EVENTS of the Year 1015, H.
On the afternoon of the same day the son of an aged man who had retired from his beglerbegship was beheaded, and his property seized by the avaricious Dervísh; but though all who witnessed this cruel transaction hesitated not to speak of it as an act of foul murder, yet it had not the effect of preventing a concourse of nobles and grandees coming to congratulate the new grand vezír on his elevation to the premiership. On the third day after Dervísh Páshá’s exaltation, the emperor’s chaplain waited on him to pay his respects; and the mufti effendí, the Moslem high priest, after having performed the public service at the mosque, waited on the prime minister and kindly joined with him in his afternoon devotions. When the reverend mufti was about to retire, the grand vezír informed him that there would be no public diván on the following day, but that a council would be held in the royal presence, and at which he invited him to be present. The reverend high priest bowed and promised to attend.
Next morning the whole of the ministers and the reverend effendís met in council in the imperial presence, and after listening to the opening speech of the emperor, they were informed that it was then too far in the season to prosecute any farther, that year, the object which he had in view in ordering preparations in behalf of Anatolia and the east; and then added, that it would be far more advisable to let things remain as they then were until the following year, when the preparations alluded to would be again resumed. The council, on hearing these sentiments uttered, were struck dumb with surprise. At length the mufti effendí spoke. “With indecent impatience, certainly,” said the reverend prelate, “your slave (Lálá Mohammed Páshá) was hurried in the work of preparation for the war in the east, and contrary to the views of almost all here present, his tent was ordered to be erected at Scutari. Is it prudent, think you, sire, to call back to Constantinople the camp there established? Rather let the commander-in-chief (probably Nesúh) go on to Aleppo; there winter, and make preparations for commencing, in the spring, hostilities against the Persians.” His majesty to this replied, by asking him what advantage he thought would accrue from following that advice. “ Why,” rejoined the reverend prelate, “the advantage which will accrue is this: the royal camp will not have gone forth for no purpose: the royal pavilion (the serdár’s tent) will not have been erected in the sight of friend and foe in vain. When Sultán Soleimán Khán went to the Nakhcheván war he wintered at Aleppo, and when the following spring arrived, he marched to the east. Such is the method which ought now to be pursued.” The emperor again enquired what good he supposed or imagined would result from following the course he had pointed out. The reverend mufti hastily replied: “was it creditable that a Moslem army, encamped at Scutari, and ready for entering into the scene of action, should be recalled before that army had accomplished the purpose for which it had been assembled? At least, should not that army, I ask, even though it should accomplish nothing more, be sent to protect our possessions in the east?” The emperor, pressed by the reasoning of the high priest, answered, that Ferhád Páshá might proceed with a few troops, and take the camp at Scutari along with him. “Well, then,” asked Siná-allah Effendí, “shall not a sum of money be allowed for the purpose of purchasing provisions for them?” The emperor briefly answered, “that there was no money in the treasury; and whence,” said he, “can I furnish money for that purpose?” The reverend prelate, still persevering in pressing the emperor, asked if the treasury of Egypt might not afford a supply. “That,” rejoined the emperor, “is for our private expenses; we cannot part with the funds supplied from that quarter.” “Why, then,” continued the high priest, and without being in the least awed or terrified, “how did your ancestor, Sultán Soleimán Khán, do when he went to the war at Sigetwar at a time when his treasury was drained? Thus: he took all the gold and silver vessels which were in the royal house, sent them to the mint, caused them to be melted down into specie, and thus provided himself with the means of paying the expense of the war. Doubtless,” added the bold and fearless priest, “doubtless, the treasury of Egypt can well afford to advance the sum requisite for the object now proposed.” The emperor knit his brow and thus addressed the mufti: “Thou dost not comprehend my meaning, effendí; thou understandest not my words. Times are not always alike. The circumstance you refer to was requisite for that time. Why is it that you assume the present exigency to be similar to that which existed at the period you have mentioned?” The menla, perceiving his oratory had made no impression on the mind of the emperor, rose up with the rest of the counsellors and departed.
