It is to this day celebrated throughout the world as an extraordinary inscription, and is visited by travellers from Rúm (Greece), ’Arab (Arabia), and ’Ajem (Persia). Some of them, who, in the expectation of finding hidden treasures, began to work at these ancient buildings with pickaxes like Ferhád’s, perished in the attempt, and were also buried there. Some holy men make pilgrimages to this place barefoot on Friday nights, and recite the chapter entitled Tekásur (Korán, chap. 102); for many thousands of illustrious companions (of the Prophet) Mohájirín, (who followed him in his flight), and Ansárs (auxiliaries) are buried in this place. It has been also attested by some thousands of the pious, that this burial ground has been seen some thousands of times covered with lights on the holy night of Alkadr (i.e. sixth of Ramazán).
In short, Seyyid Bábá Ja’fer, Hárúnu-r rashíd’s ambassador, having been enraged, and taking offence at his not having been well received by the king Ghirándó Míhál, reproached him bitterly, and suffered martyrdom by poison in consequence of it. He was buried by Sheïkh Maksúd, who received an order to that effect, in a place within the prison of the infidels, where, to this day, his name is insulted by all the unbelieving malefactors, debtors, murderers, &c. imprisoned there. But when (God be praised!) Islámból was taken, the prison having likewise been captured, the grave of Seyyid Ja’fer Bábá Sultán, in the tower of the prison [the Bagno], became a place of pilgrimage, which is visited by those who have been released from prison, and call down blessings in opposition to the curses of the unbelievers.
The ninth Siege. Three years after that great event related above, Hárúnu-r-rashíd marched from Baghdád with an immense army, to require the blood of the faithful from the infidels of Rúm (Asia Minor and Greece), and having reached Malatiyyah, which was conquered by Ja’fer Ghází, surnamed Seyyid Battál, that hero led the vanguard of the army into Rúm; and Hárún himself brought up the rear with reinforcements. Having taken possession of the straits, they blockaded the city, cut off all its supplies, gave no quarter, slew 300,000 infidels, took 70,000 prisoners, and made an immense booty, which they sent to Haleb (Aleppo) and Iskenderún, and then returned laden with spoils to Baghdád. Yaghfúr (void of light), the king at that time, was taken prisoner and carried before Hárún, who gave him no quarter, but ordered him to be hung in the belfry of Ayá Sófiyyah (Sancta Sophia). Having been from my infancy desirous of seeing the world, and not remaining in ignorance, I learned the Greek and Latin languages of my friend Simyún (Simeon) the goldsmith, to whom I explained the Persian glossary of Sháhidí, and he gave me lessons in the Aleksanderah (Alexandra), i.e. the History of Alexander. He also read to me the history of Yanván, from which these extracts are taken. But after the race of the Cæsars (Kayásirah) became extinct in Kanátúr, Kostantiniyyah fell into the hands of various princes, till the house of ’Osmán arose in A.H. 699 (A.D. 1300), and, at the suggestion of ’Aláu-d-dín the Seljúkí, first turned its attention to the conquest of that city.
SECTION IX.
Concerning the Sieges of Constantinople by the Ottoman Emperors.
The first portion of the descendants of Jafeth which set its foot in the country of Rúm (Asia Minor) was the house of the Seljúkians, who, in alliance with the Dánishmendian Emírs, wrested, in A.H. 476 (A.D. 1083), the provinces of Malatiyyah, Kaïsariyyah, ’Aláiyyah, Karamán, and Kóniyah from the hand of the Greek emperors (Kaïsari Rúm Yúnániyán). They first came from Máveráu-n-nehr (Transoxiana). On the extinction of the Seljúkian dynasty, A.H. 600 (A.D. 1204), Suleïmán-sháh, one of the begs (lords) of the town of Máhán in Túrán, and his son Ertoghrul, came into Rúm, to the court of Sultán ’Aláu-d-dín. The latter having been set on his feet as a man (er-toghrílúb), and made a beg by that prince, made many brilliant conquests, and, at the death of ’Aláu-d-dín, was elected sovereign in his stead, by all the great men (a’yán) of the country. He died at the town of Sukúdjuk, and was succeeded by his son ’Osmán, who was the first emperor (pádisháh) of that race. He resided at ’Osmánjik, from whence the dazzling beams of the Mohammedan faith shed their light over Anátólí, Germiyán, and Karamán. In the time of his son and successor, the victorious Órkhán, seventy-seven heroes, friends of God (evliyáu-llah, i.e. saints) fought under the banners of the Prophet.
It was in his reign, that the holy (velí) Hájí Begtásh, who had been in Khorasán, one of the followers of our great ancestor, that Túrk of Túrks, Khójah Ahmed Yaseví, came over to his camp with three hundred devout (sáhibi sejjádeh) fakírs carrying drums and standards, and, as soon as they had met Órkhán, Brúsah was taken. From thence he proceeded to the conquest of Constantaniyyeh. His son, Suleïmán Beg, joined by the permission and advice of Begtásh and seventy great saints (evliyà), with forty brave men, such as Karah Mursal, Karah Kójah, Karah Yalavà, Karah Bíghà, Karah Síghlah, in short forty heroes (bahádur) called Karah (black), crossed over the sea on rafts, and set foot on the soil of Rúm, shouting Bismillah, the Mohammedan cry of war. Having laid waste the country on all sides of the city, they conquered, on a Friday, the castle of Ip-salà (it is called Ip-salà by a blunder for Ibtidà salà, i.e. the commencement prayer), and having offered up the Fridays prayer there, they pushed on to the gates of Adrianople, taking Gelíbólí (Galipoli), Tekir-tághí (Rodosto), and Silivrì (Selymbria) in their way, and returned victorious, laden with spoils and captives, after an absence of seven days, to Kapú-tághí on the Asiatic shore, from whence they marched with their booty into Brúsah. The brain of the whole army of Islám being thus filled with sweetness, the shores of Rúm were many times invaded, all the neighbouring country was laid waste, nor were the infidels (káfirs) able to make any resistance; while the Moslim heroes found means of raising a noble progeny by being tied with the knot of matrimony to the beautiful virgins whom they carried off. Sultán Murád I., who succeeded Órkhán, following the advice formerly given by Aláu-d-dín Sultán and Hájí Begtásh, made himself master of the country round Kostantaniyyeh before he attempted the conquest of the city itself. He therefore first took Edreneh (Adrianople), and filled it with followers of Mohammed coming from Anátólí, while the infidels could not advance a step beyond Islámból. However, they contrived to assemble an army of 700,000 men in the plain of Kós-óvà (Cossova), near the castle of Vechteren in Rúm-ílí (Romelia), where, by the decree of the Creator of the world, they were all put to the sword by the victorious Khudávendikár (Murád); but while walking over the dead bodies in the field of battle, praising God, and surveying the corpses of the infidels doomed to hell (dúzakh), he was slain by a knife from the hand of one Velashko, who lay among the slain. The assassin was instantly cut to pieces, and Murád’s son, Yildirim Báyazíd Khán, mounted the throne. In order to avenge his father’s death, he fell like a thunderbolt on Káfiristán (the land of the unbelievers), slew multitudes of them, and began the tenth siege of Kostantaniyyeh.
