Description of the Mosque of Sultán Báyazíd II.
It is a square building supporting a large dome, flanked by semi domes on the south-eastern (Kiblah), and opposite sides. On the right and left of the mosque there are two purple columns of porphyry, of which the like are to be found only in the mosque of Sultán Kaláún, in Caïro; and there is suspended from these a double row of lamps. On the right side of the mosque an elevated gallery has been constructed for the use of the Sultáns of the house of ’Osmán at the public service on Fridays. Sultán Ibráhím subsequently enclosed three sides of the gallery with gilt gratings, so that it resembles a beautiful cage, or net-work, or rather a palace of the immortals. The Mihráb, Minber, and Mahfil, though made of marble, are simple and unornamented; and on the first are inscriptions written in beautiful characters. The mosque has five gates, and the outer court (harem) is adorned with stone benches (soffahs), and on each side a cloister, supported by variegated columns; and in the centre there is a large basin, where all the congregation renew their ablutions. A cupola, supported by eight white marble columns, was placed over the basin by Sultán Murád IV., the Conqueror of Baghdád. On different sides of it four lofty cypresses have been planted. When the foundations of this noble mosque were laid, the Mi’már Báshí having asked the Sultán where he should place the mihráb, was desired by his Majesty to tread upon his foot; having done which, he immediately had a vision of the noble Ka’bah, and knew, consequently, where to place the mihráb. He, therefore, prostrated himself at the Sultán’s feet and began the work, the Sultán having previously offered up a prayer, accompanied by two inclinations of the body, for its happy completion. On the first Friday after it was finished, when there was an assembly of some thousands, the congregation, knowing that the Sultán had never in his life failed to offer up the afternoon (’asr) and evening (’ashà) prayers, insisted on his performing the functions of Imám. The Sultán, being aware that no one present was so well acquainted with those services as himself, consented to perform them. As this mosque was entirely built with lawful money, it has great spiritual advantages; and being situated in the centre of the markets of Islámból, is crowded day and night by thousands of devout Muselmáns, who are offering up their prayers there without ceasing; so that it has often happened that before one party has got through the afternoon (’asr) service, as far as the Ayetu-l Kursí (the verse of the throne, Kor. ii. 256), another coming in prevents the first from finishing. The pipes of the basin in the court are never closed, but pour forth streams of water day and night, because the congregation never fails. This mosque is always illuminated by flashes of light; and before the window of the mihráb there is a garden like that of Irem, adorned with various fruits and flowers, where, beneath a monument of white marble, covered with lead, rest the remains of its founder. Round the inner and outer courts of this mosque there are shops of all kinds of trades, with a public kitchen, a refectory, and hostel for travellers; a school for instructing the poor and rich in the Korán; and a college for lectures on the art of reciting it. This court has six gates; and is adorned, externally, with lofty trees, most of them mulberries, under the shades of which some thousands of people gain a livelihood by selling various kinds of things. Outside of this court there is a large valley, called the Meïdán of Sultán Báyazíd, adorned on its four sides with shops; and on one side by the great college of the same Sultán, which has seventy cupolas. The superintendent (Názir) of this mosque is the Sheïkhu-l Islám (i.e. the Muftí); he also gives the public lectures in this college. He delivers his lectures once a week, and the students receive a monthly stipend, besides an allowance for meat and wax-lights: this is a very well-endowed foundation. This mosque has altogether 2,040 servants; and none has a better salary than the Muvakkit, or Regulator of Time; because all the seamen and mariners in the empire of Islám depend, for the regulation of time, on the Muvakkit of Sultán Báyazíd Khán; and as the mihráb of this mosque was miraculously placed in the true position of Kiblah: all sea-captains regulate their compasses by it; and all the infidel astronomers in