan-ghah kapú-sí. All this was done by king Yánván during the absence of king Vezendún, who was gone on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. On his return, his uncle Kójah Yánván went over to Scutari to meet him; and as soon as they met: “Well, my uncle,” said Vezendún, have you succeeded in your undertaking with regard to the Danube?”—“I dragged it, O king,” said he, “by the hair, like a woman, into Mákedúniyyah (Constantinople), through which it now runs.” Scarcely had he uttered this haughty answer, when, by the command of God, the river suddenly returned, deserting its new bed, and bursting forth in a large fountain, at a place called Dóna-degirmánlerí (the Mills of the Danube), between Várnah and Parávádí, where a mighty stream turns a great number of mills, which supply all the people of Dóbrújah with flour. Another branch of the Danube bursts forth near Kirk Kilisá (the Forty Churches), from the rocks of Bunár-hisár (Castle of the Source). A third branch broke out in the lakes of Buyúk and Kuchúk Chekmejeh, whence it unites with the Grecian (Rúmí) sea. The proof that all these streams have their source in the Danube is that they contain fish peculiar to that river, such as tunnies, sturgeons, &c., as I myself have more than once witnessed, when observing what the fishermen caught in the lakes just named. It is also mentioned in the historical work entitled Tohfet, that Yilderim Báyazíd (Bajazet) when he conquered Nigehbólí (Nicopolis) and Fet-h-islám, having heard of the ancient course of the Danube, caused straw and charcoal to be passed into it through the iron gate, and that they afterwards appeared again at the above-named lakes Bunár-hisár and Dónah-degirmánlerí. When travelling with the Princess Fatimah, daughter of Sultán Ahmed, and Suleïmán Beg, we stopped at the village of Azád-lí, between Chatáljeh and Islámbúl, where there are evident marks of the ancient channel of the Danube, cut by art through rocks towering to the skies. We penetrated into those caverns on horseback, with lighted torches, and advanced for an hour in a northerly direction; but were obliged to return by bad smells, and a multitude of bats as big as pigeons. If the sultáns of the house of ’Osmán should think it worth their while, they might, at a small expense, again bring the waters of the Danube by Yeníbághcheh and Ak-seráï to Islámbul.

The eighth builder of that city was a king of the name of Yaghfur, son of Vezendún, who placed no less than three hundred and sixty-six talismans (one for every day in the year) near the sea at Seraglio-Point, and as many on the hills by land, to guard the city from all evil, and provide the inhabitants with all sorts of fish.

The ninth builder was Kostantín (Constantine), who conquered the ancient town and gave his name to the new city. He built a famous church on the place where the mosque of Mohamed II. now stands, and a large monastery, dedicated to St. John, on the hill of Zírek-báshí, with the cistern near it; as well as the cisterns of Sultán Selím, Sívásí tekiyeh-sí, near Ma’júnjí Mahal-leh-si, and Kedek-Páshá. He erected the column in the táúk-bázár (poultry market), and a great many other talismans.

SECTION IV.

Concerning Constantine, the ninth Builder, who erected the Walls and Castle of Constantinople.

He was the first Roman emperor who destroyed the idols and temples of the Heathens, and he was also the builder of the walls of Islámbúl. ’Isá (Jesus) having appeared to him in a dream, and told him to send his mother Helláneh (Helena) to build a place of worship at his birth-place Beïtu-l-lahm (Bethlehem), and another at the place of his sepulchre in Kudsi Sheríf (Jerusalem), he despatched her with an immense treasure and army to Felestín (Palestine); she reached Yáfah (Jaffa), the port of Jerusalem, in three days and three nights, built the two churches named above, and a large convent in the town of Nábulús.

The Discovery of the true Cross.

By the assistance of a monk called Magháriyús (Macarius), she found the place where the true cross was buried. Three trees in the form of crosses were found in the same grave, and the moment, as the Christians relate, a dead body was touched by them, it came to life again: this day was the 4th of Eïlúl (September), which is therefore celebrated by the Christians as the feast of the Invention of the Cross, and has ever since been held as a great festival by the Greeks. Helláneh also built the convent of the Kamámeh (i.e. the church of the holy sepulchre) on the spot where the dead body had been restored to life, spent immense sums of money in repairing and adorning the mosque of Al-aksá built on the site of the temple of Solomon, restored Bethlehem, and did many other charitable and pious works. She then returned to Islámbúl, and presented the wood of the cross to her son Constantine, who received it with the greatest reverence, and carried it in solemn procession to the convent on the summit of Zírek-báshí. The noblest monuments of his power and resolution to surpass all other princes in the strength and durability of his works, are the walls of Constantinople. On the land side of the city, from the Seven Towers at its western extremity to Iyyúb Ansárí, he built two strongly fortified walls. The height of the outer wall is forty-two cubits, and its breadth ten cubits; the inner wall is seventy cubits high and twenty broad. The space between them both is eighty cubits broad, and has been converted into gardens blooming as Irem; and at present, in the space between the Artillery (Tóp-kapú) and Adrianople gates (Edreneh-kapú), are the summer-quarters (yáïlák) of the Zagharjíes, or 64th regiment of the Janissaries.

