Travels to Tana and Persia

by Giosofat Barbaro; Ambrogio Contarini

Chap. XII.

Secchaidar, the father of the Sophi, marches against Rustan King of Persia, but is defeated and slain; Rustan sends to take his wife and three sons, and gives them in custody, but the latter escape.

During the reign of Rustan in Tauris, Sechaidar,[414] the father of the Sophi, who had married a daughter of the King Assambei, through his wife, became rightful heir of the realm of Persia.[415] He resolved to raise an army and drive out Rustan, and for this purpose collected a number of Suffaveans, who all followed him as their chief and also because he was considered a saint; he was accustomed to reside in the city of Ardouil,[416] three days’ journey distant from Tauris, towards the East, like an abbot with a number of disciples. Having assembled an army of twenty-two thousand men, he marched towards Tauris;[417] but the King Rustan having heard of the preparations of the enemy, had also raised an army of fifty thousand men, and as he himself was very young, he gave the command in this enterprise against Sechaidar to one of his captains, named Sulimanbec. Sechaidar, hearing that the hostile army was more powerful than his, retreated to a place named Van, near Coi,[418] expecting to be joined from the West by some other chiefs, hostile to Rustan. But such was the rapidity of Sulimanbec, Rustan’s general, that Sechaidar was forced to join battle without waiting for further reinforcements, and a fierce contest began.[419] The Suffaveans fought like lions; nevertheless, at length after numbers of men had been killed on both sides, those of Tauris came off victorious, Sechaidar being killed with numbers of his men. After the rout they sought out the body of Sechaidar, which was found by an Armenian priest and taken to Ardouil to be buried. In Tauris the victory caused great rejoicings. Rustan, hearing the news of the defeat of the enemy, and the death of Sechaidar, sent immediately to Ardouil to seize his wife and three sons, and wished to put them to death; but to please some lords, they were liberated, keeping them, however, in charge in an island in the lake of Astumar,[420] inhabited by Armenian Christians. There are there more than six hundred houses, a church named after the Holy Cross, in which are more than a hundred priests governed by a patriarch. Here, then, were sent the three sons of Sechaidar, but the mother remained in Tauris, and was married for the second time to a lord who was an enemy of her former husband. The sons remained three years in the island; but Rustan, being apprehensive of their escape, and being persuaded by some of his friends to put them to death, sent to take them. The day that the messenger asked for them on behalf of Rustan, they were given up to him by the Armenians, although very reluctantly, as they were very much beloved, especially Ismael the second, for his beauty and pleasing manners. After they had given them up (notice well the influence of Providence to carry out what it has determined) one of the principal Armenians addressed the others, saying, “We have given up these boys to this messenger without having seen any command from the King Rustan; it may easily happen that we have been deceived, and that they may be taken away and escape somewhere, so that we would receive great blame, and our sovereign might well say, ‘Where is my order’. Thus it is my opinion that we ought not to deliver them to him unless he brings credentials in writings, which we may keep for security.” All the others agreed to this, more especially because they were very loth to give them up. Then they told the messenger to bring credentials from the king; and as it was some distance thence to Tauris, he was more than seven days before he returned. During this time the boys and their[421] mother were conducted in a boat from the island to the country of Carabas[422] on the east. This country borders on Sumacchia[423] and Ardouil, which belonged to the father of these boys, and its inhabitants are for the most part Suffaveans, and had great reverence for the father. Here they were hidden without anyone hearing anything of them for the space of five years. Ismael at this time was nine years old, and when he attacked Sumacchia was not quite fourteen.[424]

Chap. XIII.

How Ismael, the son of Haidar, was born and brought up; he becomes a captain, attacks and defeats Sermangoli, possessing himself of his realm; he marches against, and takes Tauris.

During these five years these boys were incited by many of their father’s friends, who came to visit them, to assemble troops to recover his possessions; having collected five hundred brave and faithful men, and the whole country being friendly disposed towards them, they elected Ismael their captain, as he was a fiery, brave, and courteous youth. This Ismael, when he was born, issued from his mother’s womb with fists clenched and covered with blood: a remarkable fact, and when his father saw him, he said, “Surely he will grow up a bad man”; and agreed with his mother that he should not be reared; but God disposed otherwise, as when they sent him away to be put to death, those who were charged with the deed, touched by his beauty, had pity on him and brought him up. After three years the boy giving great promise, they determined to show him to his father, and when an opportunity occurred they placed him before him, and when, he being taken with him, asked who he was, they told him he was his son, at which he was delighted, and received him with great show of affection.