Kátib Chelebí says, in his Fezliké, that Hasan Beg Zádeh has recorded this story in his history as a well authenticated fact. The circumstance referred to in the reign of Soleimán and that now related, can admit, we think, of no comparison, and it would be an error in judgment to suppose them similar. The opinion of the emperor, as expressed in the conversation we have related, seems to have been incontestably correct.
Dervísh Páshá was very much offended at the bold and fearless way in which the reverend mufti expressed himself in the above council; he perceived, or thought he perceived, the mufti had laboured hard to get him sent off to the eastern provinces. So much, indeed, did this evil-minded vezír feel himself aggrieved by the sentiments expressed by the mufti, that he determined on getting him deprived of his theological prerogative of issuing fetwas; a difficulty, however, presented itself, to get rid of which he was much puzzled. “If,” thought he, “I make Khoaja Zádeh mufti (the emperor’s chaplain), his two brothers, already in power, will form a union with him, and then they will deny me the liberty of speech.” This thought had the effect of making him change his mind with regard to Khoaja Zádeh, and he at last raised Abulmeymín Mustafa Effendí, a second time, to the sacred office of mufti.
Although Dervísh Páshá had used every method he could contrive, however unworthy, of getting the late grand vezír, Lálá Mohammed Páshá, sent to the eastern provinces, yet he himself, now that he was made grand vezír, manifested the utmost unwillingness to undertake the task he wished so earnestly to impose upon his predecessor. Being, as he thought, secure in the premiership, and courted by all ranks of men, he became lavish in his promises, and exposed himself to the art and cunning of sycophants who crowded round him. One of the thousand flatterers who sounded his praises, and who was anxious to be put in possession of a good situation, when talking with him one day, went the length, in his fulsome adulations, thus to address him: “My lord, thou art the sun that illuminates the world, which scatters a reviving light throughout all regions, and which removes the darkness from the world.” This contemptible, mean fellow, who ascribed to him epithets which only belong to God, he promoted to a situation of honour and emolument; demonstrations that this sort of flattery and adulation was pleasing to his heart and suitable to the state of his mind.
To escape the fatigues incident to a military life, he found or invented means to prevent his being sent to take command of the Ottoman armies, and got the emperor to favour his remaining at home. What he himself declined he transferred to another. Ferhád Páshá was fixed on to take the command of the troops destined for the east, which were still encamped at Scutari. Ferhád’s inexperience and unfitness for the important office assigned him was but too evident to every one; but to promote his own views and purposes Dervísh Páshá got this man appointed commander-in-chief, notwithstanding his utter unfitness for so great an undertaking as that of commanding the army of the east against the enemies of the Ottoman empire.
Ferhád passed over to Scutari on the 4th of the month Sefer. Osmán Aghá, ketkhodá of the janissaries, with 10,000 troops, six companies of artillery, and the provincial troops of Caramania and Sivás, were all to act under his command.
This expedition, however, as might have been anticipated, failed. Want of generalship in the commander, added to the absence of common feeling between him and his various troops; his ignorance, rashness, and scurrility of tongue, all contributed to estrange the troops from him. A violent contention having taken place between him and the spáhís, they raised a commotion about their pay, and attacked his tent with stones, and soon demolished it. With the exception of these disgraceful scenes to which we have here adverted, this expedition achieved nothing worthy of remark. A certain writer, Mahmúd Chelebí, relates, that when this mad Ferhád went to Brúsa, he collected about him a number of necessitous adventurers, and, when remonstrated with respecting this, he was accustomed to reply in the most harsh and profane language. In other respects his conduct was also similar: his troops dispersed; some of them having received no pay, were obliged to proceed to Turkey to receive it; and he himself, after being degraded, took up his residence at Iconium, where he died of grief.
Dervísh Páshá is murdered.—Murád Páshá is made grand vezír.
