Praise of Sheikh Bárdáklí-bábá.
Near the above mentioned place is the pilgrimage of a Saint called Bárdáklí-bábá, a disciple of Sheikh Hájí Bairám. He obtained his living by making cans, which afforded a continual supply of water for the ablutions of his disciples. His can is suspended from his tomb and therefore he is called Bárdáklí-bábá, the father of cans or tankards. With the leave of the tomb-keeper, I took down the suspended can to perform my ablutions and found it full of clear water, though covered with the dust of forty years. The Páshá’s Imám and some others of his suite were astonished at this extraordinary sight, they asked the keeper if he would swear the can had not been recently filled with water. He swore that it had not been touched for forty years until I, poor Evliya, had taken it down to perform my ablutions. The Imám and the others said, “Well then Evliya hang it up again,” but I being determined to carry my point would not until I had performed the ablution in the legal way. The Imám and four other persons then did the same, but the water was not diminished in the least to our great astonishment. We again hung up the can, which was of a reddish colour, and on its side was written the verse of the Súra Ra’ad, “He sent water from heaven,” the number 66626, three Ks, two Js and one M, the figure of a glass and of a can. I now began to recite the Korán according to the intention of the Saint, with whom I made spiritual acquaintance, remarking the Prophet’s tradition, “If you are perplexed in your affairs look for assistance from the Inhabitants of the tombs.” The mirror of my heart was polishing and rubbing off the rust of sadness, when a woman walked in, who threw the body of a dead child and herself on the threshold of the tomb, crying and lamenting that her child had been killed by the troops, who had cast it on the snow, and calling down divine vengeance upon them, through the aid of the Prophet and the Saints. She was followed by a great number of injured men, who united their prayers and imprecations with hers. I trembled at hearing them, and drawing near with a friendly face, kissing their hands and cheeks, I said to them, “People of Mohammed, I also belong to the troops of the Páshá, who, God knows, does not approve of their excesses; but he has been forced to collect them in order to save his own head, which is endangered by the Grand Vezír, Ahmed Páshá, on whom must be laid the fault of all this.” An old man gave me some comfort by saying, that I was not included in this imprecation, which was to fall only on the troops; and a good deal of it was realized at the above described passage of the river, where so many lost their lives and goods, while I, poor Evliya, God be thanked for it! passed over safely to the opposite side.
The borough of Kúrdlar-seraí (wolves’ palace) is situated in the Sanjak of Kánghrí in the jurisdiction of Kala’ajik on the bank of the red river and consists of four hundred houses covered with terraces, a mosque, a khán and a bath. Here the Páshá appointed two Aghás to watch the endeavours made to retrieve from the river some of the lost baggage. Moving on to the north we arrived at the village of Boyalí, situated in the territory of Kanghrí; five hours further, the village Akche-Koyúnlí of an hundred Turcoman houses; and three hours further, the village of Kojí-bábá, situated in the jurisdiction of Kala’ajik, of two hundred Turcoman houses, which do not appear above ground but are all below it, with stables, kitchens and sitting-rooms. The reason for the construction of these subterraneous houses is the violence of the winter; they are all built of a soft stone, which has the appearance of having been whitened with chalk. Chests, boxes, and rafters are all cut in this stone, which is as soft as cheese; the houses are so large, that a thousand men might be lost in them, and yet is there nothing seen of them above ground. Here is the pilgrimage of Kojí-bábá, one of the disciples of Hájí-begtásh. There is no other building but the convent; the tomb is adorned with lamps and candelabras. His banner, drum, habit and carpet are all preserved as though he were himself present. The Turcomans have great faith in this saint. At Keskin (the name of this place) is also the tomb of Sheikh Ibrahím Tenúrí Ben Sarráf Hossein, one of the disciples of Ak-shems-ud-dín; he was born at Sivás. Five hours further to the north is the village of Sheikh Shámí of the order of Bairámís, whose name was Hamza; the sect of the Hamzeví take their name from him. Many miracles are recorded of him, one of them is the spring which he called forth by his staff and which is, therefore, actually called the Spring of the Staff. He is buried beneath a high cupola near the mosque which he himself built, but which is not covered with lead. Its mihráb is of very great dimensions, and the stones are adorned with inscriptions in Kúfí, Jellí, Mostea’assemí, Ríhání, and Thúlúth characters. The verses: “Every time Zacharias went before the Mihráb,” and “He was standing praying before the Mihráb,” and the verses Kursí and Emen-er-ressúl are written upon it. On both sides it is carved and sculptured in a most astonishing way with flowers and arabesque ornaments, so that the stone seems rather to be engraved or painted than sculptured. Some say it is the work of Sheikh Shám himself, and it is indeed probable because it is such a wonderful work, like the paintings of Mání and Behzád Aghá Riza Wání. Before his tomb rises the Spring of the Staff which is much visited. From hence we went five hours to the north to the village of Hossein Aghá in the district of Kala’ajik and five hours further to the village of Kala’ajik itself, which was built by the Prince of Brússa Sirúna for his daughter. Topál the commander of Kastemúní conquered it; and he resisted the Ottoman power, till at last Ilderím Bayazíd took by surprise this castle, which is not to be conquered in any other way. It is now the seat of a Subáshí of the Sanjak of Kánghrí, and a judge is appointed to it with an hundred and fifty aspers, and collects from the districts annually four purses; there is also a Dizdár and a garrison of twenty men.