Outside of the exterior wall he built a third, the height of which, measured from the bottom of the ditch, is twenty-five cubits, and its breadth six cubits; the distance between this and the middle wall being forty cubits: and beyond the third wall there is a ditch one hundred cubits broad, into which the sea formerly passed from the Seven Towers as far as the gate of Silivrí; and being admitted on the other side from the gate of Iyyúb Ansárí to the Crooked gate (Egrí-kapú), the town was insulated. This triple row of walls still exists, and is strengthened by 1225 towers, on each of which ten watchful monks were stationed to keep watch, day and night. The form of Islámbúl is triangular, having the land on its western side, and being girt by the sea on the east and north, but guarded there also by a single embattled wall, as strong as the rampart of Gog and Magog. Constantine having, by his knowledge of astrology, foreseen the rise and ascendancy of the Prophet, and dreading the conquest of his city by some all-conquering apostle of the true faith, laid the foundation of these walls under the sign of Cancer, and thus gave rise to the incessant mutinies by which its tranquillity has been disturbed. It is eighteen miles in circuit; and at one of its angles are the Seven Towers pointing to the Kiblah (Meccah). The Seraglio-point (Seráï-búruní) forms its northern, and the gate of Iyyúb its third and north-western angle. Constantine having taking to wife a daughter of the Genoese king (Jenúz Králí), allowed him to build some strong fortifications on the northern side of the harbour, which were called Ghalatah, from the Greek word ghalah (γάλα, milk), because Constantine’s cow-houses and dairy were situated there.

Names of Constantinople in different Tongues.

Its first name in the Latin tongue was Makdúniyyah (Macedonia); then Yánkóvíchah in the Syrian (Suryání), from its founder Yánkó. Next in the Hebrew (’Ibrí) Alkesándeïrah (Alexandria) from Alexander; afterwards Púzenteh (Byzantium); then for a time, in the language of the Jews, Vezendúniyyeh; then by the Franks Yaghfúriyyeh. When Constantine had rebuilt it the ninth time, it was called Púznátiyám in the language of the Greeks, and Kostantaniyyeh; in German Kostantín-ópól; in the Muscovite tongue Tekúriyyah; in the language of Africa, Ghiránduviyyeh; in Hungarian, Vizendú-vár; in Polish, Kanátúryah; in Bohemian, Aliyáná; in Swedish (Esfaj), Khiraklibán; in Flemish, Isteghániyyeh; in French, Aghrándónah; in Portuguese, Kósatiyah; in Arabic, Kostantínah; in Persian, Kaïsari Zemín; in Indian, Takhti Rúm (the throne of Rome); in Moghól, Hákdúrkán; in Tátár, Sakálibah; in the language of the ’Osmánlús, Islámbúl. Towards the sea it was never defended by a ditch, which is there superfluous, but by a single wall; but to guard the entrance of the Bosporus and Hellespont, and to increase the security of the city, the castles called Kilídu-l-bahreïn (i.e. the key of the two seas), were built. It is said to have had three hundred and sixty-six gates in the time of Constantine, who left only twenty-seven open, and walled up the rest, the places of which are still visible.

SECTION V.

Concerning the circumference of Constantinople.

In the year 1044 (1634) when I was first come to years of manhood, and used to walk with my friends all over Islámbúl, at the time that Sultán Murád IV. had marched against (Riván) Eriván, and Kójah Baïrám Páshá was left as Káyim-makám (viceroy), he used to visit my late father; and, in the course of conversation, inquire about the history of Islámbúl. “My lord,” said my father, “it has been built nine times, and nine times destroyed; but had never, since it has been in the hands of the house of ’Osmán, fallen into such decay as now, when waggons might be any where driven through the walls.” He then suggested to the Páshá, that this city, being the envy of the kings of the earth, and the royal residence of the house of ’Osmán, it would be unworthy him to suffer its walls to remain in that ruinous condition during the period of his government; and that when the Sultán returned victorious from Riván, he would be overjoyed on seeing “the good city,” his nest, as brilliant as a pearl, and compensate this service by large remunerations, while the name of the Páshá would also be blessed by future generations for so meritorious a work. All who were present applauded what my father had said, and he concluded by repeating the Fátihah. The Mólláhs of Islámbúl, Iyyúb, Ghalatah, and Uskudár (Scutari), the Shehr emíní (superintendent of the town), four chief architects, Seybánbáshí (the third in rank among the officers of the Janissaries), and all other men in office were immediately summoned together, with the Imáms of the 4,700 divisions (mahallah) of the city, for the purpose of giving aid in repairing the fortifications. Many thousands of masons and builders having been assembled, the great work was begun, and happily finished in the space of one year, before the return of the Sultán from his victorious campaign at Riván.

On receiving intelligence of the conquest of that fortress the joy was universal, and the city was illuminated for seven days and seven nights. It was then that a causeway, twenty cubits broad, was formed at the foot of the wall, along the sea-shore, from Seraglio-Point to the Seven Towers; and on it a high road was made for the convenience of the sailors, who drag their vessels by ropes round the point into the harbour. Close to the wall, all the houses, within and without, were purchased by government, and pulled down to make room for the road, and I then was enabled to measure the circumference of the city, by pacing it round as I shall now explain.

