Don Juan Of Persia A Shi Ah Catholic 1560 1604

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Jtoan de Persia
Don Juan of Persia

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Don Juan of Persia

KANSAS CITY. MO. PUBLIC LIBRARY

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A SHI'AH- CATHOLIC
1560-1604

BROADWAY TRAVELLERS

THE

EDITED BY SIR E. DENISON ROSS
AND EILEEN POWER

TRAVELS AND ADVENTURES
OF PERO TAFUR, 1435-14.39

AKBAR AND THE JESUITS

THE TRAVELS OF HUC AND GABET
IN TARTART AND TIBET

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

SELECTIONS FROM THE
TRAVELS OF IBN BATTUTA

THE ENGLISH AMERICAN
ET THOMAS GAGE, 163 1

LITERART REMAINS OF
THOMAS AND ANTONT SHERLET

THE VOTAGES AND
TRAVELS OF MANDELSLO

THE TRAVELS OF
CLAVIJO AND SCHILTBERGER

THE NEW-FOUND WORLDS OR
ANTARTICKE, BT ANDRt TIJEVET, 1568

Published by
&

THE BROADWAY TRAVELLERS

EDITED BY SIR E. DENISON ROSS
AND EILEEN POWER

DON JUAN
OF PERSIA

A CATHOLIC

1560-1604

Translated and Edited with an
Introduction by G. Le Strange

PUBLISHERS

&
NEW YORK AND LONDON

First published in 1926

PRINTED IN 1 GREAT BRITAIN BY
filLLING AND SONS, LTD., GUILDFGRD AND ESHEK

PREFACE

IN 1604, one year before the fir& edition of the Firt
Part of Don Quixote was in print, the book of the
Reladones of Don Juan of Persia was published at
Valladolid in a small /j.to of 396 pages. It has never
been reprinted, nor has it ever been translated from the
Catilian into any other language. The author was a
Persian Moslem who had become a Spanish Roman
Catholic. He had kept a careful diary during his long-
journey from Isfahan to Valladolid, and it appeared to
him now that this was worthy of presentation to those
whose faith he had adopted. Further he would tell
them of Persia and its history. Don Juan, of course,
is no authority for ancient or mediaeval history, but his
description of Persia and his account of the wars waged
by the Persians during the i6th century against the
Ottoman Turks contain much that is of interest, for the
author gives many details of recent events that notably
add to our knowledge of the history of this some-
what obscure period. Further, he succinctly describes
the Safavi rule as firt established, and the system of
government set up in the golden prime of SMh ' Abb&s.
Lastly, the journal of his journey through Russia,
Germany and Italy to Spain is quaintly entertaining,

As in the case of moft of the books printed in Spain
at the beginning of the i yth century, the proof-correft-
ing of the Reladones was not attended to with care.
Proper names of persons and places are inexailly
and confusedly printed, even when avowedly, or
tacitly, a quotation is made from the work of some
contemporary author. The book mentions a very
great number of foreign places and persons, and it is

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l.v'y 6406225

PREFACE

often difficult to determine whether the extraordinary
spellings found in the Spanish are due to the ignorance
of Don Juan, or to the carelessness of his printer.
Something more on this subject will be said in my
Introdu6tion. Here all that need be noted is that
names of persons and places when recognizable arc
given in the translation under the usual English form,
but in the Index Don Juan's spelling of the same is
generally added in brackets. When I cannot identify
a place or personal name, I give it in my translation
as it Stands in the Spanish text, but then it appears
in the Index by itself and not in brackets.

For the identification of the Russian place-names
I have had the help of Dr. E. H. Minns, and for the
German Mr. W. F. Reddaway, who has an intimate
knowledge of the Thirty Years War period, has come
to my aid. Also Mr. S. Gaselee, who has the Library
of the Foreign Office to refer to, has solved some
questions that were puzzling. To Professor F. C.
Burkitt I am indebted for help in regard to the authori-
ties used by Don Juan for the early history of Persia ;
and for assistance with the Byzantine historians the
Rev. W. H. Kent, O.S.C., has very kindly sent me
notes which proved useful. Further, I am much
indebted to Sefior A. G. Palencia, the author of the
well-known HiStorta de la Litemmra EspaHola^ who
through the kind offices of a friend sent me a reference
to the works of Salas Barbadillo edited by E. Cotarelo,
which supplies details regarding the death of Don Juan
at Valladolid and some other matters of interest
Again, a Catilian proverb referred to by Don Juan,
the fir& half alone quoted, has been identified and
completed by a Spanish correspondent to whom my
friend Mr. Lawrence Lockhart kindly wrote on my
behalf, thus filling in the gap. To all these good
friends my thanks are due; and in sadness I here add
the name of my friend the late Professor E. G. Browne,

vi

PREFACE

whose recent death has left Oriental learning the poorer
in a fashion that cannot easily be recovered. It was
he, the year before laft, who firt drew my attention
to the RelacioneS) which he had made use of, quoting
from it, in the latent volume of his Persian Literature
in Modern Times, From time to time he also gave me
much help in the identification of the Oriental names ;
and I have to thank his son Mr, Patrick Browne for
calling my attention to the translation recently published
of the Pugger News-Letters^ 1568-16053 which report
the doings of the Persian Ambassador in Prague and
Rome. Lastly, for the bibliographical matter to be
found in the notes, very gratefully do I acknowledge
a debt for continuous help from Mr. E. J. Thomas
of the Cambridge University Library. The title of a
book referred to is generally only given, with the
author's name, in the firt case where it is mentioned;
and for later references to the work the author's name
must be sought in the Index.

vn

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

PAGES

Uruch Beg, otherwise Don Juan of Persia The Sherley brothers
The Persian embassy to the courts of Europe The
ambassador and his secretaries The Embassy sets out
from Isfahan* and reaches Moscow They travel on to
Archangel Thence by sea to the mouth of the Elbe
Journey by land to Prague through Saxony The Imperial
Court at Prague Journey on to Mantua,, Florence and Rome
Rome to Valladolid The reception of the Embassy by
Philip III The ambassador proceeds to Lisbon and returns by
sea> round the Cape of Good Hope to Persia The conversion
of Don Juan, and two other Persians who remain in Spain
The death of Don Juan How his book was written Book I
of the " Relaciones " Description of Persia The early
history of Persia The hisJory of Moslem times The rise of
Uzun Hasan Shfah and Sunni : the claims of the House
of 'Alt The words Sufi, Safavi and Bophi The reign of
Shdh Ismefil Sultan Belim the Grim : his victory at Chal-
dirdn Sultan Selim invades Syria and Egypt Sultan
Sulayman and Shdh Tahmdsp Isma'il II and the Princess
Parl-Khdn-KhAnum The blind king Muhammad Khudd
Eandah Sultan Murad III invades Georgia The mutiny
of the Turkomdn tribesmen The Turks take Tabriz Uruch
Beg (later Don Juan) present when his father is killed under
the walls of Tabriz* The murder of Prince Hamzah Bhdh
'Abbas becomes king His treaty with the Turks The
arrival of the Sherleys The Embassy to the European powers
sets out Description of the P" all ado lid 1604 edition of the
" Relaciones" . . . . . 1-32

THE TRANSLATION

BOOK I

CHAPTER ONE

Don Juan gives thanks that he, together with two of his fellow
Persian secretaries^ has become a Christian The reason for
the composition of the following book The works ofMinadoi
andBotero The journey from Persia to Spain, and its unique
charaQer ..... 33"~37

ix

CONTENTS
CHAPTER TWO

PAGES

Ancient Persia or Fdrs> Shirdz Luriffian and Susiana Persian
'Iraq Isfahan the capital of Persia The province of
Qazvf/z The Hamaddn> Gildn and Shirvan provinces
The AsJardbdd and Mdz,andardn provinces Khurasan^
O and a Mr and Si Han The city and diftricJ of Ganjah
Azerbaijan and Tabriz city Khoy and Salmds in Kur-
diUan The Mardghah and KJmrramdbdd Dlftritts
Arabian ^Irdq .... 38-44

CHAPTER THREE

The mode of government in Persia The thirty-two noble families
in Persia Matters of war are dire fled by the Khdns The
attendants of the King The K lag's Palace^ and the

Palace of the One ens . . . 45-48

CHAPTER FOUR

Plurality of wives and divorce The dress of the nobles The
turban or Cap with Twelve Points No carriages, ships or
galleys The Persian horses The army ; weapons and
armour The Shdh when on campaign : his State Umbrella
The Bodyguard of Georgian Renegades Ma^ic : the
Alcoran Medicine and physicians The tombs of the Sophi
Kings and Saints GusJoms at funerals Marriage cufloms
The Gypsies, and public women in Persia . 49~~57

CHAPTER FIVE

The early hislory of Babylonia and Assyria, from Nitnrod to

Sardanapalus The ancient glory of Persia and its rulers j8-6z

CHAPTER SIX

The hislory ofSardanapatus, and his fa! I The rebellion ofArbaces

and Belesys Arbaces King of Persia . . 63-65

CHAPTER SEVEN

Cyrus the Great Kings from Darius to Alexander the Great
The Roman Empire Two of the three Magi, Persian Kings
Ceesar and ChrisJ Jesus Satraps in Persia till Sassanian
times . 6669

X

CONTENTS

CHAPTER EIGHT

PAGES

Saint Jude and Saint Simon Breach the Gospel in Persia The
Christian martyrs The flory ofBabek andSasan Ardashir
Babegdn, thefirsJ Sassa?iian Sapor I and the Emperor Fale-
nan Sapor II, born a King The bishop Saint James and
the siege ofNisibis Yazdagird, and the Emperor Arcadius 70-77

CHAPTER NINE

Chosroes Anushirvdn, and the Emperor Juttinian Defeat of
Chosroes and loss of the Sacred Brazier Farahrdn or
Bahrdm Chubin Chosroes Parviz defeats Bahrdm Chubin
Maurice succeeded by Phocas> and then by Heraclius 78-82

CHAPTER TEN

War between Chosroes Parviz and Heraclius The Persians
invade Palestine and carry off the True Cross Fifiory of
Heraclius over the Persia?ts The return of the True Cross
to Jerusalem The death of Chosroes Siroes the parricide
Shakr-Bdrz and the laft Chosroes The Caliph Omar invades
Persia His death at Jerusalem Othman becomes Caliph 8 3-86

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The deflru&ion of the Colossus of Rhodes 'All and Mu^dwiyah
The Goran The Caliph TazidThe death of Husayn
{ ' Abd-al~Malik, Caliph, and Walid> in whose time Spain
was conquered Later Omayyad Caliphs The rise of the
Abbasids The Caliph Manser The Caliphs Mahdi and
HMn-ar-Rashld The tatter's two sons Amin and Mdmun
The foundation of Baghdad . . . 87-92

CHAPTER TWELVE

The later Abbasid Caliphs : the rise of the Turks Basasiri and
Tughril Beg The later Turkish or Tartar overlords The
seven Turkish Amirs in Ada Minor The rise of the
Ottoman power Othman establishes himself at Brusa
Bayazid and Tamerlane The Embassy of Clavijo 93-96

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Sultan Muhammad the Conqueror and Uzun Hasan Josaphat
BarbaroHis Book of Travels The battle ofTerjdn Death
of Sultan Muhammad the Conqueror and of Uzun Hasan 97-100

xi

CONTENTS

BOOK II
CHAPTER ONE

PAGES

Sultan Bayazid II The year 1500, birth of the Emperor
Charles IT Birth of Shah Ismail in 1472 Shaykh Haydar
of Ar deb II) his father The rights of l AH , son-in-law of the
Prophet Mahomed, to the Caliphate Death ofHusayn, son
of 'AH The doftrines of the Shfahs and of the Sunms, as
held by the Persians and Turks respectively Shaykh Haydar
of Ardebil marries the daughter of Uzun Hasan Shdk
Ismail begins to preach the dodrine of the Shi" ah Faith
He gains possession of Tabriz The Qizil Bdsh Cap of
Twelve Points As to the title of Grand Sop hi 103-111

CHAPTER TWO

Shdh Isma'il defeats A hand and Murdd Khdn Sultan Bay a-
zid II and the Shfahs The canpaign of Tekelli in Asia
Minor Sultan Bayazid is put to death by his son Sultan
Selim Sultan Selim invades Persian Armenia The
battle of Chaldirdn . . . . 112-119

CHAPTER THREE

Sultan Selim I again invades Armenia Shdh Isma'il makes
a treaty with Qdnsuh the Mamluk Sultan of Egypt Qdnsuh
marches from Cairo to Aleppo Vidory of the Turks before
Aleppo, and death of Qdnsuh Turn an Bey becomes Sultan
of Egypt, but is defeated and put to death Egypt becomes a
province of Turkey Deaths of Sultan Selim and of Shdh
Ismail Shdh Tahmdsp succeeds in Persia, and Sultan
Bulayman the Magnificent in Turkey Sultan Sulaymdn
appears before Tabriz The Sultan goes to be crowned emperor
at Baghdad The lamentable Slate of Tabriz Death of
Sultan Sulaymdn, who is succeeded by Sultan Selim II 120-127

CHAPTER FOUR

Peace between Persians and Turks The death of Sultan Selim II,
and of Shdh Tahmdsp His son Muhammad Khudd-Bandah
being blind, Isma'il, a younger son of Tahmdsp, succeeds
Pari-Khdn-Khdnum persuades the nobles to proclaim Haydar,
another son of Shdh Tahmdsp Haydar is killed Shdh
Ism a* I I II and his cruelties He is put to death by the
nobles Sultan Murdd III prepares to invade Georgia
Accession of King Muhammad Khudd-Bandah Prince
Hamzah his deputy . . . 128135

xii

CONTENTS

CHAPTER FIVE

PAGES

The Turks, under Muslafd Pasha, Invade Armenia and Georgia
The Persians are defeated at Childir Description of Georgia
Intrigues of the Turks and of the Persians with the
princes of Georgia MusJafd Pasha captures Tiflis Prince
Is kandar joins Muffafd Pasha, who marches into Skirvdn 1 3 6- 1 46

CHAPTER SIX

The city of Eres occupied by the Turks and fortified Muftafd
Pasha marches back to Tiflis and to Erzerum 'Adll Ghiray y
Prince of the Grim Tartars, marches Into Shirvdn Prince
Hamzah surprises 'ddil Ghiray and takes him prisoner The
reported Intrigue of 'ddil Ghiray and the Begum : both are
put to death Othman Pasha puts Shamkhdl the Georgian
Prince to death .... 147-155

CHAPTER SEVEN

Qars rebuilt and fortified by the Turks Hasan Pasha victorious
over the Persians and Georgians Tiflis is regarrisoned
Hasan Pasha's disastrous retreat to Erzerum Sindn Pasha
in Tiflis : on his homeward march is defeated The Shdh
offers peace terms ; the Persian ambassador goes to Con-
sJantinople The insult offered htm Georgia again invaded
Muhammad Pasha returns to Erzerum : the court-martial
on Manuchihr Manuchihr escapes the toils laid for him 1 56165

CHAPTER EIGHT

The Shdh marches on Herat 'All Quli Khdn and Prince 'Abbds
The siege of Herat abandoned The conspiracy againft the
Fizier Mirzd Salmdn ; his death Farhdd Pasha sent
again Erivdn This city taken and fortified Manuchihr
and Simon, the Georgian princes, sJealthe Turkish treasure
David, brother of Simon, joins the Turks, but Simon remains
on the Persian side Amir Khdn, the chief of the Turko-
man^ rebels in Tabriz, but is taken and put to death Farhdd
replaced by Othman Pasha, whom the Grand Fizier seeks
to kill How the plot failed : the disgrace of the Grand
Vizier Hasan P asha governor of Egypt The revolt of the
Druses in Palestine suppressed by Ibrahim Pasha Othman
Pasha leaves Erzerum , marching on Tabriz The Turkish
army plunders Tabriz Tabriz described Othman Pasha
falling sick, dies The Persians attack the Turkish rear-
guard at Shenb-Ghazdn . . 166-186

xiii

CONTENTS

CHAPTER NINE

PAGES

The Persians reocctipy the town quarters of Tabriz and lay siege
to the Turkish fortress Ineffeftua! attempt of the Persians
to carry the fortress by sJorm Don Juan *s father \ Bultdn
''Alt Beg Bay dt s tries to surprise the fortress, but is repulsed
and slain His memorial portrait in the Mosque of Haydar
at Tabriz, ..... 187-193

CHAPTER TEN

The Turkoman tribesmen of Tabriz. Their treacherous conduft
to the Shah They kidnap Prince Tahmasp The tribesmen
occupy and plunder Qazvm They set up Prince Tahmasp
to be Shah, governing in Ms name Prince Hamzah marches
on Qazvtn The battle and the viftory of the royal army
Prince Hamzah returns to Tabriz A Turkish army rein-
forces the fortress at Tabriz : in consequence the Persians
abandon the siege The Persians leave Tabriz in possession
of the Turks The Persian headquarters removed to Ganjah
The Persian army begins its march back to Qazvin 194-202

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Esmi Khdn : his conspiracy to kill Prince Hamzah Khudd-Verdi
the Barber Prince Hamzah murdered in his tent The
barber is put to death and the traitors go unpunished Prince
Hamzah buried at Ardebil t AH Khdn,, the Turkoman^
rebels in Kashdn, andFarhddBeg, the Georgian, in Isfahan
Prince ''Abbds governor in Khurdsdn The rivalry between
'AH Qu/i Khdn andMurshid Quli Khdn Murshid overcomes
his rival The nobles in Qazvin call upon Prince ' 'Abbas to
come to Qazvin and re-eslablish order : his father 9 the blind
king Muhammad Khudd-Eandah^ abdicates Shdh ' 'Abbas
is proclaimed King of Persia . . . 203-211

CHAPTER TWELVE

Rebellion in the provinces ; Shdh * Abbas makes peace with Sultan
Murdd Khdn Ahmad rebels in Gildn Gildn subdued
The revolt in LurisJdn next suppressed -.followed by the revolt
in the M&zandardn province 'All Beg the prince of
AsJarabad rebels The Uzbek Tartars, and their Prince
c Abd-Allah Khdn They invade Khurdsdn* take Herdt and
plunder Meshed The Tartar war continues for eight years
until the death of "Abd-Allah Khdn> when the Uzbeks
are finally vanquished Death of Sultan Murdd III, sue-
xiv

CONTENTS

PAGES

ceeded by Sultan Muhammad III The capital of Persia
transferred from Qazvin to Isfahan Tdlim Khan the
Uzbek overruns Khurasan Shah ( 'Abbas marches to
Khnrasdn and defeats him His death The Shah returns to
Qazvin Arrival of the Sherley brothers . . 21 2-2 2 8

BOOK ///

CHAPTER ONE

The embassy from the Sultan of Turkey Sir Anthony Sherley :
he y with a Persian ambassador, is accredited to eight Christian
sovereigns of Europe The coming of two Portuguese Friars
from India The departure from Isfahan of Sir Anthony
Sherley with the Persian ambassador and the two Portu-
guese Friars Their journey to the Caspian The Tartars
of Manquishldgk The Idol The Volga mouth is reached
Astrakhan The special Persian ambassador to Muscovy
Description of Astrakhan . . . 231240

CHAPTER TWO

The journey up the Volga in galleys The Nogay Tartars
Journey from Kazan tozoards Moscow : the freezing of the
Volga : the journey in sledges Nizhni-Novgorod ; the cuslom
of their bath-houses The Perekop Tartars Vladimir :
arrival at Moscow . . . 241-250

CHAPTER THREE

Grand Duke Boris Godunof- The extent and power of Muscovy
The Duke receives the ambassadors in audience at the
Kremlin The Great Bell of Moscow The Treasury of the
Grand Duke Departure from Moscow The disappearance
of the Dominican Friar The journey down to the Arctic
Sea Arrival at Archangel They embark for Embden 251-262

CHAPTER FOUR

The Laplanders, and their reindeer FoyagepasJ the North Cape
Arrival at Embden y and reception by the Duke of Oldenburg
' Passage through Thuringia Reception by the Landgrave
at Kassel Leipzig and the Palace of the Duke of Saxony 263-27 r

CHAPTER FIVE

The journey to Prague The reception in Prague of the Embassy
by the Emperor Rudolf II That winter is passed in Prague
The road to Munich . . . . 272-278

XV

CONTENTS

CHAPTER SIX

PAGES

The journey to Nuremberg and on to Augsburg Munich : the Duke
of Bavaria The journey down into Italy : Mantua- The
ambassasor proceeds to Florence They visit the Grand Duke
at Pisa Siena : on the way a quarrel breaks out with Sir
Anthony Sherley The Embassy reaches Rome and Is received
In audience by the Pope The disappearance of Sir Anthony
Sherley, and the conversion to the Chrislian Faith of three of
the Persian servants From Rome to Genoa -By Savona
the Embassy comes to Perplgnan Crossing the Pyrenees,
Barcelona is reached The Persians co?nc on to Tudcla 279-288

CHAPTER SEVEN

Don Juan proceeds to Falladolid and arrangements are made for the
reception of the Embassy The entrance of the Persians into
Falladolid The reception of the Persian ambassador by
Philip III The nephew of the Persian ambassador is con-
verted to the Chrislian Faith The ambassador takes leave of
the Spanish Court The journey to Segovia- -Madrid to
Aranjuez and Mirida The Persian " Alfaqui S3 is killed
by a fanatic Badajos to Lisbon Don Juan travels back
to Falladolid Going to the Jesuit House he talks with
the ambassador's nephew, and is himself converted to
Chri$Jia?iity ..... 289-301

CHAPTER EIGHT

Don Juan returns to the ambassador at Lisbon Boniynt Beg, the
third secretary, declares himself to be a CJirittian Boniyat
Beg is baptized under the ?iame of Don Diego de Persia Don
Juan, pensioned by the King, takes up his residence in

Spain ..... 302-308

NOTES ...... 309-338

INDEX ...... 339

MAPS

Journey of Don Juan of Persia, 1599 to 1602 . . I

Map of Persia in the year 1600 . * . .39

Map to illustrate the Georgian Campaigns, 1500/0 1 600 * 103

xvi

Don Juan of Persia

INTRODUCTION

DURING the years 1602 and 1603, in Spain, and after
he had become an ardent Roman Catholic, Don Juan
of Persia, as he was now proud to be called, compiled
his Relaciones. The work is divided into three parts:
the Firt Book describing his native country and its
government, followed by an epitome of ancient and
mediaeval Persian history; the Second Book treating
of the late wars between the Persians and the Turks,
and the Third Book dealing with his journey from
Isfahdn into the countries of the Weft. He had left
Persia in the year 1599, being one of the four secre-
taries to the Persian ambassador whom Shah 'Abbas
was sending to the princes of Europe under the guidance
and personal conduft of Sir Anthony Sherley, and
Don Juan of Persia at this period was a Shi'ah moslem,
and bore the name of Uruch Beg. 1

As regards the Englishman who was to conduft
this Persian embassy, Sir Anthony Sherley was already
of European fame for his services in the Low Countries
under the Earl of Essex, and in France, where King
Henry IV had knighted him, a rank, however, never
officially confirmed by Queen Elizabeth. Also he
had led a celebrated expedition to the West Indies
and the Spanish Main, and then had left England
late in 1598 on what proved a fruitless political mission
to bring help and intervene in the affairs of the Duke
of Ferrara. His services in North Italy, however,
not being accepted or required, he and his brother
Robert, with twenty-five other Englishmen, took ship
at Venice in May 1599, proceeding to the Eaft, where,

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

landing at the mouth of the river Orontes, the party
went up to Antioch. Thence they passed on to Aleppo,
and then crossing the desert to the Euphrates, floated
down in boats, reaching the neighbourhood of the
ruins of Babylon, which lay at no great distance from
Baghdad, at that time in the occupation of the Turks.
From here they made their way into Persia to Qazvin,
and thence on to Isfahdn, where the Englishmen found
favour with SMh 'Abbas the Great. a In the first
decade of the i yth century Persia, then a great power,
was enjoying a late of prosperity that had been un-
known since the Arab conquest in the 7th century.
Its frontiers were once more very nearly those that had
been held under the Sassanian kings. A century
before this, the founder of the Safavi monarchy,
Shdh Isma'il, great grandfather of SMh 'Abbds, had
made the Persians a nation by the vigour of his rule,
further by proclaiming that the Shi'ah faith, with the
peculiar doftrine of the Im&ms (from whom he traced
his descent), was to be the one and only orthodox belief;
thus branding the Turks of the Sunni sedt as heretical
and infidel. For a hundred years he and his successors
down to Shdh 'Abbds had continually waged war against
the Turkish Sultans, but with such varying success that
Shih 'Abbas had now made up his mind to seek alliances
with the Christian powers or Europe, who, he trusted,
would be willing to combine with him againft the
Sultan and by making a flank attack on Constantinople
mortally harass the Turk.

Sherley therefore had come at a propitious hour;
he had no credentials to show from Queen Elizabeth)
but he represented himself as a noble in her confidence,
and_ offered to introduce the Shdh's ambassador to her
Majesty and to the sovereigns of the various courts of
Europe. The Persians of that age were well accus-
tomed to embassies from Christian potentates, and of
Englishmen in particular in the reign of Shdh Tahmdsp,

INTRODUCTION

the grandfather of Shah 'Abbas, Anthony Jenkinson,
coming from Queen Elizabeth, had been received very
honourably at Qazvin in the year 1 562. The embassy
therefore was forthwith organized and set out,
Sherley and one Persian ambassador being jointly
accredited to eight of the European courts, and a
second special ambassador was sent forward to await
their coming at Astrakhan who would accompany
them as far as Moscow, where this envoy was to remain
and represent Persia at the court of Tzar Boris Godunof,
The ambassador to the western powers, as we learn from
the Fugger Letters* was an imposing personage of a
respeftable age with grey hair, Husayn 'AH Beg by
name, and he had with him, as already said, four
secretaries. One of these was his nephew 'Ali Quli
Beg, but he who held the position of Firt Secretary of
Embassy was Uruch Beg, subsequently Don Juan of
Persia, the writer of the Relaciones, Uruch Beg was
at this time probably juft under 40 years of age, and
he was the son of the late Sultan 'AH Beg, who had
been killed in 158 5* at the siege of Tabriz, which city
the Persians were then trying ineffectually to recover
from the Turks. This was in the reign of Shah
Muhammad Khuda Bandah (father of Shah 'Abbas),
and Sultdn 'AH Beg, of the Bayat family, had been
a prominent noble of his court. With a regiment of
300 horse, raised entirely at his own expense, and
accompanied by his son (the future Don Juan) Sultan
*Ali Beg had held command in the royal armies; and
after his death his son had been given the command of
his father's regiment by the Shah. We may suppose
Don Juan to have been at that time about 25 years old,
hence he would have been born about the year 1560.

Setting out from Isfahan in July 1599, Sherley and
his Persian colleague travelled by slow Stages to a port
in Gilan (probably at or near Resht), where they
embarked on the Caspian for Astrakhan. All August

3

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

and September they were buffeted by contrary winds,
and narrowly escaped shipwreck, but by the beginning
of O6lober the ship made the mouth of the Volga,
Here they disembarked, were transhipped into galleys
and were rowed up the broad estuary to Astrakhan.
From this city to Kazan Don Juan States that it took
them in boats a two months' voyage, but the distance
being but little more than 1000 miles in a dircft line
along the river, one month at mot probably was the
time aftually spent in travelling. At one sT:age above
Kazan the Volga became frozen ; they then transferred
themselves to sleighs and finally entered Moscow early
in November, In Moscow as the gue^s of the Tzar
the embassy spent the firjft winter of the outward
journey, and here on a question of precedence Sherley
quarrelled with his two Persian colleagues, at firft
declining to pay his respefts to Tzar Boris Godunof ;
but matters were arranged finally, and after Eastertide
of the year 1600 he and his colleague the Special
Envoy remaining behind in Moscow set forward on
their journey. They went &rt by land to Yaroslav
on the upper Volga, where again they embarked on
galleys, travelling up the Stream to Rybinsk. In
this tage Don Juan calls the river Volga by the name
of Batem or Barem, a curious mistake or misnomer the
origin of which I have been unable to trace. From
Rybinsk their next objective was Prague in Bohemia,
but instead of taking the direft land route westward,
they were advised, keeping at fir& to the galleys, to go
by water via Archangel, probably on account of their
heavy boxes of presents and goods (referred to later by
Don Juan), and they therefore voyaged on slowly
northward. This meant crossing from Rybinsk on the
Volga by canal to Totma, on the upper waters of the
Northern Dvina, down which Archangel on the White
Sea was ultimately reached. Between Rybinsk and
Totma the exaft waterway is difficult to follow in

4

INTRODUCTION

Don Juan's narrative, but affluents to one and the other
river have their sources in common ground, and the
watershed here is very low. As already said, Don
Juan calls the upper reach of the Volga at Rybinsk
the Batem or Barem, and he gives this name also to the
waterway across to Totma and again to the river down
which their galleys rowed to Archangel, this la& river
in faft being the Northern Dvina.

At Archangel they took ship, and in due course, but
after a very Stormy voyage round the North Cape and
down the coab of Norway, reached Stode 4 at the mouth
of the Elbe, where Parry, who afted as Secretary to
Sir Anthony, disembarked, going Straight to England
with despatches, while Sherley and the Persian ambassa-
dor went on to Embden, at the mouth of the Weser.
Here they left their ship, and on landing were received
and hospitably entertained by the Duke of Oldenburg,
who showed them the wonders of his palace, after which
Sherley and the Persians set out by land for Kassel.
At Kassel the Landgrave of Hesse paid them every
attention, and Don Juan hereupon takes occasion to
insert a brief account (borrowed, without acknowledg-
ment, from Botero) of the chief cities of Central
Germany. From Hesse-Kassel the embassy passed
into Saxony, where they topped at the Duke's residence,
but did not see him, as he was out hunting, being, as
Don Juan notes, a yoi^ng man much addicted to sport.
From Kassel to Prague it is difficult to follow tage by
tage the route on the map, by reason of the astonishing
Cajftilian spellings of the German place-names. The
capital city of Saxony is called Syplilit, a name which it
is hard to identify with Dresden, and which more
probably is Leipzig, where the youthful Duke Chris-
tian II is Stated to have had his palace. To this point
the route followed appears to have been : Kassel,
Weimar, Halle and Syplilit, which is Leipzig. From
here to Prague, going doubtless up the Elbe through

5

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

the Saxon Switzerland, mosT; of the places named, till
we reach Bohemia, are unrecognizable on any modern
or i yth century map. Passing the Saxon frontier the
embassy entered the territories of the Empire, pro-
ceeding on to Prague in Bohemia, where they found
the Emperor Rudolf II in residence. This was in the
autumn of the year 1 600, the same in which at Easier-
tide they had left Moscow, and at Prague they wintered,
being sumptuously entertained at the Imperial Court. 6
The following spring, with an Imperial Chamberlain
to see them on their way, they set out from Prague for
Munich (via Nuremberg and Augsburg), where the
Duke of Bavaria, who had recently abdicated , William II,
surnamed the Pious, showed them the contents of his
treasury and his gardens. Our author has hitherto
given every tage of the journey, from Embden to
Munich (though in many Stages, as already remarked,
the place-names are unrecognizable), but from this
capital onwards only the places where the embassy was
entertained in tate are noticed. From Munich,
therefore, doubtless passing through Inspruck and
over the Brenner to Botzen and by Trent, they entered
Italy and went direft to Mantua, where the Duke
Vincenzo Gonzaga gave them a noble entertainment.
The ambassador had been commissioned by Shdh
* Abbas to present his Letters to the Doge of Venice,
but the Signory, when duly warned, declined to receive
the Persian envoy, sending for excuse that at this
moment they were busy with the reception of a Turkish
ambassador, and the Persians, therefore, from Mantua
went on to Florence. Here they learnt that the Duke
Ferdinand de' Medici was at Pisa, on a hunting ex-
pedition, but his servants welcomed the embassy and
showed the foreigners the sights of the city. At
a later date the Duke and Duchess received them at
Pisa, when further they were taken down to Leghorn
to see the new great port in the making, and Don Juan

6

INTRODUCTION

writes that 5,000 slaves were kept busy here on the works
of the fortress and harbour. From Pisa to Rome they
travelled by Siena, where the ambassador and Sir
Anthony had a violent quarrel, the former accusing
the latter of having stolen and sold to his private profit
the gifts destined by Shah * Abbas for presentation to the
Pope. This made it impossible for the mission to pro-
ceed further together. Sherley and the ambassador were
received in separate audience by Pope Clement VI 1 1,
after which Sir Anthony gave up his ambassadorial
commission, in shame or disgult, and set out for
Venice. While the Persians were Staying in Rome in-
continently the ambassador's cook and two others of his
suite announced their conversion to the Catholic faith,
much to the embarrassment of their master. 6

From Rome the embassy then set out for Spain,
travelling by land to Genoa, and thence by sea to
Savona, from which place they came up to Avignon.
Here the Papal Legate entertained them, forwarding
them in due course on to Perpignan, where crossing
the Pyrenees they reached Barcelona, and thence
through Zaragoza they finally reached Valladolid,
where the Spanish Court was then in residence. For
two months they sojourned at the Court of Philip III,
who received them graciously when presented to him
by the all-powerful Duke of Lerma. The Persian
ambassador now decided to go home, having accom-
plished his mission to the three potentates of Germany,
Rome and Spain, deeming that a visit to the five
remaining sovereigns on his list namely those of
England, Scotland, France and Poland, with the Doge
of Venice who had declined to receive him might
be left over for some more auspicious occasion. To
avoid the long land journey homeward across Europe,
he made up his mind to take his passage back to his
native land by sea, round the Cape of Good Hope,
thus to Ormuz on the Persian Gulf, whence Isfahan

7

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

might conveniently be reached. The settlement of
Ormuz at the date in question was Still in the occupation
of the Portuguese, but as such was a port in the Spanish
dominions, for it will be borne in mind that from
1583 to 1640 Philip II, III and IV of Spain were in
succession kings also of Portugal. On their departure
from his court Philip III generously provided for the
expenses of the embassy by land to Lisbon, and thence
on by sea with a free passage to the Persian Gulf:
for besides many magnificent presents, the Persians
were given 11,000 ducats in cash for journey money.
Indeed all along their route, on taking leave in audience
of the various sovereign princes to whom the embassy
was accredited, the ambassador and his secretaries had
invariably received a variety of gold cups, often some
gold chains, and much silver plate. This in addition
to cash, namely from the Pope 2,000 ducats, from
the Emperor 4,800, from the Tzar 3,800, a grand
total of 21,600 ducats, equivalent to ^7,200 sterling of
those days, and to perhaps ten times as much in the
value of money at the present time. Such were the
emoluments of an embassy in the year 1600, with
free board and lodging everywhere during sojourn.

From Valladolid therefore the Persians now set out
and travelled in a leisurely manner, passing by Segovia
and the Escoreal to Madrid and Toledo, whence
across Estremadura Truxillo was reached, and thence
by M^rida and Badajos on to Lisbon. At each town
they were sumptuously entertained in accordance with
orders sent on by Lerma, but when passing through
M&rida two Stages before reaching Lisbon a regrettable
incident occurred. Among the retinue of the Persian
ambassador was a Shi'ah doctor of theology, a Mulla,
or, as the Spaniards called him, an Alfaqui^ whose
business it was to see to it that the members of the
Mission walked in the path of Moslem orthodoxy.
This man, standing at the gate of their lodging in

INTRODUCTION

M6rida, was by some mischance ^tabbed to death by a
fanatic Spaniard, and the ambassador was much put
about as to what course to pursue. On consideration
he decided to go on to Lisbon, where he laid his case
before Philip Ill's Viceroy in Portugal, and Uruch
Beg (soon to become Don Juan) was then sent back to
Valladolid to claim redress of the Spanish government.
This matter was in due course seen to after delay, and
then from Lisbon the ambassador finally, early in the
year 1602, set sail on his long sea voyages. He mufc
have reached Ormuz during the course of the summer :
but we do not know the date, nor has any record come
down to us of his reception, at his homecoming, by
Shdh 'Abbds, to whom he doubtless reported the
rather meagre results of his embassy, and what had
happened to those of his suite who had not returned
with him. 7 For before the ambassador had left
Spain three principal members of his suite had afted
in a way causing him much embarrassment. Mos-
lems, whether Sunnis or Shi'ahs, rarely change their
religion. Indeed, in their own country to do so is
equivalent to suicide, for a renegade by the law of
Islam suffers death. As we have seen, three followers
of the Persian Embassy already had remained truant
in Rome, having abjured the faith of the Prophet,
and now, when the ambassador was about to leave
Spain, three of his secretaries proceeded to join the
Roman communion.

One, 'AH Quli Beg, was the ambassador's own
nephew, and this change of faith, which his uncle
regarded as perversion, was no light matter; nothing,
however, could be done to prevent the catastrophe.
Philip III was to be this nephew's godfather, giving
him his royal name; and he duly became Don Philip
of Persia; though what was his subsequent history is
totally unknown. At the same time and along with
him was baptized the author of the Relaciones, and to

9

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

the new Don Juan of Persia Margaret of Austria the
Queen of Spain tood sponsor. The third convert was
Buniyad Beg, who took the name of Don Diego of
Persia, and concerning his subsequent history we learn
something from the details of a lawsuit he had with
Salas Barbadillo, a well-known playwright and poet of
those days. Sefior Emilio Cotarelo y Mori, who has
recently edited the works of Salas Barbadillo, further
takes occasion in his Introduction to recount briefly
the sad fate that overtook our author, Don Juan, in the
year following the publication of his Relaciones. On the
1 5th of May of 1 605, when Still resident in Valladolid,
he was involved in a scuffle with the men attending a law
officer, an Alcalde dc Corte, and in the brawl he came
to be Stabbed, cut down and killed. To spare em-
barrassing questions his body was then and there flung
into a desolate gulley near the capital, where, as reported,
it was eaten by the town dogs. 8

Of the book of the Reladones and how it got itself
written, something muft now be said. The work, as
judged by competent critics, is composed in excellent
Ca^tilian, and Uruch Beg, as he then was called, had
come to Spain at the close of 1 601 knowing no Spanish
to speak of. The Aprovadtn to print is dated Febru-
ary 1604, and Sefior Cotarelo is of opinion that during
the previous two years Uruch Beg, now become Don
Juan, was unlikely to have learnt Spanish enough to
have composed it. How the book was produced is
explained in a letter prefixed to the text of the Relaeiones,
in which the Licentiate Alfonso Rem6n, who states
that he is an intimate friend of Don Juan's, introduces
the book to the special ^notice of the Royal Chaplain
and Almoner, Don Alvaro de Caravajal This
ecclesiastic had superintended the conversion of Don
Juan in 1602, and had baptized him by royal command
in the Palace Chapel at Valladolid. Rem6n, after
praising his new friend, as a man well educated in

10

INTRODUCTION

accordance with eastern Standards, Sating further that
his knowledge of the hiStory and geography of Persia
was astonishingly profound, continues that he, Remon,
had recently been helping Don Juan to compose in
CaStilian the work following, translating it page by
page from the original draft which Don Juan had
written out in Persian. Now in the penultimate
chapter of his Relaciones Don Juan has taken occasion
to tell us that from the moment when he left Isfahan
he had carefully kept his Diary, and daily had noted
down during the long journey all incidents that had
seemed to him of interest ; in order, as he adds, that
when he should return home to Persia this Diary might
be presented to Shah 'Abbas and copied out for the
instruction of his countrymen.

This Diary, of course, had been kept in Persian, as
indeed Rem6n mentions incidentally, adding that for
many months after coming to Spain Don Juan was
quite incapable of writing Spanish. Don Juan indeed
confesses that while he was a catechumen and learning
the dogmas of Christianity he was perforce obliged
to write out all the prayers he had to get by heart, as
beSt he could in the Persian script. His colloquial
knowledge of CaStilian possibly began to be acquired
soon after the embassy had left Rome, for we are told
the Pope had sent with the Persians, to aft as guide
and interpreter, a Spanish priest named Don Francisco
Guasque, Canon of Barcelona, who Stayed with the
embassy all the time they were in Spain. From his com-
panionship and constantly having to talk Spanish, Don
Juan doubtless in the year before his conversion muSt
have acquired a practical colloquial knowledge of the
tongue. Having regard to the original Diary, however,
Persian being written in the Arabic charafter, is as ill-
adapted as may be for registering Russian and German
place-names, hence the astonishing spellings that we
meet with in the itinerary. Further, these names during

ii

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

the composition of the Relaciones had to be read out
aloud by Don Juan from his draft Diary to Rem6n,
who, likening to Don Juan's utterances, proceeded to
diftate what he heard to an amanuensis, who wrote it
all down in accordance with CaStilian orthography.
For it is evident from many mistakes that are of the ear,
not of the eye, that the book before us was transcribed
by one who set down what was dictated. This is clear
both from his version of the Strange names pronounced
by Don Juan, and from what Rem6n was reading aloud
from the authorities (Italian and Spanish) he was con-
sulting in the compilation of the historical parts of
his work. 9 Then followed the lack of proof correcting,
to which reference has been made in my Preface.
Rem6n indeed had no easy task, and to fill in
historical blanks and to guide him in the account of the
journey through Russia and Germany, two countries
with whose geography he muSt have been but im-
perfeftly acquainted, he now kept open before him
the excellent contemporary geographical compendium
written in Italian by Giovanni Botero, 10 already re-
ferred to* Botero, however, is not by any means the
only author quoted in the Relations^ as will be seen
from the lift given in the note.' 11

Leaving now the Diary of the long journey through
Europe (forming the contents of the Third Book), some
account is due of the firSt two Books of the Relaciones.
The initial chapter of the work, it is clear, muSt have
been entirely the composition of the Licentiate Rem6n,
and sets forth very piously the satisfaction felt by
Don Juan at having embraced Christianity, He is
also very proud of that long journey of his, which he
says may take a third place after Marco Polo and
Magellan ; and he promises to correft the geography of
Botero and the hi$ory of the wars between Turks and
Persians which Minadoi had recently published. 32
The second chapter gives a description of the various

12

INTRODUCTION

provinces of Persia, but for the mot part this is merely
a re-arrangement of what Remon found in Botero:
Don Juan, however, has here and there added a few
details of interest from personal recollections of his
native land. The next two chapters, which are entirely
the composition of Don Juan, Remon only holding the
pen, are interesting. The firt deals with the mode
of government of Shah 'Abbas. The names are given
of the 32 noble families whose ranks supplied all the
officers or government officials, and the various depart-
ments of the tate are enumerated. In more than one
case, as might be supposed, it is evident that Persia
is much changed from what obtained in the early i 7th
century. The palace which the Shah's many wives
inhabited was then called the Haram^ a term now only
applied to the sanftuary of a Mosque. This was, of
course, in the main guarded by eunuchs : but as well as
these people Don Juan Elates that there were in attend-
ance a number of " escuderos " or squires, aged 70
and upwards, who looked after and diverted the ladies.
These Duennas of the male sex are a novelty not
mentioned apparently elsewhere, and at the present
day the king of Persia would certainly not tolerate
gentlemen even of 70 to attend and wait upon his
wives. The succeeding chapter is on manners and
customs, and is in every way noteworthy. How
burials and marriages were conducted, how the soldiers
were armed and of their armour (which was then manu-
factured in such abundance in Persia as to be a com-
modity of export to Muscovy), the cot of living and
the loose morals of the gypsies, all these and other
matters are touched on, and what we learn proves
that Persia at the present day is no longer what it was
in the spacious days of Shah 'Abbas.

The Relaciones now takes up the history of Persia
beginning with the times of Nimrod, the following
five chapters (5 to 9 of Book I), which are doubtless

13

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

the work of Rem6n, in a jejune epitome, bringing us
down to the fall of the Sassanian monarchy and the
subsequent rise of Islam, The moft part is a mere lift
of kings from Berosus or Ctesias, with a display of
classical erudition on the part of Rem6n, who is always
remiss in correcting his proofs. Being a very patriotic
Persian, Don Juan was anxious to get his friend and
editor Rem6n to show clearly how the Persian monarchy
of the Safavi kings was in fa6l the heir-general of the
Assyrian and Babylonian dynasties which had ruled
these countries since history began. All notice of
the Parthians is omitted, and the Sassanians are dealt
with by Rem6n from the classical standpoint, his chief
authority being Agathias, whose History had recently
been published, the Greek text with a convenient
Latin translation by Scaliger and Dousa, The laft
four chapters of the Fir ft Book take up the annals of
the Moslem Empire, and here it muft be remembered
that Don Juan is unlikely to have brought with him
from Persia any manuscript providing a compendium
of Islamic history, such, for instance, as would have
been Hamd Allah's Guzidah, For lack of some such
work (and the libraries of Valladolid certainly would
not have supplied any Persian texts) he had to rely on
what RemcSn could glean from Botero's Relationi
Uni^ersali^ and from such of the Byzantine historians
as had been published (the Greek texts with Latin
translations) before 1600, This meagre course was
supplemented, and commented on, by what Don Juan
himself could remember, from the teaching of his
school days in matters of history. In 1 600 no Arabic
text of any Moslem historian had yet been printed, for
the firt to see the light was the HiStoria Saracenica of
Elmacin, published by Erpenius at Leyden in the
year 1625. In this case, of the Byzantines, Rem6n
appears to have made use of Cedrenus (Bale, 1566),
Scylitzes (Venice, 1570), and Zonaras (Paris, 1567, or

INTRODUCTION

Frankfort, 1587)3 where in each case, beside the Greek
text a Latin version, in aid, is supplied. The HiSlory
of Theophanes, which would have been a more reliable
guide, was unfortunately not available, as the earliest
edition is that of Paris, 1655. Don Juan, aided by
Remon, from these very jejune authorities has, on the
whole, given a very fair summary of the history of the
Caliphate. He discreetly says little about the Prophet
Mahomed, and in the pride of his new faith only gives
passing allusions to the abominable doftrines of the
Cor an.

Coming to the firt three Caliphs, he explains how the
three wicked men Abu Bakr, Omar and Othman kept
'Ali out of his rights, and the history of the Omayyads
and Abbasids is told as leading up to the victory of
the House of *Ali and the Shi'ah faith in the person
of Shah Isma'il, the founder of the Safavi monarchy.
His hero in Omayyad times is Mukhtar, who avenged
the death of 'All's son Husayn, and with the coming
of the Abbasids it is Abu Muslim, their missioner in
Khurasdn, who is his hero : and Don Juan claims that
both these men were among the ancestors of Shah
Isma'il. Following on the Story of the Baghdad
Caliphate the Seljuq Turks and the Tartars are briefly
referred to, which leads to an account of the rise of the
Ottoman Sultans in Asia Minor, in later days to
become the chief adversaries of the Safavi kings of
Persia. As already explained, it is evident that when
composing the text of the Relaciones Remon had open
before him various volumes of the Byzantine historians,
and this method of composition muft account for
the curious spelling of many proper names. Some
mistakes, however, are doubtless due to lack of proof
correcting, which may explain why Omar appears as
Hosmaz or Oromaz, and Othman as Odman or Ozmin.
It is generally quite easy to identify the person who is
meant from the date and the incidents recorded, but

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

while, for instance,, the names of Hariin-ar-Rashid and
Mimtln are plain, Amin, the elder brother of the latter
Caliph, appears as Imbrael, and Tughril Beg the
Seljuq, son of Mikhail, figures under the Byzantine
disguise of Trangolypico Moncaleto (following
Zonaras and others). This name became well known
in Europe, for Richard Knolles, a contemporary
of Don Juan, has much to tell of Tangrolipix in his
General! Historic of the Turkes, 13 where he relates how
he, the "chief of the Salzuccians, slays Pisasiris, Calyph
of Babylon."

With the rise of Shaykh Haydar to power the history
of Persia as a nation begins. He was the father of
Shah Isma'il, and we are given an account of the
ancestors of the Safavis, with an exposition of the rights
of the House of 4 Ali, also how and why the Shi'ahs
differ in all points from the Sunnis; why, in short,
Persians and Turks never can agree. This leads in
the finft inlance to the biography of Uzun Hasan
(1466 to 1478), " Tall Hasan," the great chief of the
White Sheep Turkomans, who jufc before Safavi
times ruled Persia very gloriously, and contended on
no unequal terms with Sultan Muhammad II, the
Conqueror of Constantinople. Uzun Hasan is a
figure of some note in the pages of the various works
translated in the volume of Travels of Venetians in
Persia^ where Zeno refers to him as Ussun Cassano
and the Anonymous Merchant as Assatnbei, describing
the magnificent palace which Uzun Hasan built at
Tabriz and which Sh&h Isma'il occupied in later
days. Don Juan Elates (but giving no authority)
that Uzun Hasan was descended from a certain Hasan
Beg who was one of the many Turkish chiefs ruling
in Asia Minor during the latter part of the I4th
century, when this country was divided under the
Ten Turkish Amirs ; of whom one family survived to
become the House of Ottoman. The si&er of Uzun

16

INTRODUCTION

Hasan was the mother of Shaykh Haydar, and to him,
his nephew, Uzun Hasan subsequently gave his
daughter in marriage, who became the mother of
Shah Isma'il. Uzun Hasan's wife was Despina,
daughter of Kalo Joannes, the lat Greek Emperor of
Trebizond. Thus through his mother and maternal
grandmother Shah Isma'il claimed descent from the
Comneni Emperors of Constantinople, while on the
father's side he was, in the direft male line, the repre-
sentative of the Seventh Imam Musa Kazim, fourth
in descent from Husayn, the grandson of the Prophet
Mahomed. Of how Shah Isma'il, the son of Shaykh
Haydar, established the dynasty of the Safavis and
became the firft king of all Persia more will appear
later. It is of importance clearly to point out that
for Persia this coming of the Safavis was more than a
mere change of rulers, for it produced a change of
religious belief. The outstanding fat that came to be
established by the new government of Shah Isma'il
was that the Persians had become a nation. And this
he had effefted by imposing on all Persia the Shi'ah
creed, which once for all differentiated them from their
neighbours on the weSt, the Sunni Turks. The Shi'ah
do&rine, the right divine of the Imams to supreme
kingship, and therefore for their descendants the right
to govern the land of Persia, was already before this
period an ideal of the majority of Persians; and two
centuries before the date of Shdh Isma'il, according to
Hamd Allah MuStawfi, in many towns throughout
Persia those of the Shi'ah faith equalled those of the
Sunni population. He, Shdh Isma'il, came to rule,
being the dire A descendant of the Prophet through the
Imdms ; and the blood of Sassanian kings also was in
his veins, for his ancestor Husayn (grandson of
Mahomed) had married Shahr-Banu, the daughter of
Yazdagird, the laSt of the Sassanian kings, and her
son was Zayn-al-'Abidin the Fourth Imam.

17 c

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

Toleration in religious matters was disregarded in
the EaSt as in the Wet in the xyth century, and
Isma'il insisted that all Persians should at prayer time
curse the firt three Caliphs in Islam, Abu Bakr, Omar
and Othman, who had robbed *Ali, " the Friend of
God," and his lawful descendants of their birthright
during the laSl thousand years. Further, to distinguish
the orthodox from the heterodox, Shdh Ismail's
followers all now wore the Red Cap, with twelve points,
so fashioned to typify very clearly the number of
the orthodox Imams. From that date Qizil Bash
(" Red Head ") therefore became the Turkish name for
the Persian Shi'ahs, and the Red Cap with twelve
gussets in many colours is carefully described, this,
according to Don Juan, being a form of bonnet that had
been invented originally by *Ali, the Prophet's son-in-
law: he, however, gives no authority for this fantastic
Statement, The missioners of the Shi'ah doctrines
were the Stiffs, and their name has been often wrongly
connefted with Safavi, the name of the new dynasty.
In Persian the word Sufi (a dervish, otherwise a myStic)
is said to be derived from Siif, " wool, 77 the material
from which the garments of these religious mendicants
was commonly made; while the dynasty of which
Shdh Isma'fl was the founder took its name of Safavi
(the adjeftive form of Saff) from Shaykh Safi-ad-Dfn of
Ardebil, the illustrious and saintly ancestor of the royal
house. Etymologically, therefore, Stiff and Safari
have nothing to do with each other, but the names
being much alike, and both in common use, led Euro-
pean travellers and writers of the i6th and ryth
centuries to call the Safavf king of Persia the Grand
Sophi, The origin of this name being thus in dispute,
Don Juan on more than one occasion Slates very
emphatically that the Grand Sophi was indeed the
great Sufi or Dervish, but that this name was not
derived either from the Greek word cro^os, " wisdom,"

18

INTRODUCTION

as falsely asserted by some, or as might follow by
implication from Safavi, the family name of the monarch
of Persia. Don Juan indeed makes the ditintion
between the proper name Safi and Stiff quite clear,
for when mentioning Shah Isma'fl I. in speaking
of his tomb, it is as Xiek-Sofi or Xiche Sophi that
he appears in his transliteration. 16

The Second Book of the Relaciones takes up the
history of Persia during the 1 6th century, the period of
the long duel between the Turks and the Persians,
Ready at hand for relating the events of this
1 6th century, Don Juan, or rather his editor the
Licentiate Rem6n, had open before him the well-
known work on these famous wars, composed in
Italian by Giovanni Thomaso Minadoi, and the
errors of this book, as already mentioned in the
firt chapter of Book I of the Relaciones^ Don Juan
has been at much pains to correct. 16 Further, Remon
appears to have used the Hitfory of the Ottoman
Sultans written in Latin by Boissard; this work also
being the chief authority on which Richard Knolles
depended for composing his great Historic of the Turkes
mentioned on a previous page. 17 The whole of
Book II of the Relaciones may indeed be regarded as
a condensed and rearranged translation of Minadoi,
corrected and amplified by what Don Juan knew,
from his father, and from oral tradition about the events
of the century jut elapsed, covered by the reigns of
father, uncle and grandfather of Shah 'Abbas. In
many ways it is an ample and graphic pifture of
mediaeval Persia during the early days of that country's
greatest prosperity. 18

After describing in some detail the rise of the Safavi
power under Isma'il the firt Sophi, an account is given
of Isma'iPs war against Sultan Bayazid IL At this
time Tekelli, in command of the Persian irregular
forces, was carrying fire and sword throughout

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

Anatolia (Asia Minor), where a recent massacre, by
the Sultan's orders, of his Shl'ah. subjects had provoked
the ardent sympathy of their Persian co-religionists;
and Don Juan speaks of a great viftory gained by
Tekelli over the Turks, who were under the command
of Prince Qurqud, Sultan Bayazid's son. Tekelli's
victorious career across Asia Minor, according to our
author, at one time brought him up to the shores of the
Bosporus, so that he came near to raiding the suburbs
of Constantinople, but on this incident the Turkish
historians are entirely silent* With the accession of
Sultan Selim the Grim to the throne, the tables were
quickly turned. Western Persia was invaded, and in
1514 the great viftory of Chaldirdn enabled Selim
temporarily to occupy Tabriz (at that time Shih
Isma'iTs capital) and the king had to retire with his
beaten army eastward. For the Turks, however, it
proved an almoSt barren vidory, Don Juan is proud
to tell of the immense number of the combatants
engaged on either side in this celebrated battle, and he
says that in his youth he had known old men, living
at Isfahdn, who told him Glories of their deeds of
valour in that war. The Turks soon afterwards
evacuated Tabriz, and Shdh Ismail, back in his capital,
now seeking an ally againSt the Sultan, despatched an
embassy to Cairo to the Burji Mamliik, Sultan Qansuh.
This move Sultan Selim countered by ordering the
immediate invasion of Syria, The Egyptians were
defeated in a battle fought outside the walls of Aleppo,
where the Turkish artillery made havoc of the famous
cavalry of the Mamlxiks, and Sultan Qansuh was left
dead on the field, from which his army fled. Thus
Syria was loSt, and Selim marched on to Cairo* All
Egypt, after another battle loft, submitted, which
thenceforward became a province of the Turkish
Empire,

In 1520 Sultan Sulaymin the Magnificent succeeded

20

INTRODUCTION

his father Selim the Grim, and four years later Shah
Tahmasp was king in the room of his father Isma'fl,
governing Persia for the next fifty-two years, during
the course of which on five different occasions the
north-western provinces (Azerbayjan and Georgia)
suffered invasion by Turkish armies, Baghdad also,
with moft of Mesopotamia, passing into the power of
the Turkish Sultan. Sulayman the Magnificent died
in 1566, being succeeded on the throne by his son
Selim II, known as the Sot, and ten years later the long
reign of Shah Tahmasp reached its close. His eldest
son Muhammad Khuda Bandah, being partially blind,
was easily ousted by his brother Isma'il, who for two
years with much shedding of blood ruled as Shah,
firft with and then without the support of his remarkable
sifter, the Princess Parf-Khan-Khdnum. His death
in 1578 brought his elder brother, the blind Prince
Muhammad, back to the throne; the princess was
decapitated, and her head Stuck on a lance point was
exposed at the gates of Qazvin, now become the Persian
capital a shocking sight to the people, which Don Juan
much deplores ; and he may indeed have seen it, for he
mut have been a youth of eighteen at this date. The
government then came into the hands of Prince
Hamzah, the blind king's eldeSt son, who loyally
and to the bet of his capacity carried out his father's
behests ; the Persians doing their bet to resist the re-
newed Ottoman invasion of Georgia. Here the troops
of Sultan Murid III (the son of Selim the Sot, who died
in 1574) had appeared in 1577, under the command of
MuJftafi Pasha, already famous as the conqueror of
Cyprus. The semi-independent kingdom of Georgia,
for the mot part inhabited by Christians, had suffered
much in the earlier years of the 1 5th century by the
ravaging conquest of Tamerlane. It was now in the
laft quarter of the 1 6th century ruled by six independent
princes who had hitherto chiefly looked for support

21

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

to Persia, but they were already being constrained to
bow before the invading Turkish power. The
Georgian princes, from this period onward, perforce
became renegades, Sunni or Shi'ah, as beSt suited the
exigencies of the moment. The Turkish armies,
coming up through the Armenian mountains, took
and garrisoned Tiflis on the river Kur (or Cyrus), and
next sought to dominate the Shirvdn province which
lies to the eastward, extending down to the Caspian
and as far as Derbencl, a celebrated fortress, which
the Turks called Demir Qapu (the Iron Gate), and the
Arabs B&b-al-Abwdb (the Gate of Gates),

To the events which resulted in the subjugation of
Georgia by the armies of Sultan Mur&d III, Don Juan
devotes several chapters of his work, explaining how
in a few years Georgia, with all the lands lying to the
south of the Caucasus range, namely Mingrelia and
much of Armenia, became a province of the Turkish
Empire, The invasion began in 1578, and for the
rnos f t part Minadoi is the source used by Rem6n, whose
knowledge of the Italian frequently fails him, with the
result of not a few mistranslations* He might with
advantage have used Herrera's excellent Spanish
version of Minadoi, but this apparently was not then
available in the Valladolid library. At the time of the
Turkish invasion of Georgia Don Juan mu^t have been
almost grown up, and he may in the later days of the
conquell have heard of, and when writing his Relaciones
have remembered many of the events related in the
pages of Minadoi's History. Leaving aside for the
moment the affairs of Georgia on the western frontier,
Don Juan next devotes a long chapter to Herdt in the
north-ea^t, where Prince 'Abbds (afterwards Shdh),
then a boy of twelve, was governor of Khurasdn in the
name of the Shdh, his father ; and here the many mistakes
of Minadoi as to what was actually happening in Heiit
are correfted by the accounts that Don Juan heard from

22

INTRODUCTION

the lips of his father Sultan 'Ali Beg Bayat, who was
at Herat in attendance on the young prince. Our
author next reverts to Georgia, where the Turks were
settling their conquest in preparation for a southward
move on Erivan, whence they might threaten and
ultimately get possession of the rich Persian province
of Azerbayjan, with the great city of Tabriz, its capital.
Pasha succeeded Pasha as Ottoman commander-in-
chief in Georgia, while Sultan Murad III per-
sonally directed the campaigns by orders sent from
Constantinople. Slowly but surely the conquest
was effected. Qars, which was the Turkish frontier
fortress, was now connefted by Strongly garrisoned
poSts back with Erzerum and thence north to the
Black Sea at Trebizond, to which port supplies were
constantly shipped from Constantinople.

As againSt the Persian lack in this arm, the great
advantage of the Turks lay with their artillery, with
which all their armies were well provided. Tiflis
they garrisoned and successfully held againSt all
attempts of the Georgians to retake it, and the passes
of the mountains were safeguarded by many forts
commanding the long road by which convoys passed
from Trebizond to Erzerum and Qars and the Tomanis
pass up into Georgia. To reach Erivan a well-guarded
road direct from Qars was established, and Erivan was
then quickly taken from the Persians; becoming a
great Turkish Stronghold, and base, by the building of
a new fortress on the heights above the town, of which
the remains may Still be admired. All these works
required large sums of money, which the Turkish
government had to convoy safely in cash to their
commanders in the outpoSt garrisons; but at Tiflis
and elsewhere it is evident that the troops found no
difficulty in supplies, and they were able to buy their
provisions from the friendly renegade Georgians, round
and about, whose country they were slowly but surely

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

engaged in absorbing. Up to this moment the Turks
had been engaged in overrunning the tributary
provinces lying beyond Persia proper, but Sultan
Murdd's next move was against Tabriz, then the mot
important commercial city of Persia, where the caravan
routes from the weft and from the eaft met, Tabriz
was peopled by unwarlike merchants, and its
fighting Strength had to come from the Turkoman
tribesmen settled as nomads at some distance from the
city in the fertile plains of the Azerbayjdn province.
Unfortunately the Turkomans were at the time in a
tate of feud against the Persian government, for their
chief had recently been put to death by Prince Hamzah
under suspicion (wrongfully, it was said) of an intention
to rebel against the Shah. Thus Tabriz, almost
undefended, quickly fell to Othman Pasha, who pro-
ceeded to build a great fortress here, to be held by a
Strong garrison. The Persians Strove for many months
to retake what had been so ingloriously lo^t; and our
author, then known under the name of Uruch Beg,
makes his finft appearance on the scene, as a young man
fighting at his father's side in the Persian army laying
siege to the Turks in their new ^Ironghold, and present
when his father was killed in a gallant attempt to
ftorm the main bastion of the fortress.

During the next fifteen years all that happened in
Persia is described from the observations, or recollec-
tions, of an eye-witness, for our author succeeded to
his father's place in the Shdh's favour, and fought under
the command of Prince Hamzah the regent. Do what
they would Tabriz fort could not be retaken from the
Turks, and the next move of the rebellious Turkoman
tribesmen was boldly to kidnap one of the Shih's
younger sons, Tahmisp Mirza, a boy of twelve, and
the rebels marching away from the neighbourhood of
Tabriz captured and occupied Qazvfn, at that time the
capital city of Persia. The season was winter; the

24

INTRODUCTION

Shah and Prince Hamzah were detained besieging the
Tabriz fortress, and they had to endure the affront of
the Turkomans taking possession of the capital, where
they set up the boy Tahmasp as nominal king. During
that winter Tabriz suffered many things. The spring,
however (of 1586), saw the turning of the tables.
Prince Hamzah, leaving his father in camp before
Tabriz fort, marched with all available forces on Qazvin.
The Turkomans evacuated the capital to meet the
prince in the open field, and were completely routed;
young Tahmasp Mirza, being taken prisoner, was
despatched, blinded, to end his days at Alarmit, the
famous cattle in the hills north of Qazvin, where five
centuries before the Chief of the Assassins, the " Old
Man of the Mountain " of Marco Polo, had established
the centre of his power. During this short campaign
againSt the rebel tribesmen our author was in command
of a squadron of horse under Prince Hamzah, and the
details of the Struggle are narrated at firSt hand. With
the prince he now returned to the camp at Tabriz,
and learnt that the Turks had sent an army of 200,000
men from Constantinople under Cigala Pasha, in part
to reinforce the garrison of the Tabriz fort, and in
part to Strengthen their outpols on the frontiers of
Persia at Erivan and Tiflis. It now became evident to
Prince Hamzah that the blockade of Tabriz fort would
not lead to its capture, and under his orders the Persians
evacuated their camp, dismantling the town forti-
fications. Then the civil population, urged and aided
to carry off with them all their goods and chattels, were
escorted out and sent to people neighbouring towns
further in the interior of the country. The king and
Prince Hamzah at the head of the army now marched
north to Ganjah, the capital of the mountainous ditrI6t
of Qarabagh lying to the south-eat of Tiflis : this with
the view of effecting a demonstration in force that
should safeguard the Persian frontier in that quarter.

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

This done, the army, after renting awhile, set put from
Ganjah on its return to Qazvin, the capital, and it was on
the march thither that an event occurred namely, the
unexpected murder of Prince Hamzah by his barber
which entirely changed the political situation. Don
Juan (as Uruch Beg) was present in the camp when the
deed was done, and the details are carefully chronicled.
The cause of the crime has been variously given,
but according to Don Juan it was a political plot of
several great nobles of the SMmlu Clan, who wished by
removing Prince Hamzah to bring in his son, a boy
under age, as nominal regent, whom they should govern
while continuing to rule the ftate in the name of the
blind king, the boy's grandfather. The event turned out
otherwise, and served to bring Prince *Abbis (at that
time a youth in his seventeenth year) on the scene from
Herdt, where he was ading governor. Forthwith
begins his reign of over forty years, for his blind
father abdicated the kingship and in 1588 (the year
with us of the Spanish Armada) Shdh 'Abbds the Great
assumed the crown. The beginning of the reign
found Persia beset on the wejft by the Ottoman armies,
and threatened on the north-eajft by the Tartar hordes
otherwise known as the Uzbeks. Also moil of the
home provinces of Persia were seething with revolt
against the newly established government at Qazvin,
Young Shdh ' Abbis showed his grasp of statesmanship
by making terms without delay, though at heavy
cos% with the Turk, A formal treaty with Sultan
Murdd III left Tabriz with moSt of the province^ of
Azerbayjdn, and all Georgia, in peaceable possession
of the Ottoman power; and SMh 'Abbds was thereby
enabled to concentrate his forces against the petty
potentates who were rebelling in Gilln, Lurljftdn and
Mdzandanln, Next the Uzbeks, who unchecked had
been overrunning and plundering all Khurasin, were
defeated in" a great battle near Herit, and Persia was

26

INTRODUCTION

then, for the firSt time for many a long year, at
peace.

Seven years later, when the reign of the feeble Sultan
Muhammad III, who had succeeded in 1595 his father
Murad III, was drawing to its close, Shah 'Abbas
deemed that the time had come to denounce the peace
treaty and turn the Turks out of Tabriz, re-establishing
Persian dominion over Azerbayjan and Georgia. But
this only began to get accomplished in 1602, which
is after the date when Uruch Beg had left Persia on
the embassy to the western powers, and hence does
not come within the scope of the present narrative.
In nearly all the campaigns, during the firSt eight,
years of his reign, which Shah 'Abbas waged in order
to settle his government, our author took his part as a
fighter, and the history of the time is told by him with
much detail. The incidents are characteristic of the
age. In LuriStdn the rebel prince takes shelter in a
fort garrisoned by Turks: the Shah is nominally at
peace with the Ottoman power, but the Persians
arriving in force burn the gates of the fort and capture
the fugitive, the Turks further unmolested making no
opposition or protect. In Gildn the local prince is
defeated and takes ship to cross the Caspian with his
treasures and his beautiful Georgian slave girl (she had
coSt him 10,000 crowns): landing on the weSt coaSt
(probably at Baku) they cross Georgia to the eastern
shore of the Black Sea (probably to near Poti), and then
embark for Constantinople, where both are well re-
ceived by the Sultan and take up their abode unmolested
in his capital. To the eaSt of Gildn in the ASterabad
province the rebel prince plays a trick on the Persian
commander, keeping him the whole winter besieging
a caStle built of boards, but covered with white plaSter
so as outwardly to simulate Stone work. After the
great battle near Herdt when the Uzbek power was
annihilated, the army marched home, bearing with them,

27

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

according to Persian custom, 24,000 Tartar heads.
Indeed, as late as forty years ago in Persia (and possibly
it may Still there be the cu^om) the only proof that a
rebel was duly disposed of and dead was the production
in public of his head, generally accompanied by the
heads of as many of his followers as could conveniently
be colle&ed. Book II of the Reladones closes with an
account of the transference of the capital from Qazvin
to Isfahdn, and then our author relates the coming of
the two Sherley brothers in 1599. This immediately
brings Don Juan to his account of how the Persian
Embassy to the powers of Europe was resolved on,
followed by the description of the journey which forms
the subjeA of Book III, the summary of which has
been set in the forefront of the present Introduction.

In conclusion, it may prove interesting to describe
the volume belonging to the Cambridge University
Library, of which the following pages give a translation
of the Ca&ilian text. The pages of this little 4to
measure 20 cm. by 16 cm., and, beginning with the
title, there are twelve unnumbered folios (which it has
seemed needless to translate) before coming to the
numbered (re8o and verso) folios of the three Books
of the Reladones. The title-page bears date of Mo
1604 and continues: con privilegio^ Falladolid^for Juan
de BoSlillo en la calk de Samano. On the next folio
are the corrigenda, which, however, leave moft of the
misprints unnoticed. Its verso has the AprovacMn
of the Jesuit Francisco de Galarza, and the Tasa
of three and a half Maruvedis for each sheet. ^ The
next folio contains the licence to print of King Philip III
addressed to Don Juan dc Persia, and the following
folio sets forth Don Juan's Dedication to his Catholic
Majesty. The fifth folio contains a short address from
Don Juan to his Reader, but this mentions nothing of
any interest. The next folio (reflo) prints a Sonnet
in honour of Don Juan, written by Doftor Maximiliano

28

INTRODUCTION

de C6sped.es, and (verso) is followed by another Sonnet
from the pen of Dona Ana de Espinosa y Ledesma, a
native of Segovia; neither seems worthy of translation.
The next two folios contain the interesting letter,
already spoken of above, p. 10, written by the Licen-
tiate Remon to Don Alvaro de Caravajal, Court Chap-
lain to the King and Queen, in which he, Remon,
explains how he came to help Don Juan, in his ignorance
of Spanish, to compose the work that follows. The lat
three unnumbered folios give us seven more Sonnets,
written by various friends of Don Juan in his honour;
but these, like the other verses, may reasonably be left
to be read in their native CaStilian tongue.

Then come the three Books which go to form the
Relaciones, Starting on folio I redo, and ending on
folio 173 refto with Laus Deo to conclude the 345*
pages of text. From folio 173 verso to folio 175 verso
we have ten groups of Exemplos (Sayings), which Don
Juan gives us as the cream of Persian wit and wisdom.
The Exemflos are turned out in quatrain form, and
should bet be appreciated in the original Spanish,
being, in the form printed, without doubt the work
of the Licentiate Rem6n. The next twelve folios
provide a Table of Contents of the three Books of the
Relaciones, the pages duly cited ,of the text, and this
table, it may be noted, gives more details than are
to be found in the summaries prefixed to each of the
chapters. The penultimate folio verso and the lat
folio of the book (redo and verso) contain a short voca-
bulary of the Persian and Turkish words occurring
in the Spanish text, and this shows the method, or lack
of method, of transliteration by Don Juan under the
guidance of the Licentiate Rem6n.

29

FIRST Book of the Account of Don Juan
of Persia, in which the Provinces subjeft
to the Great Sophi of Persia are de-
scribed, with the several peculiarities of
these lands. Whereto also is added an
account of the chronology of the Persian
kings and rulers since the days of
Nimrod,

3 1

CHAPTER I

\The Author > having become a Christian , proceeds to write a summary
account of the Hiflory of Persia, and,, later,, to narrate the events
of Ms voyage into Spain, Of the errors in the works of Giovanni
Bolero and Thomas Minadoi. The Author's travels may well rank
with those of Marco Polo and Magellan^

WELL may I begin quoting what the Apoile
Paul sayth : Gratias ago Ei^ qui me confortavit
in Chriho Jesu Domino nolro^ qui fidelem me
exitfimavit ponens in minifferio^ qui prius blasphemus
fui) et persecutor^ et contumeliosus^ sed misericordiam Dei
consecutus sum, quia ignorans fed in incredulitate^ et
cetera. Blessed be the mercy of God, for that He can,
from the by-ways, bring souls into His Church. And
of a truth the Apostle also continues with these words
following in the Epistle which he wrote to Timothy,
saying : " I give thanks to Him who hath Strengthened
me, even to Christ Jesus our Lord, for that He hath
counted me faithful: and He hath brought me out of
the darkness of the false sefts of idolatry and Judaism,
and taught me the true evangelical doftrine, arming
me with the buckler of the faith, and giving me the
inexpugnable fortress of the Catholic Doftrine." For
this indeed is what is meant by the words of the
Epistle: me confortavit in Chrifto Jesu. "For indeed
aforetime I was a blasphemer and a persecutor of the
Church, an evil-speaker, an unbeliever, and in fine an
infidel. But God took me. Not because I was
worthy, but because it so pleased Him, that in His
moift merciful intent, and by His divine providence,
I might be accounted afterwards among the faithful,
to make me a participator in the ineffable mystery of
His moft holy Passion. Thus I am now become His

33 D

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

faithful servant, for I hold that the Divine Majesfty
in so deigning to grant me this supreme mercy, saw and
pitied the crass ignorance in the which I had been
hitherto overwhelmed, being born one of a false and
faithless creed. So was it done, for all was by His
divine mercy." 1

Thus far we have been following Saint Paul, though
of a certainty these are words many of which 1 muSt not
take to myself, being so great a sinner, though some
indeed of them after a fashion may be applicable to
the Divine mercy shown in my case, I too having been
called. For my parents and fore-bears were all mis-
believers, and 1 myself grew up in this same State of
misbelief, being of the false seft of Mahomed, and
living in the country and under the rule of an infidel
Prince, a country situate far distant, more than three
thousand leagues from Spain, where I now write this
Book in the city of Valladolid, But God indeed
showed very singular mercy towards me, using me with
all favour, in that I was chosen to be one of the Secre-
taries of the Embassy sent by the King of Persia to
this kingdom of Spain; thus to make manifest in me
the truth of the Gospel, even as in Divine Wisdom
it is said: Quasi myrrha dedi sua^itatem odoris^ ^elodorem
suavitatis : the which is a sweet savour to my soul.

And this same allegorical interpretation we may
apply in a practical sense, for verily this is indeed the
understanding of things which experience gives to a
prudent man, and forsooth it is the sign which David
sayeth is Stamped upon all our foreheads. Thus to me
was granted this sweet savour of the mode of life of
Christian folk: and the effulgence of the Gospel Doc-
trine entering into me by this gate caused me, from the
moment that I understood, to desire to Strive faith-
fully to believe those dogmas which, though yet they
may not be fully understood by me, are indeed neces-
sary to orthodox belief: namely, the MySteries of the

34

HIS CONVERSION

Faith. So at laSt I came to desire, even as did Saint
Peter, that I should be bathed in the water and dew of
the Doftrine of Christ Jesus: non tantum manus et
caput) but indeed my very soul in the waters of bap-
tism. Of my conversion, however, and the manner
thereof, I shall now not speak more fully, leaving this
matter for later, where in its proper place I shall
describe the same in detail,

Now the voyage we took from Persia into Spain
was of a very great length, and was through moSt
remote lands and by diverse seas, and the same was by
a very different route from that which the Portuguese
now take when they go to India, or to Ormuz, which
same is on the borders of the Persian kingdom; and we
saw many Strange matters during our long voyage.
Further, it is borne in on me that I be not slow in
manifesting gratitude to God for the merciful kindness
which He vouchsafed to me and to my two com-
panions an incomparable grace, and, by human
effort, one never to be repaid in that He caused us
to become Christians. Thankfulness also is due for
the great liberality shown to us at the auguSt hands of
his Mol Catholic Majesty, who indeed has treated
us, and daily does treat us, after a moSt noble and
Christian fashion.

