Evliya Çelebi

“ The young people are extremely pretty, with eyes like the roes of Khoten, sweet-tongued with merry faces, who, if they walk dressed in red embroidered dresses, like peacocks of Paradise, make all their lovers lose their wits, and by half a look make as many Mejnúns of them. We spent three days and nights here with Eyúb Khán the Khán of the town, continually entertained by music. ”

“ The immense blocks of stone used in the formation of the walls, show that it must have been built by Alexander, because five hundred men of the present age would not be able to move one of them; it stands on a high hill, and is of a square form; it has one gate opening to the south, a mosque, a bath, a khán, and forty small streets; the gardens are beautiful owing to the mildness of the climate; the river which passes below it, issues from the mountains of Akhiska through which it passes, and waters the gardens of the town, falling into the Araxes. ”

“ The next day clouds of dust rising on the side of the Jorúgh announced the arrival of a new army, whose glittering armour dazzled the eyes; it was that of Koja Sefer Páshá, the Vezír of Chaldir, who summoned by the command of our Lord the Páshá of Erzerúm, arrived with the Georgian army in great speed to the assistance of the Castle of Gonia; Sídí Ahmed Páshá went with the other Páshás to meet them, and it was a grand sight to see these troops on fine horses, well armed with spears, swords, shields, and muskets, with flying hair and strange figures. ”

“ Yússúf Aghá may be called the last builder of this town which he enriched by a great many endowments; the bezestán was also his building. The most elegant market-place is that of the tanners, who illuminate every night their shops with candles; there are also a great many dyers. Its gardens are in full cultivation and produce excellent fruits. The pears, grapes, cotton wares, wove and spun, and the blue linen are as famous as its rosy-cheeked beauties. The harbours of this town on the shores of the Black Sea are Báfra and Sinope, which are but a journey distant. ”

“ It is an elegant, bright mosque built by Kojá Sinán. There is no establishment for reading the Korán or tradition. The best bath is also that of Pertev-Páshá, it is a fine building, there is good air and water, and attentive waiters. The bath of Rostem-Páshá, like the former, is Sinán’s work. The best khán is that of Pertev-Páshá with seventy fire-places. Besides the kháns, two hundred magazines for wood and other materials are in the port, one thousand one hundred shops of handicraftsmen, and forty coffee-houses, the most brilliant of which is that of the Serdár, famous for its waiters. ”

“ Koja Lala Mustafa Páshá ordered a general attack, which was instantly made on one side by Uzdemir-oghlí, on the second by Mohammed, the governor of Haleb, and on the third by Mustafa, the governor of Mera’ash, who cut to pieces more than a thousand men, and drove the rest like sheep to the ferry of Koyún-gechid, where a great many of them were drowned, some in the river Kanúk and some in the Kapúr. In short there remained altogether more than forty thousand men on the field of battle, whose bones are piled up as an everlasting monument ”

“ Great men have abundance of asbestos linen; Captain Hassám-zadeh gave me such a handkerchief, which having become dirty, in the presence of Melek Páshá, I threw into the fire, when it became as pure as a white rose. God knows whether this carpet is not also made of this Cyprian stone. We left Uch Kilisse and passed towards the east through cultivated fields and populous villages, so that we did not see a cubit of ground which was not productive or cultivated, and arrived after eight hours march at a well cultivated village on the border of Mount Sokún, like a small town. ”

“ Returning from the garden we took a view of the outside of the mosque of Evhad Allah, it is an incomparable mosque with a well-proportioned minareh; near it is the bath of Táj-ud-dín Munshí, and seven Kháns. The beautiful women of the place have such fine and brilliant eyes, that one glance from them delights the heart more than a thousand from others. The next morning three hundred Persian horsemen joined us, and accompanied us on our way, which led through a mountainous tract, thirteen hours towards the east, to the station of the village of Kend Massír ”

“ Ipshír Páshá laughed and said, “What art thou doing at thy master’s; wert thou not previously with Melek Ahmed Páshá?” “By God,” I, poor Evliya, answered, “I am the common servant and joint subject of two Vezírs, whom I accompany alternately as they come into high offices for the pleasure of travelling. Defterdár Zádeh must now be removed from office at this place, and your Excellency is most likely to go as Governor to Damascus or Baghdád, in which case I attach myself to your service.” ”