Having said a bismillah on setting out, and going along the edge of the ditch, from the Seven Towers to Abú Iyyúb Ensárí, I found the distance measured 8,810 paces, exclusive of the eight gates. From the little gate of Iyyúb to the Garden-gate (Bághcheh kapú), including the Martyrs gate (Shehíd kapú-sí), a space comprehending fourteen gates, there are 6,500 paces. The new palace (Yení seráï), which is the threshold of the abode of felicity (Asitánehi Dáru-s-se’ádet), beginning from the barley-granary (Arpá-enbárí), which is near the head-lime-burners gate (kirej-chí báshí kapú-sí), has, in its whole circumference, sixteen gates, ten of which are open, and six closed, except on extraordinary occasions. The entire circuit of this new palace, built by Mohammed (II.) the conqueror, is 6,500 paces. The distance from the Stable gate (Akhór-kapú), along the new-made high road to the angle of the Seven Towers, measures 10,000 paces, and comprehends seven gates. According to this calculation, the whole circumference of Islámbúl measures 30,000 paces, having ten towers in every thousand paces, and four hundred towers in the sum total; but, taking into the account those in the triple wall on the land side, there are altogether 1,225 large towers; of which, some are square, some round, some hexagonal. When Baïrám Páshá had undertaken a complete repair of the fortifications, he ordered the walls to be measured by the builders’ ell (arshín), and the whole circumference of the city was found to be exactly 87,000 ells or cubits (zirá’).

In the time of Kostantín (Constantine), there were five hundred cannons planted on the arsenal (Tóp-khánah) near the lead-magazine, of which the iron gates are still visible; the same number was planted near Seraglio-Point, and a hundred round the foot of the Maiden’s Tower (Kiz kulleh-sí, i.e. the Tower of Leander). Not a bird could cross without being struck from one of these three batteries, so secure was Islámbúl from any hostile attack. There was then a triple chain drawn from Ghalatah to Yemish Iskeleh-sí, upon which a large bridge was built, affording a passage for comers and goers, and opening when necessary to allow the ships to go through. There were two other bridges also across the sea, from Balát kapú-sí (Palace gate) to the garden of the arsenal (Ters-kháneh-bághcheh-sí), and from Iyyúb to Súdlíjeh. In the time of Yánkó Ibn Mádiyán, also, a triple chain of iron was drawn across the straits of the Black Sea (Karah deniz bóghází), at the foot of the castle called Yórúz (i.e. the castle of the Genoese), in order to prevent the passage of the enemy’s ships. I have seen fragments of these chains, which are still preserved at Islámbúl in the magazines of the arsenal, each ring of which is as wide across as a man’s waist, but they now lie covered with sand and rubbish. Islámbúl was then in so flourishing a state, that the whole shore to Silivrí one way, and to Terkóz on the Black Sea the other, was covered with towns and villages to the number of twelve hundred, surrounded by gardens and vineyards, and following each other in uninterrupted succession. Constantine, having reached the summit of greatness and power, could easily have conquered the world, but he preferred employing the remainder of his life in the embellishment of his capital. On the great festivals, such as the Red-egg-days (Kizil yúmurtah gúnlerí, i.e. Easter), Mother Meryem’s days (the Feasts of the Virgin), Isvat Nikólah (St. Nicolas), Kásim (St. Demetrius), Khizr Ilyás (St. George), Aúsh-dús, (i.e. the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, on the 14th of September), the casting of the crosses into the water (the Epiphany), the days of Karah-kóndjólóz (probably days on which evil spirits were exorcised), and on all Sundays (Bázár gúnlerí, i.e. market days), the walls of Constantinople were covered with scarlet cloth, and the emperor himself, having his beard adorned with pearls, and the Kayanian crown of Alexander on his head, walked in solemn procession through the streets of the city.

The number of Paces between each of the twenty-seven Gates.

These six gates are all on the west side of the city, looking towards Adrianople.

This, which is also called the Válideh kapú-sí (Queen Mothers-gate), was erected in order to give access to the new mosque built by that princess.

These fourteen gates, from Iyyúb-kapú-sí to Shehíd-kapú-sí, all open to the sea-shore, and face the north. The gates in the circuit of the imperial palace (seráï humáyún) are all private, and are, 1. the Kirech-jí (lime-burners); 2. the Oghrún, from which the corpses of criminals executed in the seraglio are thrown into the sea; 3. the Bálukchí (fishmongers); 4. the Ich ákhór (privy stable gate), looking southward; and 5. the gate of Báyazíd khán, which also faces the south, but is not always open. 6. The imperial (Bábi humáyún) or gate of felicity (Bábi Sa’ádet), also open to the south, and within it there are three gates in the same line: one of them is the (7.) Serví-kapú-sí (the cypress gate), by which the Sultán issues when he visits Sancta Sophia, or takes his rounds through the city in disguise; another is (8.) Sultán Ibráhím’s gate, also opening to the south, near the cold spring (sóúk cheshmeh); a third is (9.) the Sókóllí Mohammed Páshá kapú-sí, a small gate near the Aláï-kóshk, looking to the west; a fourth, also facing westward, is (10.) Suleïmán Khán kapú-sí, a small gate now always shut. (11.) The iron gate (Demir kapú) is a large portal facing the west, and appropriated to the use of the Bóstánjís and imperial favourites (Musáhibler, i.e. Ἑταίροι). The above-mentioned eight private gates, from the Akhór kapú to the Demir kapú, all open into the city; but there are nine other private gates opening to the sea on the Seraglio-Point, and facing the north.

