About a month after the grand vezír had the above interview with the emperor, Yúsuf Páshá’s followers arrived at Scutari, and he himself in three days after them, when he ordered them to erect their tents. The grand vezír showed him every mark of esteem and friendship, and permitted him, when he appeared in his presence, to be seated at his side. “Be my son,” said the vezír, “here and hereafter,” presented him with a double suit of robes, and ordered robes to be given to a hundred of his men. A few days afterwards he presented him to his majesty, to whom Yúsuf had brought some very important and valuable presents; and on this occasion he was honoured with another robe from his sovereign.
About this time, the grand vezír, Murád Páshá, received an answer to his communication to Zulfekár, which informed him that Meseli Chávush had arrived. The vezír wrote back to assure him that he would not fail in his promises, and urged him to do the work assigned him. Another month passed away, and Yúsuf Páshá became impatient to be employed against the Persians, for whose wealth and property he thirsted. The grand vezír, however, found means to put him off from day to day, for Meseli was not yet disposed of, and on this, in a great measure, his own fate depended.
In the mean time, in consequence of some representation made to the emperor from some quarter or other, Murád Páshá was again ordered to set out on his march to the frontiers of Persia, and that too without delay, unless he wished another to supersede him in the chief command. This order was peremptory; within the space of three days he must be on his march. The grand vezír, on receiving this intimation, again waited on his majesty and said to him, “Sire, your slave explained to your majesty how matters stood, the last time I had the honour of speaking with you: it certainly must have escaped your blessed memory.” “No, by no means,” answered his majesty, “I have perfect recollection of it; nor have I intimated a syllable of it to any one.” “Why,” replied the vezír, “if you approved of what I at that time proposed to your majesty, wherefore is it that you have ordered me to march? We have Yúsuf Páshá in our power. If we despatch him just now, Mesli Chávush will, when he hears of it, make his escape from Zulfekár, and become more formidable than ever: it will be no easy matter to get hold of him again. As soon as we set out for the Persian campaign, he will come and attack Scutari. Pay no regard, sire, to the speeches of your cazís, for they are unacquainted with the state of matters; they will be brought to understand things better afterwards. Leave me to act as I think proper.” The emperor was again overcome by the reasoning of his vezír, and left him to do as he thought best, and dismissed him.
Mesli Chávush and Yúsuf Páshá are murdered.
Mesli Chávush, who had joined Zulfekár, lived with the latter on terms of apparent intimacy and friendship, but which, on the part of Zulfekár, could not have been sincere, whatever he might have manifested to the contrary. His apparent friendship had the effect he wished, and that was to disarm Mesli of all fear and suspicion as to his own safety.
One day he proposed that both should pay a visit in company to the country or sanják which had been promised to Mesli, to which Mesli agreed. On this journey they spent a month: they went from Iconium to Larenda, and visited the fortresses of Mút, Mirah, Kúnis, and Tumrak, each of which was so impregnably situated among rocks, that an Osmánlí army would have found it next to impossible to reduce it. Such were the places which Mesli commanded, and which had rendered him formidable to the Osmánlí government.
After an excursion of one and twenty days of pleasure they returned to Iconium, whence, in a day or two afterwards, they went to Miram, having taken their respective followers and equipages along with them. Here also they went about together in the greatest apparent friendship, visited together the different spectacles which were to be seen there, and went together to the different places of amusement. Zulfekár was seeking all this while a fit opportunity for accomplishing Murád Páshá’s wishes, and it was not long before such an opportunity offered itself. Mesli was sitting one day with a turban or tiara on his head, and like a prince was enjoying his pleasures, without fear or suspicion of any thing, when some of the men of his ostensible friend, who had been previously instructed how to act, fell upon him and despatched him. One of these came secretly behind him, and secured his head in a sort of noose with one hand, and with the other stabbed him with his dagger. The rest of the assassins, when they saw the struggle which ensued, came hastily forward, and after strangling him, cut off his head. Whatever valuables were found in his possession were seized by Murád’s lieutenant, for the purpose of being afterwards confiscated. Zulfekár Páshá and the defterdár of Caramania, Yúnus Effendí, went to take an account of the property he possessed in the fortresses which he had taken; and his head, under the charge of ten men, was sent off to Scutari, to Murád Páshá. The men who had the charge of Mesli’s head reached the place of their destination in five days, and communicated secretly to the grand vezír the purport of their visit to Scutari. He immediately waited on the emperor and communicated to him the news of the fate of Mesli; and added, that the head of the rebel Yúsuf Páshá would not be much longer on his shoulders. We ought to have mentioned, however, that the head of Mesli was, after having been fixed on the point of a spear and carried publicly through the camp, placed before the grand vezír’s tent. When the grand vezír announced to his majesty, that the head of a formidable enemy had been brought into the camp, and as we have already observed, that the head of Yúsuf Páshá would not remain long on his shoulders, he started up from his sofa in surprise, and said “May God, my dear father, reward you for your many services to me,” and desired him to do as he thought fit.
On the following morning he sent a messenger to invite Yúsuf Páshá to come and take a cup of coffee with him. The messenger, whilst on his way, met Yúsuf Páshá, and delivering to him the invitation, conducted him to the vezír’s tent. On going into the tent his excellency addressed him in the most gracious and flattering terms, calling him his son, and so forth. “How could I drink my coffee without you, my son: you know how much I esteem you; come, let us retire to the back part of the tent, where we shall not be disturbed, and where we shall be at liberty to converse with more freedom. God willing, you shall have permission tomorrow to march against the Kizilbáshes.” After sitting down, and just as one of the domestics was handing Yúsuf a cup of coffee, and before he had time to lay hold of it, an officer announced to his lordship, Murád Páshá, that Hasan Beg, beg of Avlonia, had arrived. His lordship affected surprise, and said, it was a hard case to be so much oppressed with business as to have no time to enjoy himself for a few moments. “But there is no help for it,” said he; “I must step out for a little, but do you, sir,” (addressing Yúsuf Páshá) “make yourself comfortable.” The grand vezír no sooner went out of the tent, than he desired three or four of his officers to enter the tent and take a dish of coffee with his son Yúsuf Páshá. These men accomplished the vezír’s wishes. As the unfortunate Yúsuf Páshá was in the act of receiving a cup of coffee into his hand, he was tripped up by one of these assassins, when the rest, pouncing upon him, cut off his head, and placed it on a table. On the vezír’s re-entering, he ordered his body to be thrown out, and sent word to the defterdár to seize on the whole of his property. When some of the soldiery heard of the fate of Yúsuf Páshá, they ran into his tent and seized on all the spoil they could find in it. Yúsuf Páshá’s deputy and some of his principal followers were also put to death, and the rest of his associates fled.
After these things, the grand vezír waited on his majesty and informed him of what had taken place. “Let this suffice,” said the vezír; “we need now proceed no farther. Even here, at Scutari, your majesty has been avenged on two of your most formidable enemies, to each of whom great forbearance has been shown. The province of Anatolia will now enjoy peace and quietness, and now the war with Persia may again be renewed.” The emperor bestowed great praise on his vezír: the whole of the property that belonged to Yúsuf Páshá’s followers, who had been put to death, was ordered to be confiscated; the beasts of burden, and several packages of valuable articles which had belonged to his lieutenant, or which were in his possession, were all sent over to the tulip-garden in Constantinople. The whole of the articles which had belonged to the rebels were afterwards sold, and the price of them put into the imperial coffers. The head of Mesli and the body of Yúsuf Páshá remained exposed for two days in the Maidán. The sanják which had been promised to Mesli was conferred on Mohammed Beg, son of Zulfekár.