Therefore now I, who have studied somewhat in
the Arabic and Turkish tongues, learning the prin-
ciples too of the Alcoran, shall proceed to give to the
Kingdoms of the WeSt a description of all that our
eyes have seen on this same journey, in order that here
in Spain the Faithful, seeing what diversity of pro-
vinces and peoples the Demon Still holds under his sway,
in the firSt place may give due thanks to God for His
singular and ever present mercy in having brought
those of the Orthodox Faith, as we may say, into port,
where they are subjeft to the law of His divine grace;
and in the second place, that they may in their prayers

35

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

give due thanks, beseeching that it may please God to
ordain the prompt conversion to Christianity of these
infidel folk.

Further, it will not be found contrary to the general
desire of our readers that we here describe carefully
all the many provinces and diverse races of men
whom we visited, carefully noting their various rites
and ceremonies. At the same time, I do protect, and
call on God tp witness who, as I well know, shall
never be invoked for any untrue statement, quia Deus
in ccelo fidelis eSl that we only now describe what we
have actually ourselves seen in the course of our travels,
without adding thereto for the sake of pleasing, or
diminishing therefrom for the sake of displeasing,
wherefore we say, quod vidimus tefflamur* Further, to
conform to the canon of good custom in ouir writings,
we shall begin this Book by the description of the
kingdom of Persia, where we were born and from
whence we set forth, and we shall do this making no
special reference to the cosmographies of ancient
days, on which same already so many authors have
written. We shall give a succinft but exaffc descrip-
tion of our country as it is at the present time, setting
down the native Persian names, which may thus be
compared and adjusted to those given by ancient and
modern authorities who have written or shall in the
future write from hearsay. For indeed in this
matter I speak as an eye-witness, and therefore, if in
the works of Thomas Minadoi or Giovanni Botero any
diversity of names be found from what I shall here set
down, the reader mut know that mine are the real
Persian names, as spoken in the native tongue of my
country, while theirs are but mistaken versions, being,
in faft, misunderstood or wrongly pronounced words.

And to finish, 1 do not think there has been any
voyage comparable to ours from Persia to Spain, since
the travels published and described by Marco Polo

36

THE LONG JOURNEY

the Venetian, and the recent record of discoveries
attributed to the Infant of Portugal, [Prince Henry the
Navigator,] and the circumnavigation of the globe
made by the ship named Fiftoria ; 2 and so I truft that
my account which follows may be found acceptable.

37

CHAPTER II

The description of Persia, and of the provinces subject thereunto,

ACCORDING to Strabo, Persia Is the country lying south
of Parthia and Carmania, between the provinces of
Media on the wet and Hircania on the eajft, having
if we are to believe Peter Apianus 1 Arabia to the
south of the same. But Giovanni Botero, in his book,
ju&ly remarks 2 that Ancient Persia is in faft solely
the province which is now known as Firs, or Farsiiftan,
whose frontiers lie at the rivers Sirto and lesdri, and
the same extends from the borders of Carmania, now
called Kirmdn, to the borders of Media, now known
as Hamaddn, 3 these frontiers Standing at a distance of
more than 400 leagues one from the other.

The principal metropolitan city and the capital of
Fdrs is Shfriz, which Stands on the banks of the river
Band-i-Amir, 4 This city was in ancient days called
Persepolis, the same that was burnt down by Alexander
the Great, and its population is to-day little less than it
was then, seeing that within its present walls the
inhabitants number 70,000 householders 5 [31,500
souls]. Now Josaphat Barbaro gives Shirdz a circuit
of 20 miles; but I, who frequently have walked about
this city and so to speak measured it, am of opinion
that in its extreme length and breadth -including the
orchards and gardens, for there is no house here but
has its own garden the circumference of Shfrdz may
be set down at four Caftilian leagues. The city has
much commerce by reason that all the merchandise
from Zagatay [or Tartary] to India has to pass through
this town, it being the custom-house or land-port for
those parts. To Fdrs or F&rsi^tin also belong the

38

RDI5TAN

W 3S , , >

Turshiz i Urb JP f

noydor

j

PERSIAN

O P^rsc: poll's
5h,ra2 ^ KIRMAN

FRONTIERS OF PERSIA

ditrits of Lur [otherwise Luriftan] ; and included in
Lur is the province of Susiana, whose chief town is
Shutar, lying on the river Saymarah; and the climate
here is so hot that the people, in the height of the dog-
days, put themselves in water up to their necks, in
order the more comfortably to pass the heat of the day.
To the north of the province of Pars, as already
said, lies P^rthia, which at the present time is the
province of Persian *Iraq, the capital of which is the
city of Isfahan, where the kings of Persia now hold
their court, and from the which city we set forth on
our journey to Spain, Isfahan is at present so popu-
lous that they call it the city of Nisf-i-Jahdn> which
in the Persian tongue signifies Half-the- World ; but
reduced to aftual count its population may number
80,000 householders [or 360,000 souls], more rather
than less. The concourse of men here is notable, and
may be realized by the number of hotels that &and
at the entrance gates of the city, upwards of 600 in
number, and called here caravanserais. There are
also 300 bath-houses which they call Hammams.
The country round and about Isfahan lies low, being
somewhat swampy, and from the exceeding dampness
not very healthy. The city lies on the banks of a river,
which is known as the Zandarud. Within its walls
10,000 shops of merchants are to be found, shops both
of clothes~tuffs and of supplies for victuals, these shops
being called the Bazaar. And from its very origin its
tar had made Isfahan to be the King's Court, for,
as we learn from Strabo, this is the ancient Hecatompy-
los which means the City of a Hundred Gates. At
the present day Isfahan Still counts a hundred very
notable buildings, namely, at leafc that number of
towers rising up above the private houses of the city.
These are watch-towers, and they are so lofty that,
besides beautifying the appearance of the town by their
truture, you may overlook the country round from

39

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

their windows to a distance of more than six leagues.
The greatest of all these towers is the one that Stands
in the Royal Stables; and its summit is built up of an
extraordinary material, for it is formed of 30,000 skulls
of deer and harts which were all killed in the battue of
a day's sport by King Tahmasp, 6 when, it is related,
that of the retinue he took with him, the beaters alone
numbered over 20,000 men. In the ditrit round
Isfahan silk-worms are reared, and many silk-tuffs
are very skilfully woven here, as likewise elsewhere
in the outlying diftrifts of the towns of Arditdn,
Kashdn, and Yezd, Qum and Savah,

Towards the Caspian Sea lies the province of
Qazvin, and Qazvin city is where, until very lately, the
kings of Persia have been wont to hold their court, this
having been subsequent to the time of the ruin of the
famous city of Tabriz, which was formerly the capital.
The city of Qazvin lies to the north- weft of Pars ; the
country round is mosT: fertile : it has great orchards and
extensive gardens. Its population numbers above
100,000 householders [or 450,000 souls], and, that one
may know its greatness, I have, for curiosity, counted
many times over its mosques, and of these there are
more than 500. The royal quarter and the palace
both are mot sumptuous, and so extensive that
you may go in a straight line through the purlieus
for over a quarter of a league. In the province of
Qazvin there are 20 walled towns, and 1,000 open
villages. Between Qazvin and KurdiSUn lies the
province of Hamaddn, which may measure 50 leagues
across in extent There are here 1 5 cities, and all its
people are merchants. Lying nearer to the Caspian
Sea comes the province of Gildn, the chief town of which
is the city of Ldhijdn, 7 holding a population of 70,000
householders [or 3 1,500 souls]. The land is mountain-
ous and rugged, also very unhealthy by reason of its
great heat and dampness, which two principles,

40

PROVINCES OF PERSIA

wheresoever they predominate, do breed corruption.
The women of this province are very fat, and the
men very feeble. There are some 30 townships, but
none populous. The houses are built of wood, but
from their situation on the mountain slopes may be
well defended. Further north and lying along the
welern coat of the Caspian towards Bakti. is the
province of Erivan [or Shirvan], 8 which extends for a
distance of 100 Spanish leagues, and its people occupy
15 towns. The city of Erivan is its capital, holding a
population of 50,000 householders [225,000 souls].
The country is very healthy, having a fine climate.
Much silk is produced, and there is abundance of game,
more especially deer, in its woods.

With the Caspian Sea lying on its northern and
western quarters, and with Grand Tartary to the eab~
ward, comes the province of Atarabad, which adjoins
the province of Khurisan. The Aftarabad province
measures a bare 60 leagues in extent, and contains
only 12 towns. The city of Aftarabad has a popula-
tion of more than 50,000 householders [or 225,000
souls], and boats come up to it from the Caspian Sea
through a river estuary. Adjoining Atarabad comes
the province of Mazandaran, which extends in length
for 50 leagues, and has 25 towns. Its capital is
Mazandaran, 9 with a population of 50,000 householders
[or 225,000 souls]. The country is cold and very
mountainous, so that no fruit here ripens. The
province of Khurasan 10 is the largest of those which are
subjeft to the king of Persia, for it extends in breadth
for above 200 leagues. It includes more than 35
towns, each of great populousness, and its capital is
the city of Herdt, the population of which is so great
that it exceeds 100,000 householders [4,500,000 souls].
With its gardens and pleasure-houses which lie adjacent
beyond the city walls Herat measures a circuit of
more than six leagues. The country round is a great

41

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

plain, and is well populated. The townsmen are
merchants who trade with India, Muscovy and the
two dominions of Tartary. To the eastward again
lies the province called Qandahar, and its people are
vassals of Prefer John. This country is very rich,
and extends for some 60 leagues across. The chief
city, which gives its name to the province, is Qandahdr,
with 70,000 householders [or 315,000 souls]. It is
a hot country and the people here are merchants. On
the south of Qandahdr and somewhat to the eastward
lies the province called Sfftan, which measures 50
leagues across, and its chief city and capital is, like
the province, called Sitan. It possesses 15 towns, and
the population of its capital city numbers 50,000 house-
holders [225,000 souls]. The country round is very
damp and unhealthy, though mountainous, and the
people are very warlike.

[In the north-weft of Persia and] some distance to
the south [of the Shirvin province] lies the city of
Ganjah, the chief town of the diftrift bearing the same
name, 11 This ditril in extent is barely 40 leagues
across, it comprises seven or eight towns, and as regards
Ganjah city the number of its householders may be
some 50,000 [or 225,000 souls]; the town ftands in a
cold country, and the people are very warlike. Ganjah
possesses a notable building, which I may here mention.
This is a tower built up, from foundation to summit,
with the skulls of Turks, and the number muft exceed
50,000 heads. These are set in mortar among the
ftones of the tower, a monstrous sight. It was erefted
here by a certain Persian general named Khdn Sayyid
Oghhi 12 after he had conquered the Turks in a pitched
battle at this place.

On the weftern border of Persia lies the province
of Azerbayjdn, whose chief town is the famous city
of Tabriz. This province and its capital are ftill in the
power of the House of Ottoman, for the Turks here

42

AZERBAYJAN

have succeeded in getting the better of the Safavi
monarchs of Persia. The province contains more than
30 cities, the largest being Tabriz, which, before the
Turks had conquered and devastated it as will be
narrated fully later on contained a population of over
80,000 householders [or 360,000 souls]. It is a
pleasant land, with abundance of fruits, and with
flocks of sheep like those seen in Spain, though here the
beasts run to greater bulk: for the Persian sheep are
as big as the calves with us in Spain, being a full quarter
heavier in weight. The people of Azerbayjan are
very warlike and ever given to fighting, the nobles more
especially. The province has an extent of 1 50 leagues
across.

Further to the south-westward come the three pro-
vinces of Kurdistan, lying in the direftion of Arabian
'Iraq or Babylonia. The nearer of the three provinces
of KurdiStan, the one of which we now speak, marches
with the province of Azerbayjdn, and its capital towns
are the cities of Khoy and Salmas, whose combined
population may amount to 30,000 householders [or
135,000 souls]. Jn the outlying parts of this province
there are 15 other towns. The people here are not
very civilized, and being warlike are given to constant
fighting. They live half the year in their tents camped
in the open country, after the fashion of the Moors
[of Morocco], though otherwise they are quite unlike
these latter folk. Further to the south-weSt lies the
diStrift of Malaga or Maraghah, which is the second
portion of the three KurdiStan provinces, and its chief
town is Mardghah, And again, this province marches
with another which is likewise called KurdiStdn, and of
which the chief town is Khurramabad, but this town
is more generally considered as of Luri&an. The
province of Babylonia or Arabian 'Iraq, known from its
capital as the Baghdad province, lies westward beyond
this again. The three provinces aforesaid of the

43

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

Kurditans measure some 300 leagues across at their
extreme width; they are all very populous and their
people are warlike, for never do they lack occasion for
fighting against the Turks, their neighbours in Arabian
'Iraq. And from this point going south the Persian
Gulf is the boundary of the province of Luriftin,
dividing it from the province of Ormuz.

Thus we have now brought to an end our description
of the di&rifts and lordships subjeft to the king of
Persia. His tate is confined on the northern side by
the Caspian, on the south side by the Persian Gulf,
In its greatest breadth the kingdom of Persia has
for its western frontier Chaldea, Syria and Upper
Mesopotamia now known as Diydr-Bakr, and lying
between the upper reaches of the Euphrates and the
Tigris. From here the frontier goes north up to the
limits of Gurjitan or Lesser Georgia, with Northern
Tartary and that part of Muscovy which borders on
the river Eder, more commonly known as the Volga.
To the south of Persia extend the two countries called
Desert Arabia and Happy Arabia, Wherefore if we
should trace an imaginary frontier circle beginning from
the Caspian Sea and going westward, this would pass
down by the Lake of Gokchah 13 and thence along the
Tigris bank to the Persian Gulf. From the eastern
end of that gulf we shall pass up on the eastern quarter
of Persia, northwards by the kingdom of Cambaya,
which is near Makrdn, and so meet the northern
frontier which marches along the river Oxus, otherwise
called Abiano. 14 Then we have made a complete
circuit, including all the provinces subjeft at the
present time to the crown of Persia, and this circuit
would include a space so great as to measure more
than 21 degrees of longitude from eat to weft, and
more than 1 8 of latitude from north to south.

44

CHAPTER III

The way of government in Persia.

THE method of government of the Persian kings being
peculiar, we shall treat of the affairs of this kingdom
in some detail in order to make the matter perfe&ly
clear. The king of Persia for his support and guidance
always has recourse to his nobles, this both for the
service of his person, and for the government of the
tate in all affairs, both those pertaining to the admin-
iftration of justice and to the conduft of war, and these
two are the matters which in Persia take precedence
over all others.

Now there are with us thirty-two clans or noble
families recognized as having in Persia pre-eminence
and the firft place in the country. Their names are
as follows : and the termination /#, which it will be noted
concludes many of their names, shows that the clan in
question is of, or belonging to, a chief of that name.
To begin with, the UtajM are the clan in chief, and of
them for the mofc part are the favourite servants of
the king, and they always hold the great and honourable
pots about his person. The ShamM are as the grand
chamberlains in Spain, and men of this family with us
Persians always hold that office. Next come the
Afsblr : those of this name are mostly the presidents
and ministers of justice. Next Turkomans: from
these come the commanders, princes and generals, for
they are great soldiers, and the kings of Persia have
ever sought alliance in marriage with their families.
Thus Shah Tahmdsp married a Turkoman princess.
The family of Bayat: a mot noble house and lineage,
and all are, as we might say in Spain, dukes ; so also are

45

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

the family known as the Takkeh-lii clan. The Har-
mandalii are, as we might say, marquesses. The Dhiil-
Qadarlii are as dukes, being a clan of warlike virtue
and all very valiant men. The families of Qajar 1
and QarimlnM are as dukes, and as counts those of
Bayburtlii, Ispihrlii and Oriath. The ChaushM are as
dukes, the Assayshlti as counts, and likewise as counts
are the following, namely, the Chamish-Qazaqhi, the
SarozolachM, the QarabachiqM, the Barachhi, the
CuinioriM, the Griclii, the Boschahi, the Haji-Faqihhi,
the Hamzah-M, the Solachlii, the Mahmiidlii, the
Qara-Chumaqlii and the Qara Quyunlti. 2 As dukes
are the Cossi-BoyezM? the Peyclii, the Inazhi, and
la&ly the Kuh-GiluyahM.

The government, as we have said, as a general
rule is given into the hands of men of these families,
and every governor appointed to any of the various
cities, who is known with us in the Persian tongue
as its Hdkim> is invariably a nobleman, and is chosen
from among the men of these clans. The Darogah^
or mayors of the towns, are of the same class, but
these the king, when dissatisfied or angry with them,
will change at pleasure. Criminals are judged and
punished by being brought before the Grand Vazir,
who is, as we should say in Spain, the Secretary
of State, being of the Council ; he gives injunction to
his Deputy or Vakil^ who is, as we say here, the Presi-
dent, and, after the Grand Vizier, the chief minister.
The matter is then brought before the king, but the
king has deputed all minor details of justice to the
governors and mayors of the various cities. In matters
of policy and in affairs of tate, and in all that pertains
to war, the nobles and viceroys of provinces have
jurisdiction, and they are called Khdns. The Khdns,
though their offices are considered hereditary, for they
hold them as though of their own property, are liable
to be dismissed by the king at his pleasure, should

46

GOVERNMENT OF PERSIA

they anywise be found in fault, for they are but his
servants ; and indeed all the Khans and governors who
serve the ftate holding positions of importance are
liable to be arbitrarily dismissed at any moment. The
Grand Chamberlain is known as the Ishik-aqdsi-bdshi,,
and those next below him, his deputies, are known as
the Ishik-aqdsiy for the word BdsM means "chief,"
and these lat mentioned deputies are like the four
Chamberlains in Ordinary to the king of Spain. 3
The office of the Chief Porter is known as that of the
Qdpuchi-bdshi ; and between these officials that we have
mentioned matters of criminal justice are judged,
cases as they occur being summarily despatched.

As to how the king of Persia is attended, this is always
on a scale of pomp and majesty, especially when the
Court is in residence in the capital. For the mot
part, when the king goes out it is riding on horseback,
and he will set forth to play the sport of tilting with
the reed-spear, or to shoot with the bow at game. It
is his wont to do this frequently, and at that time will
have speech freely with the poorest of his subjects,
and liSten to any who may have need of him. But on
no occasion does he ever go forth for sport or hunting
accompanied by less than 12,000 mounted men, and
of foot-soldiers he will always have about him more
than 4,000 who are arquebusiers. At the king's
table all the chief nobles who happen to be present,
or are in attendance, take their meal with him.

The king's palace is known as the Dawlat Khdnah or
Government House, and the queen's palace is called
the Haram; or rather we should have said the palace
of the Queens is so called, for in the Haram there are
more than four hundred ladies, which same is like the
establishment known in Turkey as the Saray, and which
we in Spain speak of as the Ceralle. This palace is
guarded and served by above one hundred eunuchs,
with two hundred squires, who are all old men of

47

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

seventy years and upwards. The eunuchs they call
in Turkish Akhtah^ and the squires Haram-Ishik-aqasi^
or Masters of the Haram Threshold. If any other
man besides these jut mentioned should dare enter
the palace of the Haram, he would be cut down, killed
and cat forth to be burnt. The inner walls of the
rooms of the palaces are adorned with paintings, and
the like is found in the houses of the nobles. There
is no tapestry on these walls, but there are very costly
carpets on the floors, and such are known in Persian
as QdlL The dishes at meal-times are lain not on
tables but on the floor, as notably it is the custom with
all the nations of the Moors ; and it is for this reason
of the floor being so used, rather than as a custom
of respeft and all mut do so within the palace pre-
cin&s that on entering a room the shoes are always
taken off.

48

CHAPTER IV

Of manners and cuttoms peculiar to the kingdom of Persia*

THE way of life of the common folk in Persia is much
the same as that which obtains among other Maho-
medan and Arabian nations, more particularly as to
domestic rites and ceremonies, though in matters of
religion as we shall see later the Persians hold
peculiar views, for they opine that they alone are ortho-
dox disciples of the Prophet Mahomed. The Persians
among the nobility enjoy a plurality of wives, in faft
these take as many wives as they please, but among the
common people only seven are proper and allowed;
divorce, on the other hand, is the everyday custom.
The difference in dress which distinguishes the nobles
from the common folk, is that thfc nobles alone are
allowed to wear as their headgear the Turban orna-
mented with Twelve Points, which the firt Sophi
king Isma'fl instituted as will more particularly be
described later and which in Persian is known as
the Taj or " Crown." In Persia the clothes of all folk,
to speak generally, are made of coloured Stuffs, and
there are few who do not wear silk, for this is quite
cheap. Thus velvet of double and a half pile will
hardly cot ten reals [less than six shillings] the yard,
and eight yards of coloured taffeta, which may be of
pearl-colour, can be had for five reals^ or ^pesa [namely,
three shillings]. The price of muslin and linen goods,
which same are imported in great abundance from
India, is so moderate that 20 yards of either may be
bought for a sum not exceeding four reals [half a
crown], and this though the material be as fine as our
holland of Cambray.

49 E

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

The crops grown on mot of the cultivated lands in
the provinces of Persia are so abundant, namely and in
particular wheat, barley and rice, that 100 pecks 1 of
wheat may be bought for twelve re ah [seven shillings],
and the same quantity of barley for half a ducat [three
and sixpence]. There are great numbers of water-
mills all along the banks of the rivers and lagoons,
these being made after the fashion of the water-wheels
and mills that we see on the Tagus. Butcher's meat is
mostly veal and mutton, the latter from the great sheep
which, as already described, are a quarter heavier in
weight than the Spanish sheep. We have in Persia
rabbits, 2 partridges and other wild fowl in infinite
quantity, but they do not eat the rabbit; there are also
found deer in abundance, whose flesh is much esteemed.
The wild beasts of the forest are seen in great numbers,
and besides those met with in the hill country, may be
come upon in the plains and sandy deserts, where
many di^lrifts in the pat have become depopulated.
Such here are lions, tigers and bears, and in those
parts none can journey but in company many together
and riding on their camels, which are in Persia the
usual beaifts of burden.

The Persians make use of no waggons, coaches nor
litters of any kind or sort; nor indeed are there any
ships, or galleys for the more special purposes of
navigation, and only a kind of light boat is in common
use. Horses there are in abundance, and their coats
are very fine, and indeed they resemble mot the
Andulacian horses of Spain* In Staying powers they
can go thirty hours without a feed of corn, and in
skirmishing raids they will travel for a whole day and
a night. The army for the greater part consists in
cavalry, and they ride with the short Stirrup, 3 but yet
not so short as they are wont to use now in Spain.
Their arms are lance and buckler, and they wear coats
of mail and light breastplates with helmets 4 of thin

5

THE ARMY IN WAR

Steel plate, cunningly forged, and this armour is now
produced throughout Persia in such quantity that much
of it is exported into Muscovy, juSt as in Spain we
import the like from the Milanese. The manner of
mustering troops for war is for the chief of each of the
noble families [whose names have been given on a
former page] to call out eight, ten or twelve thousand
horsemen of his clan and a like number of foot-soldiers
armed with their arquebuses. Our wars are generally
waged either against the Tartars or against the Turks,
and sometimes againSt the two kings of the Georgians
who are neighbours of Persia, though these laSt, for
the moSt part, remain the humble vassals of the Persian
king. They are indeed Christians of the Greek
Church, but they hold to Standing in friendship with
the Persians, who show them tolerance in the matter
of their Christian religion, for the king of Persia does
not ever molest them in this respeft, though the Turkish
Sultan will continually be pressing them to become
renegades. When the king of Persia personally goes
out on campaign, the fa6t is advertised to all by his
Standard, which is then carried before him. Further,
the umbrella of State is seen held over the king and his
horse as he rides, and the same umbrella is adorned with
precious Atones, so that it glitters in splendour like the
very sun. The number of troops present in the army
is exaftly known by the number of Standards that are
seen, for with every thousand men present a separate
Standard is unfurled, this being after the manner of the
Roman Centuries, and thus there are as many thousand
men present as there are Standards to be seen. And
such is the power of the king of Persia, as proved by
what I myself have witnessed, that very easily he can
call out 200,000 cavalry. On many of the campaigns,
in the paSt that I have taken part in, I have counted
two hundred Standards displayed, and though the
same number of flags may often be counted in any poor

5 1

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

regiment of Spanish infantry, the faft with us here is
of different import, for in Persia, unless there be one
thousand horse or one thousand foot-soldiers present
under arms, no Standard is shown.

The Persian method of fighting is by challenging
to single combat, with a trumpet sounded or a king-
at-arms sent forward, and no ambush is allowed
though indeed, as to this matter, such is human guile,
that in times pat, but in remote and unknown or
barbarous lands, much treachery of this sort, so contrary
to all good custom, has not been unknown. Yet it
may be affirmed in clear terms that the Persian way of
fighting is now in open combat, in hand-to-hand battle;
and as to their artillery, they mask it or hold it in
reserve as we shall see later when speaking of the
wars between the Persians and the Ottoman Turks.
The royal bodyguard is of infantry, and for the mot
part the men are Georgian renegades who are known
as the TujangMs or match-lock men, and these are like
the Janissaries of the Turkish Sultan. The nobles are
much addifted to the Study of magic, and to what they
call the Sacred Science, which is the Alcoran, in the
Arabic language, and there are the Alfaquis [priests]
and professors in mot of the cities to intrut publicly
in the same, who receive a suitable Stipend. The houses
throughout Persia are for the moSt part built of Stone,
though there are many that are built of wood, but all
have terraced roofs and moSt have gardens after the
fashion of Italy and Flanders. In the matter of curing
disease they do as with other nations of the barbarians,
using herbs and ordering a Shrift diet. In acute ill-
nesses, such as in cases of quinsy, pleurisy and the like,
they bleed. The people are very superstitious, being
given to regarding auguries, and imagine that by pray-
ing in the mosque they can favourably affeft, or at
leaSt prognosticate, the issue of all their maladies,
Prayers more especially should be offered up in those

FUNERAL CUSTOMS

mosques where the kings, the Grand Sophis are all
buried, or some one of the great Khans, or other person
who in life was held to have been a saint; and so more
particularly in the mausoleum of him whom they regard
with much veneration, and whom they call Shaykh Sophi. 5
The customs at funerals are very extraordinary, and
they differ in many particulars from those of all other
Mahomedan nations. If it be a person of some
position who is dead, all his servants will march, naked
to the wait, preceding the bier, each having made
wounds in his right arm by scarifying the flesh all
down the side; and the sons of the dead man have to
do the same. Some two hundred men are harnessed
by ropes that pull the bier; and thus they transport
the body, and all these go reciting in a loud voice
prayers and versicles and petitions that are addressed
to the Prophet Mahomed. In front of these men march
twenty boys, who, two by two, in turn bear on their
shoulders a chair richly adorned, and as they go they
recite the Alcoran of Mahomed. In front of these
again march a number of men carrying small trees and
green boughs from which hang down painted papers 6
and coloured ribbons, and such fruits as are in season.
Coming after the procession follow the horses, all
that the dead man possessed, each one led by the bridle
in the hand of a groom, and these horses are fully
caparisoned, and they carry the arms that the dead
man used in war, and the trophies which he won in
battle ; and their grooms go naked to the wait and self-
wounded with the blood Streaming down from their
shoulders. With all this company in attendance the
procession marches on till they come to one of those
tone troughs, which are in Persia like those we have in
Spain for watering beasts. Then in such a trough they
proceed to wash the corpse publicly, and next to wrap
it in a piece of fine holland cloth. Afterwards the
procession moves on as before, and to all the poor they

53

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

may meet they distribute food, which same has been
brought for this purpose laden on five or six camels.
All this time with kettle-drums and trumpets they are
making doleful music, the instruments being played
held low and reversed. In this fashion they come
finally to the graveyard out in the countryside, where
the tombs are, in one of which they now proceed to
lay the body, and next the procession returns to the
city in the same order as the mourners set forth. For
a whole year after his death the relations of the dead
man are bound daily to go out to the grave and recite
the Alcoran there and say many prayers.

The Persians pride themselves much on their poets,
and these, though without art, compose an infinity
of verses. They also have many books written in the
Arabic language full of poesy and choice prose. All
such verse-making, as is well known, and contrariwise,
in the government of the Ottoman Sultan, is a Strictly
forbidden paStime, and is one universally contemned. 7
In Persia, however, as we have said, all write verses
and illuminate them, and these the young men send to
ladies with whom they are in love and are proposing
to marry. Further, a Persian youth who wishes to
pose as a faithful lover muSt behave in a very extra-
ordinary way; indeed, so Strangely that it were impos-
sible for its very extravagance to pass the matter over
in silence. The lover who would prove that his love
is sincere must painfully burn himself in various parts
of his person with a slow match made of linen Stuff,
that in effeft adrts exactly like the cauStic which, with us
in Spain, the surgeons apply for opening issues such
as may be needful in the legs and arms. Then the
lover displays himself in the sight of his lady, he being
a very Lazarus for the number of his sores : whereupon
she will send him cloths, napkins and bandages of silk
or holland, with which to bind his wounds, and these
he wears until they are cured. Later, he who can show

54

MARRIAGE CUSTOMS

mot signs of these cauteries is the one mot beloved
of the fair dames, and he mot promptly will come to
matrimony. Marriage and burial being two very
notable incidents in every man's life, it seemed impor-
tant not to pass over either in silence, but to note what
in each case may be peculiar to the manners and
customs of the Persians. In truth, both are events
which in all countries, whether civilized or barbarous,
characterize and pertain to the propagation and con-
clusion of existence. For are not these, as we might
say, the one the prelude and means for bringing about
the continuance of our race ; while the other is as a fee
and tribute that all mut pay at the end, being a charge
incumbent on whomsoever he be, who shall have lived
through this mortal life ? Further, as to customs of
both events, the manner in Persia is indeed mot
Strange, they differing from those in use among all
other peoples, whether of civilized States or of barbaric
nations.

Now as regards marriage, when a Persian of good
position in the State is about to wed, the day being fixed,
all his relations and friends assemble at the house
of the bridegroom. Nearly all are on this occasion
dressed in clothes that seem to match in livery those of
the bridegroom, but more particularly his groomsmen ;
the other guests likewise, if they can afford it, but
otherwise any may appear in what is their common
dress. The bride at the proper time comes forth
from her home riding a horse after the Persian fashion,
and her attendants, if they can compass it, are apparelled
in clothes to match her livery; and the bride wears over
her face a piece of taffeta on which is painted in gold
the semblance of the sun or the moon. In front of her
march many musicians playing on various kinds of
instruments. The two processions now join company,
and the bridegroom attending the bride, the whole
concourse turns about and re-enters the bride's house,

55

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

Here there is a chamber set apart for the menfolk,
and richly adorned, in which they begin a ball, some-
what after the fashion of the Italians or the French,
The mode of the festival is that of different dances;
and over the heads of each of the young men who may
tep forth to dance their friends throw in handfuls
many small coins, which same none but the musicians
who are playing may pick up. Thus, therefore, the
musicians, as the young men Step forth and dance,
gather for themselves a rich harvest. The ladies dance
in a separate room, and they are wont to have coins
which are crown pieces tuck upon their foreheads
with a certain mucilage like the pate which we in
Spain make of elm and almond gum and these coins
as the ladies move in dancing fall off, whereby this
money too Stands to the benefit of the musicians.
On this account in Persia the musicians all become
very rich by attendance at such balls and festivities.

When the dancing is done for the day, they all sit
down to supper in the house of the bride ; while on the
following day they dine in the bridegroom's house,
and on each occasion a very splendid assembly of
guests is invited. On the firt night, that of the supper,
when the hour for retiring has come, two old women
appear and with a show of violence catch hold of the
bridegroom and bring him into the chamber of the
bride. The bride then comes in by another door;
and meanwhile the dancing of both the male and the
female relatives at the ball continues till it is midnight.
Then the two old women reappear, bringing with them
a cloth Gained with blood and show this to the relations
of the bridegroom ; and upon this all take their leave
very contentedly. If, however, as to this cloth the
contrary be the case, and no mark of blood can be
shown, the two old women bring out the bride, and the
bridegroom coming forth, scornfully and publicly re-
pudiates her. But he then pays her a certain sum of

56

THE GYPSIES

money, which for being but a trifle need not be specified,
and they send her back to her parents, while the bride-
groom marches home again with his friends and relations.
In Persia, unlike other countries among the Mahomedan
nations, there is never seen any great number of public
women. The gypsies, or Egyptians, however, who live
in the provinces of the frontier that neighbours Persia,
enter our country in bands and troops as did the
Arabs into Spain aforetime and they bring in their
families with them; and among these their women make
a livelihood by prostitution. It is the custom on these
occasions for their husbands to take them to the house
of any Persian with whom the woman has engaged to
pass the night; and on the morrow the husband will
duly appear to carry away his wife, with her looking-
glass and paints and headgear and pins and belts, and
he then receives the price Stipulated for. But indeed
this is a hideous and beStial custom to be thus tolerated
among men who mut be held to be beings possessed
of a conscience. I myself at one time took occasion
to enquire of the Egyptian folk who inhabit the country
where these public women come from, and they told
me that no man there would marry a girl unless she
would promise and undertake to feed and clothe her
future husband with gains made in this abominable
commerce. But now this is enough, forsooth, of the
manners and customs of the kingdom of Persia.

57

CHAPTER V

As to the antiquity of the Persian kingdom and the origin of the
Monarchy*

ONE of the regions of the world which, after the Uni-
versal Deluge, was firb to receive its population, was
the territory which now the Turks call Baghdad, which
same is Babylonia. As some authorities would have
it, this land owed its settlement to Nimrod, son of Cush
and grandson of Ham, in the year 150 after the Flood;
which, however, is not an account that seems credible.
We therefore, to avoid an erroneous conclusion, should
prefer for our information to rely on the excellent
authority of the Susianian Library, further on the
Oriental Annals of Belochus, 1 and other such eminent
ancient authorities. Therefore we now say that
Babylon being founded in the year 1 700 of the Creation,
Belus, son of Nimrod, was the first king of Babylonia;
and coming to the Plains of Shinar, he peopled the
country there about, together with that country which
lies more to the eastward. Procopius, however, States
though the matter appears to reft on no reliable
foundation that the father of Belus was Saturn, and
that Saturn is identical with Noah. In the eighth
year of the reign of Nimrod, his brother Sheba, the son
of Cush and grandson of Ham, was sent by Noah (his
great-grandfather) to people Arabia and with him
went Gag with his sons Ganges and Indus, who sub-
sequently gave their names to those two famous rivers
of India; and Sheba named those same provinces of
Arabia after himself, Sabaea.

In the Babylonian monarchy Belus was succeeded
by Balaeus, 2 or Beleus the Less, in the year 1753 after
the creation of the world: according to the historian

58

BABYLONIA

Megathenes, He conquered all the Eastern Indies,
and mob of the nations that had settled in the south
and in the two Arabias: whereby, from this time
onwards, the nations that had there grouped themselves
together are Styled monarchies by those authors who
treat of their affairs. Thus the years went on, but
much is related in the histories that is not here to our
purpose, till it came to the year 2000 after the Creation,
when the Babylonian monarchy was ruled by Ascatades,
and next Mamuthos, whom we may count as the
1 3th king of Babylonia according to the reckoning
of Berosus. From this point onwards we get more
light as to the succession of these princes, for matters
come clearer and there are more authorities to consult,
and so we reach the year 2325 after the creation of the
world with Machchalatheus, who was king, occupying
the throne of Assyria during a reign of thirty years.
To him succeeded Sphaerus, i5th king of Babylonia,
in the year 2350 after the Creation, and at this time,
according to the authority of the Susianian Library,
they began to give the name of Assyria or Syria to this
upper region and monarchy, the name coming from
Syris, the son of Abraham. 3 In the foregoing account
we have followed the authors above mentioned, on
whom we mostly rely for our information, but if we
are to give credit to the historian Belochus, Syria, until
the time when Cyrus established the seat of his govern-
ment in Persia, was the name given to all the region
of the south that was subject to Babylonia. Next,
according to Lucian of Samosata, it was in the third
year after the birth of Moses, corresponding with the
year 2375 after the Creation, that Mamuthos became
monarch of Babylonia, reigning for thirty years, and
to him succeeded Aschalius, who was the 1 8th king of
Babylon ; and it was, they say, in the tenth year of his
reign that Moses brought forth the Hebrew people
out of their captivity. Lucian of Samosata continues

59

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

the history of these kings with the name of Belochus
the Second, in the year 2530 after the Creation, who,
he says, reigned for twenty-five years, making Sosares
his contemporary, though other authorities State that
he succeeded Belochus. In the seventh year of the
period, when Deborah judged Israel, Lampraes began
to reign in Babylon and governed, they say, for thirty
years. To him followed Pannas in the year 2677 after
the Creation, who occupied the throne during forty-
five years. Then came Sosarmus, who was succeeded
by Teutamus, otherwise Tautanes, who was contem-
porary with Jephtha of Holy Writ, celebrated as the
Captain of the Hebrew People, To Teutamus fol-
lowed Teutaus, but his reign was in truth shorter
than some authorities have Stated. Next was Timeus,
who reigned for thirty years, and he was succeeded
by Dercylus, who was the 31^: king of Babylon, and
approximately a contemporary of King David; to him
following Eupacmes, shortly after the time when
Solomon had begun to build the Temple, Then came
Lao&henes, then Pertiades, next Ophratasus, and then
Acraganes, whose reign laifted forty-two years.

The Persian historian Mega^henes and it is he
whom we have chiefly followed in the above lit of
kings closes his chronological survey with King
Sardanapalus, to whom he assigns a reign of fifteen years
and calls him by the name of Thonus-Concolerus, Now
the Greek historians tate that he was the son of Anacyn-
daraxis, and according to Suidas he was the direffc
descendant of Ninus and Semiramis. If, however, we
follow the account given by Suidas there had been
38 kings between Nimrod and Sardanapalus, and their
names are to be found in the writings of Ctesias, an
author on whom we may confidently rely. The end
and ruin of Sardanapalus we shall describe presently,
but firt we would explain why this ancient history
of the Babylonian kings has been here given by us in

60

PERSIAN MONARCHY

such detail. This was in order that the antiquity of
the Persian monarchy might be clearly established,
as also the ancient Status of its people. For we find
that when King Teuthanes arrived with aid for King
Priam of Troy, being in faft his vassal, coming at the
head of an army of 10,000 Ethiopians from Arabia, he
brought with him also a like number of men from
Susiana with 200 war chariots, and these all came
under the command of Menon, son of Titon their
captain, who was governor of Persia. 4 Then again
in the year 2690 after the Creation we observe two
notable fads. The firSt is that, already at this date,
the province bears the distinctive name of Persia,
and is a province of itself, being one of the chief
diStrifts of the kingdom of Babylonia and of the
Assyrian monarchy. And the second faft is that there
were then already Princes governing opulent diStrifts
in Persia, for Menon was a Persian prince, and Titon,
his father, was the Governor of Persia, they being by
descent, or by affinity of blood-relationship, in the right
line of the Babylonian kings. All this I should not
venture to State were it not set down clearly in the
writings of Berosus and MegaSlhenes, being a tradition
found in the EaStern Annals of Belochus and in the
Books of the Susianian Library. Thus the antiquity
of Persia as a kingdom is proved to be only a little less
than the antiquity of the kingdom of Assyria, and the
Persian kings in descent are even as the kings of
Babylon; and therefore, if the Babylonian monarchs
may take pride in being descended from Nimrod, the
monarchs of Persia may pride themselves on the same
faft. In truth it mul be admitted, however, that we
find no earlier mention than this of the kingdom of
Persia, or the name of any Persian prince before the
days of Lampraes and Pannas, who flourished in the
year 2670 after the Creation. Still, there are those
authors aforesaid who indireftly refer to Persia, before

61

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

this date, as being already a separate province, with
its Princes who were Governors of the same, namely,
Titon and Menon, given as nephews and cousins
of the kings of Assyria and Babylonia. Our authori-
ties, we may add, completely fail to tell us how the
province of Persia came to be so named, and our readers
mut lay the fault for the omission in this particular
at the charge of the Chaldean and Greek historians,
whom we have named above.

CHAPTER VI

In which is continued the genealogy of the Persian kings.

IN the foregoing chapter we have mentioned that
Sardanapalus was the lat king of the Babylonians, and
his ruin came about in the following manner, if we are
to credit the tory as given by Mega^ithenes. King
Sardanapalus held his court in the well-known city of
Nineveh, so famous for its immense population, and
among his captains there were two who governed in
his name, superintending the affairs of war. These
were Arbaces, a very valiant soldier, and Belesys, the
captain commanding in Babylonia. Now Belesys was
a great astrologer, and he had knowledge by that science
that the end was imminent of the monarchy of the kings
of Assyria of the family of Sardanapalus. We may
indeed believe that God, to serve His divine purpose,
did thus ordain that this man should be able to trace out
and get to know what was to come to pass ; and though
I myself do place very little credence in astrology as
a science, yet I in no wise should venture to dis-
credit its general principles. In this case, however, I
deem the fafts are manifestly certain, and that those two
valiant captains, further coming to know that Sardana-
palus was sunk in disgraceful vice living the life of a
woman rather than that of a man, in fact behaving as
a brute beat and not as should behave a great prince
it became clear to them that it were necessary to bring
about some change in the State. For it is patent that
the firb sign of the ruin of any dynasty is when the
monarch takes to viciousness and behaves like a silly
woman. Indeed, let those who govern note well how
great a curb on evil-doers is in effect the sight of a

63

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

prince who, being virtuous and severe, has ever about
him a majesty of presence.

To continue, therefore, we learn that Belesys having
taken counsel with Arbaces or Arbates, as some give
the name the two conspired, and it was agreed that
Belesys should come and see with his own eyes what
Sardanapalus did and how he lived. According to
one account it is affirmed that these officers found him
seated among the two thousand women whom he kept
in company about him, and that he was spinning at a
wheel, his beard shaved off, a woman's golden coif on
his head, bracelets on his arms and earrings in his ears,
On seeing this ftate of things the two captains broke
out cursing the king, whom, up to then, they had held
in all reverence; and in disgust at the sight of the
effeminate wretch whom they had hitherto faithfully
served, they both now threw off their allegiance.
Declaring war on him, and at the head of a mighty army
of Babylonians and Medes the Persians not joining
in, but remaining neutral the two captains forthwith
began the campaign and appeared in rebellion, Sar-
danapalus now at length, but all too late, set himself
at the head of his army, urged thereto by his brother-
in-law Salamenus, but Sardanapalus being more at
home in matters of pleasure than in the conduft of
war, no sooner had the trumpets sounded the charge
than he turned his back on the foe, and retired to shut
himself up in Nineveh. Of the army, he gave over
the command to his brother-in-law Salamenus, deputing
him to lead the troops in the battle on which his life
and fortune mut depend; and here that valiant man
Salamenus lot his life, but not his honour, for that
indeed he died to keep.

Encouraged by their viftory in the field, the con-
spirators now proceeded to lay siege to Nineveh, where
the cowardly king had shut himself up ; who, finding
he was at lat being abandoned by those in whom he

64

SARDANAPALUS

had trusted aforetime, and seeing the number of his
enemies daily increase, determined to die by his own
hand rather than fall alive into the power of Arbaces
and Belesys. Thus, to end his days as he had lived,
he caused all his rich raiment and jewels to be brought
together and it is said these were of an infinite number
and setting all on fire, thus burnt himself and them
on a pyre in the middle of the great square of Nineveh.
Shortly after this the capital capitulated to the arms of
the conspirators, and all the neighbouring cities then
were conquered, but Belesys, now seeking under cloak
of pious intention to appropriate to himself the major
part of the booty in Nineveh that had not been already
burnt in the fire, fell out with his fellow conspirator,
and the friends were on the point of becoming declared
enemies. Almost it came to be that the power which
they had thus gained in the affairs of &ate was lot;
but not so: and of all this we need say no more to
avoid prolixity in telling the tory of the fall of Sardana-
palus. Finally Arbaces pardoned his friend, and on
partitioning the provinces Belesys became Satrap of
Babylonia, Arbaces taking for himself Media and
Persia, of which la& he proclaimed himself the king.
Throughout all his reign, however, troubles were never
lacking to him in regard to his lieutenant who governed
the peoples of Syria and Palestine.

Thus from Nimrod to Sardanapalus the line of kings
had continued unbroken, and during 1,370 years they
had held empire over Syria, Babylonia, Persia and
Media. But from the time when Arbaces came to the
throne, and for some time afterwards, the government
of Media and Persia was in the hands of tyrants, the
land being ruled by satraps during the next 340 years :
even until the date when Cyrus and Darius, transferring
the seat of their empire to Persia, made that province
the headpiece in the State, as we shall set forth in the
following chapter.

65 F

CHAPTER VII

In which is continued the line of succession of the kings of Persia.

IN the year 528 before Christ there was born Cyrus the
Great, who proclaimed himself the world autocrat and
emperor of Persia. He was succeeded by Cambyses,
after whom followed the two Magi brothers [Smerdis
and Pausoutes], Next in succession came Darius I,
Xerxes I, Artaxerxes I, Xerxes II, called Sogdianus,
Darius II, surnamed Nothus, Artaxerxes II, Mnemon,
who is said to be that Ahasuerus who is named in the
Scriptures, though it appears that of this attribution
there is not much foundation in faft. After him came
OchuSj or Occus, and next Artaxerxes III, although
many deny the existence of this Artaxerxes, which
indeed we think the more reasonable view. According
to some we should place a certain Arses before the lafc
Artaxerxes, and after him, they say, came Darius III,
who was succeeded by Alexander the Great. The
Persian monarchy next passed into the hands of the two
Ptolemies namely, Ptolemy Philadelphus and Ptolemy
Euergetes and then the line became extinft. Now the
empire of Cyrus the Great and his successors, which
lasted during 309 years, in the blindness of the faith
of the Gentiles had by its extension, and greatly to its
honour, spread over the eastern quarters, also to the
south and to the north, conquering all the famous kings
and princes thereof during the Fifth Age, After this
Age followed the Roman Empire with the grandeur
of its superb armies and their many great captains,
by whose victories and labours the greater part of
Europe and Asia, and even a portion of Africa, came
under the sway of Rome, thus inaugurating the Sixth

66

CAESAR AUGUSTUS

Age, in which appeared on earth the Prince of Peace,
Jesus Christ.

At that time the second lord universal of the world
as then discovered, who was the great Oftavianus
Augustus Caesar, ordered the opening of the gates of
the Temple of the Two-faced Janus, as a sign of uni-
versal peace ; though some authorities do assert that it
was shutting, not opening, those gates that was the
sign thereto. In this question, however, we may bet
follow the account of Virgil, in his panegyric of the
Emperor, though indeed he is rather a poet than a
reliable chronicler. There is one more matter which is
not the lea& indeed of the honours pertaining to the
Persian kingdom, with the mention of which we shall
end our account of those of her kings who reigned
before the time when Christ Jesus was born into the
world. If we may rely on the assertion made by the
poet Juvencus in the firt book of his Evangelical
HiSlory 'j 1 it is there by him clearly Stated that those
three Saints, the Kings of the Magi, who came to adore
Chril the Eternal King of kings, all three were kings,
and that two of them were from Persia, while the third,
who was dark skinned, was from Arabia. Now this
account does not alone ret on the authority of Juvencus,
but is confirmed by the writings of Saint Basil and by
the works of that great Do6lor of the Greeks, Athanasius,
also by Chryso&om, Theodoretus and Nicephorus.
Saint Antoninus on the other hand, it mut be said,
makes all three Kings of the Magi to come from
Media and from the city of Vixaria; while Peter Apianus
asserts that they all were from that Arabia called Felix.
In any case it is the more reasonable that this matter
should be understood in the anagogic, mystical and
moral sense, as it may well be: for were the Magi not
indeed happily the firft men to merit the privilege
of recognizing and paying their adoration to the Word
made flesh, Jesus, God incarnate, thus clothed in our

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

human nature ? A faft so great and so divine, that
His omnipotence alone could have compassed it, while
it was the love He bore for men that, so to speak,
forced on Him the accomplishment of the same.
And thus was born into the world Christ Jesus, the
Saviour, the King of kings, while outwardly the
earthly monarchy was in the hands of Oftavianus
Augustus.

In Persia and Media there ruled at this period
governors, and princes under the name of satraps,
all subject in point of fa A to Rome; we may therefore
consider Augustus to have been at that period the
adual king of Persia, even if we allow the opinion of
those who assert that the three Magi were not indeed
Persian kings. For the Emperor O&avianus Augustus
was supreme in the government, appointing his exarchs
and viceroys throughout those eastern provinces, even
as in after times the Greek Emperors of Constantinople
appointed the like governors in the we throughout
Italy, where these held their courts in Rome and
Ravenna, being acknowledged there and obeyed just
as though they had been truly the native lords of
those di^trifts. We conclude, therefore, averring that
Odavianus Augustus was the lat king of Persia before
the date of the coming of Christ into the world, and
the finft of those to reign there after His birth. Not,
indeed, that Augustus Caesar was the native king of
Persia, but that he, so to speak, continued the line of
succession of their kings until the rise of the new
monarchy under Artaxerxes [or Ardashir Babegdn
the firsT; Sassanian]: or, as others would have it, and as
we shall explain shortly, till the time when the firSt
Sapor became king of Persia. This Statement we freely
make, but at the same time hold to our opinion that
the three Kings of the Magi so called were in fad
and deed the princes who themselves and in their
family carried on the succession of the Persian royal

68

THE THREE MAGI

line during the age when no kings are chronicled
namely, from Ptolemy Euergetes down to Sapor;
and during this interregnum we consider that they were
in truth Persian monarchs, and though subjects for
the time being to the Emperors Oftavianus Augustus
and Tiberius Cassar, this in no wise militates against
their right to be accounted kings in Persia*

CHAPTER VIII

In which the genealogy of the Persian kings is continued, and it is
shown who first preached the Gospel in Persia*

WE are told in the Sacred Scriptures how the Apostles
were sent forth through all the provinces of the world
to preach, and from Perionus and Abdias 1 we learn
that to Saint Judas Thaddaeus, and to Saint Simon the
brother of Saint James, the lot fell to carry the Gospel
into Persia and Media. The fruit of their preaching
was such that 70,000 persons received baptism. Now
at that time Xerxes was reigning in Persia, 2 who was
also king of Babylonia, and he was then waging war
against the Jewish people. So the two glorious
Apostles coming thither, forthwith were brought
before Barardach, the general of Xerxes who, accord-
ing to the account given by Berosus, was the lat
Xerxes who reigned in Persia and thereupon the
Apostles had great disputations with Zaroes and
Arfaxat, two of the Magian priests, who were also
magicians. The diabolic obstinacy of these men
was in the end overcome, and Abdias afterwards
was consecrated Bishop of Babylon, where sub-
sequently again more than 20,000 persons were
baptized.

Next through the power of the Cross the whole of
that country mercifully came to be delivered from a
plague of small but very poisonous serpents, which
same the winds had brought, even as in Egypt it is
a plague of flies and locusts that may appear. But the
Demon could not suffer in peace the conversion of so
many souls to the Christian faith, and he forthwith
raised up against those two glorious Princes of the

70

CHRISTIAN MARTYRS

Church a persecution which did not reft, and in the end
they both were delivered up to death, their martyrdom
taking place, as the Church office has duly recorded,
in the city of Suanyr. Persia none the less was sancti-
fied 'by the firft-fruits celestial bestowed on her by
those Captains of the Gospel army, and their teaching
scattered the seed of the faith throughout the whole
of that land, as we see clearly by the many persecu-
tions which afterwards took place there. Then in
later times also the Church suffered namely, from the
days of Nero to those of Valerian and Gallienus, in
which period more than a million Persians accepted
martyrdom, willingly dying rather than that they
should be apostates from the baptism that they had
received. Wherefore, placing my hope in God, may
it soon come to pass that through the intercession of all
these sainted martyrs, all natives of Persia, that the
miserable blind Persians of to-day, who in such num-
bers mut be on the way to Hell, may find salvation.
Thus let it be, even though Persia haply should have
no other glorious example to her credit than that which
Nicephorus Calliftus mentions in Book VIII, chapter
xxxvii, of his great Hiftory* where he relates how one
hundred Persian bishops suffered martyrdom together
rather than deny the name of Christ. By this same
example God Almighty will, we hope, bring about the
ultimate salvation of our dear country and native land.
But so many indeed are the martyrdoms suffered
throughout Persia in the days of that barbarous and
warlike King Sapor II as recorded in Book III of
the Tripartite Hiftory that I mut needs pass mot
of them by in silence, for their number is beyond count.
He, however, who would care to know of the more
notable fafts concerning the Christian martyrs of
Persia, let him turn to the account written by Esaias,
son of Adabus, 4 a gentleman of the court of King
Sapor II, who narrates the martyrdom of Barasichius

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DON JUAN OF PERSIA

and Jonas 5 with thirteen others, during the thirteenth
persecution of the Church [in A.D. 327], Here the
reader will find notable and wondrous fats narrated.
Surius 6 also has touched on this matter in his works,
but only very succinctly.

Patriotic sentiment for my native land and its affairs
has thus far led me somewhat astray from the principal
subject of this chapter, which is to continue to expound
the chronology of the kings of Persia. In this matter
our various authorities often recount events very
differently; but we may turn to Agathias, who in
Book II of his History relates an anecdote which, though
it may in sooth be merely an unauthentic legend, yet,
coming from so respectable an authority, we shall here
transcribe, as being, we think, founded on an historical
incident currently known at that time among the
Persian people. It is related that in the days of the
Roman Emperor Alexander Severus, the son of
Mammaea, and in the fourth year of his reign [Ardashir I
whom the Greeks call] Artaxerxes founded the dynasty
of the Sassanian monarchs of Persia, and the origin
of this man Ardashir was after this wise. There lived
in those days near the shores of the Caspian Sea in
Hyrcania a certain man, and he was of such lowly
condition, according to Agathias, 7 that I shall not
mention his trade here, but he was at the same time
a great astrologer and magician, his name being Babek.
To the house of this man there came for lodging a
soldier, whose name was Sisdn, and Bdbek by means
of his astrology and magic learnt of a certainty that
from the son of this man Sdsdn would descend a line
of great kings and princes. Thereupon Babek, wish-
ing to have this honour for his own, and that his
descendants should be those of the son of the man
Sdsn, and having no daughter of his own to give
Sasdn in marriage, yet sought to compass it that the
other should become as it were his son-in-law : for he was

72

BABEK AND SASAN

mot ambitious that the honour foretold by the horo-
scope should be his. Babek thereupon resolved on
an aft more vile and base than ever man before had done
namely, to give his own wife to Sasan in wedlock.
To this " extremity his wicked and bestial ambition
having driven him, next innocently, and not knowing
that it was in adultery, Sasan lived for several months
with the wife of Babek as her husband. She was
in due time delivered of a boy, to whom the name of
Ardashir was given, though that he should bear this
name became the cause of a lawsuit, for the real
husband of his mother, namely Babek, wished that the
boy, though a baftard, should be called Babek after
himself,

We know that God Almighty is wont to chastise
the arrogance of the proud, making them to suffer
an affront through the very honours which they have
sought to gain by evil afts; and through what they
hope the more therein to prosper, do they the less
profit in the end. After this fashion the brutish
Babek was indeed thus abased by that same honour
which he had sought to gain for himself. ^ While
the lawsuit about the name was being carried on
before the judges of those barbarous times, the boy
grew up, coming to years of discretion, and then learn-
ing the truth, held in abomination the vile aft of his
mother's husband. He therefore determined to call
himself Ardashir, not Babek; and afterwards, by effort
of his genius in a short while he came to what had been
predifted. As history relates, Artabanus [the la
king of the Parthian Dynasty] was slain by this^ same
Ardashir, who, assuming the %le and title of king of
all the land, became the firt of the Sassanian monarchs
of Persia, and reigned for fifteen years. This therefore
was the origin and beginning of the third epoch and
restoration of the Persian State. We, however, mut
confess that we scarce know whether to give credit

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DON JUAN OF PERSIA

to the foregoing Story, which we shall now leave to
our readers without further comment. Ardashir was
succeeded by King Sapor I, and he it was who took
the Emperor Valerian a prisoner of war, afterwards
carrying him about with him everywhere in chains,
and mounting his Steed Standing on the Emperor's
shoulders [as on a horse-block]: a very ignominious and
not small affront to put upon him who was imperial
lord of the Greeks and Romans. This Sapor, it is
said, also overran all Mesopotamia, Cilicia, Syria and
Cappadocia, for he had at his bidding an army more
powerful than ever barbarian prince commanded before
his days. It is on record that in order to pass through
any mountainous country he was wont to fill up the
valleys and plains and gorges, bringing the lowlands up
to the level of the heights by throwing into the hollows
the dead bodies of his enemies namely, of those
whom he had killed in battle. At the end of a reign
of thirty years, however, he was murdered at the hands
of Odenathus, the celebrated prince of Palmyra, who,
it is reported, in his early days had been but a common
soldier. Sapor left a son who succeeded him as Hor-
misdas I, but his reign only ladled one year and ten
days. Then his son, again, named Varahrdn I, followed,
who reigned three years ; and after him came his son
Varahran II, who reigned ten years; Varahrdn III
following next, who bore the surname of SegeSt&ni, 8
from the country [of SegeStdn or SfStdn] which had
been conquered by the second Varahrin, his father.
To him followed Narses, who reigned seven years and
seven months, when his son Hormisdas II 9 succeeded,
who reigned another period of the same length. He it
is who was the father of that famous barbarian king
Sapor II whose reign ladled seventy years, and whose
birth, with the horoscope of his reign, were together
so astonishing; for he was king before he was born,
the circumstances being as follows.

74

SAPOR II

When Horxnisdas died, it was found that his wife
was with child, and the Persian nobles, wishing to know
whether the infant to be born would be a boy, took
counsel of the Magi and astrologers. These gave
answer that it was a male child whom the queen
carried in her womb. The nobles, however, not being
persuaded that the truth could be known thus for
certain, brought a mare who was with foal before those
same Magi, saying that if they could foretell truthfully
the sex of the foal of which the mare was pregnant,
credit would then be given to what they and the aSbro-
logers had prognosticated to be the case in regard to
the queen such being the superstitious incredulity
of those blind Persians. The Magi on this affirmed
that the foal that the mare carried in her belly was a
horse-colt; upon which, having killed her and opened
her body, they found the case in faft to be as the Magi
had foretold. Thus satisfied, the nobles brought in
the royal crown, and holding it over the body of the
recumbent queen, swore allegiance to the son whom
she should bear, and in due time after this ceremony
Sapor II was born. He was indeed a second Attila,
for it was he who besieged the city of Nisibis in
Mesopotamia, being the contemporary of the Emperor
Julian, the Apostate, and of Jovian, who reigned after
him. It was this same Sapor whose army, when that
king was besieging the above-named city, God Almighty
destroyed with a plague of innumerable flies, sent
against them at the prayer of Saint James, at the time
bishop of Nisibis. Sapor II was succeeded by his brother
Ardashir II, and some authorities State that by force
he took the sceptre from Sapor in the latter's lifetime ;
but be that as it may, this Ardashir only occupied the
throne during a reign of four years. He was succeeded
by his son Sapor III, who was king of Persia for fifteen
years, and who was followed by his son Varahran IV,
whose reign laSled eleven. To him succeeded his

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DON JUAN OF PERSIA

son Yazdagird I, the Persian king who was so great
a friend to the Emperor Arcadius that he appointed
him at his death to be guardian of his son the Emperor
Theodosius II.

Yazdagird reigned for twenty-one years, and was
succeeded by his son Varahran V, who reigned twenty
years. The writer Juan de Tornamira, in his Chrono-
logia^ it is true gives this Varahrdn a reign of only
seventeen years, and some authorities insert here the
name of another king of Persia [namely, Yazdagird II]
following Varahrdn V. Then after him ruled Perozes, 10
the rash and vainglorious monarch who came to his
death in the concealed trench which, as a trap, the
Ephthalites had dug for his deftruftion. The authori-
ties give him twenty years of reign, but it cannot
indeed have been as long as this. He was followed
on the throne of Persia by VaMn, u and then by Qob&d,
the latter being the son of Perozes, We shall con-
veniently end this chapter with the account of why
King Qobdd subsequently fled for shelter to these
same Ephthalites. The Persians were always jealous
for their wives, that being a very ancient characteristic
of the men of this nation. Qobdd, however, to satisfy
his lut, and to serve him in a certain particular case,
caused a law to be promulgated ordaining that all
women whatsoever and wheresoever should be held
in common, and any woman might belong to any man
who should desire her. The men of Persia, however,
felt the outrage in the matter of this ordinance so
Strongly, that they would have put the king to death
had he not forthwith fled the country. But this
having happened, in the event they were satisfied with
banishing and deposing him, and giving the crown to
Balas or Palash, 12 who some say was the uncle of
Qobid, while according to others he was his brother.
Qob&d, however, shortly afterwards returned from his
banishment, having married the daughter of the king

76

QOBAD

of the Ephthalites, and he was supported by a mighty
army. Balas in consequence had to vacate the
throne, and Qobad restored, then governed in peace
for thirty years, dying in the fifth year of the reign of
the Emperor Justinian. He was succeeded by Chos-
roes, the firft king of Persia of that name.

77

CHAPTER IX

In which the genealogy of the Persian kings is continued., with curious
details that are apponte to the case.

THE firSt Chosroes [known as Anushirvan] was one of
the greatest kings that ever ruled Persia. No day of
quiet did he let the Emperor Justinian, who was at
that time ruling in Constantinople, enjoy. Among
the reft it were enough to recall that memorable in-
vasion of the Greek Empire which Chosroes brought
about in the year 577 after Christ. On this occasion
the number of the Persian troops was so great that the
cavalry alone were counted at over 15,000, and it was
then that Daras, a very famous city on the frontiers
of the Greek Empire, was taken. But matters on the
return home of Chosroes after this incursion were not
so favourable to him, for JuStin, who was JuStinian's
nephew 1 and Captain-General of the Greeks, encouraged
by the valour of Kurs, the commander of the Scythian
right wing of the Imperial army, now attacked Chos-
roes, when his men fell back in much disorder with a
slaughter of so many among the Persians that it was
never possible exactly to discover the number of those
slain. In that battle, too, Chosroes loft what was of
much more importance even than the men who fell, for
the Imperialists in defeating him took possession of
the Sacred Brazier of the Fire God, a piece of jewel-
work greatly valued by the Persians, who worship the
Fire as their Divinity. When therefore it was known
that this Brazier had been loSt, such Persian troops as
Still remained under arms mutinied and would have
put Chosroes to death, intending to desert his Standard.
Chosroes, however, succeeded fortunately at laSt in
quelling this mutiny, and withdrawing his array under

78

CHOSROES I

cover of night, sought refuge in the city of Melitene.
He afterwards crossed back over the Euphrates, which
river he forded riding an elephant, and thus finally
found himself in safety from the attack of his enemy.

Then peace was made, and Chosroes promulgated
a law which he decreed was to be observed by all his
successors, and the nobles of the kingdom were by
its terms bound on oath in future to prevent any
Persian troops being sent to fight against the Greek
Emperor or his generals outside the limits of the
Persian Empire. The Greeks, however, were not to
be restrained by the proclamation of any such ordi-
nance, being made arrogant by reason of the victory
they had gained. The Emperor Justinian in the lapse
of time was succeeded on the throne by Tiberius II,
and he depriving Justin of the pot of Captain-General
of the armies, conferred this charge on Maurice, who
forthwith proceeded to overrun and devastate the
Persian lands, where he slew Tamchosro, a brave
Persian commander, and would have done the like to
his fellow captain Adarman had he not made his
escape by flight. Then Maurice, following on his
retreating foes, victoriously entered the kingdom of
Persia, burning and ravaging the countryside till he
had crossed the river Zirma, coming to the Argian
Fields [on the banks of the river Araxes]. Here he
found himself within sight of Chosroes, who by
reason of the great heat of that summertide had retired
to the territories of the Carduchians [in Kurdiftan],
From this, his place of retreat, the Persian king could
see the flames and the smoke of the burning hamlets
which continued to be set on fire by soldiers of the
Greek army, where they had crossed into the Persian
territories. 2 This sight so afFefted Chosroes that,
causing himself in haite to be carried back to Seleucia
on the Tigris, he died there shortly afterwards of his
chagrin.

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DON JUAN OF PERSIA

Chosroes was succeeded on the throne by his son
Hormisdas IV, to whom the Emperor Tiberius, being
at this time fully occupied with his wars in Italy, now
sent to make overtures for peace. The Byzantine
historian Zonaras, an author to be relied on, States
that the Persian monarch in his barbarian pride refused
at firft to treat, although the Emperor Tiberius had
sent him as ambassador Justinian [son of Germanus],
who was Captain-General of his armies. But finally
an armistice was agreed upon to laft three years, though
the faithless Hormisdas very shortly afterwards broke
the peace by invading Armenia and ravaging all this
countryside, which was then under the proteftion of
the Greek Emperor. In the year 584 after Christ,
however, when Maurice had succeeded to the Empire,
to whom Tiberius aforetime had given his daughter
Maria in marriage, and who now was reigning in the
room of his father-in-law Maurice (I say) three times
over gave check to the audacious Persians, causing them
to retire, and next he ejected them in headlong rout
from the city of Martyropolis, which they had recently
taken from the Greeks by a double treachery on the
part of the traitor Sittas. The Persian captains were
much humiliated by the very disgraceful loss of this
town, and fearing to appear before their cruel master
King Hormisdas, retired with their beaten army to the
city of Nisibis, where they took counsel what to do.
It was thereupon agreed that they should raise the
Standard of revolt against Hormisdas, and they chose
for their leader Varahran [better known as Bahrdm
Chiibin], a valiant soldier, who many times already had
fought againft the Turks, at that date a new unknown
nation who were now invading Persia on the eastern
frontier. This Bahram Chiibin promptly undertook
the charge laid on him, and afting for the public good
put Hormisdas to death, together with his wife and
certain of his sons.

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BAHRAM CHUBIN

The Emperor Maurice, however, showed favour
to Chosroes, the eldest of the sons of Hormisdas, who
had escaped death at the hands of the conspirators,
and the Emperor aided him with troops. Whereupon
Chosroes made his attack on Bahram Chiibin and his
companions the Persian traitors, whom certain of those
Turks had joined in the conspiracy, and in the result
the Persian royal troops, supported by the Greek army,
defeated and slew Bahram Chtibin with all those traitors
in a great battle. A curious matter is mentioned by
Fray Juan de Pineda, 3 who may, I think, have taken it
from the historian Zonaras, which is that these Turks
aforesaid, who were at that time crass idolaters for
naturally this was long before they had become
Mahomedans none the less bore on their foreheads
the mark of a cross. On it being asked of them why,
as Gentiles and unbelievers, they should bear this
Christian sign on their heads, it was answered by some
that when in paft time there had been a terrible peti-
lence in their country, the people had been cured by
the Sign of the Cross, which a certain Christian mis-
sionary had brought and laid on them. Again, Saint
Antoninus, the Archbishop of Florence, relates what it
would be hard to credit were it not set down in Part III,
chapter iv, of his well-known work the Chronicorum
Opus, being to the effeft that King Chosroes was so
much the friend of the Emperor Maurice that the
latter gave him one of his daughters in marriage, who
after becoming his wife brought it about that Chosroes
let himself be baptized as a Christian. Now this
possibly may be true, but withal I know not how if this
Chosroes were really a Christian he could be the same
monarch who later devastated Syria, Palestine and
Phoenicia, with Armenia, Cappadocia and Paphlagonia,
even coming up to Chalcedon, which Stands over
against Constantinople.

But be this as it may, what alone needs to be related

81 c

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

in the present case is that the Emperor Maurice
having come to be murdered by Phocas, who then
for a time occupied the purple, Heraclius in due
course compassed the death of Phocas, and thus
becoming Emperor, was publicly crowned in Con-
tantinople together with his wife Eudocia, otherwise
known as Fabia: all this in the year 612 of our Redemp-
tion. The reign of Heraclius lasted for thirty years,
and in the following chapter we shall tell of the events
which took place during this period, as between
Chosroes and the Emperor Heraclius. We shall
conclude our account in the present chapter by men-
tioning a fal which Matthasus Palmerius has recorded
in his book called the Chronicon namely, that when
this Heraclius became Emperor of Constantinople, in
Spain the famous Visigothic king Sisebut was his
contemporary.

82

CHAPTER X

Which continues and concludes the genealogy of the ancient kings of

Persia.

CHOSROES [II, surnamed Parvfz] was the great rival
of Heraclius, and Chriftianus Massseus, 1 in Book XIII
of his Chronicles., relates that the Persian king feeling
himself now to be more powerful than his neighbour,
three times over rejected the offers of peace which
Heraclius made him, refusing also to accept the rich
gifts which, if we are to credit the annals of the time,
the Emperor sent to him. Indeed, the Persian king
proclaimed that he would only grant peace under
conditions so disgraceful to the honour of the
Christians that the contemporary chronicles keep
silence as to the terms, so insulting were they.
That famous and valiant Emperor Heraclius, how-
ever, now firt made a peace with Dagan, king of
the Arabs, 2 and then returned to wage war against
Persia for the glory of Christendom and the Greek
Empire. On this Chosroes [sent his general Shahr-
Barz] to invade Palestine, he ravaging the land so
mercilessly that in Jerusalem alone he slew 20,000
men. Further, and what was the more pitiful, and a
matter of dire confusion for all the Christian peoples
of that age, the Persians carried off from Jerusalem the
Relic of the Mot Precious Cross, on which our Lord
Jesus Christ had suffered death.

All this promptly coming to the knowledge of the
Christian Emperor Heraclius, he suffered moll intense
grief therefrom, and was filled with an anxiety to
recover possession of that Holy Relic, also to regain
possession of the lands that had been loft to the Empire,
He therefore marched out from Constantinople at

83

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

Easter-tide, and in spite of unequal numbers deter-
mined to come to an issue with the Persian king. At
the passage of the Taurus mountains he furiously
attacked the satrap Shahr-Bdrz, who was second in
command under orders of Chosroes his master. Hera-
clius, according to the account of a reliable authority,
on this occasion cried aloud, shedding many tears, and
prayed saying, " Deus judica causam tuam" He then
furiously charged the enemy, and putting them to
rout, took possession of the city of Agazago, 3 from
whence Chosroes had jut fled. Here he entered the
Temple of the Sun, and taking possession, carried off
all the rich treasures that Chosroes had amassed,
and above all with every reverence he removed and
brought back to Jerusalem that moft Precious Cross.
Some authorities, on the other hand, tate that after
Heraclius had put the Persian armies to flight, he
marched on, and entering the Temple of the Sun there
found Chosroes seated in all majesty on his throne.
Then through magic arts the thunder rolled and rain fell,
while the Sun and the Moon and the Stars were at the
feet of Chosroes, and at his right hand tood the moft
Holy Cross, and at his left was a Cock. But Heraclius
coming in upon Chosroes slew him. The more
authentic account, however, is different from the above,
and is to the effeft that the Persian king did not die by
the hand of Heraclius ; but in faft otherwise, as we shall
now explain. For Chosroes lived on, and after a timewas
succeeded by his son Siroes, 4 he after a mob tyrannical
fashion coming to be king of Persia. And this he
accomplished contrary to all law and reason, for Siroes,
disregarding both duty and filial afFeftion which,
indeed, by natural intinft the very brute beasts
display and pay, though rudely, to their parents who
have begotten them and brought them into the world
Siroes (we learn) slew his father with his own hand,
further his mother and his brothers. Then by the

84

SIROES

help of certain of the satraps he gained possession of
the whole kingdom of Persia; but his reign ladled only
for a single year, and that with many terrible accidents,
the same brought about by his evil course of life.

Now there are some historians who State that there
was more than one king who reigned between Siroes
and his successor, the satrap Shahr-Barz, but I can find
no confirmation of this. MoSt authorities indeed
agree that Shahr-Barz ruled Persia only for half a year
or less, in succession to Siroes, and that to him followed
Barnares or Harnares, 5 one of the sons of Chosroes
Parviz who had escaped the murderous hands of his
cruel brother Siroes. He during seven months
occupied the throne of Persia, but ever in constant
fear and dread, and without liberty of aftion. On his
death he was succeeded by Hormisdas, 6 the laSt of the
Chosroes, and he reigned for ten years. Joseph
Scaliger States that in the tenth year of the reign of this
same Hormisdas, the king being weary of life and
harassed on the one side by the attacks of the Greek
Emperor, and on the other side by the incursions of
the Arabs, as also much disturbed at home by divers
rebellions of the satraps, called in Omar the Caliph of
the Moslems to his succour. Whereupon Omar
entering Persia enabled the king, it is said, forthwith
to pacify or subjugate his rebellious people. Other
authorities, however, relate the matter differently,
Stating that it was the Turks, who were at that time
idolaters, who were called in by King Hormisdas.
Be the matter, either that they called in both Moslems
and Turks together, or that it was only the one party
who came, it is Stated that the Persian king did not
sufficiently reward his two allies or whichever party
it was who alone had come to his aid. Nay, on the
contrary, in place of thanks he gave them only evil
words, calling them dogs. Hence those who had
powerfully helped him were distressed and next became

85

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

indignant. Then the Arabs, who were much dis-
appointed in the expedation of rich gifts in money
from Hormisdas, joined forces with the Turks who
were encamped in the foot-hills of the Taurus range,
and together they attacked the Persians, becoming in
a short time masters of the richest provinces of both
Persia and Media,

The Caliph Omar now coming to know his own power
vigorously pushed on the war against the Persian
kingdom. At the end of ten years of fighting he ^ had
brought to naught all opposition of the Persian nobility,
and had subjugated all those princes that were left of
the descendants of the royal house of the Arsacids
namely, of the progeny of Arbaces, Chosroes, Hormis-
das, Xerxes, Artaxerxes, Darius and Cyrus. ^ Omar
thus made himself absolute master of their empire and
tate, introducing and spreading among their people
the new poison of the bestial sed of Mahomed; and
it is on this account that Joseph Scaliger very exaftly
describes Omar as he who did wate and spill the
blood of the Persian kings. Then Omar at lat tired
of all this slaughter, and betook himself to Jerusalem,
where he eftablished his sed; of the Moslems. By
the advice of certain wretches he next undertook to
rebuild the Temple of Solomon; but a Persian whom
he had carried with him thither in his train, and whose
name was Margancia, 7 calling to mind the lamentable
tragedy of his native country, on a certain night slew
Omar, in honourable but barbarous revenge. Omar,
however, did not die on the spot, and in the hours that
he Still lived he named as his successor in the Caliphate
Othman, he being one of his chief captains.

86

CHAPTER XI

In which is told the beginning of the hittory of the Moslem Arabs who
were matters of the Persian kingdom., with other matters of import
to be known,

WHEN Othman in the year 640 after ChriSt had
succeeded Omar in the Caliphate, and he had been the
captain of the Moslem armies before this time, he
forthwith turned to matters of policy and government,
being intent also on introducing some innovations in
religion, whereunto he made a new and foolish decree
in the matter of the Moslem faith, which is since
known as the Shartah. Further, being prone to
destroying from jealousy all those objects which are
most worthy of preservation in the remembrance of
the world, and from avarice selling their relics, among
many other remarkable monuments that he brought
to ruin was the Colossus of Rhodes. This always had
been held as one of the Seven Wonders of the World,
and with reason; for as reliable authorities relate, it
was a figure in bronze of such monstrous size that it
measured 120 feet in height, being moSt curiously
wrought exaftly to reproduce the semblance of a living
man. That celebrated artificer in metal-work, Chares
of Lindus, spent twelve years of labour in moulding,
adjusting and burnishing the Statue, and it had Stood
intaft for 1,370 years when Othman caused it to be
destroyed. To carry away the bronze was the burden
of 900 camels, each bearing a charge of thirty arrobas
[or about 7 cwt,] of the metal.

