Travels to Tana and Persia

by Giosofat Barbaro; Ambrogio Contarini

M. Caterino left Hungary and came to Venice, where, as he had been in such distant regions, and as no Venetian in the memory of man had been a longer or more memorable journey in the service of his country, he was received by all the nobility and people with great acclamations, and his relations in particular looked upon him as a god come down from heaven. The Senate having afterwards heard the commissions of Ussun Cassano and the goodwill he had towards our Republic, elected four ambassadors to the Pope and the King of Naples, and sent with them M. Caterino as ambassador of the King of Persia, who was to take precedence of the others. They were despatched by the Senate on the 22nd of August, in the year one thousand four hundred and seventy-four. These embassies, however, produced no good effect, since, at that time, on account of the bitter discords existing among our princes, it seemed that a certain fatal jealousy prevented them from taking up arms with so great and valorous a king, and one who, moreover, had just exposed himself and his kingdom to the sport of Fortune, in order to show that he had this enterprise at heart against an enemy, who evidently aspired to make himself master of the world.

And before the departure of these ambassadors they wrote to M. Giosafat Barbaro, who was in Cyprus, that he should proceed to Ussun Cassano and not render his mission useless, as he had spent so long a time between Venice and the coast of Caramania (since, having been elected in the Senate on the 5th of January, 1471, he set out after having received this letter, which was written on the last day of January, 1473). Wherefore, having laid aside all care for his life, he at last set out for his destination to serve his country, and thus after having gone through many dangers he arrived at Tauris in the presence of Ussun Cassano, as he relates in his travels, in the year one thousand four hundred and seventy-four, where he was welcomed and favourably received by that sovereign. And this same M. Giosafat writes that he found him in the height of his grandeur and reputation, as at that time the Indian ambassadors, who were accustomed every year to bring certain gifts in sign of subjection, were received with the greatest pomp. But the war which broke out between him and Unghermaumet, his valiant son, was the occasion of taking from him all his reputation and of blunting the forces of his mind, which till that time had been considered invincible; so that on account of the grief he felt for the rebellion of so gallant a son, and one so famous for his prowess in Asia and Europe, he had to give up all the duties of a king, and more particularly to cast away all thought of the enterprise against the Ottoman.

The reason of this war between father and son was, that the Kurds, people of the mountains, being envious of Ussun Cassano and the grandeur of the Persian kingdom, in order to sow the seeds of discord in the midst of peace in that realm, spread a report around that Ussun Cassano was dead, to which rumour Unghermaumet gave ear readily, as after the death of his father he aspired to the throne of Persia. Thus, having collected the army his father had given him to guard Bagadet,[254] which was formerly Babylonia, and all the country of Biarbera,[255] he immediately seized Seras,[256] a city on the confines of Persia, gaining over almost all the Kurds to his party, as they, when they heard that Unghermaumet had made himself master of Seras, came together in great numbers and traversed and plundered the country up to Tauris. Hence Ussun Cassano took the field with the “porta”, that is, the standing army, which he always kept as a guard about his person, and marched in great haste towards Seras. Unghermaumet being terrified at this, as he had already discovered the falsehood of the Kurds, and that his credulity had made him rashly endeavour, by force of arms, to complete a matter of such importance, left the territory, and by means of some chiefs, friendly both to him and to his father, tried to obtain forgiveness from him for his fault; but, hearing that Ussun Cassano was coming with a mind embittered against him, he considered that he had made a mistake, and therefore became apprehensive of being betrayed and losing his life. And his imagination coloured it so highly, that without even confronting the troops of his father, he fled, and reached the country of the Ottoman on the frontiers of the Sangiacato[257] of Bajazet, son of the Grand Turk, from whom with the consent of the latter, he obtained a safe conduct to allow him to seek an asylum under Turkish protection; and having sent his wife and sons to Amasia,[258] to give more assurance to Bajazet, he also rode in his direction, and was welcomed and greatly honoured by that prince. And since this gallant young man could not endure being thus, so to speak, deserted by fortune, desirous of trying his chance (which, as is said, often changes about from troublous to the most prosperous, provided one does not fail in duty to oneself), he passed on to Constantinople to incite, if possible, Mahomet, the Grand Turk, to give him some assistance, and was received with the greatest demonstrations of love and many promises, as Mahomet was a man of valour, and admired nobleness and bravery in illustrious men more than any of his predecessors among the Ottoman princes. Nor were his deeds less than his words, since Mahomet, wishing to take away Ussun Cassano’s fame and reputation, and to gain such a friend that for the future the Persian arms might not oppose him in his full career of conquest, thought that he would do much for his advantage by assisting Unghermaumet in this enterprise, and by these discords between father and son exhaust the force of Persia, in order that in later times, either he or his descendants might subdue that country.