Yildirim Báyazíd wisely made Edreneh (Adrianople) the second seat of empire, and besieged Islámból during seven months with an army of a hundred thousand men, till the infidels cried out that they were ready to make peace on his own terms, offering to pay a yearly tribute (kharáj) of 200,000 pieces of gold. Dissatisfied with this proposal, he demanded that the Mohammedans (ummeti Mohammed) should occupy, as of old in the days of ’Omar ibn ’Abdu-l-’azíz, and Hárúnu-r-Rashíd, one half of Islámból and Ghalatah, and have the tithe of all the gardens and vineyards outside of the city. The Tekkúr king (i.e. the Emperor) was compelled of necessity to accept these terms, and twenty thousand Musulmáns having been introduced into the town, were established within their former boundaries. The Gul jámi’í, within the Jebálí kapú-sí, was purified with rose-water from all the pollutions of the infidels, whence it received its name of Gul-jámi’í (i.e. Rose mosque). A court of justice was established in the Sirkehjí Tekiyeh in that neighbourhood; Ghalatah was garrisoned with six thousand men, and half of it, as far as the tower, given up to the Mohammedans. Having in this manner conquered one half of Islámból, Báyazíd returned victorious to Edreneh. Soon afterwards Tímúr Leng issuing from the land of Írán with thirty-seven kings at his stirrup, claimed the same submission from Báyazíd, who, with the spirit and courage of an emperor, refused to comply. Tímúr, therefore, advanced and encountered him with a countless army. Twelve thousand men of the Tátár light-horse (eshkinjí), and some thousands of foot soldiers, who, by the bad counsels of the vazír, had received no pay, went over to the enemy; notwithstanding which Báyazíd, urged on by his zeal, pressed forwards with his small force, mounted on a sorry colt, and having entered the throng of Tímúr’s army, laid about him with his sword on all sides, so as to pile the Tátárs in heaps all around him. At last, by God’s will, his horse that had never seen any action fell under him, and he, not being able to rise again before the Tátárs rushed upon him, was taken prisoner, and carried into Tímúr’s presence. Tímúr arose when he was brought in, and treated him with great respect. They then sat down together on the same carpet (sejjádeh) to eat honey and yóghúrt (clotted cream). While thus conversing together, “I thank God,” said Tímúr, “for having delivered thee into my hand, and enabled me to eat and discourse with thee on the same table; but if I had fallen into thy hands, what wouldst thou have done?” Yildirim, from the openness of his heart, came to the point at once, and said, “By heaven! if thou hadst fallen into my hand, I would have shut thee up in an iron cage, and would never have taken thee out of it till the day of thy death!” “What thou lovest in thy heart, I love in mine,” replied Tímúr, and ordering an iron cage to be brought forthwith, shut Báyazíd up in it, according to the wish he had himself expressed. Tímúr then set out on his return, and left the field open for Chelebí Sultán Mohammed to succeed his father Yildirim. He immediately pursued the conqueror with 70,000 men, and overtaking him at Tashák-óvá-sí, smote his army with such a Mohammedan cleaver, that his own men sheltered themselves from the heat of the sun under awnings made of the hides of the slain, whence that plain received the ludicrous name by which it is still known. But, by God’s will, Yildirim died that very night of a burning fever, in the cage in which he was confined. His son Mohammed Chelebí, eager to avenge his father, continued to drive Tímúr forwards, till he reached the castle of Tókát, where he left him closely besieged. He then returned victorious, carrying the illustrious corpse of his father to Brúsah, where it was buried in an oratory in the court before his own mosque. His brothers ’Ísá and Músá disputed his right to the empire; but Mohammed, supported by the people of Rúm, was proclaimed khalífah at Edreneh (Adrianople), where he remained and finished the mosque begun by his father. On hearing of these contentions for the empire, the king (tekkúr) of Islámból danced for joy. He sent round cryers to make proclamation that, on pain of death, not a Muselmán should remain in the city of Kostantín, allowing only a single day for their removal: and he destroyed a great number of them in their flight to Tekirtágh (Rodostó) and Edreneh (Adrianople). The empire, after the demise of Chelebí Mohammed, was held first by Murád II., and then by Mohammed (II.) the conqueror, who during his father’s lifetime was governor (hákim) of Maghnísá (Magnesia), and spent his time there in studying history, and in conversing with those excellent men ’Ak-Shemsu-d-dín, Karah-Shemsu-d-dín, and Sívásí, from whom he acquired a perfect knowledge of the commentaries on the Korán and the sacred traditions (hadís). While he was at Maghnísá, having heard that the infidels from Fránsah (France) had landed at ’Akkah (Acri), the port of Jerusalem, on the shore of the White Sea, and in the dominions of Keláún, Sultán of Egypt, and taken possession of ’Askelán and other towns, from which they had carried off much plunder and many prisoners to their own country, he was so much grieved at the thoughts of thousands of Muselmáns being carried into captivity, that he shed tears. “Weep not, my Emperor,” said Ak-shemsu-d-dín, “for on the day that thou shalt conquer Islámból, thou shalt eat of the spoils and sweetmeats taken by the unbelievers from the castle of ’Akkah: but remember on that day to be to the faithful an acceptable judge as well as victor (kúzí ve-ghází rází), doing justice to all the victorious Moslims.” At the same time taking off the shawl twisted round his Turban, he placed it on Mohammed’s head, and announced the glad tidings of his being the future conqueror of Islámból. They then read the noble traditions (hadís) of what the Prophet foretold relative to Islámból, and observed that he was the person to whom these traditions applied. Mohammed on this, covering his head with Ak-Shemsu-d-din’s turban (’urf), said: “Affairs are retrieved in their season!” and, recommending all his affairs to the bounty of the Creator, returned to his studies.
On the death of his father Murád II., ambassadors to congratulate him were sent by all monarchs, except Uzún Hasan, Prince (Sháh) of Azerbáïján, of the family of Karah Koyúnlí; against him, therefore, he first turned his arms, and defeated him in the field of Terján.
Account of the Rise of Mohammed II., the Father of Victory.
He mounted the throne on Thursday the 16th Moharrem 855 (A.D. 1451), at the age of twenty-one years. My great grandfather, then his standard-bearer, was with him at the conquest of Islámból. He purchased with the money arising from his share of the booty, the houses within the U’n kapání, on the site of the mosque of Sághirjílar, which he built after the conquest of the city by Mohammed II., together with a hundred shops settled on the mosque as an endowment (vakf). The house in which I was born was built at the same time, and with money so acquired. The patents (baráts) for the mosques and the shops, however, were made out in the conquerors name, and signed with his cypher (tughrà), the administration of the endowment being vested in our family. From the deeds relative to it now in my hands, I am well acquainted with the dates of all the events of his reign. He was a mighty but bloodthirsty monarch. As soon as he had mounted the throne at Adrianople, he caused Hasan, his younger brother by the same mother, to be strangled, and sent his body to Brúsah, to be interred there beside his father. He conquered many castles in the country round Brúsah, built those called the key of the two seas, on the strait of the White Sea, and two likewise on that of the Black Sea, and levied a tribute on Islámból. According to the peace made by Yildirim, a tithe of the produce of all the vineyards round was to be paid to the Sultán, before any infidel could gather a single grape. After the lapse of three years, some grapes having been gathered by the infidels in violation of this article of the treaty, in the vineyards of the Rúmílí hisár (i.e. the European castle on the canal of Constantinople), a quarrel ensued, in which some men were killed. Mohammed, when this was reported to him, considered it as a breach of the treaty, and immediately laid siege to Islámból, with an army as numerous as the sand of the sea.
SECTION X.
The last Siege of Kostantaniyyeh by Mohammed II. the Conqueror.