Othman did many other extravagant ats, and finally
died, murdered, it is said, by the hand of a slave whom
*Ali ordered to do this deed. He had been Caliph of
Babylonia, Persia and Media during twelve years, and

87

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

of such murders as this, among the great of the various
Moslem seAs, I shall frequently mention examples.
And now it is not my intention to do more here than
name briefly in succession those Caliphs who held rule
over Persia. I say therefore that Othman was suc-
ceeded by 'Ali, who also came to a violent death, being
murdered in the city of Ktifah by order of Mu'awiyah. 1
As Caliph of Baghdad in Babylonia, 2 and ruling also
over Persia, Mu'awiyah followed 'Ali, but until the
twelfth year of his reign he had not a moment of peace,
being continually at war with the Emperors of Con-
ftantinople ; at length, however, a treaty for an armistice
was concluded between them to laft, it was agreed, for
thirty years. Then Mu'awiyah, finding himself free
from the business of war, went back to the city of
Damascus, and calling a, parliament Strove to set the
affairs of his false religion in better order. At that
time, as he rightly perceived, the Moslems were
rapidly becoming divided up into many opposing
sefts, and he proceeded to appoint a commission of
six wise men, whose names were Mulciano, Baario,
Buora, Sidi-Noccio, Sidi-Tanuin and Sidi-Daud. 3
Next giving over into their hands the various scrolls
and papers which the Prophet Mahomed had left at his
death, those six Alfaquis, or Makers in Religion, set
to work and composed a book of precepts, articles
and commandments, which those who followed the
law of the Prophet were forthwith bound to obey. To
this book they gave the name of Alcoran, decreeing
penalties for all those who should follow any other
seft but theirs.

In the year 703 after Christ there ruled at Baghdad 4
over the kingdom of Persia, the Caliph Yazfd, the son
of Mu'awiyah, who in place of warlike business, which
in those unquiet lands was the more important task to
see to, played the part of a lover, and wrote poetry
to such purpose as to become as it were a very Virgil

88

YAZID I

of Mantua, but indeed after a barbarous fashion;
though, as his enemies have burnt all his poetic works
we lack any exaft knowledge of their value. Then
'Abd~Allah, the brother of Yazid, wearying of all this
verse-making and negleft of the affairs of government
and of the army, according to one account with his own
hand put Yazid to death, though the more probable
tory is that this 'Abd- Allah was [not his brother] but
an accomplice with other partisans [of the House of
*Ali] who contrived and carried out the plot to get rid
of the Caliph. Be this as it may, these men then pro-
claimed Husayn, 5 son of 'Ali, as Caliph, but he too was
shortly afterwards slain by these same conspirators.

Then in these days when there were many chiefs,
who time and again arose, making themselves leaders
of faction in the diverse provinces, there appeared in
Persia which is the country we now are chiefly
dealing with, and shall deal with in the following pages
a man who was an Arab of the name of Mukhtar, 6
who caused himself to be proclaimed Grand Caliph of
Persia, but he found so many opponents to his claims
that scarcely for a day did he live in peace, the reigning
Caliph of Baghdad being ever against him. His
chief adversary, however, was Mus'ab [brother of
Ibn Zubayr the Anti-Caliph of Mecca], who finally
slew him in battle. But after this 'Abd-al-Malik
he whom the Arabs settled in Persia, where they had
been much persecuted and who now were in open
revolt, had recently acclaimed as their Caliph this
'Abd-al-Malik, avenging the death of Mukhtar, slew
Mus'ab, thus finally coming into undisputed possession
of the Caliphate over Persia, Mesopotamia and Arabia.
'Abd-al-Malik was succeeded by his son Walid, who was
so famous throughout the western lands of Europe and
Africa, for the mot reliable authors agree that this was
the Caliph who, to our undoing in Spain, commanded
that Moslem aid should be given to the traitor Count

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

Julian in the year 708 after Christ. And indeed it
muSt be this Caliph Walid who helped Don Julian, for
Christian Spain was not loft in the year 714, as some
have reported (but in 708), and it was this same Caliph
who was generally called " the Sword of God." When
Walid died he was succeeded by Sulayman, and he in
turn by Omar II, but these three Caliphs had enjoyed
during their reigns so little peace and quiet that scarcely
could it be said that for an entire day any one of them
was really and fully recognized as sovereign over all
Persian lands.

To these three, after continuous wars, succeeded
Yazid II as thirteenth Caliph, and when he died his
son Hisham came to the throne in the year 748, who
called himself Grand Caliph of Syria and Persia. But
at about this date another Grand Caliph was elected
in Egypt to oppose him, who was named Marwan
[and he was to be the lat Omayyad Caliph], and he
made a treaty with the Emperor Con^lantine, the
fifth of that name, becoming tributary to him, whereby
he thought to oppose Hisham the more successfully.
And this indeed was so, for coming against his enemy
and making open war in the field, with the aid of the
Emperor he overcame Hisham, slaying him, and thus
Marwan became the undisputed ruler of Babylonia
and Persia, the fifteenth Caliph in the line of the
Omayyad House. Now about this same time Persia
came to be divided up between two great parties in
the ftate, one the Keisite Arabs of Modar, and the other
the Hashimites [of the House of 'Abbas], who, these
lat, were known as followers of the law of the Imam
Ja'far [great grandson of Husayn]. Taking advantage
of this division of opinion, a certain Persian, a man of
great valour called Sulaymdn 7 Abu-Muslim, arose,
and he preached the doftrine of Mukhtar [spoken of
above, namely, that of the Seft of the Shi'ah], asserting
that the Caliph 'All truly had been a greater prophet

90

ABU-MUSLIM

than even the Prophet Mahomed. Next Abu-Muslim
proclaimed himself Amir-al-Muslimin (Commander
of the Moslems), and proceeding to attack the Keisite
faction overcame [Nasr] Ibn Sayyar, who was their
chief, and slew him. On this, Abu-Muslim, having
at command an army of 100,000 men, quietly awaited
the attack of the Caliph Marwan, who was marching
against him with 300,000 men. There now took
place one of the mot bloody and fiercely contested
battles that the nations of the Eaft had ever seen, for
it was fought between Medes and Persians; and the
number of men in the army of Marwan with their
followers at laft had reached a total of 400,000. At
the close, Marwan, completely defeated, fled with his
wife and his sons, followed by all those of his house-
hold. Marwan sought refuge in Egypt, but Zelma, 8
the son of Abu-Muslim, following after, finally brought
him to his death in the year 754 after Christ, From
Abu-Muslim, otherwise called Amir Sulayman, was
descended 9 Miisa Kazim (the Seventh Imam), who at
a later date Strove in the interest of the Family of the
Prophet Mahomed to regain the Caliphate; and from
Mtisa Kazim again were descended the Sophi kings of
Persia through the line of Mukhtar (already mentioned)
and of Muhammad or Ahmad 10 [namely, the Imam
Al Mahdi, the twelfth in descent], from 'All and
Fatimah, the daughter of the Prophet Mahomed, as
will be more fully explained later. The Persians, after
their viftory described above, elefted [Abu Muslim,
otherwise] the Amir Sulayman as their Caliph, 11 but
after this 'Abd-Allah Ibn Muhammad [who came
to be known as the second Abbasid Caliph Mansiir],
the brother of Abu Ja'far 12 [namely, Saffah the founder
of the dynasty], was before long acknowledged as
supreme Caliph throughout Syria. This Caliph
Mansiir, a man of great astuteness, forthwith
brought all his adversaries to their deaths, naming them

91

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

as traitors, and remaining then the sole and absolute
Caliph, he with evil machinations next compassed the
murder of the Amir Sulayman Abu-Muslim, his all
too powerful general.

The Caliph Mansiir at his death was succeeded by
his son Muhammad, called Mahdi, who reigned for
nine years, and after him came his eldest son Hanin-
ar-Rashid 5 who reigned for twenty-three years, being
the nineteenth in succession of the Moslem Caliphs.
Then on his death, when it had come to the year 792,
his two sons Muhammad [Amin] and 'Abd-Allah
[Mamiin] both together succeeded to the throne, and
the Strife between the two brothers was such that there
was no peace from war and insurreftions till such time
as when the party of Muhammad [Amin] had finally
gained the ascendant. Then the Caliph Amin, now in
possession of supreme power, founded among the ruins
of Babylonia a famous city, to which he gave the name
of Baghdad, 13 which, untouched by time, flourished
until it was destroyed by the Tartars [under
Khan] in the year 1258 after Christ.

92

CHAPTER XII

Continuation and conclusion of the succession of Saracen Caliphs^ who
reigned over Persia, down to the time when the Ottoman Turks
began to govern there.

THE Caliphs of Baghdad ever continued to gain glory
and honour in governing Persia, and Imbrael [other-
wise the Caliph Amin], who succeeded [his father 1 ]
in the year 846, reigned fifteen years, and till the day
of his death greatly fostered the affairs of the Persian
people. He was succeeded by his brother Mamoin,
who was killed in battle, he and his sons, after but a
short reign: some say this was when fighting against
the armies of the Emperor Michael, others that it was
the troops of the Emperor Theophilus.

After him came Mu*tasim, who was inimical to the
Persians, for he is of all men the one they hate mot;
further, he it was who in truth inaugurated the ruin of
Persia, for in his days the Persians called in the Turks
to their aid and succour against the Arab tyranny.
The Turks indeed then mufc have found the land of
Persia much to their liking, and even to the present
day it has been impossible to get them gone therefrom.
This Mu'tasim was Caliph for twenty-three years, and
at his death was succeeded by Qaim, who died after
reigning forty-four years. Then in the year 980 after
Christ, Persia, Egypt and Baghdad were divided up
among three Caliphs, and in Persia Muhammad, son of
Ignaro, 2 had rule, whom the Caliph of Baghdad, Pysa-
syri, so greatly harassed that he (Ignaro) was forced to
call in his neighbours the Turks to help him ; but a time
came later when Pysasyri himself was paid back justly
for his evil deeds and tyrannies to both Persians and
Turks. For he having robbed and put to death very
many of the Turks who inhabited the Caucasus moun-

93

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

tains, these latter sent for aid to Trangolipix 3 [as the
Byzantines call Tughril Beg the Seljuq]. He then
with a great army invaded the country of Islam,
and though the Caliphs of Baghdad and Persia
opposed him and successfully defended the ford
known by the name of Hamete where the river
Araxes of Armenia is crossed the enemy took posses-
sion of all the mountain region of Armenia, and
thence descending into Persia, and the kingdoms
adjacent, put an innumerable multitude of folk to death
by the sword; finally also killing both the Caliphs
[namely of Baghdad and Persia].

It was on this occasion that the Turks finally became
overlords of Persia, and with other provinces that
he subsequently conquered Tughril Beg became
Grand Sultan, being succeeded in due time by his
nephews: and hence after this the Caliphs of Baghdad
entirely ceased to have rule over Persia, and the Turks
dominated the country; in time abandoning their
idolatrous religion for originally they had been
pagans and becoming Mahomedans. After this
wise therefore the rule and sway of the Turks con-
tinued until the government came to Belcepho, who,
ruling as autocrat, took occasion to be called the
Emperor of Persia. He it was who made his nephew
Alphagalo governor of Lesser Armenia. Alphagalo
becoming ambitious of glory, being intent to rival the
deeds of Alexander the Great, conquered Cilicia,
Pamphylia, Lycia, Lycaonia, Cappadocia, ^ Great
Armenia, Galatia, Paphlagonia, Pontus and Bithynia,
assuming the title of Grand Sultan, and commanding
that he should be called Salamansa (which is Sulaymdn)
or, as we say, Solyman. 4 From the year 1000 after
Chrifc to the year 1200 the affairs of Persia remained
as we might say in abeyance, for the country was
governed either by civil or military chiefs sent to rule
the land by some one of the various overlords of Meso-

94

TURKS AND TARTARS

potamia, whether of the Turk or of the Tartar nation.
For these two peoples, alternately supreme, were
fighting against each other during this period, and they
were ever and anon committing all kinds of massacre
and robbery throughout the lands of the Eat.
Finally the Tartars got the better of their rivals after
the year 1244, and remained in power till the year
1280, when the Turks again came to their own. 5 But
afterwards the seven provinces [of Asia Minor] which
the Turks had now gained were reduced in number,
and their seven Amirs came to be no more than four
principal governors in the Amirates, under four chiefs
of families whose names were Caraman, Candelor,
Othman and Hasan Beg, from the laft of whom was
descended Uzun Hasan the valorous king of Persia,
as will be told later. To the Amir Othman here
mentioned succeeded his youngest son Orkhan, and
these two Amirs laid the foundation of the sovereignty
of the Ottoman House, as is Stated by Genebrardus in
Book IV of his works. 6 The father, Othman, is
reported to have been of very humble origin, for he
was the son of a common soldier- named Ertoghrul,
and was born at a village called Sugut [Thebasion] .
He having gained possession of many lands, set up his
court in the city of Brusa in Bithynia that same city
which King Prusias built who gave aid to Hannibal.
But he who would more particularly have details of the
history of the Ottoman House mut read Cuspinianus
and Georgievits, and these authorities have treated of
the matter very copiously. 7 For our present purpose,
here, it will be enough to say that the successor of
Othman was Orkhan, followed by Sultan Murad I 8
and Bayazid I, who was the rival of Timur Beg
or Tamerlane. These Ottoman Sultans had now
established their dominion over mot parts of Asia
Minor, and further as their own subjels and in their
dependence they now held all the native princes of

95

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

Persia and Media, until the time when, as above
mentioned, the Great Tamerlane having conquered
moSt of Asia, overcame Bayazid I [at the battle of
Angora], and then put him in a cage, afterwards
using him as a block from which to mount his horse.

It appears to us further that we may count the Great
Tamerlane among the number of the kings of Persia,
and we call the attention of our readers to the fad that
at his death there were present the ambassadors ^ of
Spain, who had been sent by Henry III, king of Caftile,
to treat with Tamerlane, Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo
being one of these ambassadors, the same who wrote
the account of that embassy. 9 Then during the period
of troubles arising when there was war between the
claimants to the inheritance of the Great Tamerlane
whom the Turks call Ilderim, 10 which is as much as to
say the Whirlwind or the Lightning his grandson
the tyrant Omar Mirza obtained the supreme power
and invoked the aid of our ambassadors, who (on their
return journey) were at Van, a city lying to the wet
of Tabriz. All this country was part of the ancient
kingdom of Persia, and at that time was under the
dominion of those tyrants who had in the firft instance,
by craft, succeeded to the heritage of Tamerlane
namely, his grandsons Sugurghatmish and Baysunqur.
But both these tyrants and others soon lot their hold
on the States that Tamerlane had in the short time of
his life conquered, and all this country afterwards came
back under the government of Sultan Muhammad I,
the youngest son of Sultan Bayazid I, who had suc-
ceeded (in 1402) to his father's throne by deeds of
violence, and by the murder of all his elder brothers.
After him came Murdd II (in 1421), when the great
king of the Tartars of Cathay (Shah Rukh) took over
rule in all those eastern countries, until the date (as will
be shown later) when the Sophi kings of Persia finally
restored that monarchy to its pristine power and glory.

96

CHAPTER XIII

In which the affairs of the Ottomans and of the Persians are continued
to their final Sage.

SULTAN MUHAMMAD II (who succeeded in 1451), son
of Murdd II, 1 was surnamed the Great [and was the
conqueror of Constantinople], As Johannes Cus-
pinianus relates, he prospered greatly in his policy,
both in Europe and in Asia, though not without a
rival on the side of Persia, for here Uzun Hasan was
now king, 2 who has already been mentioned as a de-
scendant of Hasan Beg, one of the early Turkish Amirs
of Asia Minor. He ever opposed Sultan Muhammad
valiantly, being the chief enemy whom the latter had
now to compass among the many potentates who were
his neighbours. This Uzun Hasan was indeed as much
a Turk, by blood, as the Sultan himself, but he prided
himself greatly in being of true Persian nationality,
and not an Asiatic Turk (as was the Ottoman Sultan).
This in fad is what we may deduce from the
happenings when the Venetians took up arms against
Sultan Muhammad II, and when Venice made that
valiant soldier Pietro Mocenigo captain-general of
her sea forces. 3 It was then that Uzun Hasan, king
of Persia, sent his fir& embassy to the Venetians, and
while Pietro Mocenigo was Still at the island of Rhodes. 4
When the Persian ambassadors from Uzun Hasan
came to him, it became quite clear to the Venetians
what was this enmity which has ever exited between
the Persian and the Turk; for the Persian ambassador
frad been told to promise that Uzun Hasan would
attack the Sultan on the side of Armenia at the very
same time that the Venetians made their attack, for
they were then on the point of laying siege to the city

97 H

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

of Adaliyah in Pamphylia. Thus he who was the
enemy of both parties might peradventure be totally
overcome. Fray Juan de Pineda in his Monarchia
EcclesiaSfica mi^lakenly calls Uzun Hasan the Sophi
of Persia, and I know not how such a grave author
can have so forgotten himself, for indeed the title of
Sophi was never known in Persia till the beginning of
the 1 6th century, as we shall explain more exaftly in
the opening pages of our Second Book. The reply
which the Venetians on this occasion gave to the
embassy of Uzun Hasan did not satisfy him, but next
coming to know that Pietro Mocenigo was gone to
Napoli di Romania [Nauplia in Greece], he forthwith
sent a second ambassador who should explain the
matter more clearly, and at the same time urgently
demand potent succour against the Turk. This
ambassador afterwards came on to Venice, and the
Signory now began to perceive that the quarrel which
they had on hand with Sultan Muhammad made it of
great importance for them to be in close alliance of
friendship with Persia. The treaty therefore was
concluded, and the Venetians despatched three small
vessels, under sail, but reinforced by rowers, to their
captain-general Pietro Mocenigo 5 in Greek waters.
From thence these ships took on board 100 artillery-
men of experience and capacity, who were immediately
sent on to Persia, for in the matter of their artillery the
Persian armies suffered greatly from a paucity of
cannon, while on the other hand the Turkish armies
in Asia were very well equipped in this arm, and they
could effeft much damage in their attack. On this
occasion the ambassador whom the Venetians sent was
that Josaphat Barbaro, already^mentioned, who was well
acquainted with the Persian tongue, and he was the
bearer of many rich jewels as gifts to the Persian king.
Josaphat Barbaro set sail therefore from Venice, and
though his embassy to Persia produced little effeft, he

98

JOSAPHAT BARBARO

none the less made report to the Signory of many things
that he saw there with his own eyes, speaking of the
great power of Persia, and this was of much importance
coming later to the knowledge of the kingdoms of the
Weft, through being faithfully set down in the book
which he subsequently wrote. 7 The reason indeed
that his embassy to the Persian king effefted so little
was that the Persians having no ships at sea, never
could make their power felt against the Ottoman
Sultans, hence at no time could they bring any force
in aid to Pietro Mocenigo, who was now effectively
harassing the Turks [with the Venetian galleys] off the
coal regions of Cilicia and Syria. Pietro Mocenigo
at this same season was busied with restoring to their
own, in the kingdom of Cilicia, the two Qaraman
brothers whom Sultan Muhammad had dispossessed.
These princes were Pir Ahmad, who had taken refuge
at the court of Uzun Hasan, and Hasan Beg, his
younger brother. 8

Sultan Muhammad, feeling much vexed by the
opposition which the Persians had put up against
him in Asia Minor, was now making preparations to
march and invade Western Persia with an immense
army, including both horse and foot, and numbering
320,000 men. But the army which the Persian king
had assembled was yet greater, for the writer Bernard
of Breydenbach 9 States that the squadrons of the
cavalry alone of the Persians exceeded in number
350,000 horse. There followed one of the mo&
celebrated battles that ever came to be fought in Asia
between rival Moslem potentates, 10 for the two mighty
armies having been drawn up in battle array, set to,
and the Struggle lasted for two whole days before the
viftory was declared. And again, although with
some truth it may be affirmed that the Turk was here
the viftor, yet the viftory coSt him so dear that Sultan
Muhammad never again dared to attack Persia, and in

99

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

the future turned all his attention to the wars in Europe,
Here more particularly he intervened in the affairs of
Italy; where in the terrible delrudion which the
Turks wrought at Otranto in [July, 1480] the Roman
Pontiff (Sixtus IV) himself was put in no small peril.
Then by the mercy of God Sultan Muhammad II
died suddenly [May, 1481], whereby Christendom
was delivered from its mo& arrogant enemy.^ Uzun
Hasan, too, on his part was overwhelmed by his defeat
[at this battle of Terjan], and was so ca& down by the
death of his eldeft son and heir, who was .killed in the
engagement, that he immediately retired, marching
back to Persia, there very shortly afterwards dying of
melancholy.

With him the line of Hasan Beg ^the Turk Amir
came to an end, and no other Turkish prince after-
wards governed in Persia, though during the next
score of years this country was ruled by the two suc-
cessors 11 of Uzun Hasan [namely. Sultan Ya'qiib and
this prince's nephew RuStam, but at leat on the
mother's side] these princes were rather to be accounted
Arabs than Turks. These successors of Uzun Hasan
therefore came to power and for a while held rule over
Persia, but with a further interval Isma'il, the fir&
Sophi monarch, arose to kingship, with whose Strange
adventures we shall begin our Second Book. We
have therefore now finally done with all these foreign
kings, or Caliphs, whether Arabs or Turkomans or
Ottomans, who in long pat times and seasons have
held rule over the lands of Persia.

100

SECOND Book of the Account of Don
Juan of Persia, in which the origin of the
Sophi Kings of Persia is explained, and
an account given of their wars against
the Turks ; in some part of which same
wars Don Juan of Persia and his
father. Sultan *Ali Beg Bayat, took
their share.

101

.Altun
OaJ'aho

oArdahan

ARMENIA

O Ma rand
oSuriyan
o Tabnz

AZERBAYJAN

. orDiyar Bakr

oMaraghah

KURDIS"AN

MESOPOTAMIA

G1LAN

Sulfaniyah o

CHAPTER I

In which is described the hiflory of the fir Bophi King of Persia, with
divers curious events thereto happening.

AND now came the year 1500, so celebrated and worthy
of remembrance for many events that profited ChriSten-
dom; and not the leaSt of these the wars that had burft
out and flamed up among the various infidel Slates of
Asia. This was after the death of Sultan Muham-
mad II, who, as we have seen, was succeeded by his
son Bayazid II in the year 1481. Sultan Bayazid,
following in the ambitions and the tyrannical footsteps
of his father, forthwith prosecuted the war againSt
Ibrahim the prince of Qaraman, 1 and also, on the other
hand, allowed no moment of peace to the Burji
Mamluk Sultan of Grand Cairo. We might, too,
say much about the insurrections and plots Stirred up
by his elder brother Prince Jem [Jamshid], as also of
the rebellion in Constantinople of his son the young
Qurqud, but all these matters are indeed beyond the
scope of this book, and so we shall leave the telling^of
them to those who have more particularly dealt with
the same. For our purpose, all that need here be said,
is that Sultan Bayazid finding himself at laSt in peaceful
and unquestioned possession of the supreme power,
now gave over warring and vilely betook himself to a
vicious life of ease, though this was quite foreign to
what his former maSterful charafter seemed likely to
have disposed him.

The year 1 500, however, is further moSl memorable
for having seen the birth of the Great Caesar
Charles V, that mighty column of Christendom, the
glory of the House of AuSlria, and the supreme honour
of Spain, who indeed was ever an inexpugnable wall

103

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

of defence for the True Faith, and to the close of his
life the terror of all her enemies. This therefore will
ever suffice to make that age, which indeed runs
continuous with our own, mot famous, but further
detail concerning it is beyond our present purpose, and
we may now forthwith return to those matters that we
have promised more especially to treat of.

I say, therefore and in spite of the fa<5t that
opinions differ on this subjeft between such authorities
as Amandus of Zieriksee 2 and Bernard of Breydenbach
as against Paulo Giovio 3 I say that at a date that
was more or less some twenty-lour years previous to
the fjjcSt year of the i6th century and in this we
follow the common report which was current among us
Persians namely, at a date which, if our reckoning
be exaft, may be set down at the year 1472, Isma'il
the son of Shaykh Haydar of Ardebil was born, who
afterwards was known as the Sophi, Ardebil being the
city of which his father was lord. Now Shaykh
Haydar was a learned astrologer, being also held as a
Saint in the opinion of the Moslems of Persia, and
when his son was born he foretold by his art that the
boy would grow up to be a great prince, and a mot
zealous defender of the True Faith, which is the Law
of 'AH the son-in-law of Mahomed the Prophet, and
further that Isma'il would live to be one of the mot
famous sovereigns of Asia. This prophecy, as we shall
see later, was amply fulfilled; and in order that we may
show this the more clearly, it will be well here to explain
fully two matters of importance namely, what was
this Law of 'All, and who was Isma'il and from
whom was he descended ?

To explain the firft point we mut now go back many
centuries of history and write concerning the times of
the Prophet Mahomed, when matters fell out as follows.
At the period when the Prophet had attained his
greatest reputation among the Arabs, and had founded

104

CALIPH <ALI

his false religion the tenets of which are more in
accordance with the bestial appetite of man than in
conformity with divine truth or reason he being then
at the age of seventy-three years and feeling himself near
to death, proceeded to make his will and testament. In
this he devolved the succession to the governance of
the late, giving the supreme authority in all matters of
religion to *Ali, his son-in-law, the husband of Fatimah,
his daughter by his firl wife, and naming him to be
Grand Caliph. But further he added this incongruity
to others of his making, for he established 'Ali, as a
person might say, to be at one and the same time
emperor and pontiff, otherwise king and archbishop.
Now for his second wife Mahomed had married
Ayishah, daughter of Abu Bakr, a man of great impor-
tance in the tate, and this Abu Bakr was much vexed
that his son-in-law the Prophet Mahomed had
not named him, Abu Bakr, to be his successor as Caliph,
but that he should have preferred to him a youth like
'Ali, a person, said he, of little importance and less
experience. This Abu Bakr being therefore a man
of great wealth, and of authority in matters of war,
and always able to accomplish all that which he thought
the right, and further having the support of Omar
and Othman, he, Abu Bakr, aided by these two
men, put himself at the head of a great concourse of
Arabs, and forthwith dispossessed 'Ali of the govern-
ment. Thus Abu Bakr, after the death of the Prophet,
without a battle, became supreme Caliph, but he died
shortly after this, whereupon Omar succeeded to the
Caliphate, and next Othman. The two laft named in
truth paid dearly for their usurpation, for Omar (as
has been said above) was murdered by a Persian slave,
a miller, and Othman was killed very traitorously by a
soldier, who it was said, but untruthfully, was urged
to do the deed by 'Ali. Then next in turn, and to
avenge, as he said, the death of Othman his kinsman,

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DON JUAN OF PERSIA

Mu'awiyah had 'AH put to death, according to ^
common account given. The more true version,
however, is that 'All, having come at length ^ to be
Caliph after the deaths of the three Caliphs his pre-
decessors and enemies [namely, Abu Bakr, Omar and
Othman], was one day prompted charitably to adopt
a foundling whom he had by chance come upon
lying outside the door of a certain Mosque, and to
whom he gave subsequently the name of 'Abd-ar-
Rahman Ibn Marjan. 4 On growing to manhood
this wretch, in the very Mosque outside which he had
been found as an infant by 'AH, tabbed his benefaftor
to death, using a dagger poisoned with the fat of a
venomous serpent which in Persia is known as the
Zahr-Mdr [or Poison-snake]. This event took place
in the city of Rtifah, which Stands on the Euphrates
some distance to the westward of Baghdad. The place
has since been named by the Moslems Meshed 'Ali,
which is as much as to say " the Place of Martyrdom
of 'AH," for *Ali was buried there, and his shrine is now
one of the mo& notable Mosques in all Asia, to which
all Persians flock in pilgrimage to make their devotions.
It is a place of great richness, for before 'All's tomb
more than 2,000 gold or silver lamps burn continu-
ally, and the Mosque is served by some 400 Sayyids
[descendants of the Prophet], whom the Turks speak
of as PaqiJiS) who are, as we should put it, the Chaplains
of the Shrine.

But to return to our history. The men of Ktifah
after this raised Husayn, the son of 'Ali, to be Caliph;
but shortly afterwards he too was murdered, with all
his family and household, by order of the Caliph
Yazid, the son of Mu'dwiyah. Now whether Omar
and Othman were indeed the lawful Caliphs, or
whether 'Ali had of right the succession thereto, was
matter that did beget much difference of opinion and
was the cause of many great wars ; for the Persians say

106

SHAYKH HAYDAR

that, in conformity with the will and testament of
Mahomed, 'AH was the true Caliph and the Law he
promulgated the true law; but the Turks, who follow
in this the doftrine taught by the Arabs, assert that the
rightful Caliph was indeed Abu Bakr and the dofhrine
he taught the only orthodox faith.

And now it will be well for us to give an account
of Shaykh Haydar [the father of Shah Isma'il, the fir&
Safavi monarch of Persia, otherwise the Grand Sophij.
This Haydar was of the House of ' Ali, of whose affairs
we have been speaking, being a descendant of Miisa
Kazim [the Seventh Imam], who was [great-great-
grandson 6 ] of Husayn, the son of 'AH, by his wife
Fatimah, the daughter of the Prophet Mahomed.
Shaykh Haydar was on terms of intimacy with that king
of Persian Armenia of whom we have already written
so much, and who was called Uzun Hasan, and the
intimacy became such that Uzun Hasan gave Haydar
his daughter (Martha) in marriage. Haydar thus
became his son-in-law, and by this marriage Isma'il, his
son, could claim descent (through his mother) from the
former kings of Persia, while on his father's side he
was descended from the noble House of 'Ali [through
the Imams]. Then again the mother of Shaykh
Haydar's wife, Martha, was indeed a Christian, being
the daughter of the Christian Princess Despina, who
was the wife of Uzun Hasan, aforesaid, and she was
herself a daughter of Kalo Joannes [the lab Christian]
Emperor of Trebizond. 6 Whereby it follows that it
is no idle boat for the Safavi king of Persia to claim
to be a friend of the Christian potentates of Europe,
for the half of his house and blood conies, in direct
descent, from that moft noble Christian House of the
Greek Emperors of Constantinople.

Having thus explained the descent of Shah Isma'il
I proceed, and say that when Uzun Hasan, king of
Persia, died, his son, Sultan Ya'qiib succeeded to his

107

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

estate. But he, as it is said, had now become ashamed
of having for his brother-in-law a common man like
Haydar, whom he in no wise considered as the equal
in rank to a powerful king like himself. In con-
sequence, Ya'qtib took counsel and compassed the
death of Haydar, whom he slew, and would have
compassed that of Haydar's son Isma'il, though he
indeed was his very own nephew, being at that time
a boy ten years old. Isma'il, however, managed to
escape, and betook himself to the frontiers of Tartary,
seeking a safe refuge in the city of Zezian, not far from
the Caspian Sea, where he was charitably entertained by
the king of that country, Pir 'AH, who caused him to
be well educated, and later brought him up at his
court. Here in time Isma'il, by a hypocritical pretence
of piety, gained the reputation of being a Saint, and so
it came about that the people began to reverence and
follow after him.

Giovanni Botero, however, relates these events
somewhat differently in his Relationi Universal*?
He calls the Persian prince Uzun Hasan by the title
of Hasan Beg, 8 and his son who succeeded to him he
names Ya'qiib Beg, and goes on to explain that the true
reason why Ya'qtib had caused his brother-in-law
Haydar to be put to death was not because (as we have
Stated above) he, Ya'qiib, was ashamed of his connexion
by marriage with one of such low degree. And in this
Botero appears to me to be in the right, for Haydar
(as we have explained) through his father was de-
scended from the noblest blood in all Arabia, and
through his mother (the sifter of Uzun Hasan) was
connected with the kings of Armenia and the Chris-
tian Emperors of Trebizond. Further, Haydar was
already in possession of the lordship of the famous
city of Ardebil, all of which is quite enough, in quality
as in quantity, to have warranted King Uzun Hasan
in giving him a third or even a fourth daughter in

108

SHAH ISMA'IL

marriage. But the fad of the matter seems to have
been that Haydar was all too famous as an astrologer,
seeing that many of his prognostications had already
come true, so that all Persia believed in his prophecies :
hence the edge of the sword that took off his head was
not whetted by a sense of shame, but rather by a sense
of envy of the future greatness of his descendants.

Botero further relates that Haydar, having two sons,
Isma'il and Sulaymdn, Sultan Ya'qtib, as soon as his
father, Uzun Hasan, was dead, sent a message to one of
his captains, named Mansiir, to carry off both the boys
to Zalga, a very Strong fortress in the mountains, and
this was equivalent to ordering him to put them to
death in cold blood. But Manstir disobeyed the order,
and, revealing the whole matter to Isma'il, afterwards
brought him up in his house as one of his family.
Now I know not which of these two accounts moSt
to credit, for though the firSt that we have mentioned
is the Story now everywhere current in Persia, the
second account, as Botero has it, appears to me the one
that has the more likelihood in it. 9

Whichever be the true version, it is a faft beyond
doubt that Isma'il, when he came to be nineteen years
of age, began to preach the doftrine of the Shi'ah faith
as againSt the tenets of the other seventy-eight sefts
into which the Moslems are divided and being a very
great hypocrite he boldly condemned all other beliefs
as heresy. Then having begun with a following of
only twelve or fourteen disciples, he soon afterwards
found himself at the head of 300 well-armed partisans.
At their head he made a descent into Persian territory,
being joined there by a multitude of vagabonds and
bandits, with whose help forthwith he Stormed and
took possession of the city of Shamakhi. All the
di&rifts of Armenia round and about now fell under
his power, and he became the king of that country.
Next, Sultan Ya'qiib having come out against him,

109

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

Isma'il found means by poison forthwith to compass
the death of Ya'qtib, and sending for his body, had it
publicly burnt, thus seeking to avenge the murder
of Shaykh Haydar his father. After this became
known the chief men in Persia began to come in to
Isma'fl, and the princes of all the neighbouring States
fell to regarding him much more favourably. Isma'il
thereupon holding that his power was now sufficient,
set out to obtain possession of the city of Tabriz,
which was then considered the seat of empire of him
who would be the king of Persia, For this city was
already so populous that it is Stated to have contained
200,000 houses, and it was in truth the capital of
Armenia and, as it were, the metropolis of the Eaft.
Isma'il marching against Tabriz, laid siege to and took
it, but as he entered its gates his two cousins [the sons
of the late Sultan Ya'qtib, the princes] Alvand and
Murad at that moment managed to effeft their escape.
When Isma'il found himself thus master of Tabriz,
he elefted to proclaim himself the Grand Sophi of
Persia; and he took as his title to be Styled Isma'il
Shaykh Ardebili Qizil Bash Ithna-'ashariy, 10 and what
these names signified was as who should say, " Great
Isma'il, Restorer of the cotton or woollen Cap or Turban
of Twelve colours." For as we have seen, the seft that
the Persians belonged to was the Seft of 'Ali, and it
was 'Ali who instituted this form of headgear, which
was a bonnet or high hat made of cotton-Stuff or wool,
of a red colour. This is what the words Qizil Bash
signify, namely " Red Head," and it is for this, as we
shall find later, that the Turks call the Persians the
Qizil Bash. On the top of this red bonnet the Persians
were wont to set twelve knots, 11 or points, each of a
different colour, which same is what is indicated by
the word Ithnd- ashariy, which in Arabic means
" twelve." The revival of the ancient custom of
wearing such a form of headgear, which Isma'il had

no

GRAND SOPHI

thus inculcated among his followers, a people ever
ardent to have novelty, made them now ready to shed
their very heart's blood in his service. Hence, before
long, Isma'il became prince and master of one of the
greatest States, indeed one of the moft potent kingdoms
of all Asia, for he became Grand Sophi of Persia. Of
this title the word Sophi does not mean "wise," as
some erroneously intruded have said, imagining that
it came from the Greek word Sophos^ " wisdom," for
it is a Persian word, and Sof (or Suf) in that tongue
means " wool " or " cotton." Thus Isma'il Sophi,
descended from *Ali, son-in-law of the Prophet
Mahomed, proclaimed himself to be a very zealous
missioner of that set, abhorring the creed of the Caliphs
Omar and Othman ; but after becoming a mot power-
ful monarch, he did not live in peace, for it was he who
inaugurated the wars which have continued down to
our present day between the Persians and the Turks.
After this fashion it was that the firt Sophi king of
Persia began his reign.

in

CHAPTER II

Of the many wars that Isma'il Sop hi had to wage.

HARDLY had the great Isma'il Sophi grasped with his
hand the sceptre of government in the new Persian
Empire when it became necessary to lay that sceptre
of peace aside, and taking up the lance and the sword,
fight valiantly against his many enemies. Those who
at firt gave him the greatest trouble were his two
cousins Alvand and Murad Khin, who, holding many
Strong places in the Nissat mountains, lying between
Armenia and Upper Mesopotamia, and relying on the
inaccessibility of their country, and the great number
of their clansmen, were constantly making raids that
resulted in inflicting great damage on the neighbouring
Persian lands. These two princes were indeed at
this time hoping to get back the power that they had
possessed formerly in these ditri6ts, also intending
if possible to extend their sway over the country lying
beyond. Therefore, as soon as he came to hear of
their doings Shah Isma'il forthwith assembled a
mighty force, and marching against them with his
people, gained a complete viftory over them, putting
their army to the rout and killing Prince Alvand.
Murdd Khan with his remaining tribesmen passed
down into 'Iraq, whither Isma'il immediately followed
him, and again Murdd suffered defeat, but again
escaped, Isma'il now entered into possession of
'Iraq, thus becoming undisputed master of the whole
of Mesopotamia, as also of mot of Azerbayjan,

The news of these matters was in due time brought
to the ears of the careless and peace-loving Sultan
Bayazid II, who now began to feel the prick of envy
at the rising fortunes of Isma'il Sophi, fearing him

112

TEKELLI

also as a rival in empire. Many of the subject princes
of the Turkish dominions were at this period refusing
to pay the Sultan their proper dues, and some whom he
had dispossessed of their governments were in open
revolt. Further, Bayazid was troubled by the great
power that was coming into the hands of Tekelli. 1 This
man [the son of Hasan Khalifah], one of the original
disciples of Shaykh Haydar, Isma'iTs father, was a
very skilful soldier and a great hypocrite in his religion,
and he had been given the pot of captain-general in
the Persian army that was fighting for the Sophi cause.
At the head of an immense multitude of various tribes-
men he recently had crossed the Turkish border and
overrun all Cilicia, 2 where he defeated an army com-
manded by the two princes, the grandsons of Sultan
Bayazid, who had been sent to oppose him. For
lack of artillery Tekelli had been unable to take Qoniah,
but coming suddenly upon Bayazid' s son. Prince
Qurqud, he might easily have taken him prisoner or
even killed him, but again contented himself with
putting Qurqud to an ignominious flight. Tekelli
Qizil Bash thus the Turks called him now passed
forward into Bithynia, and on the banks of the river
Sangarius encountered Qarakiish, Beglerbeg of Ana-
tolia, who was encamped there, being in touch with
Prince Ahmad, Bayazid's eldest son. This Prince
Ahmad had under his command another great body of
troops, and it was hoped that these two Turkish armies
would be able to surround Tekelli and overpower
him. He, however, getting warning of the plan,
avoided the grip of these two armies, though not
without some loss, for 7,000 men of his rear-guard
were captured and put to the sword. Tekelli, how-
ever, avenged his defeat before long, for Storming
the town of Kutahiyah, the chief city of Galatia, to
which Qarakiish had retired for a season of repose,
Tekelli took him prisoner, sacked the town, and then

113 i

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

marched off without meeting with any hindrance from
the other forces of the enemy.

It was Tekelli's intention next to capture Brusa, the
chief town of Bithynia, but having news that [the
Grand Vizier Khadim] 'AH Pasha from European
Turkey, with Qurqud the Sanjaq in command of
Qatamuniyah and Prince Ahmad were on his heels
with a very great army, well appointed and disciplined,
such indeed as Sultan Bayazid had not before had at
command, Tekelli prudently turned aside and escaped
into the open country. By craft disguising his line of
march, he carried off his troops swiftly by devious ways,
and always as much as might be avoided any engage-
ment with the enemy. In this, however, he was not
entirely successful, for 'All Pasha closely following him,
at lat came up and slew a number of his men. Tekelli
was much enraged at being thus caught, and unable
by craft to escape him, proceeded to vent his wrath on
the unfortunate Beglerbeg of Anatolia, Qarakdsh, his
prisoner, whom he caused to be impaled publicly,
and in full sight of the Turkish camp and army. 'AH
Pasha, however, undeterred, pressed on, harassing and
closely following after him; and leaving Prince Ahmad
behind with the infantry, he pursued rapidly with his
cavalry. Advancing at the head of a body of 8,000
horse, he finally came up with Tekelli in mount Oliga
close to Angora, which of old was called Ancyra.
Tekelli, however, managed to repulse the Turkish
attack, making great use of his mounted arquebusiers,
for the Persian cavalry are armed with this weapon,
and 'AH Pasha, who was exposing himself in the battle
front, fell mortally wounded. The Persians were of
course greatly elated by this success, but Prince
Ahmad coming up suddenly with the remainder of
the Turkish force, compelled them once more to
retreat. Passing over mount Oliga, the Persian army
crossed the river Halys, retiring on Tassia, where

114

SULTAN SELIM

Yiinus Pasha, general of the troops from European
Turkey, caught them up, forcing Tekelli to take refuge
finally in Little Armenia, where he found Shah Isma'il
encamped at the head of the main body of his army.

Here Tekelli took some reft for a while, content with
the glory that he had gained, for indeed he had put
all the Asiatic provinces of the Turkish Empire in great
traits, so that there was hardly a city of Anatolia that
he had not captured, or at leaft plundered, his men
appearing in force at their gates with his kettle-drums.
Indeed it is said that at one time, having crossed over
the Straits he, Tekelli, came to be so near to Con-
ftantinople that one morning, riding up to the outer-
mot wall he broke the locks on the city gate. After
this Shah Isma'il marched out from Lesser Armenia
to oppose Prince 'Alem, Bayazid's second son, who
had advanced to threaten the Persian frontier, but
though the two armies on more than one occasion came
face to face and in battle array, no engagement of
importance ensued.

It was at this time that Selim, the son of Bayazid,
in Constantinople took possession of the throne by
means mot foul and by a mot tyrannical conduft.
For he had compassed the death of his father, Bayazid,
by effect of a poison draught. This is their inhuman
custom in the House of Ottoman, where he who
succeeds to the throne mut put to death all his
brothers, nay, even his own father, left any of the blood-
royal should live and attempt to oppose his succession.
Among the brothers of Sultan Selim, however, there
was one who had escaped arrest and the death sentence.
This was Prince Amurath or Murad, who fled, seeking
shelter with the Sophi, the great enemy of his family
and people ; for it is the proud boafc of the monarchs
of the royal house of Persia to show charity to all
princes who may seek their amity and friendship.
Isma'il Sophi therefore not only gave Prince Murdd

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

a kindly reception, but far from treating him as an
enemy showed himself to be his sincere ^ friend, nay,
indeed a relation, granting him one of his daughters
in marriage. Afterwards giving him 30,000 horsemen,
he despatched him to take possession of the province
of Qaraman, which Prince Murad asserted was his
appanage, left him by his father, Bayazid, in his will.
When Sultan Selim heard of these happenings he was
much vexed in mind, and every day chafed the more
at the doings of those whom the Sophi was befriending.
He promulgated an ordinance that none of his people
should have commerce with the subjects of Shah
Ismail, threatening mol heavy punishment to any who
disobeyed, and anathematizing the ShTah religion and
the Seft of 'Ali, which he declared to be rankly heretical.
Next he began to colled his troops, both those from
Europe and from Asia Minor, forming a great army
which came to number 200,000 men, Khayr-ad-Din
Pasha being appointed to the chief command.

Sultan Selim himself next declared it to be his
intention personally to take part in the campaign, and
though many of his Pashas tried to dissuade him, as
the season was then in the depth of winter, such was
the impatience of his anger that nothing could retrain
him. The Sultan therefore set out at the head of the
army, marching into Great Armenia, and attempted
to pass across the Taurus mountains, where, to his
annoyance, the snows now greatly delayed his advance.
Here he found that the Persians had already burnt, or
destroyed, all the crops of this countryside, so that the
Turkish army could gain no booty or profit. Selim
now approached the lands of 'Ala-ad-Dawlah 3 in that
part of Cappadocia which is of Armenia, demanding
of him that he should give the Turks free passage
through the territories he governed, through these same
it being the mot direft and the safest road for Sultan
Selim to follow. 'Ala-ad-Dawlah, however, feared

116

'ALA-AD-DAWLAH

that on the morrow Selim would be going back home
again to Constantinople, and that he, 'Ala-ad-Dawlah,
would then find himself left in the lurch, unprotected
and declared a traitor both by Shah Isma'il and his
friends the neighbouring princes of Armenia. He
therefore made up his mind to refuse the demand of
Sultan Selim, but proffering many excuses, and giving
him good words in the room of good deeds. Selim
was much disgusted at his refusal, and astonished to
find that he was by far less respefted and feared in
these parts than he had imagined. What anger he felt,
however, perforce he did not show, though he swore to
himself that he would later on wreak his vengeance on
the Armenian prince. Then turning off to the left
hand (north-eaSt) along the Western Euphrates, he
marched to the Leprus mountains; but on the way
thither he had to abandon much of his baggage, muni-
tions and Stores ; also some regiments of his infantry
who had remained behind loft in the snows of that
desolate country. Finally coming down to the banks
of the Araxes, he crossed that great river which forms
the boundary here of Armenia [at a point to the north
and] near Khoy, which of old was the city called
Artaxata, now finally coming in sight of the Persian
camp and army.

It was here that Sultan Selim learnt how his brother, 4
Prince Murad, already become the son-in-law of the
Sophi, was present with the Persians, and that he had
been previously Stirring up all Asia Minor againSt the
Sultan; further that he, Murad, was much in the
counsels of Shah Ismail's general-in-dbief, who was
called Uftad OghM, 6 a very valiant soldier, and that
the Persian army was Stationary, awaiting the arrival
of Isma'il before offering battle to the Turks. With
much guile and many gifts to the Persian commander,
the Sultan now tried to get his brother Murad delivered
over to him, but this was not to be; and very shortly

117

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

afterwards Shah Isma'fl appeared with the bulk of his
troops to join forces with those of the vanguard
commanded by Prince Murad. Thus the opposing
armies now found themselves face to face in battle
array, and on the 26th of August of the year 1514, the
signal to attack being given the great battle began in
the plain of Chaldiran. 6 The Persians numbered
300,000 cavalry, not counting infantry, and Sultan
Selim had on his side so numerous an army, that it
would appear fabulous to mention their number, were
it not that, but a few years ago, there were many old
men ftill living in Isfahan who bore witness to the
fad, and would affirm, that Sultan Selim had under
his command at Chaldiran 400,000 horsemen and
800,000 foot soldiers. Firift came the skirmishing,
and then the real battle followed, lasting all day, and at
nightfall the Persians had fought their way almoft
to the presence of Sultan Selim, and would indeed
have taken him prisoner had his good fortune not well
served him. The valour of Qasim Pasha, Beglerbeg
of [Roumelia] 7 the Greek Province, however, fighting
with a great loss of men saved his master's life, and
turned the tide of battle, for U&ad Oghhi having at
this juncture been killed by a shot from an arquebus,
the Persians now began to give way. Of the Turks
the renegade Sinan Pasha of Epirus was indeed
completely routed, for the Janissaries had failed in
their duty, which had been to attack and rout the body-
guard of the Sophi, but Shdh Isma'fl on this occasion
had received a wound in the shoulder, and this was
the prime cause that viftory finally declared itself for
Sultan Selim.

The booty of which the Turks came into possession
was so immense that afterwards for many a day they
were rich men, but the viftory proved no <pheap one to
Sultan Selim, for of his cavalry alone he loft 30,000
horse. Isma'fl Sophi, retiring slowly, passed through

118

TABRIZ TAKEN

Tabriz, and let it be known that for the moment the
townspeople mut be left to submit to the Turk, as
he, the Shah, was unable to remain longer and defend
the city. In company with his son-in-law, Prince
Murad, he retired into the eastern provinces of Persia,
and set himself to gather together reinforcements
for his army. Sultan Selim felt much grief at the
loss of Qasim Pasha, who died a few days after the
battle of his wounds and contusions. The Sultan
next distributed seven Sanjaq-banners to new com-
manders, thus replacing those chiefs who had been
killed in the battle, and he then marched with his
army back to Khoy, which city capitulated on peace
terms. Peace terms also were granted to Tabriz,
but hardly had the Turks come into possession of the
city when they were forced hurriedly to evacuate it
again, for news came to them that Shah Isma'il was
advancing against them with double the number of his
former force. The retreat of the Turkish army was
precipitate, and before long they found themselves on
the banks of the Euphrates with Isma'il at their heels.
Here an immense number of Turks at the passage of
the river lot their lives, being drowned for lack of
boats to carry them across. However, for no cause
that is known, Shah Isma'il immediately after this
had to retreat, and Sultan Selim found himself free
from his pursuit. The Sultan now calling to mind
the insult, or at leat the lack of respeft paid him,
as narrated on the former occasion, by Prince 'Ala-ad-
Dawlah, on this his homeward march invaded these
lands, and though 'Ala-ad-Dawlah himself managed
to escape to the mountains, the Turks in their passage
laid wahe all the unfortified townships of that ditri6L
Then Sultan Selim marched back to Trebizorid, send-
ing the troops to their homes, while he himself went on
to the city of Amasiyah to await the beginning of the
new year.

119

CHAPTER III

In which is continued the account of the wars between Shdh Isma'll and
Sultan Selim.

WITH the year 1515 which now began. Sultan Selim
was not unmindful of the annoyance Still caused him
by his brother Prince Murad, and the support to his
pretensions given by Shah Isma'fl. Further, on another
distant quarter he was now threatened by a neighbour-
ing power, for the Mamhik Sultan of ^ Egypt was
mustering his forces [on the Syrian frontiers of Ana-
tolia]. In the depth of the winter season, undeterred
by the snow and the cold, Sultan Selim now gave the
call to arms, and set out to invade the ditri<5ts of
Armenia. It was his intention this time, in the firt
place, to punish and ruin 'Ala-ad-Dawlah for his afts
of opposition, but the latter having news of what Selim
intended, fled, betaking himself to the Strongholds of
the Antitaurus mountains. Now 'Ala-ad-Dawlah had
a relative whose name was Shah-Suvar-OghM, 1 and
'Ala-ad-Dawlah had put this man's father to death:
he therefore, taking occasion of the coming of Sultan
Selim to avenge his wrongs, declared himself as of the
Turk party, and offered to guide their troops through
the secret defiles of that mountainous province.

No sooner had 'Ala-ad-Dawlah heard of this treachery
than, descending from the mountain fatnesses with
15,000 horsemen, he sought to come on the Turkish
army unawares, but his attack failed, and incontinently
falling into Sultan Selim's hands, he forthwith paid the
forfeit of this and lat year's deeds, in that Selim
caused him to be Wrangled. The Sultan then made
Shah Suvar governor of that region, with a very moderate
tribute to pay. Immediately afterwards, for no cause

1 2O

SULTAN SELIM

that is known, Selim commanded his army hurriedly
to retreat, and the Sultan returned home to Con&anti-
nople. Some indeed ate that the cause of this
sudden departure was a mutiny among the Janissaries,
but this is hardly a reason for so precipitate a change of
plan, and the true cause is unknown.

In the year 1516 Selim, finding that the princes of
Christendom were all engaged in wars among^l them-
selves, one again& the other, as is ever a matter deeply
to be deplored, set out once more for Asia Minor,
leaving his son Sulayman in Adrianople, with full
powers to carry on the home government. In Ana-
tolia Selim appointed Chersi-OghM, the Sclavonian
renegade, to be his lieutenant-governor, while as
captain-general of his armies the Sultan named Ja'far,
the Hungarian renegade, and then Started ^ on his
campaign, more than ever desirous of abasing the
power of the Sophi of Persia, News of Selim's inten-
tions was brought to Shah Isma'il, and he being
desirous on his side to make allies, now despatched
an embassy to obtain the support and good will of
Qansiih Ghiiri 2 the Mamliik Sultan of Egypt. Shah
Isma'il at the same time gave support to certain home
rebels againft Sultan Selim, and next made an un-
expected incursion at the head of a great army into
[Circasia and Georgia] the countries on the borders
of the Caspian Sea not far from Bakii. In Egypt at
about this date, Sultan Qansiih Ghiiri, wishing to make
clear that he was now the declared enemy of Sultan
Selim and the launch friend of Isma'fl Sophi, called
under arms 14,000 of his Slave-guard, and a like
number of his MamMk cavalry, and set out from
Cairo to march up into Syria. He had sent word
previously to Khayr Beg, a brave warrior in his service
[who was in command at Aleppo 3 ], to assemble there
a considerable body of [Syrian] troops, and he now
effefted a junftion of forces with him [outside Aleppo],

121

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

Here suddenly he came in view of Sinan Pasha, who
had recently arrived in those parts at the head of the
main body of the Turkish army, and the opponents
found themselves face to face. Janberdi Ghazzdli,
who commanded the army of the Egyptian Sultan,
began the attack, charging at the head of the MamWks,
but Sultan Selim now coming up with the Turkish
rear-guard, fell on him in flank, for the^ Sultan had
jut marched across the Amarus mountain, which is
over against Aleppo the same is the ancient Antioch.
The Turks fought valiantly, making great use of their
artillery, which Selim had caused to be carried over
the mountain pass on the backs of his men. They^com-
pletely overthrew the Egyptians, and Sultan Qansiih
did not escape, for he was trampled to death, falling
off his horse under the hoofs of the cavalry as they
charged, he being at that time in his seventy-seventh
year. This great viftory of the Turks, however, ^was
in part due to the treachery of Khayr Beg, who abstained
from the battle, and shortly afterwards came over to
the side of Sultan Selim, abandoning his old master,
being tempted by the promise of emoluments from the
Granger, who forsooth did well afterwards to regard
this treachery askance. Now all this time Isma'fl
Sophi was on the alert, watching events, but noting
that Sultan Selim had been so successful in overthrow-
ing the Mamliiks and conquering the Egyptians^ he
abstained from interference, and left these, his allies,
to their fate, though indeed it was he who had been
the prime instigator of their war against the Turks.
|^ , Selim took possession of Aleppo immediately after
the battle, Ghazzali having fled to Damascus, and many
towns in various parts of Syria thereupon capitulated,
peaceably receiving the Turks. In Egypt Tiimdn
Bey became Sultan, but he in vain sent to Rhodes to
beg a loan of artillery [from the Knights of St. John 5 ].
Sinan Pasha, meanwhile marching on with 15,000

122

TUMAN BEY

horse, again attacked the Egyptians and captured the
city of Gaza from Tiiman Bey, while Ghazzali (leaving
Damascus) and escaping the Turks, reached Cairo
with 6,000 Mamhiks who were of his following.
Tiiman Bey, till relying on the promise [given to
Qansiih, his predecessor, by Shah Isma'il], had sent
urgently to him demanding succour, but for an un-
known reason all help in his need was now refused
him. Sultan Selim, having made junftion with Sinan
Pasha, marched south, coming to the borders of Egypt
and not far from Matariyah 6 came up with the enemy,
and utterly routed the new Sultan of Egypt. Tiiman
Bey, constrained to flight, sought shelter in Cairo, but
was followed thither by Sultan Selim, who, penetrating
into the city, there ensued during two days much
hard fighting in all its Streets, Tiiman Bey in the end
was again vanquished, and once more fled, going along
the coat of North Africa till he came to the city of
Secusa. Here the emissaries of Sultan Selim dis-
covered him in hiding half-drowned in a lagoon of these
parts, and taking him prisoner, brought him back to
Cairo. Selim then gave orders that Tiiman Bey should
be impaled [at the city gate], and so died the lat of the
Mamliik Sultans of Egypt.

I^Thus Grand Cairo, which had been founded in the
year 979 by Jawhar [the Eunuch prime minister of
the Fatimite Caliph Mu'izz], was conquered by Sultan
Selim in the year 1517. Ghazzali, with some Egyp-
tian troops at his back, now returned from the Thebaid
intending aid to Tiiman Bey, but finding all to be
loft, gave in his submission to the victorious Selim,
There are many who say that Ghazzali was a traitor,
and that he went over to Sultan Selim before the death
of Tiiman Bey, his own Sultan, but what is here Stated
seems the more reliable account. Sultan Selim
appointed Khayr Beg to be the Beglerbeg of Egypt,
and Ghazzali to be once again, but in his name, the

123

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

governor of Damascus, and the Sultan sent his son-in-
law, Farhad Pasha, with 40,000 cavalry to guard the
Turkish frontier on the eat against any possible
attack from Isma'il Sophi. Sultan Selim, finding that
the frontiers of his European dominions against the
Christians were ftill at peace, now betook himself to
collefting a great armada of ships, but for what enter-
prise none knew, 7 but in the very midt of these great
warlike preparations of a novel kind, and while the
princes of Europe and Asia were kept in suspense as
to his ultimate intentions, Sultan Selim suddenly died
at a place called ChorM, 8 in September of the year
1591. Then at a date some three or four years later
namely, about the year 1522, or maybe 1514 Isma'll
Sophi, at the age of fifty-four, likewise passed away,
and thus those two who had been rivals for sovereignty
in life, came to the end of their respective careers almost
at one and the same time.

Shah Isma'fl left four sons: the eldest, who suc-
ceeded him on the throne, was Shah Tahmdsp; the
second, who held the principality of Mesopotamia, was
Alqas; the third, Bahram, was the governor of the
province of Azerbayjan; while the fourth was Sam
Mirza, to whom Persian 'Iraq was given. We now
come to the year 1520, and remark that in this same
year, when the Emperor Charles V was being crowned
at Aix-la-Chapelle, Sultan Sulaymdn, the son of Selim,
was also crowned in Constantinople. Of matters
that concern our purpose, however, nothing was done
by Sultan Sulaynidn until we come to the year 1534.
At this date, urged thereto by Ibrahim Pasha, his
moSt powerful minister, Sultan Sulayman, colleding
a fairly large army, passed through Asia Minor, and
guided by one Vlaman, 10 who was a traitor fleeing from
Shah Tahmasp, the Sultan marched on and suddenly
appeared in force before the walls of Tabriz. At this
juncture Shah Tahmasp found himself unable to

124

TABRIZ BURNT

defend the city against the Turkish army; he therefore
retired at the head of his army into the inner lands
of Persia, the Sultan in vain seeking to lure him out into
the open to meet him in battle. Sultan Sulayman
therefore marched on down into 'Iraq, and had himself
crowned Emperor of Mesopotamia at the hands of
the [Grand Mufti] of Baghdad. 11 The pomp of the
coronation having been brought to its close. Sultan
Sulayman returned to the neighbourhood of Tabriz,
and wrathful at not being able to come up with Shah
Tahmasp, and so match him in a pitched battle,
the Sultan in revenge set the city of Tabriz on fire,
and leaving it to burn, began his march back into his
own country.

The lamentable &ate of Tabriz was a horror that
affefted both the eyes and the ears of Shah Tahmasp,
who in sorrow and shame was witness of the slaughter
of his people, and heard of the sufferings of his friends
and of some even of his relatives, following on his
forced retirement. He now assembled all the troops
he could command, and returning back to Tabriz in
hate with his new army, was most sorrowful at the
lamentable sight he there saw. He then marched on
to rejoin those of his people who were awaiting his
coming in the Rimak mountains, and from there, at
the head of a considerable force, proceeded forward
to the river Qoyiin Chay. From this place he sent on
one of his captains, named Deli Muhammad, 12 with
orders to make a night attack on the rear-guard of the
Turks. Falling on the Stragglers of Sulayman's
army that same night, which was the I3th October,
Deli Muhammad took them by surprise in the darkness,
when an immense number of the enemy were put to
the sword. In this way Tahmasp took vengeance for
the insults suffered by him in the matter of Tabriz,
and not a man of the enemy who fell into his hands
was spared. With his own hands he decapitated a

"5

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

number of the Beglerbegs, and other men of count
among the Turkish officers. Of the enemy's cavalry
more than 40,000 had been slain in the battle, and of
the infantry above 70,000.

This indeed was one of the greatest and mot
signal defeats that the House of Ottoman ever suffered
at the hands of the Grand Sophi ; so disastrous in
truth was it that Sultan Sulayman was driven to offer
to make an armistice with the Persian king. Then Shah
Tahmasp, being at liberty, took the occasion to chaStise
some of the more rebellious of his subjefts, after the
fashion which we shall now relate. Matters having
been settled to his satisfaction in Anatolia^ Tahmasp
returned home to Persia, and of our authorities some
tell a Grange Story, which for being almost laughable
I here set down. No sooner did Shah Tahmasp find
himself quit of Sultan Sulayman at Qoyfin Chay than,
turning back with his army, he marched down into
'Iraq to settle matters with the rebels in Baghdad,
Here he burnt down a great part of the city, and the
[Grand Mufti], who, as above related, had so recently
crowned Sulaymdn emperor, having come to die &
few days before this time, Shah Tahmasp caused his
body to be dug up, and a dog's body to be buried in its
place. I do confess, however, not to understand how
they were able to make peace together namely, the
Shah and the Sultan with doings such as these taking
place between them.

Sultan Sulayman now seeing that in Asia Minor he
was no longer attacked by the Persians, turned his
eyes to Europe, as againSt the Christian princes, and
proceeded to make war in Hungary. But here, when
on the point of taking by Storm the fortress of Szigeth,
and in faft exa6tly ten days before the place fell to
his arms, the Sultan suddenly died: according to one
account, from rage at having been frustrated in an
attempt to capture the neighbouring city of Erlau.

126

SELIM "THE SOT"

Sulayman had been Sultan forty-six years, and he was
succeeded by his son Selim II [surnamed "the Sot"]?
who during the firft years of his reign was engaged
in wars of very small import against the Venetians,
though at one time he succeeded in inflifting on them
the disaster and defeat at sea off the island of Negropont
that is so famous. After this, Selim II gathered
together an immense armada to invade the Weft, but
this time his forces were overcome and put to complete
rout [at the battle of Lepanto] by Don John of Au&ria,
half brother of his Catholic Majesty the late King
Don Philip II.

127

CHAPTER IV

Of the great happenings which took place in Persia between the sons
of Takmdsp, and of the wars of the Persians againSl Sultan
Murdd III.

AN armi&ice, as already said, had been concluded
between Shah Tahmasp and Sulayman, the firsft Sultan
of that name and the eleventh Ottoman ^ emperor,
after Tahmasp had driven the Turkish armies out of
Tabriz which city of old time had been known under
the name of Ecbatana. Tahmasp, although he had
suffered horror and distress on account of the sack of
Tabriz by the Turks, did not recriminate on this
matter, and the negotiations for the peace treaty took
their course, of which- one item was that the fortress
of Qars, as the Turks call it, or Qaisari, as it is
otherwise named, 1 should be dismantled by the Turks
of all its fortifications, and delivered up by them to
the Persians, in whose hands it should remain, but
unfortified. The wars between the Persian monarchs
and the Turk having thus been composed, soon after
this [in 1566] Sultan Sulaymdn died, and likewise his
son, Sultan Selim II ["the Sot," in 1574], who had
succeeded him on the throne, but who had accomplished
nothing of any moment. Next, on the nth of May
in the year 1576, Shah Tahmasp from the infirmities of
age also died, leaving eleven sons and daughters.

The elde& son was named Muhammad Khuda
Bandah, and he at one time had resided as governor
at Herat of old called Aria but later by his father's
orders he had gone to live at a place called liras, which
is not Shiraz, as Minadoi incorrectly States, 2 this la&
being in truth the ancient Persepolis. The second
son, Isma'il, was at this time kept prisoner at the cattle

128

PRINCE ISMA'IL

of Qahqahah, which lies between Qazvin the ancient
Arsacia and Tabriz, being 150 leagues from the
former city and 30 from the latter, but at some diftance
to the northward in the direAion of Erivan, Now his
father, Shah Tahmasp, had for some time pat kept
Prince Isma'fl shut up there, having come to note in
him a certain marked disquietude of disposition, and
a tendency towards rebellion, attributable to the
overweening ambition of the arrogant youth, _ and the
old king being a prudent parent, kept hini thus
sequestrated; but the death of the Shah now delivered
the prince from this paternal guardianship. The third
son was called Sultan Haydar Mirza, 3 and of him his
mother's relations had charge, among whom were
reckoned 'Isa Khan 4 and the Eunuch Akhtah Husayn,
with a man named Pir Muhammad. The fourth son
bore the name of Sultan Mu&afa, and his mother had
been a Christian princess from Georgia. The next
three boys were Sultan 'AH Mirza, the fifth son, the
sixth Bahrain Mirza, and the seventh Ibrahim Mirza:
but these four laft named were all at this date under
age. There were also three daughters, but two of
them so young that it were needless to take these into
account, and all were by different mothers. But one
daughter we have need here to mention by name,
Pari-Khan-Khanum, the eldeft of the sifters, for she
was of age, also capable and ambitious, as we shall

soon see.

Prince Muhammad Khuda-Bandah had always
suffered from an affeftion of the eyes which partially
or at times totally prevented him from peeing, and
this defeft of sight rendered him almoft incapable of
dealing with the affairs of government in provinces
and among a people so prone to rebellion as are the
Persians; and further it was common knowledge that
all matters of ftate and government were foreign and
distasteful to him. Now, seeing this condition of

129 K

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

things his father, the old king Shah Tahmasp, had been
urged and even forced by his Khans and the nobles
of his kingdom though much against his will, seeing
the light in which he regarded the character of his
second son Isma'il to appoint this same Isma'il in
his will and testament to succeed to the throne, thus
putting him in the place of his elder brother, Muham-
mad Khuda-Bandah. This, of course, was not to aft
in accordance with precedent and Persian custom, but
Tahmasp was obliged thereto by the faft of Muhammad
Khuda-Bandah's blindness, and what appeared to be
his incapacity to cope with the exigencies of kingship
in a country where the prince or governor has in very
truth need, not only of two eyes, but indeed of as
many eyes to see with as in antiquity had been attri-
buted to Argus. In accordance with the testamentary
dispositions of Shah Tahmasp, therefore, the Khdns
and nobles after the king's death despatched word
to Isma'il to repair immediately to Qazvin, the capital,
but before he could arrive, his half-sifter, the Princess
Pari-Khan-Khanum already referred to above and
her name in Persian means 6 [the Lady of the Fairy-
Khan, she being own] sifter of Mustafa Mirza now
persuaded the Khans and nobles to revoke the teta-
ment of her father the old king, or rather to suspend it.
This she did at the instance of her uncle, Sham-
khal Khan, 6 a Georgian noble, he being her mother's
brother and a Christian, and the Princess persuaded the
conspirators to set up her half-brother, Haydar Mirza,
to be king in the seat of his father, Shah Tahmdsp.
Another account of the matter, however, asserts that
the Princess was not the author of this conspiracy, and
on the contrary that she laboured to bring about the
accession of Isma'il in accordance with her father's
testament : but she having discovered that a conspiracy
was being formed against Isma'fl and in favour of
Haydar Mirza, dissembled, hiding what was her true

130

PARI-KHAN-KHANUM

intent, the better to unmask the projects of the rebels.
Later, seeing how impossible it was for Isma'il to arrive
in Qazvin before the lapse of several days, she had
then perforce to show an appearance of approval to
Haydar being crowned king, Haydar, however,
no sooner thus found himself almost against his will
seated on the throne, than his heart failed him, and in
fear of the consequences promptly fled to hide himself in
the Palace, seeking shelter in the women's apartments,
which to the Turks are known as the Saray, while
the Persians call them the Haram. But here Shamkhal
Khan 7 with a number of those nobles who were parti-
sans of Isma'il followed after, and coming up with
Haydar slew him with their daggers. Thus the
tumults and insurrections that had already begun with
the sudden novelty of Haydar's coronation as king, were
as suddenly appeased.

A few days after the death of Haydar Isma'il arrived
at the royal court and city of Qazvin, and his coming
was a matter of very great satisfaftion, in which all
parties concurred. Isma'il indeed, for some con-
siderable time after he had been crowned as Shah, made
a pretence of good conduft and affability of demeanour,
which clearly proved the violence of perturbation that
his mind suffered; but no sooner was he firmly e&ab-
lished as mailer than, abandoning the good custom
of the royal family of the Sophis, and of the Persian
kings his forefathers, he proceeded [after the evil
manner of the Ottoman Sultans] to bring to death mol
of his younger brothers, and further gave orders for
the prompt execution of all those Khans and nobles
of whom he had knowledge that they had taken any
part in the coronation of Haydar. Shah Isma'il in his
foolhardy arrogance did not, however, content himself
with these cruel afts alone, but now proclaimed it his
intention to abandon the Shi'ah Seft of 'Ali, which
is the Persian form of faith and the religion instituted

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

by the Sophi monarchs, as has been clearly explained
in a former chapter when speaking of the rise and origin
of the Sophi dynafty. Shah Isma'fl it appeared now
would fain follow the Turkish Seft of the Sunnis 5
honouring Abu Bakr ? Omar, Othman and the other
so-called orthodox Caliphs, a proceeding which, had
he shown signs of so doing before he had ^been
recognized as king, would infallibly have caused him to
be torn in pieces by the Persians. While thus making
public his foolish intention of a change in religion, he
further proclaimed that he also proposed to betake
himself incontinently to Baghdad in 'Iraq, in order there
to be crowned emperor, even as Sultan Sulayman and
the other Turkish sovereigns had been wont to do,
at the hands of [the Grand Mufti.] 8

All these proceedings being public, and perfectly
understood by his sifter Parf-Khan-Khanum and the
Persian nobles, they coming together forthwith made
a conspiracy to compass his death, and certain nobles
disguised in female apparel having one night entered
the Haram, or women's apartment of the Palace,
slew Isma'fl juft as of old the Senators slew Julius
Csesar the date of his death being the 24th of
November of the year 1 577- 9 After this, by agreement
among the nobles who had done this deed, Isma'fl's
half-sifter, the Princess Pari-Khan-Khanum, was in-
vetted with the government until such time as it
should become patent which of the late king's brothers
was to succeed to the throne of Persia. 10

Of the nobles one, Amir Khan by name, at this time
was about to marry a sifter of Pari-Khdn-Khanum, who
professed herself in love with him, and this had so
turned his head with vanity that he imagined am-
bitiously that thereby he might become the next
Shah of Persia. On the other hand, Mirza Salman, 11
one of the chief nobles of the Persian court, wished
to raise Isma'fl's elder brother, Muhammad Khuda-

132

SULTAN MURAD III

Bandah, to the throne, or, failing him, his eldel son
the Prince Hamzah Mirza, who, it was proposed, then
should marry one of the daughters of Mirza Salman,
the noble aforesaid. Men of another party in the
&ate were in favour of bringing 'Abbas Mirza, a
younger brother of Hamzah Mirza, back from Herat,
where he was governor, in order to set him on the
vacant throne ; while a third candidate some put forward
was Prince Tahmasp [a yet younger brother of 'Abbas
Mirza]. Thus during seven years, seven months
and seven days this confusion continued to lafc in the
government, pretenders one after the otKer being set
up and deposed, and suffering death after occupying
the throne for some short space of time.

Sultan Murad III, who had recently [namely, in
1574] succeeded to the government in the room of
his father, Selim II, "the Sot," son of Sulayman, the
Magnificent, was now ambitious, after becoming
possessed of Mesopotamia, to conquer in addition
all Western Asia. And his intention was more espe-
cially to invade the kingdoms of Persia and of Georgia,
which is there known as Gurgitan, and further to add
thereto all the Asiatic provinces adjacent, which at
that time obeyed the rule of the Muscovite Duke of
Moscow, For all these provinces, as we shall see,
now remained open and unguarded, being no longer
protected by the terror which the name of the great
Shah Tahmasp had inspired in the hearts of the Turks.
Sultan Murad therefore, taking occasion of the con-
fusion rampant throughout Persia from the civil wars,
and after much consultation, appointed Mustafa
Pasha general-in-chief of the army that was to effeft
this invasion. Then forthwith he sent word to the
Pashas of Van, Erzenim and Greater Armenia, which
all lie on the borders of Cappadocia, as also to the
governor of 'Iraq, that all of them together should,
by continued incursions, ravage the towns and cables

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

across their respective frontiers, which belonged to
the lands of the Qizil Bash (Red Heads) for, as we
have said, so do the Turks call the Persians and
thus inaugurate the new invasion by petty conquers.
An account of recent events and the changes that had
taken place in Constantinople had been brought to the
new king, Muhammad Khuda-Bandah, who was by
now established on the Persian throne, and at the same
time the news came that the Turkish army under
orders from Sultan Murad was already marching on
Azerbayjan and Georgia.

Muhammad Shah's surname of Khuda-Bandah was
assumed by him because he knew himself to be the
" Servant of God," and His true envoy, who had been
preserved alive, as by a special miracle, after the death
of his younger brothers, in order that he might rule the
kingdom, and this name certainly was not given him
because he was blind, as Thomas Minadoi 12 erroneously
asserts, he, Minadoi, being ignorant of the true etymo-
logical meaning of words in the Persian language.
Muhammad Khuda-Bandah, therefore, as we may now
State, had peacefully entered into possession of his
kingdom of Persia, having as deputy in the government
his eldeSt son, Hamzah Mirza, who was of such capable
intelligence that, though his father was blind, this
defeft of eyesight was made up for by the extraordinary
ability of the Prince, to whom, though an unbeliever
as regards the True Faith, God had granted a very
acute understanding and a ripe judgment.

Further, it was that noble already referred to, Mirzd
Salman, who had by his judicious administration
brought about a State of peace throughout the king-
dom, and the acknowledgment by the Persian people
of Muhammad Khuda-Bandah as their rightful king.
Mirzd Salmdn indeed had effefted all this, although
he was by birth and position but a small man amongSt
the other nobles of Persia, yet in matters of government

134

MIRZA SALMAN

he had shown the greatness of his capacity. He too
had been the prime mover 13 to bring it about that the
wicked Princess Pan-Khan-Khanum, who, as we have
said, had lured her brother Shah Isma'fl to his death,
herself was now condemned to be beheaded. Indeed,
at the gates of Qazvm they had displayed her head,
all bloody and dishevelled, ftuck on a lance point,
thus exposed to public view, a sight very sad and horrid,
for in truth she was a king's daughter, and the sifter
of the reigning king, though a woman moft culpable.
After this aft of justice, Muhammad Khuda-Bandah
remained for the moment in undisturbed possession
of the kingdom, his son Hamzah Mirza governing in
his name, though this time of peace and reft for both
was indeed but short, as almoft immediately thereafter
the army of the Turks approached, coming in invasion
upon them.

CHAPTER V

In which the war between Sultan Murdd III and Shdh Muhammad
Khudd-Bandah is recounted, with a description of Georgia and its
rulers.

MUSTAFA PASHA let the winter go by, and when the
season bettered he put in force the powers given him
as general-in-chief of the Turkish army, ordering the
troops to set out on their march from Erzerdm, where
they had previously been assembled. Taking the
direft road through Qars, which was till in ruins,
Mustafa Pasha advanced beyond this and took up
general quarters in the mountainous dilri<5l of Childir,
in Armenia. 1 The army under his command now
numbered somewhat under 200,000 men, of whom
100,000 were well armed, but of various nationalities,
men from Bithynia and Phrygia mixed up with troops
from Palestine and Judea, some from Pontus and Lydia:
also men from Egypt and Africa and from Hungary.
The Turkish army was indeed very well munitioned
and provisioned, by reason of the attendance of the
fleet of transports, which the Admiral Uluch-'Ali had
brought, under charge of his galleys, to the port of
Trebizond, whence by land-carriage all provisions
were carried over to Erzenlm. Mustafa Pasha had
already got the troops well in hand, everything being
organized for the march, and he had reinforced his
artillery with 500 pieces of small cannon.