Firengistán, as is universally known, correct their watches and compasses by the mosque of Sultán Báyazíd. Besides this mosque, that Emperor built sixty other places of worship in the countries which he conquered. The mosque and convent of Emír Bokhárí, as well as the mosque of Ghalatah-seráï, were built by him. May God reward all his pious works! His conquests are as follows: The castles of Motón and Korón, Arkáriyah, Kalámitah, Kalávertah, Holómích, Tiribólíchah (Tripolizza), Bállí-Bádrah (Palæ Patræ, i.e. Patras), and Anávárín (Navarino), in the year 906 (1500-1). All the above castles are in the southern and western parts of the Peninsula (Morea). He also conquered the castle of Ainah-bakhtí (Naupaktus or Lepanto), A.H. 905 (A.D. 1499, 1500). The fortresses of Kilì and Ak-kirmán were taken in the 889 (A.D. 1484). The castles Várnah, Avlóniyah, and in Arnáútluk (Albania) Durráj (Durazzo), were captured, and a tribute imposed upon Karah Boghdán (Moldavia), in the year 918 (A.D. 1512). After having conquered these and many other castles, he was defeated in a second engagement with his son Selím I., at Chórló (Τούρουλος or Τζορλοῦ), where he was deserted by all his servants, who followed Selím to Islámból and proclaimed him Emperor. Báyazíd Khán was immediately ordered to retire to Dímah-tókah (Dymóticho for Didymótichon); but having reached Hávusah, a small town one days journey distant from Edreneh (Adrianople), died there. Various reports were circulated respecting the cause of his death. Some say that he died sighing, and crying out, “O King Jem!” Others, that having been poisoned by his son, he exclaimed, “May thy life be short, but thy victories many!” His corpse was buried within the precincts of his mosque. He reigned thirty-three years, and was succeeded by his son Selím I., who began his victorious course by a signal defeat of Sháh Ismá’íl, King of Írán, on the plains of Cheldir, beneath the castle of Ak hichkah, where 200,000 Kizil-báshes (Persians) were put to the sword. The Sháh himself escaped with difficulty, accompanied by only seven horsemen, and his Queen Tájlí Khánum was taken prisoner, together with three hundred female captives, who were entrusted to the care of the Defterdár Tájir-zádeh Ja’fer Chelebí, and conducted by him to the threshold of Felicity (the Sublime Porte). In this victorious campaign the following castles were conquered:—Kars, Ak-hichkah, Erdehán, Hasan, Erz Rúm, Baïbúd, Iánijah, Kumákh, Karah-Hamíd, Diyár-Bekr, and forty other castles with their dependencies. Sultán ’Aláu-d-daulah, of the Zúl-kadriyyeh family, Lord of Mer’ash, was also defeated and killed, and his head, together with those of seventy other great chiefs (Bóï Beg), was sent to Ghaurí, Sultán of Egypt, against whom a campaign was immediately commenced: in the course of which Súltán Selím conquered Halebu-sh-shuhbá (the bright), with its twenty, Shám (Damascus), with its forty-two castles; Tarábulu-Shám (Tripoli), with its seventy castles, occupied by the Durúzí (Druzes); Beïtu-l-mokaddas (Jerusalem), Ghazah, and Ramlah, with seventeen castles. In that paradisiacal country, Shám (Syria), he took up his winter-quarters; and in the ensuing year he fought, on the plain of Kákún, the great battle in which Sultán Ghaúrí was routed and slain. The wreck of the army of the Cherákis (Circassians) fled to Misr (Caïro), with Selím Khán at their heels; and after one continued battle for a whole month, the province of Misr (Egypt), with its three hundred cities and seven thousand villages, was given up to the conqueror in the year 922 (A.D. 1516). Híreh Beg was appointed Governor of Misr (Caïro); and Kemàl Páshà-zádeh Ahmed Efendí, Military Judge. Possession was taken of Mekkah and Medínah, and Selím assumed the title of Servant of the two noble Mosques, and exalted his victories to the skies. On his returning to Islámból, he laid the foundation of the mosque which bears his name, but did not live to finish it. He was buried in the kubbeh, opposite the Mihráb. He was born in Tarabefzún (for Tarábuzún, i.e. Trebizonde), of which he was Governor while a Prince. He reigned nine years, during which the Khotbah was said in his name in one thousand and one mosques. He was succeeded by his son, the determined supporter of the faith, and the breaker of the heads of the people who contemplated rebellion, the tenth of the Sultáns of the house of ’Osmán, Sultán Suleïmán Khán el Ghází, who finished the mosque begun by his father.