Seven of these gates open towards the east, and as the winds blow from the south-east with great violence, the quay built by Baïrám Páshá was soon destroyed, so that when I paced the circuit, as mentioned above, in the reign of Ibráhím Khán, I was obliged to pass between the Stable-gate and the Seven Towers, within the walls. I then found the whole circuit to be 29,810 paces; but, in Baïrám Páshá’s time, when I went outside the walls, it measured exactly 30,000 paces, or 87,000 builders’ cubits (mïmár arshúní).

SECTION VI.

On the wonderful Talismans within and without Kostantíneh.

First talisman. In the ‘Avret-Bázárí (female-slave-market), there is a lofty column (the pillar of Arcadius) of white marble, inside of which there is a winding staircase. On the outside of it, figures of the soldiers of various nations, Hindustánies, Kurdistánies, and Múltánies, whom Yánkó ibn Mádiyán vanquished, were sculptured by his command; and on the summit of it there was anciently a fairy-cheeked female figure of one of the beauties of the age, which once a year gave a sound, on which many hundred thousand kinds of birds, after flying round and round the image, fell down to the earth, and being caught by the people of Rúm (Romelia), provided them with an abundant meal. Afterwards, in the age of Kostantín, the monks placed bells on the top of it, in order to give an alarm on the approach of an enemy; and subsequently, at the birth of the Prophet, there was a great earthquake, by which the statue and all the bells on the top of the pillar were thrown down topsy-turvy, and the column itself broken in pieces: but, having been formed by talismanic art, it could not be entirely destroyed, and part of it remains an extraordinary spectacle to the present day.

Second talisman. In the Táúk-Bázár (poultry-market) there is another needle-like column (the pillar of Theodosius), formed of many pieces of red emery (súmpáreh) stone, and a hundred royal cubits (zirá’ melikí) high. This was also damaged by the earthquake which occurred in the two nights during which the Pride of the World was called into existence; but the builders girt it round with iron hoops, as thick as a man’s thigh, in forty places, so that it is still firm and standing. It was erected a hundred and forty years before the era of Iskender; and Kostantín placed a talisman on the top of it in the form of a starling, which once a year clapped his wings, and brought all the birds in the air to the place, each with three olives in his beak and talons, for the same purpose as was related above.

Third talisman. At the head of the Serráj-kháneh (saddlers’ bazar), on the summit of a column stretching to the skies (the pillar of Marcian), there is a chest of white marble, in which the unlucky-starred daughter of king Puzentín (Byzantius) lies buried; and to preserve her remains from ants and serpents was this column made a talisman.

Fourth talisman. At the place called Altí Mermer (the six marbles), there are six columns, every one of which was an observatory, made by some of the ancient sages. On one of them, erected by the Hakím Fílikús (Philip), lord of the castle of Kaválah, was the figure of a black fly, made of brass, which, by its incessant humming, drove all flies away from Islámból.

Fifth talisman. On another of the six marble columns, Iflátún (Plato) the divine made the figure of a gnat, and from that time there is no fear of a single gnat‘s coming into Islámbúl.

Sixth talisman. On another of these columns, the Hakím Bokrát (Hippocrates) placed the figure of a stork, and once a year, when it uttered a cry, all the storks which had built their nests in the city died instantly. To this time, not a stork can come and build its nest within the walls of Islámból, though there are plenty of them in the suburbs of Abú Iyyúb Ensárí.

Seventh talisman. On the top of another of the six marble columns, Sokrát the Hakím (i.e. Socrates the sage) placed a brazen cock, which clapped its wings and crowed once in every twenty-four hours, and on hearing it all the cocks of Islámbúl began to crow. And it is a fact, that to this day the cocks there crow earlier than those of other places, setting up their kú-kirí-kúd (i.e. crowing) at midnight, and thus warning the sleepy and forgetful of the approach of dawn and the hour of prayer.

Eighth talisman. On another of the six columns, Físághórát (Pythagoras the Unitarian), in the days of the prophet Suleïmán (Solomon), placed the figure of a wolf, made of bronze (túj), the terror of all other wolves; so that the flocks of the people of Islámból pastured very safely without a shepherd, and walked side by side with untamed wolves very comfortably.

Ninth talisman. On another of these columns were the figures in brass of a youth and his mistress in close embrace; and whenever there was any coolness or quarrelling between man and wife, if either of them went and embraced this column, they were sure that very night to have their afflicted hearts restored by the joys of love, through the power of this talisman, which was moved by the spirit of the sage Aristatálís (Aristotle).