The new king of Persia, Muhammad Khuda-Bandah,
perfectly realized the designs of Mustafa Pasha, and
having assembled together a sufficient body of troops
gave the command to Toqmaq Sultan Khan, the
governor of Erivan and Nakhchevan, whom the king
made general-in-chief of his armies in Atropatene,

136

TOQMAQ KHAN

Greater Media, Georgia and Persia, with command
over the cities of Hamadan, Ganjah, Tabriz, Masi,
Nakhchevan, Marand, Ardebil Sufiyan, Qara-Aghach,
Turkoman-Chay and Chavat. All told, however, the
Persian army only amounted in number to a bare
30,000 cavalry, with infantry to match in a sufficient
force. The Persians now set out in hate, having
received news that Mu&afa Pasha had already left
Erzertim, had passed Qars, and advancing by daily
marches had reached the plains of Childir. To Toq-
maq it had been falsely reported that the Turkish army
did not exceed some 40,000 men, being made up of
soldiers of many nationalities, none over well armed,
although indeed it was truly said that there were among
them many valiant warriors and excellent commanders,
as for instance, Khusraw Pasha, Bahrain Pasha,
Dervish Pasha of Qara-Amid, and Muhammad Pasha.
The number of these famous captains caused no
dismay to Toqmaq, but what astonished him was the
apparent smallness, as by report, of the numbers
composing the Turkish force. For this army, as he
knew well, was brought together from many remote
provinces, at the command of that powerful prince
Sultan Murad, and despatched against an enemy
both numerous and Strong, as was the force under
his, Toqmaq's, command, and the Turks came forth
to conquer nothing less than the whole of Persia.
All this indeed was only what the public voice pro-
claimed, and in the Persian camp the many youthful
commanders had imposed upon Toqmaq, for they
induced him now to give credit to the false reports of
his spies, which a general so experienced in the practice
of war as was Toqmaq should never have for a moment
believed.

His light horsemen shortly after this having come up
in sight of the vanguard division of the Turkish army,
Toqmaq in his ignorance imagined this to be the whole

137

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

body of 40,000 which had been reported to him as
the sum total of the invading force. He soon, however,
began to suspeft the truth, seeing among them only
the Standards of the two Pashas Bahram and Dervish,
and feared that Mustafa Pasha as was the case
was in the rear with the main body of his army, and as
it were hiding in ambush. Toqmaq, however, felt
that his honour was at take, and that come what
might he was bound valiantly to offer battle. Hardly
had the firt skirmish begun when Mustafa appeared
and made a sudden attack on the Persian right flank,
bringing against them a division of 70,000 men. Two
matters of good fortune now juft saved the Persians
from complete annihilation namely, the skilful general-
ship shown by Toqmaq, and the opportune coming
on of the night and darkness. So Toqmaq, who had
quickly realized his error and the danger that menaced
him, began falling back by devious routes in the
mountain passes, and by making use of every possible
Stratagem finally managed to escape destruction; but
not to save a very considerable part of his army, for his
loss was 7,000 men killed, and 3,000 more who re-
mained prisoners with the Turks. Mutafi Pasha
immediately sent the joyful news of his victory to
Sultan Murad, who in reply greatly praised the deed
done, and the Sultan added an order, as it appears of
his own motion, that every one of the 3,000 Persian
prisoners of war should be beheaded, an order which
was forthwith carried out, a cruel and inhuman aft
such as had not been reported till that time as having
been perpetrated, even of any barbarian potentate.
This great victory of the Turks now gave cause that
many of the local princes in those parts, who had
hitherto been subjefts of Persia, forthwith went over
and gave in their submission to Sultan Murdd. Thus
Mustafa Pasha's army was joined without delay
by the Georgian prince Salmas, and by Levente, the

138

GEORGIAN PRINCES

newly installed prince of another diftriA of Georgia,
and by Prince Manuchihr, the son of Princess Desmit, 2
the widow [of Prince Lavarza], who had recently been
dispossessed of his lands by the Persians. All these
princes now joined the Standard of Mu&afa Pasha,
who, receiving them with great courtesy, despatched
an account of their submission to the Sultan, as the
fir&fruits of the conquest of Georgia which he,
Mu&afa, was so successfully engaged in accomplishing,

To make matters perfeftly clear, it will now be well
to explain fully who were all these Georgian princes,
and to describe the country they ruled, which is now
known as Georgia, and which of old was called Iberia,
On the web Georgia touches the lands of the people
of Colchis, who are the Mingrelians; while on the eal
it has Media Atropatene, which at the present time
is the province of Shirvan. On the north the Georgian
border marches with Albania, which is now called
Zuiria, 3 while on the south its limit is Armenia.
Georgia is a very rocky, mountainous country, of many
rivers, and among 'these is the Cyrus, or Kur, which
traverses the heart of the province, its waters ultimately
joining the famous river Araxes, or Aras. The
Araxes rises in the Taurus range in that part of the
mountains which is called Periard, beside mount
Aba [or Abus], and flowing eaftward till it reaches the
frontier of Shirvan, it then turns to the north-wet
to the point where, as noted above, the Cyrus river
joins it. The Araxes, next flowing by the city of
Eres, 4 which is of Armenia, and passing through the
Araxene Lands, which at the present time are known
as the Plains of Calderan, 5 finally flows out into the
Caspian Sea, which same sea is now known under the
name of Qulzum. 6

Georgia comprised manyditrifts ruled by divers lords
who were as we might say dukes, marquises and counts.
Of these princes the mot powerful were then the

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

following six in number. Firft there was [Princess
Desmit] the widow of Prince Lavarza, and her two sons,
named Mirza Manuchihr and his brother Alexander. 7
[In the second place came the two sons of Prince
Labassap] 8 called David and Simon. [Thirdly, the
son of Levente, otherwise called] Leventoghlii, and his
Christian name was Iskandar, or as we should say,
Alexander, being commonly referred to by his own
people as " the Great." Fourthly, there was the prince
Ytisuf, the son of Gory. 1 Fifthly, the old prince Sham-
khal, the lord of many lands, which lie between the
province of Shirvan and the country governed by
Prince Iskandar, above named. This Prince Sham-
khal at a later date was put to death by Othman^Pasha
[subsequently the Turkish commander-in-chief in
Georgia], but he left a son who succeeded to his lands,
and who at the present time, when we write, rules over
the mountain country called Brus by the Turks, which
is a moft rugged di&rift, and where the snow lies
continuously. Finally and sixthly, there was a very
powerful Georgian prince named Bashachuk, whose
lands marched with those of Prince Gory, being
divided from these laft by the Lake of Essekia, 9 while
on his eastern frontiers was the country of Levente
ruled by Prince Iskandar LeventoghM. 10

To return to our tory, the prince Ytisuf and his
father. Gory, both now joined the Turkish armies, and
Ytisuf forthwith became a Moslem. Prince Alexander,
who was the elder brother of Manuchihr, as above
mentioned, at that time ruled over the lands which lay
adjacent to Qars on the weft, while on the eat his
frontiers marched with those of the princes David
and Simon. This country is watered by the river
Araxes, and its capital is the fortress called Altun
Qal'ah, a name which signifies the Golden Catle, and
it ftands about halfway between Tiflis and Qars, being
on every hand enclosed and defended by the passes

140

GEORGIA

of the Periard mountains. Prince Labassap had at
his death by will and tesftament left his lands to his
elder son Simon, but the younger brother David, with
the aid of Shah Tahmasp, who sent 4,000 men in his
support, had immediately taken possession of the
principality; and at the same time had declared himself
to be a vassal of the king of Persia, becoming a renegade
and a Moslem under the name of David Khan. Shah
Tahmasp had forthwith made him lord of Tiflis, and
Simon, his elder brother, who would not at that
period by any means become a renegade, was im-
prisoned, being sent to the Cattle of Qahqahah. The
towns that then belonged to this family of princes were
Tiflis, Lori, Tomanis, Qars, or Qieres, and Jdrji-
Qal'ah, the Georgian Cattle. Tiflis is the capital,
landing on the river Kur, or Cyrus, which flows to join
the Araxes, as already described, and to the westward
of the city lies the range of the Caucasus.

Now the Turkish armies occupying this province of
Georgia, with their plundering and ravaging, had al-
ready brought these lands to naught. They had invaded
the country, entering thereto from all four quarters,
although the Georgians before this had imagined
that it was impossible for anyone to bring troops across
the mountains by the defiles. On the coat of the Black
Sea, however, in the quarter of the Albanians the
Turkish army had been safely landed by an armada 11
of their ships, being supported by 'Adil-Ghiray, the
Tartar Khan [of the Crimea] . At the same moment
also they invaded the country from the side of Shirvan;
and likewise by two other passes the Turkish troops
came in namely, on the one hand by way of the Lake
of Essekia, on which Elands the city of Bashachuk,
with many other towns subjeft to that Georgian prince
who, as we have said, also is known by the name Basha-
chuk; and la&ly, the Turks penetrated into Georgia
by the pass on the other side, where the country is

141

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

covered by juniper and a pine foret, that same being
the route by which, if we are to believe Strabo's account
in Book II of his History^ Pompey and Canidius Cras-
sus brought their armies over the border. Now the
son of Levente, who, as we have said, was called
Iskandar, and his brother 'Isa Khan, had lands lying
between the city of Erivan and the country of Shirvan,
and other lands beyond this again in the direftion of
Armenia on the further borders of Shirvan. The lords
of this diftrid resided at the city of Zaghen, and
'Isa Khan, brother of Iskandar, as aforesaid, now a
renegade, having become a Moslem, by Shah Tahmasp
had been appointed to be governor of the province,
being set up to rule in his brother's place, but this
act on the part of the Persian king before long had
failed in effect. We now conclude this description of
Georgia, adding that in its mot remote regions there
were living many wild tribes of the Tartars, who
are known as the Perikorsks, and they inhabit the
foot-hills of the Caucasus in parts that look towards
the valley of the Volga river, otherwise known as
the Eder,

[After his viftory .over the 'Persians at Childir]
Mustafa Pasha marched on, being given support and
help on the part of the Georgians, which help, though
small as to the numbers of his new allies, was mot
effeftive for the safe passage of the Turkish army;
since it was through their own country that the
Georgians were now engaged in showing the enemy
the way. With his new friend Manuchihr as guide
the Pasha advanced, though with great difficulty on
account of the constant rains, and finally reached the
lake called Kieder Gul, from which the river Euphrates
has its source. Here he found the Turkish vanguard
already in possession of the Cattle of Arkikelek, and
the army reeled for a space of time, finding all require-
ments in the pasture grounds which lie round the lake.

142

TIFLIS TAKEN

Then the Pasha passed on, going by the Lake of
Pervana Gul 5 near to which ftand the ruins of [Triala], 12
an ancient city that was founded by the Crusaders who
afterwards conquered Jerusalem. There are ftill
at the present day some priests with a number of
Christian folk who live here, and who being Catholics
are subject to Rome. Next, marching forth again
the Turkish army reached the near side of the Tiflis
mountains, and having crossed their cre^t, descended
without halt and took possession of a caftle called
Jurji-Qal'ah, the Georgian Castle already mentioned,
which Elands on the bank of the Kur, the river of
Tiflis. Some of the Turkish soldiers were disbanded
here, and seeing that the land was defenceless and at
peace, forthwith they took to robbing and plundering
the people. On this the princes Yiisuf and David
joined forces with Iskandar, being now desirous of
giving aid to their old allies the Persians, while at
the same time they appeared to be aHng in defence
of their native country and their own people. The
three princes with their men, therefore, suddenly fell
on these disbanded Turkish troops, and killed no
small number of them.

This, however, did not prevent the Turks from
soon capturing the city of Tiflis; for Prince David, who
had at the firft alarm hastened his return in order to
defend his capital, now realizing that against him was
the great superiority in numbers of the Turkish forces,
proceeded anon to vacate his capital after dismantling
the fortifications. It appeared also to be his better
chance to join forces with his friends in the field: and
leaving Tiflis, he marched forth into the open.
Mustafa Pasha, having thus come into possession of
the town, proceeded to repair the walls of the catle
on the rock, furnishing it with a hundred pieces of
cannon, setting a garrison in guard of 6,000 men,
commanded by Muhammad Pasha, son of Farhad

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

Pasha, who he appointed to be the governor of Tiflis.
Then Mu&afa Pasha continuing his march passed
down into the province of Shirvan. But now those
Turkish troops who were from Aleppo and other parts
of Syria, being wearied out by the long marches,
mutinied, and unmindful of their duty and the prayers
and protects of the Pasha, went off, under the leadership
of one of their captains named Nasr-ad-Din Cheleby.
They, however, rejoicing to be quit of the service, soon
were dearly to pay for their revolt, for the Georgians
fell upon them when they saw these Turks separated
from their fellows, and very few of the mutineers
escaped the massacre with their lives.

Muftafa Pasha now advanced to the base of the
mountains 13 near Tiflis, where ambassadors from
Iskandar LeventoghM appeared with the proposition
that the prince should come to pay his respefts to the
Pasha, and give in his allegiance to Sultan Murad.
At the same time Iskandar offered the Turks to aft
as their guide, giving them passage through his terri-
tories: such was the inconstancy of these Georgian
princes, who changed their friendships as easily as they
changed their religion, Mustafa Pasha was indeed
glad to be granted a safe passage through this dangerous
country, and immediately accepted the offer of Iskan-
dar LeventoghM, to whom he forthwith sent the Robes
of Honour which it is customary for the Ottoman
Sultan to bellow on those princes who become his
allies, or indeed on any general who conquers a new
province for the empire; and Prince Iskandar expressed
himself much gratified by the favour done him. So
Mustafa Pasha began his march forward, and for twelve
days was engaged in passing through marsh lands and
cane-brakes, but with so much hindrance and dis-
comfort from the badness of the road that more than
once his soldiers for a time refused to go on, cursing
the ambition of Sultan Murad and the vainglory of

144

KANAK RIVER

their Pasha. At laft, however 3 the army came through,
reaching the borders of Shirvan.

At this moment there arrived, in more fear than joy,
people from the city of Shaki, which Stands on the con-
fines of the province of Shirvan, who offered their
submission to the Turks, promising the obedience of
all the tribes whose abode lay along the banks of the
river Kanak. 14 The Turkish troops were now suffering
from great fatigue, and there was a scarcity of food-
ftuffs, and the soldiers imperiously demanded of their
general a halt for some days' reft, though the place in
which they found themselves was not well suited for
a camp. Under advice from the inhabitants of those
parts, and in order to procure mofc necessary provisions,
Mu&afa Pasha now proceeded to despatch a body of
12,000 of his men, though not of his beft armed
infantry, with some squadrons of cavalry, under their
several commanders; for the Pasha had been informed
that beyond the marsh which lay at the junftion of the
Kanak river with the Araxes there were great pastures,
with corn lands, where wheat, barley and rice might
be come to, also many flocks and herds.

This information was believed to be reliable by the
Pasha, and the foraging parties departed: but it was
false and it was the occasion for an ambush so much
desired by the Persian commanders namely, Toqmaq,
*Ali Quli Khan, Imam Quli Khan and Sharaf Khan -
who now longed to retrieve their defeat at Childir.
The Persians therefore now very Stealthily followed
on the rear-guard of the foraging Turks, and came up
with them as soon as these had separated from the
main body of their fellows. Falling on them unex-
pe<5tedly, they put them completely to rout, so that
hardly a man of the foraging parties escaped with his
life. In the sequel, however, the Persians gained little
by their viftory, for such few Turks as escaped the
ambush bringing news of the disaster to Mustafa

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

Pasha, he by a forced march suddenly came upon these
victorious Persians, and next surrounded them in a
peninsula lying between the rivers Araxes and Kanak.
Here Bahrain Pasha and Dervish Pasha skirmished
and charged in on the Persians, while Mustafa Pasha
later marching up with the remainder of his forces,
Toqmaq and his fellow commanders were forced to
give battle and defend themselves at a disadvantage.
As a result, very few of the Persians managed to escape
with their lives from this counterlroke of the Turks,
though even their meanest camp-followers fought
valiantly as though they had been the beft of warriors.
The carnage was terrible on both sides, and the Persian
commanders, Toqmaq himself being the firfb to give
the example, managed to escape death by swimming
the river, thus encouraging his soldiers to make the
like attempt. Of these lat, however, very many were
killed; while of the Turks 12,000 sutlers and 3,000
soldiers of the flower of their army perished. Imam
Quli Khan after this defeat returned to Ganjah, 15
Sharaf Khan to Nakhchevan, and Toqmaq proceeded
to Erivan, neither side, Persian or Turk, being in a
position to disturb the other side, each of the parties
awaiting fresh orders from his master, the one from the
Shah, the other from the Sultan.

146

CHAPTER VI

In which is continued the account of the campaign of the armies of Sultan
Murdd againsJ Muhammad Khudd-Bandah> king of Persia, and
details are given of the death of 'Jdil-Ghiray, the prince of the
Tartars, and what was the cause of the same.

ALTHOUGH to all appearance the frontiers of the
province of Shirvan were closely guarded, and the
whole dibrit in the peaceable occupation of the
Turkish army, yet no sooner did envoys with offers
of submission appear from one quarter of the province,
than from some other quarter would come news of
fresh revolts in diftrifts thought to be securely held
by the Ottoman troops. Mustafa Pasha therefore
now determined to overpass the Kanak river, although
his army murmured loudly against any further con-
quells which muft cot so many lives. The men,
however, were forced, though much against their will,
to obedience, and in the result the loss of the Turkish
troops was again over 8,000 men, before Mustafa
Pasha had come to the city of Eres, which is the chief
town in those parts. Here the Turks found that the
place had been abandoned and dismantled, as also
proved to be the case with Shamakhf, for the Persian
commander, Samir Khan, had betaken himself to the
mountains, where, having been joined by Aras Khan,
the two were now watching the further proceedings
of the Turkish commanders.

Mustafa Pasha remained for twenty-two days in
the town of Eres, building here a fortress which he
furnished with one hundred small cannon, 1 and in
command of this fortress he appointed Kaytas Pasha,
with a garrison of 5,000 men. Next he despatched
Othman Pasha with 10,000 to occupy the town of

147

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

Shamakhf, the capital city of Shirvan, which Stands on
the road to Derbend, otherwise called Dimtir-Qapi
[the Iron Gate], and which anciently was known as
Alexandria. The people of Shamakhi, as also those of
Derbend, forthwith submitted themselves to Othman
Pasha, although indeed they were truly the subjeds
of the Persian king. Mu&afa Pasha, now that the
affairs of Georgia were in so good a way, and that the
authority of his mailer the Sultan had been emphati-
cally vindicated and established throughout this
province, at lat therefore gave the order for the return
march, an order mot grateful to his weary troops.
In passing through the provinces ruled by Iskandar
LeventoghM, and by Shamkhal the lord of the Brus
mountain, these two princes came out to meet Mustafa
Pasha, offering him their humble submission, and
matters were forthwith arranged on terms of amity.
The Pasha had ordered the bridge over the Kanak
river to be restored, and crossing it he marched up
the Araxes bank back to Tiflis, where the troops took
two days' ret.

They were now about to be conducted through the
passes of the mountains, in easy Stages, by the people
sent to be their guides by Prince Iskandar, and it was
recalled that here a year before the Turks had suffered
much hardship and hunger at their incoming. Thus
the Turkish army was at lat leaving behind them the
mountain villages of the Georgian country, but even
as they were thus peaceably passing out of these dis-
trifts the Georgians assembled, plundering their rear-
guard, composed of the baggage train and the sick and
wounded, of which company Hasan Pasha, son of
Jambulat, 2 was in command. The Turks, however,
in the end came through without a disaster, and
vanquishing a thousand dangers and difficulties, all
at lat arrived back at Erzeriim. Hither MuStafa
Pasha had brought in his train the two sons of the

148

'ADIL GHIRAY

widowed Princess Desmit namely, Manuchihr and
Alexander who now were to be sent as hostages to
Constantinople. Of all these matters the Pasha wrote
fully to give account to Sultan Murad, and the troops
were dismissed to their home quarters; but while
Mustafa was thus taking his ease, the king of Persia,
Shah Muhammad Khuda-Bandah, and his son. Prince
Hamzah, were working and not idle.

Now at the call of the Turks, 'Adil Ghiray, already
mentioned, a gallant youth who was prince of the
Perekop Tartars of the Crimea, had recently entered
into an alliance with the Sultan against the king of
Persia, and in consequence was at the moment march-
ing on Georgia at the head of a fine army of his people,
coming from the lands round the Sea of Azof and the
rugged shores 3 of the Black Sea. To this prince
Othman Pasha, afting under orders from Mustafa
Pasha and from Sultan Murad, had written enjoining
that his Tartar hordes should ravage and lay waSte
in every possible / way the lands of the province of
Shirvan, which *Adil Ghiray forthwith began to do.
News of this had been brought into Qazvin, where
King Muhammad Khuda-Bandah was in residence
with the prince his son, the Amir Hamzah, other-
wise known as Hamzah Mirza, and many were the
councils held and the counsels given, as to what it were
be& for the Persian government to do. At this period
it was indeed plainly manifest to the Shah and his
council of nobles that, by reason of the rigour of the
winter season, no aid from Constantinople 'could
possibly be sent to the Pashas who had been left as
governors in command of the various Strong places
throughout Georgia which MuStafa Pasha had taken
into possession ; and realizing this, Prince Hamzah
forthwith determined to march into Shirvan with a
body of troops amounting to 12,000 cavalry. By so
doing it was his intention to throw back the raids of

149

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

the Tartars under c Adil Ghiray, and also at the same
time to punish those cities in the Shirvan province
where without due cause of dire necessity the people
had gone over, as of free will, to the side of the invaders :
for this indeed had been the case with the inhabitants
of Shaki and many other townships.

During all this campaign [Shah Muhammad Khuda-
Baudah's wife 4 ] the Begum, who was the mother of
Hamzah Mirza, insisted on accompanying the prince,
though having sons all grown-up men she was now a
woman of a certain age, yet Still beautiful beyond the
ordinary of her time of life ; further she was a princess
of much prudent counsel. Mirza Salman, the prime
minister, also accompanied Prince Hamzah on this
campaign. Coming up through Ardebil the Persian
army reached Qara Aghach, where a short halt was made
for reasons now to be explained. Aras Khan and other
nobles of Shirvan had been of late put greatly to shame,
for they were all outcasts and wanderers in the land,
the Turks being in occupation of their homesteads.
They now had news of the communications established
between the Tartar prince c Adil Ghiray and Othman
Pasha, and had learnt what the Pasha had inStrufted
him to do. Aras Khan and his friends therefore took
counsel, and having collefted a force deemed sufficient,
had marched out into the field intent on making a
diversion that should have an effeft in favour of their
master the Persian king. Aras Khan, however, had
laid his plans badly, for the Tartar Khan knew of all
his designs, and marching againSt the Persians he
suddenly attacked Aras Khan and his men, routing them
completely. Aras Khan was taken prisoner, and being
sent to Othman Pasha, he forthwith had him hanged.

Prince Hamzah had news on his march of this dis-
a&er as he was approaching the city of Eres. His
army had recently been augmented by a reinforcement
of some 10,000 cavalry, and he now learnt that Kaytas

150

ERES TAKEN

Pasha, the Turkish commander of Eres, had gone out
from the fortress on an expedition for plundering and
laying wate the country round. Hamzah Mirza
therefore determined to seize the occasion, if possible,
to surprise the city. Making a sudden attack he slew
some 7,000 Turks of the garrison, and immediately
became possessed of Eres city, where, finding the 200
pieces of artillery left there, as before noted, by Mustafa
Pasha, he despatched these as booty to the king, his
father, in Qazvin. Much elated by his victory, and
leaving his mother, the Begum, established in Eres,
Hamzah Mirza next marched on to Shamakhi, where
his coming was unexpected, and before any warning
had been given, suddenly he appeared in sight of the
camp of the Tartar prince, c Adil Ghiray. The Tartars
were at the moment in some disorder, and for a people
making war on a potent enemy they had been &rangely
negligent of precautions. Their camping ground here
was ill chosen, and no sentinels were polled on guard.
Hamzah Mirzd resolved on prompt aftion, and made
an immediate attack, which turned out very success-
fully, for in matters of war promptness is the mother
of good fortune. When the Tartars, thus surprised,
had regained their senses, it was found that more than
half their number had been killed, and that their prince,
'Adil Ghiray, was a prisoner. Him Hamzah Mirza
now sent under a Strong guard to his father in Qazvin.
Prince Hamzah did not reb content with merely
thus defeating the Tartars, but immediately after his
victory marching on, proceeded to make a successful
attack on Shamakhi, of which city Othman Pasha
had recently been appointed governor. The Pasha
indeed contrived in time to make his escape from the
city, and fled in hate to Derbend, but had to abandon
all his artillery, and also his Persian allies the people
of Shamakhi were now left unprotected. Prince
Hamzah, on entering that city, infli&ed heavy chastise-

151

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

ment on all its inhabitants, and proceeded to dismantle
the town walls. Next inarching back to Eres, where
he had left his mother, the Begum, he, taking her in
his train, now returned to Qazvin, which capital he
entered in triumph laden with the spoils of his Turk
and Tartar enemies : and here he remained till the winter
of that year had been overpassed.

At about this period two events occurred worthy of
note on account of what followed after in the region of
Georgia, and they may here be profitably recorded.
As we have already narrated the Tartar prince 'Adil
Ghiray was at this time a prisoner of war in Qazvin,
he being the younger brother of Tartar Khan, grand
prince and monarch of the Tartars of the Crimea.
After a time Shah Muhammad Khuda-Bandah did not
any more treat the Tartar prince with rigour as a
prisoner, but showed him kindness as a friend and
neighbour, and it was indeed his intention to have
married him to one of his daughters, and thus to have
established a friendly relationship by this family
connection between his Persian subjefts and the Tartar
folk. Unfortunately at this very moment it was
reported that a shameful treason had been discovered
namely, that 'Adil Ghiray had dared raise his eyes to
look on the Begum, Shah Muhammad Khuda-Bandah's
queen, and the mother of Hamzah Mirzd. Further,
it was put about that the Queen had returned his
advances, and that illicit communications had resulted.
When therefore these matters had become known to
certain of the nobles, in wrath at this great shame,
they conspired and one night forced their way into the
palace, putting both the Queen and the Tartar prince,
her lover, to instant death, and immediately spread the
news abroad openly to explain and justify what they
had done. All this, as here narrated, is the account
of the matter which Thomas Minadoi has given in
his Hiftory? but, as we have learnt, it seems certain that

'ADIL GHIRAY

the truth was far otherwise namely, that these nobles
were merely afting under a feeling of petty jealousy
against the Tartar prince, a sentiment that had been
aroused in their minds at the sight of the intimacy he
had gained in the affeftions of the Shah Muhammad
Khuda-Bandah. For these men feared left, if jthe
king made *Adil Ghiray his son-in-law as in fat he
intended shortly to do the Tartar prince would then
gain a party in Persia, with power in the affairs of
the government. They therefore, unwilling that a
Stranger should thus come in, slew him, and pretexting
his shameful intimacy with the Queen put her also to
death, though innocent, a viftim to serve the infamous
purposes of her very jealous subjefts.

The other event of importance which happened at
about this time was connected with the doings of
Othman Pasha, He, professing great friendship for
Shamkhal, the Georgian prince already mentioned,
constrained Shamkhal [who was a Christian] to give
him, Othman, one of his daughters in marriage. The
old prince Shamkhal perforce did as he was bid, but
his conscience troubling him that his new son-in-law
was none other than the chief commander of the forces
of the Turkish invaders, and a sworn enemy to all
those of his blood namely, to his friends and relations
among the other princes of Georgia Shamkhal, I say,
began secretly to show an inclination to the Persian
alliance. Through the intermediary of his new wife
Othman Pasha got wind of this matter, and by giving
a safe-condu6t lured his poor father-in-law into his
power, and then forthwith had Shamkhal beheaded.
And this should serve as a warning to all those who in
the future may put their truft in the word of an infidel
and a barbarian Turk,

In the following year Sultan Murad, afting under
the advice sent by Othman Pasha, and listening to the
friends in Constantinople of Muftafa Pasha who

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

was Still Stationed in Erzenim now determined on
more vigorous aftion. He was urged to the same
intent by Tartar Khdn, the prince of the Crimea, who
was now the more at enmity with the Persians by
reason of the recent murder of his brother, 'Adil Ghiray ;
but who, none the less, never could accomplish what he
might promise. By the Sultan's orders in the firSt
place the road from Erzenim into Georgia was to be
fortified and made good, and in consequence he sent
inStruftions for engineers and masons to be brought
hither from Aleppo, Damascus and Amid, also from
Syria, Mesopotamia and Egypt to effeft this purpose.
It was about this time that Manuchihr, being Still
detained in captivity at Constantinople, became a
Moslem, changing with his religion his name to
MuStafa, and he was now given the title of Pasha of
Altun Qal'ah. His brother Alexander, however,
refused to become a renegade, and Sultan Murad
therefore delivered him as a prisoner into the hands of
the Moslem Mustafa, allowing him to do as he would
with Alexander. Muftafa therefore, taking Alexander
under Strong guard, departed from Constantinople on
his way home to his lands in Georgia, where he was now
to govern as the vassal of the Turkish Sultan.

The king of Persia, Muhammad Khuda-Bandah,
meanwhile did not remain nothing doing, but, foreseeing
what muSt take place, named Imam Quli Khan, the
governor of Ganjah, to be commander-in-chief of his
armies, sending him orders to march againSt Othman
Pasha and drive him out of Derbend. To this end
the Shah further gave instructions that the following
commanders should join forces and serve under him
namely. Amir Khan, the governor of Tabriz; Toqmaq,
the governor of Erivan ; and Sharaf Khan, the governor
of Nakhchevan. The Shah also ordered the son 6 of
the late prince Shamkhal to join his men to theirs, but
he declined and would Hot obey the king's command.

DAVID AND SIMON

When matters now were at this pass, two events
occurred that were entirely unexpected by the Persian
monarch. The firt was that David Khan, who had
been greatly favoured by the Shah since he had become a
Moslem and a renegade, for no apparent cause now took
flight from the Persian lands and went to join the Turks,
voluntarily giving in his allegiance to Sultan Murad.
In the second place, this David Khan's brother, Simon,
who had been thrown into prison [by the Shah], because
he would not abjure Chri&ianity, through the cor-
ruption of evil companions in his captivity, had at lat
been brought to abandon his faith, abjuring Chrift.
He therefore, now become a Moslem, was set at liberty,
and reinstated in possession of his lands, the title of
Khan being restored to him. With a view of giving
due and effective help to the Persian commander-In-
chief, Simon Khan now joined forces with 'Ali Quli
Khan, bringing with him many pieces of cannon which
had been taken from the Turks, and further with
3,000 horsemen he now was busy to ravage and plunder
all those lands of Turkish Georgia that lay near and
about his own frontiers.

* 55

CHAPTER VII

Of the deeds of the Renegade Simon and of 'AH Qu/i Khan as again
the Turks , and what the armies ofMurad III accomplished under
the command ofManuchihr.

MUSTAFA PASHA, carrying out the orders of Sultan
Murad his master, having collected together the en-
gineers and masons sent to join him at Qars from
Memphis in Egypt, which is also known as Cairo,
and from Damascus and from other parts of the empire,
now began to build in Qars a fortress as had been
commanded him. Further he despatched reinforce-
ments to Tiflis under charge of Hasan Pasha, a good
general, more commonly known as the Pasha of
Damascus, he being a son of the Grand Vizier Muham-
mad [Sokolli], who at that time directed the affairs
of government at the Sublime Porte. With him too
went Rizvan Pasha, at the head of a body of volunteers.
Now Simon and 'All Quli Khan (the Persian comman-
der-in-chief) had news of the coming of these rein-
forcements, and it being reported that the Turks only
numbered 8,000 men in all although in this mis-
informed, for in faft they amounted to over 20,000
Simon and 'Ali Quli Khan took pot in ambush in the
neighbourhood between Tiflis and Tomanis, and choos-
ing the right moment, as it seemed to them, fell
unexpectedly on the advancing Turkish force, killing
of them a very great number. Among those who fell
was Mu&afa Bey, of Caesarea [Mazaka] in Qarmania,
a man of note, and his Standard too was taken.

'Hasan Pasha felt this blow, more for the loss of
honour than for the loss of men, and with a view of
taking reprisal, affefted to have been utterly put to
rout by this unexpected Persian attack, and in so doing

156

HASAN PASHA

managed to draw his assailants from their shelter in
the woods and gorges. 'All Quli Khan being enticed
forth, in his ardour to profit by the good fortune that
he had gained threw himself rashly upon the Turks,
and shortly became so involved and surrounded among
the enemy troops that his friend Simon, hastening to
his support, failed to catch up with and follow him.
Then Hasan Pasha with his superior numbers was
able to put to slaughter a multitude of the Persians
and Georgians; 'All Quli Khan himself was taken
prisoner, and Simon barely by good luck escaped the
same fate. Hasan Pasha was much gratified by the
capture he had made, and renting for twelve days in
camp, then threw his relief force into Tiflis, where
the Turkish garrison indeed were in dire want of
succour. Hasan Pasha now saw fit to change the com-
mand in Tiflis, taking it from Muhammad Pasha and
appointing Ahmad Pasha Hajji Begoghli to be governor
in his place, with 3,000 new men to reinforce the
garrison. Also, as the fortress did not appear to him
Itrong or very well secured, he removed, carrying the
same away with him, the whole of the military chet
of moneys, with mol of the Stores.

Hasan Pasha now set out on his march back to
Erzertim, and Simon, being much affefted by the
capture of his dear friend 'All Quli Khan, determined
to effeft his release, if the matter could by force or
fraud be brought about. He therefore proceeded to
block and then to fortify the pass at Tomanis in order
that Hasan Pasha might in passing be forced to halt
and give him battle, for there was by this route no other
passage through the mountains. The Turks now
discovered they could only force their way through the
pass with considerable delay and loss of men; whereupon
Hasan Pasha was in great Straits, but sought refuge in
guile and Stratagem, as these barbarian commanders are
ever wont to do. He sent word to Simon, promising

157

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

to release to him his friend 'All Quli Khan if Simon
would allow the Turks safe passage by any^ road
where they might safely pass on to Erzertim. Simon,
as he should not, put truft in the promise of the Turk,
and Hasan Pasha with his army was given the passage
of the passes. Then the Pasha, firt despatching his
prisoner well in advance, dishonourably refused to
fulfil his pledged word and escaped. Simon, much
angered by this fraud, could only follow on rapidly
after him; then later gathering all the forces at his
command, Simon fell on the Turkish rear-guard,
capturing part of the treasure of the military chet
which the escort had in charge, and killing every man
of that company. Hasan Pasha, none the less, by good
fortune was ftill able to continue his retreat, saving
himself from capture, and carrying his men of the
vanguard safely into Erzerum, where he delivered up
what remained of the military chet to Mustafa
Pasha, who bestowed it in safety in the cattle.

Up to this point the historical account given in the
present work has been compiled from the beb avail-
able authorities, and by the help of my friends [the
Licentiate Remon and others who have aided me in
the composition of my book], but in what follows
much of my information will be derived from what my
father. Sultan *Ali Beg Bayat, has told me in days gone
by, he himself having afted his glorious part in all the
events which are now about to be narrated.

Mustafa Pasha reported all that had taken place
during the pal year to Sultan Murad, who expressed
his approval as to the fortifications erefted at Qars:
and he commended more especially the manner in
which Tiflis had been relieved. To mark his apprecia-
tion the Sultan sent expressly a brocaded robe of
honour for the Pasha, adding also a shield of arms for
Hasan. Further orders came that 'All Quli Khan
was to be well guarded in prison, he being a man of

SINAN PASHA

mark and a notable warrior. To the king of Persia
it was now sadly manifest that mot of the Georgian
princes for the sake of peace with the Turkish Sultan
had had to give in their allegiance to him, and this in
spite of all the efforts of Simon in various parts of the
province to prevent matters coming to this pass.
Shah Muhammad Khuda-Bandah therefore began
now to fear for the future, and especially left Tabriz
should next be attacked, when all Persian 'Iraq in-
evitably would be threatened. On the advice and
counsel of Iskandar Leventoghlu, therefore, and
persuaded by him, the Shah now determined to send
an embassy with peace proposals to Constantinople ;
but incontinently his ambassador returned without
having been able to effeft anything of moment. Mean-
while, Shah Muhammad Khuda-Bandah had ordered
continuous raids to be carried on against the enemy,
thus to encourage those of the Georgian princes who
were of his party, and in order that in Constantinople
it might be imagined that his treasure of money was
great, and that he had a mind yet to fight; but these
efforts were more for ostentation than for any real good
that was apparent in the result. Then the Shah went
in pious visitation to the tombs of his ancestors, passing
through the cities of Sultaniyah, Zanjan and Miyanah
with other places, and returning to his capital at Qazvin
he gave command for the mustering at the city of
Tabriz of all troops, every squadron under its captain,
in preparation for the campaign which shortly mut
begin.

It was at this time that Sinan Pasha arrived in Tiflis
temporarily to take command, superb and in his glory,
for news had been brought that at Constantinople
Sultan Murad already had named him to be Grand
Vizier. His captains being much encouraged by the
honour bestowed on their 'commander, determined
forthwith to effeft some notable deed of war against

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

the Georgians, who at this season were ravaging the
countryside; and with this end in view Tal-oghli 1 ,
the Aga of the Damascus Janissaries, and Omar, the
former governor of Safed (in Palestine), set forth to
counter the Georgian raids. Prince Simon, however, had
news of the intentions of these Turkish commanders,
and learning that their troops had marched out in some
disorder, and that they were in no great numbers, fell
suddenly on them and made so great slaughter that the
Aga of the Janissaries alone escaped, for he was nimble
of foot, Sinan Pasha, coming to Tiflis, had brought
refreshments and some troops, who in part relieved
the garrison, this fortress being now put under the
charge of Yiisuf Bey the Georgian renegade. While
Sinan was at Tiflis Iskandar Levent-oghli sent in to
offer his services to the Pasha, who received him
favourably, giving him a fine present, and the like of
this favour was also shown to other Georgian princes.
Then Sinan Pasha started to journey to Contanti-
nople. On the march back towards Qars a portion
of the Turkish army, being the advance guard, went
out under their commanders to water their horses and
get forage. Suddenly they were attacked by Toqmaq,
who had joined forces with Simon, and so had under
him a body of 8,000 Persian troops. In this skirmish
7,000 Turks were slain, and indeed, of the foragers
none would have escaped death if Sinan Pasha had not
opportunely come up with the main body of the army.
But following the now retreating Persian cavalry,
Sinan managed to catch up with and kill fifty of them;
then causing their heads to be cut off, he &uck these
on the points of spears in sign of a great victory.

On arriving at Triala (which is halfway to Qars)
Sinan Pasha learned from his spies that the king of
Persia in person was now marching up behind him.
The news threw the Turkish army into some confusion,
fearing a sudden attack, but Sinan Pasha quickly re-

160

TRICK ON THE PERSIANS

establishing order, sent to have the porters set down
their loads, and drew up his troops in battle array, with
fifty pieces of artillery in the front line. But while
thus awaiting the appearance of the Shah and the
attack of the Persian army, to his surprise an envoy
from the king, advancing from the Persian side, pre-
sented himself with proposals of peace. Of terms the
chief point was an offer to leave the Turks in undis-
turbed possession of both Tiflis and Qars, and a compact
of amity to result. Sinan Pasha could give no definite
reply in acceptance, for he held no powers thereto
from the Sultan. What he did was to entertain the
envoy hospitably till they had marched in to Qars,
whence he forwarded him on to Constantinople.
Haydar Aga, for that was the name of this Persian
envoy, returned in due course thence, bearing a pre-
liminary acceptance of terms, and this news he
carried to his mafter, whereupon the king of Persia
named Ibrahim Khan ambassador plenipotentiary, a
man of great experience, who immediately proceeded
on to Constantinople.

On arrival he found that Sultan Murad was busy
with the rejoicings and festivals arranged in celebration
of the circumcision of his son Prince Muhammad,
who afterwards came to be his successor on the throne.
On the day of the great ceremony nothing definite
as to the peace had yet been settled for the treaty with
the Persian ambassador, though he had been received
officially in audience by the Sultan. The Turks now
secretly determined to play off a trick on the Persians,
which same was to invite these to occupy a ftand whence
they could conveniently see the procession and cere-
monies, and to arrange the planks of support in such
wise that, at the supreme moment of the procession
passing, these should give way and precipitate the
Persian ambassador and his suite down into the road-
way in a manner very laughable to all beholders. So

161 M

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

it happened, and the ambassador had to swallow the
affront, not being in a position to retaliate. 2 He,
shortly after this, asked for a definite reply to his
embassy, but Sultan Murad would give none, ordering
that the ambassador should be sent back to Erzenim
as a prisoner, and there be kept under trift ward until
further instructions came from Constantinople.

At the outset of the following year Sultan Murad
issued his commands for the assembling of a new army,
though contrary to the advice of Sinan Pasha the Grand
Vizier. The Sultan, however, overrode all opposition,
and as commander-in-chief of the new forces, appointed
Muhammad Pasha, the nephew of that Mu&afa Pasha
who had always been the rival in power to Sinan.
This Muhammad therefore now set out for Erzenim
with the tyle and title of Pasha of that province, and
the patent of commander-in-chief, orders coming to
displace Rizvan Pasha, who had been up to this date
in command there. To join Muhammad Pasha also
were sent the Pashas of Aleppo and Ma'arrah (in Syria),
these two commanders having passed the preceding
winter Rationed in the city of Van. Muhammad
Pasha set out on his march to Tiflis in ^company with
Hasan the Eunuch [who was Pasha of Amid in Meso-
potamia], and the renegade Mustafa, who formerly
was known as the Georgian prince Manuchihr. With
these also came the various Kurdish captains and others
from the ditrifts of Erzenim ; and having thus an army
under his command of 25,000 men, Muhammad Pasha
began to invade and occupy the Georgian province
which was the home of Prince Manuchihr. The
Persians soon had news of the arrival in Georgia of
Muhammad Pasha, and though they could not openly
aft in opposition to the Turkish army by reason of
the peace treaty with the Sultan that was ftill being
negotiated, yet in secret, by disguising themselves in
the Georgian habit, and under guidance of Simon and

162

MUHAMMAD PASHA

other Georgian chiefs, they were able to offer some
hindrance to the march of Muhammad Pasha's troops,
who, however, managed to evade their attack in the firt
instance. But later, at the passage of the river Kur,
Cyrus, the Persians came up with the Turkish army,
and slew not a few of them, taking possession of the
money of the military chet and plundering much of
their baggage. The Turks therefore reached Tiflis
in a condition of some disorder.

Muhammad Pasha on entering the fortress of Tiflis
found himself faced with a mutiny among his soldiers,
who demanded that a sum of 30,000 ducats should be
distributed among the troops of the incoming army,
and these, on receipt of the money, forthwith proceeded
to share their gains with the soldiers of the garrison.
The Pasha, leaving a company of his men in charge of
the fortress, now marched back from Tiflis, after
substituting Omar Pasha for Yiisuf Beg, the Georgian,
as governor of the city. For the return route to be
taken to Erzeriim, Muhammad Pasha was at variance
with the Kurdish commanders as to the safest road to
follow, for they insisted that it would be bet to go by
the pass of Tomanis, while he gave it as his intention
to pass through Altun QaPah. Finally, the one and
the other party each followed a different way, coming
together and joining forces at Qars. Here the Pasha
called together a secret council or as the Turks say, a
Divan and this court was to judge whether or not in
the pat the renegade Manuchihr had been playing
traitor; for the Pasha was convinced that it was through
his treachery that so many misfortunes had befallen
the Turks during the late campaign. The council
came to the decision that his treachery was manifest,
and that he was worthy of death, and Muhammad
Pasha hoped that by this &ern aft of justice he would
appease the wrath of his mailer, Sultan Murad, and
compound for all his previous mistakes. The matter,

163

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

however, turned out as had not been expeded, and what
happened shall now be related. The council therefore
had assembled, deliberated, and having resolved that
it were well to put Manuchihr to death, Muhammad
Pasha sent for him, and under the Pasha's letter of
safe-conduft he appeared, but there were many who
had given him warning. Secretly he carried arms, and
leaving before the. door of the council-chamber his
guard of Georgian soldiers, who were all his servants
and fully armed, he entered the hall.

Muhammad Pasha invited him to be seated, so that
he might liften to a despatch juft come, said he, from
Sultan Murad, which commanded that he, Manuchihr,
should be despatched forthwith to Constantinople
under arrest. On this Manuchihr (having heard the
despatch read out) answered that he would go im-
mediately, and Stood up. They told him to sit down
again, but this he would not do. Muhammad Pasha's
Chief Door-keeper them made a snatch at his sleeve,
but seeing what was coming, Manuchihr drew his
sword and cut down one of the Pasha's servants who
was coming up. The Eunuch Hasan Pasha (of Amid)
now approached, but had his ear cut off and part of
his cheek sliced; indeed, but for his turban, which
saved him from the full force of the blow, he had been
killed outright. Muhammad Pasha himself received
five wounds that were thought to be mortal, though
later he recovered. Then Manuchihr getting free,
managed to mount his horse and fled. The Turkish
army, though not understanding what was happening,
had begun to get under arms; but the soldiers did
nothing. Then several persons proceeded to attend to
the wounded men. In a despatch sent by messenger
Sultan Murad was informed of what had taken place.
The Sultan expressed much anger on coming to know
these details, and cat much blame on the Grand Vizier
Sinan Pasha, who, he said, had kept him ill-informed

164

SIYAVUSH PASHA

throughout. He now degraded Sinan from office,
calling up as Grand Vizier Siyavush Pasha, who was
by birth a Hungarian, and thus ever showed favour
to the Christians,

The king of Persia, when he had news of these
events, was sure that the Turks during the ensuing
summer would have their hands full in Georgia settling
matters with Mahuchihr, and be in some difficulty as
to throwing any relieving force into Tiflis. Feeling,
therefore, secure on this quarter, he appointed Amir
Khan to take command of the western frontier, giving
him orders that if the Turks attempted any aggression
he should valiantly combat them. Then Shah Muham-
mad Khuda-Bandah, with his Turkoman allies and
other troops, marched forth from Qazvin on the way to
Herat, to bring into subjection his son * Abbas Mirza,
and the cause for doing so it were now time and place
fully for us to explain.

CHAPTER VIII

In which is related the reason why the king of Persia marched to Herat
as again 'SJ his son ''Abbas Mirzd / how Mirza Salman was punished /
further, how Farhdd Pasha was appointed by the Sultan commander-
in-chief at Erzerum.

MATTERS being now left on the Georgian frontier as
explained in the lal chapter, the king Muhammad
Khuda-Bandah returned to Qazvin, where he assembled
an army of 20,000 horse. Setting out on the march
he had the province of Gilan on the Caspian Sea to his
left hand, and to the right hand Shiraz and Kashan.
Then passing by the Mazandaran province, and going
through the cities of Samnan, Damghan and Bitam, he
arrived before Sabzivar, which is the firt town on the
western border of the province of Khurasan. Here
the Shah sent command and injunction to the governor
of this city, who was holding it in the name of Prince
'Abbas Mirza, that he should deliver up charge of the
same; but he would not. On this the king ordered
the town to be besieged, and using scaling ladders, his
soldiers before long entered the fortress, making the
governor prisoner; and on this they cut off his head.
Then marching on, the army carried with them the
garrisons found at Nishaptir, Meshed, Turshi'z and
Turbat-i-Haydari, at the same time punishing those
governors of towns that were not loyal to the king;
and now the army arrived at Herat, a very Strong place,
occupying a height, well walled and defended by ditches
that were filled by water from springs, for in former
days the Great Tamerlane had entirely rebuilt this
city.

Now at this time 'AH Quli Khan ShamM in Herdt
was holding the young prince 'Abbas Mirza in his

166

PRINCE 'ABBAS

power, and indeed he was the prime cause of all the
troubles. As said above, Thomas Minadoi has written
his account of these and other events entirely from the
Turkish authorities, and in the matter of happenings
at Herat he has been very ill-informed, wherefore, as
I shall relate the affair it will appear very differently
from what he has set down in his Hifiory. But the
fafts are as I &ate them, for my father was there present
in person at that time, and with him many of our
relations and kinsmen, who can bear witness.

'AH Quli Khan therefore, it seemed, was holding
'Abbas Mirza completely under his thumb, the prince
being heir in the second degree to Shah Muhammad
Khuda-Bandah, and the prince being as yet incapable,
by reason of his youth, of forming any judgment in
politics for himself. The intention of <Ali Quli Khan
now was so to dominate the prince and his affairs that
he, *Ali Quli, should remain in faft the independent
regent of the great western province of Khurasan, and
to this end he had always shown himself very mutinous
to the Shah, and had not sent him succour of troops
[in the Georgian campaign] when ordered so to do,
which in Persia is a crime of rebellion that entails
immediate punishment. Intent on signally chastising
him for his misdeeds, the Shah, in company with the
prince Hamzah Mirza, therefore had come before
Herdt, to which city the royal army now was laying
siege, the Shah, as has been said, having already
crushed many rebels as he passed through the land.
But the city of Herat being Strongly built, was well
defended, and the siege dragged on for three months,
*Ali Quli Khan having sufficiently provisioned the
fortress. Matters turning out as they did, and so
unfavourably, it began to appear that to take Herat
was beyond possibility; further, news now came that
Sultan Murad once more was making preparations
to invade western Persia. Thus, it seemed prudent

167

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

to abandon the Herit enterprise, at leaft for the time
being. The cause, however, of this present tate
of affairs was well understood by all the nobles in
command of the king's troops. They had seen how
the campaign had been from the fir t misconduted,
what great sums had been uselessly squandered, and
they asserted this to be entirely the fault of Mirza
Salman the Grand Vizier, who had originally urged the
Shah to undertake this unfortunate enterprise.

The nobles therefore came together taking counsel,
and laid the issue on one of their number whose name
was Shabdah Sultan. He, under pretext of business
to transact with the Vizier, entered his presence and
forthwith Slabbed him to death. A mutiny among the
troops was soon appeased, and the Shah, with Prince
Hamzah Mirza, turning back from Herat marched
direft to Qazvin, the capital. Now Thomas Minadoi 1
has related in his History that Mirza Salman had given
one of his daughters in marriage to the prince Hamzah
Mirza, for it was his ambition that a grandson of his,
and a great-grandson afterwards by this marriage,
might both come to reign as Shahs of Persia. Hence it
was that he had counselled the king to undertake the
Herat campaign, to the intent that he might compass
the imprisonment or perchance the death of 'Abbas
Mirza. Further, Minadoi Sates that when the royal
army reached Herat Prince 'Abbas wrote direft
explaining matters to his father and to his brother, by
which means the treason of Mirza Salman or Salmas,
as Minadoi always wrongfully calls him was made
patent. Thus a peaceable accommodation became
possible between the young prince and his father and
elder brother; and next the order was given to cut off
the Vizier's head. But all this of Minadoi is quite
contrary to what in faft happened. For Mirza
Salman never had a daughter given in marriage to
Prince Hamzah. Nor was Prince 'Abbas then of an

168

FARHAD PASHA

age to wage war. 2 Nor was Mirza Salman beheaded
by order of the king : the true account being as I have
written it above.

But to return : as already Elated, Sultan Murad having
heard how the king of Persia was fully occupied at
Herat with matters in connexion with the affairs of his
son Prince 'Abbas, nominated Farhad Pasha to the
command of the armies on the Persian frontier, with
orders to continue the war in Georgia. Also he was
now to make the attempt to carry by assault the city of
Erivan, where Toqmaq Khan was governor. Farhad
Pasha was further commanded to hold and Wrongly
fortify the dire& road running from Qars to Erivan,
and he was to throw succour qf troops into Tiflis. In
regard to the recent afts of Manuchihr who was now
called Muftafa Farhad Pasha was enjoined for the
time being to close his eyes to what the Georgian
prince had done, leb he should come out against the
Turkish army in the ensuing campaigns : for it was the
Sultan's intention in the following year to make the
attack on Tabriz. The Turkish army being now
assembled, Farhad Pasha in command left Con^lanti-
nople and reached Erzenim, where a short ret was
given and a general review held. From Erzenim the
army set out for Qars, and on the way the Pasha
arranged that a certain cahle which commanded an
important mountain pass here, and which is known to
the Turks as Akcheh-QaPasi (Silver Cattle), should be
Strongly fortified. Here a commander was left, with
sufficient artillery and a force of 400 men. Qars
being come to and fresh garrisoned, the army now
passed on and finally reached Erivan. This city
lies near very high mountains that are covered rnot
of the year by clouds and frozen snow, though in the
valleys below there is much good pasture for beasts
and excellent corn lands. 3 The country round is well
watered by Streams which flow to join the Araxes.

169

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

On the march to Erivan the cities of Nakhchevan,
Marand and Sufiyan had been captured; and Farhad
Pasha unopposed, with no incident worthy of note,
now sat down before Erivan and proceeded to lay siege
to the town, the defence having been entrusted to that
valiant soldier Toqmaq Khan. The Persians, however,
were unable to make any effective resi&ance by reason
of the very unequal number of men that their general
had to set against the opposing force. ^The Georgians,
without, could give no aid, being occupied with holding
and keeping guard on the country round Tiflis: nor
was any succour possible that should come in time from
Shah Muhammad Khuda-Bandah and Prince Hamzah.
Thus, perforce, Erivan mut fall, but capitulating to
terms, which Farhad Pasha readily granted, and Toq-
maq then evacuated the town. Farhad Pasha on
coming into possession proceeded immediately to
ereft a fortress on the spot where Toqmaq had built
his palace and laid out his pleasure gardens, and thus
their place became a great Stronghold. Erivan was
now put under the government of Sinan 4 Pasha, son
of Cigala, with Hasan Bey, son of Janbulat Khan, as
second in command; and a suitable force of artillery,
with 8,000 men, was placed under the orders of Sinan,
son of Cigala, Farhid Pasha after this returned
from Erivan to Erzerdm.

Erivan is a great city and the capital of its province,
but for some years pal in our days it has remained in
possession of the Turks. Formerly, indeed, it had
always been counted as belonging to the Persian
Empire: it is enough here to mention the faft of its
having thus fallen under the Ottoman power, though
it ought, of course, ever to have been retained as an
integral part of the Persian kingdom. Erivan lies
on the borders of Georgia, and to the north 5 of it lies
the city of Tiflis and the Calderan Meadow-lands
[below the junction of the Araxes and Cyrus rivers].

170

- MANUCHIHR'S TRICK

Towards the Tropic of Capricorn (to the westward)
lies Van city, with the Lake of Van, which anciently
was known as the Sea of Marciana.

As soon as Toqmaq Khan found himself thus turned
out of Erivan with his garrison, he gathered together
what troops he could mu&er and proceeded to raid all
the neighbouring country, one day putting to the sword
a hundred Turks, and the next day two hundred,
mostly of those that were sent out from the Erivan
fort, either to take possession of lands near by, or to
forage for provisions. It was at this season that an
event occurred that became almost a matter of jet,
though sufficiently annoying to Sultan Murad.
Commands had been given as already said to
Farhad Pasha to overlook for the time being and to
ignore all that Manuchihr had been guilty of doing
in the pat. With intent to show him that the Sultan
further had every confidence in his loyalty, Farhad
Pasha received orders to entrust 30,000 ducats to his
care, which treasure he, Manuchihr, was to convoy,
as one well acquainted with the mountain passes, into
Tiflis, where it was to be delivered for the pay of the
garrison to the Turkish commander of that fortress.
Manuchihr promptly accepted the commission, and
set out on the road to Tiflis in company with the guards,
and porters who carried the money cheats. On the
way, however, he chanced to come up with the renegade
Simon, and then God put it in their hearts to know how
evil was the deed they had both done in having shame-
fully been perverted to Islam. Repentance fell on
them, and their hard hearts were softened, and they
determined, after taking much counsel together, to kill
the guards and porters of the treasure, and thus to
become possessed of those moneys. This excellent
intention was forthwith carried into effeft, and the two
Georgians made off, the Turkish treasure being no
more seen or heard of.

171

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

News of these happenings was soon brought to
Erzerilm, and Farhad Pasha with the lea possible
delay despatched Hasan Pasha to carry needful succour
to the garrison of Tiflis. Taking with him a squadron
of picked men who knew how to make the march from
Erzenim to Tiflis in twelve days, he departed, and meet-
ing with no opposition on the road, carried in to Tiflis
from Erzenim moneys to the amount of 40,000 ducats.
Matters being thus adjusted, Farhad Pasha next
organized a considerable force that should avenge the
affront that Manuchihr and Simon had put upon him.
The Turkish troops raided all Manuchihr's lands,
devastating the whole neighbourhood, for no resist-
ance was offered to their proceedings.

The spring of 1584 being now come, Shah Muham-
mad Khudd-Bandah and his son, Prince Hamzah, began
to make their arrangements for marching to garrison
Tabriz with a great body of troops. Having news of
this, Farhad Pasha, on his side, immediately made plans
to Strengthen the fortifications of Khoy and to throw
into this place a body of 8,000 men with 200
small pieces of cannon, under the command of *Ali,
the Pasha of Greece. Further, this 'All Pasha had
orders to refortify Shay tan Qal'ah which in their
language means the Devil's Cattle and which is a
Stronghold lying some ten miles distant from Khoy,
being a fortress of much importance, Farhad Pasha
next marched at the head of his army to Tomanis, which
Simon had lately dismantled of its walls, he having no
cannon with which to provide for their defence.
Tomanis, under Farhad Pasha's inspeftion, was forth-
with greatly Strengthened and enlarged, the mountain-
side at the narrows of the pass was excavated and made
flat, and the foundation of an immense fortress laid,
with long walls, and built round so that the place was
now capable of harbouring a garrison of more than
12,000 men. In the centre of this new fort they

172

TOMANIS

erefted a huge tower, and hereabout, and in its turrets,
they set 200 pieces of artillery. This Strong place now
commanded the frontier pass from Armenia into the
lands of Georgia, whereby all the country round
Tomanis was thenceforth sufficiently protected.
Further, the road was now held in force, by which con-
voys when needed could be sent in to Tiflis; and to
prove that this was as it should be Farhad Pasha im-
mediately despatched Rizvan, the Pasha of Anatolia,
in company with the Pasha of Qara Amid [which same
is Diyar Bakr of Mesopotamia] at the head of a force
of 20,000 men, who in one day's march reached Tiflis
from Tomanis, escorting treasure and needful supplies.
At the same time the governor of Tiflis was relieved,
Bagli Pasha 6 being left there in command, and the
return march of the troops to Tomanis was brought
off without incident.

It was at this season that David, brother of Simon,
presented himself before Rizvan Pasha who had
ju& come back from laying wa&e the lands of
Manuchihr giving in his allegiance to Sultan Murad,
which was cause of gratification to the two Turkish
Pashas, for Rizvan was proud to have him as an
ally and for counsel. Simon, as soon as he had news
of what his brother David had done, sent spies to
reconnoitre Rizvan Pasha's camp, but these gave him
false information, reporting that the Turks were in no
great number. Simon therefore now marched out,
and making his attack on the Turks in camp under
Rizvan Pasha, at firffc threw their flanks into great dis-
order. News of this attack was brought to the camp
of Farhad Pasha, who getting under arms came up
to the support of Rizvan, for both Pashas imagined
that the whole Persian army was upon them, with the
Shdh in person in command. With this confusion and
tumult of troops marching and counter-marching,
Simon now seized the occasion to make his retreat,

173

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

before the Turks should come to know how insignifi-
cant was the force of the enemy attacking them. Simon
indeed had made this demonstration with his small
force, with intent, if possible, of detaching his brother
David from the Turkish alliance, or at leaft to spoil
the new friendship between him and Rizvan Pasha.
Simon, however, had soon perceived that his men
were too few to carry out the enterprise, and indeed the
enemy were in such superiority of numbers that he ran
grave risk himself of being completely overwhelmed.
He therefore beat his retreat, after doing what damage
he could, and not any too soon, for he, Simon, found
himself at the end of the fight on the^ point of
being taken prisoner. Later both the Turkish camps
returned to quiet, and the truth of the whole incident
became known.

Winter now was coming on, and Farhad Pasha,
leaving Hasan Pasha with a garrison of 8,000 men in
the new fortress of Tomanis, prepared to depart. He,
however, determined that it was expedient on his home-
ward march to make a further example, and again
to lay wafte the lands of the rebel Manuchihr. He
therefore marched the whole of the Turkish army into
camp in these territories, before he should set out
on his way back to Qars and Erzeriim. The Pasha's
intention in thus delaying their homeward march was
much to the dissatisfaction of his men, who, however,
murmured to no purpose, and the Turkish army took
its way forward, arriving after three days of a harassing
march at Triala. Here heavy privation and famine fell
on the Turks from the entire lack of foodstuffs, for all
the countryside had been Gripped bare, and the popu-
lation everywhere had fled into the hills. The same
happened beyond this at Akhalkelek, and in the
neighbourhood of Altun QaPah and at Kliska, where
the men suffered so much by reason of their hunger,
that three and a half bushels 7 of corn which is

AMIR KHAN

the quantity of a Venetian ffaia was priced at 50
ducats. Two regiments of the Janissaries and some
men of the Constantinople infantry 8 here mutinied, but
they were brought to reason by the efforts of Veys, the
Pasha of Aleppo. Farhad Pasha now attempted to
Storm the fortress of Altun QaPah, which was well
provided with provisions, intending then to build for
his troops a Stronghold at Kliska, but his men frustrated
all that he would have done, again making a mutiny, and
threatening to kill him. Farhad Pasha thus was
forced to march on to Ardahan ; and here the Georgians
made a raid, attacking the Pasha's women in the
carriages guarded by their eunuchs, and their convoy
was plundered. There were not wanting many who
said it was not the Georgians but the mutinous Janis-
saries who did this deed, and in Constantinople Farhad
Pasha loSt all reputation for having allowed himself to
be so basely plundered.

Farhad finally reached Erzenim, where his troops
were forthwith dismissed to winter quarters. Another
event now happened which effefted the complete
discredit of the Pasha. The Persian general C AH
Quli Khan, who, as already said, had been taken prisoner
and was for safety being detained in the fortress at
Tomanis, now managed to make his escape, reaching
Persia in safety, and this was a piece of mismanagement
that greatly angered Sultan Murad. In Persia, on the
other hand, events were taking place which came near
to causing the loss of Tabriz to the Shah : as later was to
be the sad case when that city was indeed taken from
him: the detail of which lai disastrous event will be
told the reader later in its proper place. What now
took place was this. Amir Khan was at this time
holding the government of Tabriz, as has been men-
tioned above, and he was the chief Khan and Amir of
the Turkoman tribesmen, and a great soldier. For
some unknown cause and the true reason of the same

175

DON JUAN OF PERSIA '

never was made clear Amir Khan had betaken him-
self to a certain Strong ca&le which he had caused to
be built in the city of Tabriz, and now let it be known
that he declined to deliver the command of this place
into the hands of the Shah [who, as already noted above }
was coming up from Qazvm]. It was suspeded
indeed that there lay behind all this some treason plot
against Shah Muhammad Khuda-Bandah, but nothing
ever could be proved. The Stronghold in question,
and the city quarter lying round it, where Amir Khan's
men lay in camp, both were very well fortified, and as
soon as the Shah and Prince Hamzah at the head of
their army had marched into Tabriz, all became aware
of Amir Khan's rebellion. The king thereupon com-
missioned my father. Sultan 'AH Beg, to go to Amir
Khan, and if possible persuade him peacefully to give
in his submission. My father succeeded in effecting
this, for after some delay he managed to persuade
Amir Khan to appear in the presence of the King, but
the Shah being wroth, forthwith ordered him to be
arrested and conveyed as a prisoner to the cattle of
Qahqahah under a Strong guard. On arrival there,
or some say on the way thither, Amir Khan was in-
continently put to death, this by the Shah's previous
command.

'It was at this date that Sultan Murad appointed
Othman Pasha to the chief command of his armies
[in Georgia to supersede Farhad Pasha], though the
Grand Vizier at the Porte, Siyavush Pasha, did his
utmost to traverse the Sultan's will, for he was Othman
Pasha's declared enemy. Finding that the Sultan's
intent of mind in this matter was irrevocable, the Grand
Vizier was forced to draw up the deed of appointment
and send official intelligence thereof to Othman Pasha,
who was at that time Stationed in Shamakhf. Siyavush
Pasha, however, when he perceived that he could not
openly prevent Othman taking Farhad's place as

176

OTHMAN PASHA

commander-in-chief in the coming campaign againft
Persia, determined forthwith to set about a plot to
compass the death of Othman Pasha, and the business
was to be done in the following way. Othman Pasha
had for some time pat again and again been sending
complaints to Sultan Murad against Kuman, 9 the prince
of the Tartars of the Crimea, who, he wrote, was the
wort of neighbours, always favouring the Persian
cause, and never mindful of the respeft and allegiance
due from him to the Ottoman State. These complaints
of Othman Pasha, however, being written and des-
patched by messenger, never reached the eyes of Sultan
Murad, for the Tartar prince by bribes had gained
over to his interest the Grand Vizier Siyavush Pasha,
who kept to himself all these despatches from Othman
Pasha. Sultan Murad therefore imagined the Tartar
prince till to be his good friend and ally.

^Matters thus seeming to be ripe and favourable,
Siyavush Pasha wrote to the Tartar prince, who was at
the city of Kaffa on the Sea of Azov, that if he wished
to keep his peace with Sultan Murad, he mut now
compass to prevent Othman Pasha getting to Con-
ftantinople, left he should become aware of the secret
understanding that was in existence between the two,
and unmask their intrigue to mislead the Sultan.
Therefore, as the Grand Vizier wrote, it would now be
convenient to murder Othman Pasha, and to bring
about this as though by mischance, a body of Tartar
horsemen should be sent under disguise to the lands
about Colchis and Iberia [which is Albania], where
they might fall on Othman Pasha and put him to death.
He, the Vizier, would then easily persuade the Sultan
that the deed had been done by some nomad tribesmen
of the Mingrelians or Georgians, or it might be the
Muscovite brigands. Thus the plot was laid, and
Othman Pasha having received official information of
his new appointment to be commander-in-chief, as

177 N

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

was due from him, set out for Constantinople to
present himself before the Sultan, He intended to
travel by the way along the north coaSt of the Black
Sea, and the Tartars on their part now set out to
waylay and kill him as arranged; but they failed to
carry through their plan, for Othman Pasha's escort
in faft overcame them, taking many of the Tartars
prisoners. Othman Pasha by torture extracted from
certain of these men the true history of the matter, and
subsequently reached Constantinople in safety. Here
he related the adventure to Sultan Murad, explaining
that he had in obedience to his mailer's orders left
Derbend which some call Demfr Qapii ajid passing
along beside the heights of the Caucasus, leaving Media
and Iberia and Colchis on the left hand, and on his right
the rivers Volga and Tanais, he had finally come to the
shores of the Euxine, where he had suddenly found
himself beset by 12,000 Cossacks or bandits, but these
with the 4,000 men of his escort he had easily van-
quished, and from his prisoners had come to know of a
plot laid for his deStruftion.

Sultan Murad was extremely angry on hearing all
this, and Straightway called up and dismissed Siyavush
Pasha from his pot of Grand Vizier. He further
declared that the Tartar prince Kuman was the public
enemy: vengeance was to be taken on him, and paying
him back in his own coin, Othman Pasha received
command to have him made prisoner and put to death.
After which Sultan Murdd set up to be prince of the
Perekop Tartars in the place of Kuman, the latter 's
younger brother, 10 whom the Ottoman government
till then had been keeping as a prisoner of State at
Qonia, which same is a city of Lycaonia. Sultan
Murad having thus shown his regard for Othman
Pasha, and formally appointed him commander~in-
chief in the coming campaign against the Persians,
told him that he should for the present let it appear that

178

EGYPT AND SYRIA

the main objective was Nakhchevan, though in truth
it was the secret intention of the Sultan that he should
push on and make the attempt to capture Tabriz.
Othman Pasha, who was in hate to set off, had,
however, for a time to delay beginning his march on
account of recent happenings in Cairo.

Not long before this Sultan Murad had sent Hasan
Pasha the Eunuch to Grand Cairo as governor of
Egypt, and it was now reported that he was showing
excessive tyranny in his office, and giving the people
no justice, being only intent on amassing riches. The
Sultan therefore despatched orders that he should
forthwith appear before him in Constantinople to give
answer to the complaints which had been brought
against him by the natives of the land, but it had been
impossible as yet to persuade him peaceably to come.
The Sultan thereupon at laft decided to send
Ibrahim Pasha [to Cairo, who should depose him from
office], but Ibrahim Pasha, instead of afting dis-
creetly with justice, forthwith proceeded even more
arbitrarily, plundering the Egyptians, afting tyranni-
cally, and himself amassing great sums of money, after
having finally forced the Eunuch Hasan to set out
by sea for Constantinople. Then Ibrahim Pasha,
on leaving Egypt, took the route homewards by the
lands of Judea and Palestine, where on his passage he
forcibly suppressed the revolt of certain amirs of those
provinces who had set themselves up to be independent
princes. These were men of the Druse people, who
are the descendants of those Crusaders who in times
pat gained possession of Jerusalem and the Holy
Land, but who in these present days have become
Moslems and are tributary to the Ottoman State.
From these people also Ibrahim Pasha squeezed great
sums of money, plundering their towns, and with all
this treasure he, in due time, arrived at Constantinople.
Now the yearly tribute of Egypt and Cairo had been

179

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

established at the sum of 600,000 gold sequins, and it
was due at this time to be paid over to the Treasury,
but in place of this sum Ibrahim Pasha had now brought
Murad a million sequins, which so delighted the
Sultan that forthwith he gave him one of his daughters
in marriage.

Sultan Murad having thus satisfactorily settled the
affairs of [Egypt and the Druses] with Ibrahim Pasha,
now issued orders that Othman Pasha should proceed
on his campaign againft Tabriz, and the Pasha now set
out for Erzenim, where he made a grand review of his
armies. Then on the 1 1 th of August of the year 1585
he marched out from Erzenim, on the Tabriz road,
under the guidance of one Maqsiid Aga [a native
Persian), who as was commonly reported had recently
fled to the Turkish camp from Persian territory. This
matter is related, as above, according to what Thomas
Minadoi has set down in his book, 11 but in this instance
again the details were given to him incorre&ly by his
Turkish authorities. I, however, know the truth of
the matter, which is somewhat different from what
Minadoi has written, and this I would now set down.
For Maqsiid was not a Khan, a title that Minadoi
gives to him, nor was he a noble of any sort, for not
even did he have the title of Bey, which is, as we should
say in Spain, Don, He was simply an Aga that is
to say, a rich husbandman who had bought, out of his
money-bags, a property near Tabriz, well inhabited
by some 500 peasants, the place being there known
under the name of Kiizah-Kunin (the Potteries). 12
This Maqsiid had been a great friend of Amir Khan,
late Chief of the Turkonian tribesmen, and when he
learnt that the Shah had ordered his friend to be put to
death, and further learnt that he himself, Maqsiid, was
under suspicion because he was a Sunni, which is of
the seft of the Turks, very prudently taking warning
by how another had loft his head, he had fled to Con-

180

TABRIZ

tantinople. At .this moment he had come back to
Persia to aft as guide to Othman Pasha's army 3 being a
man who was perfeftly acquainted with all the lands and
neighbourhood of Tabriz.

As has already been said, when Othman Pasha had
come out of Erzenim he held a great review of his
troops, when he found that they numbered 230,000
men, or as some report, 300,000: and it appeared to
him that here were numbers out of the way in excess :
so he dismissed 50,000 of those leaft experienced in
war, and then made public proclamation that he was
going to march against Nakhchevan. However, it
soon became evident that Tabriz, was his true objective,
and the troops began to mutiny, holding that they had
been deceived, but Othman Pasha was able to pacify
them, and they proceeded to Khoy, which is a city above
Van, and here the army rented. Next passing through
Marand, the firt city across the Persian frontier, they
came then to Sufiyan, a small town on a height from
which, looking down, they could discover Tabriz.
This was cause of much rejoicing to the troops, and
they were especially glad when they reached the
orchards round Tabriz, and as yet without having seen
a single soldier of the enemy's forces. Prince Hamzah
Mirza had, however, by this time come up and was
reconnoitring to see what the Turkish army was doing
beyond Sufiyan: and he now put himself in ambush
with 10,000 horsemen, noting that the enemy were,
so to speak, disbanded among the orchards. Then
suddenly he attacked, and put their vanguard com-
pletely to rout, killing 7,000 of them. Othman Pasha
on discovering the near presence of Prince Hamzah
had called up Cigala Pasha, with Muhammad the
Pasha of Qara Amid, and sent them forward with
14,000 men to give battle to the prince; but Hamzah
Mirza fought valiantly and inflicted yet more damage
than he received, capturing many Turkish banners;

181

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

finally, however, lie had to retreat, and leaving the
battlefield, rejoined his father, the king, who had
remained behind with the bulk of the Persian forces,
at a place twelve miles from Tabriz.

At this time 'AH Quli Khan was the military governor
of Tabriz, having under him only 4,000 horsemen for
garrisoning the great city, and he knowing the force
that Othman Pasha was bringing against him namely,
70,000 cavalry and 150,000 infantry all he as a valiant
soldier could effect was thrice over to march out
and skirmish against the Turks, of ^ whom, on these
several occasions, he managed to kill some three or
four thousand of their beft men. With his small
army, however, for garrison, he could not hope to
defend so great a city, for the population, though
numerous, was not used to war, and to remain, there-
fore, Rationed in the city would be to risk his honour
with small chance of gaining any advantage. He now
decided to dismantle the fortifications of the town,
betaking himself to the mountains, while at the same
time he gave instructions to the people of Tabriz that
since they could not possibly defend their city they
should, after making a treaty of peace, surrender it
to the Turks. The men of Tabriz, however, would
not do this, being valiant folk, and they went on de-
fending the city for a length of time. Othman Pasha
had in the end to take Tabriz by force of arms, and,
wroth at the long resistance that had been made him,
granted free licence to his soldiers to sack the town:
whereupon were seen such horrors as never before even
a barbarous nation had perpetrated at the capture of
any enemy city. 13

Tabriz Stands at the foot of mount Oronte, 14 which
rises on its north side. It is distant eight days' journey
from the Caspian Sea, and to the south Wretches all
the whole land of Persia. With the mountains near
the Caspian on the one hand, the city Elands in the fore-

182

TABRIZ CITY

front of Greater Media. Its inhabitants are for the
mot part merchants, and Tabriz is built at the spot
where the Eat has passage to Syria, and where Europe
with its numerous countries can bet join commerce
with the Orient. The climate is very cold, and snow
lies here for a season of the year. The houses are built
partly underground; mot are low, few being of any
height, but they are contruled of kiln-burnt brick,
and thus have a fine appearance. Unfortunately,
Tabriz had now a second cruel misfortune to suffer,
for some of the Janissaries having been found murdered
in their lodgings in one of the quarters of the town,
Othman Pasha ordered his troops again to sack the
city, when such and so many were the cruelties prac-
tised by the Turk soldiers against the people that at
laft the women and children, in terror to escape alive,
fled to the hills. Othman Pasha, while he was occupy-
ing Tabriz, caused a fortress to be built, surrounding it
with a ditch 30 feet across and a fathom deep. This
fortress was defended by many pieces of cannon, and a
Strong garrison was left on guard. Thus for long years to
come Tabriz remained in the power of the Ottomans.