In the year of the Hijrah 857 (A.D. 1453), Sultán Mohammed encamped outside of the Adrianople gate, with an immense army of Unitarians (Muvahhedín); and some thousands of troops from Arebistán, who crossed the Strait of Gelíbólí (Gallipoli), and having joined the army of Islám, took up their quarters before the Seven Towers. All the troops from Tokát, Sívás, Erzrúm, Páï-búrt, and the other countries taken from Uzún Hasan, crossed the strait near Islámból, and encamped on the ’Ok-meïdán in sight of the infidels. Trenches, mines, and guns were got ready, and the city was invested by land on all sides; it was only left open by sea. Seventy-seven distinguished and holy men beloved by God (Evliyáu-llah) followed the camp; among them were Ak-Shemsu-d-dín, Karah-Shemsu-d-dín, Sívásí, Mollá Kúrání, Emír Nejárí, Mollá Fenárí, Jubbeh ’Alí, Ansárí-Dedeh, Mollá Púlád, Ayà Dedeh, Khorósí Dedeh, Hatablí Dedeh, and Sheïkh Zindání. The Sultán made a covenant with them, promising that one-half of the city (devlet) should belong to them, and one-half to the Muselmán conquerors; “and I will build,” said he, “for each of you a convent, sepulchral chapel, hospital, school, college, and house of instruction in sacred traditions (Dáru-l-hadís).” The men of learning and piety were then assembled in one place; proclamation was made that all the troops of Islám should renew their ablutions, and offer up a prayer of two inflections. The Mohammedan shout of war (Allah! Allah!) was then thrice uttered, and according to the law of the Prophet, at the moment of their investing the city, Mahmúd Páshá was sent with a letter to the Emperor (Tekkúr) of Constantaniyyeh. When the letter had been read and its contents made known, relying on the strength of the place and the number of his troops, the Emperor proudly sent the ambassador back, saying, “I will neither pay tribute, nor surrender the fortress, nor embrace Islám.” On one side, the troops of Islám surrounded the walls like bees, crying out Bismillah, and beginning the assault with the most ardent zeal; on the other, the besieged, who were twice one hundred thousand crafty devils of polytheists, depended on their towers and battlements by land, and feared no danger by sea, the decrees of fate never entering into their thoughts. They had five hundred pieces of ordnance at Seraglio Point, five hundred at the Lead-magazines (on the Ghalatah-side), and one hundred, like a hedge-hog’s bristles, inside and outside of the Kíz kulleh-sí (Tower of Leander), so that not a bird could fly across the sea without being struck from these three batteries. The priests (pápás), monks, and patriarchs encouraging those polluted hosts to the battle, promised some useless idols, such as Lát and Menát, to each of the infidels. The ’Osmánlús, in the mean time, began to batter the walls, and received reinforcements and provisions; while the Greeks, who were shut out of the canals of Constantinople and the Dardanelles by the castles built there, could obtain none. After the siege had been carried on for ten days, the Sultan assembled his faithful sheiks, saying, “See to what a condition we are reduced! The capture of this fortress will be very difficult, if the defence of it is thus continued from day to day.” Ak-Shemsu-d-dín told him that he must wait for a time, but would infallibly be conqueror: that there was within the city a holy man named Vadúd, and that as long as he lived it could not be taken; but that in fifty days he would die, and then at the appointed hour, minute, and second, the city would be taken. The Sultán therefore ordered Tímúr-tásh Páshá to employ 2,000 soldiers in constructing fifty galleys (kadirghah), in the valley near Kághid kháneh, and some villages were plundered to provide them with planks and other timber for that purpose. Kójah Mustafá Páshá had previously constructed, by the labour of all his Arab troops, fifty galleys and fifty horse-boats (káyik), at a place called Levend-chiftlik, opposite to the Ok-meïdán. The galleys built at Kághid kháneh being also ready on the tenth day, the Sultán went on that day to the Ok-meïdán, with some thousands of chosen men, carrying greased levers and beams to move the said ships. By the command of God, the wind blew very favourably; all sails were unfurled, and amidst the shouts of the Moslims crying Allah! Allah! and joyful discharges of muskets and artillery, a hundred and fifty ships slid down from the Ok-meïdán into the harbour. The terrified Káfirs cried out “What can this be?” and this wonderful sight was the talk of the whole city. The place where these ships were launched is still shown, at the back of the gardens of the arsenal (Ters kháneh), at the stairs of Sháh-kulí within the Ok-meïdán.
The millet (dárú, i.e. sorghum) which was scattered there under the ships (in order to make them slide down more readily) grew, and is to this day growing in that place. All the victorious Moslims went on board armed cap-à-pie, and waited till the ships built by Tímúr-tásh at Kághid kháneh made their appearance near Iyyúb (at the extremity of the harbour), in full sail, with a favourable wind. They soon joined the fleet from Ok-meïdán, amid the discharge of guns and cannons, and shouts of Hóï Hóï! and Allah! Allah! When the Káfirs saw the illustrious fleet filled with victorious Moslims approach, they absolutely lost their senses, and began to manifest their impotence and distress. Their condition was aptly expressed in that text (Kor. II, 18): “They put their fingers in their ears, because of the noise of the thunder, for fear of death!” and they then began to talk of surrendering on the twentieth day. Pressed by famine and the besieging army, the inhabitants deserted through the breaches in the walls, to the Moslims, who, comforted by their desertion, received them well. On that day, the chiefs (báïs) of Karamán, Germiyán, Tekkeh-ílí, Aïdin, and Sáríkhán, arrived with 77,000 well-armed men, and gave fresh life to the hearts of the faithful. Tímúr-tásh having passed over with his fleet to the opposite side, landed his troops on the shore of Iyyúb, where he attacked the gates of Iyyúb and Sárí-Sultán; Mulá Pulád, a saint who knew the scripture by heart and worked miracles, attacked that of Pulád; and Sheikh Fanárí took post at the Fener kapú-sí (the Fanal-gate). The Káfirs built a castle there in one night, which would not now be built in a month, and which is actually standing and occupied. A monk named Petro having fled from that castle with three hundred priests, all turned Moslims, and that gate was called from him Petró kapú-sí. Having by God’s will conquered the newly-built castle that night, he received a standard and the name of Mohammed Petro. Ayà-dedeh was stationed with three hundred Nakshbendí Fakírs before the gate of Ayá, where he fell a martyr (to the faith), and was buried within the walls, at our old court of justice the Tekiyéh (convent) of Sirkehjí; in the same manner, the gate at which Jubbeh ’Alí was posted, was called the Jebálí gate, in memory of him, Jebálí being erroneously written for Jubbeh ’Alí. He was the sheikh (i.e. spiritual guide) of Keláún, Sultán of Egypt, and having come to Brúsah for the purpose of being present at the taking of Islámból, became a disciple of Zeïnu-d-dín Háfí, and was called Jubbeh ’Alí, from his always wearing a jacket (jubbeh) made of horse-cloth; he was afterwards, when Mohammed marched against Islámból, made chief baker (ekmekchí-báshí), and provided, no creature knows how, from one single oven the whole army, consisting of many hundred thousand servants of God, with bread as white as cotton. He did not embark at the Ok-meïdán, but with three hundred Fakírs, disciples of Zeïnu-d-dín Háfí, who, having spread skins upon the sea near the garden of the arsenal, employed themselves in beating their drums and tambours, and singing hymns in honour of the unity (tevhíd) of God. They then, unfurling the standard of Háfí, passed over the sea