Ferhád Páshá, we have seen, was sent to take the command of the war in the east, and Dervísh Páshá, the grand vezír, remained at home. In consequence of his utter want of the talents and skill of a general, and his total unfitness, in every respect, for the important office assigned him, Ferhád failed most deplorably in obtaining the least advantage; on the contrary, his conduct was productive of the most serious evils. Kilmamemkila, the son of Kalander, a noted rebel, during the time Ferhád was commander-in-chief, entered into Aydin and Sarúkhán (sanjáks of Anatolia), where he committed the most dreadful outrages and violence. A number of the inhabitants hastened to Constantinople and complained bitterly to the emperor against Ferhád and his adventurers, who, they said, tyrannized over them and oppressed them. These evils, of course, were attributed, in the first instance, to the maladministration of the grand vezír, who, instead of having taken upon himself the charge of the expedition, had sent Ferhád, of whom we have heard so much, to supply his place. The eyes of the people began to be opened to see and to appreciate the conduct of the prime minister, and in their hearts they became totally opposed to him, and those who had the nearest approach to his majesty’s ear began to urge his removal. The late reverend mufti, Siná-allah Effendí, who, for having spoken his mind freely and openly, the reader will remember, had been turned out of the muftiship, was now again, a third time, installed into that high office, which Abulmeymín Mustafa Effendí had scarcely enjoyed three months. Things now began to wear a new aspect. The maladministration of the grand vezír could no longer be concealed or connived at. The excesses of Dervísh Páshá and his wicked government were represented to his majesty, who had hitherto favoured his minister. These things, with the complaints which had reached him from Anatolia, greatly excited his displeasure; and so clear and evident did his minister’s guilty conduct appear, that he became as much opposed to him as he had previously been swayed by his advice. The emperor, now thoroughly satisfied of the maladministration of his minister, summoned the reverend mufti and the reverend professors, in order to converse with them respecting the grand vezír’s conduct and mismanagement, and to consult with them as to the person most competent to fill the office of premier. This consultation, as might easily have been foreseen, terminated unfavourably to the interests of the grand vezír, who soon afterwards expiated his crimes by the forfeiture of his life. A hare’s sleep (i.e. a false promise) having been given to him, he was, for a short time, flattered and caressed, until he was one day called to the royal palace, when he was suddenly assassinated by the bostánjís. It is said that he was first strangled with a tent-rope, but a short time after a movement being perceived in his feet, the emperor drew his dagger and cut his throat.
The cause of his death more particularly related.
We have already adverted to the wicked and fraudulent methods which Dervísh practised during his short vezírship, and for which he suffered the just reward: the following assisted to accelerate his miserable end. One of those Jews usually employed by the grandees was engaged in the service of Dervísh Páshá, and, owing to the fidelity with which he served his master, he succeeded in securing a very near access to him. It was a practice among these Jews, when any of them were thus employed, to keep an account of what they expended as well as of what they received. The Jew just referred to kept an account of this kind, and the páshá, his master, had every confidence in his integrity and honesty, and, in short, intrusted him with all his money transactions. Dervísh Páshá having begun to build a palace, the outlay was wholly left to the management of this agent. When it was nearly finished, he asked the Jew, his factor, for an account of the expenditure, which was instantly put into his hand. The páshá, on looking over the various items, perceived that a very large sum had already been expended, and remarked with astonishment, knitting his brows, that such was the case, for he was an avaricious, regardless, fraudulent man. The Jew, conscious of his own honesty, and that he had acted according to the rules which had been prescribed for his conduct, became greatly enraged, especially when he perceived that the páshá was seeking his ruin, and therefore he at once hit on the following cunning stratagem by which he might be revenged on his unjust master. He took back the statement of accounts, and, in the presence of the páshá, tore it in pieces and threw it into the fire, saying, it was not with a view of robbing his master that he kept a statement of the outlay, for the whole belonged to him, whose servant he was. “Is it not well known to you,” added he, “that whatever I may have gained by acting as your factor, I have not appropriated the least part of it to my own use? Nevertheless, if you inquire what has been expended, the answer is easy: I have kept a statement of the expenses, but the páshá has deceived himself, and has been negligent.” The foolish but avaricious páshá believed the Jew and dismissed him, but the Jew had not yet done with him. He instantly set about laying a stratagem, as already hinted, for ensnaring his obnoxious master. In order to accomplish this, he instructed some labourers, who were employed at the páshá’s palace, to dig, by night, underneath the ground, a passage from the páshá’s palace to the wall of the imperial treasury. And although several men were employed, during the night, in digging out this subterraneous passage, yet none, except those in the secret, were aware of it. When the mouth of the passage was finished, he caused them to build it up with stones, and then ordered them to retire. The malicious Jew, after having succeeded thus far in his mischievous plan, entered into a secret alliance with the kapú ághá, a collector of taxes, and an enemy to Dervísh Páshá, to whom he communicated the whole secret, and whom, by making him splendid presents, he gained to act along with him in the sequel of this mystery. The Jew, after this, wrote a letter to the kapú ághá, wherein he secretly, as it were, accused the páshá of dishonest practices, and described to him the subterraneous passage above-mentioned. The kapú ághá informed his majesty of the fact; and he, believing the account to be correct, especially when he considered the numerous complaints which had already been lodged against the páshá, was roused to indignation against his treacherous and deceitful minister, and caused him to be slain.