Description of the Mosque of Sultán Selím I.
He began it as a monument to the illustrious memory of his father, in the year 927 (A.D. 1521), and finished it in the year 933 (A.D. 1527). It is a lofty mosque, in the interior of Islámból, on the summit of one of the hills which overlook the canal; but it has no fine columns within it like the other mosques. It is only an elevated dome supported by four walls, but such as to raise the admiration of all who are masters in mathematics, and to be pointed at as a proof of the great skill of the old architect Sinán. On examining it, all mathematicians are astonished; for its dome is found, on admeasurement, to be one span wider than that of Ayá Sófiyah. It appears, in truth, to be an azure vault, like the vault of the sky; but is not so high as that of Ayá Sófiyah, since it measures only fifty-eight builder’s cubits in height. The cause of its not having been made more lofty, is the elevation of the hill upon which it stands. On the right side of its precincts (harem) there is a deep cistern, made in the time of the infidels; and on the north side is the ascent called the Forty Stairs, though there are fifty-four steps. The declivity on each side is very steep and precipitous; the architect Sinán, therefore, with a prudent foresight, in order to avoid all risk from earthquakes, gave a very moderate height to the mosque. The platform (mahfil) for the Muëzzins is placed upon marble columns, adjoining to the wall on the right hand; the Minber and Mihráb are of white marble, in a plain style. On the left side of the mosque there is a gallery supported by columns for the use of the Emperor: this was enclosed like a cage, with a gilt grating, by Sultán Ibráhim. Round the cupola there is a gallery where lamps are lighted on the blessed nights. The mosque is ornamented with some thousand trophies suspended around it, but has no other distinction on the inside. Opposite to the windows on the side of the Mihráb, is the sepulchre of Selím Khán, in a delightful garden, where the sweet notes of nightingales are heard. It is a hexagonal building, surmounted by a cupola. This mosque has three gates, of which that looking towards the Kiblah is always open. On the right and left of the mosque there are hostels for travellers; and there are also, on the right and left side, two minárehs, with one gallery each; but they are not so high as other minárehs. The court of the mosque (harem) is paved with white marble, has three gates, and stone benches (soffahs) all round. There is a basin in the centre of the court, which constantly supplies the Muselmán congregation with fresh and running water for their ablutions. Sultán Murád IV. placed a pointed dome over it, supported by eight columns, and there are four cypresses on the different sides of it. Outside of this court is a large enclosure (harem), planted with trees of various kinds, and entered by three gates. On the south (Kiblah) is the gate of the mausoleum (Turbeh); on the west, that of the market; on the north, that of the Forty Stairs. Below the market, looking towards the Chukúr Bóstán there is a large school for boys, a public refectory (Mehmán-seráï), and lodgings for men of learning and students. The bath (hammám) is three hundred paces beyond this enclosure; but there are no other colleges nor hospitals.
Description of the Fifth Imperial Mosque; that of Sultán Suleïmán.
It was begun in the year 950 (A.D. 1543), and finished in the year——, and is beyond all description beautiful. The learned, who composed the metrical inscriptions, containing the date of its erection, confess that they are not able duly to express its praise; a task which I, the contemptible Evliyà, am now striving to perform as far as my ability will allow. This incomparable mosque was built by Sultán Suleïmán on one-half of the unoccupied half of the summit of the lofty hill on which had been erected, by Mohammed II, the old Seráï. Suleïmán having assembled all the thousands of perfect masters in architecture, building, stone-hewing, and marble-cutting, who were found in the dominions of the house of ’Osmán, three whole years were employed in laying the foundations. The workmen penetrated so far into the earth, that the sound of their pickaxes was heard by the bull that bears up the world at the bottom of the earth. In three more years the foundations reached the face of the earth; but in the ensuing year the building was suspended, and the workmen were employed in sawing and cutting various-coloured stones for the building above the foundations. In the following year the Mihráb was fixed in the same manner as that of Sultán Báyazíd’s mosque; and the walls, which reached the vault of heaven, were completed, and on those four solid foundations they placed its lofty dome. This vast structure of azure stone is more circular than the cupola of Ayá Sófiyah, and is seven royal cubits high. Besides the square piers which support it, there are, on the right and left sides, four porphyry columns, each of which is worth ten times the amount of the tribute (Kharáj) from Misr. These columns were brought from the capital of Misr, along the Nile, to Iskanderiyyeh, and there embarked on rafts, by Karinjeh Kapúdán, who in due time landed them at Ún-kapání; and having removed them from thence to the square called Vefà-méïdán, in the neighbourhood of the Suleïmániyyeh, delivered them up to Suleïmán Khán; expressing his wish that they might be received as a tribute from Karinjah (i.e. the Ant), just as a gift was graciously received from the Queen of Ants by Solomon. The Emperor, to shew his gratitude, immediately settled upon him the Sanjaks of Yilánlí-jezíreh-sí, and the island of Ródós. God knows, that four such columns of red porphyry, each fifty cubits high, are to be found no where else in the world. On the side next to the Mihráb, and on that opposite to it, the dome is joined by two semi-domes, which do not, however, rest on those columns, as the architect was afraid of overloading them. Sinán opened windows on every side to give light to the mosque. Those over the Mihráb and Minber are filled with coloured glass, the brilliance of whose colours within, and the splendour of the light reflected from them at noon, dazzle the eyes of the beholders, and fill them with astonishment. Each window is adorned with some hundreds of thousands of small pieces of glass, which represent either flowers, or the letters forming the excellent names (i.e. the Divine attributes); they are, therefore, celebrated by travellers all over the world. Though the Mihráb, Minber, and Mahfil of the Muëzzins are only formed of plain white marble, yet the last is of such exquisite workmanship, that it seems to be the Mahfil of Paradise; the Minber is also made of plain marble, but is surmounted by a conical tiara-like canopy, the like of which is no where to be found; and the Mihráb is like that of his Majesty Solomon himself. Above it there is engraved in letters of gold, on an azure ground, from the hand-writing of Karah-hisárí, this text of the Korán (iii. 32), “Whenever Zakariyyà (Zacharias) went into the chamber (mihráb) to her.” On the right and left of the Mihráb there are spirally-twisted columns, which appear like the work of magic. There are also candlesticks of a mans stature, made of pure brass, and gilt with pure gold, which hold candles of camphorated bees’-wax, each 20 kantárs (quintals) in weight. The ascent to each of them is by a wooden staircase of fifteen steps, and they are lighted every night. In the left corner of the mosque is a gallery (mahfil) raised on columns, for the private use of the Sultán; and it also contains a special Mihráb. Besides this gallery, there are four others, one on each of the large piers, for the readers of the lessons from the Korán. On both sides of the mosque there are benches (soffahs), supported by low columns, and outside of it, parallel with these benches within, galleries, supported on columns, one of which looks upon the sea, and the other on the market. When the mosque is very much crowded, many persons perform their devotions on these benches. There are also, round the cupola, within the mosque, two rows of galleries supported by columns, which, on the blessed nights, are lighted with lamps. The total number of the lamps is 22,000; and there are likewise some thousands of other ornaments suspended from the roof. There are windows on all the four sides of the mosque, through each of which refreshing breezes enter and revive the congregation; so that they seem to be enjoying eternal life in Paradise. This mosque is also, by the will of God, constantly perfumed by an excellent odour, which gives fragrance to the brain of man, but has no resemblance to the odour of earthly flowers. Within the mosque, beside the southern gate (kibleh), there are two piers, from each of which springs a fountain of pure water, in order to quench the thirst of the congregation; and in the upper part of the building there are certain cells for the purpose of keeping treasures, in which the great people of the country and some thousands of travellers keep their money, to an amount which the Great Creator alone knows!