clearer than the sun, standing on their skins as on a litter, to the terror of the infidels doomed to hell! Jubbeh ’Alí having taken up his from the sea, was posted at the Jebálí gate. After the conquest he voluntarily fell a martyr, and was interred in the court of the Gul-jámi’í (the rose-mosque), where an assemblage of Fakírs afterwards found a retreat from the world. Khorós dedeh was engaged at the Un-kapání gate, which therefore bears his name; and below it, on the left hand as one enters, there is a figure of a cock (khorós). He was a Fakír, and one of the disciples of my ancestor Ahmed Yeseví. He came from Khurasán, when old and sickly, with Hájí Begtásh, in order to be present at the siege of Islámból, and got the nickname of Khorós-dedeh (father cock), from his continually rousing the faithful, by crying out, “Arise, ye forgetful!” Yáúzún Er, who was a very pious man, built within the Un-kapání a mosque in honour of him; it is now in the Sighirjílar chárshu-sí (beast market), and named afterwards the mosque of Yáúzún Er. Khorós-dedeh died sometime afterwards near the gate called after his name, and was buried near the high-road, outside of the Un-kapání gate, beside my ancestor. A conduit for religious ablutions has been erected near it, and is now visited as a place of pilgrimage. ’Alí Yárík, Bey of Ayázmánd, a nephew of Uzún-Hasan, of the Karákoyúnlí family, attacked the Ayázmah gate. He dug a well there for the purpose of renewing his ablutions; hence the gate received the name Ayázmah (Ἁγίασμα) kapú-sí: the water is pure spring-water, though on the edge of the sea. Sheïkh Zindání was a descendant of Sheïkh Bábá Ja’fer, who having come as ambassador in the time of Hárúnu-r-Rashíd, was poisoned by the king (i.e. emperor), and buried within the Zindán kapú-sí (prison-gate). Sheïkh Zindání visited this place, having come from Edirneh (Adrianople) with “the conqueror,” at the head of 3,000 noble Seyyids (descendants of Mohammed), who gave no quarter, soon made the Zindán kapú-sí his castle, and having entered it, made a pilgrimage to his ancestor’s tomb, and laid his own green turban on the place where Bábá Ja’fer’s head rested. He continued for seventy years after the conquest as Turbehdár (warden of the sepulchre) and built a convent there. The Emperor, as he had made a prison in that place, called it Zindán kapú-sí (the Bagnio), and it was conquered by Zindání. The Sheïkh having appointed in his stead a Sayyid of the same pure race, to take charge of the tomb of Ja’fer Bábá, accompanied Sultán Báyazíd in his expedition against Kilí (Kilia) and Ak-kirmán, in the year 889 (A.D. 1484). He died at Edirneh (Adrianople), after his return with Báyazíd from those conquests, and on that occasion the Sultán caused all the prisoners in the public prison there to be set at liberty for the good of the Sheïkh’s soul, and erected a chapel (turbeh) over his tomb, outside of the Zindán Kulleh-sí, having attended his funeral in person. His turbeh is now a great place of pilgrimage, and all his children are buried there. It is called the Ziyáret-gáh of ’Abdu-r-ruuf Samadání. The wardens of the tomb of Bábá Ja’fer at Islámból are still members of his family, and their genealogical tree is as follows: ’Abdu-r-ruuf Samadání (otherwise called Sheïkh Zindání) son of Sheïkh Jemálu-d-dín, son of Bint-Emír Sultán, son of Eshrefu-ddín, son of Táju-d-dín, son of the daughter of Seyyid Sikkín (buried near Ak-Shemsu-d-dín, at Túrbahlí Kóï), son of Ja’fer Bábá (buried at Islámból), the son of Mohammed Hanifí, from whom my ancestor Ahmed Yeseví was also descended; our genealogical trees were therefore well known to me.
Kámkár Beg, of Kútáhiyeh, was one of the Germiyán-óghlú (i.e. the children of Germiyán). He, with three thousand young heroes, assailed the Shehíd kapú-sí (martyrs-gate). As it is near Ayá Sófiyah, the Christians assembled there in great multitudes, opened the gate, and sallying forth with great fury, made all their Muselmán assailants martyrs. In the time of Hárúnu-r-rashíd, also, some of the illustrious auxiliaries of the Prophet (ansár) quaffed the cup of martyrdom there, hence it has been named the Martyrs (Shuhúd) gate, though incorrectly called by the vulgar, Jews’ (Juhúd) gate. The gates of the royal palace (Khúnkár seráï) sustained no siege; but the gate near the Seven Towers was attacked by Karamán-óghlú with the new reinforcements. The troops from Tekkehbáï were posted before Silivrí-gate; those from Aïdín, before the new gate (Yení kapú); those from Sárúkhán, before the Cannon-gate (Tóp kapú-sí), where they were slain, and replaced by those from Munteshá. The force from Isfendiyár was ordered to besiege the Adrianople-gate (Edirneh kapú-sí), and that from Hamíd, the Crooked-gate (Egrí kapú). So that Islámból was besieged on two sides, and nothing but the Kúm kapú (Sand-gate) on the sea-shore, and the wall from the Seven Towers to Seraglio-Point, remained free from attack. At the Seven Towers, the poet Ahmed Páshá, disregarding the fire of the infidels made several breaches. At the Silivrí-gate, Haïder Páshá’s fire gave not a moments respite to the infidels. At the new gate (Yení kapú), Mahmúd Páshá, commander of the troops from Aïdín, stormed the wall which he had battered three times without success. The commander at the Tóp kapú-sí was Nishání, also called Karamání Mohammed Páshá, a disciple of Jellálu-d-dín Rúmí. He had given devilish (khabelí) proofs of his valour in the war against Uzún Hasan. While he stood at the Cannon-gate, not a cannon could the Káfirs discharge. At the Edirneh-gate (Adrianople), the commander was Sa’dí Páshá, who having dwelt along with Jem-Sháh in Firengistán, had learned many thousand military arts. Being united heart and soul with the valiant men from Isfendiyár stationed at that gate, they vied with him in their heroic deeds, remembering the prophetic tradition that says “We shall be the conquerors of Kostantaniyyeh” (Constantinople). Seven places are yet shewn near that gate where they battered down the wall. Hersek-Oghlú Ahmed Páshá had the command at the Crooked-gate (Egrí-kapú), where by many straight-forward blows he sidled himself into the midst of the infidels till he reduced them all to a mummy.
In this way Kostantaniyyeh had been besieged for twenty days, without any signs of its being conquered. The Moslem warriors, the seventy Unitarians, and three thousand learned ’Ulemás, favourites of God (Evliyá-llah), masters of the decrees of the four orthodox sects, began to be afflicted by the length of the siege, and with one accord offered up their prayers to the Creator for his aid, when suddenly there was darkness over Islámból, with thunder and lightning; a fire was seen to ascend to the vault of heaven from the Atmeïdán; the strongest buildings flew into the air, and were scattered over sea and land. On that day three thousand infidels fled from the city, through alarm and terror. Some were honoured by the profession of Islám, and admitted into the emperors service; others fled to different countries; but the rest, who would not abandon the faith of the Messiah, set to work to repair the breaches, and continued firm in their resistance. They were much pressed, however, by want of food and ammunition.
On the thirtieth day of the siege, Sultán Mohammed having placed the ’Urf (i.e. the judicial turban) on his head, and sky-coloured boots on his feet, mounted a mule which might rival Duldul (Mahomet’s steed), made the round of the walls, and distributed largesses among his troops. He then passed over with many thousand men from Iyyúb to Kághid khánah, and crossing the streams of Alí Beg Kóï and Kághid Khánah came to the place called Levend-chiftlik, where forty ships (firkatah) had also been built. These, like the former, they moved on rollers to the Ok-meïdán, and launched them at the Sháh-kúlí stairs into the sea, filled with some thousand scarlet scull-capped Arabs, burning as brandy, and sharp as hawks.
