The inhabitants are a set of merry jolly fellows, and are all red-faced and fresh-coloured; their occupation may be thus described;—first, the Zaims and Timariots and the Páshá’s court; secondly, the divines, judges, and professors; the Imáms, Khatíbs, Muëzzins, &c.; and thirdly, the merchants and handicraftsmen. There are many well-bred highly-finished gentlemen, who speak with great eloquence, but the dialect of the common people is harsh. The wealthy dress in sable pelisses and Ferráji of cloth, the middle classes in Bogassin. The women are Turkish beauties, with well-ranged teeth and words.
From the district of Kághla comes a sort of corn called Dárdevedíshí, of which most excellent bread is made, called Levásha, Kerde, Chákil; there are forty sorts of pears, ruby-coloured cherries, and seven sorts of grapes and quinces, of which a far-famed robb is made, and sent to Princes as a present.
Sherbet of must, scented with musk; sherbet of quince jelly, which, on account of its heating quality, is as useful in medicine as terra sigillata. The sherbets called Khardalie, Búldáklí, are exported into Persia; a pleasant white beverage.
The workmen are clever in all kind of handicraft, but the tailors and cotton beaters are the most famous, as well as the barbers and confectioners. In the time of the Amalekites, the river Túzánlí did not pass through the town; it was Ferhád, the lover of Shirín, who cut these mountains like cheese, and the traces of his work is yet to be seen in the mountains on the west side of the town.
The situation of this town in a deep valley, and on the banks of a river, contributes to the mildness of the air, and the riches of its cultivation. The windows of the houses look to the west and north; the winter is temperate. The water which Ferhád carried to the town from the opposite mountains is delightful; it is distributed from house to house.
Of the Walks, and Pilgrimages or Tombs.
There are seventy different walks; the first is that of the bloody fountain (Kánlí bínar;) it is so called because a wicked old woman having brought false news to Ferhád here, of Sherín’s death, he threw his hatchet into the air, and himself down the precipice, by which means he was killed.
The tomb of Ottoman Princes, who are buried in the cypress wood, their names I do not know; the tomb of Zekeria Khalvetí, he was the first disciple of Pír Elias, and is buried near the saddlers’ shops (Serrájiler). The pilgrimage of the Sultán of the faith, the Simorgh of truth Sheikh Abd-ur-rahman Ben Hassám-ud-dín Gomishlí-zadeh, he is the nephew of Pír Elias, and was a dervish of the order of Khalvetí, of whom many miracles are related. The three Princes, sons of Murad II. having visited this Sheikh, two of them kissed his hand, and the third, Mohammed, kissed his feet. The Sheihk took the handkerchief (Reda) he wore on his neck, tied it round the neck of Prince Mohammed, and admonished him to take care of the Moslíms at Constantinople. This Sheikh has left many poems on divine love; his poetical name is Hossámí. His tomb is near that of Pír Elias, in the convent of Yakúb Páshá. Molla Kassem Khatíb Ben Yakúb, who was born and buried at Amasia, one of the deepest of learned divines. Molla Ala-ud-dín Ilíkámi, born and buried at Amasia. Molla Abd-ul-jebbár Ajemí, near the tomb of the Ottoman Princes. Molla Abd-ur-rahman Ben Ali Ben Moyed, born and buried at Amasia. The Sultán of poets, Munírí Efendí, born and buried at Amasia, he improvisated Arabic, Turkish, and Persian poems, and was one of the Vezírs of Prince Ahmed, when Governor of Amasia. The excellent female poet, Mihrmáh Khatún, descending from Pír Elias’s family, was a virtuous lady like Rábie Adúye, who knew seventy scientific books by heart, and beat the most learned men in disputing: her true name being Mihrmáh, she took the name of Mihrí for her poetical surname; she left a Diván, and some theological treatises, and was buried near her grandfather, Sheikh Pír Elias.
Pilgrimage of the Pole of Poles, the Sheikh, par excellence, the cream of saints, the column of the Princes, Sheikh Pír Elias. He was one of the Sheikhs of Sultán Bayazíd I., and went with Timúr to Shirván, from whence he returned to Amasia, his birth-place, where he is buried on an elevated spot, called Sevádie, near Amasia. He is famed for many miracles, one of the most celebrated is, that when his corpse was washed, he straightened the hand which had been placed crooked by the washing-man. His mausoleum, with all the foundations belonging to it, was erected by Bayazíd II., son of Sultán Mohammed II. Strangers and poor persons are here most liberally entertained. Praise be to God, that I was so happy as to visit it, and to finish a complete lecture of the Korán there. The pilgrimage of Kelíj Arslán, a Sheikh of the Mevlevís, buried in the convent of that order. The pilgrimage of Ferhád; he is buried on the top of the mountain which he cut for the love of Sherín, and the old woman who was the cause of his death is buried between him and his mistress. The thistles and thorns which grow on the tomb of the old woman prevent the flowers uniting, which grow on the tombs of Ferhád and Sherín.
There are a great number of pilgrimages of great and holy men, but I visited only those I have given an account of, and at each, in honour of their souls, said the Súra Yass, asking for their spiritual assistance. On the third day of our stay the clarions of departure sounded; we took leave of our friends, and travelled the same day through the mountains of Chengelli-bíl, reaching, after six hours march, the station of Kánlí-bínár, which is the spot where Ferhád killed himself. It is a pleasant place, with a luxuriant spring of most delightful water. We watered our horses here, and pitched our tents, and continued our road next morning towards the north for seven hours. We arrived at the village of Ezíl, a district belonging to Amasia, three hundred houses with gardens, a khán, a mosque, and a bath.