In Praise of the Writing of Karah Hisárí.
There never has been to this day, nor ever will be, any writing which can compare with that of Ahmed Karah Hisárí, outside and inside of this mosque. In the centre of the dome there is this text of the Korán (xxiv. 35): “God is the light of heaven and earth; the similitude of his light is as a niche in a wall wherein a lamp is placed, and the lamp enclosed in a case of glass:” a text justly called the Text of Light, which has been here rendered more luminous by the brilliant hand which inscribed it. The inscription over the semi-dome, above the Mihráb, has been already given. On the opposite side, above the southern gate, there is this text (vi. 79): “I direct my face unto him who hath created the heavens and the earth: I am orthodox.” On the four piers are written, “Allah, Mohammed, Abú Bekr, ’Omar, ’Osmán, ’Alí, Hasan, and Hoseïn. Over the window to the right of the Minber: “Verily, places of worship belong to God; therefore, invoke not any one together with God.” Besides this, over the upper windows, all the excellent names (of God) are written. These are in the Shikáfí hand; but the large writing in the cupola is in the Guzáfí hand, of which the Láms, Elifs, and Káfs, each measure ten ells; so that they can be read distinctly by those who are below. This mosque has five doors. On the right, the Imám’s (Imám kapú-sí); on the left the Vezír’s (Vezír kapú-sí), beneath the imperial gallery, and two side doors. Over that on the left is written (Kor. xiii. 24), “Peace be upon you, because ye have endured with patience! How excellent a reward is Paradise!” Over the opposite gate this text: “Peace be upon you! Ye are righteous; enter in and dwell in it for ever!” Beneath this inscription, on the left hand, is added, “This was written by the Fakír Karah Hisárí.”
Description of the Court (Harem).
The court of this mosque has three gates, to which there is an ascent and descent by three flights of steps. It is paved with white marble, and is as smooth and level as a carpet. Though very spacious, the body of the mosque is still larger. Round its four sides there are benches (soffahs) of stone, forty feet broad, upon which columns of coloured stones rest, supporting arches of different hues, as various as those of the rainbow. The windows of this court are guarded by iron gratings, the bars of which are as thick as a man’s arm, and so finely polished, that even now not an atom of rust is seen upon them, and they shine like steel of Nakhjuván. In the centre of this court there is a beautiful fountain worthy of admiration, but it is not calculated for ablutions, being only designed for the refreshment of the congregation. Its roof is a low, broad, leaden cupola; but the wonderful thing is this, that the water from the basin springs up as though shot from a bow, to the centre of the cupola, and then trickles down its sides like another Selsebíl. It is, indeed, a wonderful spectacle. Over the windows on each side of this court there are texts from the Korán inscribed in white letters on blue tiles. The door opposite to the kibleh (i.e. the north door) is the largest of all; it is of white marble, and has not its equal on earth for the beauty and skill with which it is carved and ornamented. It is all built of pure white marble, and the different blocks have been so skilfully joined together by the builders that it is impossible to perceive any crevice between them. Over the sill of the door there are sculptured flowers and festoons of filagree work, interlaced with each other with a skill rivalling the art of Jemshíd. On each side of this gate there are buildings four-stories high, containing chambers for the muvakkits (hour-cryers), porters, and sextons. At the entrance of this gate there is a large circular block of red porphyry, which is unparalleled for its size and the fineness of its polish. It is as large as a Mohammedan simát (i.e. dinner-tray). Within the gate, on the right side of the court, there is a square slab of porphyry, on which a cross was sculptured, the traces of which are still visible, though it was erased by the masons. The infidels offered a million of money for it in vain: at length a royal ball was fired from a galleon of the infidels, lying before Ghalatah, purposely at this slab, which was struck; but being on the ground, it received no damage. So that the infidels, with all their rancour, and skill in gunnery, could not break this stone, which had become a threshold of the Suleïmániyyeh; but the mark of the ball still remains, and raises the astonishment of all beholders.