JOURNEY TO BRUSSA.
Praise be to God! for before all things it is the duty of men and genii to praise him, who made the heavens and all the wonders therein, Angels and Eden, Húrís and Rizwán the guardian of Paradise; who created roses and daffodils, nightingales and murmuring fountains, pearls and corals; the moon and the radiant sun: greetings also be to Ahmed the prophet, who by his family accomplished his divine mission! Praise be to the Creator! who out of nothing called me into existence and destined me to obey him, imposing on me the duties of Islám, the prayer, fast, alms and pilgrimage. In accomplishment of this sacred duty, I, his lowly servant Evliyá, left my family, and, with the desire of performing the pilgrimage, first tried my strength by commencing, in the month of Moharrem 1040, a journey on foot through the environs and quarters of Constantinople; the account of which is contained in the first volume of these travels. My ardent wish was to see Jerusalem and Baghdád, Mecca and Medina, Cairo and Damascus, according to my dream related in the introduction to the first volume of these travels, when the prophet appeared to me in the night, and I, by a slip of the tongue, said to him, instead of the usual form,Shifá’at yá ressúl-allah(Intercession, O envoy of God)Siyáhat yá ressúl-allah(Travelling, O envoy of God) and he, graciously smiling, granted my wish.
“Whatever God willeth, he prepares the means for its accomplishment.” Thus ten years after this dream, when I came to the house of my friend Okjí Zádeh Chelebí, I found that preparations were made for a journey to Brússa. He invited me to be his companion according to the maxim, “First the companion, then the road;” and said,“Let us spend a fortnight in visiting all the remarkable monuments at Brússa: the tombs of the Ottoman Sultáns, particularly that of the great Saint Emír Sultán, and by this visit illuminate our hearts.” I accepted this proposal as a divine inspiration, saying, “in God’s name!” to which all present responded, giving us their best wishes for a prosperous journey.
For the first time then, without the knowledge of my family, I set out on this journey, in the year 1050, accompanied by twenty friends in a boat of Modania, leaving the town of Constantinople, the place of my birth, with the intention of seeing other towns and villages. The present volume gives an account of this journey, which I undertook in consequence of the verse of the Korán, “Travel therein safely day and night,” and describes all the hardships I underwent; for according to the tradition of the prophet; “A journey is a fragment of hell.” We weighed anchor at Emírgúneh, on the Bosphorus, and called at Findiklí to take on board as passengers some clever ship-builders; and in the morning on the first Friday of Moharrem of the year 1050, the boatmen finding the time favourable for sailing, unfurled the sails and weathered the point of the Seraglio; laying the ship’s head towards Brússa, the object of our voyage. All the passengers were in high spirits, and some of them implored the Lord’s assistance for a happy voyage by singing spiritual songs. Some Musicians encouraged me to accompany them in their strains, and so, after having preluded awhile, I fixed on the measure girdánieh, and sung three tetrasticks and one sumáyí of the compositions of Dervísh Omerbesteh. Several of the boatmen accompanied us on their instruments, chokúr, with such effect, that water came into the mouths of the hearers with delight. Amidst these amusements we came to the island of Heibelí (Prince’s Islands), eighteen miles distant from Constantinople, and nine in circumference; it contains a famous Convent which is visited every year by many boats from Constantinople. The inhabitants are all wealthy Greeks, captains and masters of ships. The public officers are the Bostánji-báshí (of Constantinople) and an officer of the Janissaries. From hence we weighed anchor with a brisk gale, the vessel cutting the waves with a rapidity as though fire was bursting forth from it, and after five hours’ sailing landed happily on the coast of Modania.
It was built by a Greek Princess called Modína. Here I was first enabled to perform my Friday’s prayer, which I did with great devotion, and then went forth to view the town. It is the port of Brússa, and forms a safe harbour, being closed against the wind from seven points and open only to the North. The anchorage is excellent. At the head of the harbour stands the custom-house, the lease of which amounts to a million aspers. The town is built by the sea-shore,on a low rocky ground. Prince Orkhán, with his father Osmán’s permission, conquered this town in the year 721 (1321) and destroyed the walls in several places, that it might no longer afford shelter to the infidels. It is governed by a Voivode, subordinate to Brússa, the chief seat of the Sanjak of Khodávendkiár. The judge is appointed with one hundred and fifty aspers a day. His annual revenue amounts to two thousand piastres. This appointment is sometimes given to the Mollá of Brússa as Páshmáklik (pin-money). The houses are all faced with brick. There are three mosques (jámí) and seven mesjids, three kháns, one bath, two schools for boys, and two hundred small streets; but no room for reading the Korán or tradition, because the greater number of the inhabitants are Greeks. There are fine gardens producing superior figs and grapes. From the excellence of its vinegar, it has acquired the name of Dárkhill (vinegar-house). South-east of the town we passed on horseback continuously through gardens and the cultivated field called Filehdár. The river Nílúfer, not fordable in the beginning of spring, is a clear stream, which issuing from the mountains Rúhbán, Ketelí and Castel, waters the valley of Fillehdár and disembogues into the White Sea. The main road crosses it over a handsome bridge, each arch of which resembles the arch of heaven; its name, as well as that of the river, was received from its builder the Princess Nílúfer, daughter of a Sultán (Orkhán): after continuing our journey among gardens and vineyards for two hours, we reached the town of Brússa, the emporium of silk, the ancient capital of this country (Bithynia).
The town of Brússa having been built towards the North on natural rocks has no ditch, but on the side of the head fountain (Búnár-báshí) and the quarter of the Mills, it has a deep one, which at the time of the Asiatic rebellions of Kará Yazijí, Kallender and Sa’íd Arab was filled up. Some of the stones of the walls are of the size of the cupola of a bath, and some bear Greek inscriptions on them. The town is protected against southerly and easterly winds from its being situated at the foot of Mount Olympus. The houses have a northern aspect and look over the plain of Filehdár. The fortress, the circumference of which is eleven thousand paces, has six thousand battlements, sixty-seven towers, and four gates, viz. the gate of the head fountain, the prison-gate, the hot-baths’-gate to the west, and the gate of the fishmarket. This stronghold was besieged more than once by the Seljúkians, who came with an army of twenty thousand men; the siege lasted between seven and eight months, the besiegers retiring only on the approach of winter. Osmán the founder of the Ottoman dynasty besieged it three times, but was compelled on the last occasion by an attack of the gout to retire to Iconium. He sent his son Orkhán with Sheikh Hájí Begtásh, who renewed the siege, and built two great towers, one at the side of the hot-baths (Kaplijah),and the other on the side of the head fountain (Búnár-báshí), which took seven months to complete. Orkhán posted himself at the hot-bath, his nephew Timúr-beg, at the head-fountain, and Yalabánjik-beg at the mountain’s side. It surrendered in 722 (1322) after a year’s siege, and Osmán died at the moment he received the news. Orkhán his successor entered Brússa with Hájí Begtásh, there fixed his residence, and buried his father’s body in the castle. Osmán conquered seventy towns during the lifetime of his father Ertoghrúl. His first conquest was in Kojá-Ilí by Akcheh Kojá. Near Nicæa at the castle of Wáilakabád, he begat his son Orkhán on Sheikh Edebáli’s daughter, who was related to the prophet, so that the Ottoman Sultáns are Seyyids or Sherífs on the mother’s side. Sheikh Túrsún their first divine was a relation of Sheikh Edebáli, and said the first prayer from the pulpit in Sultán Osmán’s name. Brússa soon became populated by mussulman colonists from all quarters.
The interior of the fortress contains two thousand houses, and many high palaces, but no gardens, there are seven quarters and as many mosques, one bath and twenty shops. The mosque of Sultán Orkhán is one hundred and ten feet square, with a mináreh of one story. Sultán Orkhán lies buried here, and the large drum called Orkhán’s drum is suspended in this mosque; it was used during Sultán Orkhán’s reign. The palace in the castle was the residence of the early Ottoman Emperors to the time of Mohammed II., who removed to Constantinople; Sultán Murád I. having previously resided at Adrianople. Since Brússa has had its own Bóstánjí-bashí (like Constantinople) the streets of the castle are paved with large stones, and in some places stones are found with inscriptions of the time of the Infidels, by which may be ascertained how long the houses have been built; they are all built of stone, faced with brick, and have a kind of sexangular chimneys to let out the smoke, which look very well. In some places also grow cypress-nut trees and vines, and from the elevation of the ground, the air is very wholesome.
The first is the Páshá of the Sanják, Khodavendkiár, appointed with a revenue of 618,079 aspers kháss. There are four hundred and twenty fiefs called ziámet and one thousand and five tímárs. The feudal militia is commanded by an Aláï-beg, Cherí-báshí and Júz-báshí, and assemble at the Páshá’s command in time of war. The Páshá leads five hundred men of his own. The judge (Mollá) is appointed with 500 aspers, and is promoted from hence to the posts of Adrianople and Constantinople, it is a high office, valued annually at forty thousand piastres.Seven Náíbs (deputies) in the town are subordinate to the Mollá. The five other districts are those of Kíná, Fileh, Abolonia, Castel, and Chokúrjeh. The civil officers are, a Chokádár of the janissaries, a chamberlain (Kápújí-báshí); the commanding officer of the janissaries, the colonel of the armourers (Jebejí), the officer of the Sípáhís (Kiayá-yerí); the Muftí, the head of the Sherífs, the inspector of the silk, of the custom-house, the Voivode of the town and the provost, who all have power of life and death.
The lower town was fortified in the time of Mohammed III. the conqueror of Erla against the Anatolian rebels Kará Yazíjí, Kalender-oghlí, Delí Hassán, and Jennet-oghlí, but it is not very strong; it extends from East to West to the foot of Mount Olympus for the length of one farsang and the breadth of half a farsang. The circuit is fifteen hundred paces, the walls are not very high. There is but one ditch near the gate of the Tátárs and no where else, and there is no need of it, because if an enemy were to dig approaches, water would rush up in the trenches. Guns and falconets are mounted on the towers, which are fired on festivals; there is no other garrison than the doorkeepers, but there are six thousand guards in the town. The gates are of iron and above each are towers whence grenades and stones may be thrown on the besiegers. The gate of the Tátárs opens to the East, that of Filehdár to the North; and that of Hassan Páshá towards the Kiblah. There are twenty-thousand large and small houses built in the ancient style; the most conspicuous of all is the ancient residence of the Emperors, in the upper town or fortress, it has three baths and three hundred rooms, but no garden on account of the narrowness of the place. There are in the whole town one hundred and sixty-six quarters of Moslims, seven of Armenians, nine of Greeks, six of Jews, and one of Copts. The quarter of the Meskins (Lepers) is a separate quarter leading to the road of Sultán Murád. The upper part of the town with Mount Olympus rising in the background is beautiful when seen from the plain of Filehdár, an hour’s distance from it, and I can truly say that I have seen nothing like it during my travels. Brússa is a very devout town, abounding with Divines, expounders of the Korán and keepers of tradition, who are found no where else so numerous, excepting at Baghdád. Mount Olympus at the back of the town on the south side is a mine of living water, no less than one thousand and sixty well-known springs flow from it, and supply water in abundance to the palaces and houses. It abounds also in all kinds of flowers, particularly in syringa (Erghiwán), the annual assembly of Emír Sultán held in the season when the syringa is in perfection being much celebrated. The inhabitants being fair, the air good, the water full of holiness, contribute altogether, to render Brússa one of the most delicious spots on earth.
There are in all one thousand and forty places of worship, three hundred and fifty-seven of which are mosques of Sultáns, Vezírs, and other great men. The first is the great mosque Ulú-jami’í built by Ilderím Báyazíd, on an airy elevated spot of Brússa, it is supported within by large square pillars, the bases of which are gilt and painted to the height of a man, with inscriptions, such as,Yá Hannán, “O all gracious!”Yá Mennán, “O all merciful,”Yá Diyán, “O all faithful!”Yá Hassán, “O all beautiful!” and other names of God. The letters of these inscriptions are three cubits high; nineteen cupolas covered with lead and crowned with golden crescents are supported by these pillars. The twentieth cupola is placed on the centre of the mosque, and is left open so that light and air may enter, but birds and animals are shut out by a grating of brass wire. Directly beneath this cupola is a round basin of water, wherein fish are swimming and whence the Moslim community take the water necessary for their ablutions. The pulpit made of black nut is skilfully carved and chiselled with flowers and arabesques of all kinds. It must be absolutely seen, for it is so wonderful that it cannot easily be described, and has no equal any where except at Sinope on the Black Sea. The mahfil or place where the Muëzzins repeat the proclamation of prayer, is painted with great art. The mosque is lighted by glass windows on the four sides, and the floor covered with carpets which are not found elsewhere because this mosque is so richly endowed. It is nightly lighted by seven hundred lamps, and is crowded with people at all hours, because no less than seventy lectures are read here on scientific subjects to two thousand scholars. The distance from one of the side-gates to the other is three hundred and fifty feet, and from the Kiblah to the mihráb one hundred and eighty feet; it has three gates. On the left side, the gate of the Emperor’s oratory (mahfil), the gate of the Kiblah (opposite to the mihráb), and on the right side, the gate of the Mehkemeh. Outside of the Kiblah-gate is a stone bench; it has no great courtyard like other mosques, but a small one, in the centre of which the Muftí Abdul-azíz Efendí has built a basin with water-pipes.
On the right and left are two high brick mináreh, and at that of the Mehkemeh-gate is a fountain (jet d’eau), the water of which comes from Mount Olympus, but it is now in ruins, the pipes having become decayed by age. When it rains the water collects in the basin of this fountain on the top of the Mináreh, and the birds flock hither to drink. In short there is no more holy mosque than this in Brússa; it is the Ayá Sofía of Brússa, and has therefore been described the first, but the first consecrated in chronological order, was that of Orkhán in the upper castle.
On the west side of Brússa at half an hour’s distance, in a separate suburb called Eski Kaplijah is Sultán Murád’s mosque, built in a peculiar style, because the architect was a Frank. The lower part is devoted to worship, the upper devoted to science, is distributed into rooms for students, so that each may follow the Imám’s directions at prayer. The length from the Kiblah to the mihráb is one hundred feet, and the breadth seventy feet. On one of the columns appears a falcon, which having been recalled by Sultán Murád I. and not obeying, was by his curse changed into stone. This mosque has one gate, and a mináreh one story high, but no courtyard.
It is a small mosque, situate on the East side of Brússa, surrounded by fields and gardens, and not much frequented on account of its distance from the town; it is one hundred and fifty feet long and one hundred in width, in the old simple style, and remained unfinished during the war of Timúr, but was completed by Mússa Ilderím’s son.
This celebrated and elegant mosque, known by the name of Yeshil Imáret (the green building) entirely built of marble, stands upon a hill on the East side of Brússa, and has two cupolas without columns, one hundred and eight feet long and eighty feet in width. It is impossible to give an idea of the mihráb (altar) and minber (pulpit) because the carving is beyond all conception; the only gate is also ornamented with such elegant arabesque carvings, that they could not be represented finer even by the pen on Chinese paper. The stone-cutter who worked this gate, spent full three years on it, during which he received forty thousand ducats from Mohammed I. as is generally reported; in short, there is no mosque of more elegant and exquisite workmanship in the world. The reason of its being named the green building, arises from the cupola and the mináreh being covered with green fayence which radiates like emeralds in sunshine. Tall plane trees surround the outside. I saw no finer mosque in Brússa, and other travellers say no where else.
On the west side of the town is a certain suburb composed of this mosque and its appurtenances of colleges, kháns and gardens. The builder was Murád II. the son of Mohammed I. and father of Mohammed II. who died at Adrianople and was buried here. It is a holy mosque and has two cupolas. From the gateof the Kiblah to the mihráb the length is one hundred and fifty feet, the width sixty. The (mihráb) altar, (minber) pulpit and station of the Muëzzins (mahfil) are in the ancient simple style, built in the year 850 (1446). Tall plane-trees adorn the courtyard. Many Princes of the Ottoman family are buried here.
This mosque is built on a mound and is the last of the Imperial Mosques which I visited.
On the east side of the town is the mosque of Monlá Arab Jebbárí, a small mosque built after the model of the great mosque Ulú-jami’í, its fine situation invites the people to pray there. The mosque of Uftádí Efendí is in the inner castle. Of the Mesjíds or small mosques (where Khutbeh is not said on Fridays) it is the principal. The Mesjíd Zeiniler, the building of the Muftí Abd-ul-latíf, where I read the Korán from beginning to end in one day, without interruption. Here the Mollá Khosrew composed his famous book. At that time two hundred lead-covered mosques and seven hundred minárehs might be seen from Kází-yailá, a height half way up Mount Olympus.
The colleges are those of Orkhán, Ilderím, Murád, Mohammed I., Emír-sultán, Issa-beg, Kássem páshá, Joneid, Kadrí, Tenárí, Zein-ud-dín Háfí, Báyazíd-páshá, and Hamza-beg.
There are three hundred convents, the most handsome of which are, that of Mevlana Jelál-ud-dín containing eighty cells for Dervíshes, and a place for the dance (sima’a). That of Emír-sultán entirely covered with lead, which stands on a high hill. That of Zeiniler of the sect of Na’amán Ben Thábet. That of Uftádí Efendí, in the inner castle, of Khalvetí dervíshes. That of Abdál Murád Sultán of the Begtáshís, men fervent in piety, who bareheaded and barefooted with open breasts, wait upon the Moslims who frequent this delightful walk; it was built by Orkhán and possesses more than a thousand kettles, pans, and copper vessels; visitors perform their devotions here. That of Sheikh Kílí near the camel-driver’s station, the dervishes are Begtáshís and very poor, having no endowment, it was built by Sultán Orkhán. That of Abdál Sultán Mússa built by the same. That of Ak-bi’ík Sultán of the order of Begtásh. That of Abú Ishak Kasúlí who is buried at Erzerúm within the gate of Tebríz. That of Gulshení; seventeen Convents of Khalvetís; nine of Kadris; three of Nakshbendís; one of Rúfa’áïs; one of Kalenders, and one of wrestlers.
The Imárets (dining establishments for the poor) are those of Murád I. Ilderím Báyazíd, Emír Sultán, and that of Mohammed I., called the green one.
There are one hundred and eight kháns; the principal one is the rice khán, which has iron gates, a large stable, worthy of Antar, with two hundred cells; the silk khán, of the same size, where the inspector of the silk resides; the custom of the silk is let for three hundred purses a year; the butter khán on the gate of which is suspended a cask, which, being filled with búza, was once drank out by a single man who had laid a bet that he would do it. There are also seventy kháns called Mujerred Kháns for unmarried people. The cáravánseráï of Alí Páshá was built by Sinán the famous architect, and has doorkeepers.
The fountains of Brússa amount to the number of two thousand and sixty, every one of which vies with the spring of life. The Muftí Azíz Efendí himself built two hundred, his name appearing on all of them, with an inscription begging for a fátihah from those who drink. Besides these public fountains, each of the twenty-three thousand houses has its own supply. From certain springs water-courses pass from house to house, along the streets, and carry water to many basins, water-pipes, baths and gardens. The town being built at the foot of Mount Olympus, and the houses rising in rows one above the other, the water naturally flows to them. There are seventeen fountains, from which this large quantity of water is derived, the principal one is that called Búnár-báshí, which rushes out of the rock in several places on Mount Olympus and spreads itself over the town. The head fountains of Súnderlí, of Chatál Kainak, of Kepíz, of Náshí Dersí, of Sobrán, of Arejlí, of Chárshú, of Bellor Kainak, of Samánlí Kainak, the latter obtained the name of straw-boiler, because it issues from Mount Olympus, flows for some distance underground, and comes out again at another place, which is proved by the re-appearance of straws that have been put into the upper part of the stream; the Sheker Kainak (sugar-boiler); the Selám Kiassí Kainaghí; the Királ Kainak (king’s boiler); the Murád-dedeh Kainaghí; in short there are seventeen large fountains which yield the clearest and coldest water; but the channels decaying in the course of time, the keepers of the aqueducts, at night, throw horsedung into them, by which the openings are obstructed and the purity of the water is spoiled; they would not dare to do this in the day-time because they would be punished for it by the public officers.
The Water-mills are an hundred and seventy, which succeed one another from the head fountain (Búnár-báshí) to the fish-market and all the way down from Balabánjik; also in the valley of Eghzándí, at the tanners, the quarter of the lepers, the foot of the Castle, the gate of Hassán Páshá, &c. The establishments for distributing water (Sebíls) are six hundred. Although here, as at Brússa,there is such abundance of water that these establishments are superfluous, yet the generosity of the Ottoman Sultáns provided them for the distribution of iced water in the summer months.
The cleanliness and elegance of the bath of Sultán Mohammed is beyond all description; the bath of Ainebegí-Charshú was founded by Ilderím Khán; the bath of Takht-ul-kala’; the bath of Kayaghán Charshú; the bath of Bostání, of the castle of the Cutlers, of Murád, and of Ilderím, have all two rooms each (Chifteh). There are besides three thousand private baths in the palaces, some of which are also devoted by the proprietors to public use. The hot-baths in Turkish are called Ilíjeh; in Arabic, Maíhamím; in Persian, Germáb; in Rúmelí, Kainarjeh (boiling); and at Brússa, Kaplíjeh (from [Greek: kapnos] smoke, which hangs over these hot springs;) in the Mogolic language they are called Kerensa, and in Europe, bagnio. These springs are impregnated with sulphur from mines which they pass through underground, and when mixed with cold water, are equally wholesome for bathing or drinking, but if drank to excess, it is said, they cause the teeth to fall out. There are many hundred hot springs at Brússa, which being neglected in the time of the Infidels, were not covered. The hot-bath of old Kaplíjeh, built by Murád I. has a great cupola covering a large basin ten feet square, on the four sides of which are washing-tubs, with two retired cabinets (Khalvetí), upon entering these the flesh feels soft as an ear-lap and all uncleanliness is boiled as it were from the body. To drink the water is a good remedy for palpitation and throbbing of the heart; but a certain method is prescribed to those using the baths, which if neglected brings on pleurisy.
The following are the rules to be observed:—First, take a common ablution at the edge of the basin, then wash the head with warm water, throwing some over the body preparatory to walking into the bath, till the whole body is covered, do not remain too long, and dress quickly upon coming out, in order to avoid catching cold; this precaution is necessary, and if neglected causes many ailments. The most powerful of all the hot-baths of Brússa is that of Murád I. the dressing-place being built in the old style is not cold.
The building is small, but its water is very useful in leprosy; lepers who have been afflicted for forty years, are cured if they drink and bathe here forty days. Persons affected with this disease lose their eyebrows and eyelashes, and theirbreath becomes infectious. God avert it from us! There are for this reason separate quarters for the leprous (Meskin) in all towns in Rúm.
It is a small building, the spring is very hot and sulphurous; it is principally used as a remedy for itch and scab, and the waiters (Dellák) know how to treat people so affected. Those who can bear to be rubbed by them in the private cabinets for half an hour, will see within twenty-four hours a miraculous alteration; the skin peels off in black scales, and the body appears white as silver. In short, the suburb of old Kaplíjeh, where the above springs exist, consists of three hundred houses with gardens and hot springs, some for men, some for women, some for children, and some for old men. The inhabitants of Brússa, who are acquainted with their qualities, come here to stay a fortnight with their relations, and use the baths.
It stands near the town on a rocky place, and all the buildings are covered with lead, like those of old Kaplíjeh. It was formerly a small building, but Sultán Súleimán having been cured of the gout here, he ordered his Vezír, Sárí Rostem Páshá, to build a large bath. The travellers of Múltán, Balkh and Bokhara, say, that they have no where seen a bath so magnificent as this. Its dressing-room is a vast place covered with cupolas, capable of holding a thousand men; on its walls is written in Ta’lík letters, a Turkish verse, saying;
“In life on your apparel lay no stressAs every body must his body here undress.”
“In life on your apparel lay no stressAs every body must his body here undress.”
“In life on your apparel lay no stressAs every body must his body here undress.”
“In life on your apparel lay no stress
As every body must his body here undress.”
In the centre of this dressing-room is a basin, and in the middle of the basin a fountain. There are more than a hundred inspectors walking round in high pattens, besides clean waiters (Dellák). The interior basin (the bath itself) has a cupola which some say is one hundred cubits high, it is covered with lead, and pierced with six hundred glass windows; the basin is like a sea into which you descend by six marble steps; at its four corners are figures of lions and dragons, which spout the water from their mouths. In the cooling place (Súklik) is a fountain (jet d’eau) which reaches to the top of the house. On the side of the basin are eight large vaults, underneath each of them is a bathing trough of stone, where those who perform their ablutions can see those who swim in the basin. The floor of the whole bath is paved with variegated marble, as though enamelled by goldsmiths. It has two private cabinets (Khalvetí), in that on theright is a small basin, the water of which is extremely warm, but when mixed with that of a cold spring which is adjacent, a proper temperature is obtained. Though this hotbath is not in such good repute as the former, yet it is a pleasant place, where lovers delight with their beloved, especially in the long winter nights; when these baths are lighted with candles, a thousand tricks are played by the bathers, some diving, some swimming, some wrestling in the water, some swelling their aprons into sails, others spouting water from their mouths, some lying dead flat on the water, others joining hands and imitating the cries of boatmen, “Tírá Molá,” drive the water round like a whirlpool, which forces all those who are in the water to follow the quick rotation of it.
There is also a private hotbath, called Kainárjeh, which, with many others, I did not see, because I was a stranger, and only setting out on my travels.
There are nine thousand shops. The Bezestán is a large building with four iron gates secured with iron chains; its cupola is supported by strong columns. It contains three hundred shops (doláb) in each of which merchants reside, who are as rich as the kings of Egypt. 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. These markets are established around the Bezestán, and the shops are arranged in rows. In each corner is a fountain supplying water out of two pipes. In the summer months the servants sprinkle the ground with water, so that the whole market resembles a serdáb or cooling place of Baghdád. The principal men of Brússa sit here during the hottest hours of the day. According to the descriptions of travellers there is no where to be found so pleasant a market place. The market of Haleb and of Alí Páshá at Adrianople are famous, but neither they, nor even those of Constantinople, are to be compared with the markets of Brússa. The saddlers, and the long market are the most crowded; and the one occupied by the sellers of roast meat near the rice khán is very elegant. None of the provisions at Brússa are sold by Infidels but all by true Moslims. The shops of the Sherbet-merchants are adorned with all sorts of cups, and in the summer-time they put flowers into the sherbet and also mix rosewater with it, which is not the custom any where else. The fruit merchants ornament their shops with branches bearing fruit. Thereare seventy-five coffee-houses each capable of holding a thousand persons, which are frequented by the most elegant and learned of the inhabitants; and three times a day singers and dancers execute a musical concert in them like those of Hossein Bikara. Their poets are so many Hassáns, and their story-tellers (Meddáh) so many Abúl-ma’álí. The one most famous for relating stories from the Hamzeh-námeh is Kúrbání Alí, and Sheríf Chelebí enchanted his hearers by those he told from the Sháh-námeh. Other story-tellers (Kissah Khán) were famous for reciting the tales of Abú Moslem the hatchet-bearer, which may be compared to the memoirs (Seir) of Weissi. All coffee-houses, and particularly those near the great mosque, abound with men skilled in a thousand arts (Hezár-fenn) dancing and pleasure continue the whole night, and in the morning every body goes to the mosque. These coffee-houses became famous only since those of Constantinople were closed by the express command of Sultán Murád IV. There are also no less than ninety-seven Búza-houses, which are not to be equalled in the world; they are wainscoted with fayence, painted, each capable of accommodating one thousand men. In summer the Búza is cooled in ice, like sherbet; the principal men of the town are not ashamed to enter these Búza-houses, although abundance of youths, dancers and singers, girt with Brússa girdles, here entice their lovers to ruin. The roads are paved with large flint-stones, a kind of paving not met with elsewhere; these stones are not the least worn by age, but they are dangerous for horses, who stumble on them because they are so hard and bright.
A market for weavers is established on both sides of the bridge of Erghándí at Gokdereh (the valley of Olympus) the small windows of each shop look on to the torrent of Gokdereh, which flows beneath. The shops are covered with lead, and the bridge is shut in on two sides by iron gates pierced with loopholes. A part of the bridge is reserved for the use of strangers to fasten up their horses. There is no covered bridge like this, either in Arabia, Persia or Turkey. The name of this bridge, Erghándí, is derived from the word Erghalándí, which signifies, “it has been shaken,” and to which the following tradition is attached:—
In the time of Sultán Orkhán, a warrior, going early to the bath here, heard a voice, saying, “Shall I come out or not?” The soldier being a brave fellow, called out, “Come out,” adding a curse or two; when out broke from the place whence the sound came, a rich treasure, with great shaking and trembling of the earth (Erghálandí). The soldier, upon seeing such a quantity of gold coins, went and related the story to Orkhán, who advised him to spend in pious works, whatHeaven had thus granted him. He took the treasure to his home, paid a tenth of it to the revenue, and then built this bridge, which took its name from the circumstance. There are forty-eight large and small bridges in and about Brússa. The streets and some of the markets are adorned with festoons of grapes, which grow here in great plenty, and others with tall plane-trees and willows. Brússa is truly a garden-town; the number of gardens is said to be forty-seven thousand, all abundantly supplied with water.
Of these there are no less than three hundred and sixty-five, so that there is one for every day in the year. The finest is that of Búnár-báshí, where if you eat roast meat and drink of the water, you feel hungry again immediately; of such digestive power is the water: a mosque adorns this famous walk. The walk of the Mevleví-kháneh, or convent of Dervishes, built by Orkhán, where twice a week the Mevlevís assemble for their religious dances (sima’á), and afterwards take their pleasure in the fields. The walk of Abdál Murád Sultán is situate in a valley high up on Mount Olympus, whence the finest view of Brússa is obtained. The verdure is so luxuriant, that the earth seems covered with green velvet. There are plane-trees, willows, cypresses and box-trees, of an immense height, under the shade of which ten thousand men may procure shelter. Swings are fastened with ropes to some of these trees, where lovers and their beloved swing each other. There are benches for company and benches for prayer; it is a most delightful place, and extends as far as the eye can reach. The walk of Fissdíklí is adorned with pine-trees, and is a secluded but very pleasant corner. The walk of Karanfillí, on the way to Kaplíjah, is a resting-place. The walk of Kaplí Kiaya is a fine spot without any buildings, and surrounded by woods, and that of Abd-ul-múmen is above all praise. Outside of the town, to the east, in a chesnut-wood, half an hour’s distance from the foot of Mount Olympus, stands the fountain of A’ssá, which is said to have rushed forth by a miracle, when the great Saint Emír Sultán struck his staff (a’ssá) into the ground on this spot. The chesnuts are grafted trees, each not weighing above forty drachms. The walk of Sobrán is also adorned with chesnut-trees. The place of Ulumest is a convent for the accommodation of strangers. The pleasure-place of Kazí-yailá (the judge’s Alp) is situate half-way up Mount Olympus, and is ascended from below in five hours. The Okmeïdán, or archery-ground, is so pleasant a place, that it is beyond all description. The walk of the Monks’ mountain (Olympus) obtained its name from its having been the retreat of Greek Monks.
God created one hundred and forty-eight mountains, as locks of the earth, which is held together by them when shaken by earthquakes; this is hinted in the verses of the Korán, “His (God’s) are the keys of the earth and Heaven;” and again, “and the mountains as pales”. According to geographers there are in the first climate, nineteen; in the second, twenty-seven; in the third, thirty-one; in the fourth, twenty-four; in the fifth, twenty-nine; in the sixth, thirty-six; and in the seventh, thirty-seven great mountains. The root of all mountains is mount Káf, thus designated by the verse of the Korán, “Káf and the glorious Korán;” it surrounds the earth and is reached by the Kalmúks beyond the ice-sea; they call it in their language Yaldarák Ták. If it pleases God, I shall describe it when I undertake that journey. Since the time of Alexander none but the Kalmúks have seen Mount Káf, they assemble every forty or fifty years to the number of seventy, or eighty thousand, in order to visit it. The Caucasus (Kúh-al-burz) faces the desert of Tartary called Heihát, the great mountain of Germany (Riesengeburg), and the mountain of the moon twenty farsangs beyond the equator, where the Nile originates. Mount Olympus was the first of these mountains which I ascended with a goodly company; we took litters, tents and all necessary preparations with us, and set out from Búnár-báshí ascending during five hours. The first height, Ghází Yailá, is so called because the Moslim victors (Ghází) had a station here during the siege of Brússa, which lasted a whole year. It is a pleasant spot with meadows and chesnut-trees, a small rivulet running through it is full of trout. From this place a full view of the town of Brússa is obtained. Five hours further on is the table-land called Sobrán Yailássí, a large plain with chesnut-woods; trout are also found in the lakes of it; we took a great many of them, and ate them fried with fresh butter; each fish seemed like one of the dishes Jesus multiplied amongst the people (six thousand men). Some hundred thousand sheep graze here, descended from the forty thousand sheep of Sultán Osmán: the shepherds are Turks, they brought us some sheep as a present, which we immediately roasted, and passed the night in the open air. Next day we mounted again in a south-east direction (Kibláh) the road lined with hyacinths, roses, basilicon, and other flowers, the scent of which perfumed our brains. We refreshed ourselves with water from the living spring, and came after three hour’s travelling to the place called Menzíl Bakajak, where we halted three days and three nights in the woods, delighting in fresh fish and roasted sheep. This place is called Bakajak, or look-out, because from hence on the nights previous to Ramazán they watch for the new moon, and, as soon as they see it, light a fire to give notice to the town, where the guns are fired toannounce the commencement of the fast. This look-out is on the top of an isolated rock, which stretches towards the town like an elephant’s proboscis and hangs over so deep a precipice that nobody dares look down. From it the plain Filehdár, with all its villages, fields, and cultivated grounds appear, like a picture on paper. It is so steep and prominent that the great mosque, the castle and bezestán of Brússa seem as it were sinking into the base of the mountain, and from the summit cannot be seen at all. Rocks towering to the sky take the appearance here of many strange shapes, such as dragons, elephants and eagles. We mounted still further in the direction of the Kiblah through flowery meadows, where no tall trees were to be seen, and after five hours came to the station of Sultán Suleïmán’s fountain-head. A delightful spot with a spring of water so cold that a man cannot take out of it three stones in succession. There is here a large mass of rock the size of the cupola of a bath, which vibrates on being touched, and also many rivulets containing trout of one or two becas each. These rivulets and brooks being frozen in the winter, the head ice-man, (Kárjí-báshí) sends two or three hundred persons to cut the ice, which, transparent as crystal and brilliant as diamonds, is used in summer to cool their sherbet by the inhabitants of Constantinople and Brússa. Some hundred ass-loads are every day embarked at Modania for the use of the coffee-houses, Imperial kitchens, and the Imperial Harím; for the Vezírs, the Kází-askers, and the Muftis.
This is a worm, which is found in the midst of ice and snow as old as the creation, but is difficult to find; it has forty feet, and forty black spots on its back, with two eyes as red as rubies, all ice, without a tongue, and its interior filled with an icy fluid; it shines like a diamond but melts quickly away, because it is all ice. In size, it is like those cucumbers which are sold for seed at Lángabestán, sometimes larger, sometimes smaller. The ice-worm I brought to Sultán Ibrahím was smaller than a cucumber. It is an aphrodisiac, sharpens the sight, and makes a man as healthy and vigorous as a new-born child. It is rarely found, and falls but to the lot of kings! It is said that on the Caucasus they are of the size of dogs, with four feet, living and walking among the ice and snow. Faith be upon the teller! I have not seen them.
Above the station of Súleimán vegetation ceases and the mountain is barren. Kulleí Jehán, the tower of the world, is on the topmost peak of the monk’s mountain (Olympus) whence beneath your feet the clouds may be seen passing over the town. It is a journey of two days from Brússa to the top; being so very high it is entirely barren; the mountains of Cútahía are seen from the southside; the mountains of Sogúd from the East, and from the west side the mountains of Galipolis, beyond the White Sea. The summits of the Seven Towers and of the Minárehs of Sultán Ahmed, may be discerned from hence when the sun shines on Constantinople. From its height, it is so much exposed to the wind, that if men did not cling to, or shelter themselves behind, the rocks, the wind would blow them away like cotton. On the highest spot is a burying place, the four sides composed of immense stones; it is the tomb of Sa’dán the son of Landha, who is said to have taken refuge here from fear of Hamzah. Near it is a deep dark cave which leads to seventy or eighty small cells, where Monks resided in the time of the Byzantine Empire; on some of them are inscriptions in Greek and Latin, two thousand years old. People who come to the top also write their names in this place. We again mounted our horses and came after ten hours ride, ascending and descending, to the Victor’s height, Ghází Yailá, from whence, after another ride of ten hours, we arrived at Brússa.
There are many thousand rich merchants and learned divines who dress in sable pelisses. Being in Asia, the language is related to the Turkish, hence they say Ahmed Chepú instead of Ahmed Chelebí; Memet Chepú instead of Mohammed Chelebí; Assmíl instead of Ismaíl; Jafár instead of Ja’fer, besides some words and expressions entirely unknown; young men of the town however speak with great purity. Their principal occupation is the cultivation of silk, the manufacture of velvets and other stuffs of Brússa called Sereng and Chátma, it is also famed for the manufacture of cushions for sofas.
The longest day is fifteen hours: the inhabitants are fresh-coloured on account of the healthy air, but as Mount Olympus intercepts the southerly winds, the air is dull and heavy when they blow. The youth are numerous and have been celebrated in many a town-revolt (Shehrengíz). The women are exquisite beauties, with well-arranged teeth, and well-arranged words; their hair curled and dressed in tresses is celebrated in the poetical expression Kessúí merghúleh. The men attain a very old age; in short the pleasant advantages which this town affords are not to be met with elsewhere. The people are of a graceful stature, silver bodies, cautious, and so eloquent that when they speak they never fail to produce the greatest effect on their hearers.
The first is white bread of the kind called Súmún, which is as good as the bestof Constantinople; then that sort of bread called Chákil, like white roses; the Gozlemeh, the Kerdeh, a kind of roast mutton dressed over a stove (Tennúr). The sheep which are very fat come from Mount Olympus. The white Halvá of Brússa is also celebrated.
The beverages are the delicious water of the head fountain Búnár-báshí and seventeen other principal springs; excellent coffee from Yemen, very good búza, the sherbet Khanedán-beg (smiling Prince), that of Tírelí-oghlí, Karan-fillí and Shujáb.
The fruits are forty-day pears, exquisite grapes, apricots, cherries, and chesnuts famous all over the world. These chesnuts, weighing forty drachms each, are put on spits with the meat, the juice of which penetrates them; they grow so succulent that it is almost impossible to leave off eating them till one dies. The seven day mulberries are also famous. The plain of Filehdár is laid out in mulberry plantations, because the chief product of Brússa is silk, which is said not to be equalled by the Persian silk of Shirwán.
The manufactures are those of ruby-coloured velvet, like that made at Genoa, Brússa linen of different colours, aprons called Kirk-kalem, purses of silk, silken nets, and finally cushions of cut velvet called Chátma munakkash katífeh.
The Seljúk family arrived in the country of Rúm (the Asiatic provinces of the Roman Empire) in the year 476 (1083). They first allied themselves with the Danishmend family, and occupied with them the districts of Malatia, Cæsarea, Alayeh, and Konia. The Seljúkians took up their residence in the latter town, while the Danishmend family resided in those of Sivás and Erzerúm. Melek Ghází died at Nigissár and is buried there; Ala-ud-dín the prince of the Seljúk family, called Toghrúl-beg, the ancestor of the Ottoman family from Mahán was a relation of his, and created him a Beg; he made some inroads from Konia on Nicæa, Brússa and Nicomedia. Ertoghrúl-beg, who was invested with drum and banner, had not yet the right of striking coins and of the Friday prayer, he was buried at Sogudjek near Nicæa. His son Osmán-beg was the first absolute monarch of the Ottoman family whose name was struck on the coin, and prayer said by Túrsún Fakíh, 699 (1299). He married the daughter of Sheikh Edebálí who became the mother of Orkhán, and through whom the Ottoman Sultáns are related to the prophet. Until the time of Mohammed II. these princes were called Beg. Mohammed II. was the first called Sultán by Akshems-ud-dín and whose name was struck upon coins. Selím I. was then proclaimed servant of Mecca and Medina by Kemál-páshá-zadeh, and Ebúsúd Efendí the famous Muftíadded to the title of Sultán Súleimán, that of Sultán of two lands, and Khakán of two seas, because he had conquered Baghdád and Rodos, but if he lost either of them he was to lose the title also.
He conquered the castles of Bílejik, Ainegol, Kara-hissár, Inogí, Iznik, Kopru-hissár, Elibád-hissár, Castel, Kítah, Bígha, &c. Osmán-beg reigned twenty-one years after the death of Sultán Ala-ud-dín, and died at the age of sixty-nine, after having reigned twenty-six years, at the moment Brússa fell into the hands of his son.
The Castles of Yází, Kogreh, and in Rúmelí, Yanbolí, Galibolí, Moderní, Kojá Elí, Iznikmid, Belakabád, Brússa, Taraklí, Goinek, Karassí, Bálikersí, Bergama, Adremyt, Ashlúna, Rodosto, and Búlair; the last was conquered by Súleimán-páshá, Orkhán’s son, who lies buried there.
Sultán Orkhán died in the year 771 (1369), he is buried with his father Osmán beneath a cupola in the mosque of the inner castle; he died, after a reign of forty-one years, at the age of sixty-four; he was a mild monarch, a father to the poor, and a warrior in the ways of God. The divines of his time were David Kaissarí of Caramania, he was named Kaissarí because he was brought up at Cæsarea, he commented on the text of Mohay-ud-dín Arabí and was a second Taftazání in mystic science. He was the first Professor (Muderris) of the College which Sultán Orkhán built at Nicæa. Molá Ala-ud-dín commonly called Eswed Khojá (the black master) who commented doctrinally on the work Moghní-ul-lebíb and also on the book, Wikayit. Molá Jenderelí Kará Khalíl, who was first created Kází-asker of Anatolia by Orkhán. Molá Hassan Kaissarí, one of the greatest Jurisconsults; he wrote a good commentary on Andalusian prosody, he was a disciple of Mohay-ud-dín, and completed his education at Damascus.
When young he never mixed with other boys but sought retirement and scorned all worldly pursuits. He refused to accept the dignity of Sultán which was offered him by his father, who died a Prince in Khorassán. Forty years long he did nothing but pray and fast, and arrived at such a degree of perfection, that in the night, during his sleep, his soul migrated from his body into the world of spirits, and he became filled with the mystic science of spirits, and divine knowledge.One Day the men of Khorassán asked him to perform a miracle as a proof of his sanctity; he then performed many miracles, and was acknowledged by all the great men of Khorassán to be their superior. My ancestor, the pole of poles, the Sultán of learning, the fountain head of science, the chief of the Sheikhs of Turkistán, Khojá Ahmed Yessúí Ibn Mohammed Hanefí, was his disciple, and hinted that he had received from him even the gift of direction to bliss (Irshád), and of true Dervishship, which Gabriel brought from Paradise, with its symbols, the crown, the habit, the carpet, the lamp, the table, and the banner, to Mohammed the true fountain-head of all Dervishship. The prophet delivered the direction to Imám Alí, from whom it came to his son Hossein, who bequeathed it to Imám Zein-ul-ábedín, who left it to Ibrahím Almokerrem, who when in the prison of Merván handed over to Abú Moslim, the crown and gown, carpet and table, lamp and banner, the symbols of Dervishship. From him they came to the Imám Mohammed Báker, then to his son Imám Ja’fer, and to his son Mússa Kázím, and from him to Ahmed Yessúí the head of the Sheikhs of Turkistán, who being asked by his disciples to leave to them the aforesaid symbols, never consented till Hájí Begtásh made his appearance, who became by the possession of it, the pole of the poles (Kutbal-atkáb).
Hájí Begtásh of Khorassán was the son of the Seyyid Ibrahím Mokerrem, who died in the prison of Merván, as it has been just said, and there is no doubt of his descent in direct lineage from the Prophet; the history of Ain Alí gives, however, the following genealogy: Seyyid Mohammed Hájí Begtásh, the son of Seyyid Músá Nishabúrí, son of Seyyid Ishak Essákin, son of Seyyid Ibrahím Mokerrem El-askerí, son of Seyyid Mússa Ebí Sebha, son of Seyyid Ibrahím Elmurteza, son of Imám Músa Alkázim, who had thirty-seven children. Hájí Begtásh’s father left Khorassán after his father’s death and established himself at Nishabúr, where he married Khatmeh the daughter of Sheikh Ahmed and by her had Hájí Begtásh. While yet a boy he was distinguished for his devotion, and was entrusted to the care of Lokmán, one of the disciples of Ahmed Yessúí, from whom he learned the exoteric and esoteric sciences. Lokmán had been invested with the religious habit of Imám Ja’fer by the hand of Báyazíd Bostámí. With this habit Lokmán invested Hájí Begtásh. This is the crown or turban which has twelve folds in remembrance of the twelve Imáms, and the white abbá with sleeves like a jubbeh, which is worn by the Dervishes of the order of Begtásh. By order of Ahmed Yessúí he accompanied Mohammed Bokhara Sáltik with seven hundred men, Shems-ud-dín Tebrízí, Mohay-ud-dín Al-arebí, Kárí Ahmed Sultán, and other pious men and Saints into Rúm, where the Ottoman dynasty took its rise.
Hájí Begtásh instituted the new militia called Yenícherí, and having established his seven hundred disciples in the towns conquered by Sultán Orkhán, he sent Mohammed Bokhara Sárí Sáltik into Dobrúja, Wallachia, Moldavia, Poland and Russia. The seven hundred convents of Dervishes, Begtáshí, which actually exist in Turkey, are derived from the seven hundred disciples of Hájí Begtásh. Hájí Begtásh died in Sultán Orkhán’s reign, and was buried in his presence in the capital of Crimea, where a Tátár princess raised a monument over his tomb. This monument having fallen into decay Sheitán Murád, a Beg of Cæsarea of Sultán Súleimán’s time, restored and covered it with lead. If it please God we shall describe it in its proper place. Sheikh Seyyid Ahmed Ruffa’í, buried at Ladika near Amasia. Sheikh Hassan Rufa’í, buried at Tokát near Sunbullí, was the nephew of the former. Sheikh Geigli Bábá was a Dervish of the Begtáshís. Sheikh Kárá Ahmed Sultán a Persian prince, who when on his travels came to Sultán Orkhán, was initiated by Hájí Begtásh, and is buried at Ak-hissár. Sheikh Abdál Mússa Súltán, and Sheikh Abdál Murád, both of Sultán Orkhán’s time.
He gave caps (Úskúfa) to the janissaries, embroidered with gold; built a mosque at Bilejk, another mosque at Brússa and a convent for Postín Púsh Bábá. He was assassinated in the year 791, after the battle of Khassova, by Milosh Kúblakí. A cupola is erected over the spot, which was renewed by my gracious Lord Melek Ahmed Páshá.
He is buried on the west side of Brússa near old Kaplíjah, beneath a large cupola. His arrow, bow and quiver are suspended over his tomb, with the bloody garment in which he was killed, which fills with awe all who enter this monument. He was seventy years of age at his death, and had reigned thirty.
Besides numerous conquests in Anatolia, he passed seven times in one year from Anatolia into Wallachia, and from the rapidity of his movements obtained the name of Ilderím (lightning). He besieged Constantinople, and established a judge there and seven hundred Mussulmán houses, from the Flour-hall (Ún-kapán,) to the Rose mosque, also the tribunal of Sirkejí-tekkieh. In the year 805, following bad advice, he waged war against Timúr, and was taken prisoner by the Tátárs after a long struggle on foot, his horse having been thrown down. Brought into Timúr’s presence, he was well received, but Timúr asking what he wouldhave done to him had he been taken prisoner; Báyazíd answered, that he would have put him into an iron cage and carried him to Brússa; Timúr being enraged, ordered Báyazíd to be put into an iron cage, intending to carry him into Persia, but he died on the third day of a violent fever.
His son, Mohammed Chelebí pursued Timúr’s army towards Amasia, and had tents made of the skins of the slain Tátárs, beneath which he sheltered himself from the sun. The field of the above defeat is called to this day, in derision, Táshak-ová-sí. He took his father’s corpse from the enemy, and buried it in the mosque he had built at Brússa. Sultán Murád IV. when he visited this tomb gave it a kick with his foot, saying: “What, do you lie here like a monarch,—you, who have destroyed the Ottoman honour, and have been made prisoner by the Tátárs?” At the moment he kicked the coffin, he cried, “Oh! my foot!” and from that day was attacked by the gout, which carried him off. He lived sixty-seven years, and reigned fourteen; he was a great Emperor, but could not war against fate.
The Divines of his time were Sheikh Sheháb-ud-dín Sivássí, who composed a valuable commentary, and is buried at Aya Solúk (Ephesus); Khosb-ud-dín of Nicæa, who contended much with Timúr; Simánezadeh Sheikh Bedr-ud-dín Ben Mahmúd Ben Abd-ul-azíz; the Mevlená Fakhr-ud-dín the Persian, buried at Adrianople; Sheikh Abd-ur-rahím Ben Emír Azíz Merzifúní, and the Sheikh Pír Elías, who is buried at Amasia.
He first shared the Empire with his brethren Súleimán, Mússa, and Issa Chelebí, whom he subdued in one year and became absolute monarch. He built Yerkoí (Gimgera) on the banks of the Danube. He died in 824, and lies buried beneath a painted cupola before his mosque called the green building, (Yeshil Imáret), he was forty-seven years old, and had reigned seven years. He was the first who sent a Surreh, or present of money, by the caravan of pilgrims, to the poor of Mecca and Medina. He finished the old mosque at Adrianople, the foundations of which had been laid by his brother Mússa, and built a cupola near Philippolis over the tomb of Ghází Mohammed Beg, at the place called Kúnis.
The divines and learned men of his time were Kara Shems-ud-dín Semaví, famed for his works and travels, who was exiled from Brússa to Zaghrah in Rúmelí, where he is buried. Sheikh Abd-ul-latíf Mokadessí Ben Abd-ur-rahmán Ben Alí Ben Ghánem.
The soldiers having revolted, dethroned him under the pretext that he hadgrown too old, and put his son Mohammed II., who was only thirteen years of age in his place; but being found incapable to hold the reins, the janissaries again displaced Mohammed II. sending him to Magnesia, and recalled old Murád to the throne. Afterward in the year 855 they deposed Murád II. for the second time, and Mahomed II., then twenty-one years old, obtained absolute sway, and took up his residence at Constantinople. His father died the next year (856) at Adrianople, but was buried at Brússa. He lies in more magnificent state than any of the Sultáns buried at Brússa, his tomb being covered with a golden stuff. He was thirty-nine years old when he died, and had reigned twenty-eight years. He built the mosque Ujsherfelí at Adrianople, two other mosques, a Dar-ul-hadíth, a Bezestán, and the bridge of Erkeneh with a mosque. He was the first who assigned a salary to the Seyyíds or Sherífs.
The Divines and Sheikhs of his time were Zekeriah Khalvetí, the disciple of Pír Elías, who is buried near him, and Sheikh Abd-ur-rahmán Ben Hassám-ud-dín, commonly called Gumishlí-zádeh; he was the son-in-law of Pír Elías, and having had the honour of kissing the hands of the three sons of Murád II., he foretold to Mohammed II. that he would conquer Constantinople, and establish the true faith there.
Ala-ud-dín Páshá, son of Osmán, who died in 804, lies near his brother Orkhán; Shehinshah, son of Báyazíd, Governor of Brússa; Mohammed, son of Báyazíd, and eight princes, brethren of Sultán Selím I. whom he killed when going to war against Prince Ahmed, are all buried near Orkhán; also their brother Ahmed, who was strangled by Sultán Selím, and sent hither. Ahmed’s son Murád fled into Persia to Sháh Ismaíl, where, at the end of three years, he died, and was buried at Erdebíl near Sháh Safí. Two of his brothers, who had been spared at the intercession of the Ulemas, died soon after at Constantinople of the plague, and are also buried here. Korkúd, who, persecuted by Selím I., was taken at Tekkah in a cavern with his governor Piáleh and killed (909), is buried beneath a private cupola near Murád II. Prince Hassan, the son of the latter and brother of Mohammed II., and who was strangled soon after his brother had ascended the throne, also lies buried here near his father; so also does the unfortunate Jem, brother of Báyazíd II. He left a cup, which, on being emptied, filled itself again, an ape who played at chess, and a white parrot, which was dyed black by Sa’dí the poet of Jem, and presented to the Sultán, saying the words, “We belong to God, and return to him.” In the year 1074 (1663) at the time I, poor Evliyá, was on my journey to Vienna, Prague and Lúnjat (?), I conversed with many monks and patriarchs, who all agreed that Jem was the son of a French princess, who being takenby Mohammed II. at the point of the Seraglio, became the mother of Báyazíd and Jem. The three brethren of Mohammed I., Issa, Mússa and Súleimán are buried beside their father Báyazíd at his mosque. There are many hundred princes and princesses buried at the mosque of Sultán Murád II. at Brússa. Chelebí Sultán Mustafa, the son of Súleimán I., who, on the invidious report of his enemies, was strangled by his father, also lies buried in the tomb of Sultán Murád II., though some pretend that he is interred on the east side of the courtyard gate of Eyyúb, but that is another Mustafa, who was killed by his father Súleimán, he having had two sons of that name. The first six Ottoman emperors are also interred at Adrianople, at the heads of their coffins a particular kind of turban is placed, with folds and farthingales, after the fashion of Mahán, the town of Khorassán. The art of folding them has descended from father to son in one family, from the time of the Seljúkians. Mahommed II. wore the Urf (a kind of round turban), and the conqueror of Egypt wore the Selímí; may it last for ever!
Sheikh Geiklí Bábá Sultán was one of the followers of Ahmed Yessúí, and came from Azerbeiján. He used to ride on wild roes in the woods, and load gazelles with his baggage after he had harnessed them. He planted a tree near the Seráï in the castle at Brússa, which has now arrived at a great height. His tomb at Brússa in the great convent was built by Orkhán.
Abdál Mússa, also a disciple of Ahmed Yessúí, came from Khorassán with Hájí Begtásh to Rúm. He was a companion of Geiklí Bábá, and was present with him at the conquest of Brússa, where he was buried in a convent.
Abdál Murád Sultán, one of the Saints lost in abstraction (Santons), who was present at the conquest of Brússa. He is buried in a convent facing the town on the South side, in a pleasant place, which is at the same time a pleasure garden for the inhabitants of Brússa. A sword, three cubits long is shown here from which Sultán Ahmed I. cut off one cubit’s length, which he placed in his treasury.
Molá Shems-ud-dín Mohammed Ben Mohammed Ben Hamza Ben Mohammed Fanarí, the sun of hidden things, and the moon of life, one of the first divines of Sultán Ilderím, has left works on seventy different scientific subjects, but by God’s will became blind at last. It is related that having opened the grave of his master Kara Ala-ud-dín, a voice was heard saying: “Art thou there? God deprive thee of sight!” and a whirlwind rising at the same moment blew all the dust of the grave into his eyes, by which he became blind. He was one of the divines who denied the verse; “The earth does not eat the flesh of the Ulema.” Aúz-páshá, Sultán Orkhán’s Vezír, having a spite against Fanárí, said,“May I see the day on which I shall perform the prayer for the dead over this blind Mollá’s grave.” This being told to the Mollá, he said “God Almighty can yet take away the sight of the Páshá, and give me back mine to perform prayer on his grave;” and it so happened that Aúz-páshá having had his eyes put out by command of Sultán Orkhán for a badly executed commission, Fanarí had his sight restored to him the same night, and performed the prayer of death on the Páshá. He died in the year 833, and reposes at Brússa near his college.
Shems-ud-dín Mahommed Ben Alí, called Emír Sultán, born at Bokhára, came first to Mecca, and then to Medina, where the Sherífs refused to give him the portion allotted to the Sherífs, though he was entitled to it by his descent from the prophet through Hossein. The Saint appealed to the decision of the prophet himself, and went to his tomb accompanied by his adversaries, where, having saluted the grave, a voice was heard, saying: “Health to you my child, Mohammed Ben Ali, go to Rúm with the lamp;” upon hearing which the Sherífs instantly threw themselves at his feet, and Emír Sultán undertook the journey to Rúm, whereupon a lamp suspended in heaven became his guide to show him the way, and was only extinguished when he entered the town of Brússa. He took this as an evident sign that he was to fix his residence there, where he had four hundred thousand disciples. The inhabitants of Brússa had seen the lamp for three days, and knew by that miracle that he was a great saint. They all became Dervishes under his direction. Báyazíd Ilderím not only walked on foot by the side of his stirrup, but also gave him his daughter Nilúfer Khánum in marriage. Ilderím having built the great mosque Úlújámí at Brússa, and having asked Emír Sultán whether it was not a perfect mosque, the Saint answered; “Yes, it is a very elegant mosque, but some cups of wine for the refreshment of the pious are wanting in the middle.” The Sultán replied with surprise; “How, would it be possible to stain God’s house with the liquor forbidden by the law.” “Well,” said the Saint, “thou hast built a mosque, Báyazíd, and, find it strange to put cups of wine therein; and thou whose body is God’s house, more excellent than a talisman composed of the divine names, or the throne of God, how is it thou art not afraid of staining the purity of this godlike house with wine day and night.” From that moment Báyazíd, repenting, left off drinking wine. When Timúr marched against Brússa the inhabitants being alarmed, inquired of Emír Sultán what was now to become of the town. The Saint said, “the commander of the town having recommended it to the care of Eskejí Kojá and Khizr, they must be informed of it.” Ilderím being defeated, Emír Sultán wrote a note which he sent by one of his Dervishes into the camp of Timúr, with an order to deliver it to Eskejí Kojá, that is to the chief of the tailors who mend old clothes.Having read the Saint’s note, he said, “Emír Sultán shall be instantly obeyed;” he stuck his needle in his turban, and before he could put up his things in his bag, all the tents of the camp were broke up by the power of his command, because this old tailor happened also to be a pole of poles, or great Saint. Emír Sultán died in the year 833 (1429), and is buried outside of Brússa to the East, beneath a high cupola; the gates are inlaid with silver, so also is the entrance, by which you descend six steps. The walls are covered with variegated china (Chíní). The four windows looking westward to the field of Brússa are brass; four others look towards the Kiblah into the yard of the mosque. The great number of suspended ornaments which adorn the interior of the mosque are equalled only by those of Medina; the silk carpets are richer than are found elsewhere. The tomb is encircled by gold and silver lamps, candlesticks, candelabras, and vases for perfumes and rosewater. On the coffin lay Koráns by the hands of Yakút Mostea’-assemí, Sheikh Bekrí, Abd-allah Krími Kháledí, Timúrjí Kúlí, Zehebí, Ibn Sheikh-dedeh Mohammed, Kará Hissári, Hassan Chelebí, &c. The coffin is covered with silk embroidered with gold, and at the head a large turban reposes majestically. Those who enter are struck with such awe, that many do not dare attempt it, but only look into it by the window at the head, and recite a Fátihah. On the south side of the tomb is a very elegant mosque, the four sides of which are laid out in cells for the poor, who dine here at the Imáret. When Sultán Selím I., after the death of his brother Ahmed, visited the tomb of Emír Sultán, a voice was heard, saying: “Enter Egypt in security,” which was interpreted as news of the conquest of Egypt, which Emír Sultán promised to Selím I., and on that intimation Kemál-páshá-zádeh instantly said a Fátihah.
The Muftí of divine secrets, the champion of mystic illumination, Sheikh Abd-ur-rahmán Ben Alí Ben Ahmed Al-bostámí, a great lawyer, who was also a good poet, is buried at Brússa. Sheikh Abd-ul-latíf Mokadessí Ibn Abd-ur-rahmán Ibn Alí Ibn Ghánem Al-anssarí, having visited the tomb of Sadr-ud-dín at Konia, the dead saint stretched out his hand from the tomb, drew the Sheikh to him on the grave, and ordered him to read the Súrá Yass. He then built the convent Zeiniler, where he is buried. There lived not a greater Saint than him in the time of Sultán Mohammed I.
Mevlana Mohammed Shah Ibn Mollá Yegán, one of the Úlemas of Murád I., buried at Zeiniler. Mevlana Yússúf Bálí Ibn Yegán, who wrote notes on the Telvíh. Mevlana Seyyid Ahmed Ibn Abd-allah who also wrote notes on the Telvíh. Mevlana Elias Ben Ibrahím, who wrote an abridgement of the Kodúrí Sheik Ak Bi’ík Sultán of the Dervishes Bairámí. Sheikh Uzún Mosslah-ud-dín, who died at Táj-ud-dín’s tomb at Brússa, after having read the Korán for thespace of forty days. The pole of the spiritual world, the mine of divine science, Fanárí, a great divine of the time of Murád and Mohammed II., died 834. The Santon (Mejzúb) Abdál Mohammed on the great road. Sheikh Sultán Ramazán Bábá, buried in a pleasant meadow at Brússa in a convent of Begtáshís.
Sheikh Abú Ishak Kazúní, his name was Ibrahím, his surname Abú Ishak. His mother, Shehriár, was an Armenian princess and married to one of the princes of the white sheep (Baiandurí.) He was born in the year 352, in the month of Ramazán, and was the pole of poles in his day; he is buried at Erzerúm, inside the gate of Tebríz, beneath the same cupola with Murteza Páshá, who gave up Eriván to the Persians. When I visited this place the keeper was an old woman with a white beard, whose story is as follows. At the time of the rebellion of Abáza Páshá some of his Segbán came to the village Kánkoí, with the intention of ravishing a beautiful Armenian girl, she being aware of her danger, turned her face to heaven and said, “O Abu Ishak deliver me from these rioters, and I for the remainder of my life will watch thy tomb.” At that moment a white beard grew from her chin, and she thus escaped the pursuit of the Segbán. I have myself seen her three times. The chapel in memory of Kazúní, which exists at Brússa, was built by Ilderím; it is opposite to the burying place of the Camel-drivers.
Chekirkeh Sultán at Eskí Kaplíjah, before the monument of Murád I. Shádí Sultán near Emír Sultán. Abd-allah Efendí. Sheikh Emír Alí Efendí of the order of Khalvetís. Karaja Mejid-ud-din. Karanfillí-dedeh at Hassan Páshá’s gate. Sunbullí-dedeh at the Tátárs’ gate. Sheikh Alí Mest in the same place. Mollá Arab Jebbári at the foot of the mountain. Mollá Ashjí-dedeh, Hassám-ud-dín Chelebí, Kháliss-dedeh, &c. Mollá Khosreu Ibn Khizr, the author of the celebrated canonical work, “Durer-u-gurer;” he is buried near Zein-ud-dín Háfi. There is a small dark cell, wherein he composed this precious work, which I did not leave until I had finished the lecture of the whole Korán in it, as an offering to the blessed spirit of Mollá Khosreu. Sheikh Abd-ul-latíf Mokadessí the Imám of Ilderím Khán. Sáurimssakjí-zadeh Súleimán Efendí buried near the old Kaplíjah, he is the author of the “Mevlúd-námeh,” or hymns on the Prophet’s birth sung on his birth-day. Mollá Bagdádí-zadeh Hassan Chelebí Ibn Yússúf Albagdádí is buried at the convent of Zeiniler, where he lived and died. Mollá Hassám-ud-dín Hossein Ben Mohammed, known by the name of Kara Chelebí-zadeh, buried before the mosque of Emír Sultán. Sheikh Mohammed Uftádeh Efendí of the order of Jelvetís, buried in the mosque of the inner castle, with a large convent near it. Mollá Kemál-ud-dín known by the name of Karadedeh, born at the village Súvinsa near Amasia; he was a tanner, and did not begin to study until he was sixty years old, seven years afterwards he became Professor of the collegeof Murád at Brússa; he lived many years after this, and wrote a great number of books; the work “Dedeh-júngí” is of his composition. He is buried near Emír Sultán. The Muftí Azíz Efendí who was Sheikh-ul-Islám in Sultán Súleimán’s time, and being exiled to Brússa died there. Mollá Alí Ben Sáleh celebrated by the name of Vassí Alí, the author of the “Húmaiún-námeh” (the Turkish translation of Pilpay’s Fables). Sheikh Núr-allah Ben Ak-Shems-ud-dín, who having fled from his father to Brússa, accidentally killed himself with his pen-knife, and is buried near Zeiniler. Mevlana Abd-ul-ghaní Emír Sháh, his birth-place was Bolí and he is buried at Zeiniler.