A very short time before this tragical event, a tax of a thousand akchas for each of the palaces in Constantinople was ordered to be levied upon the inhabitants, but which the death of Dervísh Páshá fortunately saved them from paying, and for which they were most thankful.
Dervísh Páshá perished about the commencement of Shabán, and on the 10th of the same month, Siná-allah Effendí, after mature deliberation, recommended the celebrated Murád Páshá for the office of grand vezír, who, in consequence of this, was immediately recalled from Belgrade to the Sublime Porte.
The following is a copy of the letter which the emperor sent him on that occasion.
“Murád Páshá, thou art my vezír. Without the advice or persuasion of any one, but by our own special royal will, we have thought fit to confer on you the grand vezírship, and have sent you the imperial seals. It is hoped the Divine Majesty will assist you and further you in your labours. We shall carefully attend to the endeavours you make in every department. You will, therefore, be solicitous to come to our sublime city.”
Murád Páshá, at the time he was thus honoured, was busily engaged in carrying on negociations for a final peace with Austria, the preliminaries of which had been entered into some time before. Several important personages who had an interest in the making of the treaty, on the part of Hungary, had been invited to Belgrade to consult with Murád Páshá.
The time we are now speaking of was one of very great pressure and distraction to the vezír, who found himself involved in pecuniary difficulties of no small moment; but by the kind intervention of Chelebí Effendí, cazí of Belgrade, who was become very rich, he was considerably relieved by a loan of two thousand pieces of gold. But yet such were the urgent demands made upon him that he found it beyond his powers to carry on the government. One day some of those soldiers who served for their food, were detected plundering some shops, and about fifty of them were publicly scourged before his own tent.
When the vezír Murád Páshá was raised to the dignity of grand vezír, he did not forget the friendship and generosity of the reverend cazí, and even before he left Belgrade raised him to the cazíship of Aleppo.
Peace concluded with Austria.
When Lálá Mohammed Páshá was recalled to Constantinople, the power of concluding a peace with Austria, as well as the command of the army of the north, was committed to the vezír, Murád Páshá, who was sent off to the frontiers of Hungary immediately on his being chosen to succeed Lálá Mohammed. On reaching Buda he there assembled the troops who were to act under him, gave a favourable answer with respect to the conditions proposed by Austria, and nominated his son-in-law Kází Zádeh, Alí Páshá, beglerbeg of Buda, Hábel Effendí, the cazí of that place, Nezir-ud-dín Zádeh Mustafa Effendí, a grandee of Buda, and Khádem Ahmed deputy to Alí Páshá, to proceed to the Straits of Sidova, somewhere between Komran and Osterghún, where they met the Austrian commissioners composed of German and Hungarian princes and ambassadors. Botchkai’s consent and permission had been obtained. The Austrian commissioners were lodged on the north side of the Danube, and the Moslem commissioners at Osterghún.