“ The top of Seilán is always covered with snow, which shines like silver in the middle of summer, and furnishes all the water of the town; it is a very digestive water, which enables the inhabitants to feast like Ma’adikarb. The inhabitants pretend to be Sháfiítes; they are great liars. The distance between Tabríz and Erdebíl is twenty-five farsangs, which with a good horse may be gone over in two days. The climate much resembles that of Erzerúm; hard winter, and a fruitful soil, the corn multiplying eighty fold: there are no fruit-trees and vines, but gardens for vegetables and rosebeds. ”

“ The Khán, a person of great repute, had been the treasurer of Sultán Sifí, who had delivered the castle of Baghdád to Sultán Murad; he was a man of great judgment, of Georgian extraction, and his name was Devlet Murád Khán. After dinner he gave to Alaja Atlí Hassan, who came as envoy from the Páshá, and to me, brilliant robes of honour, ten tománs of Abbássí, and a horse, investing his own envoy also with a caftán. He has from forty to fifty delightful companions excelling in various arts. ”

“ All the inhabitants of Erzerúm are devout, pious men. Ja’afer Efendi’s mosque is a pleasing new built mosque, with a high cupola and gate, a courtyard and a spouting fountain; the windows are guarded with iron gratings. In the inner castle is an old mosque much frequented. Outside of the gate of Erzenján is the Páshá’s mosque, covered with lead, and outside of the gate of Tabríz, on the edge of the ditch, is the mosque of Mohammed Páshá, with one minareh, and with a terrace. ”

“ Here the Sultán gave a feast to all the Vezírs and great men of the capital, which surpassed even that which was given at the feast of circumcission of Sultán Ahmed. The assembly having retired, there remained in the Sultán’s tent, only Mahmúd Efendí of Scutarí, Evliyá Efendí my master, Kara Sunbul Alí Efendí, Ibrahím Efendí the senior of the surgeons, Dervish Omar Gulshení one of the favourite singers and I, thy poor father, sitting on our heels. The Sultán said unto us, “If it please God this mosque shall be finished, and be a fine praying place, but it requires to be well endowed.” ”

“ Ketgáj Páshá, the leader of the van, alone took two thousand beautiful girls, whom the commander-in-chief bought for a thousand piastres, and sent them to Sultán Ibrahím with twenty other fine maidens; they were so beautiful that the text of the Korán, “We have created man in the finest shape,” seems to have been revealed only for their praise. The booty was so rich, that a slave was sold for ten piastres, an ox for half a piastre, and a sheep for five aspers. ”

“ The market of the goldsmiths is outside the bezestán, and separate from it; the shops are all of stone. There are also the markets of the tailors, cotton-beaters, capmakers, thread merchants, drapers, linen merchants, cable merchants, and that called the market of the bride, where essence of roses, musk, ambergris, &c. are sold. The brains of the passers by are refreshed with the most delicious odours, and nobody is willing to leave it on account of the fragrance of the perfumes and the politeness of its merchants. ”

“ We here visited the tomb of Mohammed Sháh Dedeh, who came with Hájí Begtásh from Khorassan to the court of Bayazid I., a large hospitable convent of an hundred Dervishes Begtáshí. I witnessed the Páshá perform his visit to the tomb with a devotion and a faith outshining that of many preachers from the pulpit. The tomb is surrounded with censers, vases for rose-water, lamps and candelabra. Every year the Sheikh of this convent kills a horse and abandons the carcase to the eagles and vultures of the rocks, who live upon it till the next year. ”

“ The shops are two thousand, and there is an elegant bezestán with four gates with chains; the market places are almost all on elevated spots; the coffee houses and barber’s-shops are always crowded; the public places and streets are paved with white stones. Its divines, poets, and learned and pious men are innumerable, although it is a Turkish town, it counts more than two thousand boys and girls who know the Korán by heart; some thousand also know by heart the Mohammedieh, or works on the Mohammedan religion by Yázijí-zadeh Mohammed Efendí. ”

“ He was the true successor of Hají Begtásh. Having appeared to Sultán Bayazíd, he ordered him to build a cupola on his tomb, a mosque, a convent, a meeting-place for the Dervishes, (Meidán) , a caravanseraï with kitchen and cellar. All these establishments are covered with lead, which with the golden crescents on them dazzle the eyes of beholders even at a distance. The Imaret (kitchen for the poor) is smoking day and night. As soon as I, poor Evliyá, arrived here, I went to visit this place of pilgrimage ”