SECTION XI.
There appeared off Seraglio Point ten large admirals’ ships and ten frigates, completely armed and equipped, with the cross-bearing ensign flying, drums beating, and music playing; and casting anchor there, they fired their guns with indescribable demonstrations of joy, while the Moslims advanced from the Ok-meïdán in two hundred boats and skiffs, embarked on board their own vessels, rushed on these ten ships like bees swarming upon a hive, and enthralled them, head and stern, with their ropes like a spiders web. The infidels, supposing that they were only come on a parley, stood quietly without stretching out a hand against them. The Moslims, in the mean time, shouting “Allah! Allah!” began to tie their hands behind their backs, and to plunder their ships; when the infidels, speaking in their own language, said “Chi parlai,” that is to say, “What do you say?” The Káfirs discovered by the answer who they were, and cried out, “These Turks have entered our ships like a plague, we can make no resistance.” On entering the harbour they had fired all their guns as signals of joy, and were now so crowded together that they could not use their arms, they were therefore all taken. The infidels within the town, seeing this sad event, those who were coming to succour them having been thus taken, tore their hair and beards, and began a heavy fire from the batteries at Seraglio Point, the Lead Magazines at Ghalatah, and the Kíz Kulleh-sí (Tower of Leánder). The undaunted Moslims, however, in spite of the enemy’s batteries, lowered the cross-bearing flag on the twenty ships which they had taken, put all the prisoners on board of their own vessels, and came to an anchor before the garden of the arsenal, firing their guns repeatedly from joy and exultation. The serden-gechdí (i.e. mad caps) immediately disembarking from the vessels, brought the glad tidings to the Sultán and Ak-Shemsu-d-dín, in the garden of the arsenal; when the latter, turning to Mohammed, said: “When your majesty, being then a prince at Maghnísá, heard of the taking of ’Akkà, Saïdá, and Berût (Acrí, Sidon, and Beïrút) in Egypt, by the infidels, and grieved at the thoughts of what the captives, women, and children must suffer, I comforted you by saying, that when you conquered Islámból you would eat of the sweetmeats taken in the plunder of ’Akkà. Lo! those sweetmeats are now presented to you, and my prophetic prayer, that the city might be conquered on the fiftieth day, has been answered!” There were found by the Musulmáns on board the twenty ships, three thousand purses of coins (fulúrí) of Tekiyánús (Decianus), one thousand loads of pure gold, two thousand loads of silver, eight thousand prisoners, twenty captains of ships, a French princess (a kings daughter, a yet unexpanded blossom), a thousand Muselmán damsels, brilliant as the sun, noble and ignoble, and some thousand-times a hundred thousand warlike stores; all of which the Sultán confided to the care of Ak-Shemsu-d-dín, while he himself was entirely engaged in continuing the siege.
The complete account of the affair is this: Kostantín, the late King of Islámból, being betrothed to a daughter of the King of Fránsah, the latter, in order to send her with an escort worthy of her rank, equipped a fleet of six hundred ships, and sent them to ravage the coasts of Arabia (’Arabistán). In that unhappy year they had plundered ’Akkah, Saïdah, Berút, Tarábulus (Tripoli), Ghazzah, and Ramlah, as far as the land of Hásán (Haúrán?), and carried off more than two thousand Húrí-like damsels from ’Arabistán, with spoils to the amount of millions. Of this fleet, ten galeons and ten frigates were dispatched to carry the Princess to Islámbúl. When they reached the straits of the White Sea (the Dardanelles), they discovered that the Túrks had built castles there; but these accursed fellows, by disguising themselves, taking advantage of a fresh southerly breeze, and sending forwards five empty ships to receive the fire from the castles, in two hours got twenty miles beyond them. Having by this stratagem reached Islámból, they were taken, thank God! as has been related. This French princess afterwards gave birth to Yildirím Báyazíd; but other historians tell the story differently, and say that she was taken by the father of Mohammed the Conqueror, and gave birth to him, but he was in truth the son of ’Alímeh Khánum, the daughter of Isfendiyár Oghlú. The correctness of the first account maybe proved thus: My father, who died an old man, was with Sultán Suleïmán at the sieges of Rhodes, Belgrade, and Sigetvár, where that prince died. He used to converse much with men advanced in years: among his most intimate friends there was one who was grey-headed and infirm, but more eloquent than Amrïo-l-kaïs or Abú-l-ma’álí. He was chief secretary to the corps of Janissaries, and his name was Sú-Kemerlí Kójah Mustafà Chelebí. This gentleman was certainly related to this daughter of the King of Fránsah, from whom he continually received presents; and I remember that when I was a boy he gave me some curious pictures which had been given to him by her. During the siege of Sigetvár, before the death of Suleïmán was known to the army, the silihdár (sword-bearer) Kúzú ’Alí Aghá, by the desire of the Grand Vizír Sokól-lí Mohammed Páshá, assembled a council of war, at which the corpse of the Sultán was seated on his throne, and his hands were moved [by some one concealed] behind his ample robe (khil’ah). To this council all the vizírs, vakíls, and senior officers of the army were summoned. Among them were the rikábdár (stirrup-holder) Julábí Aghá, the metbakh emíní (clerk of the kitchen) ’Abdí Efendí, my father, and the abovementioned Sú-kemerli Kójáh Mustafá. He was at that time so old, that when he accompanied the army he was always carried about in a litter (takhti-reván). He had been one of the disciples of the great Muftí Kemál Páshá-zádeh, and was deeply read in divinity and history. Being one of the servants of Kemál Páshá-zádeh, “I was,” he used to say, “when a youth of twenty-five years of age, present at the conquest of Cairo by Sultán Selím I.” A.H. 923 (A.D. 1517); and the writer of these pages was lost in astonishment when he heard him give an account of the great battles of Merj Dábik and Kákún, of Sultán Ghaúrí’s quaffing the cup of destiny, of his son Mohammed’s being deposed by the soldiery on account of his youth, of Túmán-Báï’s succeeding him, of his continued war and twenty-three battles with Selím, till at length Caïro was taken. He was a most faithful man, and one whose word could be taken with perfect security; and having heard him relate the story of the abovementioned French princess from beginning to end, I write it down here.
An Explanation of the Relationship between the House of ’Osmán and the King of France.