On the 1st of Rajab, the commissioners, on both sides, embarked in boats on the Danube, and in the middle of that river, they, after some considerable debate, altercation, and warm contest, concluded a treaty of peace, the articles of which, we shall here insert. It is to be observed however that, according to the contract entered into with Botchkai, the whole of the Majar nation was put under his jurisdiction, as were also the fortresses of Filk, Yanuk, and all the other places of strength. Matters remained in this state till the demise of the late grand vezír, Lálá Mohammed Páshá, when Botchkai ceased pressing his claims. Murád Páshá, therefore, met the wishes of the other contracting power, gave his consent to the treaty agreed on by the comissioners. The following, in substance, is a copy of the articles of that treaty. The Austrian commissioners, who were vested with full powers, say, in the document which they signed and presented to the Moslem commissioners, that they, in the name of Adolphus II., who, by the grace of God, is emperor of Alaman (Germany), Hungary, Bohemia, Dalmatia, Croatia, and of the maritime provinces, concluded a treaty of peace with the commissioners of his sublime majesty, Sultán Ahmed Khán, for the space of twenty years. (Here the names of the Moslem commissioners are introduced, and are the same as those formerly mentioned.) The names of the Austrian commissioners are mentioned at the commencement of the above document, and are as follows Yanúsh Amoorlardi, councellor of state, governor of Komran, and captain of all the frontier troops; Adolphus Ehwalanjan, counsellor of state and commander-in-chief; Nicolas Ashtwan, kapúdán of the other side of the Danube; Francis Gusenlegan, kapúdán of this side of the Danube and counsellor of state; Claudius Rewaid, count of Farsewer.
Article I. That ambassadors of the emperor of Austria shall be permitted to proceed to the Sublime Porte, and that the correspondence between the court of Constantinople and that of Vienna be expressed in such friendly terms as a father writes to his son, or a son to a father.
Article II. That the Ottoman royal letters shall style the emperor of Austria, Roman Emperor; not king.
Article III. That when, by the grace of God, peace is once concluded, neither Tátár tribes, nor any other military force belonging to the Sublime Porte, shall commit any hostility against any of the territories belonging to the Roman emperor.
Article IV. That the territories belonging to the contracting powers, whether surrounded by water or not, shall not be injured by either party; that the villages on the confines of Hungary shall not be molested by the Osmánlís; that the king of Spain, if he agree to the treaty, shall also not be molested.
Article V. That all the inhabitants on the frontiers be prohibited from tresspassing on the confines of either party; that should any person, from either side, be guilty of the refraction of this article, and be seized, he shall be presented before the governor or kapúdán of that place, who shall make proper enquiry as to what he has been guilty of, and punish or acquit accordingly.
Article VI. No castle or fortress, during the peace, shall be plundered, attacked, nor taken by any stratagem. If any one of the fortresses be taken by fraud or craft, it shall be restored. Those places given to Botchkai shall remain as they were fixed at Vienna.
Article VII. All captives taken before the peace shall be set at liberty for the ransom that may be stipulated: such as are not ransomed shall be exchanged for other captives; and no captives shall be taken after the ratification of this treaty. If by any means any captive be taken, the party who took him shall liberate him gratis. The contracting powers agree, that persons who shall be convicted of seizing captives shall be punished by the government to which they belong.
Article VIII. If any of the inhabitants of Temisvar, of Bosnia, of Agria, or of Kaniza, offend against this treaty, information must be given to their respective governors; and in the event of such offenders not being punished, the beglerbeg of Buda, who shall be appointed superintendent of all these districts, shall be requested to see justice fairly administered. In like manner must the governor of Yanuk, the kapúdáns on this side (the Ottoman side), and the banis of Croatia be instructed to see this treaty respected.
Article IX. The fortresses belonging to both the contracting powers may be repaired; but no new fortress or palanka shall be erected on the frontiers of either country.
Article X. As to the two hundred thousand dollars promised to his Sublime Majesty by this treaty, it is stipulated, that so soon as the imperial ambassador shall have arrived with this sum at Constantinople, the exalted serdár shall send a Sanjak prince with a present suitable to the dignity of the Ottoman court to give to the duke. When the royal presents destined for the Ottoman sultán shall have arrived, the sultán shall return a gift of greater magnitude than usual to the Roman emperor.