Tenth talisman. Two figures of tin had been placed on another of the six columns by the physician Jálínús (Galen). One was a decrepit old man, bent double; and opposite to it was a camel-lip sour-faced hag, not straighter than her companion: and when man and wife led no happy life together, if either of them embraced this column, a separation was sure to take place. Wonderful talismans were destroyed, they say, in the time of that asylum of apostleship (Mohammed), and are now buried in the earth.

Eleventh talisman. On the site of the baths of Sultán Báyazíd Velí there was a quadrangular column, eighty cubits high, erected by an ancient sage named Kirbáriyá, as a talisman against the plague, which could never prevail in Islámból as long as this column was standing. It was afterwards demolished by that sultán, who erected a heart-rejoicing hammám in its place; and on that very day one of his sons died of the plague, in the garden of Dáúd Páshá outside of the Adrianople-gate, and was buried on an elevated platform (soffah) without: since which time the plague has prevailed in the city.

Twelfth talisman. In the Tekfúr Seráï, near the Egrí kapú, there was a large solid bust of black stone, on which a man named Muhaydák placed a brazen figure of a demon (’afrít), which once a year spit out fire and flames; and whoever caught a spark kept it in his kitchen; and, as long as his health was good, that fire was never extinguished.

Thirteenth talisman. On the skirt of the place called Zírek-báshí there is a cavern dedicated to St. John, and every month, when the piercing cold of winter has set in, several black demons (kónjólóz) hide themselves there.

Fourteenth talisman. To the south of Ayá Sófiyah there were four lofty columns of white marble, bearing the statues of the four cherubs (kerrúblir), Gabriel (Jebráyíl), Michael (Míkáyíl), Rafael (Isráfíl), and Azrael (Azráyíl), turned towards the north, south, east, and west. Each of them clapped his wings once a year, and foreboded desolation, war, famine, or pestilence. These statues were upset when the Prophet came into existence, but the four columns still remain a public spectacle, near the subterraneous springs (chukúr cheshmeh) of Ayá Sófiyah.

Fifteenth talisman. The great work in the Atmeïdán (Hippodrome), called Milyón-pár (Millium?), is a lofty column, measuring a hundred and fifty cubits (arshún) of builders measure. It was constructed by order of Kostantín, of various coloured stones, collected from the 300,000 cities of which he was king, and designed to be an eternal monument of his power, and at the same time a talisman. Through the middle of it there ran a thick iron axis, round which the various coloured stones were placed, and they were all kept together by a magnet, as large as the cupola of a bath (hammám), fixed on its summit. It still remains a lasting monument; and its builder, the head architect, Ghúrbárín by name, lies buried at the foot of it.

Sixteenth talisman. This is also an obelisk of red coloured stone, covered with various sculptures, and situate in the At-meïdán. The figures on its sides foretell the different fortunes of the city. It was erected in the time of Yánkó ibn Mádiyán, who is represented on it sitting on his throne, and holding a ring in his hand, implying symbolically, ‘I have conquered the whole world, and hold it in my hands like this ring.’ His face is turned towards the east, and kings stand before him, holding dishes, in the guise of beggars. On another are the figures of three hundred men engaged in erecting the obelisk, with the various machines used for that purpose. Its circumference is such that ten men cannot span it; and its four angles rest on four brazen seats, such that, when one experienced in the builders art has looked at it, he puts his finger on his mouth.

Seventeenth talisman. A sage named Surendeh, who flourished in the days of error, under king Púzentín, set up a brazen image of a triple-headed dragon (azhderhá) in the Atmeïdán, in order to destroy all serpents, lizards, scorpions, and such like poisonous reptiles: and not a poisonous beast was there in the whole of Mákedóniyyah. It has now the form of a twisted serpent, measuring ten cubits above and as many below the ground. It remained thus buried in mud and earth from the building of Sultán Ahmed’s mosque, but uninjured, till Selím II., surnamed the drunken, passing by on horseback, knocked off with his mace the lower jaw of that head of the dragon which looks to the west. Serpents then made their appearance on the western side of the city, and since that time have become common in every part of it. If, moreover, the remaining heads should be destroyed, Islámból will be completely eaten up with vermin. In short, there were anciently, relating to the land at Islámból, three hundred and sixty-six talismans like those now described, which are all that now remain.

Talismans relating to the Sea.

First talisman. At the Chátládí-kapú, in the side of the palace of an emperor whom the sun never saw, there was the brazen figure of a demon (dív) upon a square column, which spit fire, and burnt the ships of the enemy whenever it was they approached from the White Sea (Archipelago).

Second talisman. In the galley-harbour (kadirghah límání) there was a brazen ship, in which, once a year, when the cold winter-nights had set in, all the Witches of Islámból used to embark and sail about till morning, to guard the White Sea. It was a part of the spoils captured with the city by Mohammed II. the conqueror.

Third talisman. Another brazen ship, the counterpart of this, was constructed at the Tóp-khánah (cannon-foundery), in which all the wizards and conjurors kept guard towards the Black Sea. It was broken in pieces when Yezíd Ibn Mo’áviyyah conquered Ghalatah.

