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

But the arts by which he made himself king, his valour and cunning, I shall narrate as briefly as possible, as I consider these things worthy to be reported to our nation; for, amongst all the kings of the East, who existed since the Government was taken away from the Persians, and transferred to the Greeks, there have been none who equalled the glory of Darius Hystaspes and Ussun Cassano; and if fortune had favoured him in the second battle at Tabeada in the campaign of Tokat, as it did in the first he had with the Turks on the Euphrates, there is no doubt that by these two victories he would have made himself master of all Asia and Egypt. But it is to be regretted that some Eastern kings, great in power and intellect, have not had historians to celebrate their deeds, since among the Sultans of Egypt and among the Kings of Persia, there have been men most excellent in war,[171] and worthy not only of being compared with ancient barbarian kings famous in arms,[172] but even with the great Greek and Roman commanders, in all those things which constitute able generals of armies. For the record of the deeds of such reach us Europeans, who are admirers of the virtues of men abroad and at home, in a condition so mutilated and imperfect, that from the few particulars we cannot draw up a complete history. Therefore, let no one marvel if in these my notes I do not describe things as fully in some places as I should have done, if I had had ampler information; since M. Caterino, who, as has been said, went as ambassador to Ussun Cassano, wrote several letters, from which I have drawn the pith of this short history, for the satisfaction of those who, hearing discussions about the Sufi, and of his great pomp, are desirous of being informed of the affairs of the Persian Empire. And I know well that in thus writing to a purport different from what has been written by others, many will be apt to criticise me, as it is difficult to efface early impressions from the mind; but before they do so, I beg they will rather consider my good intentions than impute to me any desire to gain a reputation for being better acquainted with the affairs of the world than other writers. But surely we ought far sooner to credit what is told us of the doings of Ussun Cassano, by one who was connected with him, and who got his information from the Queen Despina, his own aunt, than by those who, in their histories, have only availed themselves of the narrations of some Armenians, who, to take away his reputation, went about spreading the report that he was not born of royal blood, and that while he governed certain places in Armenia, by lavish expenditure, and gaining the favour of the soldiery, he seized an opportunity of casting off the sway of Giausa, and treacherously putting him to death with his son.[173] And they add, to further embellish this lie, that in this Giausa the descendants of Moleoncre, formerly a great sultan of the Parthians, became extinct. These things are all well known not to be true, since how could Ussun Cassano have made himself Lord of Persia, if he had not been of royal blood; particularly, for this reason, that there is no nation which holds noble birth and royal descent in more estimation than the Persians. And to omit the ancient example of Darius Hystaspes,[174] the son of Atossa, the daughter of Cyrus, there is the more recent one of Ismail; for, although he was not born of royal blood on his father’s side, nevertheless his mother, called Martha, was daughter of Ussun Cassano, through whom the new king was tolerated, as formerly Darius was, as the son of Atossa. We must not believe that the partizans of the ancient kings[175] (if indeed there was a party, as these authors say) would be so soon swept away; because it is impossible that a new dynasty should appear without causing great commotions and tumults, as we have seen in many kingdoms of Christendom; and, nevertheless, the reign of Ussun Cassano, as regards internal affairs, was not visited by any blast of domestic or civil war, except that raised by his son Unghermaumet; but this was caused by lust of power and not by a faction of a former reign. Therefore, read without chiding these my commentaries, in which, if I had been able to find the “Book of Travels of M. Caterino”, who first gave information of the affairs of Persia, and preceded M. Giosafat Barbaro, and M. Ambrogio Contarini as ambassador to Persia from our Republic, I should have touched upon many other particulars, which would have been most acceptable to those who take an interest in such things.

As, in spite of all my research, I have never been able to get into my hands this Book of Travels, if I should find it (and I am sure there is no one so malicious as not to shew it), I will supply what I have now missed. But, as we say, he who does all he can, does much. Since we cannot get further particulars, let us accept these, and praise the industry of the good M. Caterino, and it being evident that, not being able to find more on this subject among his writings, I cannot communicate it.