“ It is vaulted like a rainbow over the river Aras, which comes from the great Gok-yaila, and flows to the east; passes under Melázjerd, before the village of Artof, the castle of Khinis, beneath the bridge of Altún Khalkalí, supplies water to many hundred villages below the Bridge of the Shepherds, joins the Zengi river below Eriván, which falls into the Kúr (Cyrus) , and with it disembogues into the Caspian Sea. The river Aras (Aranes) is an impetuous river, which, at the melting of the snow, rages like the sea. ”

“ Some of the great men on this day carry cans and tankards round their necks, and go about distributing water like common porters. But the finest show is in the variegated tent of the Khán, where all the great men of Tabríz are assembled, and where a Hymn on the death of Hossein is recited, in the same manner as the Hymn on the Prophet’s birthday is in the Turkish mosques. ”

“ It is built in a square form, on a high rock; an iron gate opens to the east; in the castle is a mosque of Sultán Súleimán’s time, and in the lower town is seven hundred houses and seven mosques, two baths, two kháns, twelve schools and seventy shops, but no stone bezestán, imáret or medresseh. The pears, grapes and peaches are much praised; as it is only two journeys from Erzerúm, the merchants send chests full of fruit to that place; the inhabitants are righteous, hospitable men; the river which flows through it goes into the Black Sea ”

“ Of the troops on the seven sides of the attack one thousand two hundred men became martyrs and ascended to Heaven. On this night the Infidels made incredible efforts to repair the works of the castle, by raising walls and digging ditches, opening loopholes and pointing guns. The foundations of the castle resembled the wall of Gog and Magog, to the great consternation of the Moslims, who solaced themselves, saying: “Man proposes and God disposes,” recommending their business to God. ”

“ Though its inhabitants are Turks, it is yet a sweet town of two thousand houses, all covered with fir-wood, eighteen mosques and eight quarters. The houses are overhung by the chalk cliffs, which from time to time fall down upon them, without doing the least harm to men or mice. The number of the houses, immediately overhung by the rocks, is two hundred, there is no college or house of tradition but twenty schools for boys; in the market-place are three kháns covered with brick, a bath, a good number of mills and seventy-five shops in which saddle-bags and horse-cloths are sold. ”

“ The public security is so great, that every man leaves his shop open, without the least danger, when he goes away on business; there are altogether twelve hundred shops. There is no Bezestán of stone, but nevertheless a great number of valuable articles; the coffee-houses are meeting-places for wits and learned men; the air is mild and the land fertile; rice, cotton, seven sorts of grapes, pears, and water-melons are in great perfection. The greatest part of the inhabitants are Sunnís of the Hanefirites, who perform their prayers secretly. ”

“ Rich merchants are established in the market, who trade by land and sea, each of whom is as rich as Karún; the inhabitants are all given to pleasure, and pass part of every day in each other’s gardens. The Khán of Nakhshiván, Rísa-ud-din, after having met us, carried us directly to one of his gardens, where he read our letters to the principal men of Nakhshiván, and gave us an entertainment, attended by so many singers and musicians, that it was equal to the feast of Hossein Bikara. ”

“ The gate on the extremity of the fortress looking to the Horse market opens to the west, on the upper part of it are suspended the arms of old knights, and the bones of a whale. The guards keep watch here day and night. If the commander leaves the castle the garrison are empowered to kill him, or at least to exile him for ever. Abaza, the rebel, besieged this town with an hundred thousand men, and took possession of the lower town, but wounded by a cannon shot from the upper castle, he was obliged to return to Erzerúm ”

“ The cave in which Sárí Sáltik killed the dragon is at the same time his burial place. The convent was built by Alí Mokhtár; the wooden sword of the Saint, his swing, half-drum, kettle-drum, drum, banner and sanjak are kept here, numerous cells surround it, occupied by learned and virtuous Dervishes, who reside here on their hides, all true Sunnis and faithful believers, more than one hundred. They read with me more than eight months according to the method of Hafss. The windows of the Convent, and of the monument, all look towards the sea. ”

“ The garrison is small in number, because it is not a frontier fortress; they only keep watch against rebels; the lower suburb is a large town, but its streets being narrow, and going continually up and down hill, it is with difficulty that a horseman can make his way to the market-place, and for a waggon to do so is out of the question. This town belongs to the khass of the Páshá of Sivás, the residence of a Súbashí of seven hundred purses’ revenue, the judge is appointed with one hundred and fifty aspers, and there is a Muftí, Nakíb, Serdár, and Kiaya-yerí. ”