Fourth talisman. At Seraglo-Point there was a triple-headed brazen dragon, spitting fire, and burning all the enemy’s ships and boats whichever way they came.

Fifth talisman. There were also, near the same place, three hundred and sixty-six lofty columns bearing the figures of as many marine creatures; a White sun fish (khamsín bálighí) for example, which, when it uttered a cry, left not a fish of that kind in the Black Sea, but brought them all to Makedún, where all the people got a good bellyful of them.

The sixth talisman was, that, during all the forty days of Lent, all kinds of fish were thrown ashore by the sea, and caught without any trouble by the people of Rúm (Turkey).

All these talismans having been overthrown by the great earthquake on the night of the prophets birth, the columns which bore them still lie strewed like a pavement along the Seraglio-Point, from the Selímiyyeh Kóshk, to the castle of Sinán Páshá, and are manifest to those who pass along in boats. Though upset they still retain their talismanic virtues, and every year bring many thousand fishes to the shore.

There were also twenty-four columns round Islámból, each bearing a talisman. All could be visited by a man in one day, provided it was a day of fifteen hours: now the longest day at Islámból, from sun-rise to sun-set, is fifteen hours and a half. That city is situated in the middle of the fifth climate, and therefore enjoys excellent air and water.

SECTION VII.

Concerning the Mines within and without the City of Kostantín.

By God’s will there was anciently a great cavern in Islámból, below the Sultán’s mosque (Sultán jámi’-sí), filled with sulphur, nitre, and black powder, from which they drew supplies in time of need. Having, by the decree of heaven, been struck by lightning in the time of Kostantín, or, according to our tradition, at the time of the taking of the city by the conqueror, all the large buildings over the cavern were blown up, and fragments of them scattered in every direction; some may still be seen at Uskudár (Scutari), others at Salájak búruní, and Kází kóï (Chalcedon); one large piece, particularly, called the Kabá-tásh, and lying in the sea before the chismehler tekkiyeh, to the north of the village of Funduk-lí, near Tóp-khánah, was probably thrown there when the city was blown up.

In the neighbourhood of the castle of Kúm-búrghaz, half a days journey from the Seven Towers, to the south of Islámból, a fine white sand is found, in great request among the hour-glass makers and goldsmiths of Islámból and Firengistán (Europe).

Near the privy-garden of Dáúd Páshá, outside of the Adrianople-gate, there are seven stone quarries, which appear to be inexhaustible. It is called the stone of Khizr, because it was pointed out by that prophet for the construction of Ayá Sófiyah.

A kind of soft clay (tín) like electuary (ma’jún), found near the suburb of Abú Iyyúb ansárí, is called tín ansárí; it has a sweet scent like terra sigillata (tiní makhtúm), from the island of Alimání (Jezírehi Alimání, i.e. Lemnos); and it is used for the sigillate earth found at Lemnos; making jugs, a draught from which refreshes like a draught of the water of life.

From a pool (buheïreh) between the suburbs of Iyyúb Sultán and Khás-kóï, divers bring up a kind of black clay, which is excellent for making jugs, cups, plates, and all kinds of earthenware.

The springs of Jendereh-jí, in the delightful promenade (mesíreh-gáh) called Kághid Khánah (Kïahet-haneh, or les eaux douces, i.e. fresh-water springs), are famous all over the world. The root of a kind of lign-aloes (eker) is found there superior to that of Azák (Assov), the city of Kerdeh, or the canal of the castle of Kanizzhah. One of its wonderful properties is, that when a man eats of it it occasions a thousand eructations; it fattens tortoises marvellously, and the Franks of Ghalatah come and catch them, and use them in all their medicines with great advantage.

At Sárí Yár, north of Kághid Kháneh, a kind of fermented clay is found, which smells like musk, and is used in making jugs and cups, which are much valued, and offered as presents to the great.

At the village of Sári Yár, near the entrance of the strait of the Black Sea, there is a lofty mountain of yellow-coloured earth, covered with gardens and vineyards up to its summit. On its outside, near to the sea-shore, there is a cavern containing a mine of pure gold, free from any alloy of Hungarian (Ungurús) Búndúkání brass. From the time of the infidels till the reign of Sultán Ahmed, it was an imperial domain, farmed out for one thousand yúk of aspers (loads, each equal to 100,000). The Defterdár, Ekmek-ji-zádeh Ahmed Páshá, closed it, as bringing little into the treasury; it is now, therefore, neglected, but if opened again by the Sultán’s order would be found a very valuable mine.

From this mountain in the valley of Gók-sú, near the castles (hisár) on the Bosphorus, a kind of lime is obtained which is whiter than snow, cotton, or milk, and cannot be matched in the world.

In the same favourite place of resort, the valley of Gók-sú, a kind of red earth is found, of which jugs, plates, and dishes are made; and the doctors say, that pure water drunk out of vessels made of this earth cures the básuri demeví (blood-shot eyes?).