Form of the Castle.
It is situated on a high reddish cliff, towering into the clouds, as though built by Ferhád. The walls are sixty royal cubits high, as it is an isolated rock there are no ditches. An iron-gate opens to the kiblah side and within the castle are about twenty houses, a mosque, a magazine of corn, a cistern, and six small guns. The inhabitants of the neighbouring tracts deposit in this castle their effects and precious things from fear of rebels and robbers, and the commander is the keeper of these deposited goods. It is not commanded by any neighbouring height and is surrounded with gardens. One the kiblah-side is a well-built suburb, but without fortifications (robát), consisting of two thousand houses partly covered with bricks and partly with earth; the largest is the palace of Shehsuvár Páshá, they all face towards the kiblah-side; the streets instead of being paved with stone, are all strewn with sand. There are seventeen mosques, that in the market place having one mináreh, thirteen schools for boys, a small bath, three khans and six coffee-houses; the air is good, but not the water. We lodged here in the palace of Shehsuvár Páshá, and I thanked God that I could change clothes, and lie quietly down after the many fatigues undergone.
The Pilgrimages of Karánjí-bábá Sultán.
There is but one steep path from the castle, at the bottom of which near the market is the tomb of this saint in a narrow place. On leaving it we marched five hours to the North to the village of Kúrbághlí, in the territory of Kánghrí and the district of Kala’ajik, of two hundred houses with mosques and gardens, where Sheikh Abd-allah, the son of Sheikh Shámí, is buried; his tomb is covered with a simple roof, and is without a convent. Five hours further to the North we came to the village of Nenegler, in the territory of Kala’ajik, a Turkish village of an hundred houses; a cubit of snow fell during the night, so that nobody could leave their lodgings. In the morning when departure was sounded the horses were loaded with the greatest pain; Turks served as guides, and thus we marched three hours to the straight of Alák-púlí, where we were assailed by such a storm and rain, that the confusion and horror was general, and many lost their lives. The Aghás of the Páshá, and even his treasurers left the treasure and fled away. Mustafa Beg the son of the Páshá with his governor (Lálá), master (Khoja) and servants were missing; the strings of mules and camels were broken and they were straying on the mountains. I halted a little in a sheltered valley and then with six of my boys and three packhorses looked for a house, where I found three others of my slaves and ten Cháshnegírs; so that we were now twenty-five persons. Thus we passed the straight of Sárí Alák and arrived happily at the plain on the other side without knowing where we were going to.
(Here six pages of the original are omitted, which give a detailed account of Evliya’s falling into a nest of robbers, headed by Hyder-zádeh, Kátirjí-zádeh and other robbers, who held their meeting at Háji-bábá’s, an old rogue. The robbers, on being informed by Evliya of the Páshá’s being near, made off, and Evliya was kept by Háji-bábá until rescued by his people and other armed men of the Páshá’s suite, with whom he shared the rich presents which he forced out of Háji-bábá upon taking an oath that he would not betray this den of robbers. Evliya again joined the Páshá at the village of Hossein Aghá.)
The village of Hossein Aghá is situated in the district of Jubúk-owassá on a high hill. This is the pilgrimage of Ghazí Hossein of Malatia the father of Sídí Battál. Where there are more than an hundred Dervishes Begtáshí versed in Arabic and Persian knowledge. The tomb is surrounded with golden candlesticks, Koráns, &c. There are two places of religious exercise for the summer and for the winter. The valleys of Jubúk, Yebán, and Merbút are at the foot of this convent: Every year a Mevlúd or birth-feast is held here, when forty to fifty thousand men assemble to celebrate the feast of Hossein Sídí Batál’s father, one of the descendants of Imám Hossein, and who like him was killed by the hands of the Infidels. I gave to the Dervishes ten piastres for alms, immolated three victims and received the Sheikh’s benediction amidst the general shout of Allah! At the foot of the hill I met my Lord the Páshá with whom during ten days I overran the plain of Jubúk, as if I were going on conscription. This plain comprehends seven districts, and seventy villages. We spent ten more days on the plain of Yebán, containing an hundred cultivated villages belonging to the jurisdiction of Angora, and ten days more in the jurisdiction of Jorba of eighty-six villages. We passed a month in these three plains and celebrated Nevrúz (the spring’s commencement) near Angora. The weather now was mild, but we were all exhausted from the continual fatigue of loading and unloading heavy loads. At last we returned to the village of Hossein in the commencement of the year 1058 (1648). From hence we marched in seven hours to the north amidst cultivated villages and arrived at Angora.