Article XI. The Austrian ambassador shall proceed at once to Constantinople with the stipulated sum of money and the royal presents.
Article XII. The peace now concluded shall continue to be maintained for the space of twenty years, commencing from the 1st of the thousand and fifteenth Rajab (i. e. from 1st of Rajab 1015) of the Mohammedan era, which is the 1600th of the Christian era: but no more presents than those now mentioned shall be sent for the space of three years. Whatever presents may be thought necessary to be sent after these three years are expired, shall remain undetermined. If during the term of this peace the emperor of the Moslems, or the emperor of Austria, or the king of Hungary, should depart this life, their sons, successors, and relations shall be bound to respect the articles of this treaty, and not to violate the peace on any account.
Article XIII. The palanka of Wáj shall remain in its present (dilapidated) condition, and shall not be enlarged.
Article XIV. When the Austrian ambassadors arrive at Constantinople they shall be allowed whatever they may stand in need of.
Article XV. The villages which paid tribute or taxes before the reduction of Agria (i. e. the villages of that district) shall continue to pay the same still.
Article XVI. Those villages which belonged to Filk, Sichan, and Novograde, but now connected with Agria, Khutván, Buda, and Osterghún, shall pay their accustomed dues.
Article XVII. Those villages which were accustomed to pay taxes when Osterghún fell into the hands of the Austrian emperor shall still continue to pay him their dues as formerly. All the other villages on the frontiers shall continue to pay their usual taxes to whichever government they may belong. In consequence of the unsettled state of the district of Kaniza, a person shall be nominated by the Moslem government, who, along with Bíkám Oghlí, shall make enquiry into the state of matters, and determine which of the villages of that district belong to Kaniza, and which not; when their taxes shall be regulated according to what is right.
Concerning Nesúh Páshá.
On the 4th of Moharrem in this year, Nesúh Páshá, who, by the instrumentality of the late grand vezír, Mohammed Páshá, had been appointed to the government of Baghdád, went to take possession of his new government. On reaching the Euphrates he learned, that Píáleh Páshá, the deposed governor of Bassora, had succeeded in gaining the good-will of the people of Baghdád, and that by means of flattery and promises he had secured the affections of the soldiery. He also received intelligence concerning the rebel Mohammed, son of Túyel Ahmed Oghlí, who had been válí of Irák. The beglerbeg of Wærka, Mír Sheríf, whom Nesúh met on his march to Baghdád, showed him much respect, and promised him his support. Nesúh was furnished with letters and robes of honour to Seyed Khán Beg, one of those Kúrd princes who, before Nesúh’s time, had come on business to Baghdád: also to the begs of Sehran, and to Obrish Oghlí Emír Ahmed, an Arab prince. These letters enjoined the several parties above specified, in the most flattering manner, to attach themselves without delay to the interests of Nesúh Páshá, the emperor’s commander-in-chief, and to proceed with him to Baghdád then in the hands of the rebels.
Obrish Oghlí, and the other chiefs, sent the commander-in-chief deceitful answers; and after waiting at Mosul for nearly six weeks for their arrival, he found at last that he had been duped by their fraud. To add to his distress, he found also, that the letter which he had sent off to Seyed Khán had been intercepted, and that the rebels were thus apprized of his march upon Baghdád.