In the mountains near the town of Uskudár (Scutari), is found a kind of fossil whetstone (kayághán), which breaks in large slabs, and is much used for tombstones.

Beneath the palace known by the name of Ghalatah-seráï, above the suburb of Tóp-khánah, is an iron mine, called the mine of old Islámból, and the ore extracted from it is known by that name all over the world. Not a soul in the universe knew any thing of it till Khizr pointed it out, in the time of king Ferendú, for the building of Ayá Sófiyah; and all the ironwork of that edifice, as well as the iron hoops round the column in Táúk-bázár [Forum Theodosii], were made of iron from Eskí Stámból. The mine was worked till the time of Sultán Báyazíd Velí, who was much pleased with the air and water of the place, and often spent some time there; and having been admonished in a dream by the Prophet, founded a hospital and college on the spot; and having finally made it a school for pages of the seraglio, the mine was abandoned. The humble writer of this remembers, in the time of his youth, when ’Osmán the Martyr was on the throne, there was between the lead-magazine (kúrshúnlí makhzen) and Tóp-kapú a manufactory of Damascus blades, made from the iron of this mine, where Mohamed the Conqueror, who established it, had most excellent blades made. I myself have seen Mustafá, the head sword-maker of Sultán Murád IV., and master of little David, working in that manufactory. It was a large building, outside of the walls, on the sea-shore. Afterwards, when Sultán Ibráhím ascended the throne, Kara Mustafá Páshá became a martyr, and every thing was thrown into confusion; this building was turned into a house for the Jews, by ’Alí Aghá, superintendant of the custom-house, and neither the name, nor any trace of the mine or the sword manufactory, are to be found.

The thirteenth mine is that mine of men, the Good City, i.e. Kostantiniyyeh, which is an ocean of men and beautiful women, such as is to be found no where else. It is said, that if a thousand men die and a thousand and one are born, the race is propagated by that one. But Islámból is so vast a city, that if a thousand die in it, the want of them is not felt in such an ocean of men; and it has therefore been called Káni Insán, a mine of men.

SECTION VIII.

Sieges of Constantinople.

In the forty-third year of the Hijreh (A.D. 663), Mo’áviyyah became Commander of the Faithful; and in the course of his reign sent his commander in chief Moslemah, son of ’Abdu-l-malik, at the head of a hundred thousand men of the Syrian army, with two hundred ships, and two hundred transports laden with provisions, ammunition, &c. from the port of Shám-Tarah-bólús (Tripoli in Syria), and trusting in God, first against the island of Máltah, which at that time was Rodós (Rhodes), and of which they made a conquest almost as soon as they disembarked. They next proceeded to the islands of Istánkóï (Cos), Sákiz (Scio), Medellí (Mitylene), Alimániyah (Lemnos), and Bózjah (Tenedos), which were taken in a few days; and they immediately afterwards laid siege to Kostantaniyyeh, having taken four hundred ships in their passage, and intercepted all vessels laden with provisions coming from the White or Black Sea. The infidels soon sued for peace, on condition of paying the annual tribute of a galley laden with money; and the victorious general returned to Arabia with joy and exultation, carrying with him the impure son of that erring king (királ) Herkíl (Heraclius) as a hostage, with treasures to the amount of some millions of piastres.

Second Siege. In the fifty-second year of the Hijrah of the pride of the world (A.D. 671), Ebú Iyyúb Ansárí, the standard-bearer of the Prophet, and ’Abdullah ibn ’Abbás ibn Zeïd, proceeding with some thousands of the illustrious companions of the Prophet, and 50,000 brave men, in two hundred ships, followed by reinforcements under the command of Moslemah, first carried supplies to the warriors of Islám in garrison at Rodós, and then, casting anchor before the Seven Towers and landing their men, laid siege to Islámból by sea and land. Thus, for six months, did this host, which had the fragrance of Paradise, contend day and night with the infidels. By the wise decree of God. Ebú Iyyúb their leader suffered martyrdom in one of these assaults, by an arrow from a cross-bow: but, according to a sure tradition, he was received into mercy (i.e. he died) of a disorder in his bowels.

Third Siege. In the year of the Hijrah 91 (A.D. 710), by order of the khalif Suleïmán, son of ’Abdu-llah of the Bení Ummayyah, his nephew ’Omar ibn ’Abdu-l-’azíz marched by land against Islámból with 87,000 men, who ravaged Ghalatah with fire and sword, and having carried off an immense booty, crossed over into Anátólí (Natolia); and after having laid siege to Sínób, which made its peace at a great price, and Kastemúní, the capture of which likewise it did not please God to make easy to him, he returned to Syria (Shám).

The fourth Siege. In A.H. 97 (A.D. 716), the same khalif again sent his nephew ’Omar ibn ’Abdu-l-’azíz against Islámból, with an army of 120,000 men by land, and 80,000 embarked in three hundred ships at sea. They established their winter-quarters that year in the town of Belkís-Aná, near Aïdinjik (Cyzicus), in the district of Brúsah, and in the following spring they laid siege to Islámból, and reduced the inhabitants to the greatest distress, by laying waste all the surrounding fields and meadows.