It might seem that there was anent Tabriz a difficult
question to answer, and a matter which he who may
read this book would fain have explained namely,
that seeing Tabriz to be a city of such great importance
both to the kingdom and to the honour of the king, how
came it that the Shah Muhammad Khuda-Bandah, who
was encamped with his army only twelve miles distant
from the city, made no effort to succour the garrison
and allowed Tabriz, undefended, to be taken by the
enemy ? The real cause of all this was the putting to
death of Amir Khan, which has been related above,
for he was the hero and chief of the Turkoman tribes-
men, and the Turkomans are the only people of Tabriz
and its province who are by nature warlike and
capable of fighting. His being thus done to death

183

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

made them so wrathful againfb the Shah of Persia, that
the king could never dare face Othman Pasha in the
field, realizing that he had at his back these mutinous
tribesmen, for he knew not but what some great dis-
aler might through their treachery come to pass.
Thus the king had to look on helpless, and even fearing
for his personal safety, while he saw Tabriz fall. But
when message was brought to him of the utter ruin of
the great city, and the wretched fate of its inhabitants,
the king, now furious with rage and grief, marched up
against the Turkish camp, and despatched 600 horse-
men, challenging and defying the Turks to come out
and fight. On this Muhammad Pasha of Qara Amid
and Cigala Pasha appeared at the head of 40,000 Turks,
and the 600 Persian horsemen managed cleverly to
lure them back to a place where Prince Hamzah was
in ambush with 20,000 cavalry. These charging,
fell on them with such vigour that the Pasha of Qara
Amid took to flight, and Cigala Pasha alone tood his
ground. The Persians there, in hand-to-hand fight,
showed clearly how superior they were to the Turks,
for they at lat put Cigala Pasha to flight, capturing
many of his men.

Prince Hamzah was so encouraged by this viftory
that he sent Othman Pasha his defiance to fight, army
against army, and the Pasha took up the gauge. Now
the prince had his camp at a place eight miles distant
from the Turkish headquarters, being fearful on account
of their superiority in artillery, for their cannon had
wrought him much damage in the pat, and hence the
Turks had to march out this distance to the attack.
Their battle front was under command of the Pasha
of Qara Amid, and Cigala Pasha led the troops of
'Iraq and Mesopotamia, the Pasha of Anatolia com-
manded the left wing with the squadrons from Greece
under his orders, while the right wing was given to
Murad Pasha of Qaraman, who also led the Syrian

184

DON JUAN PRESENT

troops. In all the Turks numbered about 70,000
fighting men, and their camp followers had remained
behind in Tabriz, being engaged in the search for
treasure, buried, as was supposed, in the Mosques and
in private houses. The Janissaries also had remained
behind on guard round Othman Pasha, who at this
time was lying sick. The Turks came up to where
Prince Hamzah was awaiting them at the head of
40,000 excellent Persian troops drawn from all parts
namely, from the provinces of Mazandaran, Persian
'Iraq, and Shirvan, and it was at this battle that I for
the firft time was present, fighting at my father's side.

The opposing armies immediately formed issue, and
this indeed was one of the hardest fought engagements
that ever took place between these two enemy nations.
A great number of notable people loft their lives in
this battle, more especially of the Turks, among the
ret, Muhammad Pasha of Qara 1 Amid, whose head
Prince Hamzah caused to be cut off and tuck on a
lance point. The Pasha of Trebizond was killed, also
the Commander of Brusa, with five commanders of other
battalions, while Murad Pasha of Qaraman was taken
prisoner, for he, while fighting, fell helpless into a ditch.
Had the night not begun to come on, in truth not a Turk
would have escaped alive, but the darkness forced Prince
Hamzah to end the attack and retire with his army to
where the blind king, his father, had remained in camp.

Meanwhile, day by day Othman Pasha was
getting worse in his sickness, and he therefore
determined to begin his march back to Erzenim.
He gave the command of the new fortress at Tabriz
into the hands of the Eunuch Ja'far, the Pasha of
Tripoli, making over to him the right to colleft the
tribute of Tabriz ditrift during three coming years,
also leaving with him a garrison of 12,000 men. The
remainder of the Turkish army now marched out from
Tabriz, and when they reached the place known as

185

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

Shenb Ghazan 15 [the Dome of Ghazan] which is^an
ancient Mosque lying out in the countryside, crowning
a height the same being two leagues distant from
Tabriz, Prince Hamzah caught them up with a body
of 28,000 horse, and falling on their rear-guard plun-
dered the baggage train. The advance guard of the
Turks hearing what had come about, now opened on
the rear-guard with their cannon, killing many, and
our men, who were all inextricably mixed up with their
troops, were soon forced to retire, but not without having
inflifted on them a shameful loss. Indeed, it was
afterwards known that this amounted to 20,000 men,
which with their losses on the taking of Tabriz made
the sum total of the Turkish casualties amount to
70,000 killed in the Tabriz campaign.

Hardly had we Persians drawn off our forces, when
news from the Turkish camp was brought that Oth-
man Pasha had died of his sickness, and though Cigala
Pasha had tried to keep the faft unknown, to do so was
impossible. On this Cigala Pasha came into the chief
command of the Ottoman army, and we on the Persian
side followed the retreating Turks all through the
night with 14,000 horse, under command of Prince
Hamzah. At dawn next day we again came^up with
them, but Cigala Pasha now had with him as his guides
and counsellors the two Georgians namely, David and
Maqsiid Aga who thoroughly understood our prince's
method of attack, and the enemy, instead of being lured
forth by our feints, remained Stubbornly entrenched
on the defensive. The prince understanding the new
State of affairs, now began to retire, and attempted to
recross the Stream of the Achi-Chay, over which he
had juSl advanced to make his onslaught, but by
reason of the rain-floods, he was caught at the freshet,
and 3,000 men of the Persian army were drowned.
Cigala Pasha thus escaped [and setting out on his
homeward march reached Erzenim in safety],

186

CHAPTER IX

As to what the king of Persia did to get back Tabriz into his power, and
how he laid siege to the fortress, and what happened on the part 0f
those who defended it; and the death of my father, Sultan 'J.H
Beg Bayat.

BY the aid of Maqsrid Aga and David Khan, who
from their experience knew how to forewarn Cigala
Pasha against the wiles of Prince Hamzah, the Turks
managed to escape the ambuscade where the prince
was lying in wait for them, and further were guided to
pass safely across certain Streams and swamps, from
which otherwise none of them could possibly have
escaped with their lives. The Turks, in fa ft, of their
good fortune escaped destruction, and further, as has
been described at the close of the lat chapter, they
witnessed the discomfiture and death by drowning in
one of these Streams of more men of the Persian arms
than ever they, the Turks, had slain in the five pre-
ceding battles of the campaign. Thus the Turkish
army was left in peace to make its way back to Erzerrim,
where the troops were disbanded, and the Viziers,
Pashas, Commanders and Begs all returned to Con-
tantinople to give their report to the Sultan of what had
taken place. Sultan Murad felt much regret at the
death of Othman Pasha, for he had been a man of worth
and great experience in war, especially in the campaigns
against the Persians and Georgians. Rejoicings to
celebrate this Ottoman vi6tory were now set on foot
in Constantinople, although there were not lacking
those who murmured, for it was said that though the
Sultan indeed was now lord of the Fortress at Tabriz
by a deed of arms that had caused terror to the Persians,
and the loss was to these a grievous insult, and also

187

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

that the Turks were holding Tiflis in Georgia, yet to
take and hold these two strong places had cot the
Sultan so many lives, that in lieu of these public re-
joicings, solemn dirges had better have been ordered
for the soothing of the hearts of all the widows and
orphans who were now thronging the Streets of
Constantinople.

In Persia, the Turkish army having for the time
being retired, vacating the diStrifts round Tabriz,
Shah Muhammad Khuda-Bandah and his son Prince
Hamzah, although it was at this season mid-winter,
sought to profit by the occasion ; for they were fain to
reinstate their reputation in the public mind, so dis-
credited by the loss under their very eyes of this famous
city, now lying for the mot part in ruins. The Shah
with the prince therefore marched in, with so much of
the Persian army as was to hand, and reoccupied the
town quarters of Tabriz, the court establishing itself
here, and the citizens who had escaped death and fled
to the hills now returning to their homes. [Next the
siege of the Turkish fortress was undertaken.] Here
without, side by side, according to the military art,
two immense siege-guns were set in position, and these
were of so huge a calibre as never before had been seen
in Persia. The two guns night and day bombarded
the Turks; bastions with cavaliers built in between
having been erefted over againSt the fortress among
the ruins of the former town quarter. The Turkish
garrison of 3,000 men, however, appeared in no wise
dismayed by these proceedings of the Persians, for,
in the firSt place, they were all seasoned soldiers of
much experience in war; and secondly, because, by
order of the late Othman Pasha, there had been pro-
vided in the fortress munitions and provisions sufficient
to lat for a three years' siege, and the walls of the
same were, in truth, of an immense Strength. Noting
the tenacity and valour of the besieged Turks, Prince

188

TABRIZ FORTRESS

Hamzah now determined to con&ruft and run a mine
under the fortress, which should be filled and finally
exploded. This work was begun, and the Turks knew
nothing of it, for the Persians contrived to dig very
secretly, and pushed the mine deeply, choosing their
hours for work and using their tools with much caution,
while at the same time, night and day, the two great
pieces ^of artillery continued to bombard the fortress,
thus diftrading the attention of the Turks from what
was going on below ground.

Further, the de&ruftion wrought by the two great
guns prevented it being seen, by the besieged, what
earth was being thrown up from below by the men who
were digging the mine, for all the surface of the ground
hereabout was now getting covered with fragments
of tone from the effefts of the bombardment of the
walls. These two cannon were of such size that the
bore of each at'the mouth spanned a yard 1 across, the
length of the barrel being five yards. Thus the Turks
never would have suspefted what was going on at the
place where the mine was being dug, had it not been for
the treachery that unfortunately happened at this time
on the part of two Persian officers of the royal army.
One of these bore the title of Qtirchf Bashi Khan, 2 he
being the comptroller of the Royal Household-servants
and his title of Khan shows that he was a grandee of
the kingdom and the other traitor was Ja'far Quli
Beg, his brother-in-law. Now these two nobles had
learnt of certain information which spies had given
them, that the king Muhammad Khuda-Bandah and
the prince had issued an order for them to be both put
to death, but for what crime never was justly known,
and therefore, having come of a surety by the news, they
took occasion one night before dawn of day to leave
the royal court, and escaping through the town pre-
cinfts gained entrance to the Turkish fortress, seeking
safety with the enemy of their country. To the

189

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

garrison they then gave news of the mine which by
the king's orders was being conslmaed, whereupon
the Turks immediately began a counter-mine. Thus
the advance of the Persian mine was soon blocked by
sTrones and earthwork, while the whole of this side of
the fortress was promptly strengthened, and they
rebuilt a curtain of the great wall in this part, which
had latterly been giving cause of anxiety. All these
works were carried through with quickness and dex-
terity on the part of the Turks, the Persians losing an
infinity of men in ineffectual attempts to prevent the
building of this curtain, and in a vain struggle to carry
on the work of digging their mine.

Prince Hamzah now realizing that the two traitors
who had escaped to the fortress were the cause of his
secret designs having become known and thus his
reasonable hopes now being frustrated of blowing up
the Turks in their entrenchments was filled with
wrath and impatience. He tried next to carry the
fortress wall by sTrorm, with scaling ladders, in face at
day, and though at firft the Turks were somewhat
taken aback by this unlooked-for assault, they^ralhed,
and rushing on their assailants who were fixing the
scaling ladders, began shooting down on them point-
blank, fighting hand to hand from the loopholes and
embrasures in the wall, also from the battlements and
the cross-beams of the neighbouring houses. This
open attack on the fortress lasted for six whole days,
but seeing the very small advantage obtained, the prince
at length ordered the retreat to be sounded. In this
attack more than 6,000 Persians had been killed, some
falling into the ditch off the scaling ladders, others
being shot down by musket fire, whilst those who
finally had climbed over the wall-top were easily
slaughtered by the enemy within the fortress.

My father, Sultan 'All Beg Bayat, who was at that
time in attendance on the king Muhammad Khuda-

190

SULTAN <ALI BEG

Bandah, now received the command from Prince
Hamzah to make a quite different attempt, at the head
of 300 chosen men of his own clan, whom at his personal
expense had been armed and brought to the royal army.
It was arranged that with his companions my father
should one night, in the watch before dawn, secretly
approach the fortress wall with a movable mantelet
[or wooden tower borne on a platform running on
wheels] which 200 pioneers were to work up to the edge
of the outer ditch, where it would then overtop the
cavalier or bulwark. 3 This wooden tower was built
up and protefted by bags filled with earth nailed on
outside ; and it had an upper work so high that from it
the square inside the fortress might have been over-
looked; and from this upper piece a drawbridge with
ropes could, at the proper moment, be let down over
the parapet of the fortress wall. The whole of this
machine was planked and protefted by sandbags
adjusted to serve their purpose. The Persians were to
make their attack on the enemy at dawn, as said above,
before the Turkish sentinels who might be on guard
should notice their coming. Then the 300 of our
men-at-arms were to surprise and hold within the for-
tress a certain tower which from that side overlooked
the ditch, rising above the wall. This tower was in that
part which faced the Persian siege guns, which lat had
been established below the houses of the town-quarter
now held in force by the royal troops engaged in
besieging the fortress.

On the night in question my father Started, being
carried forward with his men in the movable wooden
tower but although the axles of the wheels under the plat-
form had been well greased, and the tyres had been cased
in cotton to muffle the sound, and the lights from the
matchlock fuses, and priming horns, and cannon-vents
had been all carefully masked, yet the Turks heard us
coming, and before we could fetch up at the border of

191

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

the outer bulwark of the fortress they had beaten to arms
within. Then they opened their attack on the tower and
its platform with a Storm of musketry and fire-balls, while
at the same time 700 Turks issued from the fortress
by a po&ern gate that was in the bulwark at this point,
and from thence, too, made their attack on us. My
father, perceiving that matters had gone so far that it
was impossible now to beat a retreat, and realizing
that whatever happened this was a matter to gain little
honour and less advantage, began to fight desperately,
Standing within the tower, for the press of the incoming
Turks was such that to issue forth was not possible.
When at length, however, he had managed to kill
seven men of note among his assailants, besides two
commanders and three Begs, he forthwith himself fell
dead, pierced by numberless wounds. What indeed
brought on the end the quicker, was the crushing in of
the curtain of the parapet of our platform beneath the
tower; for on this side the wheels below had been burnt
by the fire-balls which had Struck us. The enemy
were yet forcing their way in across this parapet,
which, falling back, crushed under its mass more than
a hundred Turks whom our men were Struggling to
repel. This parapet wall here referred to was the
obstacle that prevented me and the soldiers under my
command from coming to my father's aid, when I saw
that I could not die defending him, as I gladly would.
The Turks now began to desist from their attack on
our tower, finding that the whole Persian army under
command of the king and the prince was marching
up to our support, and the day had already dawned.
The Turks therefore retired within their fortress by
the postern gate, which they immediately closed, but
their loss had amounted to 200 men.

Protecting and against my will they carried me
before the king, who praised and sought to give me
comfort, but I was in that tate when all reason fails:

192

SULTAN 'ALI BEG

and yet the more so when I came to see that from the
wall of the fortress the Turks were exhibiting, luck on
a lance point, my poor father's head, thus further to
insult and humiliate me, for his body in their brutal
rage they had already burnt. The king and prince
both did great honour to the memory of my father by
what manner they spoke of him to me, and they made
me a promise of future favour. Later Shah Muham-
mad Khuda-Bandah, who had indeed loved my father,
ordered a picture to be painted, representing him
Standing above the bodies "of the seven Turkish com-
manders whom with his own hand he had slain, and
this picture still may be seen placed above the door
of one of the Mosques of Tabriz, that is dedicated to
the honour of the great Amir Haydar, the father of
Shah Isma'il, who is held by us Persians to have been
a saint.

I 93

CHAPTER X

In which, is recounted the arrival of the Turkomans at the king's camp>
and the troubles that arose from their coming.

As we have already explained, Turkomania, the Turko-
man country, is no province of the Persian Empire, nor
is it the name of any city, wherefore we have not
counted it as such among the other provinces [men-
tioned in Chapter II of Book I]: but the Turkomans
form a commune of very great importance among the
other nationalities of the Persian kingdom, for they are
a mo& valiant folk, and the number of their population
is very considerable. Great importance often attaches
to their views and aftions, as was seen in what has been
related in regard to the loss of Tabriz, where the faft
that the Turkomans would grant no aid was the prime
cause of the fall of that city. This was by reason of
their anger at their chief, Amir Khan, having been,
they said, unju&ly put to death. At the moment of
which we are now speaking, though the Shah was bill
greatly vexed by their paft defection at that critical
junfture, he affefted to have forgotten, hoping that they
might patriotically be prompted to serve him, for their
aid or support was of much import to him in the attempt
on hand to turn the Turks out of the fortress of Tabriz.
And it is to be remembered that the Turkomans were
settled in great numbers in all the country round and
about Tabriz, even as for us in Spain we see the Moors
camped in all the communes that lie adjacent to Oran
in Africa.

The ftate of affairs therefore being at the moment as
has been told in the preceding chapter, the Turks in
great force occupying the fortress inside Tabriz, and
our hope of ejefting them therefrom being but small.

THE TURKOMANS

unexpectedly 40,000 Turkomans assembled under arms
and marched up to encamp within half a league's dis-
tance of the town walls of Tabriz. They were under
the leadership of two of their principal chiefs, whose
names were Muhammad Khan and Khalifah Khan, 1
and their coming at firb caused the greatest hopeful-
ness to the Shah. To the besieged Turks, on the
other hand, their arrival was a heavy blow, for they
deemed them a mighty reinforcement to the royal
army that was besieging them. The Turks, therefore,
without delay came to the conclusion it were wise to
petition for terms, and they sent an envoy to Shah
Muhammad Khuda-Bandah and Prince Hamzah
promising them that they, the Turks, would now
deliver up the fortress, provided they were allowed to
march out with their banners and war-drums and be
given free passage to Sufiyan fort. The negotiations
being thus fairly set on foot and promising so well for
the Persian cause, incontinently the bad faith of the
Turkomans was made manifel, and what came about
shall now be explained.

'Among the Turkomans, as with many of the other
semi-independent nations who were in name subjects
of the Persian crown, it was customary of old that a
son of the Shah should be given them to be, nominally,
their governor and chief, thus to rule them indepen-
dently. The Turkomans were lill at that date
wrathful at heart on account of the execution as has
been above narrated of their beloved Amir Khan
by the Shah's order, and it was secretly now their
intention to make an insurrection and attempt to
kidnap Tahmasp Mirzd, the king's youngest son, who
was with him at this time in the royal camp before
Tabriz, being a lad about eleven years of age. The
better to mask their intended treachery, the Turkomans
had given it out publicly that it was their feeling of
honourable patriotism alone that had now led them to

195

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

come in and offer their aid to the king, and that all
ill-will on their part had been set aside and forgotten.
On the very night of their arrival in camp, however,
and after the Shah had granted all their demands in
full, three hundred of the Turkoman men-at-arms, of
the mot lawless and irresponsible of any found among
them, under the leadership of Saqali Sultan, burt into
the royal quarters at an hour when the sentinels were
asleep. Also they had previously overpowered the
main-guard of the army encamped within Tabriz city,
for the Turkomans had managed to teal away all the
lantern-lights from the guard-po&s which is in effeft
as though here in Spain the name of the Saint, which is
the password for the night, had got to be known
and the kidnappers then made their way unopposed
into the royal quarters. Here they killed mot of the
soldiers and door-keepers on duty, and seized in their
arms Prince Tahmasp, to whom they spoke words of
promise, which, though a mere child, he seemed to
understand and so did not cry out. Next bringing
him forth from the palace and the town, they betook
themselves to their camp, accompanied by certain fellow-
conspirators, who had been among the personal atten-
dants of the young prince.

The kidnapping party had brought off their attack
on the royal quarters with only a loss of some fifty of
their men, and the Turkoman chiefs Muhammad
Khan and Khalifah Khan 2 joyfully received the captive
prince. Forthwith orders were issued for the whole
force of the tribesmen to set out on their march to
Qazvin in battle array, at any moment prepared to
repulse every attack. Great had been the confusion
and alarm in the king's quarters and in the royal camp,
also in the city of Tabriz: on every side there was a
calling to arms. The Turkish garrison of the fortress,
also imagining in their alarm that their laft hour was
come, 'were preparing for 'the worb, some indeed

196

QAZVfN OCCUPIED

proposing a plan to kill their Pasha and send his head
in to Shah Muhammad Khuda-Bandah as a peace-
offering. All quieted down, however, after a time, and
men again took heart, and then it became known that
the young prince had been carried off. The Turko-
man tribesmen reached Qazvin unmolested, and
immediately gained possession of the royal capital
for such Qazvin was at that date plundering, ravish-
ing, and violating homes on all hands, occupying the
city not as fellow-subjefts of the king, but as though it
had been an enemy-town given over to them to sack.
I myself can bear witness to their evil ways, for in my
father's house there, into possession of which I had
juft come by inheritance, every kind of damage
was done. The Turkomans next proclaimed Prince
Tahmasp to be the new Shah of Persia, but making
him do their bidding in all things, and they assembled
a council of Sate, which forthwith assumed the govern-
ment. The king's nobles and loyal subjefts were
expelled the city, edifts being proclaimed and enforced
which terrorized the citizens. The ignorant folk of
the commonwealth being totally misinformed on all
public matters, none ventured any opposition or
resistance to their doings, and the Turkomans even
dared to coin new money [which is always held to be
the prerogative of royalty] and the old coins were
reStruck with a punch which altered the arms and titles
of the face.

And all this was done at a distance of barely
1 30 leagues from the king's court. Never have I heard
tell before of even the moft rebellious of subjects having
done such deeds against their lawful sovereign and
natural prince as these men did. And forsooth, matters
had to ret thus, for continual rains and snows now abun-
dantly setting in, the Turkomans were able to remain
for the incoming winter season unmolested at their
quarters in Qazvin, where they proceeded to set up

197

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

or to dismiss, turn about, all the officers of &ate. At
lat, however, when the spring came. Prince Hamzah,
who all during the season of the rains and snows had
been full of impatience, on the one hand seeing the
Turks holding their fortress in Tabriz, and on the other
hand having daily news of the insolent conduft of the
Turkoman tribesmen, now at lat, as soon as the month
of March had set in, obtained his father's licence, and
the full approval of his council to proceed againl
the rebels. With 14,000 horse we marched forth,
the prince at our head, and his highness had done me
the honour of placing me in command of one of the
squadrons. The Shah, Muhammad Khuda-Bandah,
remained behind in Tabriz with 50,000 men, part
infantry, part cavalry, with Toqmaq Khan QashM
and Imam Quli Khan Qajar as his lieutenants in
command. Prince Hamzah reached Sultaniyah, which
is only 30 leagues from Qazvin, and there we reeled
and refreshed ourselves, men and horse, for it is a
very rich countryside.

We were joined here by Ja'far Quli Khan, with his
three brothers Nicheps Sultan, Shah 'All Sultan and
Bedel Sultan, who marched in at the head of 12,000
horse and foot soldiers, and they had come to give
their aid and support to the prince. All these were of
the Baydt clan, being of my family, which same counts
as of the befc and moft noble blood in Persia, and their
joining us was a great satisfaction to me, for these four
commanders were in faft my cousins in the second
degree. Now the Turkomans, as soon as they had heard
of the approach of Ja'far Quli Khan and his three
brothers, had despatched an envoy to them, proposing
that they should take part with them in their rebellion,
and that they should give in their allegiance to Prince
Tahmasp as Shah. The four Bayat Khans being loyal
subjefts of their prince, answered not a word, they only
issued orders that the envoy should be thrown head

198

VICTORY OF PRINCE HAMZAH

foremojft into a neighbouring swamp, whence he
escaped half drowned, and returning to Qazvin, gave
the Turkomans this answer of the Bayat nobles. It
was at about that time also, but two or three days
later, that Devlahar Khan also came in, joining up with
10,000 horse and infantry, in support of the prince's
cause, and these were all men well practised in warfare,
being of a clan held in very high esteem throughout
Persia known as the Curthasi Amanzir. 3

The prince, now finding himself at the head of some
40,000 cavalry and infantry drawn from the various
provinces faithful to him, resolved forthwith to march
Straight on Qazvin, though he heard that the Turko-
mans there had been reinforced by a new contingent
of ^10,000 men. We thereupon Started on our march,
using ^much caution and by short Sages, and on the
firt night out, as we were setting our camp, news was
brought that 20,000 Turkomans were come out from
Qazvin to surprise us with a night attack. We Stood
to our arms and were on the watch, every man ready to
leap into the saddle should the word be given, but their
patrols having discovered that we were thus ready and
awaiting them, their approach perfe&ly known to us,
they forthwith began to beat a retreat. They made
the dawn following, it is true, an ineffeftual attack,
skirmishing, but the main body of our men coming
up, the Turkomans all suddenly disappeared from view*
The next day, which was Friday, the whole Turkoman
army came in view at early dawn, and as is the cu&om
with us Persians they immediately sent their heralds
to the prince to challenge us. We accepted their
challenge, and the signal was given to attack, in which
aftion, at firft, we did not have the better part.
Fortune, however, in the end changed and the victory
was ours, to the which happy result an incident that
I will now relate in no little part contributed. One of
the servants of Khalffah Khan, the Turkoman chief,

199

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

was carrying a musket slung over Ms shoulder, and
he was running along in front of his master when,
without his hand touching the weapon, it went off, and
by mischance shot Khalifah Khan dead. And but a
short time before, under the eyes of all the Turkoman
chiefs, our men had killed * AH Paghman, a moft valiant
captain, and one in whose leadership the enemy had
founded their main hopes of success.

With these two casualties the Turkomans were now
quite disheartened, and turning their backs fled from
before us, the prince charging them home. The
viftory was complete, some 8,000 were slain, the heads
of many leaders of importance were cut off, and among
the reft Saqali Sultan was decapitated, he being the
brother of that chief already so many times mentioned
by us, the late Amir Khan. More than 3,000 captives
were taken, and the young prince Tahmasp Mirza was
delivered up to his brother, who despatched him as a
prisoner to the Caftle of Alamiit. 4 Then, after his
viftory. Prince Hamzah entered and took peaceable
possession of Qazvin, now his capital, lately that of
the Turkomans. And I think I hear one who is
reading this book asking for explanation of the reason
as to how it came about that Qazvin, the moft important
city of Persia, was so easily taken and retaken by foe
and friend in turn. Him, my reader, I would answer
quoting the Spanish proverb: "The worft thief is
he who is of the household." 5 The immense population
of Qazvin, as is the case with the population of every
capital city in all countries, is made up from peoples
of all parts, and the Turkoman tribesmen always had
many friends and relations among them. There were
therefore as many hands to open the city gates to them,
as there might have been to close these gates against
them. This, too, is the reason why it is never possible
to keep the secret of the court of one prince from the
knowledge of those at the court of the prince his

200

TABRIZ ABANDONED

neighbour, for the gate that for egress irmSt be left
unclosed in the city-wall of every king's capital is as
the story related of the cutler who had his throat
cut with the knife blade that was of his very own
making. But I need not explain further these matters
of tate, and should be speaking prolixly, for wars in
Persia are waged very differently to what we have any
knowledge of in Spain, and there all things are alien to
the politics of our western lands.

To return therefore to the matters in hand: Prince
Hamzah having re-e&ablished his government in
Qazvin and chastised those of the population who had
been in rebellion, marched out after a sojourn of two
months, and returned to Tabriz, where he had left the
king his father. We found him well, and Still super-
intending the blockade of the Turks in the fortress,
but joining him, as will be easily understood, we took
no reft whatever even for an hour from our recent
labours of war. The spring-time was now advanced
and fine weather coming with it, but we gained neither
ease nor good fortune, for the Turks in Tabriz were
shortly after this reinforced by the relieving army,
which unopposed by us marched in, numbering, it
was said, upwards of 200,000 men. The commanders
were Sinan Pasha [otherwise known as Cigala] and
Farhad Pasha, but Cigala was to hold the chief com-
mand. At this time it became manifeft to Shah
Muhammad Khuda-Bandah and his son Prince Ham-
zah that it would in the immediate future be impossible
to hold the city quarters of Tabriz against this immense
force of the Turks, and they resolved therefore, without
further delay, to dismantle the town fortifications, and
carry off the whole civil population, with as much of
their goods and chattels as it was possible to remove
to neighbouring places of security, and all this was
accordingly done. The Persian camp was next broken
up, and the army marched out, taking the road north

201

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

to Ganjah [in Qarabagh], the king being accompanied
by the youngest of his sons, Abu Talib Mirza. When
we reached Ganjah, the news came of how the Turkish
army had now occupied Tabriz, and how they had laid
the whole of the town quarters in ruin, the fortress
alone being left landing, but the old city wall they had
rebuilt.

While he was sojourning in Ganjah Prince Hamzah
made arrangements for the guardianship of his two
sons, these young princes being the children of different
mothers. This aftion was almost as though he had
foreseen the sad event that was so soon to occur. Both
his sons were till of very tender years, and their names
were Isma'il Mirza Sultan and Haydar Mirza, and
they were put under the guardianship and in ward to
Esmf Khan ShamM and 'AH Quli Khan. While
in camp at Ganjah, Imam Quli Khan Qajar came in at
the head of a considerable body of men, a notable
reinforcement to the king's army, now under the
supreme command of Prince Hamzah, though even
with this augmentation it did not seem prudent to the
prince to attempt any further aftion against the
Turkish forces in occupation of Tabriz, and hence, it
being now intended to return to Qazvin, the whole
Persian army afting as convoy to the person of the
king, with the court in attendance, all marched out of
Ganjah. It was now the winter season of rain and
snow, and our firt day's march took us in to camp at a
place only three leagues from Ganjah, where we were
under canvas, in tents, this short distance being all
that we could come to by reason of the bad weather.
It was in this camp that the terrible event occurred, the
detail of which mufc be related in the following chapter.

202

CHAPTER XI

Of the unhappy death of Prince Hamzah, and of many other consequent
events which took place*

THE Turkish army, as we subsequently heard, had
marched out from Tabriz [leaving the fortress well
garrisoned] 5 after laying the city in ruins in such
fashion that no one of its houses was left to mark that
any town had ever been there ; and nothing but a mem-
ory of its former greatness remained. The Turkish
army now went north into Georgia, and indeed, had
they marched to invade the territories of Qazvin and
of Isfahan, judging the case by their present invasion
of Georgia, the kingdom of Persia would have been
put into a condition of the utmost stress. But for-
tunately fortune never continues to favour only the
one side; the chance now changed over, and we in the
end came by our own.

The disastrous happening [namely, the murder of
Prince Hamzah] to which reference has been made at
the end of the lat chapter came about after this wise.
No one is safe who has always to look to another for
help, and princes leat of all, for though their good
fortune has given them riches and ease, they are by the
very same obliged to depend for many services on hands
not their own, and this is no small evil. Some think
it is a grand matter to be always served by other hands :
I say it is the greatest of misfortunes to be forced to
depend, not on yourself, but on servants. Esmi
Khan, of the ShamM clan, as explained in the lat
chapter, now found himself promoted to be guardian
and governor of the young prince Isma'il Mirza
Sultan, who was the eldest son of Prince Hamzah, and
therefore in the second degree heir-apparent in the late,

203

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

and Esmi Khan was in a way overset by the greatness
of his position and the honours of his poft. It seemed
to him that his new charge might, and indeed should,
lead to a more important office. For, from being the
guardian of the heir-apparent, he might become the
prime minister of the future king, the two offices not
being dissimilar, and if the next ep up could follow
swiftly on the firs% already so recently taken by him,
then the power of all Western Asia might be controlled
by his hands. From what I have been able to learn,
there were in all fourteen Khans and great persons ^n
this plot, all relations or connexions of Esmi Khan,
he being the chief conspirator, and it was their in-
tention to bring about the death of Prince Hamzah
by the hand of a certain Khuda Verdi Dallak, and the
word Dattdk in Persian has, in the Spanish tongue, 1
the signification of " barber." .

Thus Khuda Verdi was indeed by office the king s
barber, being also groom of the chamber to the prince,
and very intimately in his favour. The barber had in
his possession an attested lift with all the names of the
conspirators. This had given him a sense of his own
great importance in the plot, and he had undertaken
to kill the prince that same night in camp, for he, the
barber, slept in the ante-chamber of his tent. And so
it all came about, for choosing the firs! watch of the
night as mosT; convenient, and after the close of a great
supper party that had taken place in the_royal pavilion,
this murderous servant entered the prince's sleeping
apartment without being perceived, very quietly, and
forthwith cut his maker's throat with all the skill of
his barber's art. Then, on going out by the door of
the tent, he was asked by the guards what was doing
for him to be leaving the royal precincts at such an
undue hour, and answered that his highness _ the
prince had given him an important piece of business
to despatch, and so went off to place himself for safety

204

PRINCE HAMZAH MURDERED

under the proteftion of Esmi KMn, the chief con-
spirator. At this moment, and while the barber was
thus escaping from the royal tent, the old king Muham-
mad Khuda-Bandah began to call aloud, which had the
effeft of turning out the main-guard. It was then
immediately discovered that the prince had been
murdered, and the news becoming public the whole
army was soon in an uproar, everybody crying that all
was loL

And this indeed would have been the case had *Ali
Quli Khan and Esmi Khan, the two rivals, and the
mot powerful nobles in the tate, come to a quarrel,
with the army taking sides: which forsooth almost
happened when 'Ali Quli Khan, learning of the prince's
death, came further to know that the murderer had
taken refuge with Esmi Khan, claiming his protection*
The old king, however, managed to quiet the disorders,
for he feared lel the Turks hearing of the matter
should march in and, serving us in this case even as they
had served us at Tabriz, bring ruin to the tate. Since
it was impossible to bring the prince back to life,
all left for his father to do was to curse his evil
fortune, and accept the fate that he could not elude.
He immediately gave orders to have the barber found
and brought before him, who forthwith would have
shown the king the attested lil of the conspirators
which it had been his care to carry on his person, but
Esmi Khan promptly Struck him with his dagger in
the mouth, an aft indeed which was sure proof of who
was the real traitor. The matter was thus hushed up,
none being brought to justice, except this unlucky
barber, whom the king now ordered to be burnt alive.
As soon as matters had been brought to this peaceful
issue, and the commotion assuaged among the troops,
the army set out on its march to the city of Ardebil,
bearing the body of the dead prince, for it is in this
town that all the Sophi princes are buried namely, in

205

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

the mausoleum of the fir& great Sophi, Shah Isma'fl I,
who is known as Shaykh Sophi, which is as much as to
say, Sophi the Saint. His tomb is in a Mosque, which
is a sanftuary to all the country round, and here daily
more than a thousand poor persons are wont to be fed
and alms are distributed at the expense of the king.
The city of Ardebil was distant about 100 leagues
from our camp where the prince had been murdered,
and having regard to the ceremony proper to this
royal funeral we marched at a very slow rate that
proved mo& wearisome to the soldiers of our army,
However, at la we reached Ardebil, and there com-
pleted the burial rites, immediately on which the army
set out for Qazvin.

The old king had not been many days settled in
his capital city of Qazvin, and before he had indeed
recovered from the toils and troubles that had beset
him, when news was brought in that 'All Khan, 2
son of Muhammad Khan the Turkoman, had taken
possession by assault of the town of Kashan, where
he was committing every sort of evil deed, his
Turkoman tribesmen, whom he had brought in
from all parts of the country, plundering that city
and all the neighbouring hamlets. Thus, although
we with the old king were till mourning for the
prince, we had to march out with the Shah at our
head to combat them, and the arrangements for this
expedition lacking due organization, our campaign
againft these Turkomans did not result in any very
notable success to the royal arms. Matters were now
getting into a mot deplorable confusion throughout
the whole land of Persia. There was no king of whom
the great nobles tood in awe. Many of the provinces
were in open revolt, and hardly had one been brought
under subjection than another would rise in arms,
No sooner had we returned from Kashan, when we had
to march on Isfahan, where Farhad Beg, the Georgian

206

FARHAD BEG.

renegade, was at the head of an insurrection, and little
could we accomplish here, for the rebels proved to
be in great force and defied all our efforts. In short,
there was not a Khan or a noble in command of troops
who would obey the poor blind king; whereby this is
the place to cite the lines of the well-known Ca^lilian
ballad:

For none was deemed to be good Moor,
Save wKo i.ad given his knee tbrusl: 3

[to wit, against his sovereign lord the king].

While we in the wet were thus occupied ineffeftually
in putting down insurreftion and trying to bring the
provinces under control to the royal authority, in the
ea& in the province of Khurasan matters were also
in a tate of anarchy. In Herat, as we have already
explained. Prince 'Abbas, young in years, was nominal
governor, but at that time entirely in the hands of
*

*Ali Quli Khan, who held authority throughout
of that province. In Meshed Murshid Quli Khan
was governor, and he was the declared enemy and rival
on all points of *Ali Quli Khan, and though Meshed
lay 100 leagues distant from Herat, each of these
two men had already sent his defiance to the other.
Both now were marching out to bring their differences
to the trial of battle, Murshfd Quli Khan having under
his command 12,000 horse, and 'Ali Quli Khan 20,000.
Both were so eager for the fray that, coming in sight of
one another, forthwith they brought their men to battle
array and attacked. The fight was one of the mo&
fiercely contested engagements ever seen in those parts,
and as Murshid Quli Khdn had the better disciplined
troops, though in number inferior to those of his rival,
fortune turned in his favour: 'All Quli Khan was
completely vanquished, and Prince 'Abbas changed
over, coming now to be under the control of Murshid
Quli Khan. As has been already explained, with the
death of Prince Hamzah and with both his sons of an

207

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

age, and 'indeed of parentage, considered not to be
capable of succeeding [to the throne of their grand-
father, the blind king], the heir to all the kingdoms of
Persia was Prince 'Abbas, who, as we have juft seen,
was now under the tutelage of Murshid Quli Khan.
News of the death of Prince Hamzah and of the various
rebellions in the western province had only very recently
become known in Khurasan, but Murshid Quli Khan
felt that he had nothing in the immediate future to
fear, having entirely got the better of 'AH Quli Khan,
and having Prince * Abb as at his side, resident under
his very eye in Meshed.

In Qazvin, the Khans and great nobles being very
weary of the confusion under which the kingdom lay,
now took counsel together and resolved on despatching
envoys immediately to Prince 'Abbas, beseeching him
of his grace to come to them forthwith, and promising
that they would publicly recognize his rights to the
kingship. Further they pointed out that any delay in
coming would be highly prejudicial to the tate, for
the king his father was now entirely incapacitated
from governing, being blind and old, so that his
position at the head of affairs was an obstacle to all
good government, and a matter prejudicial to the
settlement of the kingdom. When the envoys had
come and set all these things clearly before Prince
'Abbas, he, prompt in aftion, immediately, with no
great escort, rode in from Meshed to Qazvin, leav-
ing his orders for Murshid Quli Khan to follow on
with a considerable army. As soon as the news
became known at the palace in Qazvin that Prince
'Abbas was come and on his arrival before the city
gate all the people had flocked out to welcome him
the Khans and Begs with scarce an exception, also the
other commanders present at court, all immediately
hurried to the house where the prince had taken his
lodging, so that indeed hardly one remained behind in

208

PRINCE 'ABBAS

attendance on the old blind king. All gave in their
allegiance to the prince, recognizing him as their lord
and maSter, he being in the prime of his youth to hold
power: and forsooth, as it is commonly said, what is
novel, ever pleases. Many were now the councils
called and held by the chief nobles and Khans. It
was agreed that all men should combine and help the
government, forgetting their former enmities, and
their rivalries mu& be laid aside, left civil war should
continue bringing ruin to the State: for many indeed
were the heads that had fallen already, and numberless
had been the viftims of the party feuds.

Thus it was agreed that weapons of war were to be
laid aside, all were to join, enemies were to become
friends. Then the nobles in a body presented them-
selves before the old blind king at the palace, and
with many protestations of their respeft and obedience
brought him out, together with some twenty-eight of
his Khans and commanders, who were found there in
attendance on him. They forced both the king and
these men to come and wait upon the prince, whereupon
the old king embraced his son the prince, and delivered
over to him the sceptre and crown of the empire. Then
all present acknowledged the prince for their king and
lord, paying him their homage by kissing his hand,
and 'Abbas Mirza immediately assumed the Style
and title of Shah 'Abbas for Shah in Persian has
the signification of king. The new monarch now
took into his service to form his bodyguard 12,000
Georgians, renegades [who had become Moslems], and
proceeded with his reforms in the military government
and civil administration : although indeed at this date he
was yet but a youth, being little more than fifteen years
of age. 4 Then at length there was peace throughout the
land, for such was his prudence and the favour accorded
him, that all the provinces gave in their obedience and
the neighbouring potentates paid him their respeft.

209 p

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

Now on the firSt day when, as described above, the
ceremonies of swearing allegiance to the new monarch
had been completed. Shah 'Abbds gave command that
on the following day all the Khans and commanders
should attend him at his palace in the garb of peace
and unarmed, since he wished to consult them and
arrange for the establishment of a Divan, or Grand
Council of State, to ensure the pacification and due
administration of the kingdom. The next morning
therefore the nobles all assembled as commanded, but
Shah 'Abbas had secretly intruded his bodyguard
of Georgians to hold securely all the issues of the
Streets that opened on the square round the palace.
When the Khans and the commanders now entered
the royal presence they found Shah 'Abbas seated on
his throne, and on his right hand sat his father, the old
blind king Muhammad Khuda-Bandah. Then Shah
'Abbas forthwith put a question to the assembled
nobles* namely, what was the punishment due to him
who had killed his prince ? To this question those
who felt themselves to be moSt guilty gave as little
possible any reply, while those who felt at ease in
their consciences loudly proclaimed their judgment,
some opining for one form of punishment, others
declaring for another and a Sterner penalty. In the end,
however, all agreed unanimously that the servant who
had compassed to slay his prince was worthy of death.
No sooner had this sentence been pronounced than,
Shah 'Abbas making a sign to his bodyguard, the
Georgians fell upon those present in the palace hall,
slaying among them all the conspirators without
exception, after which twenty-two of their heads Stuck
on the points of lances were exhibited from the palace
windows to the populace below, a sight of terror that
Struck awe into the hearts of the bolde& and mot
arrogant.

The king's anger did not even halt here, for sending

210

SHAH 'ABBAS

for his two younger brothers, Tahmasp Mirza and Abu
Talib Mirza, he commanded them forthwith both to
be blinded, and then consigned them as prisoners to the
hrong ca&le of Alanrdt. It was at about this same time
that *AH Khan the Turkoman and Farhad Beg, who,
as has been related above, were the two commanders
who had rebelled [against Shah Muhammad Khuda-
Bandah] in Kashan and Isfahan, came in to pay their
allegiance and kiss the hand of Shah 'Abbas. The
king accepted very graciously their submission, but
immediately afterwards ordered that they should both
be beheaded. Shah 'Abbas, to remove all doubt as to
who was now the master of the kingdom, persuaded his
father, the old king, formally to abdicate in his favour, 6
and thus, though his accession and his assumption of
command throughout the kingdom of Persia had caused
some searchings of heart among the older nobles of the
court, matters now were settling themselves in the
capital and none there dared to think even of rebellion
or opposition to his will and command.

211

CHAPTER XII

In the same is narrated the campaigns which the king Shah ' ''Abbas under*
took againft the rebels. Also of the death of Sultan Murad III,
with the accession of his son, Sultan Muhammad III, to the Ottoman
Empire. How Shah { ''Abbas changed the seat of government and the
Court from Qazvin to Isfahan.

ALTHOUGH, as we have jut remarked, at his court
and in the immediate vicinity of the king all feared him
for his exemplary punishments meted out to all those
who opposed his commands, yet there were many
whose abode was not near at hand, especially some
among the relatives of the men the king had put to
death, and some among the viceroys and governors of
far-off provinces, who began now to rebel, for they
declared that this new king, Shah 'Abbas, was to them
naught but the public enemy of the realm. This
defiance Shah 'Abbas, in all the glory of his youth and
pride of empire, could not lomach; but firSt taking
counsel of Murshid Quli Khan, who was at that time
his confidential adviser, the king determined [in order
to free his hands in one quarter] to send his ambassador
to Constantinople, seeking to arrange a treaty of peace
with Sultan Murad, although to many so to do appeared
a derogatory aft implying his submission to the Turk.
The Persian ambassador chosen, who was Qara
Hasan Khan, 1 a noble to whom one of the king's
nieces had been given in marriage, found on arrival
at Constantinople that the Ottoman Government
would only consent to make peace with Persia on certain
moft harsh terms namely, that the Sultan should
remain peacefully possessed of all those lands, formerly
included in the Persian kingdom, that his armies had
overrun and conquered during the late campaigns,

212

THE PEACE TREATY

and that in future the river Araxes should be con-
sidered the boundary dividing the Ottoman Empire
from the kingdom of the Shah. Further, it was only
merchants and traders or ambassadors who might cross
this boundary river, and under pain of death no armed
soldier, Turk or Persian, should overpass it. To this
treaty finally the Shah and the Sultan put their hands,
pledging their word of honour, and each protecting
himself ready to forfeit his reputation should he fail
to carry out the treaty in all its terms, and that he
should of right then be considered none otherwise than
as a perjured traitor incapable of nobility of aft or
deed. Thus was the treaty sworn to, and of it two
formal copies were made public, one in Constantinople
signed in the presence of all the viceroys of the Porte,
the other in Qazvin before all the Persian Khans and
commanders. Thereto also was this ftipulation
annexed among the reft, that Shah 'Abbas should send
to Sultan Murad, as a hostage in pledge to reside at
Constantinople, his nephew. Sultan Haydar Mirza,
the second son of his dead brother Prince Hamzah, and
the young man was forthwith despatched thither under
charge of Khan Muhammad Quli Khalifah. 2

The treaty with the Turks being therefore finally
concluded [and his north-wetern frontier safe-
guarded], Shah 'Abbas brought together a force of
some 30,000 infantry and marched forth out of Qazvin,
the cause for this his firft campaign being as follows.
Among the Khans and nobles present in the palace
of Qazvin on the day following the king's accession,
when, as has been related in the preceding chapter,
twenty-two traitors of their number had been sum-
marily executed, some of the remaining disaffected
nobles had managed to escape death, and among these
were the three following: Muhammad Sharif Khan,
Sultan Mahmiid and A'zam Beg ColgachL These
three Khans had since fled, taking refuge with Khan

213

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

Ahmad, prince of Gilan, Baft and Guesher, which are
provinces and districts lying on the southern shore of
the Caspian Sea. This prince, Khan Ahmad, had been
married to a sifter of the late king Shah Muhammad
Khuda-Bandah, and the province being tributary to
the Persian crown was assessed to pay yearly about a
million gold pieces to the royal treasury. Shah 'Abbas
had immediately sent demanding of the prince of Gilan
that the three rebel Khans who had fled to him should
be delivered up, but Khan Ahmad had refused; further,
he at the same time had declined to pay the tribute
now due from him, and Shah ' Abbas ^ was filled with
wrath by this insult and aft of rebellion. The pro-
vince of Gilan is a very mountainous and impassable
land, where horses are of little use for transport, where-
fore it was infantry only that the king could take with
him, and their number on this campaign was as has
been &ated above. All, from the greatest noble to
the meanest camp-follower, mul go on foot, and for
their convenience of wear an immense supply of foot-
gear had been provided namely, shoes made of cow-
hide of the sort there known as " Charuk." The king
himself wore these to set the example, marching thus
at the head of his troops, we all following in his foot-
fteps.

Thus we proceeded, and in twelve days covered the
50 leagues that separate Qazvin from Gilan. Khin
Ahmad and his nobles meanwhile had not been
refting unconcerned, for they were well informed of
our march: by orders given great trees had been cut
down and laid so as to block the roads and passes,
where further many an ambush had been set with
arquebus-men in wait to oppose us. All opposition,
however, was unavailing, and our troops marched in
to Gilan, with, it is true, a loss of some of our men,
though not as many as might have been expefted.
The rebels were indeed in no case effectively to oppose

214

GILAN

us, for Shah 'Abbas had *sent on as the vanguard,
preceding the main body of our troops, a regiment under
orders of Shaykh Ahmad, who was the chief magis-
trate of his court, being his superintendent of police,
and all these men were dressed in scarlet, from the shoes
on their feet to the plume in their caps, this being with
us Persians the uniform of the executioners of the
king's justice. These men, therefore, having come to
a town called Nohum, put 10,000 of its inhabitants to
the sword, of whom more than half were women and
children, and seizing on the wife of the governor of
the town, who had fled, they burnt her alive, she being
a 'mol beautiful woman.

We of the main army had meanwhile arrived in
Gilan, coming in by roads and passes for the moSt
part unfrequented or forgotten, and no sooner was
Khan Ahmad, the prince of Gilan, informed of our
coming than he decamped with all his court, abandon-
ing his capital, which same is the great city of Lahijan,
as we have ftated in Book I, Chapter II of this work.
He left the city fortifications completely dismantled,
and had carried off with him his treasure, also a very
beautiful Georgian slave-girl of whom he was deeply
enamoured, she having been recently bought by him
at the price of 10,000 crowns. The prince of Gilan
and his suite proceeded to embark at a port on the
Caspian Sea that was in his dominions [and landing
on the coafb beyond to the westward travelled across
Georgia to the Euxine, where] he took ship for Con-
antinople. After his flight all the cities of the
province of Gilan submitted to Shah 'Abbas, who now
returned back to Qazvin joyful and victorious, having
left a garrison of 12,000 Persians in Gilan under the
command of Mahdi Quli Khan ShamM, who had been
named governor. Shah 'Abbas in his train brought
home the princess his aunt, whom her husband, the
prince of Gilan, had abandoned in his flight. We

215

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

thus re-entered Qazvin, but had little time for repose,
before two months were paft news coming in that the
prince of Luriftdn, called Shah Verdi Khan, was now in
revolt.

This prince, who had married a niece of Shah 'Abbas,
she being a daughter of Prince Isma'il, 3 yearly, as re-
gards the province of LuriShan, had been assessed for
tribute to the amount of 50,000 ducats. Now the
cause of his rebelling was that SMh 'Abbas at the time
of his accession as king of Persia had sent him no
invitation to be present, although he, Shah Verdi,
was so nearly connefted by marriage with Shah 'Abbas.
Further, at this moment the Turkomans and the
Tartars [his near neighbours, who were already in
insurrection] had sent urging him boldly to refuse all
payment of tribute, which thus advised he did, though
the princess his wife sought moft urgently to dissuade
him therefrom. He, however, was no longer to be
retrained from his folly, and in place of taking the
counsel she offered, gave her a great buffet on the
face, an insult so vile that to avenge it the princess
secretly informed her uncle, Shah 'Abbas, of all the
plans of the rebels. The Shah now called out 30,000
horse, and, without telling us of our destination, in
eight days led us the 150 leagues towards the south-
weft, which is the distance between Qazvin and Khur-
ramabad, the capital city of the princes of Luriftan.
Of our approach Shah Verdi Khan had thus no warning
until we were at his gates. We had reached a moun-
tain pass on his frontier where he kept Stationed a
guard of a hundred men to hold the same, to whom the
coming of our army was a great surprise, and one of
the guard immediately went off to tell the prince of
Luriftan of his danger. Shah Verdi's only guerdon
for -the warning brought him was then and there to
cut off the messenger's head.

Next taking his wife and his treasure, he fled from

'216

LURISTAN

his capital, seeking asylum with the Turks at a place
they held in garrison some twelve leagues this side from
Baghdad. We on arrival, therefore, at Khurramabad
found that Shah Verdi had escaped us, and all the people
of the city had also fled, seeking shelter in the hills round
and about. Shah 'Abbas now therefore despatched
one of his commanders named Allah Verdi Khan in
pursuit of the prince, at the head of a body of 1 2,000
Georgian troops, all of them renegades for they had
embraced Islam, abandoning Christ, and these carried
out their orders so discreetly that coming to that town,
garrisoned by the Turks, they craftily burnt down its
gates, but this without doing the Sultan's troops any
other harm and thus technically avoided a breach of
the peace treaty Still in force between Persia and the
Ottoman Empire, This done they entered, seized
on the person of Shah Verdi and brought him back
with the princess his wife to Shah 'Abbas in Khurra-
mabad, who immediately ordered his execution. The
princess, however, being the king's niece was honour-
ably treated, a pension for her maintenance was granted
her, and Husayn Beg, who throughout had been a
faithful servant to Shah * Abbas, was appointed governor
of the Luriftan country, he also having formerly been
one of the servants of the late prince Shah Verdi, On
this we all returned again to Qazvin, but as we entered
the city by one gate, by another gate came news of
further rebellion namely, now in the province of
Mazandaran, which lies on the borders of Tartary,
while on the one part its frontier extends along the
shore of the Caspian Sea.

'Here the reigning prince went by the name of
Bengi Melik [but this was his nickname, for] it
signifies the mad, drunken king, 4 and the title
had been given him because he was of disreputable
life and morals. Resolved no longer to pay the
usual tribute, he had now rebelled, and though,

217

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

as we have said, he was a man of evil living, he was
none the less a skilful soldier in the battle-field. The
king Shah 'Abbas did not intend in this case to march
againft him in person for what reason I do not well
know and therefore sent as his deputy in command
the Chief Comptroller of the Royal Household, who
is known with us Persians as the Qiirchi Bashi, and who
was a noble of the Qajar clan. 6 He therefore marched
out of Qazvin, at the head of an army of 50,000, and
passed the whole of the following winter in Mazandaran
occupied with the siege of a certain fortress there, in
which Bengi Melik had safely ensconced himself.
This, however, was by means of a moft cunning fraud,
such as only a crafty man might plot to use, and the
plan of which is worthy of being fully explained. ^

The prince Bengi Melik had caused to be built on
the summit of a high mountain in those parts a cattle
very marvellous for Strength, in outward appearance,
with many bastions and towers, but entirely conftruded
of woodwork, mere thin planks being used, and these
were then coated over with gypsum. This was done
with such art and skill that the whole caftle appeared
to be adually built of solid ftone, and anyone ^ would
have had to touch the walls with his hand to discover
the fraud. Now the Qiirchi Bashi who was besieging
the cattle had no cannon with him, for in the armies of
the king of Persia little or no field artillery was then
commonly in use. The ca&le to all appearance
therefore was inexpugnable, except by assault, and this
the Persian commanders did not care to attempt, being
threatened and kept off by the arquebus-men on the
ca&le walls, and by certain small pieces of ordnance
which Bengi Melik had got together and placed in
position. Thus he held the Qiirchi Bashi in check for
the whole of that winter season with this fraud, the
Persians blockading the caftle, and hoping in the end
to Starve out the garrison. And so matters might or

218

BENGI MELIK

might not have come to the issue, but that, as it happened,
one of Bengi Melik's men managed for private reasons
to get away from the caftle, and from him the Qiirchi
Bdshi learnt of the trick that had been played him.
Making his way very secretly one dark night up to the
cattle walls he convinced himself of what material they
really were made, and then took his time to set these
planks on fire, when Bengi Melik rushing out was
taken prisoner. He was forthwith beheaded by the
Qtirchi Bashi, who had been thus put to shame, and was
very wroth at the trick that had been played upon him.
On his return to Qazvin he was indeed much laughed
at, songs being sung about the Qiirchi Bashf s siege of
the impregnable calble so that for a long time he did
not dare appear at court.

This jelling, however, was but of short duration, for
'Ali Beg, the prince of Atarabad [which is a ditrid
that lies near the south-eastern corner of the Caspian
Sea] and who till then had been tributary subjeft to
Shah 'Abbas, now declared himself independent,
declining to pay his subsidy. Shah 'Abbas in this
case marched immediately againft him in person with
30,000 horse, but unfortunately I, being at the time
sick, could not take my part in the campaign. Accord-
ing to the one account that I heard, 'All Beg was taken
prisoner at the firft attack; other reports give it that
he came in of his own accord pleading for pardon.
Whichever of the two be the fad of the case, what
happened in the result was that Shah 'Abbas ordered
him forthwith to be blinded, and then after appointing
one of his commanders to be governor of the A&arabad
ditrift, which on the one side marches with the Tar-
tar border-land, the Shah with his vi&orious army
came back to Qazvin.

In previous chapters we have more than once spoken
of the great power and ate of the Tartar nation [who
are now commonly known as the Uzbeks], and whose

219

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

princes are the descendants of the great Tamerlane
or Timur Beg, whose race went back to Chingiz
Khan : and his name is said to mean the All-Highest,
or the Highest above AIL Now at the time when in
Persia Shah 'Abbas came to the throne, the monarch of
the Uzbek Tartars was 'Abd-Allah Khan, and his
custom was to make, ever and anon, raids over all the
frontiers that bounded his lands. He now noting that
Shah 'Abbas for the mot part was taken up with many
campaigns against his rebellious subjects as we have
described in the foregoing pages forthwith proceeded
to plunder the neighbouring provinces of the kingdom
of Persia on his border. The Tartar hordes overran
the whole of Khurasan, taking possession of thirty-
two of its towns, including the capital city, which is
Herat. Here they killed 'AH Quli Khan ShamM,
the governor, who was holding the place with a garrison
of 6,000 Persians, but these men sold their lives dearly.
From Herat to Meshed is a distance of 100 leagues,
and thither the Uzbeks passed on. Here it is that
he whom the Shi'ah Moslems especially honour as
a Saint lies buried, a descendant of the Caliph 'Ali,
called the Imam Riza, and to his shrine, as we have
said elsewhere, the Persians from many leagues round
are wont to come barefoot in pilgrimage. It may
also be mentioned that there is here a small turret, the
same being of about the height of a pike-Staff and its
half, or something over, which is built entirely of
massive gold. On its summit are arches conStruded
of precious Clones, which in turn support at their
summit a diamond of the size of a large chestnut, and
this by night shines so as to be seen at a league distance
all round illumining the darkness, I would not
mention this marvel but that I, with my very own eyes,
have seen it.

'At Meshed 'Abd-Allah Khdn the Uzbek found
Ismet Khan of the Uftajhi clan, he being the Persian

220

MESHED SACKED

governor and viceroy of Khurasan, and for three months
he mot valiantly "defended the city. The Tartars,
however, in the end effefted an entry, though it is
reported that they had lot 200,000 men during the
siege. Thus at lat taking possession, 'Abd-Allah the
Uzbek was guilty of great cruelty, for by his command
all the chief Persians were assembled together and shut
up in the Great Mosque and its courts, and, said he,
for the sake of the holy Imam Riza he would grant
them their lives. When, however, all had been
assembled, and their number amounted to over
40,000, they being thus shut in, by the orders of the
Uzbek chief every man of them was put to death.
News of these events was brought to Shah 'Abbas, who
was at the time in Qazvin making arrangements for
transferring his capital from Qazvin to Isfahan. But
the matter in hand the Shah forthwith abandoned, being
resolved immediately to march out and take vengeance
of the Uzbeks for this great cruelty and affront that
they had put upon him. Now the king at this instant
found himself in Straits for funds and he knew not
where to turn for money to pay the troops. Verily
gold is the nerve and the true motive power of war:
he who has money will always find soldiers. In this
matter I speak as one having experience, and shall
mention the wise saying which I myself once heard
quoted by our king Shah 'Abbas, and indeed it was on
this very occasion. Now at the moment, as mentioned
above, finding that there were no funds in the treasury
for the said campaign, he had given command that
forthwith all his service of plate should be melted
down, for indeed, of the whole world his tore of silver
and gold vessels was the richest of that of any prince.
Three times the order was given, and thrice over his
chamberlains delayed to carry it out: whereupon the
Shah asked why, and was answered that 900,000 ducats
had been the cot of its making, and all this would be

221

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

wailed. None the less, said the king, it mut all go
to the melting-pot and be used to pay the soldiers, thus
to content them, for said he: "My father the blind
king Muhammad Khuda-Bandah was heard often to
repeat the saying that good pay had brought about
as many or more victories as ever good fortune had
alone accomplished." After this all his vessels of plate
were melted down and coined into money, whereby
80,000 horse were got together and equipped. Then
we marched on Meshed.

The Tartars, however, no sooner had news of our
coming than they took their departure, and we returned
bootless to Qazvin without having accomplished any-
thing against them. But when we were back safe in
the capital once more, the Uzbek Khan made another
raid at the head of 200,000 of his Tartars, this time
laying siege to Turbat-i-Haydari [a town lying some
di&ance to the south of Meshed], where Muhammad
Khan Bayat was governor. For a month or more he
valiantly kept back the Tartar hordes, and indeed in
his sallies from the fort killed over 30,000 of them,
but every day more Uzbeks coming to join in the siege,
it appeared a prudent aft to come to terms with the
enemy. Muhammad Khan agreed to give up the
town, and the Persians were allowed by the capitulations
to march out with banners flying and beating their
kettle-drums. None the less, Shah 'Abbas on hearing
of the event was far from being satisfied, and but that
Muhammad Khan Bayat had good friends at his back
in Qazvin to plead his cause, he would have loft his
head. In the end, however, the king pardoned him
for what indeed he had been forced by circumstance
to do.

For a period of nearly eight years that followed there
was constant war waged by Shah 'Abbas againft
'Abd-Allah Khan and the Uzbek Tartars. Time after
time we recovered moft of the province of Khurasan

222

SULTAN MUHAMMAD III

from them, but they in turn would overrun It again
and occupy some of its outlying diftrifts. Nor was
Shah 'Abbas to be prevented more than once sending
his personal defiance to 'Abd-Allah Khan, calling on
him to come out at the head of his men and let there be
a pitched battle, or else let the two monarchs alone
combat as champions, man against man. Either way
it would be a fight worthy of kings, said Shah 'Abbas,
whereas these raids and retreats were but robber
skirmishings. The Tartar prince, however, always
gave answer that his forbears had ever fought after
this fashion, and he did not propose to change the im-
memorial custom of his people. Thus, therefore, for
the time mentioned this border warfare continued,
until at laft death brought 'Abd-Allah Khan's vain-
glories and boastings to a close. Then by good
fortune his son [ c Abd-al-Miimin 5 who succeeded him]
followed him also to the tomb a few months later. On
one head I can as a witness testify, that during the
seven and a half years, or thereabout, during which
these wars continually went on, more than fifty impor-
tant campaigns were undertaken by Shah 'Abbas,
and I myself was present in twenty-two or twenty-three
of them: and I shall not be wrong in my estimate that
counting both sides, Persians and Tartars, more than
a million men mufc have perished on the battle-field
during these years.

After the death of the Uzbek 'Abd-Allah Khan many
notable events succeeded. Shah 'Abbas being now
rid of his chief enemy was at leisure to establish order
in the affairs of his government and kingdom, the more
so that at about this same date Sultan Murad III died
in Constantinople, his son Muhammad III succeeding
him, who at the moment of our writing these pages
is &ill the reigning Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.
Thus on either frontier north~wefc and north-eat
of Persia the domestic affairs of the Turks and the

223

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

Tartars gave promise of reft from attack, for Sultan
Muhammad III showed every sign of wishing that the
capitulations of the peace treaty should hold good, to
which many years before his father, Sultan Murad III,
had put his hand in concert with Shah * Abbas, Shah
'Abbas now found himself at liberty to attend to the
building of many edifices that he was planning, and at
this period he went on a visit of filial respeft to the
tombs of his ancestors at Ardebfl. At this same time
new laws and institutions were promulgated, and then
came the changing of the capital from Qazvin to Isfa-
han. Isfahan was the chief city, as we have said, of
the province of Persian 'Iraq, which of old had been
Parthia; and the same possessed a more convenient
situation than was the case with Qazvin, for a great
capital with a growing population such as now was
gathering into the central metropolis of Persia; and the
diStrifts round Isfahan, so broad and fertile, were fully
capable of victualling all the inhabitants of the new
capital.

While, however, we were thus renting from our
labours in war and establishing ourselves in our new
quarters, Talim Khan 6 had become chief of the Uzbek
Tartars, having lately succeeded to the supreme power
on the death of his uncle, 'Abd-Allah Khan aforesaid.
This Talim Khan was a youth very desirous of making
a name for himself, and he set forth to war having no
wise counsellors to put a check on his ambitious ardour.
Having therefore assembled a force of 300,000 Tartars,
he proceeded to invade Khurasan, where no sufficient
body of Persian troops to resist such an onslaught of
raiders was Stationed. Talim Khan was soon in
occupation of the whole province, establishing his
residence in the city of Herat. Shah 'Abbas by this
time was becoming weary of peace, and on learning
of these events in the Khurasan province immediately
despatched Farhad Khan, the general then moSt in

224

TALIM KHAN

his favour, at the head of 12,000 cavalry to oppose the
Tartar inroad. Farhad Khan tried by every means
in his power at firt to avoid making his attack on the
enemy, but finding himself at lasl face to face with the
Tartar force, he turned his back on them and fled.
Shah 'Abbas on learning of this cowardice was secretly
angered, but as was proper, showed no dismay or out-
ward displeasure. He now assembled a force of
100,000 cavalry in order to march in person again&
Talim Khan: and in this campaign I myself took part,
together with my friend 'Ali Quli Beg who, as will
be told later, afterwards accompanied me to Spain,
where, subsequently at his baptism, he received the
name of Don Philip of Persia and both of us now by
Shah 'Abbas were given positions of high truSt in the
army.

The Persian forces having reached the neighbourhood
of Herat, Shah 'Abbas, who had till then remained
behind in Isfahan, came riding poSt and joined his
troops to &and at the head of the army. Talim Khan,
in youthful ardour, it now appeared was desirous of
fighting a pitched battle: he immediately attacked us,
whereupon the Shah accepted his challenge, although
we Persians had, in faft, only a force of 100,000 as
againft 1 60, ooo of the Tartars. On that day, however,
fortune declared in our favour, for the Uzbeks begin-
ning a great skirmish against us, discovered to their
coffc how differently our nobles and our men would fight
when it was their king in person who was present in
command. The Tartars were quite unable to resist
our onslaught, and turning their backs fled, forfeiting
all the honour they had gained and at the same time
losing possession of the province of Khurasan. In
their rout they abandoned their king, Talim Khan, who,
falling a prisoner into our hands, was immediately put
to death by order of Shah 'Abbas. We then reoccu-
pied Herat, having taken prisoners more than 6,000

225 Q

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

of the Tartar soldiers, and in addition a like number
of their women. The order was now issued by the
Shah for the army to return to the capital, Isfahan,
seeing that all his enemies had been overcome. Further,
he had forgiven Farhad Khan for his cowardice and even
was proceeding to name him as governor of Herat;
but Farhad had no Stomach to take up the appointment,
he being more at ease in the intrigues and scandals of a
court than of capacity in the conduct of government
and the bearing of arms. Farhad Khan therefore
would have excused himself, but the Shah, in anger
coupling this refusal to serve with his late disgraceful
conduft, incontinently ordered that he should be be-
headed. The governorship of Herat was then con-
ferred upon Husayn Khan Shamlii, with a force of
40,000 Persian troops to be quartered there in garrison ;
and everything being satisfactorily settled, and happy
with our rich booty, we all set out on our return,
carrying with us 24,000 cut-off Tartar heads, besides
the many captives.

On our return journey, however, we did not pass
to Isfahan, for those of us who were in attendance
and servants of the royal household kept with the king,
who went dire<5t to Qazvin. Here some of the nobles
were given charge to wait on Prince Safi Mirza,
eldest son and heir-apparent of Shah * Abbas, he being
the child of a Georgian lady, and at that time a boy
about ten years old. It was ordered next that the young
prince should be conducted to Isfahan, and thither
we now accompanied him, establishing him in a suitable
palace, with service in accordance with his rank. Then
in Isfahan two years went by, no events happening that
need record, at the end of which time news came in
that troubles were beginning again from the repeated
inroads of the Turks on our north-western frontiers.
This matter, however, Shah c Abbas treated as of little
moment, for he was not averse to breaking the peace

226

THE SHERLEYS

with Sultan Muhammad III, and to this end, namely,
war with the Ottoman power, the timely arrival of
certain Englishmen gave him much encouragement.

These men had come from Scotland, and passing
through Venice had travelled by way of Aleppo and
Baghdad, being disguised as Turks. In accordance
with the terms of the existing peace treaty [between
Persia and Turkey they with their armed escort] had
been Stopped at the frontier on the Chisir river, 7 where
they had pretended to be travelling Turkish merchants
for they were perfectly acquainted with that tongue
and their Turkish guard had there left them. Next
some Persian merchants passing had carried them
across the Stream and thence brought them on to
Qazvin, where they had made known the truth as to
who they really were. On our arrival, as aforesaid
from Khurasan, we had found these men already
waiting in Qazvin, where, however. Shah c Abbas did
not see them. Subsequently they were allowed to
come on to Isfahan and were there introduced at
court, when the king received them in audience, his
Majesty, as already said, not having hitherto had sight
of them. From all of which it came about in due time
that we of the embassy went on our journey to Spain,
as will be explained fully in the Third Book of our
Account.

227

THIRD Book of the Account of Don
Juan of Persia, in which is related the
cause of his coming into Spain, and
the notable things which he saw during
his journey, together with the manner
of his conversion to the Chri&ian
Faith, and the conversion later of two
other Persian gentlemen.

229

CHAPTER I

Wherein is recounted the arrival at the Court of the King of Persia of
two Portuguese Friars, ana" of two Englishmen,, brothers, an dhow
the King determined to despatch an embassy to eight Christian
Princes.

THE king Shah 'Abbas now living in quiet and content,
reposing in his estates, being at peace after the vic-
tories gained over his enemies, and by the subjugation
of the outlying provinces, there arrived at the Persian
Court Muhammad Aga, Grand Chaush [Pursuivant]
of the Sultan Muhammad III of Turkey, accompanied
by 300 gentlemen and noblemen of his suite, on
an embassy. The demand of the Sultan was that
Shah 'Abbas should send his son Safi Mirza to the
Court of Constantinople he being at that time a
youth twelve years of age, and the heir-apparent to
rejoice and entertain the Sultan. To the ambassador
the king answered, being well experienced in the cruel
ways of the Ottoman Court, after this fashion : that he,
the Shah, was indeed only the servant of his son, for
in Persia when the prince heir-apparent is born he
nominally is king of the land, wherefore he, the Shah,
would himself rather, in case of need, go to pay his
respe&s to his Majesty the Sultan and do honour to
his court; but as to his son being sent, even though
he might wish to send him, the grandees of his king-
dom would indeed never consent to let the prince
depart, nor would he himself, for the present, think of
going.

The Ottoman ambassador was not a little vexed at
this reply; and even more angry was the Shah at the
impudent demand of the Sultan, and at the artfulness
and craft with which it !had been set forth : seeing that

231

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

all this was done presumably with a view of putting the
heir of Persia to death as indeed the Ottoman Sultans
are wont to do in their own family. The Shah thus
having perfectly understood the intention of Sultan
Muhammad, now gave command that they should
shave off the beard of his ambassador, and send the
same as a gift to the Sultan. This mode of insult
was one very common at the time between these princes,
and Shah 'Abbas was indeed within his right to use it,
in order that Sultan Muhammad should recall to mind
the trick played by order of his father, Murad III, on
a former Persian ambassador, who, it will be remem-
bered, during certain solemn ceremonies at the Court
of Constantinople, was put to Stand upon a flooring,
traitorously set, thus ignominiously to be thrown down
beneath the same at the moSt important moment of that
ceremony. 1

At about this same time there arrived at the court of
the Shah, also, that Englishman [already spoken of in
the laSt chapter of Book II], called Sir Anthony Sherley,
with his suite of thirty-two attendants, and they halted
at Qazvin. He gave himself out as cousin ^ of the
Scottish king James, saying that all the kings of
Christendom had recognized him as such, and had
now empowered him as their ambassador to treat
with the king of Persia, who should make a con-
federacy with them in order to wage war againSt
the Turk, who was indeed the common enemy of all
of them. Now this Christian gentleman had by chance
arrived in the very nick of time, for the king of Persia
was then himself preparing to send an ambassador
with many, gifts to the king of Spain, by way of the
Portuguese Indies. Sir Anthony, however, brought
it to the knowledge of the Shah that there were, besides
his Catholic MajeSty of Spain, many other Christian
kings in Europe and the WeSt, who being moSt
powerful monarchs would willingly join him againSl

232

SIR ANTHONY SHERLEY

the Turk: hence it would now be proper to send also
with his ambassador letters and presents to each of
these other kings. Sir Anthony succeeded so well in
setting forth this matter as urgent, that the Shah was
satisfied to do as he advised, and gave orders forthwith
that arrangements for these embassies should be
set on foot, proposing that Sir Anthony should accom-
pany his envoy the Persian ambassador. To all this
Sir Anthony readily agreed, thanking his Majesty for
the honour he was doing him, and he proceeded to
name the Christian Powers, to the number of eight, to
whom he and the Persian ambassador were to be
accredited; and these were: the Roman Pontiff,, the
Emperor of Germany, the King of Spain, the King of
France, the King of Poland, the Signiory of Venice,
the Queen of England and the King of Scotland.

All matters were thus set in order, and Sir Anthony
agreed to leave his younger 2 brother Robert behind
him in Persia, together with fifteen other Englishmen,
for whom the Shah then appointed a house with a
sufficient upkeep in accordance with the rank that
these were said to bear. At this same moment there
arrived by the Indian route, and journeying up from
Ormuz, two Portuguese Friars, natives of Lisbon.
One was a Dominican, the other a Franciscan, and the
former called himself Fray Nicolao de Molo. 3 ^ These
men also heartened the Shah in the idea of sending his
ambassadors to the Christian Powers, and his Majesty
now gave them gifts, calling the Friars by the name of
"Padre" and showing them every courtesy: on the
which they besought the king to grant them a separate
letter of recommendation for his Holiness, and yet
another letter for his Catholic Majefty the King of
Spain. The Shah forthwith acceding, commanded
such letters to be written and given to them, separately
and apart from all the other credentials. Now in
coming to Persia Sir Anthony had made his voyage

2 33

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

through Greece [and the Ottoman Empire] in the dress
of a Turk, being a man cognizant of the Turkish
language, but it was not possible or advisable for him
to seek to return home by that route. On the other
hand, the way by India would demand too long a sea
journey, and it was in consequence determined that
the voyage of the present embassy should be taken
through Tartary and Muscovy.