Sú-Kemer-lí Mustafá Chelebí gave this narrative: “My father was the son of a King of France, named——. When the treaty had been made by which he engaged to give his daughter (my father’s sister) to the Tekkúr (the Emperor of Constantinople), a fleet of six hundred vessels was dispatched to ravage the coasts near the castle of ’Akkah, in order to furnish her with a dowry. It returned home laden with an immense booty, and a vast number of captives, male and female, and having reached Párisah, the ancient capital of our country, great rejoicings were made. Among the female captives there was a young Seyyideh (i.e. one of the prophetic race), who was given by the King of France to my father, and from whom I was born. When I was three years old, the king my grandfather sent my father with his sister, and vast treasures, to Islámból, and having been captured at Seraglio Point, we were delivered up to Sultán Mohammed, in the garden of the arsenal. After the city was taken, my father was honoured by admission into Islám (the Mohammedan faith), having been instructed by Ak-Shemsu-d-dín, and all the victorious Moslims having reverently presented his sister the princess to the Sultán, she was also instructed in Islám by the same holy man, but refused to embrace it. The Sultán upon this said, “We will give her an excellent education,” and did not trouble himself to insist much on that point. I was then five years old, and being taught the doctrines of Islám by Ak-Shemsu-d-dín, received the honour of Islámism (God be praised!) without any hesitation. My father was made one of the kapújí-báshís (lord-chamberlains), and I was brought up in the seráï kháss (i.e. the Grand Seignor’s palace) by my aunt, my father’s sister. Mohammed Khán having afterwards formed a close attachment for my aunt, she became the mother of Sultán Báyazíd (II) Velí, and the princes Jem and Núru-d-dín.” “When my aunt,” he added, “died, as she had never embraced Islám, Sultán Mohammed II. caused a small sepulchre (kubbeh) to be erected beside the sepulchral chapel (turbeh) which he had built for himself, and there she was buried. I myself have often, at morning-prayer, observed that the readers appointed to read lessons from the Korán [in these turbehs] turned their faces towards the bodies of the defunct buried in the other tombs while reading the lessons, but that they all turned their backs upon the coffin of this lady, of whom it was so doubtful whether she departed in the faith of Islám. I have also frequently seen Franks of the Fránsah tribe (i.e. French), come by stealth and give a few aspers to the turbeh-dárs (tomb-keepers) to open this chapel for them, as its gate is always kept shut. So that there can be no doubt, according to the account given by Srí Kemer-lí Mustafá Chebebí, that a daughter of the King of France became the wife (khátún) of Mohammed the Conqueror (Abú-l Fat-h), and the mother of Sultán Báyazíd.”
An Account of the heroic Deeds and Misfortunes of Jem-Sháh, son of the Emperor Mohammed Abú-l Fat-h (the Conqueror).
When Báyazíd Velí was khalífah, his brother Jem-Sháh (these two being princes of a high spirit) contended with him for the possession of this foul world, and having been worsted in a great battle on the plains of Karamán, fled to Kalávún Sultán of Egypt. From thence as he was going on a pilgrimage to Meccah, he was driven by the buffetting of the sea on the shores of Yemen and ’Aden, whence he visited the tomb of Veïso-l Karní, performed the pilgrimage, and travelling through Hijáz, returned to Egypt, from which country he went by sea to Rhodes and Malta, and from thence to France to visit his grandmother (the Queen of France), one of the most exalted sovereigns of that time, accompanied by 300 Muselmán followers: he spent his time like a prince, in hunting and all sorts of enjoyment. One of his most favoured companions and counsellors was his defterdár (secretary) Sivrí Hisárí; another was ’Ashik-Haïder. Seventeen sons of báns (princes) stood before him [as slaves] with their hands crossed upon their breasts [ready to receive and execute his orders]. He was always followed by this suite in all his travels through Káfiristán (the land of the infidels). He composed some thousand penj-beïts mukhammases, and musaddeses (odes), together with kásáyids (elegies), which form a díván (collection of poems), praised by all the world.
A Stanza by Jem-Sháh.
In this kind of elegies he was an incomparable poet. Sultán Báyazíd at length sent an ambassador to the King of France and claimed Jem-Sháh. On this the ill-complexioned Frank caused a sallow-faced fellow to cut his throat while shaving him with a poisoned razor. The corpse of Jem, together with his property, amongst which was an enchanted cup, which became brimful as soon as delivered empty into the cup-bearers hand, a white parrot, a chess-playing monkey, and some thousands of splendid books, were delivered up to Sa’dí Chelebí (Sivrí Hisárí) and Haïder Chelebí, that they might be conveyed to the Sultán. Jem’s Sa’dí [i.e. Sivrí Hisárí], being a learned and acute man, first dyed the parrot black, and taught him to say, “Verily we belong to God, and to Him shall we return! Long live the Emperor!” He then returned to him with the remains of his master, and delivered over his property to the imperial treasury. But when Báyazíd asked “where is the white parrot?” the bird immediately repeated the above-mentioned text, and added: “Sire, Jem-Sháh having entered into the mercy of his Lord, I have put off the attire of the angel clad in white, and clothed myself in the black of mourning weeds.”—“How!” said the Sultán, addressing himself to Sivrí Hisárí, “did they kill my brother Jem?” “By Heaven! O Emperor!” replied he, “though he indulged in wine, yet he never drank it but out of that enchanted cup, nor did he ever mingle with the infidels, but spent all his time in composing poetry; so by God’s will there was a certain barber named Yán Oghlí (John’s son), who shaved him with a poisoned razor, which made his face and eyes swell, and he was suffocated.” Báyazíd ordered the remains of Jem to be buried at Brúsah, beside his grandfather Murád II. While they were digging the grave there was such a thunder-clap and tumult in the sepulchral chapel, that all who were present fled, but not a soul of them was able to pass its threshold till ten days had passed, when this having been represented to the Sultán, the corpse of Jem was buried by his order in his own mausoleum, near to that of his grandfather. Prince Jem Sháh died in A.H. 900, after having spent eleven years in travelling through Egypt, Arabia, Syria, Mesopotamia, and in Firengistán, through Spain and France, and having escaped from his brother’s den, and drunk of the cup of Jem, he at last was intoxicated by drinking of the cup of Fate. According to the French account, however, another person was killed by the poisoned razor, and his corpse was sent to Rúm (Turkey) instead of the remains of Jem, who in fact became King of France, and was the forefather of the present sovereign of that country. On enquiring into this report, and hearing what had happened at the tomb, viz. that Murád would not allow the corpse to be buried in his mausoleum, he ordered it to be interred elsewhere. After the taking of Uïvár (Raab) in the year 1073 (A.D. 1662-3), Mohammed Páshá was sent as ambassador the following year, 1074 (1663-4), into Germany (Alámán Díarí), in order to conclude a peace with the emperor of that country (Nemseh-Chásárí): having accompanied him I spent three years in visiting, under the protection of a passport (pátentah) written by him, the seven kingdoms of Káfirístán. Having set foot on the land of Dúnkárkeïn (Dunkirk), situated on the shore of the ocean which separates the eastern side of the New World from France, I passed the Ramazán of the year 1075 (March 1665) there, and having an acquaintance with some well-informed priests (pápáslar), I asked them about the history of Jem-Sháh. They answered, that when the order came from the ’Osmánlí (Sultán) to kill Jem, the French king spared him out of pity, as being a relation to the ’Osmánlí (family) and his own sister’s son, and that having caused another person who resembled Jem to be poisoned, they sent his corpse to Islámból, saying it was that of Jem: that having been afterwards made king of the country on the borders of France (tísh Fránsah) at the time of the conquest of Egypt by Sultán Selím, he sent him presents with letters of congratulation on his victory. They also confirmed the account of the near relationship between the House of ’Osmán and the Kings of France through the mother of Sultán Báyazíd and the progeny of King Jem. He is buried, they added, in a mausoleum (kubbah) in a garden like Irem, outside of the city of Paris, where all the Musulmáns his companions and slaves have been entombed. It is on account of this relationship between the house of ’Osmán and the French kings, that when the foreign ambassadors are assembled in the díván the Frank ambassadors stand below, because their sovereigns are not Moslems; but the French is placed above the Persian ambassador, below whom the German envoy is seated, so that the ambassador from Persia has an infidel on each side. Murád IV., conqueror of Baghdád, altered this regulation, and gave precedence to the French ambassador over all others, and the Russian (Moskov) then taking the right hand of the Persian; an arrangement which offended the German ambassador, but he was obliged to acquiesce in it. This distinguished honour was granted to France because a French princess was the mother of Sultán Báyazíd.
