[185] Erzingan, Eriza, a town and district of the same name. The town is situated on the eastern branch of the Euphrates, below Erzeroum. The fine plain slopes gently from north to south, acting as a kind of vast drain for the waters of the mountains on the north and two other sides—viz., the Mezoor Dagh and the Kesheesh Dagh, thus conveying them to the Kara Su. Otherwise, it is a perfect level, free from stone or elevation of any kind, but some artificial mounds at the east corner. It is a garrison town, with new barracks just built; the town and villages contain about twelve thousand houses, or, by the usual calculation, sixty thousand inhabitants. The soil is rich, producing abundance of grain, cotton, fruits, and melons.
[186] His dominions hardly extended so far, even after defeating Abou Said, the reigning prince of the House of Timour, as Khorassan, Herat, Cabul, etc., were governed by the successors of that prince.
[187] Georgia.
[188] Syria.
[189] The Caspian Sea.
[190] Bitlis, the Armenian Pangesh, about an equal distance between Diarbekr and Van, the scene of the signal defeat sustained by Solyman the Magnificent in 1535. Kinneir says:—
“The town extends across the greater part of the valley, the houses being built at some distance from each other in the manner of Rutnuz. The castle is situated on the top of a high mountain, which bounds the plain to the west. The inhabitants of the town and the neighbouring villages amount to about twenty-six thousand—Kurds, Turks, Armenians, and Syrians. The Armenians have four churches and four monasteries, and, upon the whole, enjoy more liberty and are treated with greater respect than in most Mahomedan States. The lands around Betlis are highly cultivated, and produce grain of several kinds—cotton, hemp, rice, olives, honey, truffles, and mushrooms. There is abundance of gravel in the neighbourhood, and the mountains are infested by lions, wolves, and bears. Quarries of red and white marble have also been discovered at a short distance from the town.”
[191] Calo Johannes, or Black John, brother of David, last Christian Emperor of Trebizond, was of the noble family of the Comneni, which became extinct with them. Trebizond was taken in 1461 by Mahomet II, Sultan of the Turks. Uzun Hassan had married Despina while still Prince of Diarbekr, before he had gained the throne.
[192] Rhodes, Cyprus, etc.
[193] Otranto was taken by the Turks in 1480, under Achmet Pasha, who embarked at Vallona in Macedonia, and ravaged a great part of Apulia; but, being called away to join Mahomet in his wars in Asia, the Turkish garrison, after holding the place for a year, surrendered at discretion to Alfonso, Duke of Calabria.—Knolles, Hist. of the Turks, p. 433.