All needful preparations having thus been made, his
Maje&y granted his patents and orders for free pro-
visions throughout all his lands and territories where
the embassy should pass; further, the needful credits
with orders for cash to pay our travelling expenses, and
the same was done for the Englishmen all to be thus
defrayed at the charge of the king of Persia. The
Persian gentlemen who were as secretaries to accom-
pany the ambassador being also now duly appointed,
we took leave in audience of Shah 'Abbas in Isfahan,
where the Court was then in residence, and Started on
our journey, it being Thursday evening, the 9th day of
July, in the year of the Incarnation 1599. Now those
who thus went out from the royal palace travelling at
the king's command and expense, were all grandees
of his court, of high rank, and they were habited and
accoutred suitably for their voyage. The Persian
ambassador was called Husayn *Ali Beg, 4 and with
him were four gentlemen the secretaries of embassy
and fifteen servants. Next came the two Friars and
then Sir Anthony with five interpreters, and fifteen
other Englishmen. There were withal thirty-two
camels carrying the presents, besides the needful
number of riding horses for those who went the journey,
and the usual sumpter-bea&s required for carrying the
baggage of the various persons already mentioned.
Diverse were the feelings in the hearts of those who
were thus departing, and different their expression:
for some set forth mot joyfully, but others very dole-

CASPIAN SEA

fully. To all the king had graciously given his royal
word to bellow on us at our return many favours, but
such were the tears of our relatives, the sad faces shown
by our friends, the sorrow and despair expressed
differently but grievously by wives, fathers and children,
that we had perforce at lat hurriedly to conclude and
depart, and that evening leaving the capital, we forth-
with took the road to the city of Kashan, our

The journey from Isfahan to Kashan occupied us
four days; we rented there two, and then went on to
the town of Qum; and the next morning we reached
the city of Savah. From Savah we travelled during
three days, coming to the city of Qazvin, formerly the
capital city of Persia, as we have already Stated in the
chapter of our book describing the provinces of Persia.
Here we remained eight days ? for the Shah had ordered
us to procure from here certain articles for gifts that
we were to present to the kings of the Christians, these
in addition to those with which from Isfahan we were
already in charge; this matter therefore we now attended
to. After leaving Qazvin, we came in five days to Gilan,
a territory and province where a different language
to Persian is spoken, although, as already explained
in a former chapter, it is indeed an integral part of the
kingdom of Persia. This province lies along the
coalt of the Sea of Bakii, also called 5 Qulzum, which is
the Caspian Sea of the ancients, and as here we had to
embark aboard ship, we were delayed ten days while
the necessary arrangements were being completed.
Now many of our friends and relations had come out
accompanying us hither on the road from Isfahan,
and when we had at lat embarked in our ship very
sorrowfully we bade them good-bye, we ^landing on
board, and finally set sail. 6

The Caspian Sea was not very well known to the
ancients, who till after the times of Caesar Augustus

235

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

believed it to be a bay of the Ocean ; but the Arabs knew
it to be otherwise and called it the " Closed Sea."
It is 800 miles in length, and 600 in breadth ; it receives
into its waters many copious rivers, and although there
is no lack of those who have Stated that for this
cause the water of the same is neither bitter nor salt,
I who sailed over it, and once or twice tried to essay
its tate, can affirm that it is gross, bitter, and salt,
being indeed anything but palatable. The chief
rivers that flow into this Sea are the Chessel, the Geicon,
the Teuso, the Coro and the Volga. This la& is in
those parts known as the Eder, and on this river, as
will later be described, we were declined to take our
journey inland to Russia. Now, having, as already
said, got on board our ship, we put out to sea, and in a
day and a night reached a little island far from the
land, where a number of fisher-folk are wont to live, for
the fish here are abundant and of many kinds. More
especially they catch hereabout great quantities 7 ^ of
dog-fish, and the same provide the fish-skins which
being fir& dried are afterwards used as bags for holding
olive-oil, and these skins are sold for a great price.
Here we Stayed a day and the night, waiting for fine
weather, and the following day, as the sea appeared
calm, we set sail. Very soon, however, it was manifest
how little the seamen knew of the weather, for, after
sailing three or four miles, a tempest arose, and the
violence of the wind split our sails, whereby more than
once one might have thought that we should all drown.
But in truth we Persians are so entirely unused to sea-
faring, that mot of us were now unapprehensive of
either danger or death ; and we laughed heartily at the
Portuguese Friars, who had fallen to weeping, being
apparently prepared to die. The &orm ladled the whole
of that night, and in the morning we found ourselves
back once again at that port and town, in Gilan, where
we had embarked some days before,

236

MANQISHLAGH

It appeared to some who were faint-hearted that we
should bet now disembark and return to Isfahan, for
it seemed to them as though it were not the will of
Heaven that we should undertake this long journey.
But in sooth we all feared too much the wrath of Shah
* Abbas, and as fine weather had set in we again put to
sea, in two days retraced the way already gone, and in
another day, proceeding forward, reached a port where
there were indeed no houses, but a settlement of folk
of divers tribes. These men were all living, as is the
fashion we see among the nomad Moors of Morocco,
in the midt of their flocks and camels; they are of the
Tartar nation, and the country goes by the name of
the Land of the Great Tamerlane of Tartary; though,
in faft, it is subjeft to the king of Persia. The manner
of life of these people is quite barbarous, and they talk
little that is matter of sense; they go almost naked,
wearing only 8 fisher-breeches, or a very short shirt.
They are poor and very humble folk in their ways, and
welcome anybody who comes to their country. They
treated us well, giving us of their flocks a liberal and
sufficient entertainment during the fortnight that we
were delayed here, for by reason of the dead calm which
lay upon the sea, it was impossible for the ship to set
sail all this time. In this country, which otherwise
is called Manqishlagh [and lies on the eat coaft of
the Caspian] there is a native Persian Idol very greatly
venerated by the folk of the land, also by Grangers, and
to this Idol we, offering many gifts, forthwith made
sacrifice that the Idol might grant to us a favourable
wind. We met here with a Persian, who begged to
join us, and having at lat a favourable wind we again
made saiL None the less, during the next two months
we were constantly set back by foul weather; so we
coasted the shore, and had we but had a favourable
wind, in twelve days we should easily have accom-
plished this our journey across the Caspian,

237

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

At the end of these two months we came into what
is an arm of the Caspian, where the water is clearer and
less salt than out at sea, and indeed Giovanni Botero 9
has already remarked this matter in his book, but
this gulf is a separate arm of the Caspian and it is no
part of the main sea. And here it is proper to point
out that the water is thus less salt here by reason of the
rivers which flow into this bay or estuary; but, as prov-
ing clearly that the water of the Caspian is by nature
truly salt, when a borm wind drives the waters back
through this e&uary, of which we are speaking, into
the river mouths, their waters then become as bitter as
gall, and of this faft I satisfied myself by experiment.
The people of the country call this river, which is the
Volga, by the name of I del. 10 Thirty leagues up this
bay or estuary, sailing north we began to enter the
territories which the Muscovites occupy in Asia, and
the fir& inhabited place we came to was a town of the
Christians, which is called Astrakhan. One of our
Persians and an Englishman, with some of the sailors
to row, now got into a small boat and went to wait
upon the captain-general of the town, which lay thirty
leagues above where the ship had come to anchor, for
the water above here is so shallow that she could not
have passed the bar without running aground. Now
as we lay here, by a change of wind our vessel was in
great risks, for though of considerable size, when a
squall fell on us, she was all but overset, and we already
accounted ourselves as doomed men. Immediately
we began to throw overboard firt a thousand bushels
of wheat and flour, next many provisions with which
we had been supplied, many boxes of clothes, lastly
some cheats of valuable gifts ; whereby finally, and by
the loss thereof, the tempest came to be appeased, and
the ship saved.

This danger being overpassed, those who had gone
up to the city returned, and with them the captain-

238

ASTRAKHAN

general had sent down to us many gentlemen, aboard
four galleys, with provisions and refreshments. We
now trans-shipped and were taken on board their
galleys, and our ship weighing anchor, 11 sailed away,
leaving us. On arriving at the city we disembarked
from the galleys, when they gave us a very great and
solemn reception, for there was a mighty assembly of
folk present. Here we found another ambassador from
the king of Persia, especially accredited to Mus-
covy, who was on his way thither, and in his suite
300 persons. In Astrakhan we sojourned for six-
teen days, for they gave us excellent entertainment,
and it being the autumn season, there was in that
country an abundance of melons and apples of very
good quality. Also not only was the land pleasant, but
the people likewise, for the captain-general, whom the
Grand Duke of Muscovy has appointed here as gover-
nor, had caused it to be proclaimed that no one should
presume to demand money for anything that we might
need or desire, and this under pain of 200 lashes
for disobedience. The city of Astrakhan more
properly Alarkhan has a population of 5,000 house-
holders 12 [or 22,500 souls]; all its houses are of wood,
the fortress alone excepted, a Strong place where the
captain-general resides. This is high built, and con-
&ruted of very thick tone walls; it is well guarded and
garrisoned by many soldiers, and no one is allowed to
enter, unless by special permission. The churches
here are numerous, but none very large; they are full
of images of saints which are painted in varnish, but
of a small size; and each image has all day before it a
lighted candle burning; further, the natives do not
allow any Granger to their country to enter the
churches.

According to the account given by Giovanni Botero,
we learn that Astrakhan is one of the towns where, by
government order, the Tartars are permanently settled,

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

as also, numbered by their tribes, the Jews; but,
indeed, the Tartars all now live out in the open country-
side, after the fashion we see the Moors do [who are our
neighbours in Morocco], and the Muscovite Christians
alone inhabit the city. Astrakhan Stands on the bank
of the Volga, or Eder, and is much frequented by
merchants coming from Muscovy, Armenia, Persia
and Turkey, and its chief commerce is in salt. Botero
States that the township lies one day's sail by boat from
the Caspian, but I, who have been there, say that with
a very good wind you may only reach it thence with
difficulty in two days. This city was in times paSt
completely destroyed by the great Tamerlane; and
during more recent times it has again suffered in the
wars that have been recently waged between Persians
and Turks.

240

CHAPTER II

In which) travelling through Muscovy, the land and what we saw
notable therein is described.

HAVING sojourned sixteen days in Astrakhan, and the
five galleys being now ready which had been prepared
for our accommodation and for that of that other
Persian ambassador whom we had joined company
with in Astrakhan, we all now came together and em-
barked namely, we Persians, and the Englishmen and
the Friars. Along with us were sent a hundred
soldiers of the Duke of Muscovy, who were to serve
us as guard and escort, by order of the captain-general
at Astrakhan. The galleys were very well built, and
each had a crew of a hundred rowers. We got on
board down at the Strand of that river, which, as already
said, is called the Eder, otherwise the Volga, the ftream
here having a width across of half a Spanish league.
The land is well inhabited on either bank by the
Tartar folk, who are divided up into Hordes 1 or tribes,
and who for the mot part live out in the countryside
among their flocks, which supply them with their chief
sustenance and livelihood. The river is much fre-
quented by fishermen, and they catch here a great fish
namely, the sturgeon, not unlike the salmon of Spain,
but of greater length and much finer in appearance.
The smallest weigh as much as twenty or thirty pounds,
and the wonder is that no one dare eat of the flesh of
these fishes, and that they are caught solely for the roe
[or caviare] which they bear within them. This may
amount in weight to six or seven pounds in each fish,
and it is black, like a ripe fig. It is very good to eat,
and being dried they can keep it for one or two years
without its going bad, even as here in Spain we keep

241 R

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

quinces and pomegranates. Indeed, it is one of the
greatest delicacies of that country.

Along the bank of the Volga, on the right hand as
you travel up towards Muscovy, there are seen some of
the Tartar folk, who herd camels and horses and flocks
of sheep. They live as do the nomad Moors of
Morocco, changing their habitations with the four
seasons, even as those men are wont to do. They go
by the name of the Nogay, 2 and when the pafturage
fails on the one side, and is to be found only on the
other bank of the river, since there are no bridges by
which to carry over their flocks, it is their culom to
make the passage over the river breadth during the month
of August, when the water is at its lowest. To accom-
plish this fording of the river, they have contrived a
method as follows. The horses and camels are tied
together by their tails one to another, thirty by thirty, or
fifty by fifty, and then being driven into the water their
number enables them to Struggle against the force of
the current, and thus they get over. For the sheep to
cross they lay over the surface of the water great pieces
of coarse frieze 3 which have been tarred, as is done to
the sides of ships, and these being Strongly linked
together, they push these across one after the other with
poles, like the pans in a turning-table, 4 and thus the
rams and ewes, having been set on them, may be got
over. But as the distance across the Stream is very
great, it is not uncommon for half the flock to get
drowned, for indeed, in the narrowest places the river
here is a league from bank to bank. These Tartar
people are subjeft some to one lord, some to
another, and the flocks which they own are so
numerous, that a sheep is here worth less than a
real? These Nogays are heathens in matters of
religion, but they are mofc hospitable to guets, for
when any ftranger comes he immediately is invited to
a feat, and a horse having been killed, the tendered

242

KAZAN

parts of the flesh are cut out and cooked, and set
before the guet in proof how much he is esteemed
and honoured.

During the two months following we now travelled
in our galleys up the Volga, but every ten days we
disembarked and went ashore to some village, for all
along the river bank there are small settlements with
houses that are built of wood. At each topping place
we changed some of our rowers, taking on fresh men
to row the galleys. All this was done under command
from the soldiers who accompanied us by an order sent
from the Duke of Muscovy. The hills which the
Volga has on either side its banks are very high, and are
populated with settlements. We saw on these hills
numerous bears, lions and tigers, also martens of many
species. Every hundred leagues or so along the river
there tand cities of the Duke of Muscovy, and the
firt that we came to was called Cherny Yar, the next
Tzaritzyn, the third Samara, and so on with the rel
we do not name. When there was a contrary wind
blowing down the river, the boatmen would land the
horses on one or other bank, and these towed the galleys
with great ropes. Every night we were wont to land
to sleep comfortably ashore in the fields, and our escort
of a hundred soldiers then kept watch and ward for us.
At the end of two months* journeying by river we came
to a very great city of the Duke of Muscovy called
Kazan, and its population, numbering over 50,000
householders [or 225,000 souls], are all Christians.
This town is extremely full of churches, each having
many great bells, and on the vesper of feat days no
one can sleep or indeed tay in the city for the noise.
On the day when we arrived at this city so great a
concourse of people came out to meet us and wonder
at the sight, that we scarcely could pass through the
squares and Streets. We Stayed in Kazan eight days,
and they provided us with such abundant supplies, that

H3

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

the food we could not eat had to be thrown out of the
windows and waited.

In this country none are poor, for the vi&uals are
so cheap, that any that are hungry go out to find it in
the highways. What they lack is good wine, and they
have only one kind of drink, which is made from wheat
or barley, and this is so Strong that those who drink it
are often drunk. For this reason there is a law and
ordinance that no officer may carry any kind of weapon,
otherwise they would be killing each other every other
moment. The climate here is extremely cold, hence
all go clothed in marten skins, which are to be had
in abundance. They have no succulent fruits, only
crab-apples, and no plenty even of these, and they are
not sweet, being indeed quite sour. The people of
Kazan are a fine race: the men are fair, tall and ftout,
and the women, as a rule, good-looking. They appear
very well dressed in the marten furs of which the robes
and hoods that they wear are made. They have great
use for Stoves, and in each house is a dog, as big as a
lion, for they fear robbery by night from him who
might be an enemy. In the daytime the dogs are
chained up, but at the firt hour of the evening the
bells ring to warn people that the dogs are about to
be let loose in the Streets, and thus the passengers
abroad mut take care. For they now set their dogs
free, and no one then dare go out of his house, left he
should be torn to pieces by them.

All the houses of Kazan are made of wood, but there
is a great fort, very Strongly built with Stone walls; it
is garrisoned by soldiers, and they keep watch here
at night in their quarters, as is done with us in Spain,
Italy and Flanders. This guard was fhrft established
because it was the evil custom formerly of the Turks
and Tartars to come in by night and, having set fire to
the houses, plunder the people.

From Kazan we set forth in seven galleys with which

244

RUSSIAN WINTER

the captain of the city supplied us, together with a
guard of a hundred soldiers ordered to conduct us
safely to the Court of the Duke of Muscovy. We
continued to travel up the same Stream, and advancing
northward, began the more to feel the rigour of the
climate of that region; and six days after leaving
Kazan we came to a town on the same river bank,
which is called Cheboksary. That same night the
Volga, or Eder river, was frozen so thick all along where
we were about to go that perforce we had to change our
way of travelling. The people here now carried on
shore all our luggage and goods that we were taking
in the galleys, and next provided us with horse-sleighs
and sleds for the transport of baggage, thus enabling
us to proceed on to the court without delay.

Giovanni Botero has Stated 6 that the mouths of the
Volga are seventy-eight in number, and that this river,
like the Boristhenes [the Bug] and the Dvina, takes its
rise in Lake Volappo. 7 In this matter he seems to be
rightly informed, for its Stream appears to come down
from the further parts of Lithuania. The reason why
all these mouths, e&uaries, and branches of the Volga
are frozen up in winter, is because the land hereabout
can but little profit from the sun's heat, this being
always diverted away, for the noonday here has its
aspedl to the eastward, and the rigour of the winter lats
for nine entire months. Further, the woods along the
river bank make the land here impenetrable to the
sun's rays, these woods being the outlying trafts of
the great Hercynian forest, which Stretches up thence
into the north. Thus the sun is never able thoroughly
to warm the earth through during the three months of
summer-time. However, although the winter here is
so cold, and the surface of the earth everywhere covered
with ice and snow, this season is in truth the more
suitable for going about and the transport of goods and
for making journeys, than is the summer-time; for in

245

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

the short time of great warmth that then occurs, the
froSt and snow having gone, the ground is everywhere
covered with lakes and swamps; and these are almost
impassable, until, agaifi being frozen hard, the waters
and the surface of the ground can be safely traversed.

5The horse-sleighs with which they provided us in
this town on the Volga called Cheboksary were a
fashion of portable chairs, like small litters, or little
coaches, set on runners made of smoothed wooden
beams. These sleds are, in appearance, jut like the
sleighs which the Flemings make use of in the Low
Countries or in Flanders on the Meuse and Scheldt
when the waters freeze, and in Italy also by the people
who live round the sources of the river Po, except that
those which the Muscovites make use of on the Volga
are much larger, and run smoothly without cutting into
the frozen surface, as those of Germany are wont to do.
The form of sled here used is after this wise. There
is a square box like a little turret, and inside of it two
seats ; the roof ends above in a pyramidal form, being
covered over by skins with the fur left on. In front
there is a ftool, or half seat, where the man can sit
who drives the horse which draws the sledge, while
inside are safely accommodated the two travellers who
are making the journey. At the back, as it were on the
shoulder of the square box, is a kind of shelf, where
some of the luggage may be carried. The horse is
driven swiftly, and they go twelve or fifteen leagues in
a day; but as each sled can accommodate but two
passengers, to transport all our people and goods
more than five hundred of these sleighs were required.
After this fashion, therefore, we travelled beyond
Kazan till we came to a city called Nizhni Novgorod, 8
which holds a population of about 8,000 householders
[or 36,000 souls]. The houses, as elsewhere on the
Volga, are of wood, but the city has a Stone wall round
it, which on one side overhangs the river bank. As

246

NIZHNI NOVGOROD

soon as we had arrived here, an order came from the
Duke of Muscovy to whom news had been sent of
our approach that we should delay a month, remain-
ing Stationary here, and so for that time we postponed
further travelling.

The people of Nizhni are Christians, and subjects
of the Duke of Muscovy; but they are of a lascivious
habit, and the fame of the place lies in its bath-houses,
where the men and the women are wont to bathe in
company, promiscuously, with no clothes to cover
their nakedness ; hence their commerce is exceedingly
free, more so indeed than in any other country would
be tolerated or possible. Provisions in Nizhni are
very cheap, as indeed elsewhere in Tartary and
Muscovy but we have noted this already. Clothes-
Stuffs, however, are dear, though we by a special order
of the Duke had all we required freely given to us, and
forsooth we had an abundance of garments. At
the end of the month we have spoken of, and which we
passed quietly in Nizhni, orders came for us to proceed,
and we set out for the court. We travelled in the
manner arranged by one of the major-domos of the
Duke, who had come to Nizhni for us, in sleighs with
covered chairs similar to those we had already used;
and were now accompanied by the captain-general of
the fortress at Nizhni. This fort is held by a garrison
of 6,000 soldiers, who night and day keep ward here
againSt the Turks and Tartars. Now I do not exaftly
know whether these Tartars we are now speaking of
be indeed of the Perekop Horde, 9 but it seems to me
that these [living on the Volga], though they occupy
lands situated so much to the north [of the Crimea,
which is] the true Perekop country, are yet true Tartars,
who live as do the nomad Moors of Morocco, their
ways being those of men of the uncivilized outlands.

During six days we now travelled on, keeping always
the banks of the river Eder in sight, and then came to

247

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

a town which is called Murom. This is a large place
and very populous, but as we were travelling polt-ha&e,
we were unable to enjoy much of the curious amenities
of that city. One matter, however, they showed us
and explained to us, which for being mob peculiar,
though certainly a very gross superstition, I cannot
pass over in silence. It appears that the chief commerce
and occupation of this township consists in the tanning
of the hides of cattle, and these are in such abundance
that there are one thousand and one tanning-houses
here, entirely occupied in this business. Further, the
town possesses a certain well, into which each man
who is a tanner throws one thousand and one hides,
which the waters do promptly tan. But when in due
time they take up the hides from this well, they always
find that the thousand and one skins of a certain par-
ticular one of the thousand and one tanners are entirely
perished and spoiled. Then his friends among the
other tanners having gathered together each his
thousand and one well-tanned hides, will forthwith
present to him whose skins have all been spoiled and
which are known by certain marks and signs to be
verily his exactly one thousand and one other hides
well-tanned of theirs, in compensation. I opine that
all this mut be a wile of the Demon, and we would have
said it was a lie and a tory, such as could not be credible,
had we not ourselves seen the faft. But on this point
we comment further, that since for this purpose of
tanning there is but one well of water, and since all
the skins are of one kind and quality which they throw
into it to be cured and tanned, it seems almost im-
possible to believe that the hides belonging to one
person should suffer perishment more than those of any
other person. For indeed, how can it be upheld that
one party may profit more than another party in the
quality of the water, and the peculiar property of the
well tanning in the one case, and spoiling in the

248

VLADIMIR

other ? Further we say, how does it come that the
number of skins be so exaftly held to, that always only
jut one thousand and one are perished ? Whereby
forsooth, indeed, it is very manifest that this is no
natural effeft of the water, but truly the diabolical work
of Satan.

We passed by the city of Murom, therefore, and in
three days reached Vladimir, 10 travelling as formerly
up towards the source of the Volga, in other sleighs, but
like those already described. This town is of larger
size than Murom, being of 12,000 householders [or
some 54,000 inhabitants], and it has the appearance
of a well-organized community and one that is well
governed. The women here are extremely beautiful,
but their mode of dress is so ugly and eccentric, and
they display so little tafte for a suitable combination
of colours, that their clothes do not favour them. The
men are very tall and Stout. The natural character
of the place is much the same as that of other towns we
passed through since leaving the borders of the Caspian
Sea; and as we Stayed no longer in Vladimir than one
day, we were unable to profit by its amenities. From
this place onwards we began to lose sight of the river
Eder, leaving it to the right hand. Travelling Still
after the fashion above described, under the escort of
the captain-general and the major-domo of the Duke,
who had with them a guard of two hundred soldiers,
after three more days we finally arrived at the Court
of the Grand Duke, who is the Sovereign of Muscovy.

His capital city is called Moscow, and it is very
populous. From its name comes that of the dukedom,
Muscovy, and the name itself is derived from the
river Moscova, which runs by and waters Moscow.
This river rises ninety miles above the city, and its
navigation is very difficult, by reason of the tortuousness
of its course, more particularly between the capital and
the town of Kolomna, This matter is mentioned by

249

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

Giovanni Botero, who has taken it from the work of
Antonio Possevino. 11 He further States that Moscow,
after it had been burnt down and ruined at the hands
of the Crim Tartars and Turks in the year 1570,
had come to be of no greater size than to measure
two leagues in circuit. But I with particular regard
walked all round it, examining the matter very care-
fully. Its population I reckon to number 80,000
householders [or 3 60,000 souls] and more. These, too,
live in detached dwellings, with ^tore-houses and sheds,
and hence the space of ground occupied by the people
is more than otherwise would be needful. Indeed, the
area of occupation appeared to me fully to occupy a
circumference and circuit of at leat three leagues, and
perhaps more, The city, however, is not walled, and
Elands in an open country, and its defences are the
marshes, Streams and lagoons which interseft and
surround it. The great palace [of the Kremlin] alone
is walled, and this is so extensive that it is itself in truth
a fair-sized city. The palace is all built of tone, and
beautifully con&ruted, more especially the royal
quarters, which are planned in the Italian fashion.
[The Kremlin] is so large that all the nobles who
personally serve the Duke live within its circuit. I do
not indeed know the sum total of those who inhabit
the precinfts, but the houses seen within the wall are
counted to be over six thousand in number. Our
reception here was after the mode which will be de-
tailed in the next chapter.

250

CHAPTER III

Qf the reception given us at the Court of the Duke of Muscovy, of what
we saw in Moscow, and of what passed between us and the Duke,
up to the time when we took our departure.

ON a certain Friday, at about 10 o'clock in the morning,
in the month of November, we entered the capital,
and there came out, very courteously, to meet us an
infinity of people, for the Muscovites are folk much
given to ceremony. Thus on the day when any prince
or foreign ambassador comes to the Court of their Duke,
or, indeed, should one such enter any city of his that is
a seat of government, holiday is proclaimed by public
edift, and none shall that day do any work. Further,
everybody mut then appear, dressed each in his bet
and finest clothes, in order to go out to the place of
reception at the entry of the city. It is indeed a good
thing that they do no work of any kind on those par-
ticular days, none daring to set his hand to labour even
for an instant, for on the other sacred festivals of the
year they do not scruple to work the whole day long.
In mol other points, however, they exaftly observe
the precepts inculcated by the Greek Church, which
is the seft to which they belong.

The number of noblemen who thus came out to
meet us, in accordance with the command and ordi-
nance of the Duke all of them grandees and men of
title, lords of many vassals, and gentlemen of position
their number, I say, appeared to me to exceed six
thousand. And to bring us in, the Duke had sent two
hundred little carriages or litters, each drawn by a
well-favoured horse, every carriage being covered in
for warmth, the coachman well dressed and the horse
furnished out in lion and tiger skins; all this, on the

251

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

one hand for the due pomp of the occasion, and on
the other to keep horse and man from the cold, which
is very severe in those parts at this season. Half a
league before we reached the city gate we found the
men of the Duke's bodyguard drawn up to receive
us, and next by his order they lined the roadway to
right and left along which we passed. The body-
guard are all infantry and matchlockmen, and not
counting other soldiers armed with bows and arrows,
those who carried matchlocks muSt have numbered
10,000. Through their line we made our way, and
every soldier of the bodyguard Stood to attention
holding his match lighted. That you may understand
how great a prince is he who resides in this capital
city, I should mention that the Grand Duke of Mus-
covy 1 is doubly a king, for he is lord of fifteen duke-
doms, of sixteen principalities, and of two kingdoms.
His lands extend on the north to the Arctic Ocean, from
the Bay of Gran wick to the river Ob ; on the south the
frontier marches with the river Eder or Volga, where it
reaches the Caspian Sea ; on the weSt the limit of his
State is closed by Livonia, where the river BoriSthenes
or Bug is found; while on the eastern border we
again find the Volga. In length Muscovy covers
3,000 miles, and in breadth extends to 1,500 miles.

The Grand Duke is extremely rich, for he is lord of
both the lives and goods of all his subjefts, to do
therewith at his will; and they all serve and worship
him. He allows no schools or universities in his
kingdom, in order as he says that no one may
come to know all that he himself knows ; and hence no
one of his presidents, governors, or secretaries of State
can know more than what the Grand Duke wishes him
to know of his affairs. No one is allowed to call in
any physician, who is a foreigner, to cure him; and no
one, under pain of death, may leave Muscovy to go
into any foreign country, left he should get into com-

252

MUSCOVY

' munication with other folk and learn better. There
are neither paupers nor thieves in Muscovy; to_ the
firft abundant food will always be given at any time,
and to the lat imprisonment for life is adjudged.
And no one is put to death for any crime, for he who
would elsewhere be capitally condemned here is given
life-imprisonment. Thus the man who has com-
mitted a crime has no chance of committing a second 3
for he is, so to speak, buried alive in his cell. In matters
of religion, these Muscovites are very attentive to their
Church. There are no books other than the Gospels
and Lives of the Saints, and all the people go hung about
with crosses. When a man enters a church he will
first kiss the ground, and in his right hand he will
carry an image of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
In the palace, over the throne or chair of the Grand
Duke, placed so as to appear above his head, there is
always set the image of Our Lady, mitred and with a
Staff, and wearing veftments like those of a bishop, and
on Her fingers are many rings.

Now when finally we had been brought thus into
Moscow, they lodged us all in very magnificent houses,
that were like fortresses : in one they lodged the Persian
special ambassador, who had been accredited^ to the
Duke; another house they appointed to us with our
ambassador; and in a third lodgement they accommo-
dated all the Englishmen, and for our guard they
appointed three hundred men-at-arms. The Duke
then provided us with nine interpreters who spoke
perfectly our Persian language, three interpreters to
each of the houses our embassies occupied; further he
sent us many provisions. Then, we having re&ed
for eight days, on a certain Sunday the Duke com-
manded his major-domo to bring us to him, and we set
out in the order observed when we entered the city.
As on the day of our entry the bodyguard of infantry
lined the road, which was more than a quarter of a

253

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

league in length, that we had to pass through going
from our lodging to the fortress, in which was the
palace. This place, where the Duke lives, is the
citadel [Kremlin] of which we have already spoken,
as containing some 6,000 houses, all built of wood,
saving only the royal abode and the outer wall, both
of which are con&rufted of &one, as already noted,
adorned everywhere and fortified after the Italian
fashion. There are a great number of churches within
the citadel circuit, and in the bigge& church is an
immense bell, which they Struck, that we might hear
its wondrous sound. 2 Thirty men could barely move
it, and it is never rung except for the birth of a duke,
or for his coronation.

When we had come to the palace, we found outside
waiting for us the major-domo or chamberlain of the
Duke, a man of gigantic Mature, who held chained up
at his side a mol ferocious dog, which at night-time is
let loose; and this chamberlain conducted us as far as
the second palace door. Here was Standing a second
chamberlain, who led us as far as another door, where
again was a third chamberlain, who brought us to the
inner door which opened into the Duke's hall. Here
were five hundred gentlemen of the court, all pressed
in robes of brocade lined with marten fur, wearing caps
set with many precious Atones, and their garments were
all sewn over with jewels of incredible value. These
gentlemen received us very courteously and conduced
us up to the further end of the hall, where the Duke was
seated. This hall is so spacious that from the entrance
door it is scarcely possible to distinguish what may be
going on at the other end. The &yle of its building
is that of a nave or aisle of a church, but much longer,
as has been already said. The domes and cupolas
forming the ceiling were supported on forty wooden
columns, all gilded over, and these were sculptured with
a leaf ornament, and each column was so thick that two

254

THE KREMLIN

men could scarce have compassed it about with out-
Stretched arms. When we reached the upper end of
the hall, we found here the Grand Duke, and he was
seated on a chair raised up on many leps, and this
chair was made of massive gold, encrusted with precious
Stones. The Grand Duke was dressed in a robe of
cloth of gold, lined with marten fur, clasped by many
diamond buttons, and he wore a hat that was shaped
like a mitre. In his hand was a sceptre, like a paloral
Staff, and behind the Duke tood forty noblemen each
holding a silver Staff in his hand; which is the insignia
of their office. Further, the Grand Duke carries this
sceptre with him when he goes to battle.

When now we had come before him, we all prostrated
ourselves, and the special ambassador from Persia,
who was, as before said, accredited to Muscovy, came
forward. His name was Pir Quli Beg, and he was a
Persian nobleman of high rank. Then before presen-
tation he kissed the Letter which he bore, and next put
it into the hands of his Highness. On this the Grand
Duke rose from his seat, and receiving the Letter
kissed it likewise, and then handed it to the interpreter,
who forthwith read and translated it into the language
of the Russian country. Next our ambassador, who
was accredited to Spain, advanced and presented his
Letter, in the which the Grand Duke was besought to
give us his favour with fair passage and licence: and
this he forthwith promised to do in our behalf. His
Highness now commanded us all to be seated, and we
took our places on long benches, or on Stools covered
with velvet and Stuffed with feathers. After an interval
the Grand Duke rose and retired within the palace
precin&s, with his nobles, but returned shortly again to
the hall, when he, and the nobles accompanying him,
appeared all dressed in white robes lined with white
marten fur, like what in Spain we call ermine.

During the time that his Highness had been absent

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

the tables had been laid, and the Grand Duke now sat
down to dinner, everyone being placed according to
his rank. The fare was in great abundance and very
magnificently served, for each gueft had more than
forty dishes set before him, and in each was an entire
portion, whether it might be of veal, or venison, mutton,
or duck, tame or wild. The loaves of bread they gave
us were so huge that two men with difficulty could
carry the load in; and there was also to every gueb
a silver dish as big as a brazier, with its handles on
either side. The Grand Duke favoured each of us
by sending portions of food from his own plate, accord-
ing to the rank of the recipient. Then more particu-
larly he took wine with us, wine of grapes, which is
the moSt precious of all that they have in their country,
it being imported thither from a dilance of many
leagues for the sole use of the Grand Duke, and for the
bishops who distribute portions to the churches where
it is used for the Sacrament. In a chamber, adjacent
to the hall in which we were dining, music was being
played at this time on a great variety of instruments,
and they also sang. The fea& lasted from two o'clock
in the afternoon till eight at night, and then we were
conduced back to our rooms in the palaces where we
lodged with more than a hundred torches, and the same
attendance and guard as we took when we left in the
morning. Further, all our Persian servants during
this time had had a great abundance of vi duals supplied
to them for their regalement at a feat.

On any occasion when we might wish to go forth to
view the city of Moscow, it was due from us to send to
the Captain of the Citadel for his licence, and he would
then give us four soldiers to walk with us as a guard.
After a second week had passed following on our arrival
in Moscow, we were all taken out in this fashion to
view the wonders of the city, and more especially the
treasury of the Grand Duke. Here 3 before the gate,

256

MOSCOW CITY

were two Statues of lions : one appeared to be of silver,
the other of gold, but they were of clumsy make* Of
what we now saw inside the treasury the richness was
incredible, hard to describe, and so impossible to tell
of it all that I mut be silent. The wardrobes of the
Grand Duke, too, were of inestimable richness; and the
armoury so well furnished and complete that 20,000
men could have been fully equipped therefrom with
weapons. They also showed us here a great den that
was full of wild beasts ; among the reft a lion, as big as
a horse, whose mane came down on either side of his
neck, and he had been lately in such a rage that he had
broken in two the great wooden beam of his cage.
And after this we walked through the city, and saw
the wonderful variety of shops there, and the chief
square where are parked many great pieces of artillery.
These cannon are of so huge a size that two men may
crawl down into the bore when it becomes necessary
to clean out the same. Every one of these pieces of
cannon is seven yards in length, and to charge it they
put in 50 pounds of gunpowder.

After we had been for five months Staying in this,
the capital city of Muscovy, being detained here on
our journey by reason of the rains and the snow, the
Grand Duke at lat gave us licence to depart. So we
went to him to take our leave, and on returning to our
lodgings, he sent to the ambassador three most rich
robes of cloth of gold, each lined with marten fur, a
cup of gold big enough to hold half a gallon 3 of wine,
further, 3,000 ducats 4 for journey expenses. And for
each of us secretaries, his attendants, the Grand Duke
sent three robes, one rich and two of more common
tuff, with eight yards of cloth to each person to make
us travelling clothes. Further, a silver-gilt cup to each,
of the same size as the gold one sent to the ambassador,
and 200 ducats each as a free gift After this we took
leave affectionately of our countryman the special

257 s

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

Persian ambassador, who was remaining on in Moscow;
and he accompanying us for more than two leagues when
we finally set forth from the capital, we said good-bye
to him very sorrowfully.

Four of our servants had now with permission left
us, who were to return home to Persia; and we further
here loft sight and all knowledge of the Dominican
Friar, for he suddenly had disappeared and we could
get no news of him, though we diligently sought to
find him. It was our suspicion that Sir Anthony
Sherley had made away with him, for at the time when
we were voyaging up the river Eder in the galleys, he
had often threatened to kill the Friar, and for a time
had kept him prisoner down below decks in a cabin of
the galley. But we Persians had then managed to
rescue him, for the Friar had explained to us that he
had lent Sir Anthony a thousand crowns, and further
entrusted him with ninety small diamonds to keep safe
for him, and that it was because he had wanted these
and the money back from Sir Anthony that he was so
treating him to compass his deStruftion. 5 But after
this time we saw him no more, and so we departed from
the capital of Muscovy at Eastertide, 6 being accom-
panied by a Captain of the Guard with a hundred
soldiers. Every day we now journeyed about ten
leagues, and in three days' time came to a great city
which is called Pereyaslav, holding a population of
more than 30,000 householders [or 135,000 souls].
All are Muscovites and Christians, and they have
many churches beautifully adorned after the fashion of
the country. The city wall, which is built of Stone,
is encircled by the waters of a great river, which we
later crossed, for it barred our passage. As far as
I could judge it ran down towards the country from
which we had jul come namely, to the neighbourhood
of the capital. 7 Its current was very Strong, and we
crossed it on a raft of timber, serving as a ferry-boat,

258

YAROSLAV

which was drawn over by strong ropes. This raft
was so great that they could carry over, at one time, as
many as a hundred sumpter-beals. I do not know the
name of this river, but it appeared to me to be an
affluent of the Moscova.

From this place we journeyed on for three days,
coming to a city called Yaroslav, and our way went
towards the north-weSt. This town has a larger
population than Pereyaslav, for it holds 40,000 house-
holds [180,000 souls]. They are all Muscovites and
Christians, and it is well built, having many churches
and monasteries after their Russian fashion. Further,
there is here one of the Strongest fortresses that we
ever saw in all Muscovy, which is made the Stronger
and more gallant by the river Barem 8 [here, to wit,
the Volga], which runs by it, enclosing a part of the
outer wall. Now it was our intention to have travelled
forward from here through the countries of Lorraine,
Saxony and Germany, but they informed us that from
Yaroslav thither our quickest, sureSt, and moSt direft
way would be to embark on the river [Volga] in galleys,
and go by its Stream to the sea, which in faft is the
Arftic Ocean, a distance of about a hundred leagues.
Some of our informants, however, said that this river
ran out to the Baltic Sea, into which I believe a portion
of the Western Dvina does flow, or it is the Boris-
thenes [the Bug] of which they were speaking. This,
too, is what the most reliable cosmographers have
asserted. Be it as it may, we now embarked and
voyaged for a hundred leagues along the river [Volga
towards the White Sea], travelling some fifteen or
sixteen leagues each day, and they had now provided
our party with two galleys, one for us Persians and
the other for the Englishmen.

The river [Volga] on both its banks has many towns,
and two days after embarking at Yaroslav we came to
a city called Rybinsk, which, as I judge, may have a

259

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

population of 10,000 householders [or 45,000 souls],
and more rather than less. At this place we changed
the men who had charge of the galleys, others being
given us in their ftead, and they supplied us also very
plentifully with provisions. After two days' further
travelling [and a portage to the head waters of the
Dvina] we came to another town on the bank of this
Stream, which was named Totma, which to my mind
muSt have had a population of about 3,000 house-
holders [or 1 3,500 souls] ; and there was here a fortress,
one of the be& that we had yet seen. Again we changed
the crews who rowed in the galleys, other men being
supplied; and then after the next day's journey we
reached Brusensk, whence going on one day further
we came to the town of Uftyug, and here again abun-
dant supplies were forthcoming. Another day's journey
brought us to the town of Turavets. From this place
in our voyage onward the darkness of night ceased,
and all the time it was daylight, for in this part of the
country during the months of March, April and May
there is no night: but conversely, in the corresponding
months of the winter season the day is all night, and
no light appears. This continuous daylight was be-
cause we had now come to a very high degree of
latitude, and the reason is as we have said, but our
manner of life became very Strange to us, there never
being any proper night-time for sleep.

Travelling on we came now to a very great city,
which lies near the shore of the Arftic Sea, and it is
named Kholmagory, It holds a great population
numbering over 30,000 householders [or 135,000
souls], and it Stands ten leagues from the place where
the river Barem [or Dvina] flows out to the ocean. In
Kholmagory we sojourned for twelve days, renting,
and waiting for news of some English or German ship.
Then we went forward, and finally reached the settle-
ment called Archangel City, 9 five leagues further down

260

ARCHANGEL

the river, and at the mouth of its eftuary. The popula-
tion of Archangel, to my judgment, is about 12,000
householders [or 54,000 souls]; it is a very famous
port, where the French, English and German ships
having commerce with the northern regions of Asia
discharge their cargoes. There is here a great break-
water, which covers the entrance to the port; and this
laft faces south, being very spacious and safe where
vessels may anchor. Very often there are as many as
400 ships lying in this harbour, and the customs levied
here bring in a good revenue to the Duke of Muscovy.
We &ayed twenty days in Archangel, getting through
our business, and finally made arrangements to embark
in a Flemish ship of a thousand tons burden, chartered
to sail from this port and well armed, having twenty
pieces of cannon.

And here it will be well not to pass over in silence
a business matter which we settled with Sir Anthony
Sherley, and the sequel to which will be told later.
Sir Anthony was a man of great parts, although short
of Mature, and he was much given to ostentation, in
spite of the fad that fortune had not dowered him with
wealth. As became evident later, he had always had
a mind to get the better of us, and thereto he was helped
by the order given us by Shah 'Abbas that we should
always attend to what Sir Anthony advised, he being
more experienced with foreigners in business matters
than we. When, therefore, we were now about to
embark on our sea voyage, Sir Anthony told us that it
would be much safer not to carry the great cases con-
taining our presents for the various Christian sovereigns
with us in the Flemish ship, seeing that she was an old
vessel and not of burden to bear such heavy goods.
And further, that if we should encounter bad weather,
and that they should have to lighten the ship by throw-
ing cargo overboard, the cases with our presents would
infallibly be the fir& to go. Then he told us that he

261

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

had a great friend in Archangel, an Englishman, who
was master of a very fine tout ship, and that he would
take charge of our cases, and deliver them to us again
safely when we got to Rome. All this, therefore,
appearing to us trustworthy and reasonable, we con-
signed our great cheats to this Englishman, as Sir
Anthony had advised us, but what happened with them
afterwards will appear in a subsequent chapter.

262

CHAPTER IV

As to what followed In our navigation of the Arftic Sea, and of the notable
things that we saw.

IT is proper that we should now describe the manner
of folk who inhabit this sea coa. The men and the
women are both of one appearance in the face, the men
having neither beards nor eyebrows; further, they are
of very short Mature, so that if any people may be
named in truth the Pygmies, they are the [Lapps],
They are smaller even than any of the dwarfs that we
have in Spain. These people mount and ride on Stags
and hinds [called reindeer]. The eyes of these men are
so small that scarcely can they see out of them. All
are very superstitious, and their wizards promise by
their witchcraft to grant fine weather to those about
to navigate their seas, and they pretend to sell good
fortune. They came to us offering, if we could pay
handsomely, that they would ensure us fair weather, but
our ambassador questioned how forsooth could they
promise what was in the hands of God, and so dis-
missed them,

We now set sail, and during forty days we never saw
night, for the sun was always up; but at the end of that
time we had darkness again, with the moon and the
Stars. In these seas we came on many ships of English
corsairs, and two of these would fain have attacked and
robbed us. We, however, made ready to fight, and
the cannon were manned; but when they got near the
Englishmen of our crew hailed the others, saying who
we were, so they offered us no hurt. Then coming
aboard the corsair Englishmen saw the Franciscan
Friar a passenger in our ship, and wanted to know why
we did not throw that devil into the sea on which

263

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

we told them that the king of Persia had expressly
commanded us to carry him along with us; and they
paid no more heed to him. These questions and
answers now being given and received, the corsairs
took their leave of us, but warning us to beware of
twelve other Christian ships that were cruising in those
parts. Very soon after we had parted company with
them, so great a tempest arose that we all repented us of
having embarked on board ship. The force of the
torm was such that not a rope of our rigging was left
landing uninjured. At laft we had to furl all sail,
and let the ship run before the wind, Peering by rudder
as be& we might and tru&ing to God's mercy. More
than once we thought we were loSt by reason of the
great seas that poured down our hatchways in the
upper deck, and all hands were constantly at work on
the pumps. At the end of five days the weather abated,
the squalls ceased to bur& on us, and a favourable
wind springing up behind we sailed on and came
finally to anchor.

But another ship that we during the gale had seen
near us did not have this good fortune, and though our
seamen set out in our skiff to help, they came too late.
Some of the cargo indeed was salved, but not one of
the crew could be picked up, all being drowned, so
that we never knew from whence that ship had come.
During the time that we were navigating this sea we saw
wondrous varieties of fishes : some so great that we had
held them to be ships that were driving over the surface
of the deep. We saw, too, great numbers of those fish
called sea-horses; 1 these go in squadrons of thirty
together, and they came up close to the ship's side,
putting us in some fear ; whereupon and seeing them
so near we discharged one of our cannon, on which they
avoided us. From this great northern ocean we had
now come forth, but suffering so from sea-sickness that
our faces no longer were of good colour; all that we did

264

STADE

eat we did cat up again. Then after navigating for
two whole months in these northern seas, we began
again to have sight of land for the which we had
greatly longed and we came to the mouth of a great
Hver, up which the ship sailed to [Stade] a harbour
Standing at the head of its estuary. 2 And now, in the
sight of us all, our Franciscan Friar dressed himself
in Persian clothes, for this place is wholly inhabited
by Lutherans, and Sir Anthony had assured him that
should it become known as how he was by religion a
Papist, infallibly they would tear him to pieces.

The harbour [of Stade] is but a small place, and it
is entirely inhabited by fisher-folk. Our ship having
sailed up the [Elbe] eltuary we now disembarked, but
later came down again to the river mouth aboard two
galleys into which we had trans-shipped. The [Elbe]
eftuary is here so broad that great ships can pass along
it, and the banks of the river above are Studded with
towns, numbering, it is said, in all more than a thousand.
From the place where we were now lying might be
discovered somewhat of the lands pertaining to Suabia
and to the Duchy of Wtirtemberg, also to Nuremberg,
Franconia, Bavaria, Hesse and Bucavia. 3 These,
indeed, are lands lying far from where we had been
sailing, but nearer at hand might be perceived the
country of Minden, also Brunswick and Luneberg.
We had now turned round in the galleys, and following
out from the estuary [of the Elbe], after three days
more journeying came to a city which is called Embden,
which has a population of over 30,000 householders
[or 135,000 souls]. It has many fine buildings, and
one of the tronget fortresses of all that countryside.
The roofs of all the houses here are covered with lead,
a matter which at a distance gives them a very pleasing
appearance, for in the daytime when the sun is
shining they all seem as though roofed with silver.
From this city there came out to receive us a captain

265

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

on behalf of the Prince 4 of this di^rift; but we shall
not be able to give any very particular account of his
lands, because we brought no Letter of Credence from
the king of Persia for him, and we were further much
embarrassed by our Friar, who trembled from terror,
knowing that all the people were Lutheran. 5

The city of Embden Elands between two famous
rivers [the Weser and the Elbe], having them on either
hand, and it lies two days' journey from the sea. The
port here has much trade, and its merchants are always
abundantly supplied with goods, which for the mot
part are English. Having next disembarked, they
lodged us in a house, that was a sort of hoftej, very
clean, however, and curiously furnished, for it con-
tained more than a hundred beds, each with its feather
mattress and holland sheets. Here they entertained
us suitably; and the following day that same captain
came, conducing us to the palace of the Prince, to
whom we made a presentation of Persian head-dresses
and some pieces of tuff and cloths. These he was
pleased to receive very graciously, and invited us to
dine with him the following day. The ^ great feaft he
gave us lasted during six hours, and, it being the cu&om
and habit of this country, they made us drink so much,
that many of us were overcome with the slumbers of
drunkenness. What we found mot notable in this
country was the head-dress of the women. It resembles
a round shield, which jut above the face juts out, as
one might say, as do the tiled gables of the roofs in
Spain, and the same is to shelter the face from the
continued rains and snows of their climate. And it
appeared to me that in no other country did I ever see
so many beautiful women collefted all together as here
might be seen. The day afterwards we were engaged
in seeing the Prince's treasury and armoury, in which
were many precious objects. These truly were well
worth the sight, though indeed not more than the

266

THURINGIA

common. But they showed us, among other matters,
a Storage-house for wheat, so huge, with so many
separate granaries, and these so full of corn, that we
were assured there was a supply here to laft ninety
years. This we could scarce credit, but they insisted
so much on it, that we ended by believing them. But
this wheat of theirs has in it no heart, and is all husk,
and the grain is longer than it is in Spanish wheat;
on the other hand, in substance it is no heavier than the
grain of our oats, being less even than the weight of
rye. This sort of wheat we too have in Persia, and
the Persians know it by the name Chaudar.

From the city of Embden we set forth, travelling
in eight coaches after a week's sojourn, and came to
another town called Aurich, well walled and with a
population of 10,000 householders [45,000 souls].
It has a fortress that seems very Strong, and we Stayed
here one day, but the ways of the people presented
nothing to remark, and I shall say no more about
them. From here in two days we came on to a place
of no great size, but very Wrongly fortified, which was
called Freudenberg. Travelling further we reached a
town of the name of Nienburg, whose population is
considerable, and as far as we could judge it is Wrongly
defended by fortifications. The next day we went on
again to another city which is called Oldenburg, well
walled, and with a fortress; and all these places and
forts are, for the mo& part, very carefully guarded and
defended, their gates being shut at nightfall, and on
no account opened again until eight of the clock next
morning. This is because each belongs to a different
lordship, each prince being the enemy of his neighbour,
who is the chief of another government, and some of
these are Catholics. We now came to Thuringia,
which is under the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel and
is one of the moSt fertile regions of Germany. Thurin-
gia is the country that lies between the rivers Saale

267

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

and Werra, and it Is the place which Georgius Agricola 6
says is the very Heart of Germany. The province
is not very broad or long, but it is the moft densely
populated of any diftrift in the whole world; for within
a limit of about twelve German miles square it comprises
twelve countships or regions, in which are massed 140
walled cities, and a like number of open townships,
also 2,000 hamlets, 150 fortresses and 12 abbeys.

The firft town that we now came to was called
Weimar, 7 the next was Alsfeld, and the third is the
great city of Kassel, a very large place, Strongly fortified
and very populous, the town wall being so broadly
built that three coaches can drive abreaft along it.
Kassel further has a fortress with an earthen rampart
that protefts it perfectly againft any artillery that they
may bring against it. As soon as the Landgrave 8
heard of our approach he sent his chamberlain to meet
us with three coaches, each lined in black velvet, and
in these we were brought to the palace. The Prince
now received our ambassador and Sir Anthony and the
reft of us very amiably, showing such courtesy as was
due to the rank of each one. They then lodged us
in certain rooms of the palace, very sumptuously fur-
nished and with beds in richly embroidered hangings.
The Prince bestowed our servants at various hotels,
bearing himself the coft, and all were well provided for
during the ten days that we remained here. Every day
they showed us some new sight. One day it was a
room with walls of white tone, as might be alabaster,
and each ftone was set with such art that no joint or
pointing was to be seen round door or window, and it
was as though Nature herself had made it all of one
piece* We judged this indeed to be one of the rarest
sights that we saw in the court of any prince. The
Landgrave also showed us the cabinet of his jewel-
house, full of an inestimable quantity of precious
Clones, more particularly diamonds. But the

268

KASSEL

wondrous sight of richness that we noticed was, that
instead of tapeftry, the walls of this cabinet from ceiling
to floor were entirely sheathed in slabs of unworked
coral, a matter moft wondrous to look upon.

We mut not either pass over in silence the Prince's
armoury and Stables, for both are extensive and very
curious to visit, being so well furnished that it appeared
to me ten thousand horsemen could be provided there-
from with all necessary equipment. There was not a
night, while we remained in Kassel, that they did not
give some particular entertainment in our honour.
And more especially on one occasion when the Prince's
son, the heir-apparent, a boy of twelve, with other
youths of a like age, the flower of their nobility, all
mol sumptuously apparelled, joufted in a tourney, by
the light of torches. Then after ten days' sojourn we
finally departed from Kassel with many presents of
sweetmeats bestowed upon us. Indeed, in all my
life I never saw more things made of sugar than here.
On the very firt day, when we dined with the Prince,
the loaves of bread, the napkins, knives and salt-cellars
that tood on the table, all were made of sugar, as also
the various kinds of fruit. And in every case each
item exaftly resembled and imitated the form and
texture of the objeft it simulated. Great was the
laughter when we tried to cut some fruit with these
knives, which, of course, crumbled and went to pieces
in our hands. For our journey onwards all our neces-
sities were well provided for. Before going the Land-
grave had presented to our ambassador two goblets
of gold, and to each member of his suite one goblet
apiece likewise. On the lat day before we left they
had brought us out to see two galleys that were in the
river which here runs by the palace walls, and on ship-
board we saw a new fashion of artillery of mot in-
genious make, for each piece every half-hour could be
made to discharge forty rounds in succession.

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DON JUAN OF PERSIA

The Landgrave appointed a captain of his Guards
to go with us through his territories, and a sufficient
escort, till we should come to the frontier of the Empire.
Further, he had commissioned this captain as a special
ambassador with us to the Emperor, for he had been
much pleased at the receipt of the Letter which we
brought him from the king of Persia, which same
Sir Anthony had presented: and, in consequence, he
now proposed to join the Emperor with 12,000 troops,
when these princes together should march against
the Turkish Sultan. We therefore set out joyfully,
travelling through the various cities of the Landgrave,
which are many in number and magnificent in their
richness. Of those that we more particularly noted
are the following: Leipzig, Roberg, Quimendec, Jub,
Quimidac, Labinc, Aslaben, 9 Xipric, Wilfuesen and
Perbyn, which is the lat town in the State of Hesse-
Kassel. Then we entered the territories of the Duke
of Saxony, through which we passed travelling more
expeditiousfy. The Duchy of Saxony has within it
the territories of Mansfeld, Magdeburg, and Misnia, 10
though many count this laft as lying outside the duchy.
Saxony is divided into Upper and Lower. Of Upper
Saxony the chief town is Wittenberg, one of the finest
and ftrongeft fortresses of these parts. Of Lower
Saxony the capital is the famous city of Halle, Standing
on the river Saale, and to the weft of it lies the great
city of Mansfeld, the chief town of a ditrit that
supplies the whole of Europe with minerals, worked in
the mines round and about. To the westward, and
landing on the banks of the river Elbe, is the very
ftrong city of Magdeburg, which is divided into three
quarters; and it is held to be useless to besiege and
impossible to take this place, by reason of the ftrength of
its walls and the depth of the ditches that surround it.

We entered the Saxon Duchy, passing by the town of
Beltcy, u where there are many silver-mines. All the

270

SAXONY

people hereabout that we met were unhealthy and
of bad colour, more particularly those whose business
it was to work down in the mines: and this is a manifest
proof how harmful is the quicksilver, which they come
across in the workings. This mineral, indeed, is
generally found mixed up with other substances in the
veins of metal which underlie the ground throughout
these diftrifts. All along the roads as we passed
through the Duchy of Saxony we noticed a very great
number of windmills, and seeing that the rivers in this
region are powerful Streams, and that the Germans are
men of much ingenuity, I wondered seeing the
number of saw-mills established everywhere, and set
to work by water, for cutting the wood used in the
mines that they should solely depend for the grinding
of the flour for their bread on the uncertainty of the
wind. The second city of Saxony that we came to
was Ilmenau, and the third Leipzig. 12

This lat is a very large town, with a considerable
population, and its buildings seemed to me to be of the
bet of any that we had seen since we had come to
travel through Europe. Here the Duke of Saxony
has his palace, where he resides. The present Duke 13
is indeed a youth of fourteen or fifteen, and the day
that we passed in his capital he had gone out hunting,
so that we did not see him, and in faft he took no
notice whatever of our ambassador's coming. We
therefore only Stayed that one day at his court, and we
shall give no further account of him. From this city
we and the captain who was the ambassador of the
Landgrave of Hesse to the Emperor passed on entering
the Empire and came to the fir& Imperial city which
lies beyond the Saxon border, and which is called
Aussig. 14

271

CHAPTER V

As to how we arrived at the Court of the Emperor of Germany, and of
what happened to us there \ till the time when we left.

Now when we had come to Aussig we forthwith made
arrangements to proceed on to the Court of the Emperor,
and journeying forward passed through the following
places: Neutri, Eftratassenc, Berexen, Klussen, Kling,
Pouscin, 1 and so to Trinka, which lat is but three
leagues 2 from the Imperial capital.

The cosmographers are wont to divide Germany
into High and Low, but indeed I do not know why
they should call the Low Countries Germany, for not
Germans but Flemings are the people who inhabit
these parts. Giovanni Botero 3 gives the name of
Germany to all those lands where the language is
German or Teutonic, and he includes under this name
all the country extending from the Meuse to the
Vi&ula, and from the Alps to the German Ocean.
What, however, we now have to deal with is High
Germany, which is a mot noble country, having very
many fine populous cities, for the Teutons excel all
other nations in the neatness and beauty of their houses
and Streets, the buildings being conftrufted either of
&one or of timber, or of both together. Besides
the country ruled direftly by his Imperial Majesty,
Germany includes within its boundaries many lesser
Potentates and Powers, such as the rulers of Austria,
Denmark^ Saxony and Thuringia; further, there are
the Ecclesiastical States, to wit, Mainz, Treves and
Cologne; next the Palatinate of Cleves on the Rhine,
and Magdeburg, besides which there are many other
cities. The land is throughout mob fertile and easy
to work, so that with a single horse enough can be

272

GERMANY

ploughed to keep a family for a whole year. We find
here many kinds of wild animals and birds, and very
particularly horses are bred here abundantly. Wine
is made in mot parts, especially in Alsace, and on the
banks of the Neckar and the Rhine, also in Au&ria.
Germany is famous for its fine rivers, as for instance
the Danube, which is the greatest river of all Europe;
next come the Rhine, the Elbe, the Oder, the Meuse,
the Moselle, the Neckar, the Main, the Inn, the
Moldau, the Ems and the Weser, with some others.

There are many broad lakes, but those of greatest
size are found in Switzerland: such are the Lakes of
Leman, and Neuchatel, with those of Lucerne,
Zurich and Constance. There are also in Germany
many great forests, indeed the greatest in all the world,
and more particularly three, which are: that known as
the Black Forest, which lies round the sources of the
Danube; secondly, the Vronica Forest, which is in
Franconia; and the Hercynian Forest, which covers
Bohemia and extends as far as Muscovy. Throughout
mofc of Germany all kinds of minerals are found very
abundantly, such as iron, lead, copper, tin and teel;
there are, too, some gold mines, and these mines taken
one with another are estimated to produce a revenue
of at leat a million crowns yearly. Much sulphur,
saltpetre and alum-lone comes to hand, also there are
salt mines. As to the costumes and accoutrements
of the Germans both are well known in Spain, and no
exaft specification will be needed here of their various
nationalities, customs, assemblies and diets. What,
however, may be deemed mot interesting and worthy
to be noted among such matters, concern the customs
observed in connection with the eledion of his Imperial
Majesty the Emperor, but this, indeed, has been
described fully by many grave authors, and he who
would know how the Caesar mu& be chosen, let him
consult the Bull of the sainted Pope Gregory V

273 T

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

[A.D. 996], and the Constitutions [called the Golden
Bull;] of the Emperor Charles IV, in the year 13565
and he will then know all that is needful as regards this
matter.

There are many mob noble cities in Germany, as
Cleves in the duchy of that name, with Crefeld and
Duisburg;. others are of the Duchy of Jiilich, to wit,
Duren, and many more might be mentioned. Thus
on the banks of the famous river Rhine lie Cologne
and Neuss in the Duchy of We&phalia. Cities with
a great population are Paderborn and Osnabruck, also
Miinter on the Moselle, with Treves in Alsace.
Between Austria and Bale lies Strasbourg, one of the
trongel and richest cities in all Germany ; and lastly,
in Switzerland, which is the highest land of all Europe,
there are the famous Thirteen Cantons. I have
given this short description of Germany [taking it
from the work of Giovanni Botero], for I myself indeed
did not see more of the country than what I could note
from the direft road as I passed through the land
travelling to the Imperial Court, and thence on to
Italy. It is certainly one of the mot celebrated
ditrifts of Europe, being the seat and tate of his
Imperial Majesty, and I informed myself with particu-
lar care of all details from persons worthy of credit.
From the firt moment when I set out from Isfahan
on my journey, I diligently carried out the intention
I had made to write down carefully all I saw, in order
to give an account thereof later to the king of Persia:
and now through the merciful grace of God I hope,
in the fir& place, to be granted to lay the same at the
feet of his Catholic Majesty King Philip III, our lord
and sovereign.

Returning now to the subject of our journey, finding
ourselves in the town of Trinka, which lies five leagues
distant from Prague, where [Rudolf II] was holding
his Imperial Court, we sent forward to his Majefty

274

EMPEROR RUDOLF II

craving of him his permission to proceed with our em-
bassy. It took five days to send and get back the answer ;
but at the end of this time his Imperial Majesty despatched
one of his chamberlains to us and six coaches to bring
us in to the capital, 4 Before we reached the city,
however, nay, at a considerable distance outside the
walls, his Grand Chamberlain, with six other splendid
coaches came out to meet us, and as far as I could
judge there were more than ten thousand persons along
with him, who followed out from Prague to see us
enter, and all these persons were either in coaches or
on horseback. Among the ret there appeared all
the ambassadors of the various kings and princes of
Christendom who were in residence and accredited to
the Imperial Court, and these accompanied us in, with
much rejoicing and pomp, until they finally left us at
our lodgings. These were given us in a great palace
which had been apportioned to us Persians, while
a like lodgement had been set apart for the English-
men. Later his Majesty did send us guards for our
palace, and many of his servants came to wait on us ;
further, he appointed for the expenses of our table,
daily, the sum of 150 crowns. 5

At the end of a week, when we had rented, his
Majesty sent his secretary to us with his commands,
and on the following day they came and took us up in
five coaches, when we were brought to the great
Imperial Palace [of the Hradschin], the moSt sumptuous
and beautiful building that we had ever yet seen.
From the outer gate to the firl Staircase there were
ranged on either hand four different regiments of the
Imperial Guards, each company armed differently,
and we passed up between them. On reaching the
top of the Stairs the chamberlains of his Maje&y
came out to meet us, and they with the grandees there
present and the nobles accompanied us thence as far
as the Imperial antechamber. On entering the door

275

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

of this great hall, where his Majesty was awaiting us,
these chamberlains and nobles Stood back, and we went
in alone. We found his Majesty 6 Standing on a mo&
beautiful carpet at the upper end of the hall ; against
the wall here was a chair, on the back of which his hand
was reeling, and beyond the carpet there was Stationed
in attendance his Chief Secretary, who is the inter-
preter, greatly skilled in many languages in which
he can converse, and who is a personage very
high in favour with the Emperor. Our ambas-
sador advancing made his obeisance, then kneeling
on the ground he presented the Letter of the king
of Persia, and this the Emperor, reaching forward,
took.

Then through the interpreter he enquired if the
ambassador were well, and how he had come, and if
he from the fatigue of his journey were now well reeled.
The ambassador answered to all this, through the
interpreter, with due respeft and courtesy, and then
severally named to his Majesty each of us Persian
gentlemen who were of his company and suite, we being
sent hither, he said, with him by the king of Persia.
On this his Majesty ordered every one of us separately
to be brought forward and presented to him, and
through his interpreter enquired of each of us how
we had fared, showing thus his favour to us, and all
with an affable condescension that was more remarkable
even than the imperial majesty of his demeanour, and
with that incomparable nobility of bearing character-
istic of the House of Austria, and which is the distinction
of his Imperial race. The Emperor afterwards dis-
missed the ambassador very graciously to his lodgings,
giving answer to his message saying that he, the
Emperor, would, after being well informed, consider
carefully what the king of Persia had requested of him
in his Letter, and that if the matter were possible he
would have pleasure in complying with it. Then one

276

PRAGUE

of his Majesty's chamberlains in attendance brought
us back to the palace where we were lodged, and
left us.

In the days following we uften rode out in coaches to
view the city, which is of a very considerable popula-
tion, with fine houses, exceedingly well built. 7 A
great river [called the Moldau] flows through the city,
making it the more beautiful and pleasant, across which
river Stretches a magnificent bridge which connects
together the two chief quarters of the city, and linking
these up with the third quarter, which is called Old
Prague, This bridge, as I myself measured it, is
400 paces in length. The climate here [in the month
of November] is so cold that this great river was at that
time completely frozen over; and there is not a house
throughout Prague, be it of the poorest, that has not
a great tove in it for warmth. His Majesty next
ordered us to be shown his armoury, the jewel-house,
the imperial wardrobe, and the stables ; in all of which
establishments we noticed many notable objefts.
Further they showed us cages containing many extra-
ordinary animals, and more particularly we saw four
lions and four tigers of the largest size that ever we
could have imagined.

For the next three months we took our ease reeling
at the Imperial Court, during all which time they
entertained us sumptuously, and then [in the spring
of 1601] the Emperor sent granting us permission
to depart on our further journey. To the ambassador
he now gave fifty pieces of silver-gilt plate namely,
dishes, lavers, plates, flagons and candlesticks; also
4,000 ducats for the expenses of the way. To each of
us gentlemen of the suite he sent a very large tankard
in silver-gilt, and to accompany it, 200 crowns 8 for
road money. Two coaches being now provided, we
set forth from Prague accompanied by an Imperial
Chamberlain, and came the fir& day to a town called

277

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

Beraun, where we slept* The next morning the
chamberlain took his leave of us, returning to the
capital, and we passed on to our journey down into
Italy, travelling at firb through many and various
cities of the Empire, as will be detailed in the following
chapter more particularly.

278

CHAPTER VI

Of the journey we made through Germany and Italy, coming to Rome,
and of the reception that his Holiness granted to us there > and how we
came on thence and finally reached Spain.

THE chamberlain of his Imperial Majefcy having taken
his leave of us in the town of Beraun, we next day con-
tinued our journey, passing through the following
places: Rokitsan, Pilsen, Kladrau, Pfraumberg, Waid-
hausen, Fuderitz, Wernberg, Hirschau, Hahnbach
and Sulzbach. 1 This la is a very populous town, with
mo& beautiful houses, and though we passed in hale
through it, the prince and lord of the same, whose name
is Otto Heinrich, received and entertained us nobly,
ordering us to be supplied with all that we needed
during the day of our sojourn with him. Thence we
came on to the town of Hersbruck, and next to a place
called Lauf, well built and of a considerable population,
and indeed Hersbruck also had seemed to us very fine
in its situation and its houses very admirably built.

Travelling on we now came to Nuremberg, where we
Stayed for three days. This is a very populous city,
and its Streets and squares are well kept; the number
of its population is so great that it has the appearance
of a capital city. The governor of all the dilrit
round and about Nuremberg, who is a prince appointed
over the city by the Emperor, gave us a fine reception.
He sent us many presents, and among the re& some
flagons and cups of silver-gilt, and these of no mean
value; indeed, to each of us of the suite he did also give
some present. For our journey onwards from Nurem-
berg to Augsburg, in place of travelling by coaches ^we
went in hafte, riding po&, passing through the following
towns, namely: Kornberg, Roth, Windsfeld, Ellingen,

279

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

Weissenburg, Munchem, 2 Kaisheim, Donauwort, and
thence to Augsburg. This k& is a city with a large
population, and the sumptuousness of all its houses is
good to see, these being as they should be, seeing that
this city was founded by the Imperial [Caesar Augus-
tus]. It is indeed a great republic and the chief city
of many di&rite, to judge by the concourse of the
nobility here and its immense trade, In Augsburg
we ftayed six days, and the governor, who is a very
noble and powerful prince, treated us with special
hospitality, every day providing us with a different
entertainment. From here we took carriages again,
and travelled in them to the city of Munich.

Munich is the capital of a separate duchy, and ^ the
duke and lord of this country is known as the Pious
Duke. 3 He treated us moSt generously, lodging us in
rooms of his own palace. He showed us his jewel-
house therein, which is moft rich in precious Atones,
and more especially in well-wrought pieces of plate,
both silver and gold. Among the ret that they showed
us, that seemed very curious, was a garden, and in its
midt was a dining-saloon after a Grange fashion.
There was a fountain cut in bone, and of the same
material all round it were the figures of every species of
animal, bird and fish of which description is made, and
each one of these figures throws out water from its
mouth. A whole month would not be sufficient for
anyone completely to examine all these objefts.
Having flayed three days in Munich, the Duke gave us
coaches, and one of his chamberlains to go with us,
adding all that was necessary for the journey, and then,
mo& grateful for his hospitable reception, we took our
leave of this noble prince. We now entered Italy,
having left the lands of the Empire behind us, and
because our destination was fir& to the Signory of
Venice, before going on to Rome, we went Straight to
Mantua, which was the fir& notable city of Italy that

280

MANT.UA

we visited. This place would indeed be worthy of
description, were it but for the Strangeness of its site,
for Mantua Stands on the border of a great lake of clear
water, deep enough to float an ordinary galley. The
city itself is large and populous, and its palaces are
magnificent. It is built after the Italian fashion of
architefture, being divided up in quarters, and the
Greets are laid out in such a manner that each Street
gives a vifta down before it. There is a well-built
and huge city wall, which the lake encircles, and at
the four corners of the city are four Strong forts, which
make Mantua impregnable.

The Duke and Prince, who is of the illu&rious
house of Gonzaga, 4 sent coaches and his chamberlain
to meet us, and in these we entered Mantua. The
Duke very graciously came to the antechamber of his
palace to receive us, ordering that we should be lodged
within the palace itself, which is moft richly furnished,
for the Duke is much given to hospitality. ^ Here we
flayed for two days. We were shown his rich jewels,
and more particularly his piAures, which are very
fine, being by great painters; also his wardrobe, full
of the national dresses of divers foreign countries.
Having then received us at a banquet and given us
many entertainments, he ordered that a galley should
be provided for us, in which we now embarked, and he
sent his servants to accompany us as far as Florence.
We, however, had firft to turn back towards Venice,
to present the Letter of the king of Persia to the Doge
and Signory, before we should proceed on to Rome.
We therefore travelled in the galley for a day's journey
from the mouth of the lake down the river [MincioJ
and landing came to a town called Otranto. 5 ^From
here we went on to Verona, which is a city in the
Venetian territory, and one of the mot beautiful towns
of Europe. We delayed here during three days,
awaiting the return of a gentleman 6 who had been

281

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

despatched by our ambassador to Venice to beg per-
mission of the Doge and Signory for us to wait on them.
The Venetians, however, now sent for answer that as
a Turkish ambassador was at that very time with them
treating of important matters of tate, it would not be
convenient for them to receive us : since it did not seem
suitable, in the presence of the Turkish envoy, to pass
to the entertainment of an ambassador of the king of
Persia these two Powers being notoriously contrary
one to the other let some mischance prejudicial to
the Christian ate should result. All that we might
require, however, should be forthwith sent us. To the
which message our ambassador, being affronted, gave
answer, that he cared not a jot for the Turkish ambassa-
dor, nor would pass comment on this discourtesy of
the Signory of Venice; and the visit being thus put off,
we proceeded on our journey and came to Ferrara.

From here we sent forward a gentleman to the Grand
Duke of Florence 7 to inform him of our coming, and
forthwith he despatched to us his chief chamberlain,
who arranged for our lodgings on the way thither.
When we had come to Florence, the Duke, who was
not in residence, being abroad on a hunting expedi-
tion, sent orders for them to give us rooms in his
own palace, and many of his nobles came half a
league outside the city gate to receive us, they bringing
us in riding in three magnificent coaches. Thus we
came to the palace surrounded by a multitude of persons,
where the Grand Duke's own servants waited on us.
Then when we had been in Florence a fortnight, well
entertained and seeing all the sights of this moft famous
city, which is notable for the richness of its many
magnificent buildings, the Duke sent for us to come to
him in Pisa, where he was residing with the Grand
Duchess, On arrival we were received by his brother
the prince Giovanni de' Medici, who next brought us
to the palace, where the Duke and Duchess gave us a

282

LEGHORN

very affable reception. Here they kept us ten days,
with princely entertainment, showing us the rich and
curious treasures that are the property of the Duke.
Afterwards they took us to Leghorn to see a new city
that was being built there, and which will be a very
magnificent place. There is also a fortress in the
building, and a safe entrance to be made to the harbour,
which will then become one of the finest ports in all
the Mediterranean Sea. To do these works they have
here more than five thousand slaves at work. The
Grand Duke now presented our ambassador with a
fine gold chain to go round his neck sixteen times,
supporting a medallion with his portrait, set in precious
Atones; and he gave another of like value to Sir Anthony
Sherley. The gentlemen of the suite he honoured
and gave presents to likewise. Then appointing one
of his chamberlains to accompany us, he inftrufted
him to pay all our travelling expenses as far as Rome,
and so dismissed us.

Thus we took our leave of him, and proceeded on to
Siena, where we remained while a gentleman was
sent forward to Rome, riding pot, to inform the Pope 8
that we were Stopping in Siena awaiting permission to
come and kiss the foot of his Holiness. After three
days that we were waiting in Siena his Holiness sent a
Cardinal to us, who welcomed us in his name, and gave
orders in all matters that were necessary for our enter-
tainment. Now here in the city of Siena our ambassa-
dor had a quarrel with Sir Anthony Sherley, and
matters would have come to a bad pass, had not the
Cardinal, whom his Holiness had sent to us, been
present to compose the dispute, though indeed he could
not prevail on our ambassador to allow Sir Anthony to
enter Rome in his company, as originally it had been
intended. The cause of this quarrel of our ambassador
with Sir Anthony was in the matter of the thirty-two
cheats of presents, which, as already explained, had

283

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

been given in charge of the English shipma&er [at
Archangel] to be brought direft to Rome. The
ambassador was now demanding of Sir Anthony the
due delivery of these cheats, in order that he might
make his Holiness a suitable present from what was in
them, which, indeed, would have been a gift of much
magnificence. It now appeared that the whole affair had
been a cheat, for no cheats had ever been brought to
Rome, Sir Anthony having sold or bartered away
their contents, namely those seven gifts of price
[for the Pope and the Princes], to that English
merchant captain, while we were travelling by sea in
the Baltic Gulf or Northern Ocean. This in truth
was the faft of what had happened, for afterwards we
had notice how our pieces of brocade and cloths had
afterwards all been publicly sold by the English
merchants in Muscovy. 9

At length, however, this quarrel between us was
accommodated by the kind offices of the Cardinal, and
we went on to Rome, where a nephew of the Pope came
out to receive us a league beyond the city gate in
company with a following of Roman gentlemen.
Many coaches too had been sent out for our con-
venience and honour, but it was thought to be more
seemly that we should ride, and so we entered Rome,
each of us Persians, on horseback, accompanied by two
Roman gentlemen riding on either hand, while the
nephew of his Holiness had the ambassador on the
one hand, with another great nobleman on the further
side. The whole country outside the gate appeared
on this occasion so thronged with coaches that I reckon
there were more than one thousand of them, and more
than four thousand gentlemen on horseback or riding
mules, while the number of those on foot who had come
out to meet us was quite incalculable. As we entered
the city more than a hundred pieces of artillery were
fired in a salute from the Gamble of Saint Angelo and

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ROME

from neighbouring towers, also a volley from the Papal
matchlockmen, who thus were charged to do us honour
at our coming. On entering the city they conduced
us to a house, or palace, not very far from the Vatican
Palace, where the Pope was in residence^ and thither
to us came a chamberlain of his Holiness, who offered
to all of us much hospitality, and he lodged with us
afterwards, providing till we departed whatever we
required, and ordering everything for our convenience*
Then, after we had been taking our ret for three days
in Rome, his Holiness sent ordering us to come to
him. And it was then again that our ambassador had
trouble on account of the doings of Sir Anthony, for he
had to send to the Pope saying how impossible it was
for him to go that day to kiss the foot of his Holiness,
because he lacked the needful present, which Sir
Anthony had cheated him of, and prevented his bring-
ing as already has been explained. But the Pope
sent answer that the matter of presents was of no
importance, that he himself would see to the affair
later and make some arrangement to remedy the evil. ;
Our ambassador thereupon consented to present
himself, and accompanied by many gentlemen we set
out for the Sacred Palace, and as we entered all the
Cardinals came out to meet us, conducting us to the
hall, where we found his Holiness seated on the Ponti-
fical Throne. At his feet, before it, was spread a
carpet, on which were cushions, on one of which the
ambassador took his seat, after having duly kissed the
Pope's foot. His Holiness then gave us his blessing,
saying, " May God make you Christians "; and on this
the ambassador, with due respeft, gave him the Letter
from the king of Persia. This the Pope received
honourably, and then conversed, through the inter-
preter, for some time with our ambassador, who among
other matters acquainted him with the fraud and
craft of Sir Anthony in the matter of the presents. To

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DON JUAN OF PERSIA

which his Holiness replied: "I do not cha&ise those
who come to me, and till less those who are sent to
me by the king of Persia. Let them carry him to the
king of Spain, and let his Majesty chastise him."
Soon after this the ambassador asked leave to retire,
when his Holiness, on rising, again gave us his blessing
and then went out. The Cardinals afterwards con-
dufted us as far as the palace gate, whence the Papal
chamberlain had charge of us to our lodging. Each
day after this his Holiness would send to enquire how
we fared, and then would give command that we should
go out and see the sights of Rome. And daily the
Cardinals or Princes would come to call on the am-
bassador, and then we all would go out to see those
great churches and holy relics; and on the banks of
the Tiber we would visit the various gardens and many
orchards thereabout.