Let us now return from this digression to the siege of the castle of Kostantín. Sultán Mohammed Khán having taken the daughter of the King of France out of the booty of the captured fleet, and by the advice of the captors, placed the rest in the hands of Ak-Shémsu-d-dín to be divided among the army, continued to encourage the besiegers. At length the fiftieth day came. It was manifest that all was terror and confusion within the city, and these graceless Christian infidels planting a white flag on the ramparts, cried out, “Quarter, O chosen House of ’Osmán! we will deliver up the city.” A respite of one day was therefore given to all the unbelievers, to go by land or sea to any country that they would. The Sultán then having the pontifical turban on his head, and sky-blue boots on his feet, mounted on a mule, and bearing the sword of Mohammed in his hand, marched in at the head of 70,000 or 80,000 Muselmán heroes, crying out, “Halt not, conquerors! God be praised! Ye are the vanquishers of Kostantaniyyeh!” He led them directly to the palace of Constantine (Takfúr Seráï), where he found some thousands of infidels assembled and prepared to defend it resolutely. A great battle ensued, and in that contest Kostantín, the king, was slain, and buried with the rest of the faithless (káfirs) in the Water Monastery (Súlú Menastir). The treasures in the king’s palace were so great that God only knows their amount. They were amassed by this Kostantín, who was a merchant, and as rapacious as a griffin (’anká), and had rebuilt Islámbúl the ninth time. Mohammed proceeded to the church of Ayá Sófiyah in order to express his thanks by saying a prayer, accompanied by two inclinations of the head (rik’at). Twelve thousand monks who dwelt within and all around it, having closed its doors, threw from the roof, towers, turrets, and belfries, arrows and burning pitch, and naptha on the Moslems. Mohammed having invested the church with the armies of Islám, like a swarm of hornets, for three days and three nights, at length took it on the fifty-third day. He then having slain a few monks, entered the church, bearing the standard of the Prophet of God in his hand, and planting it on the high altar (mihráb), chaunted, for the first time, the Mohammedan ezán (call to prayers). The rest of the Muselmán victors having put the monks to the edge of the sword, Ayá Sófiyah, was deluged with the blood of the idolaters. Mohammed, in order to leave them a memorial of his skill in archery, shot a four-winged arrow into the centre of the cupola, and the trace of his arrow is still shown there. One of the archers of the Sultán’s guard having killed an infidel with his left hand, and filled his right with his blood, came into the Sultán’s presence, and clapping his hand red with blood on a white marble column, left the impression of a hand and fingers, which is still seen near the turbeh-kapú-sí. It is on the opposite corner as one enters, at the height of five men’s stature above the ground.
Eulogium on Yá Vudúd Sultán.
While Sultán Mohammed was going in solemn procession round Ayá Sófiyah a flash of lightning was seen to strike a place called Terlú-direk, and on going thither they found a body lying with its face turned towards the kibleh, and written on its illuminated breast in crimson characters, the name Yá Vudúd (O All-loving). Ak-Shemsu-d-dín, Karah-Shemsu-d-dín, and the other seventy holy men, exclaimed, “This, O Emperor! was the cause of Islámból’s falling on the fiftieth day.” Having prayed that it might fall in fifty days, on that very day he resigned his soul and bore his prayer to heaven. Then while all those learned, righteous and excellent men were making the necessary preparations for washing that noble corpse, a voice was heard from the corner of the Terlú-direk (the sweating column), saying: “He is washed and received into mercy, now therefore inter him.” All were breathless with astonishment: and those venerable sheïkhs having placed the illustrious corpse of Yá Vudúd Sultán on a bier, and intending to bury him near Shehíd-kapú-sí, proceeded to the stairs of Emír Oní, where the bier was put into a boat, which instantly, without an oar plyed or a sail set, flew like lightning, and did not stop till it came near [the tomb of] Abú Iyyúb Ensárí. There the holy man was buried, and the neighbouring landing-place was thence called Yá Vudúd Iskeleh-sí.
Sultán Mohammed Khán, Father of Victory (i.e. the Conqueror), a Sultán son of a Sultán of the Islamitic sovereigns of the House of ’Osmán, entered Islámból victoriously on Wednesday the 20th day of Jumázíu-l-ákhir, in the year of the Prophet’s flight 867 [1st July, A.D. 1453], as was expressed by the prophetic and descriptive letters of the text beldetun tayyibetun (a good city), and in the day, hour, and minute, which had been foretold to the Sultán by Ak-Shemsu-d-dín. Several poets and men of learning have made other lines and technical words containing the date of this victory of victories; but the date found in the exalted Korán is complete, if the last letters are counted as they are pronounced. Sultán Mohammed II. on surveying more closely the church of Ayá Sófiyah, was astonished at the solidity of its construction, the strength of its foundations, the height of its cupola, and the skill of its builder, Aghnádús. He caused this ancient place of worship to be cleared of its idolatrous impurities and purified from the blood of the slain, and having refreshed the brain of the victorious Moslems by fumigating it with amber and lign-aloes, converted it in that very hour into a jámi’ (a cathedral), by erecting a contracted mihráb, minber, mahfil, and menáreh, in that place which might rival Paradise. On the following Friday, the faithful were summoned to prayer by the muëzzins, who proclaimed with a loud voice this text (Kor. xxxiii. 56): “Verily, God and his angels bless the Prophet.” Ak-Shemsu-d-dín and Karah Shemsu-d-dín then arose, and placing themselves on each side of the Sultán, supported him under his arms; the former placed his own turban on the head of the conqueror, fixing in it a black and white feather of a crane, and putting into his hand a naked sword. Thus conducted to the minber he ascended it, and cried out with a voice as loud as David’s, “Praise be to God the Lord of all worlds,” (Kor. i. 1.) on which all the victorious Moslems lifted up their hands and uttered a shout of joy. The Sultán then officiating as khatíb pronounced the khutbeh, and descending from the minber, called upon Ak-Shemsu-d-dín to perform the rest of the service as Imám. On that Friday the patriarch and no less than three thousand priests who had been concealed underneath the floor of the church, were honoured by being received into Islám. One of them, who was three hundred years old, they named Bábá Mohammed. This man pointed out a hidden treasure on the right side of the mihráb, saying it was placed there by Suleïmán (Solomon), the first builder of this ancient place of worship. The Sultán having first offered up prayer there for the prosperity and perpetuity of the place, caused the ground to be dug up beneath it, and during a whole week many thousand camel-loads of treasure in coins of Tekiyánús and Okí-yúnus (Decianus and——), were carried away and deposited in the royal treasury and in the garden of the arsenal.
On the glorious Conquest of the Ok-meïdán (Archery-ground).
When the Sultán had distributed all the booty among the victors, he caused the idols like Vudd, Yághús, Ya’úf, Suvá’, and Nesr, which were found set with jewels in Ayá Sófiyah to be carried to the Ok-meïdán, and set up there as marks for all the Muselmán heroes to shoot their arrows at; and from thence an arrow which hits the mark, is to this day called by archers an idol’s arrow (púteh ókí). One of those idols was standing till knocked to pieces in the time of Sultán Ahmed Khán. Another was called Azmáïsh, because it stood on the south side, and the arrows hit it when shot with a northerly wind; the spot on which it stood is now called Tóz-kópárán-áyághí (Dust-maker’s Foot). Another idol called Hekí, placed near Kháss-kóï, was most easily hit from the north; hence the phrase “a hekí-shot.” Another called Písh-rev, placed on the north-west side, and most easily hit from the south-east (kibleh), still gives its name to such a shot. From Pelenk, placed on the west side and hit from the east, the term pelenk is derived. In short, having placed twelve different idols on the four sides of the Ok-meïdán, a grand archery-match was made, and all the old archers, each shewing his skill in taking aim at them, made glad the soul of the illustrious Sa’d Vakkás, and hence arose the custom among the people of Islámból of meeting there on holidays for the purpose of trying their skill in archery. Sultán Mohammed II. having gone thence to the garden of the arsenal, gave a banquet for three days and three nights to all the Moslem conquerors, himself appearing like the cháshnegír báshí (chief butler), with his skirts girt up round his loins and a handkerchief in his girdle, offering them bread and salt, and providing them with a splendid dinner. After the repast he carried round the ewer, and poured out water for the learned and excellent to wash their noble hands; thus for three days and three nights breaking his spirit by performing these services.