Then, having assembled five hundred horse and foot soldiers, they crossed a large river called the Cur,[425] flowing in the direction of Sumacchia,[426] into the Caspian Sea; then marching towards Sumacchi they received intelligence that the lord of that place, named Sermangoli, was assembling his chiefs to collect an army against them. One of these chiefs said, “Sire, leave the business to me, and I will engage to bring you this fellow’s head”; and, then collecting seven thousand men, marched against him. The Suffaveans, seeing the Sumacchians coming against them in great force in a plain, retreated to the top of a hill. The Sumacchians surrounded it to besiege the enemy, but fortune was propitious to the Sophi, who attacked them in the weakest quarter, and intending to fall sword in hand, their assault was so impetuous that fifteen hundred of the enemy surrendered at once, the others being cut to pieces. The Suffaveans provided themselves with arms and horses from the booty, and followed up their victory, by marching towards Sumacchia. The king, hearing of this defeat, issued into the plain with the rest of his men; but, being without discipline, they were routed, and the King Sermangoli taken prisoner. Ismael spared his life, and having captured the city, made great presents to his soldiers; he also took the other numerous fortresses in the country of Sermangoli. Ismael having made himself lord of this country, besieged a castle called Pucosco on the way to Tauris, a very rich place, which he took by assault (his younger brother, Bassingur, being killed in the fight), and gave all the wealth they found in the place to his soldiers. Hence, the fame was spread abroad, that Ismael, the son of Sechaidar, had recovered his dominions, and that his liberality to his men made them devoted to him; and an almost incredible number of people joined him; thus, having about forty thousand men[427] under him, he determined to march on Tauris. Before he set out he inquired what the Greeks did, when they held the empire of Persia; and hearing that they would not harm the country in anything, but were friendly to everyone, he then marched to Tauris, committing such severities that everyone was thrown into mortal terror and dared not take up arms against him. Aluan, who was then king, seeing that he could not defend himself from the fury of the enemy, resolved to fly. Taking with him his wife and treasure, he went to Amit, his former city.[428] Thus, in 1499, in the same year, and six months from the commencement of the war, the Sophi made himself master of Tauris. On his entry he used great cruelty towards the opposing faction, as he cut to pieces many people, doctors, women, and children; wherefore, all the surrounding places sent in their allegiance, and all the city wore his ensign, that is, the red caftan; in this war more than twenty thousand people were killed. He then caused the bones of several lords who were already dead to be disinterred and burnt; he put to death his own mother,[429] recollecting, as he had been told, that she had wished to kill him after his birth, and also because she was by birth of the opposing faction.

Chap. XIV.

Ismael raises war against Moratcan, defeats him, and makes himself king. After his victory he is advised to marry, which he does, and then attacks Bagadet, is victorious, and thus becomes master of many countries.

Ismael having remained all the winter at Tauris, in 1500, early in the year, determined to go against a certain Moratcan,[430] who had seized the country of Erach[431] after the death of Jacob, which country comprises Spaan, Ies, and Syras,[432] with many other cities, which used to be under the dominion of the kings of Persia. He therefore assembled an army of twenty thousand men, all brave Suffaveans, and, marching towards the enemy’s country, he heard that Moratcan was prepared to receive him with fifty thousand men. Nevertheless, he continued his route to Chizaron, having advanced a long way from Tauris, and from thence to Syras, bordering on the country of Carason[433] or Gon. Here they met in battle, and at length Moratcan was killed[434] and his men defeated and dispersed, when Ismael made himself master of all those realms. After this victory, before returning to Tauris, all his friends counselled him to marry; but while he was considering this step, they could find no lady worthy of such a match. At length, after many discussions, they said that a certain lord had a lady in his house, a granddaughter of Sultan Jacob, the son of Ussun Cassano, who was beautiful, and named Taslucanum; wherefore, he sent to the lord demanding her of him. The lord replied to the messengers that she was not there; but Ismael, insisting on her being sent, the lord had another dressed up instead of her, saying he had no other in the house. The messengers, seeing that she did not correspond to the description given of her, said that it was not this one that they wanted, and ordered all the girls to be brought, among whom was Taslucanum, but went away without recognising her. The Sophi ordered them to return and have the girls shown again, which they did, and recognised her this time, and had her dressed up and brought with them. Ismael, when he saw her, said “This is she I was told of”; and took her for wife. But, as the king was very young, only fifteen or sixteen years old, he gave her to a lord to take care of. After three years the king asked for her, and said to the lord, “You have been able to do just as you liked with her during three years.” He replied, “Sire, do not believe it; I would sooner kill myself”. The Sophi said, “You have been a great fool”; and took her as his wife. After the Sophi had conquered the country of Erach, he returned to Tauris in 1501, and caused great rejoicings to be made on account of his victory. The following year he determined to invade the country of Bagadet, three hundred miles distant from Tauris towards the south and south-west, a large district, and having assembled an army, he set out. The lord[435] of the country held himself in readiness with many troops, not in the field, but in the city of Baldac,[436] anciently called Babylon the Great, through the midst of which flows the river Euphrates. The king, arriving two miles distant from it, one night a great part of the wall fell down, and caused so great a panic in the city, that everyone fled. The lord also was forced to fly across the sandy plains of Arabia Deserta, sixteen days’ journey in extent, from Baldac to Damascus, and thence to Aleppo, where, after residing some time, the Prince Aladuli gave him his daughter in marriage, and settled him there. The Sophi remained in Baldac and took the land of Bagadet, and afterwards Mosul and Gresire,[437] a large city, through which the river Tigris flows. This is also called the country of Mesopotamia. The Sophi having made these conquests in 1503, returned to Tauris and made great feasts and rejoicings in honour of his victory. While he was in Tauris, after his return in 1504, he heard that while he was away at Mosul and Bagadet the King of Gilan had rebelled, and, determining to be revenged, he prepared an army and marched against him. Hearing this the King of Gilan sent ambassadors to him immediately, asking pardon. With great reluctance, after many entreaties, the Sophi pardoned him, but doubled the tribute. He then returned, and remained in peace and quiet till the year 1507.