After we had passed two months thus in Rome, his
Holiness sent our ambassador a gold chain and 2,000
ducats ; 10 and to each of us. Secretaries of the Embassy,
the Pope gave a chain and also his portrait. On this
we went to take our leave of his Holiness, and to
crave his benediftion, asking permission to depart into
Spain. The Pope granted us this mot graciously,
and appointed further a Canon of Barcelona, called
Francisco Guasque, who should accompany us thither,
the Canon being given charge of the funds of money
necessary for our journey expenses as far as Spain.
Now when we were ju& ready to leave Rome, and
looked to see Sir Anthony to go with us, he did not
appear, nor indeed could we come by news of any of
the other Englishmen, for all of them had taken their
departure, whither none knew. 11 Thus we left Rome
without the Englishmen, and next, when we had gone
forth we perceived that three of our fellow Persians
too were wanting. 12 We therefore went back to
find them, and discovered that already God had begun

286

CONVERSIONS

the work of His divine Grace. For these three Persians
who had now left us we found in the palace of his
Holiness in Rome, and they were Studying to become
Christian converts. The ambassador was thereby
much perturbed, and seeking audience of the Pope,
his Holiness answered him that the Divine Law was
indeed one of kindness, that none by force was brought
to believe, that all were free to aft as they would, and
that what he, the Pope, was doing was done in accord-
ance with God's will. On this the ambassador spoke
to the three men apart, and finding them Steadfast and
firm of purpose to become Christians, left them. He
with the ret of us then departed from Rome.

Fifteen days after this date we reached Genoa, where
we spent a week, the Doge and Signory giving us
entertainment at the public cot with all consideration;
further, many of the nobles of Genoa, who are mot
hospitable, treated us after a magnificent fashion.
For leaving Genoa we chartered two galleys, and
embarking aboard, in two days' time came to the town
of Savona, and there landing, we proceeded to travel
through France on horseback. We firt went to
Avignon, where the Vice-Legate of the Pope resides,
who received us and entertained us during the two days
that we reeled here. Then changing our horses and
sumpter-beats, we went round by Nimes, coming to
Montpellier. Thence we went on to Narbonne, and
passing through Salses, reached Perpignan, where
the Governor and Captain-general treated us as only a
great prince could have done. From Perpignan we
set out with an escort of thirty soldiers, on account of
the highwaymen hereabout, and were brought in
safety to Barcelona after traversing the difficult and
dangerous defiles of the Pyrenees. Half a league
outside Barcelona the Duke of Feria, the Viceroy, sent
out horses and coaches to meet us and bring us in,
and many of the Catalan nobles also came forth to

287

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

welcome us* Thus we entered that spacious city, of
which the splendid buildings and the broad clean
Streets were a delight to our eyes. The Duke with
all goodwill and kindness entertained us here during
ten days at his private charge, showing us every
attention*

They then gave us horses and sumpter-beafts, and
we came on to Zaragoza, where the Duke of Albur-
querque, who is Viceroy here, learning of our approach
sent six coaches half a league out of the city, with a
number of horses, to bring us in. Many of the nobles
of Aragon also, who were in residence, came to the city
gate to meet us, and we entered surrounded by an
infinity of folk, and so reached the lodging appointed
for us. In Zaragoza we remained three days, being
entertained as guests by the Viceroy as it became a
great prince; and he caused us to be shown all the
curious sights of that city, which are many, more
particularly the cathedral with the Chapel of Our Lady
of the Pillar. This, with the San&uary of Montserrat,
which we had visited on leaving Barcelona, proved a
great and holy joy to us, although at that time we were
ftill infidels. On quitting Zaragoza they provided
us with the necessary horses, and we set out for Valla-
dolid, the capital, and came to a place called Olivares,
where we Stayed, sending on our interpreter to Valla-
dolid, informing his Maje&y our Lord the King of our
arrival; and by slow Stages we then came on to Tudela
on the river Duero. Here we halted, awaiting infrac-
tions from the Court, and these came, ordering that we
should delay for a week and remain in Tudela.

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CHAPTER VII

How we entered Falladolid, and how we kissed the hand of his MajesJy,
and how a nephew of the ambassador came to be baptized a
Christian.

As soon as we had arrived at Tudela, I took the company
of that Canon who had come with us from Rome, and
by injunction of the ambassador, we set out together
for the Court to have speech with the Duke of Lerma, 1
the firt minister of his Majesty, and with the Marquis
of Velada, who holds the office of Grand Chamberlain.
On entering Valladolid, the novelty of my Persian dress
caused such astonishment, that quite a multitude
followed after me through the Greets. I arrived
finally at the Royal Palace, where several gentlemen
who were in attendance received me courteously, and
very kindly accompanied me to the presence of the
Marquis of Velada, to whom I ventured to introduce
myself, Stating the reason of my coming before him,
which was, as from the Persian ambassador, to detail
what was mot needful on this occasion to be
set forth, as regarded the coming of our embassy
from Persia. His Excellency from the firt gave me
command to be seated, and listened with all courtesy,
and in reply told me that his Majesty had received
the news of the arrival of the ambassador with
much pleasure, and that the house in Valladolid
where he was to be lodged was being forthwith
furnished and prepared. He added that my Master
should remain on for yet two or three more days
in Tudela, and that then in&ruftions would be sent
for him to make his official entry into Valladolid.
With this reply, and bearing an account of the favour-

289 u

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

able reception granted me by his Excellency, I Straight-
way returned to Tudela with the Canon.

And now I described to the ambassador the magni-
ficent appearance of the Spanish Court, and the throng
of nobles gathered together there 3 all of which greatly
pleased my Mailer, and in patience we awaited the call
for us to proceed thither. Then a week after I had
returned to Tudela we set out, for his Maje% had
issued his orders to Don Luis Enrique, who is one of
his four chamberlains, to proceed out of Valladolid
half a league on the Tudela road to meet us. This
Don Luis did, attended by many gentlemen of his
household and family, which is one of the noble& in
Spain, and they brought out five coaches, in which we
in his company were carried into the city on that day.
Here many nobles and courtiers welcomed us, and they
led us to a fine house that had been prepared for us,
well furnished and provided with rich bedding and
tapeftry hangings, in cloth and velvet of divers colours.
We now were waited upon by his Majesty's servants,
and soldiers of the Spanish and German Guard were
ported at our door. Then our ambassador received
visits from all the other foreign ambassadors who were
at that time accredited to the Court of Spain, and the
house was all day long thronged by guests, more par-
ticularly at the hours of dinner and supper. After
we had been four days come to Valladolid, the Duke
of Lerma having during this time made his public
official visit to our ambassador, his Majesty gave
command that we should attend at the palace. Thither
therefore they brought us, sending well-caparisoned
horses for us to ride, and we were accompanied on
the road by all the gentlemen of the court in attend-
ance, to where we found the Royal Guard Stationed,
drawn up on either hand before the palace gate.
Here we dismounted, and next proceeding up the
flairs, at the outer door of the ante-room the gentlemen

290

KING PHILIP III

immediately in waiting on his Majesty courteously
received us.

They now conduced us on to the presence chamber
where the King was Standing. The ambassador came
forward bearing the Letter, and this, after the Persian
fashion, was written in letters of gold and coloured
ink on a sheet of paper more than a yard in length
and curiously folded, for the length in Persian tyle
was doubled up, as for example is done in Spain with
a folio sheet, and the paper was three finger-lengths
in breadth. The ambassador had brought the Letter
enclosed in a bag of cloth of gold, and he carried this
in his turban close upon his head, from whence he had
now taken it, and firt kissing it, then presented it to
the King. His Majesty raising his bonnet, received
the Letter, and through the interpreter informed him-
self of what the king of Persia had written, and now
learnt what was the objeft of our embassy. This
becoming known to him, he replied that he greatly
esteemed the friendship which the king of Persia was
offering him, that mot gladly would he do all that the
Shah had written desiring to be done, and that he would
later send a reply to this Letter. Meanwhile we were
to divert ourselves and take our ease. After all this
had been said and done, on either side, the ambassador
begged permission to take leave of his Maje&y, and
we thereupon withdrew and returned to our lodgings
accompanied by the escort, as we had come. We
remained for the following two months nobly com-
plimented at Court, being taken out in his Majesty's
coaches, or on horseback, going to see the mo^l notable
sights of the city, and further were entertained by
dancing at balls, and more particularly we saw bull-
fights and tilting in the ring. Now all these public
festivals seemed to us to be better done in Spain than
in any f of the kingdoms and countries that we had
previously visited, for the Spaniards, even in matter

291

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

of sport, possess a grandeur and composure which is
lacking to all other nations.

In the midSt of these festivities a matter was happen-
ing which was to cause much disquietude to our
ambassador. Among his Secretaries of Embassy who
had accompanied him from Persia, being of his suite,
was his nephew, whose name was *Ali Quli Beg, and
he, because the subjet pleased and interested him,
was now wont to attend the rites and services of the
Christian Church. He had further come to appreciate
the Spanish mode of life, and for convenience was
accustomed now to wear the Spanish dress. This
at firSt apparently was done as matter of mere curiosity
and amusement, but in truth it was soon patent that,
as we may opine and believe, the hour had Struck in
which God Almighty who in paSt times had opened
a path, with His right hand, through the waters of the
Red Sea, whereby dry-shod the Children of Israel had
gone over, and with His other hand had closed again
the waters to cover and drown the satraps and all the
Princes of Egypt was now intent that in Spain He
should be proclaimed again as God Almighty. For
from the remotest parts of Asia He would bring, to
the opposite limit of Europe, men with hard rebellious
hearts, these to become softened anon, and like wax
to melt in the enjoyment of the warm glow of Evan-
gelical doctrine. Blessed, therefore, be His loving-
kindness, and happy eternally this Persian gentleman
to have accepted and profited by the mercies which
God had vouchsafed to him in causing him to become
a ChriSlian. I therefore return to my narrative and
say that 'Ali Quli Beg, having now resolved to become
a Christian and be baptized, forthwith acquainted us
with his intention, and next retiring from among us,
put himself in the hands of certain Fathers of the Society
of Jesus, that they might inStruft him in the Faith and
proceed to become a catechumen,

292

'ALI QULI BEG

It appears to me also a matter of conscience that I
should declare my belief, here in this place, that the
true faith has been revealed by God, for His greater
glory, solely and wholly to the Church [Apostolic
of Rome], this indeed for the greater good and advantage
of all true Christians, who thereby may through her
teaching learn to walk in the way of truth and
orthodoxy.

The ambassador and the ret of us Persians, being
misbelievers, were forsooth much troubled by all this,
but we were at this season occupied diverting ourselves
with sights and festivals [and could do nothing to
prevent what was going forward]. Then at the end
of these two months of our pleasant sojourn in Valla-
dolid his Majesty ordered a gold chain to be presented
to our ambassador, of the weight of 500 crowns, and to
each of us three Secretaries of Embassy who Still re-
mained with him a chain of the value of 3,000 reals?
Other chains of lesser value were given to our
Persian servants. A letter for the king of Persia
also was delivered to us, and a sum of 10,000 ducats
[in respeft of the sea voyage] was added, with
1,000 ducats besides for defraying our journey into
Portugal. Further a grant in aid was allowed to the
Canon who Still accompanied us, and an order on
Lisbon was sent for our embarkation at his Majesty's
charge, with freight for our baggage, and free main-
tenance on board, so that no coSt would be at our
expense until we should be landed in the port of Ormuz,
reaching Persian territory again. This was indeed
munificence worthy of the auguSt bounty of his Catholic
MajeSty Philip III, who is the glory of Spain and of the
House of Au&ria, the true support of the Faith, and
the protedor of Christianity throughout all Western
lands. When all these matters had been adjured,
we went to take leave of his MajeSty, expressing our
gratitude for all the benefits that he had showered on us.

293

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

We had with us for our journey across Spain an
interpreter whom the king had appointed to attend us,
he being one of his Majesty's body-servants, and a
person cognizant of many languages, whose name was
Diego de Urrea. Forthwith we set out for Segovia,
at which place the civil-governor, with some gentlemen
from the town, came out to receive us, paying us much
honour. In accordance with an intention that I had
set to myself ever since I Started from Persia on my
travels namely, to see everything I could, and to set
down in writing all I saw on the journey, in order later
to publish the same in Persia I now earnestly begged
the civil-governor that we might be shown the four
sights for which Segovia is so famous.

The firt of these is the Hermitage, with a beautiful
Statue of Our Lady, known as the Fuenzisla, 3 and this
Stands protefted under a rock on a neighbouring height
which faces south. The Face of this image is of a
divine beauty, such as I never saw the like of elsewhere,
and before it burn several great silver lamps, of a size
so great that none would believe the same to have been
of silver who had not aftually seen them. I enquired
who were the sovereign princes who had given these,
and I was told that they were the gift offered to Our
Lady by the men of this commune of the province, who
worked to make the woollen cloth, the manufacture
of which is so famous.. The second notable sight to
be seen in this city is the Alcazar, 4 the palace which
the kings of Spain have herb; indeed it is one of the
finest and mol famous buildings of any that we had
yet visited. It is built on a rock which has been
scarped artificially on either hand to form the wall of
the very deep ditch, in which the breams of the Eresma
[and Clamores] running below make the fortress-palace
the more impregnable. The third notable sight of
this town is the [Roman] Aqueduft 5 built of tone
blocks, all chiselled and worked square, and set without

294

SEGOVIA

mortar. Along the top runs the channel which brings
in the water used throughout Segovia, and the length
of this Aqueduft is such that it has more than two
hundred arches to carry the conduit. Within the city
in some parts it runs as high as may be counted at two
full cats of a pike. The fourth wonder to be seen is
the Mint, 6 where many million coins are Struck in gold,
silver and copper. This work is not done by hand, but
by a machine which is worked by a mill on the river
[Eresma] which flows below the Alcazar. While
at Segovia we went out from the town two leagues
[to the south-eaft] to see a winter-palace belonging to
the Spanish kings, which is named Balsaim, and so
called [to wit, Balsam], though it is no palace in a
garden, but only a building Standing down in the deep
valley [of an affluent of the Eresma] enclosed by great
mountains, that are covered by pine forests: yet so
situated in that wilderness it is indeed a perfeft Earthly
Paradise.

Leaving Segovia we went on to the Escoreal, the
mot wonderful work of man the world holds, and only
to look on it one should come from the mot distant
parts. This is a palace built for himself to live in by
the late king, Philip II, who rests now in Glory.
It Stands in the folds of the mountain range which is
known as the Guadarrama, on the bank of a Stream
coming down from the same. The site is thus pro-
tefted from the north and faces south; the building
forming a huge quadrangle, and displaying a great
variety of Styles, Doric, Ionic and Corinthian, all
wrought in dressed ftone based on hewn foundations.
There are so many courts, towers, columns, separate
palaces, galleries and halls, and within these so many
rich ornaments and so many fine piftures, that with
reason the Escoreal is known as the Eighth Wonder
of the World. I myself opine assuredly that no one
of the other Seven of ancient days could have come near

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DON JUAN OF PERSIA

to it as a marvel. They relate that King Philip built
it in accordance with a vow he made when he was
encamped at the town of St Quintin in France, where
there was a church dedicated to Saint Lawrence which
by reason of the war it was necessary to demolish, and
hence it is likewise to Saint Lawrence that the church
at the Escoreal is dedicated. Its altar-piftures are the
mot wonderful work of painting in all the world. It
is a monastery of the Jeronimite Friars, and these have
here their colleges and schools. The Escoreal further
is the burying place of the kings of Spain, their bones
having been collected and brought hither from where-
soever they were to be found in the divers provinces.

We went on from here to a winter-palace of the
Emperor Charles V of glorious memory, which Stands
five leagues distant from the Escoreal and two leagues
from Madrid. This too is a fine building, very
curious to visit. It is surrounded by many plantations,
full of all kinds of game, both great and small ; indeed
the game is so abundant here that the deer and wild
boars are seen in droves together on every hand. Next
we visited the palace known as the Casa del Campo
of Madrid, where the fountains, gardens and tanks
would need a special volume for their description, and
then we entered Madrid, which is one of the greatest
and moSt beautiful cities in all Spain. But its gran-
deur and many curious sights are so well known that
it were better to be silent and not attempt to describe
what others have already sufficiently portrayed. Leav-
ing Madrid we journeyed on to Aranjuez, which is the
summer-palace of the kings of Spain, built likewise
by his late Majesty King Philip II on the banks of the
mighty river Tagus. The gardens of Aranjuez with
their adjacent shrubberies, tanks, lakes, pleasure
grounds, with thickets for game, great and small, are
so extensive and of so many different kinds, with such
fine trees and fruit orchards, also divers beasts and birds

296

ARANJUEZ

brought from remotest India, that it were impossible
to describe them all even in many volumes, and thus
when we Slate that Aranjuez has been given the name
of the Ninth Wonder of the World we have said all
that here is needful. We visited also, as our journey
lay through it, the Imperial city of Toledo, the capital
of the Gothic Kings, There is here the Alcazar, and
we saw too the Machine 7 by which water is brought up
from the depth of the gorge of the Tagus to the level
of the city which lies high above its bed; also we were
brought to the Cathedral, which is the metropolitan
church of Spain, whereby the city of Toledo is known
as the Spanish Rome.

From this city we made our way travelling through
the province of ESlremadura to the town of Truxillo,
where so many noble families have their origin, and
next came to the city of Mrida, which in ancient days
was a second Rome, as to-day may be seen from the
great extent of its ruins. The ambassador wished to
reft for a day in M^rida, and here an immense number
of people had collefted in a vafh crowd to gaze at us.

Now there was in our company, as ever had been since
leaving home, our Alfaqui, he being, as one might
say, the ambassador's travelling Chaplain, and the
[Arabic] name by which he was known was Amyr, for
though he was a Persian by birth, in point of fail he
was a lineal descendant of the family of the prophet
Mahomed. Now he on this occasion was landing
at the door of our lodgings and there came to be much
pushing in the doorway, when suddenly some man of
an insolent temper in the crowd, and lacking bowels
of compassion, for there was no apparent provocation,
Struck out at the Alfaqui Amyr with a dagger, and
killed him on the spot. As it was almoSl night-time
when this happened it proved impossible to ascertain
who had done the deed, although the magistrate used
every means in his power, putting in prison an immense

297

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

number of persons to satisfy the loud demand of the
ambassador, who seemed at firfh of opinion that he
himself mut return immediately to Valladolid to lay
his complaint before the King. We learnt, however,
on enquiry that his Majesty was at this moment no
longer resident in the capital, being away on a hunting
excursion, and it was therefore agreed that we should
proceed on Straight to Lisbon, and while preparations
there went forward for our embarkation, that I should
travel back to Valladolid and give an account to his
Majesty of how our poor Alfaqui had for no jut cause
been killed, and make demand that theassailant should be
punished. We therefore proceeded to bury our Alfaqui
Amyr according to Persian rites, with the ceremonies
usual in our creed, in some ground outside Mrida,
and all the city came out to see the sight, which caused
them much entertainment. From Mrida then we
went on to Badajoz, which is a city Standing on the
frontier between Spain and Portugal, and the civil-
governor here, who is a gentleman of noble birth, and
named Don Juan de Avalos, lodged us in his own
house, giving us all we required, and paying every
attention to our comfort. From Badajoz we finally
set out for Lisbon, the great city celebrated throughout
Spain for its noble situation, the name recalling that of
him who was its founder, Ulysses [for the ancients
had named Lisbon Olisippo], It is the capital and the
largest town in Portugal, and has a population of more
than 80,000 householders [or 360,000 souls]. Further,
here is the great harbour, at the mouth of the Tagus,
where the river comes out to the Ocean, which same
is the chief port whence all ships tart that sail for
India the Greater, and the New World.

Now as soon as we, after leaving Badajoz, had come
to Aldea Gallega 8 we sent across to let the Viceroy of
Portugal, Don Crit6bal de Mora, know that we were
there, and he forthwith despatched to us four galleys

298

LISBON

with many gentlemen in attendance, who now brought
us into Lisbon. Here they gave us a grand reception,
making festival, and hospitably lodged us in a magni-
ficent palace. After we had taken our repose during
some days, being sumptuously entertained by the
Viceroy, and further by many of the Portuguese
noblemen and private persons of Lisbon, for certainly
they are the mot hospitable of hofts, our ambassador
ordered me to return with the Canon to Valladolid, to
give his Maje&y a true account of the death of our
Alfaqui. I forthwith proceeded to carry out his com-
mand, and herein is made evident the truth of that which
King David the man of God hath spoken namely, that
the hand of God doth guide the hearts of men in
accordance with His divine will For as soon as I
had got to Valladolid I went to see 'AH Quli Beg at the
Jesuit House, and no sooner had I begun to talk with
him, and to hold converse with the Fathers of the
Society of Jesus religious men as discrete as they are
learned when it became manifest how God Almighty
willed that a miracle should be worked in me. For
I began immediately to feel an inordinate longing in
my heart to seek and find His Divine Grace blessed
a thousand times be His holy name and while I was
yet a prey to this confusion of mind, and unable to
declare clearly my desire, the Divine Will loosed my
slow tongue even as with Moses of old and jut
as I was returned to my lodging house I urgently
called upon the Fathers to grant me baptism, though no
master had yet given me any sufficient inftrudion in
religion.

In the Persian script and language, even as before
had been the case with my Diary, I now constrained
my hand to write down the prayers, the articles of
belief, the Commandments, and other Christian
ordinances that were necessary for intruding one like
me, an infidel, who was about to become a catechumen.

299

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

That due praise may be paid to the Divine Grace, I
have here given this very particular account of my
experiences and conversion, for it is His marvellous
providence which thus works in those whom He calls
to His Church, and to union with the faithful. I
next came to be intruded very fully in all the necessary
Catholic doftrines, for Don Alvaro de Caravajal, who
was chief chaplain and almoner-in-chief to his Royal
Majesty, undertook to confer with me many times,
explaining all difficulties to me, and encouraging me
with the whole heart of a true Christian gentleman,
thus favouring my conversion. Then later I ventured
to solicit an audience of the Duke of Lerma, chief
minister of his Majesty, on whose shoulders rets the
whole weight of government of these kingdoms, and
his Excellency was pleased to receive me very favourably.
He was rejoiced, he said, to hear of my good inten-
tions, and this encouraging me I was bold to lay before
his Excellency my plan, which was that after having
received baptism I should return to Persia and bring
out thence, back to Spain, my wife and a son of mine
there now living. To all this the Duke replied that
after having been baptized, if I remained on living in
Spain, his Majesty would doubtless give me his favour,
and advance me to a place of honour. Further, he
would indeed grieve with me, his Excellency said, in
the loss of wife and child [should I tay in Spain, not
returning to Persia], but that for the sake of God's
commands trials far greater than this had to be under-
gone and supported with patience. Indeed, he con-
tinued, the love of a son, or of father, of mother, of
wife even, was not to be held comparable with the love
which God would of a certainty ultimately bebow on
me as His faithful servant.

His Excellency added many other efficacious reason-
ings, and I was thus completely comforted and re-
assured, for verily God has vouchsafed to the Duke

300

CONVERSION OF DON JUAN

of Lerma a mot piercing intelligence with a very
charitable heart. Our Persian ambassador indeed had
been of a mind to appreciate this, after he had taken his
final audience with his Excellency, for whom he after-
wards professed the highest esteem. But to conclude:
by this time God graciously had taken possession to
Himself of my whole heart though not indeed by
any merit of mine and I was resolved to receive
baptism without delay, and then to go back to Persia
in search of my wife and my son, I had "of a surety
no intention of letting it be known there in Persia
that I had become a Christian, intending later to seek
some convenient pretext and opportunity for returning
to Spain by way of Ormuz, which the Portuguese now
hold in the name of his Catholic Majesty. With
this prospeft therefore in view, arrangements now
went forward promptly for my immediate baptism.

301

CHAPTER VIII

As to how we were both baptized^ the nephew of the ambassador and
myself; and how I returned to Lisbon and of what happened to me
with the ambassador ; and how yet another Persian gentleman
determined to become a Christian, whose name was Buntyad JBeg.

ON my return from this audience with the Duke of
Lerma all the necessary arrangements for my baptism
and that of the ambassador's nephew were forthwith
carried through under the special dire<5Uon of Don
Alvaro de Caravajal, chief chaplain and almoner-in-
chief to his Majesty (as already said), we Persians both
having been now thoroughly inbruted in all the
do&rines of the Christian Faith, They brought us
each a suit of white satin to wear, and riding in a coach
Don Alvaro de Caravajal, the chief almoner, took us
to the Palace, and we were conduced up to where their
Majesties, habited likewise in white, were awaiting us.
Then with a great company in attendance all went down
to the Royal Chapel, and here Don Alvaro de Caravajal
baptized us, the King and Queen 1 respectively afting
as our sponsors. *Ali Quli Beg, the ambassador's
nephew, now received the name of Don Philip of Persia,
while I, who formerly was known as Uruch Beg, became
Don Juan of Persia, and thereupon their Majesties
severally embraced us, honouring us greatly. Then
the King handed me a letter for our ambassador and
ordered his interpreter to travel with me, adding an
aid for the expenses of the journey, and so forthwith
I returned to Lisbon, but wearing once more my Persian
clothes as aforetime.

It was my intention, as I have already said, to go
back home to Persia, where I should conceal the faft
that I had become a Christian, in order that I might
bring away with me my wife and son. This matter of

3 02

BAPTISM OF DON JUAN

concealment, however, was to be on the understanding
that, when come to Persia, no occasion arose in which
I ought publicly to testify my faith in Christ Jesus and
die for my belief, for I had been clearly inftrufted and
taught the obligation that was laid upon me so to te&ify
from the moment of my baptism, when I became a
Christian. All this being made clear to me, I therefore
set out for Lisbon, arriving back there without any event
worthy of note. I had in my company, by order of
his Excellency the Duke of Lerma, a gentleman (already
mentioned) of his Majesty's servants, named Francisco
de San Juan, who was the Turkish interpreter, and I
soon discovered that, being now a Christian, the con-
versation of my Persian fellow countryman, with whom
I had heretofore been on terms of inseparable com-
radeship, was now no longer in any sense to my tate
and blessed be Thy name, my God, for Thou hadt
changed my heart. The ambassador appeared to be
much pleased at my return, and forthwith proceeded
to hasten the arrangements for our embarkation.

I then went to present myself, and kiss the hand of
the Viceroy, giving him an account of how I had been
baptized, at which news he rejoiced greatly. Going
on to tell him how it was my intention to return to
Persia in order to bring away my wife and son, he
began to urge on me the danger, advising that I should
for the present remain quietly in Spain. My
ambassador, he said, knew perfectly well that I had
become a convert to Christianity, and that I had been
baptized at Valladolid, as also his nephew. His
Excellency added that if I went back home it were at
the risk of my life, for either the ambassador would
have me done to death during the sea voyage, or else,
not having been able to carry this through, he would
inform against me on our arrival in Persia, where I
should of course be burnt alive. I answered his
Excellency that I was greatly obliged by the kindness

33

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

shown and the advice given to me, but that for sure the
ambassador was till ignorant of the fa<5t that I was
become a Chriftian, seeing that he continued to show
me all friendship, and that I certainly intended to carry
out the plan I had in mind. The Viceroy responded
that I had bet see to it carefully, while there was yet
time, and on this I took my leave, returning to our
lodgings, but somewhat perturbed in mind. It was
now with Buniyad Beg, the Persian gentleman, my own
particular friend [who was the third among us secre-
taries], that I began earnestly to talk over the matter
in hand. A few days later, when after dinner the
ambassador had retired to his private room, taking with
him Hasan 'All Beg [who was the fourth in rank of
us Persian secretaries], I having my suspicions aroused,
continued walking up and down in the outer hall, and
I put my ear to the door to listen to what the ambassador
might be talking about. I heard him now saying to
Hasan *Ali Beg that he and the reft muft be very careful
not to let me get to know that he, the ambassador, had
learnt how I had been baptized by the nameof Don Juan,
adding that he intended to keep the matter secret until
we were both back once more in Persia. There, being
safely come, he would have me seized, delivering me up
to the Shah, who would order my proper punishment.
I, of course, did not let it be known that I had over-
heard all this, but forthwith despatched my interpreter
to the Viceroy, who arranged that I should quietly be
provided with another lodging, together with all that
was necessary for my maintenance and comfort. The
ambassador naturally now understood what had taken
place, and sought to put a quarrel on me, matters
quickly coming to such a pass that each of us laid his
hand on his sword, and had not the interpreter been
present, who parted us, some mischance would cer-
tainly have befallen me, seeing that all the servants of
the ambassador were leagued against me to do me a

34

THE GALLEY-SLAVE

mischief. The ambassador indeed had no jut
reason on the face of it at that time to fall out with me,
for I had not confessed either publicly or privately
that I was a Christian . But I had said at our fir&
meeting that I should like now to return home to
Persia by land, not taking the sea route by way of
India, whither he was bound. This, I said, was because
the long navigation was dista&eful to me, and that I
proposed now going back to Venice, whence I could
travel home through Turkey, in Turkish disguise, and
thus in three or four months be back again in Persia,
The ambassador publicly talking of my affairs, now
wrangled so openly with me that all the world came to
know that I had been baptized, whereupon finally
I admitted that this was the truth of the case, and
forthwith, then and there, separated myself from the
company of the other Persians, going to live in the house
which the Viceroy had assigned me, where I had the
company of the Turkish interpreter.

The ambassador, thus having got me to declare myself
a Christian, now realized that I was going to escape him
and remain behind in Spain. Since he could not carry
me along with him, for say what he might I would not
consent to go, he resolved, in order to avenge himself
of what he deemed the insult, to get me killed. To
that end he now sought to find some rascally Spanish
soldier to do the deed, but discovering no such one to
his hand, he came to terms with a certain Turkish slave,
whom he had recently got set free from the oar, in the
galleys of the Marquis of Santa Cruz, who at that time
was at Lisbon in command of the Spanish fleet. This
Turk was at the moment afting as the body-servant to
the ambassador, and as his interpreter, for he well knew
[both Spanish and] Turkish. This galley-slave therefore
was to kill me, and for the purpose carried a dagger,
going about seeking a suitable occasion, but of the plot
I 'was duly advised in time. I on my part therefore

305 x

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

betook myself to the Viceroy, who agreed to communi-
cate with the Marquis of Santa Cruz, who would, he
said, doubtless see to the matter. The Marquis
immediately took his information, ordered twenty
soldiers ashore from the galleys, and choosing a moment
when the Turk happened to be Standing outside the
ambassador's lodgings, seized him. They carried him
back prisoner to the galleys, where the Marquis ordered
that he should be well beaten, and he was once more
chained to the oar.

After this episode I had no more dealings either with
our ambassador or with his servants, and the only one
of the Persians I now spoke to was Buniyad Beg. On
him I urged that he should save his soul, and seek to
obtain baptism. He, however, was Still in a State of
doubt; sometimes he would answer me "yes " and at
other times " no," and being much his junior I despaired
of myself and betook me to prayer, that God would
vouchsafe to bring the matter about, being the more
intent on his conversion, in order that he might become
my fellow-comrade in religion. We were wont both of
us to meet in the house of a certain Venetian merchant,
who spoke the Turkish language perfeftly, and who
was then living in Lisbon, his name being Nicolas
Clavel. He was constantly trying to persuade Buniyad
Beg to do what I implored of him namely, to be
baptized using every argument and inducement that
he could come by, for, said he, his salvation depended
upon it. Now it chanced one day when Nicolas
Clavel was arguing with him in Turkish, for Buniyad
Beg understood this language quite well, and setting
forth the myStery of how of old the Holy GhoSt had
descended upon the Apo&Ies, suddenly, no one knew
from whence nor what it really might be, a White
Dove flew into our room and settled upon the writing-
table that Stood in between us three, and round which
we were seated talking. There having reSted awhile

306

THE WHITE DOVE

and being nowise disturbed, it flew away again and
was seen no more. This was to the no small wonder
of those of us who were there present, and indeed we
deemed it to be a very great miracle. No clearer sign
than this did Buniyad Beg need, for God had already
changed the hardness of his heart, and he immediately
made up his mind to seek baptism. I therefore
brought him to the Viceroy, to whom I related all that had
happened, which indeed greatly edified and rejoiced him,
Without letting our ambassador have any notice,
and with the leaft delay possible the Viceroy ordering
what was necessary jfor our journey to be given to us
we set off in the company of the interpreter, making
our way Straight to Valladolid. As soon as we had
arrived at Court, I craved an audience of his Maje&y
and through our interpreter gave the King an account
of all that had taken place, and I added that I myself
was now resolved to remain in Spain, and that not having
my son to bring to his Majesty I had brought my
friend, who, following my example, wished to become
a Christian. His Majesty showed every sign of satis-
faftion and arranged that Buniyad Beg should go to
Don Alvaro de Caravajal, who would prepare him to
become a catechumen. Soon after this the King left
Valladolid for the Escoreal, and Don Alvaro de Cara-
vajal, being there in attendance, next sent his chaplain,
ordering us to bring Buniyad Beg thither, when on
examination it was manifest that he was well and per-
feftly intrufted in the doftrines of the Christian
Faith. Forthwith, therefore, he was robed in white
satin and taken to the Palace, where in the Royal
Chapel, and with the King and the Duchess of Lerma
Standing his sponsors, Don Alvaro de Caravajal bap-
tized him. His Majesty indeed showed him much
honour, and at his baptism Buniyad Beg took the name
of Don Diego of Persia. The King, that mot Chris-
tian prince, seeing now that we both were Christians,

307

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

but Grangers in a foreign land many hundred leagues
distant from our own country, of his royal and Chris-
tian generosity gave command that we should each
receive yearly a pension' of 1,200 crowns, 2 and further
a sum in ready money with which to set up house:
granting thereto lodgings at his Court, Many other
kindnesses also were now shown to us, and daily we
received favours increasingly, coming as a free gift
from his royal hand.

Blessed be the infinite charity of Almighty God for
His loving-kindness and grace, in all that has been thus
vouchsafed to us. Fir& in granting to us the Light
of the True Faith, and bringing us to sojourn in a
Chri&ian land, where the Sacraments are abundantly
celebrated, and where, knowing now how to profit by
the occasion, we find teachers who can show us the true
way of Christ Jesus. Next and in the second place, we
give thanks that we Persians now are enrolled under
the banner of our Sovereign Lord the King of Spain,
who of his charity daily showers favours and great
honours upon us. To God, the King of kings, I do
give thanks for granting me a zealous intention, which
from the day when my mind was fixed to become a
Christian, has brought me Straight to the way of salva-
tion. I have now written this Book of mine more
with the intent of giving praise to God for His mar-
vellous loving-kindness daily shown to me, than indeed
for any merely mundane cause. Let me therefore
confess before the Divine Majesty of God, how
content I am to be a Christian, and I have at lat lot
all memory of the natural pain I once felt at finding
myself cut off for ever from my wife, my son, my
country and all I there possessed. To God let all
thanks be given, for as Job hath said: To Him
belong all things, and from Him come all things that
are in the world. World without end. Amen, and
to God be the praise given.

308

NOTES

INTRODUCTION

1 Page I. It has been plausibly suggested that this unusual name
Uruch is merely a Spanish mispronunciation for Ulugh, very common
at that date.

2 Page 2. Sherley's own account of his journey from England
to Persia will be found in Purchas Pilgrims , Vol. VIII, p. 375
(Glasgow, 1905). The subsequent travels through Russia, and the
sea voyage to Stode, are given by William Parry in the same volume,
p. 442. See also The Sherley Brothers, by one of the same House
(namely, E. P. Shirley), Roxburgh Club Press, 1848.

3 Page 3. The Fugger News-Letters, 1568 to 1605, translated from
the German of V. von Klarwill by P. de Chary, 1924, p. 23 1.

* Page 5. A,s regards Stode it must be noted that E. P. Shirley in
his interesting book on The Sherley Brothers has made a curious mistake
which, unfortunately, has been repeated in the Sherley article of the
Dictionary of National Biography and elsewhere. On p. 27 of The
Sherley Brothers it is Elated that " after a dangerous passage of six weeks
[from St. Nicholas otherwise Archangel] they sailed to Stettin, then
called Stoade." Stettin on the Baltic is about 300 miles in a straight
line north from Prague : Stode, a well-known town at the mouth of
the Elbe, is about the same distance, but due north-west of Prague.
E. P. Shirley's mistake is the more remarkable because on p. 31 of his
work he quotes a letter, dated I7th October 1600, from Sir Robert
Cecil to Mr. Lello, the English envoy at Constantinople, in which
Cecil acquaints him of the recent arrival from Muscovy of Sir Anthony
Sherley " with a Persian Embassador joined with him . . . and he
came by sea to Embden." Then in the D.N.B., Vol. LII, p. 1 22, we
are told that Sir Anthony Sherley " took ship at St. Archangel for
Stettin," and the name of Stode is omitted altogether. In Botero
(I, p. 74), who wrote in 1591, and is describing Pomerania, mention
is made of" Stetino " at the mouth of the Oder. C. Schefer, in his
Introduction (p. vii) to the work of Father Du Mans, has fallen into
the same error (probably relying on E. P. Shirley), for he writes of
Sir Anthony as going to Archangel, where lie embarked " pour
Stettin." Cf. Eflat de la Perse en 1 660 par le Pere Raphael du Mans,
edited by C. ScheTer, Paris, 1890; and G. Botero, Delle Relationi
Untversali (in two parts) : I, Rome, 1591, and II, Rome, 1602,
both in 4to.

.39

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

5 Page 6. For the visit of the Persians to the Emperor Rudolf
we have two other contemporary accounts : one from the despatches
of the Venetian Ambassador at Prague, Pietro Duodo, for which see
Schefer, p. 277; the other from the Fugger News-Letters, p. 230.

6 Page 7. The entry of the Persian Embassy into Rome is the
subject of a contemporary Italian pamphlet published in Rome, and
translated into French under the title of V entree solennelle /aide a
Rome aux ambassadeurs du roy de Perse, le cinquiesme avril 1601.
Paris, 1601. The Fugger Letters (p. 243) also^give some curious
details as to the conversion to the Catholic faith of the Persian
servants.

7 Page 9. An account of the treatment awarded to a subsequent
home-coming ambassador is given in Persian Literature in Modern Times,
IV, p. 6, by Professor E. G. Browne, derived from a contemporary
Persian hiftorian. This ambassador was Dengiz Beg Shimlu, who was
not our Ambassador (as Professor Browne mistakenly supposed),Jor he
was in Spain in 1611 when Margaret, Queen-consort of Philip III,
died, and returned to Persia in 1613. He musl: have been joint-
ambassador with Sir Robert Sherley, the two (as the like had been the
case with Sir Anthony and our present ambassador ten years before)
having been dispatched by Shcih 'Abbas (about 1608) to the We&ern
Powers. This Embassy travelled by Cracow, Prague, Florence and
Rome, whence going on through Spain Sir Robert finally reached
England. His Persian colleague, taking leave of him in Spain, went
back home in company with a Spanish counter-ambassador to Shah
'Abbas ; but poor Dengiz Beg was, on arrival in Persia, incontinently
put to death by the irate Shah. This was on various counts, one of
which was the indiscretion of having worn mourning at Madrid at the
time of Queen Margaret's funeral. His chief crime in his maker's
eyes, however, was, as reported against him, his having behaved so
arbitrarily and cruelly to the other members of his suite that some^ of
them, to avoid returning home with him, had adopted the Christian
faith and remained behind in Europe. It is evident that the Shall was
determined once and for all to hold heads of missions responsible for
the perversion of their secretaries, and doubtless he had not been
pleased with the failure of Secretary Uruch Beg and his colleagues
to return with the ambassador in 1602.

8 Page 10. Qbras de 8 alas Earbadillo, Madrid, 1907 (in Colec-
cion de Escritores Cafiellanos), by E. Cotarelo y Mori, Vol. I, Pr61ogo,
p. xxxii ; the account of the death of Don Juan being taken from a
contemporary Portuguese work called Faftiginia, written by Thome
Pinheiro da Veiga, which has recently been translated into Spanish by
N. Alonso Cortes, Valladolid, 1916, for which see p. 33 of the transla-
tion. A full account of the law-suit, Don Diego de Persia versus Salas
Barbadillo, will be found in Volume XXXI of the publications of the
S ode dad de Bibliofilos Esfanoles, Madrid, 1894, where the documents

310

NOTES

are cited from the Simancas Archives by Sefior Uhagon in his preface
to an edition of two of the plays of Salas Barbadillo.

9 Page 12. Numerous examples occur of these purely oral mistakes
throughout the work, and the following are typical. Remon (or
Don Juan) was speaking of Lahijin, the capital of the Gflan province :
the scribe writes " La Ciudad de la Hichan." He refers on two
successive lines to the Caliph Walid s : the scribe writes this name firs!
as " Ulit " and then (as though it were another person) as " Halid."
The barber who killed Prince Hamzah was called Khuda (Verdi)
Dallal, " DalKk " in Persian meaning " a barber " : the scribe wrote
the name as " Cudy de Lac." The name of the town of Vladimir,
near Moscow, appears as " Valla de Amor." La&ly, of William,
Duke of Bavaria, surnamed " the Pius," it is written that he " se llama
Du-Capi " : i.e., for Duca Pi[o], but this may be merely a typographical
blunder.

10 Page 1 2. See above, note 4. Giovanni Botero Benese (a native
of Bene in Piedmont), 1540 to 1617, at one time acted as secretary to
St. Charles Borromeo. His work is very readable and gives an exact
account of what was known in the year 1600 of all the countries and
cities of Europe, Asia and the Americas, North and South. This work
evidently had an immense vogue. It was reprinted forthwith in
Italian at Brescia and Venice ; it was translated into English by Robert
Johnson in 1608, and versions in Latin, Spanish and German quickly
followed. The first volume gives a description of the Old and the
New World as matters lood at the beginning of the iyth century.
The second volume gives the political hi&ory of each tate. Don
Juan (or Rem6n), as will be seen, quotes frequently from Botero,
and more frequently takes over information without acknowledgment
from his pages, but with many careless misprints. Further, his
knowledge of the Italian is often not quite adequate.

11 Page 12. Rem6n had a good library at his command in Valla-
dolid. Thus, after quoting passim from Strabo, Suidas, Procopius,
Ctesias, Berosus and Mega&henes, he refers to the Byzantine histories
of Nicephorus Callistus and Niceghorus Bryennius, Agathias and
Zonaras, with St Antoninus, Archbishop of Florence. Further, he
consulted Chri&ianus Massaeus, Matthseus Palmerius, Georgius
Agricola, Paulo Giovio, Apianus (that is Bienewitz), Abdias, Josaphat
Barbaro, Juvencus, Genebrardus, Cuspianus, Laurentius Surius,
Amandus of Zieriksee, Tornamira, Georgievitz, Breydenbach, Juan
de Pineda, Joseph Scaliger, and for the Turkish campaign in Georgia
Minadoi, Botero and Boissard. Laly, there are two^ works more
than once quoted, but which it has proved difficult to identify with
any known published books namely, the Bibliotheca Su$iana> and
the Oriental Annals of Belochus*

12 Page 1 2 . Giovanni Tommaso Minadoi ( 1 5 40 to 1 6 1 5 ), Guerra
fra Turchi et Persian!, Venice, 1588.

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

13 Page 1 6. R. Knolles, Hittorie, firft edition in folio >, London,
1603 ; the edition later quoted from is the fourth/0//0, London, 1631.

14 Page 1 6. Travels of Venetians in Persia ; Publications of the
Hakluyt Society, 1872.

15 Page 19. See on this point E. G. Browne, Persian Literature,
IV, p. 20.

16 Page 19. See above, note 12, for G. T. Minadoi. The Hiftoria
dell a guerra fra Turchi et Persianivi%$> published at Venice in 1588,
and in this same year a Spanish translation by A. de Herrera was
printed in Madrid, while an English translation by A. Hartwell was
published in London in 1595. Minadoi, also called Minadous
(r 540 to 1 6 1 5), was born at Rovigo. After taking his degree in medicine
he spent seven years travelling in the Ottoman dominions, and appears
to have become well acquainted with Turkish. His Hislory describes
the wars of the Ottoman Sultans against the Shdhs of Persia down to
the year 1587, the date of the accession of Sha"h 'Abba's. On his return
home Minadoi became physician to the Duke of Mantua, and also held
the chair of medicine at the University of Padua.

17 Page 1 9 . Vit<e et I cones Sultanorum Turcicorum, by J . J . B oissard :
Frankfort, 1596. Boissard (1528 to 1602) was a Frenchman and a
native of Franche Comte. His book is embellished by forty-seven
portraits of Sultans, engraved by T. de Bry.

18 Page 19. Dates of the Turkish Sultans and contemporary
Shahs of Persia are as follows :

Sultan Bayazfd II, 1481.

SMh Isma'il I, 1502.
Sultan Selim I, 1512.
Sultan Sulayma'n I, 1520.

Shah Tahma*sp I, 1524*
Sultan Selim II, 1566
Sultan Mura"d III, 1574.

Sha-h Isma'il II, 1576.

Shlh Muhammad Khud^-Bandah, 1578.

Shah 'Abbas, 1587 to 1629.
Sultan Muhammad III, 1595 to 1603.

BOOK I

CHAPTER I

1 Page 34. See i Timothy i. 12 and following verses in the
Vulgate and Douay Version, but much glossed.

2 Page 37- The Fidoria (of 85 tons burden) was the one ship
of Magellan's fleet which, after the death of the great navigator in the
island of Cebu, one of the Philippines, sailed home to Lisbon in 1522,
having made the first complete circumnavigation of the globe,

312

NOTES

CHAPTER II

1 Page 38. Petrus Apianus (Bienewitz) of Ingold&adt (1495
to 1551)? Cosmographia, 4to, Antwerp, 1574, folio 29 verso. For the
mediaeval geography of Persia see Lands of the EasJern Caliphate, or in
the Gibb Series the Translation of the Nuzhat-al-Qulub y by Hamd-
Allah Mustawfi.

2 Page 38. Botero, I, pp. 119, 120, and II, pp. 173, 174.

3 Page 38. In text Gerban, later lerban, probably for Erivdn.
There is a confusion here between Media Major and Media Atropatene.

4 Page 38. In point of fad Shfra*z Elands on no river : the Kur,
(Cyrus river) of Fa"rs, on which Iftakhr (Persepolis) lies, is a day's
march to the north of Shirdz.

6 Page 38. Here and elsewhere the word Don Juan uses is
vecinos, literally " neighbours," but in the common usage ^landing for
" householders," and each household may be reckoned as containing
4*5 souls. It is evident in some cases, however, that the number
given would be nearer the mark if we took vecino to mean " inhabitant " ;
but naturally the figures must in no case be taken very seriously. See
Venetians in Persia, Barbaro, p. 74. This wprk, besides the account
given by Barbaro, contains five other narratives namely, those of
Contarini, Zeno, Angiolello, Alessandri ; and lastly, the account of the
Anonymous Merchant.

6 Page 40. Shdh Tahma*sp (1524 to 157 6) was the grandfather of
Shall 'Abba's.

7 Page 40. In the text given as " Ciudad de la Hichan " ; on a
later page written correctly as " Lahychan."

8 Page 4.1. There is some confusion here between the province of
Shfrvin (which Don Juan generally gives under the form " Gerban ")
and the city of Eriv^n (which he writes " lerban " or " Yravan "), of
which city its province formerly was called Arra*n. Erivan city was
founded at the beginning of the i6th century to be the frontier fortress
of Persia against the Georgians. The earlier Arab Geographers
divide the country immediately to the south of the Caucasus into four
provinces : Shfrvin, lying to the north of the lower Kur (Cyrus) and
extending north-east to the Caucasus at Derbend; to the west of
Shi rvin came Georgia ; south of the Kur was Arrn, lying eat of the
Gokchah Lake ; and Armenia, to the west of this, lay round the
Van Lake.

9 Page 41. Probably the city of Amul.

10 Page 41. Kkursa*n at this date included the we&ern provinces
of modern Afghanistan.

11 Page 42. Ganjah is the capital of the Qaraba"gh (Black Garden)
province, so called from the dark foliage of its foret-clad hills. For
lack of a few words of explanation the text reads as though the Ganjah
district lay on the southern border of Sista'n.

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

12 Page 42. In the present Persian usage the title Kha*n never
precedes the personal name. But this apparently was not the in-
variable usage, as shown by the present case, which (in Turkish) stands
for " Khan, son of the Sayyid." Other examples of this usage will
be found later: thus (on p. 214) we find the king of Gilan named
Khan Ahmad, and again a certain Kha*n Muhammad Quli Khalifah
is spoken of (on p. 213).

13 Page 44. Text : " el lago Gioco"; this is taken from Botero, II,
p. 172.

u Page 44. Presumably for Ab-i-Amu. See Botero, II, p. 172,
from whom much of the foregoing description of Persia has been taken.

CHAPTER III

1 Page 46. It is from this Turkish clan that the late royal family
of Persia was descended.

2 Page 46. Qa*ra Qoyunlu : these are the clan of the Black-Sheep
Turkomans, who will be spoken of later,

3 Page 47. " Ishik-agasi-ba'shf " ; in Turkish, Chief Aga or Master
of the (Royal) Threshold. In spite of the bitter and persistent enmity,
which from the time of Shah Isma'il onwards separated Turks and
Persians, the ruling families in Persia always appear to have spoken
Turkish (whether Ottoman or Azerbayjanf) as well as Persian, while
on the other hand the Turks of Constantinople always kept up with
and read Persian literature. Further as regards the officials of the
royal household in Persia, their offices, then as now, usually and for the
most part bore Turkish names. See E.G. Browne, Persian Literature,
IV, p. 1 3-

CHAPTER IV

1 Page 50. " Celemin," of which twelve go to the bushel.

2 Page 50. " Conejos," but probably the hare is the animal
alluded to, for at the present day, too, the Persians do not eat hares,
deeming their flesh unclean.

3 Page 50. "A la gineta," and this is the early xyth century
meaning of the term, which at the present time is implied by the phrase
" cabalgar a la jineta " (while " andar a la jineta " means to go at a
short trot). The " Gineta " originally were men of the Berber tribe
of the Zeneta who had come over from Tangiers to take service with the
king of Granada, and who, like all Moorish horsemen, rode with a
very short &irrup. See Dozy and Engelmann, Glossaire, p. 276, s.v.
" Ginete." The effect is well shown in the (po&humous) equestrian
portrait of Philip III by Velazquez, now in the Prado museum.

4 Page$o. ^ Text : " Celadas de pasta de azero." What the term
" pasta " implies is uncertain.

3*4

NOTES

6 Page 53. This may refer to Shaykh Safi-ad-Din (1252-1334)
from whom the Safavi Dynasty took its name. His tomb at Ardabil
was a much-venerated shrine. He was the ancestor in the 6th degree
of Sha*h Isma'il the Grand Sophi.

6 Page 53. Text in error, " cintas de colgados."

7 Page 54. This, it may be noted, is strangely contrary to fact,
for the Turks strenuously cultivate literature. See above, ch. iii, note 3.

CHAPTER V

1 Page 58. La Libreria Susiana and Los Anales de Oriente de
BelocOy both often quoted below, but to what published works
these names refer it has been impossible to discover.

2 Page 58. The proper names in this chapter and the four
following (where the Spanish text is full of misprints) have been
corrected from the lists given in I. P. Cory's Ancient Fragments,
pp. 70-75: London, 1832; and from G. Rawlinson's Seventh
Oriental Monarchy. This without comment, and without the mis-
prints being included in the Index.

3 Page 59. Syris, son of Abraham, is not mentioned in Genesis.

* Page 61. The Iliad makes no mention of Teu thanes, Menon or
Titon : this account is doubtless derived from either Daries Phrygius
or Dictys Cretenses.

CHAPTER VII

1 Page 67 . JuvencuSj De hisloriee evangelicts Hbri quatuor : Venice,
1502.

CHAPTER VIII

1 Page 70. Abdias having been baptized by St Simon and St Jude
is said to have been ordained by them as the first Bishop of Babylon.
He is credited with the authorship of the apocryphal Hi$Jori& Apoftolicee,
which was first printed at Cologne in 1 576 : and to which as a second
part Joachim Perionus, O.S.B., added his Lives of the AposJles.

2 Page 70. Probably Artabanus III, king of Parthia, is the person
here meant.

3 Page 7 1 . The Ecclesia$Jic& Hifloriee Hbri xviii of Nicephorus
Callistus, a Latin translation of which was published at Bale in 1535
by Beatus Rhenanus. Whereto was added the HisJoria Trtyartita
consisting of the Abbreviation of the works of Socrates, Sozomen and
Theodoret by Cassiodorus. These two books go to form the appendix
to Eusebius, as translated by Rufmus, and the whole appeared under
the title ^Autores HisJoriee Ecclesiafticte.

* Page 7 1 . Text reads in error : " Esayas hi jo de Adamo."
5 Page 72. Otherwise Brichjesus and Elias.

315

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

6 Page 72. Laurentius Surius, the martyr ologi&, who wrote
De -pro baits sanftorum hiftoria, Cologne, 1576.

7 Page 72. Agathias (in Hiftoriarum libri quinque : Niebuhr,
Bonn, 1828, p. 123, Book II, cap. 27) calls him a CTK-UTOTO/AOS, which
the dictionaries transkte by Cortarius, a cobbler, or worker in leather.

8 Page 74. Text " Seganesna " : Agathias (Niebuhr edition,
p. 260, ch. iv, 24) gives Seyai/craa with variants.

9 Page 74. Text in error : " Misdates."

10 Page 76. His brother Hormisdas III preceded him from 457,
reigning a year or more. See G. Rawlinson, Seventh Oriental
Monarchy, p. 311.

11 Page 76. Text : " Valente y Cavades."

12 Page 76. Text : " Biases o Zarnblases."

CHAPTER IX

1 Page 78. Text : " hermano " in error.

2 Page 79. All this is from Agathias (Niebuhr, p. 272, iv, 29),
the proper names throughout being very incorrectly given.

3 Page 8 1 . Juan de Pineda, a well-known contemporary writer.
The work referred to is probably his Monarchia Ecclesiaftica, Burgos,
1588.

CHAPTER X

1 Page 83. Massaeus, Chronicorum multipliris Mftorite libri viginti,
Antwerp, 1540.

2 Page 8 3 . Text : ' ' Dagano Rey de los Arabes." Who he was is
uncertain.

3 Page 84. Which is Daftagird.

4 Page 84. Otherwise gob^d IL

5 Page 85. Apparently here put for Queen Punindokht, of more
authentic hi&ory.

6 Page 85. Should be Yazdagird III.

' 7 Page 86. The Arabic name of the Persian slave who killed Omar
is Abu-Luluah, " He of the Pearl." In classical Arabic Marjdn, which
now is the name commonly given to Coral, meant Pearl (see Dozy and
Lane). The word is of Aramaic origin, from which source, too, came
fmpyapLT'rjs, said to be of Persian origin in Liddell and Scott ; and
pearls indeed come from the Persian Gulf, not being found in Ionian
waters. The name Margancia, here given, is evidently Marjn.

CHAPTER XI

1 Page 88. 'All was killed by the Kharijite fanatic Ibn Muljam.
The Statement that Mu^wiyah was responsible is taken from Botero, II,
171, where his name is written Mavia, which our author misprints

316

NOTES

Manna, and a few lines later more exactly spells the name Moabia y but
apparently without recognizing that the two spellings indicate one and
the same person.

2 Page 88. More correctly, Damascus in Syria.

3 Page 88. The scattered chapters of the Coran were fir si:
gathered into a volume by the Caliph Omar, and under Othman a
revision was ordered to be made for a standard text. The revisers are
given as Zayd ibn Thdbit, 'Abd-Allah ibn Zubayr, Sa'id ibn 'As and
'Abd-ar-Rahman ibn Hrith. The list of six given in the text appears
to be apocryphal.

4 Page 88. Read Damascus, for Baghdad was only founded later.

5 Page 89. Text : "Aly Ozen, y otros dizen que Aly Huscein,"
The hi&ory of Husayn and the claims of the Alids will be more fully
treated of later by our author.

6 Page 89. Mukhtar, the celebrated partisan of the House of 'All
who avenged Husayn's death, never sought to be proclaimed Caliph.

7 Page 90. The names in the text are in great confusion here.
This name, which recurs several times, is variously misprinted, as
Amyr Suleyman and Luleimin, and then as Amyrmo Selemin or
Amurmoselemin : to wit Amir Sulayma*n, and (as though added thereto)
Amir of the Moslems, a title Abu-Muslim never affected. In point
of facl: Abu-Muslim's first name was not Sulaymdn, but 'Abd-ar-
Rahma'n, or some say Ibrahim.

8 Page 91. Zelma, son of Abu-Muslim, is unknown to Moslem
history. Marwan II was killed (according fo Tabari) by a man of
Basrah called Al-Maghud.

9 Page 91. Abu-Muslim was not his ancestor, nor was Mukhtar.

10 Page 91. Text in error : " Mahamet o Hamet Moahedin hijo
menor de Ali." The mi&ake is from Botero, II, p. 171.

11 Page 91. In error : he never claimed to be Caliph. See above,
note 6.

12 Pageyi. Text, " Abu Bakr" in error.

13 Page 92. In point of facl: Baghdad had been founded by his
great-grandfather the Caliph Mansur.

CHAPTER XII

1 Page 9 3 . The text asserts in error that he succeeded " Mahamet,"
but Muhammad and 'Abd-Allah, mentioned at the close of the last
chapter, are respectively the Caliphs Amin and Mmun, who in turn
succeeded Hdrtin-ar-Rashid. Our author gets the astonishing name
Imbrael (perhaps a misreading for Amfn-billah) from Zonaras (Bonn
edition, Vol. Ill, p. 369), who says that he was Archegos (prince)
of the Saracens, which might mean Caliph. Zonaras continues that
during the reign of the Emperor Theophilus (who succeeded his father,
Michael II the Stammerer, in 820 and reigned till 842) this Imbrael's

3 1 ?

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

Saracen commanders gained a notable vi&ory over the Greek troops
of the Emperor. The date 846 is impossible if it be the Caliph Amin,
for he reigned from 809 to 813, and Mamun, his brother, during the
next twenty years till 833, while Michael III the Sot, "Born in
the Purple" (mentioned below), succeeded his father Theophilus
in 842, being murdered in 867. In point of fadt the Caliph in the
year 846 was Wathiq, Mamun's grandson, among us better known as
the Fatkek of Beckford's romance.

2 Page 93. Ignaro means " unlearned," but who this Muhammad
was is difficult to make out, and he certainly was not a Caliph. Our
author takes his information from the Byzantine historian Cedrenus
(Niebuhr : Bonn, 1839, Vol. II, p. 567) who calls him Muhammad,
son of Imbrael ; so possibly Ignaro is merely a mistake for Imbrael>
which, as we have seen, is also the form given to the name of the Caliph
Amin (see above, note i). Probably one of the later Buyid princes
who was governor of the Isfahan diftrid is the personage who is here
referred to as Muhammad. As to Pysasyri, no Abbasid Caliph is
known under any name that is at all like this. Nicephorus Bryennius
(Bonn, 1838, p. 30) names Pysasyri as a prince only, and doubtless
Basasiri is the personage meant, no Caliph, but a Daylamite Captain
of the Guards, an ardent Shfah who made a conspiracy to dethrone the
Abbasid Caliph Qm, and bring in the Fatimite Caliph of Cairo.
Basasiri was captured and put to death by Tughril Beg the Seljuq.
For this, his unsuccessful attempt to promote the Shi' ah faith and
doctrine, Basasiri was held in much honour more than five centuries
later by Shh Isma'fl. See E. G. Browne, Persian Literature, IV, p. 54.

3 Page 94. Otherwise Tagrolipix Mucalet, which is nearer the
original (Zonaras, Vol. Ill, Bonn, 1897, p. 634); for 1 his father's
name was Mikhail.

4 Page 94. Sulaymdn I (1077-1086), the Seljuq Sultan of Rum, is
probably the personage indicated. As to his previous name of Alpha-
galo, and his uncle's name Belcepho, it is impossible to suggest any
satisfactory identification. The firsl: of the two names might, of course,
tand for Alp ArsMn, misplaced. Neither of these two personages
appear to be mentioned by any of the Byzantine historians in the
Niebuhr (Bonn) edition.

5 Page 9 5 . This probably refers to the rule of the ll-Kha"ns HtiHgu
and Abaqa in Persia, descendants of Chingiz Khn the Mongol.

6 Page 95. Gilbertus Genebrardus, Archbishop of Aix, Chrono-
graphic llbrl quatnor : Paris, 1 567.

7 Page 95. Johannes Cuspinianus, De Turcarum orlglne : Antwerp,
1541. Bartholomaeus Georgievits, De ongine 'imperil Turcorum :
Witebergae, 1560.

8 Page 95. Commonly written Amurath : in point of fat,, Sultan
Sulayman precedes Muracl I.

9 Page 96. Embassy to the Court of Tim our 9 translated by Sir

318

NOTES

Clements Markham: Hakluyt Society, 1860. The Spaniards left
Samarqand on the 2 1 si: of November 1404, and Timur died at Otrar
on the Jaxartes, whither Clavijo had not accompanied him, on the
1 7th February 1405. It was after this that Clavijo visited Timur's
grandson, Omar Mirza, son of Mirdn Shin, whom he found encamped
on the plain to the west of Tabriz, on the 28th March 1405, as Elated
later. The best edition of the Spanish text is that edited by Isrez-
nevski, with a Russian translation and a French index, published in the
Proceedings of the Imperial Academy, St. Petersburg, 1 8 8 1 .

10 Page 96. It was Bayazid II who was surnamed Ilderim, not
Timur.

CHAPTER XIII

1 Page 97. Text in error : " Bayaceto el primero."

2 Page 97. " Tall" Hasan (1466-1478), of the Clan of the Aq
Quyunli (White Sheep), but who later succeeded also to the rule of the
)ara Quyunli (Black Sheep) Turcomans in N.W. Persia. See Life
of King Ussun Cassano by Giovanni Maria Angiolello ; Venetians
in Persia, pp. 73-1 38.

3 Page 97. Afterwards Doge, 1474-1476.

4 Page 97. Rhodes since 1311 was in the occupation of the Knights
of St John of Jerusalem.

5 Page 98. Text apparently in error prints "Pedro Immola,"
The Mocenigo family seem to have had no connection with Imola.

6 Page 98. See Venetians in Persia : Zeno, p. 1 5, and Angiolello
p. 78.

7 Page 99. See Venetians in Persia: Barbaro.

8 Page^. Angiolello, p. 75, speaks hereof Abrain (Ibra*him),
another brother, whom Don Juan mentions later on (see p. 103).

9 Page 99. B. Breydenbach, De opfugnatis a Turca Conflantinopoli,
etc.: Bile, 1556.

10 Page 99. This was the battle fought at Terjn in 1473 (see
Angiolello, p. 89).

11 Page 100. Text in error: " antecessores." In what follows
some words jnust have fallen out in printing, for as the text Elands it
makes no sense.

BOOK II
CHAPTER I

1 Page 103. See above, note 8 to previous chapter.

2 Page 104. Amandus of Zieriksee, Chronic a comfendiosisima ab
exordio mundi : Antwerp, 1534.

3 Page 104. Paolo Giovio, Commentarii delle cose de' Turchi* di
Paolo Giovio : Venice, 1541.

4 Page 1 06. See above, Bk. I, ch. xi, note r.

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

5 Page 10 7. The text gives in error, " su sobrino " (nephew), but
Botero, from whom the information comes, has rightly " suo nipote."

6 Page 107. " Black John," otherwise known as John IV, of the
Comneni family. He reigned from 1446 to 1461, when Trebizond
was taken by the Turks under Sultan Muhammad II. The following
genealogical table will be found useful for the remainder of this and the
following chapters.

Emperor Kalo Joannes

Despina = Uzun Hasan Khadijah = Shaykh Janayd, a

descendant through
the Ima*ms of the
Caliph <Ali.

Sultan
Ya'qub

Martha = Shaykh Haydar

Rustam

Isma'il

Mura*d Alvand

7 Page 1 08. Botero, II, p. 171.

8 Page 108. Italian text gives " Azembec," misprinted in the
Spanish text as "Azembre." In the Hakluyt Society's volume of
Venetian Travellers Uzun Hasan is referred to, variously, as " Ussun
Cassano " by Zeno and by Contavini, but he is " Assambei " in
Barbaro and in the narrative of the Anonymous Merchant.

9 Page 109. For an account of the early years of Shin Isma'fl see
E. G. Browne, Persian Literature, IV, pp. 47-52.

10 Page no. In the text given as " Ysmael Syach Arduelino
Cuseluas Nazarij." The words, a mixture of Arabic and Persian,
taken literally mean : " Isma'il, Shaykh of Ardebil, him of the Red
Bonnet of Twelve (points)."

11 Page 1 10. Called " lazos " in the text. Sha"h Isma'il claimed
descent from Hamzah, younger brother of the Imdm JAli Riza*, the two
being the sons of Mus Klzim the Seventh Imdm. The full number
of the Ima'ms was twelve, the last being Muhammad the Mahdf, who
had disappeared, but in the fulness of time was to return to reign in
glory and ju&ice over Persia and the reft of the Moslem^ world.

320

NOTES

CHAPTER II

1 Page 113. Tekelli was the instigator of the Shi'ah insurrection in
Asia Minor which led to some 40,000 of their sed being massacred at
the hands of the Turks. The Persians called Tekelli " Shah guli," " the
King's Servant," but the Turks knew him as " Shayta*n Quli," " the
Devil's Servant." It will be observed that our author makes no reference
to the terrible massacre which Richard Knolles, Sir Paul Rycaut and
others all speak of as having taken place in the reign of Bayazid II,
though some transfer its horrors to the year 1514 after the accession of
Sultan Selim theGrim (E. G&iom^Persian Literature JN,^. 7 Q-T$).
For contemporary Sultans and Sha*hs see the table given above, p. 312.

2 Page 113. For the convenience of his Spanish readers Don Juan,
or rather the Licentiate Rem6n, keeps here, and generally in what
comes later, to the old names of the provinces of Asia Minor, though,
of course, in the I5th century all this country had long passed to a
Turkish nomenclature. Cilicia (with Lycaonia and Phrygia) had
become Qarama'n, Bithynia was Qizil-Ahmadlu, the two Armenias
(Major and Minor) occupied the ancient provinces of Cappadocia
and Galatia, and Asia Minor in general was known as Anatolia, with
Iconium, Qoniah, for capital.

3 Page 1 1 6. c AM-ad-Dawlah, of the Dhu-1-Qadar family, was ruler
of Kamakh, lying weft of Arzinja'n on the left bank of the Western
Euphrates. His little kingdom appears to have extended down into
Lesser Armenia between the Taurus and Antitaurus ranges of Cilicia.
By Don Juan he is called Aladulo ; Angiolello gives his name as Alidolat ;
the Anonymous Merchant as Aliduli ; and Knolles as Aladeules.

4 Page ii 7. Text in error prints " su sobrino Sultan Amurath."
See above, p. 115, and cf. Hammer-Purgsliall, Geschichte des osman-
ischen Retches (Pest, 1 827), II, 395.

s Page 117. Text : " Vftaolago," and frequently mentioned m the
Venetian Travellers : he was Sha"h Isma'iTs brother-in-law, the King
having given him one of his sixers in marriage ; and was by birth a Turk
from Anatolia. Zeno (p. 60) refers to him as Stacalu Amarbei, and
Angiolello (p. 120) as Stugiali Mamet Bei, while the Anonymous
Merchant has (p. 195) Uftagialu Maumut Bee, and in added error
(p. 152) prints Cu&agialu Mahmutbec.

6 Page 1 1 8. The battle-field of Chaldirin lay in the plain some
di&ance to the wesl of Tabriz, and about half-way between that city
and Khoy. Our author refers to the place as the " Campos Calderanos,"
and this same name he afterwards gives to the plains at the jundion
of the Cyrus and Araxes rivers in Shirvn : these two different places,
therefore, musl; be distinguished apart. , _ .

7 Page 1 1 8. European Turkey was known as Roumelia, Asiatic
Turkey as Anatolia, and the two comprised all the Ottoman Empire,
previous to conquests in Egypt and Syria,

321 y

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

CHAPTER III

1 Page 1 20. Text: " Sasso Varoglo." Knolles (p. 520) gives his
name as Ms Beg. See Hammer-Purg&all, II, p. 42 1 .

2 Page 121. Ashraf Q^nsuh Ghurf, the penultimate Burji
Mamluk Sultan of Egypt, 1 500 to 1 5 16.

3 Page 121. See Angiolello, p. 126.

* Page 122. For Janberdi Ghazzalf see Hammer-Purgftall, II,
p. 495. In the text this name is misprinted " Lamburdo Gazelle,"
but Knolles (p. 527) writes : " lamburd, surnamed Gazelles, he having
been a servant of the Great Kait Bey." This is " lamburdus Gazellus "
as found in Boissard (p. 148), who is doubtless his authority. There is
conflict of authority as to the spelling of the name Ghazzali, which thus
written would be a nickname meaning " the Spinner," but some would
write Gazali, as though from a place called Ghazal.

6 Page 122. Rhodes only fell to the Turkish arms at the end of
1 522 in the reign of Sultan Sulayma'n the Magnificent after the famous
siege which had lasted five months.

6 Page 123. Text, " Matera" : Angiolello (p. 131) has Maharra.
The village lies six miles from Cairo.

7 Page 124. All this was for the conquest of Rhodes and the
expulsion of the Knights of St. John ; but this was only brought off by
his son Sultan Sulayma'n.

8 Page 1 24. Chorlu, half-way between Constantinople and Adrian-
ople, where in his youth Selim had fought against his father, the aged
Sultan Bayazid II, leading to his capture and death. See above, p. 1 1 5.

9 Page 124. Sultan Selim died in September 1520; Shall
Isma'fl in May 1 524.

10 Page 1 24. For Vlaman see Hammer-Pur g&all, III, p. 142, and
Boissard (p. 307), who devotes a chapter to this Vlamas Begus, and
writes, " qui et Zilamas et Vlammanus ab aliis dicetur," but what name
Vlaman or Ulaman stands for in Persian it is hard to say. Boissard
(p. 184) Plates that he had beguiled a sister of Sha"h Tahma'sp to marry
him, and hence had been obliged to flee the country. Knolles (p. 649)
speaks of him as " Vlemas, the fugitive Persian prince."

11 Page 12$. In the text, " por mano del Calyfa della" (i.e.,
Babylonia), this being a translation from Boissard (p. 185), who writes
of the " Calipha religionis Musulmannicse sumrnus Pontifex." There
was, of course, no Caliph at this date in Baghdad : hence the Grand
Mufti is the person indicated. If anyone was Caliph at this period
it was Sultan Sulayma'n himself, who had inherited the Caliphate from
his father Selim the Grim, who is said to have forced the last puppet
Caliph of the Abbasids to make over his rights to the Turkish Sultan,
after Cairo (where the puppet Caliphs had resided since the fall of
Baghdad in 1258) had now become the capital of a Turkish province.

and other writers of the i6th century, however, frequently
322

NOTES

give the title of Caliph to the Mufti or chief Mulla of a Moslem city.
Thus Boissard (p. n) refers to the " Califfe di Casbin" in the time of
Sha~h IsmaU

12 Page 12$. A conje6tural emendation; the text has "Deliment."
Boissard (p. 186), who refers these events to the year 1536, writes
Delimannus. In Turkish Deli is " mad," an epithet often added to
proper names, but the Oriental authorities quoted by Hammer-Purgstali
do not mention him. This glorious Persian victory appears to be a
patriotic invention on the part of our author. The authorities quoted
in E. G. Browne (Persian Literature, IV, p. 87) indeed refer to a great
snowstorm which overcame the Turks when invading Azerbayja*n
at this time, but no mention is made in Boissard or elsewhere as to any
great defeat of the Turkish arms.

CHAPTER IV

1 Page 128. Minadoi (p. 4) writes: "il ca&ello Cheiseri, da
Turchi nominate Chars."

2 Page 128. This is a mistake on the part of our author. Minadoi
calls Hera"t Hen and Shirdz Siras, and Don Juan's liras is merely a
misreading for Hen. Muhammad Khudl-Bandah during Shh
Tahm^sp's lifetime was transferred from Herat where he left his
young son 'Abba's Mirza", afterwards Shall 'Abba's, as nominal governor
going as ordered to take up his posl: as governor of Shira*z. See
Browne, Persian Literature^ IV, p. 100.

3 Page 129. It should be remembered that Mirza coming after
the personal name, as in this case, is equivalent to Prince ; but Mirza"
Salmon, with the personal name following, becomes a title for any
educated person. Mirza" is the shortened form of Amir 'Lddah > " Son
of the Amir."

4 Page 129. Here, for our author's Yzacau we should read, with
Minadoi (p. 4), Zalchan or Zal Khan.

6 Page 130, Some words must have dropped out here in printing,
for as the text stands it makes no sense ; but our author is translating
from Minadoi (p. 6), who writes : " Periaconcona, donna d'eta*
maggiore di tutti quesli suoi fratelli," among whom was " il fanciullo
Mustaffa, uno delli otto figli sudetti " namely, of Sh^h Tahmasp.
This Mu&afa" is the fourth son out of the eleven children of Shih
Tahma*sp, but Don Juan has not yet named him.

6 Page 130. The name misprinted here in the text is Kamal,
and later the same personage is called Xamhac; see E. G. Browne,
Persian Literature, IV, p. 101.

7 Page 131. Text: "Xamhac" (see previous note). This is the
Spanish mispronunciation for the Italian Sahamal, which is Persian
Shamkhal. Minadoi (p. 9), from whom our author is translating,
writes of him as " Sahamal adunque Georgiano del medesimo giovane

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

zio," though in fact Shamkhal was only half-uncle, and goes on to
relate how Zalcan or Zal Kha'n, his real uncle, tried unsuccessfully to
save Haydar's life.

8 Page 132. Text : " el gran Calyfa." See above, ch. in, note 1 1.

9 Page 132. The generally received account of the death of
Isma'fl II is otherwise. According to this account, during the sacred
month of the Ramazan (from dawn to dark) fast, one night the Shah
had gone out (after the hours of fasting) with a boon-companion, a
pastry-cook ; he had got drunk, and at dawn had returned to sleep off
his potations at the pastry-cook's house. Here later in the day he
was found dead, but whether death was from an overdose of opium, or
by strangulation, or from poison purposely given, was a question not
too closely investigated by his relations. See E.G. Browne, Persian
Literature, IV, p. 99.