The fifth Siege. In the year of the Hijrah——, ’Omar ibn ’Abdu-l-’azíz, having become khalif of Shám (Syria), sent an army of 100,000 men, by land and by sea, against Islámból, and crossing the Strait of the Black Sea at Ghalatah, conquered it, and built the mosque of the lead magazines; and the mosque of the Arabs (’Arab jámi’sí) in that suburb was likewise named from its having been built by him. Having erected a lofty heaven-aspiring tower at Ghalatah, he called it Medíneto-l Kahr (the City of Oppression). He made peace with the Tekkúr of Islámból on condition that Mohammedans should be allowed to settle in that city, from the Crooked (Egrí) and Adrianople gates, and the hill on which the Suleïmániyyah stands, to that of Zírek-báshí, and from thence by the flour-market (ún-kapání) as far as Iyyúb Ensárí. He built the rose-mosque (Gul-jámi’í) in the market of Mustafá Páshá, erected the court of justice near the Sirkehjí-tekiyeh, and formed a new district of the town at the summer-quarters of Kójah Mustafá Páshá, near the Seven Towers. Another condition on which this unilluminated Tekkúr (emperor) obtained peace, was the annual payment of a tribute (kharáj) of 50,000 pieces of gold. ’Omar ibn ’Abdu-l-’azíz fixed his winter-quarters at Ghalatah for that year, having received the tribute due for three hundred years in consequence of a former treaty, departed, leaving Suleïmán ibn ’Abdu-l Malik governor of Ghalatah, and appointing Moselmah his Grand Vizír. His fleet having met near Rodostò one of two hundred sail, sent by the infidels to succour the Tekkúr, a great battle ensued; and just as the infidels were about to be destroyed, a stormy wind sprung up and drove both fleets on shore, notwithstanding all the cherubims in heaven emulated the zeal of the true believers on earth. The Moslims disembarked, laid waste all the villages round about, carried away more than 3,000 horses, asses, and mules, and 23,000 prisoners. The treasures taken from the ships which were sunk, were so great, that God only knows their amount; and the number of the dust-licking infidels passed over the edge of the sword such that their bones lie piled up in heaps in a well known valley, called even now ‘Omar Kírdúghí Jórdú, i.e. ‘the camp broken up by ‘Omar.’ After gaining another signal victory by sea and land, he returned into Syria (Shám).

The sixth Siege. In the year of the hijrah 160 (A.D. 777) Merván ibnu-l Hakem besieged Islámból with an army of 150,000 Moslims and a fleet of a thousand ships during six months, added three new districts and built a mosque in the Mahommedan part of the city, and compelled Mesendún, son of Herakíl (Heraclius), to pay a yearly tribute of 500,000 golden tekyánúses, (i.e. coins called Decianus).

The seventh Siege. Seventy-four years after the peace made with Merván, in the year of the hijrah 239 (A.D. 853-4), after the conquest of Malatíyyah, Islámból was pillaged by the khalif Yahyá son of ’Ali, who returned to Kharrán (Charrhæ) after having smote 20,000 infidels with the edge of the sword.

The eighth Siege. Sixteen years afterwards, A.H. 255 (A.D. 869), I’liyá (Elias) son of Herakíl being king (királ) of Islámból, Harúnu-r-rashíd marched from his paradisiacal abode at the head of 50,000 troops; but finding it difficult to effect the conquest of the city, he made peace on condition of receiving as much ground within the walls as a bulls hide would cover. He therefore cut the hide into strips, so as to enclose space enough in the district of Kójah Mustafá Páshá for building a strong castle, and he fixed the annual tribute at 50,000 fulúrí (florins). He then returned to Baghdád, having levied the tribute (kharáj) due for the last ten years.

About this time the infidels, taking advantage of the dissensions which prevailed among the Muselmáns respecting the khalífat, massacred all those established in Islámból and Ghalatah, not however without great loss on their own side, the king and royal family being all slain; in consequence of which Ghirándó Mihál (Grando Michael), a grandson of Herakíl who had come from Firengistán, was made king; and on that very day Seyyid Bábá Ja’fer, one of the descendants of Imám Hoseïn, and Sheïkh Maksúd, one of the followers of Veïsu-l-Karní, sent by Hárúnu-r-rashíd as ambassadors, entered Islámból. They were attended by three hundred fakírs and three hundred followers, and were received by the new king with innumerable honours. The Sheïkh asked and obtained permission to bury the remains of the many thousand martyrs who had been slain in the late massacre, which lasted seven days and seven nights. He immediately set to work, and with the aid of his own three hundred fakírs and Bábá Ja’fer’s three hundred followers, buried those many thousand martyrs in the places where they had died. In the ancient burying ground behind the arsenal, there are large caverns and ancient vaults, where, from the time of ’Omar ibn ’Abdu-l-’azíz, some thousand companions (of the Prophet) had been buried. To that place Sheïkh Maksúd carried some thousand bodies of these martyrs, and buried them there, where, on a hewn stone, there is written in large and legible characters, so that it may be easily read, this inscription, said to be by the Sheïkh’s own blessed hand: