CHAPTER XXXII.
[(1.)] “Lasia.”—The territory of the Lazi was part of Colchis, and lay between the Phasis and Armenia. The mountainous country belonged at that time to the empire of Trebizond.—Bruun.
[(2.)] “Kayburt.”—Neumann is persuaded that Schiltberger alludes to Baïbourt (or Païpourt), a very ancient fortress to the north-west of Erzeroum, that was restored by Justinian I. Procopius (De Bell. Pers., iii, 253) calls it Baerberdon. Bishop Aïvazoffsky is of opinion that “Kayburt” stands for Kaïpourt, called Kharpert by the natives, situated in a far more fertile country than is Baïbourt. In Marco Polo’s time, Paipurth was a castle on the road from Trebizond to Tabrecz; and we learn from Barbaro that the fortress of Carpurth, distant a five days’ journey from Erzingan, was the residence of Despina Caton, a princess of Trebizond, the consort of Hassan Bey.—Bruun.
(2A.) “Kayburt”, in a fertile country, is doubtlessly Kharput, distant seventy miles, in a direct line, from Erzingan. The Special Correspondent of The Times (January 20th, 1879), has lately described this place as being situated on the edge of a cliff at the top of a mountain in a very picturesque situation; but very difficult to get at, for it takes an hour to ride from the level of the plain to the town. The plain of Kharput is twenty miles long and twelve miles wide, presenting 153,600 acres of splendid land, well irrigated, and in a high state of cultivation.—Ed.
[(3.)] “Kamach.”—Kemakh is on the site of the ancient city of Ani, thirty miles from Erzingan and close to the Euphrates, and not to be confounded with the Ani referred to in Chapter xiii, note 2. Near Kemakh was the temple of Jupiter, constructed by Tigranes, and the city afterwards became the principal seat of the worship of Hormuzd; it was also a state prison, and the burial-place of the Arsacidæ (Ritter, Die Erdkunde etc., x, 782–789). Constantine Porphyrogenitus called this stronghold of the Byzantines, Κάμαχα. Kemakh was celebrated among the Turks for its fine linen, as Erzingan was noted for its good breed of sheep, and Baïbourt for the beauty of its women. “Kamahoum besy—Erdshenshan kousy—Baibourdin kysy.”—Bruun.
[(4.)] “nobody knows where it goes.”—This observation on the peculiarities of the Upper Euphrates, is confirmed by other authors (Procopius, De Bell. Pers., i, 17; and Ritter, Die Erdkunde etc., x, 736). On emerging from a narrow valley, the river completely disappears amongst reeds, which, though annually taken and burnt, again grow very fast, and so thickly, that carts might be driven over them to cross the river.—Bruun.
(4A.) The recent survey of the Euphrates shows that the river really disappears in the Lamloun marshes, its width diminishing to 120 yards towards the town of Lamloun. It again widens at Karayem, where the Serayah branch on the western side, and the Nahr Lamloun branch on the eastern side, reunite with the main stream. Colonel Chesney makes no allusion whatever to an overgrowth of reeds, and adds (Exped. to the Euphr. and Tigris, i, 58, 59): “Being thus reunited to its former waters, and at the same time free from those marshes in which it had been supposed to be lost, the Euphrates suddenly reappears on its former scale, enclosed between high banks covered with jungle.”—Ed.
[(5.)] “Karasser; it is fertile in vineyards.”—Several travellers and authors, such as Aboulfeda, Tavernier, Otter, Golius, Ritter, etc., have represented, that the best wines of the country were to be obtained at Amadia, fifteen miles from Kohrasar—“Karasser”—which Hammer (Denkschr. d. Kön. Akad. d. Wissensch., ix) fancifully transfers to Kara-hissar in Armenia. Kohrasar is quite uninhabited and deserted, but the ruins of what were at one time magnificent churches and other edifices, excited the admiration of Tavernier (Six Voy. en Turquie, etc., en 1642) and Ainsworth (Trav. in Asia Minor, etc., 1842). They indicate the site of the ancient city of Constantine. It is to be deplored that those travellers could not afford the time to explore the locality.—Bruun.
[(6.)] “the people are warlike”.—The warlike inhabitants of Black Turkey were the Turkomans of the White Sheep, who, under Kara Yelek, their chief, seized upon Amid (Amed, Hamith, Karamid), the capital of Dyarbekr, in Mesopotamia, after the death of Timour; it is now known by the same name as the province, but was called Kara Amid—Amid the black—from the colour of its walls. Many traces of its grandeur are left. The academician, Baïer (De numo Amid., 545), shows that it was constructed by Severus Alexander, and fortified by Justinian.—Bruun.
[(7.)] “Bestan.”—This name is probably intended for Bistan, near the eastern frontier of the pashalik of Soulimanieh. It is now a village of no importance, but near it are the ruins of an ancient castle, also the tumuli known as the Roustan tepe and Shah tepe, in which many objects of antiquity have been found. Judging by its style of architecture, the castle, constructed of bricks, is believed to be of the Sassanian period; but it may have been occupied at a later date, even to the time of Schiltberger, when it was, perhaps, the capital of Kourdistan. The pasha’s residence at Soulimanieh is a modern edifice, having been built towards the end of the 18th century (Ritter, Die Erdkunde etc., xi, 566).—Bruun.
[(8.)] “Zuchtun.”—The noxious nature of the climate on the eastern sea-board of the Black Sea, has been fully proved by Russian garrisons to their cost, and especially at “Zuchtun” or Soukhoum Kaleh. Near this place stood the ancient Dioscurias, subsequently called Sevastopolis, after an old Roman fortress in the neighbourhood. It was of great strategic importance to the Empire in the reign of Justinian (Novell. constit., 28; and Procopius, De Bell. Goth., iv, 4), and became a prosperous commercial port after the Black Sea was opened to the Italians. The Genoese established a consulate at Savastopoli, which was maintained until the year 1449 (Zap. Odess. Obstschest., v, 809).—Bruun.
(8A.) “Zuchtun”, intended, as shown above, for Soukhoum, and named Soukhoum Kaleh in the year 1578, when Amurat III., as suzerain of Abhase, Mingrelia, Imeritia, and Gouria, arrogated to himself the right to fortify and occupy it as one of two points on the coast (Poti being the other), is the chief town of Abhase, and distant about sixty miles to the north of Poti. The yearly mortality, according to late official returns (1874), was reported as being at the rate of 3 per centum.
The small, square, flat cap seen by Schiltberger, is now in great measure substituted in Abhase by the g’h’tapt or bashlyk, a pointed head-covering of great antiquity, adopted in winter by the troops in Russia, and in fashion among the ladies in that country; but it is still extensively worn by the Imeritians and Mingrelians, who call it papanaky, and consider it sufficient covering for their heads of bushy hair, of which they are very proud, and which they periodically shave to improve the growth. The flat cap, or papanaky, is a small lozenge-shaped piece of leather, cloth, or silk, laid over the fore part of the head, and fastened with strings under the chin. When worn by nobles, the papanaky of velvet is made very ornamental, with gold and silver embroidery. Their Mussulman conquerors used to call the Imeritians, bashashyk—bare-heads (The Crimea and Transc., i, 120; ii, 35, 135).—Ed.
[(9.)] “Kathon.”—There can be little doubt that Batoum is here intended, a place which appears as Vati or Lovati, in the charts of the 14th century.—Bruun.
(9A.) In the present chapter, the capital of Mingrelia is called “Kathon”; in chapter 67, it is named “Bothan”. Neumann suggests that for “Kathon” we should read Gori; Professor Bruun is of opinion that Batoum is intended, and Hammer (Denkschr. d. Kön. Akad. d. Wissensch., ix) thinks that “Kathon” should be Kargwel or Karduel, and “Bothan”, Cotaïs; but it may fairly be inferred from Schiltberger’s account, that this “Kathon” or “Bothan”, as it also appears in the editions of 1475 (?), 1549, and 1814, stands for Poti. In both chapters, the author speaks of the chief town of “Megral”, “Magrill”—Mingrelia—as being situated on the Black Sea, and says that on leaving it, he rode along the sea-shore until he reached a mountainous country. Poti, the ancient Phasis, a place of importance from the most remote times, lays in an unexceptionably flat country, from which it would have been necessary for Schiltberger, who was effecting his escape and must therefore have been travelling south, to ride fully ten miles by the sea-side, before he could have reached a highland. Gori and Koutaïs, being inland towns, are quite out of the question, and had the author got to Batoum, he would already have been in a mountainous country, and need not have described his ride before attaining it. I cannot find any record that Batoum, situated in Lazistan, formerly included in Colchis, ever formed part of the principality of Mingrelia.—Ed.
[(10.)] “Merdin”.—With the exception of the citadel, which remained in the hands of a prince of the Ortok dynasty, this place, formerly a chief town of Mesopotamia, had to submit, with many others, to the yoke of Timour. Upon the death of the conqueror, his heir, afterwards assassinated by Kara Yelek, called to his assistance Kara Youssouf, chief of the Turkomans of the Black Sheep, and gave to him Mardin, in exchange for Mosoul, where he was poisoned. His son transferred the royal residence to Sindjar, and died of the plague in the year 814 of the Hegira. These were the last members of the Ortok dynasty, which reigned three hundred years.—Bruun.