Unghermaumet having obtained these Turkish auxiliaries, entered the province of Sanga, on the confines of Persia, and thence damaged the country of his father by frequent inroads; the latter, although he sent several bands of cavalry and infantry to those frontiers to repulse his son who was thus at war with him, did not seem to wish to revenge himself for so many injuries, as both in public and in private he gave out that he felt such grief on this account, and so after a little feigned to have fallen ill, and gradually retiring with those he had most faith in, either on account of benefits he had done them or otherwise, caused it to be rumoured in Persia and Turkey that he was very ill, and at last published abroad his death through the same people. Hence letters and messages were quickly sent to Unghermaumet, furnishing him with information of the death of his father and the requests of the principal nobles of the kingdom to come in haste in order that his other brothers, namely, Calul and Giacuppo,[259] might not by chance take away his kingdom, which of right belonged to him, on account of his great valour, rather than to them; and, in order to hide the deceit better, they celebrated the obsequies of the dead king with great pomp in the city.

Thus the unfortunate Unghermaumet, who was led by his fate by the hair of his head to die, not recollecting that his too great credulity had already driven him from his home and exiled him to seek assistance from his enemies who favoured him outwardly, in order to gain a better opportunity for themselves to profit by his still lower fall, gave full credence to the matter, and having given the messages brought to him in charge to some of his people set out for Persia in such haste that in a few days he reached Tauris. Here, having sought out those who had written to him of the death of his father and given him hopes of gaining the kingdom, he was conducted by them to where his father was with such secrecy, that the unhappy wretch did not discover it till he found himself face to face with him; and being then received with severe words and threats, he was put in prison, and soon afterwards murdered. This was the end of Unghermaumet who, on account of his great courage, was always called by the Persians “The Valiant”: a man without doubt most excellent in arms and worthy of his father’s kingdom, if, attracted by the lust of power, he had not been so hasty of belief; as, if he had lived longer, the kingdom of Persia would have gained greatly in glory from him, and would have risen to greater fame than it afterwards did under Ismail, his nephew; nor after his death was Persia again molested by the Turks; nor did Ussun Cassano do anything remarkable until his decease.

And M. Caterino, also, after he had completed all the missions he had undertaken by the command of Ussun Cassano and of our Republic returned to Venice so well thought of and welcomed by all the nobles as well as people, that on account of the universal favour he was held in, all turned their eyes towards him, beholding a man who, through great dangers, had compassed not only Europe, but also a great part of Asia. And, as an example of the favour he was held in, at his election to the Council of Ten, what is most singular and a great honour in our Republic, he had only seventeen adverse votes in the great Council. But what is still more extraordinary is, that when he used to walk in the street, so many persons ran together to see him, that he could hardly proceed.

And thus it is true what is said, that the path of glory is narrow and difficult, and like Hercules[260] mentioned by Xenophon, who chose rather to become famous through great trials, than live at ease without a name in the world, the good M. Caterino, to serve his country, and to gain an honourable fame, never thought of dangers and difficulties; whence one may for certain conclude that sham honours paid by the common people are but dust and ashes in comparison with those meritoriously gained by a man’s own exertions.

END OF THE FIRST BOOK.