It may be proper to observe, however, that before the imperial letters above alluded to arrived, the Válí Páshá, Píáleh Páshá, and Emír Sheríf Páshá, had advanced as far as Arabel, whence they wrote to Seyed Khán, and to the emírs of Seheran to join them, but without any good result. The Turkoman tribe, however, which for some insignificant advantage had been tempted to revolt, joined the rebels. Upon this, and trusting to the promises of Abúrish Oghlí, they entered the city of Baghdád on the 3d of Shabán, the very day fixed on by him, but they neither heard nor saw any thing of him. The Kurds and Arabian insurgents, who had been sent by Arazil and Abúrish Oghlí, and who now supported Túyel Oghlí in his rebellion, also entered Baghdád, and prepared for resistance. Túyel, it would appear, had secretly succeeded, by means of 30,000 ducats, in bribing a number of faithless mercenaries, who served in the army under Nesúh. Túyel, in consequence of the success his bribery had met with, ventured out of the city and offered battle to Nesúh. At the commencement of this engagement, the superiority of Nesúh’s troops over their adversaries seemed evident; but a body of the mercenaries who had been bribed joining the insurgents, the remainder of the army fled from the field. This catastrophe was attended with terrible consequences to Nesúh; yet although his army, by this revolt, was considerably weakened, he nevertheless, with Válí Páshá, Píáleh Páshá, and Mír Sheríf, fought with unparalleled bravery. Válí Páshá fell on the field of battle, and Nesúh was wounded in two places. A considerable number of brave soldiers who fought under the banner of Nesúh, besides many princes who had attended Mír Sheríf, also died martyrs in this bloody contest. Nesúh and Mír Sheríf however, when they perceived the battle turning against them, succeeded in getting their fighting Muselmans to retire from the unequal conflict. Nesúh retreated to an island which belonged to Mír Sheríf, where he remained until the severe cold weather set in, and thence he sent a report of his misfortunes to the court of Constantinople. Túyel, not long after this victory which he had gained, was murdered in the city of Baghdád.
Death of Botchkai.
Petrus, the pope’s legate in Hungary, and Arúmendi, Botchkai’s intimate friend, informed the court of Constantinople that King Botchkai Ashetwan had departed this life on the 5th of Ramazán. Some time before his death he summoned to his presence the two above-mentioned persons, and nominated as his successor his sister’s son-in-law, his own vezír, the bravest prince that was in Hungary, one Hemon; and whose name had been inserted in the contract between Botchkai and the Ottoman government as the successor of Botchkai to the crown of Transylvania. Hemon having been raised to the throne of Transylvania, as now described, the Sublime Porte sent him a robe of honour lined with wolf-skin, and a sanják, as tokens of esteem. This Hemon, called also Hemon Baturi, was a descendant of the ancient kings of Transylvania, and on this account was chosen successor to Botchkai.
Other events of the current year.
On the night of the 4th of Moharrem a destructive fire broke out in the Jewish quarter of the city: the desolating element reaching as far as Khoaja Páshá’s bath, and Khoaja’s academy, and destroying squares and streets in its progress. The damage which this fire occasioned was immense.
On the 27th of the month Gúrjí, Mohammed Páshá, lately removed from the government of Egypt, was appointed to the government of Bosnia; and the government of Kaniza was conferred on Aghá Khosrú Páshá. On the 11th of Rabia II., in consequence of the rebel Kalander Oghlí having gone to the vicinity of Kewah, all the cavalry, Chashingírs and Chávushes, who had any property in that quarter, were ordered to repair thither. On the 16th of Jemadi I. the government received information that the insurgent Jánbúlát had suddenly fallen on the governor of Aleppo, Hasan Páshá, brother to Tarnákjí, and had slain him. On the same day intelligence was also received that Alí Páshá, the son of the same Jánbúlát, who had raised the standard of rebellion in the jurisdiction of Aleppo, had fought and overcome in battle Emír Seif Oghlí, beglerbeg of Tripoli, in Syria, who had been obliged to take refuge in that city. On the 21st, the master of the horse, Ja’fer Aghá, having been appointed governor of Ethiopia, his predecessor was removed to Yemen, where he succeeded Sinán Páshá, who had been ordered to return to Turkey. On the 18th of Ramazán, Kalander Oghlí, with the rebels under his command, most completely overthrew and defeated Hasan Páshá, beglerbeg of Anatolia; also Ahmed, the former governor of that province, and the beg of Sarúkhán, Hájí Beg, in the neighbourhood of Sarúkhán. Kalander Oghlí, after having obtained this decisive victory, threatened to attack Magnesia, and it was, therefore, found necessary to strengthen Brúsa. On the third of Dhu’l hijja, several of the youths attached to the royal house were promoted to offices of honour, according to the usual rule. A number of other promotions and changes took place, but they are not worth while mentioning.