Distribution of the Booty.
After this splendid feast, which lasted three days and three nights, the Sultán accompanied by the three imperial defterdárs and all the clerks of the army, proceeded to pile up in the garden of the arsenal, the treasures taken on board of the French fleet, with those pointed out in the Ayá Sófiyah by Mohammed Bábá, and those taken from the seven thousand monasteries, convents, and palaces within the city. The first to whom their share was allotted were the physicians, oculists, surgeons, washers of the dead and grave-diggers serving in the army; next the sherífs (i.e. members of the Prophet’s family); then the learned and pious ’ulemá and sulehá (i.e. doctors of law); then the imáms, khatíbs, and sheïkhs; after them the móllás and kázies (judges); then the serden gechdis (dread-noughts); next the Arab marines who dragged the ships overland, from the village thence called Levend-chiftlik; after them the janissaries; then the sipáhíes, za’íms, tópchís, jebehjís, lághemjís, eshekchís, horsekeepers, and camp-servants, respectively forming together one hundred and seventy thousand men, to whom sixty-three thousand houses were allotted, besides their legal share of the spoils. Out of this the victors paid during their lives the tenth appointed by God’s law, to the Sultán, whose own share was three thousand eight hundred captives, twenty thousand purses of gold, coins of Tekiyánús and Yánkó son of Mádiyán, three thousand palaces, two bezestáns, and seven thousand shops. They also gave to the Sultán the mosque of Ayá Sófiyah, with seven great convents, and fixed the rent to be paid by him for the New Seráï at one thousand aspers a day. A Jew, who offered one thousand and one aspers, was put to death. In the karamán-ward of the city three hundred lofty palaces were given to the ’ulemá, one hundred and sixty-two to the janissaries, seventy to the vezírs, seven to each of the seven kubbeh vezírs. In short, all the houses in Islámból were thus distributed among the victors, and the daughter of the French King mentioned above, was given to the Emperor. Thus was every duty which the law required fulfilled. Ak-Shemsu-d-dín then standing up, thus spoke: “Know and understand ye Moslem conquerors, that it is you of whom the last of the prophets, the joy and pride of all creatures, spoke, when he said: ‘Verily they shall conquer Kostantaniyyeh; the best of commanders is their commander; the best of armies is that army!’ Squander not away then these treasures, but spend them on good and pious foundations in Islámból; be obedient to your Emperor; and as from the days of ’Osmán down to the present time, you called your Emperor Beg, so from henceforth call him Sultán; and as at the feast he girded up his loins, and served you himself, in return for his bounty, call him Khúnkár.” He then fastened to the head of the Sultán a double black and white heron’s plume (aigrette), saying: “Thou art now, O Emperor, become the chosen Prince of the House of Osmán, continue to fight valiantly in the path of God!” A shout of victory was then made, and the Muselmán warriors took possession of their new habitations. It was at that time that, with the permission of Ak-Shemsu-d-dín and the other holy men, a coin was first struck bearing this legend: “The Sultán, son of a Sultán, Sultán Mohammed Khán, son of Sultán Murád Khán, be his victory exalted; coined in Kostantaniyyeh in the year 757.” On the following day, when the Sultán, as he came out of the harem, received Ak-Shemsu-d-dín in the Arsenal-Garden: “Did you not eat some sweetmeats last night, Sire?” said the latter. “No,” replied the Sultán, “we eat none!”—“Do you not remember,” replied the holy man, “that when you were so much grieved while governor of Maghnísá, on hearing of the capture of ’Akkah by the Franks, I told you that you would eat some of their sweetmeats when you had taken Islámból? And did you not last night enjoy the society of the French princess? Was not that tasting a sweetmeat won from the Franks? Henceforward let that unexpanded rose be called ’Akídeh (sugar-candy) Khánum, and be thou thyself styled Khúnkár (blood shedder). Let this day be a day of rejoicing, but let it likewise be a day of justice! Of the three thousand blooming Mohammedan virgins who came in the suite of ’Akídeh your spouse (khássekí), let not one be touched, but send to ’Akkah, Ghazzah, Ramlah, Khaúrán, all the countries whence they were taken, a register containing their names, and order their parents, relations, and friends to repair to Islámból, that each of them may, with the consent of their parents, be joined in lawful marriage with one of the Moslem warriors, and the city of Islámból be thus made populous.” The counsels of Ak Shemsu-d-dín were followed; and in a short time ten thousand fathers, mothers, relations, and connexions, hastened to the city, and three thousand heroes were made happy by being joined in lawful matrimony to three thousand virgins. Orders were then issued to all the vezírs who were Páshás in Europe and Asia, to send all the sons of Adam from each district to Islámból. Thus the ward of Uskúblí was peopled by the inhabitants of Uskúb; the Yení Mahallah by the people of Yení-shehr; that of Ayá Sófiyah by the people of Sófiyah; that of Tenes by the Urúm (Greeks) from Mórah (the Morea); the neighbourhood of Tekkúr-serái and Shahíd-kapú-si by the Jews of fifty communities brought from Seláník (Thessalonica); Ak-Seráï by the people from Anátólí (Natolia); the ward below the castle by the Syrians and Arabs; the Persians were settled in Khójah-khán near Mahmúd Páshá; the Gypsies (Chingáneh) coming from Balát Shehrí are established in the Balát-mahalleh-sí; the U’luch from ’Akl-bend in the ’Akl-bend ward; the Arnáúts (Albanians) near the Silivrì-gate; the Jews from Safat in Kháss Kóï; the Anatolian Turks at Uskudár (Scutari); the Armenians of Tókát and Sívás near Súlú Monástir; the Magnesians in the Ma’júnjí ward; the Ekirdir and Ekmidir people at Egrí kapú; the———— in Iyyúb Sultán; the Karamanians in the Buyúk Karamán ward; the inhabitants of Kóniyah in that of Kuchúk Karamán; those of Tirehlí in Vefà; the people of the plain of Chehár-shenbeh in the bázár so called; the inhabitants of Kastemúní in the Kazánjílar (brazier’s) ward; the Láz from Tirábuzún (Trebizonde) near the mosque of Sultán Báyazíd; the people of Gelíbólí (Gallipoli) at the Arsenal; those of Izmír (Smyrna) in Great Ghalatah; the Franks in Little Ghalatah (Pera); the inhabitants of Sínób and Sámsún at Tóp-kháneh. In short, the Mohammedan inhabitants of all the large towns in the land of the House of ’Osmán were then brought to people Islámból, called on that account Islámí ból (i.e. ample is its Islám!).
By God’s decree, Islámból was taken in the month of Temmúz (July), and the sea was then dyed with the blood of some thousands of martyrs. Now it happens, that for forty days, every year at that season, the sea is still blood-red, from the gate of Iyyúb Ensár to the Martyr’s-gate (Shehíd kapú-sí). This is a marvellous thing and one of God’s secrets. “Verily God hath power over all things!”