10 Page 132. The accompanying genealogical table will make
details clear of what follows :

Isma'ill: 1502
Tahma'sp 1 : 1524

Isma'il II :
1576

Haydar

Princess Pari-
Kha"n-Kha"num

Muhammad Khuda"-
Bandah: 1578

I
Tahma'sp

Abu
Talib

Sha*h 'Abba's :
1587-1629

i

Hamzah

Mirzd

11 Page 132. Text here and later, " Mirize Salmas," copied from
Minadoi, p. 16 ; but see below, ch. viii, p. 168.

12 Page 134. Khud~Bandah in Persian is the equivalent of the
name c Abd- Allah in Arabic, and means " the Slave or Servant of God."
Minadoi (p. 5), in mentioning that Prince Muhammad in his father's
lifetime had showed no ambition for government by reason of his
infirmity of sight, adds : " per la malatia de gli occhi, onde per sopra
nome era detto Codabanda," as though the two Persian words had the
meaning of " blind."

13 Page 135. E. G. Browne (Persian Literature., IV, p. 101) Elates
that it was Khalil Khan Afsha*r who put the Princess to death.

CHAPTER V

1 Page 136. In this and the following chapters the proper
names of places and persons which are taken, but miscopied, from
Minadoi, are rectified from Hammer-Purg^lall, whose work is based

324

NOTES

on Turkish sources. Thus our author's spellings "Zuyeldei" and
" Quieldier " are both from Minadoi's " Chielder " or " Childir."
Again, Don Juan's " Vftref Baxa " is the Turkish " Khusrev " (or
" Husref") for the Persian "Khusraw" : the Turks commonly pro-
nouncing the hard Kh almost as an H 9 which letter the Italians and
Spaniards do not pronounce at all; while the / has been inserted
apparently for euphony. When Hammer-Purgstall fails us the name
is given as in Minadoi : e.g. 9 " Bagli " for " Bally " in the Spanish text.
At the end of Volume IV of Hammer-Purg&all a useful map of
Georgia is given, and here made use of.

2 Page 139. See below ; the text in error has " la viuda de Desmit,"
as though Desmit had been the name of her husband. Minadoi
(p. 34) spells the name Dedesmit. Hammer-Pur g&all (IV, p. 67) has
Dede Semid ; and he calls the prince, her late husband, by his Persian
name of Kay Khusraw. Lavarza is his name as given by Don Juan
on a later page.

3 Page 139. Albania was then the name of the north-western part
of Georgia.

* Page 139. Here, in the text, printed as Arax, but later on
always given as Eres. (The river Araxes, Rem6n writes of as the Aras.)
Eres was a great city Standing near the left bank of the lower Araxes,
below the junction of the Cyrus (Kur), and close to where, below again,
the river Kanak, a left bank affluent of the Araxes, flowed in. No trace
of the city of Eres now appears on the map, nor is the Kanak river
marked. Its ruins must lie in the neighbourhood of the marshes.
See Minadoi, pp. 52 and 61 ; Hammer-Pur gftall, IV, 70 (who refers
to it as Aresh) . Botero (I, p. 121) mentions Eres as one of the " keys "
whereby the Turks hold Shirvin ; it was famous for its manufacture
of fluffs in white silk, " che i mercadanti chiamano Mamodec " ; for
which see Hobson Jobson (Yule, 1903, p. 707), where Mamoodec is
given as a corruption ofMahmudi. No mention of Eres is to be found
in the works of the Arab Geographers, or in Hamd-Allah Musfawfi.
Sharaf-ad-Din Yazdf describes in much detail the campaign of Timur
in Georgia in 1403 and 1413, but no name like Eres occurs in his pages.

5 Page 139. See above, ch. ii, note6.

8 Page 139, Qulzum, the Arabic form of the Greek Clysma (the
name for the Red Sea), was wrongfully transferred by the Persians to the
Caspian. The error arose from a confusion between " Qulzum " and
" Qurzum," the name for the beaver, whose skins were so largely
exported from these countries.

7 Page 140. Hammer-Purgftall (IV, p. 67) speaks of him as
Gregory.

8 Page 140. See below. The name Lab ass ap has been omitted
here in the text : cf. Minadoi, p. 5 3.

9 Page 140. The Essekia Lake must be the present Gokchah
Tengiz.

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

10 Page 140. Tabulated thus :
I. Prince Lavarza = Widow Desmit

or Kay Khusraw

or Dede Semid.

Alexander or Manuchihr, later the

Gregory Regenade

II. Labassap or Lavarsab

David Kha"n, Simon Kha*n,

renegade renegade

III. Levente or Levan

Iskandar *Isa Kha*n

Leventoghlu

IV. Ytisuf, son of Gori, lord of the Gori Country.

V. Prince Shamkhal and his son Ima'm Quli Kha*n.

VI. Bashachuk, lord of the city of Bashachuk on Lake Essekia.

The termination to proper names oghlti or oghli is Turkish, and
means "son of."

11 Page 141. Our author makes the mistake of taking Minadoi's
Italian word " armata " (an armada of ships) as though it were the
name of a town, which he prints as Armidia. Minadoi (p. 59) writes
" per la via di Colco mandando nel mar maggiore armata alia foce del
flume Facis." In our text this is given as " enbiando a Armidia al mar
mayor por el lado de los Albanos." This, as noted in the Introduction
(p. 1 2), looks as though the Licentiate dictated his translation of Minadoi
to one who wrote it down, misunderstanding the meaning. Further,
it is evident that Rem6n had before him the Italian text, and not the
Spanish translation by Herrera (Madrid, 1588), for he (Herrera, p. 32
recto) has not been guilty of this absurd mi translation. But he in his
turn has a small mistake a few lines above, where for Strabo, Book II,
as given by Minadoi and correctly reproduced by Rem6n, Herrera
has " libro xi."

12 Page 143. See Minadoi (p. 81), who has mi&ranslated the name
as " Lago dei Schiavi," whereas the Turkish words " Pervana Gul "
mean " Moth Lake."

13 Page 144. Minadoi (p. 85), from whom the account is trans-
lated, has " hora Mu&afFa varcato il scosceso e 1'erto dei monti di

326

NOTES

Tiflis," which our author gives as " passo Muftafa el rio Escoceso,"
taking the word " scosceso " in the Italian, which means the scarp, or
foot-hill of a mountain, as though indicating the name of a stream called
the Scotch River. The same mistake is repeated later on p. 14.9.

u Page 145. See above, note 4.

15 Page 146. Text has " Emangulichan Aguencie."

CHAPTER VI

1 Page 147. Called " Esmeriles."

2 Page 148. Minadoi (p. 101) has " Hossain Bey figlio del
Giambulat secondo," because seven sons were born to him by his
wives in a single night.

3 Page 149. Text : " las riberas Escocesas del mar negro." See
above, ch. v, note 1 3 .

4 Page 150. See E. G. Browne, Persian Literature, IV, p. 102.
She was a princess of the Mar'ashi Sayyids of Mazandaran and the
mother of the four sons of the Shall namely, Hamzah, 'Abba's
(afterwards Sha"h 'Abba's) Abu Talib and Tahma'sp.

5 Page i $2. Minadoi, p. 1 1 6.

6 Page 1 54. Hammer-Purg&all (IV, p. 77) gives his name as
Imdm Quli Kha*n (not to be confounded with the Persian commander-
in-chief of the same name).

CHAPTER VII

1 Page 1 60. Hammer-Purgftall (IV, p. 8 1) describes this raid of the
year 1580, but does not mention the names of the Turkish commanders.
These are given from Minadoi, p. 1 69. What Turkish name Tal-oghli
Stands for is uncertain.

2 Page 162. The ceremonies of the circumcision of Sultan MurjCd's
eldest son, Muhammad, were celebrated for their magnificence and
are fully described by Hammer-Purg&all (IV, p. 118). They took
place in June and July 1582, but though Ibrahim Khan, the Persian
Ambassador, is mentioned by name (IV, p. 1 17) nothing is said of this
trick played upon him, and which, as will be duly recorded on a later
page, Shh 'Abbas, son of Muhammad Khud^-Bandah, took occasion
to avenge (see below, p. 232).

CHAPTER VIII

1 Page 1 68. Minadoi, pp. 209-216.

2 Page 169. Far hid Pasha was appointed to his command in
1583 (Hammer-Purg&all, IV, p. 85), and at this time Prince 'Abba's
was only in his twelfth year.

3 Page 169. Eriva*n lies in the plain a few miles to the north of
Mount Ararat. The town was founded in the reign of Sha*h Isma'il I

327

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

by Rrvin Khin, otherwise Eriva"n, who gave It his name, and it was then
the frontier fortress of Persia against Georgia (Hammer-Purgftall,
IV, p. 86). See also above, Bk. I, ch. ii, note 8.

4 Page 170. Thus Minadoi (p. 221), but Hammer-Purg&aH
(IV, p. 86) calls him Yusuf Pasha. On a later page (IV, 669), how-
ever, he speaks of him as Sinan Pasha, and spates that Cicala or Cigala,
his father, had been a Spanish nobleman who, travelling by sea with his
son, had fallen into the hands of the Turks and subsequently died in
prison. His son, a boy of twelve, was afterwards brought up in Con-
stantinople, where he embraced Islam, when doubtless he received the
Moslem name Ytisuf (or Sinaii) . He had soon risen to high command
in the Turkish service, being known by them as Chighala-zdeh
(Cicala-son) Sinzln Pasha. Later Don Juan generally refers to him
simply as Cicala, using his father's family name.

5 Page 170. Text in error : "al An lro"; but see Minadoi, p. 219,
and ante, Bk. II, ch. ii, note 6.

6 Page 173. See Minadoi, p. 232.

7 Page 174. Text : " fanega " ; and see Minadoi, p. 236.

8 Page 175. Text: " Espaollanes."

9 Page 177. " Cumano " in Minadoi, p. 251. Hammer-Purgsftall
(IV, p. 94) calls him Muhammad Ghiray, surnamed Semiz " the fat."

10 Page 178. Hammer-Purgslall (IV, p. 95) gives his name as
IsMm Ghiray.

11 Page I So. Minadoi, p. 300.

12 Page 1 80. In the Arunaq diric"t; see the Translation of the
Nuzkat~al-Qu2ub 9 p. 82.

13 Page 182. The fall of Tabriz took place at the end of September
1585 (Hammer-Purgftall, IV, p. 171).

u Page 182. Mount Valiya'n.

15 Page 1 8 6. The tomb of Ghaza"n Kha"n, the Mongol ruler of
Persia, who died in 1304. Minadoi (p. 321) gives the queer spelling
" Sancazan," which our author, who musl: have known the place well,
turns into CasTilian pronunciation as " Xam Cassam."

CHAPTER IX

1 Pageity. Text:"bara."

2 Page 189. The head keeper of the wardrobe, " Qtirchi."

3 Page 191. For the movable-tower (called Beftroi, or Cat-castle)
see Sir C. Oman, Hi$ory of the Art of $^(1924), I, p. 134 ; II, p. 49-

CHAPTER X

1 Page 195. The second name as given in the text is printed " Valy
Cantacaly," and on a later page " Baly," or " Bely Can." What this
ftands for is uncertain. Hammer-Purgftall (IV, p- 176) and Minadoi

328

NOTES

(p. 336) agree that the second Turkoman chief commonly bore the
name of Khalifah Khan. As will be seen below (see note 2 to ch. xi)
Baly or Paly or Galy stands with our author for Ali and Khalf(fah).

2 Page 196. Text here and later : Baly or Bely Can.

3 Page 199. What this name Stands for is uncertain.

4 Page 200. Alamut, formerly the headquarters of the Assassins
lying to the N.W. of Qazvin. Minadoi (p. 341), writing from
Turkish sources, States that the young prince was sent to " la Rocca
di Cahaca," which is Qahqahah, a neighbouring ftronghold.

6 Page 200. " No hay peor Iadr6n que el de casa."
6 Page 202. Hammer-Pur gftall (IV, p. 177) spells this name
" Esma " (writing from Turkish authorities), and possibly this may be a
corruption of the common name " Ismet." Esma Kha*n was also a
woman's name, having been borne by the si&er of Sulta*n Mura*d, who
married her to Sokolli Pasha the Grand Vizier (Hammer-Purg&all,

III, p. 392).

CHAPTER XI

1 Page 204. Text : " Cudy de Lac, que es como si dixeramos en
Espanol Cudi el barbero." See E. G. Browne, Persian Literature,

IV, p. 101. Minadoi (p. 364) calls him " un suo cu&ode Eunucho."
In Hammer-Purg&all (IV, p. 177), writing from Turkish sources,
his name is given as Judf, which Sir John Malcolm (Hifiory of Persia,
II, p. 521, 4to, 1815) has misread as Hoodee.

2 Page 206. The text prints " Gali Can," and later " Valichan
Can," a name which tentatively may be given as *Ali Kha*n. See
above, ch. x, note I .

ag 207. -^ o ge t j eiie p or k uen mor0j

Quien no le daba lanzada."

In the text only the firsl: line is cited and with " tenia " for " tiene."

4 Page 209. Prince 'Abba's was somewhat older than this in 1588,
having been born in January 1571 or perhaps 1572* See E. G.
Browne, Literary Hiflory, IV, p. 103.

5 Page 21 1. The abdication took place in 1587, and afterwards
the old king lived peacefully in retirement till his death in 1596.
(E. G. Browne, Literary History, IV, p. 102.)

CHAPTER XII

1 Page 212. Hammer-Purg&all (IV, p. 181) says the chief of the
mission was named Mahdi Quli KMn Chaushli.

2 Page 213. As to the title Kha"n preceding the personal name
in this case, and again (p. 214) in the name of the King of GiHn (Khln
Ahmad), see Bk. I, ch. ii, note 12. Of this well-timed treaty (March
1590), which enabled Shdh 'Abba's to settle the internal affairs of his

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

kingdom, details are given by Hammer-Purg&all (IV, p. 183). Don
Juan discreetly omits one clause of the treaty which must have harassed
Shi'ah religious susceptibilities. Shalt Isma'fl I, in establishing the
new form of Shi'ah faith, had made it obligatory that every Persian
in Mosque and market-place should publicly curse the fir si: three
Caliphs of the Sunnis (Abu Bakr, Omar and Othman), who, the
Shi'ahs held, had unlawfully after the Prophet's death kept 4 Ali
from becoming Caliph. In deference now to Sunni susceptibilities
Shall 'Abba's promised that this cursing of the Orthodox (Sunni)
Caliphs should cease : and publicly this must have been the case,
till some twelve years later, in 1602, when the treaty was practically
abrogated by the retaking of Tabriz from the Ottomans, when doubt-
less the cursing began afresh.

3 Page 216. It is not very clear who this Prince Isma'fl was.
Perhaps for " niece " we should read " grand-niece," in which case her
father was Isma'fl Mirza* Sulta*n (see above, p. 202), eldest son of the
late Prince Hamzah. Sir John Malcolm, however (I, pp. 521 and 5 2 2),
makes mention of a brother of Hamzah Mirza*, of the name of Isma'il.

4 Page 217. "Beng" is Indian hemp (Cannabis Indlcd)^ an
intoxicant, the use of which pious Moslems regard as unlawful. Eengi
is the ad je dive therefrom, implying one under its evil effects.

5 Page 218. The same Turk tribe from which the late royal house
of Persia is descended.

6 Page 224. See Malcolm, Hittory, I, p. 528.

7 Page 227. What this river, marking the frontier, is, it is difficult
to determine.

BOOK III
CHAPTER I

1 Page 232. See above, p. 161. It is noteworthy that Hammer-
Purgtall makes no mention of the Turkish ambassador Muhammad
Aga the Grand Chaush, but he, of course, wrote from Turkish authori-
ties, who discreetly might well prefer to pass the matter over in silence.

2 Page 233. Robert, commonly known as Count Sherley (1581-
1628). He remained in Persia till 1608, fairly well treated by Sha*h
'Abba's, who then despatched him as his ambassador to Europe, once
more eager to try and stir up the Princes of Christendom against the
Turk. Count Sherley travelled by Cracow to Prague (1609), and
thence through Florence to Rome, where the Pope Paul V received him.
Then going from Genoa by sea to Barcelona he reached Madrid in
1610, and in August 1611 finally got back to England and was duly
received in audience by James I. After eighteen months at home
Sir Robert once more set out for Persia, but this time by the long sea
route round the Cape of Good Hope, leaving Dover in January 1612.
Being unable to land in the Persian Gulf, he proceeded to India, and

330

NOTES

only left Surat in September 1614. He reached Isfahan In June 1615,
and in October of the same year was again sent back by Sha"h 'Abba's
as his ambassador to the Christian Powers. On reaching Goa, he
found that he had missed the annual sailing and was not able to set out
for Lisbon till the following year. He at last reached Spain in 1617,
and remained there for the next five years. In 1622 he left Spain and
via Rome came to England, where he remained from January 1623 to
March 1627, when for the third and lasl: time he went out to Persia.
Again he went round the Cape, reaching the Persian Gulf in November,
and arrived at Isfahan in April 1628, where he saw the Sha*h, but was
none too favourably received. Three months later at Qazvfn he died
very suddenly, at the age of 47, after a life that reads like a romance.
See The Sherley Brothers.

3 Page 233. Purchas, Pilgrims, VIII, pp. 43 8 and 443, where the
name of the Franciscan is given as Alfonso Cordero, and the Dominican
as NicolSCo Di-Meto.

4 Page 234. Text reads " Uzen AH Bech " : which name Antonio
de Gouvea (Relation des guerre s de Cha Abbas, 1646, p. 105) writes
Ussern Alibeg. Pietro Duodo, however (Schefer, pp. vi and 277),
spells the name Hassan Halevech; and Purchas (VIII, p. 439) has
Assan Chan. His name none the less was certainly Husayn, not Hasan,
for Don Juan always spells the first with or U in the first vowel,
while Hasan has A.

5 Page 235. See above, Bk. II, ch. v, note 6.

6 Page 235. Pietro Duodo (Schefer, p. 277) names the port
of embarkation in GiKn Ruisar. The following description of the
Caspian Sea is taken from Botero, I, p. 121. It was evidently all
new travelling to Don Juan.

7 Page 236. Text: " perros marinos."

8 Page 237. Text : " panetes."

9 Page 23%. Botero, I, p. 121.

10 Page 238. The Arabian geographers call the Volga I til. Later
our author writes Eder as a rule.

11 Page 239. Text: " El navfo ajorc6," tentative translation, for
the verb " ajorcar " does not appear in the Academy Dictionary.

12 Page 239. Text: "Vezino," which the Dictionary of the
Academy explains as a person " que tiene casa y hogar en un
pueblo." See above, Bk I, ch. ii, note 5. Don Juan's views as to the
population of Russian towns are, of course, founded on what he thought
a likely computation, and the figures need not be taken seriously.

CHAPTER II

1 Page 241. Text : " Ordes." See Botero, II, p. 117.

2 Page 242. The Nogay Tartars were one of the Five Hordes
(Botero, II, p. 117).

331

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

3 Page 242. Text : " piexas de gerga breadas."

4 Page 242. Text : " al mode de tornos."

6 Page 242. The Realm 1600 was worth about sevenpence.
9 Page 245. Botero, I, p. 97.

7 Page 245. The Volga and the We&ern Dvina (flowing to the
Baltic) take their rise in the Valdai hills, and not in any lake. Botero,
who apparently is the first to give the name Voluppo, probably
made this confusion, having misread the name from some map he had
before him.

8 Page 246. Text: "Nechena" or "Nochena." Purchas (?/7-
grims, VIII, p. 442) writes Negson. Pietro Duodo (Schefer, p. 277)
gives Nisnogorod. Novgorod has the meaning of " New Town."

9 Page 24.7. Text: " los Precopenses" that is, the Perekop
Tartars of the Crimea, who, Botero asserts (II, pp. 8r and 117), took
their name from the title of their Prince. This, however, is a mistake :
Perekop in Russian means " a cross-ditch," and is properly both the
name of the isthmus joining the Crimea to the mainland, and the name
of the little town at this place which &ood on the vallum defending the
isthmus.

10 Page 249. In text given under the Grange form of " Valla
de Amor."

11 Page 250. Antonius Possevinus, surnamed the Elder : Moscovta,
et alia opera de ftatu kujus seculi : Cologne, 1587.

CHAPTER III

1 Page 252. Tsar Boris Godunof (1598-1605). He had mur-
dered Tsar Feodor I and usurped his throne.

2 Page 254. W. Parry, who a&ed as secretary to Sir Anthony
Sherley, and wrote an account of their journey through Russia (Purchas,
Pilgrims^ VIII, p. 446), describing Moscow, says that he saw the
Great Bell carried in procession from the Kremlin to a shrine some
thirty miles outside the town. It weighed, he slates, 20 tons, and was
drawn along the whole way on a sledge, to which 3,500 men were
harnessed, hauling on six great cables " after the manner of our
Westerne Bargemen." So heavy was the weight that the friction of
the moving sleigh set fire to the baulks of timber which there paved the
Greets of Moscow. Subsequently the Bell was hung in the Tower
of Ivan the Great in the Kremlin, where Adam Olearius (Delation du
Foyage, 4to, Paris, 1666, I, p. 107), the Secretary of the Dutch
Embassy, saw it in 1636. He writes that he heard it had been cast in
the reign of Tsar Boris Godunof, and it weighed 336 quintals accord-
ing to his reckoning. In 1654, this bell having fallen and broken, the
metal was recast; and the same disaster happening in 1733, again
the bell was recast. This third and last bell the Tsar Kolokol or
"King Bell" late in the i8th century became cracked, and it now

332

NOTES

Elands dumb at the bottom of the Ivan Tower, with a great piece
fallen out of its rim. But some of its metal undoubtedly is that of
the Great Bell seen by Don Juan in 1 599.

3 Page 257. Text : " dos arrobas."

4 Page 257. Text : " una azumbre de vino." In the early I7th
century the Ducat and the Escudo (Crown), almost its equivalent, were
worth rather more than six shillings ; we may perhaps count three to
the sterling. Hence about .1,000 of that time, but ten times as
much in modem value.

6 Page 2,$%. W. Parry (Purchas, Pilgrims, VIII, pp. 443 and
449) has a different story to tell of the Dominican Friar and his fate.
According to Parry, the Franciscan and the Dominican fell out while
voyaging up the Volga in the galleys, and before reaching Nizhni
Novgorod the Franciscan complained to Sherley of his colleague,
saying " that Friar Nicolao had spent his life most lewdly in the
Indies," and further had embezzled to his own use the money of
his superiors which had been confided to him. On which charge
Sherley imprisoned the Dominican on board his galley, and kept
him in durance the whole time the party stayed awaiting orders at
Nizhni. On arriving at Moscow Sherley and his colleague the
Persian ambassador quarrelled, and on the representation of the latter
Tsar Boris refused to allow the Englishman the rank of Envoy Pleni-
potentiary of the Sha*h travelling to Europe. Further he ordered
the Friar to be set at liberty, who finding Sherley was out of favour
at court told lies, in his disfavour, to the Tsar's Lord Chancellor.
At a public enquiry into the case Sir Anthony, " being inflamed with
choler," knocked the Friar down, a vindication of his character and a
line of conduct which evidently pleased the Tsar, for afterwards
Sherley was " used the better " and ultimately dismissed from Moscow
with honour. According to Parry's account the Dominican was
simply left behind in Moscow when the others departed. Later, as
they were on the point of taking ship at Archangel, news came in that
the Lord Chancellor had finally recognized the Friar to be a swindler,
had ordered him to be stripped of his ill-gotten moneys, " leaving him
not so much as his Friar's Weede, and whether hee caused his throat
to bee cut, it was uncertaine, but not unlike."

6 Page 258. Easter 1600. O.S., March 23.

7 Page 258. The river on which Pereyaslav stands is the Nerl,
which flows directly into the Volga.

8 Page 259. Text : " Barem " ; elsewhere " Batem." Don Juan is
apparently unaware that this stream up which he travelled from
Yaroslav to Rybinsk is the Volga. From Rybinsk they must have
taken a Volga affluent, and then by a short portage have reached the
head waters of the Northern Dvina, down which (also spoken of as the
Barem or Batem) he proceeded to Totma. Brusensk, the next stage,
is on an affluent of the Dvina, called the Sukhona, Ambassador

333

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

Duodo, by report, says that they went from Moscow " a Such.no,
dove di novo imbarcati nella Dvina per Colmogvo (Kholrnagory)
pervennero a S. Nicolas " (Schefer, p. 277).

9 Page 260. Text : " Corer Arcancher." The first word is a
mistake for " Gorod," meaning " town." Botero (I, p. 99) calls
Archangel San Nicolo, as also Duodo, by report (Schefer, p. 277).

CHAPTER IV

1 Page 264. Text : " Caballos marines," doubtless dolphins.

2 Page 265. This must be the e&uary of the Elbe and the town
mentioned below, Stode or Stade lying on its left bank some 2 5 miles
to the we&of Hamburg. Here W. Parry disembarked ; see Purchas,
Pilgrims, VIII, p. 449 ; and above, Introduction, note 4.

3 Page 265. This bird's-eye view of Germany is derived from
Botero (I, pp. 69-71). Bucavia was the eastern part of Hesse, of
which the chief town was Fulda.

4 Page 266. John XIII, Duke of Oldenburg, 1577-1609, or his
deputy.

6 Page 266. This is the last time Don Juan mentions the Friar,
but he apparently accompanied the Embassy at least as far as Bohemia,
for Pietro Duodo (Schefer, p. 278) writes of "un certo frate scalzo
Portuguese " who visited the Papal Nuncio in Prague.

6 Page 268. Text: "el rinon de Alemania"; Botero, I, p. 71 :
" il grasso di Germanis." Georgius Agricola, a writer on scientific
subjects, died in 1555.

7 Page 268. These places are given out of order, coming from
Embden. Alsfeld is south of Kassel, and Weimar a considerable
di&ance to the west, and south of Halle. Both must have been visited
after leaving Kassel, not before. What follows is taken from Botero.

8 Page 268. Lewis II, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, 1596-1626.

9 Page 2 jo. This may be either Eisleben,- 20 miles west, or
Aschersleben, 30 miles to the north-west, of Halle ; and it is the only
name on the list which can be recognized : the others seern beyond
identification in the forms printed, and none of these names are
mentioned by Botero.

10 Page 270. Misnia is the district round Leipzig. See Botero, I,
p. 72, from whom the details are derived of towns enumerated in
Saxony.

11 Page 270. Possibly Belzig, 45 miles S.W. of Berlin, but not
lying on the direct route from Kassel to Leipzig.

12 Page 271. The readings of both names are tentative, being
uncertain. The first name as printed in the text is " Menil Warat,"
of which the prior half seems probably to be a misprint for Ilmenau,
in Saxe-Weimar. Warat (or Warta in O.H.G.) is common in
place-names, meaning a Watch-tower, or Out-look. It is best known

334

NOTES

as occurring in the name of the celebrated Wartburg at Eisenach.
As regards the name of the second city, Leipzig, it is true, has already
been mentioned, but in quotation from Botero. In the text the name
of the town is given as " Syplilit," which can hardly be taken as a mis-
print for the name Dresden, then, as now, the capital of Saxony. At
Leipzig (a name which was spelt variously in the i6th and iyth
centuries) the Elector of Saxony had a palace called the Pleissenburg
(now the Rathaus), where at times he was in residence. It seems
probable that Don Juan, who was only there for a single night, mistook
this minor palace in Leipzig for the chief electoral palace of the capital
city of Dresden.

13 Pagezji. Chri^ianII,i59i^i6iiElecl:orofSaxony,borni583.

u Page 271. It seems probable that in the text, where we find
the name given as " Anyz Vverc " or " Anyzwerch," the second
letter (n) is misprinted for u, and that this curious mis-spelling is
meant for Aussig on the Upper Elbe, where the river breaks through
the mountain of Bohemia.

CHAPTER V

1 Page 272. Neither in the recently compiled Ordnance Map of
Bohemia, nor in Blaeu's great Atlas (Amsterdam, 1662), are any places
with names like these to be found between Aussig and Trinka. They
musl: have been copied here from Don Juan's Persian diary, and repre-
sent the names of the villages passed through by the travellers, and written
down as our author heard them.

2 Page 272. Trinka is here given as 3, but later as 5 leagues from
Prague ; and in fact, Trinka lies about 9 leagues north of Prague on the
Moldau river.

3 Page 272. What follows describing Germany is from Botero,
I, pp. 60-65, and II, p. 93.

4 Page 275. Duodo reports that the ambassador halted, for his
official entry, " alia Stella, discofto da due miglia Italiani di qua (Praga),"
and the Fugger Letters mention " the royal pavilion on the Stern,"
otherwise called the Sternschloss. Our ambassador's entry into Prague
took place on the nth of O Sober according to the Fugger Letter of
next day's date. There were, says the writer, some thirty members
in the Persian Embassy. They were given lodging in " the Wild Man
Inn " on the Klein-Seite in Prague. The Fugger Letters here make
the miftake of reporting that the Embassy had travelled from Persia
to Prague via India and the Cape. Sir Anthony Sherley at the head of
the Embassy is described as " an Englishman, and he is short and dressed
in English fashion." Husayn 'Ali Beg, his Persian colleague, was " an
elderly grey-haired man, a princely official of the King of Persia,
attired in Turkish dress, as are likewise his servants." See the Fugger
News-Letters, p. 230, and for Pietro Duodo, Schefer, p. 277.

335

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

8 Page 275. The escudo, as already said, was at the rate of about
three to the sterling. The reception took place on the yth of
November, says Duodo.

6 Page 276. Rudolf II (1576-1612), grandson of Ferdinand ^ I,
Charles V's brother. His sister was the mother of Philip III of Spain.

7 Page 277. For a description of Prague at this time see Botero,
I, p. 76.

8 Page 177. ^i,333 and 66res P effivel 7-

CHAPTER VI

1 Page 279. All the places in the above list (the names are won-
drously mis-spelt in the Spanish text) may be identified on the map,
as also those that follow later as far as Augsburg. Otto Henry, the
Pfalzgraf of Sulzbach, reigned from 1569 to 1604. The little city
is celebrated for its printing-press.

2 Page 280. This Munchem (Munich) here must be in error :
probably a gloss got in from the margin, having been added lower down
to explain Minicem, as Don Juan writes the name Miinchen for Munich.

3 Page 280. Duke William II, surnamed Der Fromme, reigned
from 1 579 to 1 598, when he abdicated in favour of his son Maximilian,
the first Elector of Bavaria. William II survived till 1 626. The text
runs : " Esta ciudad es Ducado de por si, y el Duque y senor della se
llama Du-Capi " : evidently meant for " Duca Pio."

* Page 281. Vincenzo I, Duke of Mantua, 1587 to 1612.

6 Page 281. What town is intended it is difficult to say. The place
where, before passing up the river Adige to Verona, they were most
likely to have rested for the night, presumably was O&iglia.

6 Page 281. Called Michael Angelo Cerray of Aleppo, according
to C. Schefer, Introdu&ion, p. viii.

7 Page 282. Ferdinand I, Grand Duke of Tuscany, 1587-1609 :
his wife was Chr&Kna, daughter of Charles II, Duke of Lorraine, and
through her mother a grand-daughter of Queen Catherine de Medici.

* Page 283. Hippolito Aldobrandini, Pope Clement VIII,
1592-1604.

9 Page 284. See The Three Sherley Brothers, p. 32, where a letter
is given, dated the 30th April 1601, from the celebrated Jesuit, Robert
Parsons, who had escaped from England after the execution of Campion,
and was now Rector of the English College in Rome. The letter is
addressed to a friend in England, and according to Parsons Sherley
asserted that the boxes on investigation by him were found to be charged
with articles for presentation of very little value ; indeed, instead of
being worth 300,000 crowns as invoiced, 3,000 was their limit. He
had therefore sent them all back to Persia as being entirely unsuitable
for presentation to the European potentates by an ambassador, a person-
age of his degree.

33 6

NOTES

10 Page 2^6. About 666.

11 Page 286. Sir Anthony Sherley here disappears from Don
Juan's narrative. He and the Persian ambassador had never agreed,
and in the matter of the presents there clearly had been fraud on Sir
Anthony's part. After leaving Rome in June, Sherley, taking no thought
of his Embassy, passed back, travelling very slowly, to Venice, which
he only reached in March of the following year (1602), from which
place he memorialized Philip III of Spain. According to Father
Parsons, since his sojourn in Prague Sir Anthony had become a member
of the Church of Rome ; this naturally was no recommendation in the
eyes of Queen Elizabeth, and his letters to Sir Robert Cecil were now
ignored. In the spring of 1605 he appeared once more in Prague and
Rudolf II was persuaded to despatch him on a mission to Morocco.

' This proved a complete failure, and he shipped thence to Lisbon.
In 1607 we find him in Naples, becoming a member of the Council
of State; in 1610 he was back in Madrid, where his brother Robert
found him (see above, Book III, chap. L,note 2) and supplied his wants
with assistance of money. From this time onwards for nearly a quarter
of a century what little is known of his movements is unimportant ;
he was a pensioner of Spain, and almost a beggar. He lived for the
most part in Madrid, sinking into complete obscurity, and died there
apparently in 1635. See The Sherley Brothers.

12 Page 286. The Ambassador had left Rome, according to the
Fugger Letter written on the 9th June, on the preceding "Wednesday,
after the Pope had presented him with 3,000 crowns (say 1,000 : a
third more than what Don Juan reports) . The three converts were the
barber, the cook and a certain private secretary ; not, however, one of
the four official Secretaries of Embassy (see Introduction, p. 3), three of
whom later joined the Roman Communion in Spain. Of the converts
we learn : " the Pope is to give them ten crowns monthly, and he is in
hopes that the King of Persia may likewise abandon the Mussulman
Faith." See the Fugger News-Letters, p. 243 .

CHAPTER VII

1 Page 289. Philip III had succeeded his father in 1598 at the
age of twenty. He was completely dominated by the Duke of Lerma,
who in 1600 persuaded the king to leave Madrid and establish his
court at Valladolid.

* Page 293 . About 30 ; and the sums mentioned in the following
paragraph may be taken as equivalent to 3,3 3 3 and 3 3 3 respectively.

3 Page 294. That is Fons Lilians (see R. Ford, Spain, 3rd Edition,
1855, p. 770). The Image was supposed to date from the times of
the Gothic kings, and to have been miraculously hidden away during
the Moslem dominion. The present church, called Santa Maria del
Salto, built to commemorate the miraculous escape from death of a

337 z

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

Jewish maiden wlio had embraced Christianity, and who died in 1237,
only dates from 1613.

4 Page 294. The Alcazar, famous through Gil Blas y Book IX,
chap, iv., was almost completely burnt down in 1862, and now has
been rebuilt.

5 Page 294. The Aqueduct dating from the reign of Augustus and
restored under Trajan.

6 Page 295. The Mint remained here, and coined for all Spain
till the year 1730, when the works were transferred to Madrid.

7 Page 297. This Machine, " el articio " as Don Juan calls it,
was constructed by Juanelo Turriano, a native of Cremona, in 1565
for Charles V. It could force up 600,000 buckets of water daily
from the river-bed to the city on the height above, but before long fell
into disrepair. See Ford, Spain (1855), p. 78 4.

8 Page 298. Aldea Gallega was due east of Lisbon, on the further
side of the Tagus estuary.

CHAPTER VIII

1 Page 302. ^)ueen Margaret, King Philip Ill's second cousin,
was the daughter of Charles, Duke of Styria, younger son of the Emperor
Ferdinand I, Charles V's brother.

2 Page 308. About 400.

338

INDEX

AB-I-AMU (Oxus), 314

Aba or Abu, mountain, 139

Abaqa Khan, 318

'Abbas, Prince, afterwards Shah
(Xa Bas), 2, 22-26, 133,
166-168, 207-227, 231-234,

310-3^9

'Abd-Allah, son of Mu'aviyah, 89
'Abd-Allah Khan the Uzbek

(Abdalacan), 220-223
'Abd-al-Malik, Caliph (Abduc

Melic), 89

6 Abd-al-Mumin the Uzbek, 223
c Abd-ar-Rahman, Ibn Mar j an

(Ebene Marchen), 106, 306
Abdias, Bishop, 70, 315
Abiano (Oxus), 44
Abu Bakr, Caliph (Abubaxic,

Bubac), 105
Abu Luluah, 316
Abu Muslim, Sulayman (Abu

Moslum, Amyr Sulayman,

Luleimm, Amirmo Selemin,

Amurmoselemin), 90, 317
Abu Talib, Prince (Abutolef

Mirza, Butaleph), 202, 211
Achi-chay river, 186
Acraganes, 60
Adaliyah, 98

Adarman (Aden Manes), 79
'Adil-Ghiray, Prince (Abdil-

guiray), 141, 149, 151-153
Afshar Clan (Afxar), 45
Aga, meaning a rich husbandman,

180

Agathias, 14, 72, 316
Agazago, 84
Agricola, Georgius (Icorgio

Agricola), 268, 334

Ahmad Pasha, Hajji Begogli
(Amet Baxa Agy Beolly), 157

Ahmad, Prince, son of Sultan
Bayazid II (Acomath, Sultan
a Comet), 113

Aix-la-Chapelle (Aquisgrano), 124

Akcheh Qal'asi (Agiacalasi), 169

Akhalkelek (Arguelec), 174

Akhtah, 48

Akhtah Husayn (A&a Osein), 129

'Ala-ad-Dawlah (Aladulo), 116,
119, 120, 321

Alaraut, Castle (Halamud, Ala-
mud Calassi), 25, 200, 329

Albania of Georgia, 139, 325

Alburquerque, Duke of, 288

Alcazar of Segovia, 294

Alcazar of Toledo, 297

Aldea Gallega, 298, 338

'Alem, Prince (Sultan Alen), 1 1 5

Aleppo, battle, 122

Alessandri, 313

Alexander the Great of Macedon,
66

Alexander the Great of Georgia.
See Iskandar

Alexander, or Gregory of Georgia,
149, 154, 325

Alfaqui or Priest, 52

Alfaqui Amyr, 8, 297, 298

f Ali Beg, Prince of Astarabad, 219

'Ali, Caliph, 88, 105, 316

'Ali, House of, 91

*Ali Khan the Turkoman, son
of Muhammad Khan (Gali
Can, Vali Chan Can), 206, 211,
329

'Ali Paghman the Turkoman, 200

'Ali Pasha, Khadim : Vizier, 114

339

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

*Ali Pasha of Greece, 172
'Ali Quli Beg, or Don Philip of
Persia (AH Guly Bech), 3, 9,

226,292, 299, 302, 336, 337
'AH Quli Khan, Shamlu (Aliculi-

chan Xamlu), 155-159, 166,

167, 175, 202, 205, 207, 220
Allah Verdi Khan (Alahuerdi

Can), 217

Alp Arslan, or Alphagalo, 94, 318
Alqas Mirza (Elias), 124
Alsace (Alsacia), 273
Alsfeld (Alfel) 268, 334
Altun Qal'ah, 140, 154, 175
Alvand (Levente), Prince, no-

112

Amandus of Zieriksee, 104, 319
Amid, or Qara Amid, or Diyar

Bakr, 44, 137
Amin, Caliph, 92, 93, 317
Amir Khan (Emircan), 132, 165,

175, 176, 183, 194
Amul, 313
Amurath, or Murad, 318. See

Murad

Amyr the Alfaqui, 8, 297, 298
Anacyndaxaris, 60
Anatolia, 321
Angiolello, 313
Angora (Ancyra), 114
Anonymous Merchant, 313
Antoninus, Archbishop of

Florence, 8r
Anyz-Werc, 335
Apianus (Bienewitz), 38, 313
Aq Qoyunlu, 319
Aquedu ft of Segovia, 294, 338
Aranjuez, 296

Aras Khan (Areschan), 147, 150
Araxene Lands (Campos Cal-

deranos), 139, 170
Araxes, Aras river, 139
Arbaces, 63
Arcadius, Emperor, 76
Archangel (Corer Arcancher),

260, 334

Ardahan (Ardachan), 175
Ardashir I, Babegan (Artaxerxes),

72

Ardashir II, 75
Ardebil Mosque and San&uary

(Ardevil, Arduel), 206, 315
Ardiftan (Argislam), 40
Arfaxat, 70

Arkikelek (Arquiquelich), 142
Arroba, 333
Arses, 66
Artabanus, the Parthian, 73,

315

Artabanus III (Xerxes), 70, 315
Artaxerxes I, II, and III, 66 ; and

see Ardashir, 68
Artillery, Hessian, 269
Artillery, Persian, 98
Artillery, Turkish, 23
Arunaq, 328
Ascatades, 59
Aschalius, 59
Aschersleben, 334
Asia Minor, provinces of, 321
Aslaben, 270
Assayshlu clan, 46
A&arabad (Eslarabat), 41, 219
Astrakhan (Ha&arcan), 238, 239
Augsburg (Agusta), 279, 280
Augustus, Emperor, 67, 280
Aurich (Haucec), 267
Aussig (Anyz Werch), 271, 272,

335 _

Authorities used by Remon, 311
Avalos, Don Juan de, 298
Avignon, 287
Ayishah (Aysa), 105
A*zam Beg Colgachi (Azem Bee),

213
Azerbayjan (Haderbaichan,

Media Grande), 42
Azumbre, 333

Baario, 88

Babek (Paveco), 72

Badajoz, 298

340

INDEX

Baghdad (Baldac, Bagdat, Baldat),

43, 92, 125, 126
Bagli Pasha (Baity Baxa), 173
Bahram Chubin, or Varahran, 80
Bahram, Prince, son of Shah
Isma'il (Brechamo Mirza), 124
Bahram Mirza, son of Shah

Tahmasp (Bahiram), 129
Bahram Pasha (Beyran Baxa),

138, 146

Balas, or Palash, 76
Balaus, 58
Bale (Basilea), 274
Balsaim, 295

Band-i-Amir (Bendeamir), 38
Barachlu clan, 46
Barardach, 70
Barasichus, 71
Barbadillo, Salas, 10, 310
Barbaro, Josaphat, 38, 98, 313
Barcelona, 287
Barem, or Batem (Volga and

Dvina), 4, 259, 260, 333
Barnares, 85

Basasiri, 318

Bashachuk, Prince (Bassa Quiuch),
140

Bashachuk, town, 141
BasM, 47

Bayat clan, 45, 198

Bayazid I, Sultan (Bayazeto), 95,
96

Bayazid II, 19, 103-1 13, 11 5, 319

Bayburtlu clan, 46

Baysunghur (Bayzangures), 96

Bedel Sultan, Bayat, 198

BefFroi, or movable tower, 328

Begum, wife of Shah Muham-
mad Khuda Bandah, 150-153,
327

Belcepho, 94, 318

Belesys (Beloco), 63

Bell, great, at Moscow, 254, 332

Belochus II (Beloco), 60

Belochus, Annals, 58, 311, 315

Belus, or Beleus (Belo), 58

Belzig (Beltcy), 270, 334
Beng, or Indian hemp, 330
Bengi Melik (Bengui Melic), 217-

219

Beraun (Viron), 278
Berexen, 272
Biftam (Va&an), 166
Black Forest, 273
Boissard, J. J., 19, 312
Boris Godunof, Tsar of Moscow,

3, 252-257, 332, 333
Boristhenes, or Bug river, 252,259
Boschalu clan, 46
Botero, Giovanni, 12, 36, 309,

I 1 . 1
Brasier, sacred Persian, 78

Breydenbach, 99, 319
Brichjesus (Barasichius), 315
Browne, E. G., Persian Litera-
ture, 310

Brus, mountain, 140
Brusa (Bursa), 114
Brusensk (Brusinisca), 260
Bucavia, 265, 334
Bunyad Beg (Boniat, Benyat),
later Don Diego of Persia, 10,
304, 306, 307
Buora, 88

Cairo, 123, 179

Calderan plains or meadows

(Campos Calderanos), 20, 118,

139, 170, 321

Caliph for Grand Mufti, 322
Cambaya, 44
Cambyses, 66
Candelor, 95

Cannon, great Persian, 188-189
Cannon, great Russian, 257
Cap or Turban of twelve colours,

18,49, II0
Caraman, 95
Caravajal, Don Alvaro de, Court

Chaplain, to, 300, 302, 307
Casa del Campo, 296
Caspian Sea (Mar de Bacu), 235

34 1

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

Cat-Caftle, 328

Caviare, 241

Cedrenus, 14

Celemin, or peck, 314

Cerray, Michael Angelo, of Aleppo,

336

Chaldiran battle, 20, 118
Chamish Qazaqlu clan (Chamiz-

cazaclu), 46
Chares of Lindus, 87
Charles IV, Emperor, 274
Charles V, Emperor, 103, 296,

33^

Charuk, a kind of sandal, 214
Chaudar, Persian wheat, 267
Chauslu clan, 46
Chavat (Gravat, Grauat), 137
Cheboksary (Chapuazar), 245
Cherny-Yar (lamar), 243
Chersi-Oghlu (Chersiogoli), 121
Chessel (Quesez), 236
Childir (Zuyeldei, Quieldier), 136
Chingiz-Khan (Chinguis), 220
Chisir river, 227
Chorlu, 124, 322
Chosroes I, Anushirvan, 78
Chosroes II, Parviz, 82-84
Christian II of Saxony, 5, 335
ChriStina, Duchess of Tuscany,

336

Cidi Daud, 88
Cidi Noccio, 88
CidiTenuin, 88
Cigala Pasha (Ciqala, Chighala-

Zadah), 170, 1 8 1-186,201, 328
Clavel, Nicolas, 306
Clavijo, Embassy of, 96, 318
Clement VIII, Pope, 7, 284-287,

336

Cleves(Clevia),274

Clysma, 325

Colchis (Colquides), 177

Cologne (Colonia), 272

Colossus of Rhodes, 87

Conejos, rabbits or hares, 50, 314

Constance, Lake, 273

ConShntine V, Emperor, 90
Constantinople, 115
Contarini, 313
Conversions to Christianity, 7, 9,

287, 299, 337
Coran, 88, 317
Cordero, Alfonso, Franciscan

Friar, 331. See Friar
Coro (Car), 236
Corsairs, English, 263
Cortes, N. Alonso, 310

Cory, I. P., 315

Cossi Boyezlu clan, 46

Cotarelo, Seiior Emilio, I o, 3 1 o

Crassus, 142

Crefeld (Calcaria), 274

Crimea, Tartars of the, 332

Cross, True, taken by Persians, 8 3

Cross, sign adopted by Turks, 8 1

Crusaders, afterwards Druses, 179

Crusaders in Armenia, 143

Cudy de Lac, 329

Cuiniorilu clan, 46

Curthasi Amanzir, 199

Cuspinianus, J., 318

Cyrus, 66

Cyrus, river of Georgia, 139, 313

Cyrus, river of Fars, 313

Dagan, king of the Arabs, 83,316

Dallak, barber, 204

Damascus, 124

Damghan (Tangan), 166

Danube, 273

Daras, 78

Darius I, II, and III, 66

Daroghah, 46

DaStagird, 316

David Khan (Daudchan), 140,

155. *73> 174
Dawlat Khanah, 47
Deli Muhammad (Delirnent), 125
Dengiz Beg, 310
Derbend, or Dimir Qapi (Der-

bent, Demycarpi, Demyrcarpi),

22, 148

INDEX

Dercylus, 60

Dervish Pasha (Druis Baxa), 138,

146
Desmit, Princess (Dedesmit, De-

desemid), 139-140, 149, 325
Despina, Princess (Espina), 17,

107

Devlahar Khan, 199
Dhu-l-)adar, 321
Dhu-1-Qadarlu clan (Dulgadarlu),

4 6

Diamond at Meshed, 220
Diego of Persia, Don, 10, 304,

306, 307
Di-Meto, Nicolao, Dominican

Friar (De Molo), 258,331,333
Diyar Bakr, or Qara Amid (Diar-

bech), 44, 137
Dog-fish, 236
Dolphins, 334
Dominican Friar, 331, 333
Donauw6rt (Donauwireth), 280
Dresden, 335
Druses of Palestine, 179
Ducat, or Escudo (Crown-piece),

333

Duisburg, 274
Du Mans, Father, 309
Duodo, Pietro, 310
Duren (Dura), 274
Dvina, northern, 259, 260, 333
Dvina, western, 332

Edel, Eder (Ml), 236, 331; and

see Volga
Egypt, 123

Eisleben (Aslaben), 334
Elbe (Albis), 265, 273, 334
Elias, Martyr, 315
Ellingen (ALencen), 279
Elmacin, 14

Embden (Emdem), 265, 266
Emperor, election of, 274
Ems (Ens), 273
Enrique, Don Luis, 290
Ephthalites, 76

Eres (Arax), 139, 147, 151, 325
Erivan (Yruan, Yrauan, Yrban,
lerban, Gerban), 23, 41, 169,

*7> 3*3*3*7 .
Erlau (lula or lulia), 126
Erpenius, 14

Ertoghrul (Orthogoules), 95
Erzerum (Erzirun), 136
Esaias, son of Adabas, 71
Escoceso, not meaning Scotch, 327
Escoreal, 295, 307
Escudo (Crown-piece), 333
Esma, or Esmi Khan Shamlu

(Esmican Xamblu), 202-205,

329

EsmarileS) 327

Espaollanes, 328
Essekia Lake, 140, 325
E^lratassenc, 272
Eudocia, Empress, 82
Eunuchs, Palace, 13, 47
Eupacrnes, 60

Fabia, Empress, 82

Fanega, bushel, 328

Faqih (Fachines, Facohines), 106

Farhad Beg (Faraat Bech, Farhat),

206-211

FarhadKhan (Farat Can), 224-226
Farhad Pasha (Ferat Baxa),

124, 169-175, 201, 327
Fars, Farsistan (Farsi), 38
Faftlginia, 310
Ferdinand I, Grand Duke of

Tuscany, 6, 336
Feria, Duke of, 287
Ferrara, 282
Florence, 282
Fons Stiians, 337
Freezing of the Volga, 245
Freudenberg (Fritberc), 267
Friars, the two Portuguese, 233,

236; Dominican, 258, 331,

3 3 3; Franciscan, 263, 265, 266,

Fuenzisla, 294, 337

343

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

Fuderitz, 279
Fugger Letters, 309
Fulda, 334
Funerals, 53

Gag(Gago), 58

Ganges, 58

Ganjah (Genche, Guienche),
42, 146,202, 313

Gaza, 123

Geicon, 236

Genebrardus, Gilbertus, 318

Genoa, 287

Georgia (Gurgi&an, Gurgia),
21, 139-142

Georgian Guard (Chri&ian rene-
gades), 209

Georgian Princes, 326

Georgievits, B., 318

Gerban, 313

Germany, High and Low, 272

Ghazan Khan, tomb of, 328

Ghazzali, 122, 123, 322

Gil 2?/*/, 338

Gilan (Guylan), 40, 214

Gineta, 314

Giovio, Paolo, 104, 319

Gokchah Lake (Lago di Gioco),

44, 3H> 325

Golden Bull of the Empire, 274
Gonzaga, Duke, 6, 281, 336
Gory, Prince, 140
Gouvea, Antonio de, 331
Gran wick Bay (Gradusco), 252
Gregory V, Pope, 273
Gregory (Alexander), 149, 154,

32S

Griclu clan, 46

Guasque, Francisco, n, 28 6, 289

Guesher, 214

Gypsies, 57

Hahnbach (guienpu), 279
Haji-Faqihlu clan (Achifaquilu),

46
Hakim, 46

Halle (AUa), 270

Hamadan (Amadan, Gerban), 3 8,

40

Hamd- Allah Mu&awfi, 14, 17
Hamete ford, 94
Hammer-Pur gftall, J., 321
Hamzah, Prince (Amjamirza,

Emir Amze, Emir Hamze

Mirza, Amzam Amsan), 21,

26, 133, 134, 149, 1 8 1, 184-

186, 198, 203-206
Hamzahlu clan (Ambzalu), 46
Haram, 13, 47
Haram-Ishik-aqasi, 48
Hares or rabbits, 50, 314
Harmandalu clan, 46
Harnares, 85
Harun-ar-Rashid, Caliph (Haron

Rekid), 92
Hasan (Azan, Azen Assum,

Hazen Cassam, Asayn Hassain)
Hasan. See Uzun Hasan
Hasan 'Ali Beg, Secretary (Azen

AH Bee), 304
Hasan Beg, Turkish Chief (Assum

Beyo), 95

Hasan Beg of Qaraman, 99
Hasan Khalifah, 113
Hasan Pasha, the Eunuch (Azan

Baxa), 162, 164, 179
Hasan Pasha, son of Muhammad

Sokolli, 156-158
Hasan Pasha, or Bey, son of

Janbulat (Asayn Bech, Hassain

Baxa Granbulat), 148, 170
Hashimites, 90
Haydar Aga, Ambassador, 161
Haydar Mirza, son of Shah

Tahmasp, 129-131
Haydar Mirza, son of Prince

Hamzah, 202
Haydar, Shaykh, of Ardebil

(Aydar, Heydar), 16, 104, 107,

1 08 ; his Mosque at Tabriz, 193
Heads, decapitated, 28
Hecatompylos, -3 9

344

INDEX

Helmets, 50

Henry, Prince, the Navigator, 37
Heraclius, Emperor, 82-84
Herat (Herjia, Hieri, Heri,

liras), 22, 41, 128, 166-168,

220, 225
Hercynian Forest (Erzinia, Er-

cinia), 245, 273
Hersbruck (Yzpruch), 279
Hesse (Asia), 267, 2 80, 3 34. See

Kassel

Hirschau (Hirjo), 279
Hisham, Caliph (Hexen Aben

Alas, Hachum Ebue Alas), 90
Hoodee, 329
Hormisdas or Yazdagird III,

316

Hradschin, 275

Hulagu Khan, 92, 318

Husayn (Huscein, Hossain Huzen s

Ozen, Osein, Uzen)
Husayn, Caliph, 89, 106
Husayn Akhtah (Eunuch), 129
Husayn (or Hasan) *Ali Beg,

Ambassador, 3, 234, 303-306,

331,335

Husayn Beg (Uzen Beg), 217
Husayn Khan Shamlu (Huzen

Can Xamblu), 206

Ibn Mar j an, 106, 306

Ibn Muljam, 306

Ibn Sayyar, Nasr (Iblinio), 91

Ibrahim Khan (E brain Chan),

99> I033 J 9
Ibrahim Khan, Ambassador, 161,

327
Ibrahim Mirza, son of Shah

Tahmasp, 129
Ibrahim Pasha (Hebraim Baxa),

Governor of Egypt, 179, 180
Idel, 238. See Volga
Idol at Manqishlagh, 237
lerban, 313
lesdri (Lyedro), 38
Ignaro, 318

liras (Shiraz), 128, 323

Ilderim (Eldrim Turbellino), 96,

319
Il-Khans, 318

Ilmenau, 271, 334

Images in Russian churches, 239

Imam Quli Khan Qajar (Man-

gulican Cacher), 145, 146, 154,

198, 202
Imam Quli Khan, son of Sham-

khal, 140, 326
Imam Quli Khan, 327
Imam Riza Shrine, at Meshed

(Eman Reza), 220
Imams of the Shi'ahs, 320
Imbrael, 16, 93, 317
Imola, 319
Inazlu clan, 46
Indus, 58

Inn river (Eno, Eyno), 273
Iraq, Arabian, 43
Iraq, Persian (Herac), 39
4 Isa Khan (Yzacan, Ysacham),

129-142

Isfahan (Espahan), 39, 206, 224
Ishik-aqasi-bashiy 47, 314
Iskandar, Prince, Leventoghlu

(Eskender), 138-140, 142, 144,

148, 160

Islam Ghiray, 328
Isma'il I, Prince, then Shah, 2,

15-17, 19, 104, no, 124, 206,

315,320,329

Isma'il II, 21, 128-132, 324
Isma'il Mirza Sultan, son of

Prince Hamzah, 202, 203, 330
Isma'il, brother of Shah 'Abbas,

216
'Ismet Khan Uftajlu (Ymet Can

Extexelu), 220, 329
Ispihrlu clan (Ispyrrhlu), 46
Itil, 331; and see Volga

Ja'far, Imam (Imamchafer), 90
Ja'far Pasha the Hungarian rene-
gade (Zafero), 121

345

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

Ja'far Pasha the Eunuch (Ajafer),

185
Ja'far )uli Beg (Cha Bargulibec),

189
Ja'far guli Khan (Chabarguli

Can), 198

James, Bishop of Nisi bis, 75
Janberdi Ghazzali (Lanburdo

Gazelle), 122, 123
Janbulat (Gran Bulat Chan), 148,

170

Jawhar the Eunuch (loar), 123
Jem, Prince, Jamshid (Zezimo),

103

Jenkinson, Anthony, 8
Jews in Russia, 240
John of Au&ria, Don, 127
John IV, Emperor of Trebizond,

17, 107, 320
John XIII, Duke of Oldenburg,

334

Jonas, Martyr, 72
Juan, Don, of Persia (Uruch

Beg), 10, ir, 24,185, 192, 198,

223,225,299-308
Juanelo Torriano, 338
Jub, 270

Judas Thaddsus, 70
Judi or Hudi, 329
Julian, Count, 90
Julich, 274
Jurji >al ah (Gurgicalassi,

Quiurquiur, or Guarchingala),

Justin, 78

Justinian, Emperor, 78
Justinian, son of Germanus, 80
Juvencus, 67, 315

KafFa, 177

Kaisheim (Cazerchen), 280

Kalo Joannes, Emperor (Juan),

17, 107, 320
Kamakh, 321
Kanak river (Chanac, Canac),

*45> 325

Kashan (Cassan, Caxan), 40, 206
Kassel, 268-270. See Hesse
Kay Khusraw, Prince, 325
Kaytas Pasha (Caytas Baxa), 147
Kazan (Cazzan), 243
Keysite Arabs of Modar (Cays-

moros Amonitas), 90
Khadijah, sister of Uzun Hasan,

320
Khalifah Khan (Baly Can), 195,

199, 329

Khalil Khan Afshar, 324
Khan, title preceding name, 314,

329

Khan, implies a noble, 46

Khan Ahmad, Prince of Gilan

(Can Hamet), 214, 215
Khan Muhammad Quli Khalifah

(Can Mahamet Culicalefa), 213
Khan Sayyid Oghlu, 42
Khayr Beg (Cayerbeyo), 121-123
Khayr-ad-Din Pasha (Cherydemo

Baxa), 116

Kholmagory (Cormacury), 260
Khoy (Coy), 43, 117
Khuda Bandah, Shah, meaning of

name, 134; and see Muhammad
Khuda Verdi the Barber (Cudy

de Lac), 204, 205
Khurasan (Coraan), 41, 220,

313
Khurramabad (Cormaba, Cor-

mava), 42, 216, 217
Khusraw Pasha (tMref Baxa),

137
Kieder Gul Lake (guierdergul)

142

Kirman (Quierman), 38
Kladrau (Cludra), 279
Kling, 272
Kliska (Cliska), 174
Klussen, 272
Knights of St. John, 122
Knolles, R., 16, 312
Kolomna (Colona), 249
Kornberg (Curinberc), 279

346

INDEX

Kremlin, 250

Kuh-Giluyah-lu clan (Cohequi-

lu), 46

Kuman the Crim Tartar, 177, 178
Kur river (Cyrus) of Fars, 313
Kur (Cyrus) of Georgia, 139, 313
Kurdistan, (Curditan), 43
Kurs, the Scythian (Cuyso Scytha),

78

Kutahiyah (Cuteya); 113
Kuzah - Kunan village (Cuza-
cunan), 180

Labassap, Prince, 140, 141, 325

Labnic, 270

Lahijan (Lahychan, Ciudad de

la Hichan), 40, 215, 313
Lampraes, 60
Laothenes, 60
Laplanders, 263
Lauf (Luf), 279
Lavarsab, 325, 326
Lavarza, Prince, 325
Leghorn (Levorno), 283
Leipzig, 270, 271, 335
Leman, Lake of, 298
Lepanto, battle, 127
Leprus mountain (Lepro), 117
Lerma, Duke of, 289, 290, 300
Lerrna, Duchess of, 307
Levente, or Leventoghlu. See

Iskandar, Prince
Lewis II, Landgrave of Hesse,

334

Libreria Susiana, 315
Lisbon, 298
Lory (Cory), 141
Lovers, in Persia, 54
Lucerne Lake, 273
Lur, Lurislian (Lar), 39, 216

Machchalatheus, 59
" Machine " at Toledo, 297, 338
Madrid, 296

Magdeburg (Madeburg, Madem-
burg), 270

Magellan, 312

Maghud, 317

Magi, the Three Kings, 67

Mahdi, Caliph (Mahamet Me-

hedi), 92
Mahdi, the Twelfth Imam

(Mahamet Mahedin), 91
Mahdi Quli Khan Chaushli, 215,

329
Mahdi Quli Khan Shamlu (Medi-

guly Can Xamblu), 215
Mahmudlu clan, 46
Mahomed the Prophet, 104
Main, river (Meno, Meyno),

273

Mainz (Maguncia), 272
Makran, 44
Malcolm, Sir John, 329
Mamodee Mahmudi, 325
Mamun, Caliph (Menon), 92,

93017
Mamuthos, 59

Manqishlagh (Minquezlac), 237
Mansfeld, 270
Mansur, Caliph, 91
Mansur, Captain of the Guard

(Amansar, Amanzar), 109
Mantua, 280
Manuchihr, or Mu&afa, Prince

(Manichor, Manicha-Muny-

quier), 139, 149, 154, 162-

165, 169-171, 174
Maqsud Aga (Mahud Aga), 1 80
Maraghah (Malaga), 43
Marand (Moran), 181
Marciana (or Van) Lake, 171
Marco Polo, 36
Margancia the Slave, or Mar j an,

86, 316
Margaret, Queen of Spain, 10,

302, 338
Mar j an, 316
Marriage customs, 5 5
Martha, mother of Shah Isma'il,

107
Martyr opolis, 80

347

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

Marwan II, Calipli (Maruia),

90-91
Masi, 137

Massaeus, Chriftianus, 316
Matariyah (Matera), 123, 322
Matthaeus Palmerius, 8 2
Maurice, Emperor, 79, 80
Mazandaran (Hyrcania), 41, 217
Medicis, Giovanni de, Prince,

282

Melitene, 79
Menil Warat, 334
Menon, 61, 315
Merida, 279
Meshed (Maxet, Mexet, Massa-

hat), 220

Meshed 4 Ali (Massadal), 106
Meto, or Molo, Dominican Friar,

258, 331,333

Meuse river (Musa, Mosa), 273
Michael, Emperor, 93
Minadoi, G. T., 12, 19, 36, 311,

312

Mingrelia, 139

Mint at Segovia, 295, 338

Mirza before or after a name,

323

Misnia, 270, 334
Mistakes in spelling proper names,

15,311,326

Mocenigo, Pietro, 97, 319
Moldau (Molta), 273, 277
Molo, Nicolao de, Friar, 258.,

33*>333

Montpellier, 287

Montserrat, 288

Mora, Don Cri&obal de, 298,

303-307

Moscova river (Mosco), 249
Moscow (Mosca, Moscao), 249-

258

Moselle (Mosella), 273
Mu'awiyah, Caliph (Manoa,

Manna, Mabia), 88, 106
Mufti, Grand, of Baghdad, 125,

322

Muhammad, Governor of Qara

Amid, 181, 184, 185
Muhammad, Governor of Tiflis,

157
Muhammad, son of Ignaro, or

Imbrael, 93
Muhammad the Prophet. See

Mahomed, 104
Muhammad I, Sultan, 96
Muhammad II, Sultan, 16, 97-

100
Muhammad III, Sultan, 27, 161,

223, 231, 327
Muhammad Aga, Grand Chaush,

231,330

Muhammad Ghiray, 328
Muhammad Khan the Turko-

man (Mahamet Can), 195
Muhammad Khan Bayat, 222
Muhammad Khuda Bandah,

Shah, 21, 128, 134, 209-211,

222, 324, 329

Muhammad Pasha, nephew of

Mustafa Pasha, 162-164
Muhammad Pasha, son of Far-

had Pasha, 137, 143
Muhammad Sharif Khan (Ma-

hamet Xerif Can), 213
Mu'izz, Fatimite Caliph, 123
Mukhtar (Mucthar), 89, 317
Mulciano, 88
Munich (Minicen, Munchem),

280, 336

Munster (Mona&erio), 274
Murad I, Sultan (Amurathes), 95
Murad II, Sultan, 96
Murad III, Sultan, 21, 133, 161,

162, 169, 178, 223
Murad Khan, son of Sultan

Ya'qub (Morat Cham), no,

112
Murad Pasha of Qaraman, 184,

Murad, Prince, son of Sultan
Bayazid II, 82, 115, 117, 119
Murom (Morlo), 248

348

INDEX

Murshid )uli Khan (Murjud

or Marxud Guli Can), 207, 208
Musa Kazim the Seventh Imam

(Musacacazem, Muzaicazen,

Mussa Cassun), 17, 91
Mus'ab ibn Zubayr (Mohezen,

Mahazan), 89

Muftafa. See Manuchihr, 154
Mustafa (or Sultan Mustafa),

son of Shah Tahmasp, 129,323
Mu&afa Bey, 156
MuStafa Pasha, 21, 133, 136,

148,^156
Mu'tasim, Caliph, 93

Nakhchevan (Nasiban, Naciuan,

Nacchiuan, Nachuan), 170
Narbonne, 287
Narses, 74
Nasr-ad-Din^Chelebi (Nasserdin),

144

Nasr ibn Sayyar, 91
Nauplia, or Napoli di Romania, 98
Neckar (Neccaro), 273
Negropont battle, 127
Nerl river, 333
Neuchatel (Neoborges), 273
Neuss (Nuyz), 274
Neutri, 272

Nicephorus Bryennius, 71, 315
Nicephorus Calli&us, 71, 315
Nicheps Sultan Bayat, 198
Nienburg (Nimbrec), 267
Nimes, 287

Nimrod (Nembroth), 58
Nisf-i-Jahan or Isfahan (Nispe-

chahan), 39

Nishapur (Nichahur), 166
Nisibis, 75
Nissat mountains (Montes Nissa-

tos), 112
Nizhni-Novgorod (Nechena, No-

chena), 246, 332
Nogay Tartars (Nocay), 242, 331
Nohum, 215
Nuremberg (Norimberga), 279

Ob river, 252

Ochus, 66

Odenathus of Palmyra, 74

Oder (Odera), 273

Oghlu, 326

Oldenburg (Holdreberc), 267,

334

Olearius, Adam, 332

Oliga, Mount, 114

Olivares, 288

Oman, Sir C., 328

Omar, Governor of Safed, 160

Omar I, Caliph (Homar, Hoz-
maz), 85, 105

Omar II, Caliph (Omarebene
Moar), 90

Omar Mirza, grandson of Ta-
merlane, 96, 319

Omar Pasha, 163

Ophrataeus, 60

Oriath clan, 46

Orkhan (Orcanes, Oranes), 95

Ormuz, 8

Oronte, Mount, 182

Osnabruck, 274

O&iglia, 336

Othman, Caliph (Odman, Osman,
Oromaz, Ottomar), 87, 105

Othman (Ottomano), the Turk,

95

Othman Pasha, 24, 147, 153,1 54,

174-186

Otranto, 100, 281, 336
Otto Heinrich, Pfalzgraf of Sulz-

bach (Ottuhynxic), 279, 336
Ottoman Turks, rise of, 95
Oxus (Osso, Abiano), 44, 314

Paderborn, 274

Palash, 76

Pannas, 60

Pari - Khan - Khanum, Princess

(Pericancanon), 21, 129-135
Parry, W., 309, 33*"334
Parsons, Robert, the Jesuit, 336,

337

349

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

Pausoutes, 66

Peck, measure, 50

Pedigree of Shah. Isma'il's an-
ce^lors, 320 ; of his descendants,
324 ; of Georgian Princes, 326

Perbyn, 270

Perekop Tartars, or Precopenses,
Turks, 149, 247, 332

Pereyaslav (Parasvalt, Paraslap),

258

Periard Mountains, 139
Perikorsk Tartars (Perecroseos),

142, 240
Perionius, 70
Perozes, 76
Perpignan, 287
Persepolis, 38, 313
Pertiades, 60

Pervana Gul, Lake (Vanachul),

143, 326
Peyclu clan, 46
Pfraumberg, 279

Philip II of Spain, 295, 296
Philip III, 7, 291, 307, 308
Philip of Persia, Don, 3, 9, 226,

292, 299, 302, 336, 337
Phocas, Emperor, 82
Pilsen, 279

Pineda, Juan de, 81, 98, 316
Pious Duke of Bavaria, 280
Pir Ahmad (Pyramet), 99
Pir 'Ali (Pirehaeli), 108
Pir Muhammad (Piramahamet),

129

Pir Quli Beg (Pergoly Beg), 255
Pisa, 282
Pisasiri, 93

Pleissenburg Palace, 335
Polo, Marco, 36
Pompey, 142
Possevinus, A., 250, 332
Pousein, 272
Prague, 277

Presents given to the Embassy, 8
Prefer John, 42
Priam, 6 1

Ptolemy, 66
Purandokht, 316
Purchas, Pilgrims, 309

Qahqahah Ca&le (Gagaha, Ca~

haca), 129, 329
Qaim, Caliph (Cain Adam), 93
Qaisari (Queisen, Cheuseri), 128
Qajar clan (Cacher), 46, 314, 330
Q**i, 48

Qandahar (Candahar), 42
Qansuh Ghuri Ashraf, Sultan

(Chanpsou Zyauro), 20, 121,

122

Qapuchi-bashi, 47
Qara Aghach (Caragach, Cara-

cach), 150

Qara Amid (Carahemit), 44, 137
Qarabachiqlu clan (Carabach-

aclu), 46
Qarabagh, 313
Qara-Chumaqlu clan (Caracho-

maclu), 46
Qara Hasan Khan (Gara Hazen

Can), 212

Qarakush (Caracux, Caracuh), 113
Qaramanlu clan (Garamanlu), 46
Qara-Qoyunlu clan (Garacoinlu),

46, 314

Qars (Cars), 128, 141, 156
Qasirn Pasha (Cassin), 1 1 8
ga&amuniyah (Casl:lemoth), 114
Qazvin (Casbin), 24, 40, 197-200
Qizil Bash, Cap. (Cuseluas), 18,

no

gobad I, 76
Qobad II, 316
Qonia, Iconium, 113, 178
(Joyun-Chay battle (Coinchay),

125

Quieres (gars), 141
)uimendec, Quimidac, 270
gulzum, the Caspian (Curzum,

Colzun), 139, 325
Qum (Gom), 40
Quran (Coran), 88, 317

35

INDEX

Qurchi Bashi Khan (Gorchi

Bassi, Gorgivassi Can), 189,

218
Qurqud, Governor of Qa&a-

muniyah, 114
Qurqud, Prince (Cor cut), 20,

103, 113

Rabbits or hares, 50, 314

Rawlinson, Canon G., 315

Real, coin, 332

Red Cap of the Shi'ahs, r 8, 49, no

"Red Head," 110

Reindeer, 263

Retaciones, writing of the, 1 1

Remon the Licentiate, 10; his

authorities, 311
Rhine, 273

Rhodes, 97, 122, 319, 322
Rhodes, Colossus of, 87
Rimak mountains (Rimac), 125
Rivan Khan, 328
Riza, Imam, Shrine, 220
Rizvan Pasha (Resuan Baxa), 156,

162, 173
Roberg, 270

Rokitsan (Roquencan), 279
Rome, 284-287, 310
Roth (Brot), 279
Roumelia, 118, 321
Rudolf II, Emperor, 6, 274-277,

310, 336
Ruisar, 331
Ru&am, Prince, 100
Rybinsk (Xibisca), 259

Saale river (Salas), 267, 270

Sabzivar (Sapzoar), 166

Safavi Dynasty, 18

Saffah, Caliph, 91

Safi, Prince (Sophi Mirza), 226,

231

Safi-ad-Din, Shaykh, 18, 315
Sahamal (Shamkhal), 323
Salamansa, 94
Salamenus, 64

Salman, or Salmas, Mirza, 132-

134, 150, 168, 169
Salmas, Prince, 138
Salmas, town (Salma), 43
Salsas, 287
Sam Mirza, Prince (Samirza),

124

Samara on Volga, 243
Samir-Khan (Sanmyrchan), 147
San Juan, Francisco de, 303
San Nicolo, Archangel, 260, 334
Santa Cruz, Marquis de, 305, 306
Sapor I, 74

Sapor II, 68, 7 1, 74, 75
Sapor III, 75
Saqali Sultan, the Turkoman

(Sacholi, Sacoli), 196, 200
Sardanapalus, 60, 63
Sarozolachlu ckn, 46
Sasan, 72
Savah (Saba), 40
Savona, 287
Saxony, 270, 271
Saymarah (Zeymara), 39
Sayyid Oghlu, Khan (Can Cia-

dogli), 42

Sayyids (Zeythes), 106
Scaliger, Joseph, 86
Schefer, C., 309
Schiavi, or Slaves' Lake, 326
Scotch River, 327
Scylitzes, 14
Secusa, 123
Sege&ani, 74, 316
Segovia, 294, 295, 337
Selim I, Sultan, the Grim, 20,

115, 120, 124

Selim II, Sultan, the Sot, 21, 127
Shabdah Sultan (Chabda), 168
Shah 'Ali Sultan Bayat (Sahaly),

198

Shah Rukh, 96
Shah Suvar Oghlu (Sasso Var),

120
Shah Verdi Khan (Xavardi Can),

216, 217

35 1

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

Shahr Barm, Princess, 17

Shahr Barz (Sarbard, Barbaras),

83-85

Shaki (Sequi), 145

Shamakhi (Symiach, Sumachi, Su-

machia), 109, 147, 148, 151
Shamkhal, Prince (Sahamal), 140
Shamkhal, Prince of Bras, 148,

153.323

Shamkhal Khan (Kamal, Xam-
hac), 130, 131

Sliamlu clan (Xamblu), 45

Sliaraf Khan (Serapychan, Se-
raphchan), 145, 146

Sharfah, 87

Shaykh Ahmad (Xic Hamet), 2 1 5

Shaykh Sophi (Xiek Sofi, Xiche
Sophi), 19, 53, 206

Shaytan Qal'ah (Assaythan Ca-
lassi), 172

Sheba(Sabo), 58

Sheep, big Persian, 43

Sheep, black and white, Turko-
mans, 319

Shenb Ghazan (Xan Cassan), 1 86

Sherley Brothers, the Three y 309

Sherley, Sir Anthony, i, 4, 7, 227,
232-234, 258, 261, 283-286,

333> 335-337

Sherley, Sir Robert, i, 233, 337
Shi'ah Cap, 18, 49, no
Shi 'ah cursings, 330
Shi fi ah Doctrine, 1 7
Shi'ahs, massacre of, 321
Shiraz (Syras, Siras, Xiras), 38,

128, 313
Shirvan (lervan, Geruan), 22,

4*> *39> 313

Shu&er (Su&er), 39

Siena, 283

Simon, Saint, 70

Simon, Prince (Sirnaorz), 140,

155-158, 171, 173, 174
Sinan Pasha (Synan Baxa), 118,

122, 159-162, 165, 328
Sinan, son of Cigala. See Cigala

Siroes, 84

Sirto (Syrtho), 38

Sisebuth the Visigoth, 82

Si&an (Ci&an), 42, 74

Sittas, 80

Sixtus IV, Pope, 100

Siyavush Pasha (Chans or Xaus

Baxa), 165, 176-178
Skulls of deer in a tower, 40
Skulls of Turks in a tower, 42
Sledges, horse, and sleds, 246
Smerdis, 66
Sogdianus, 66

Sokolli, Grand Vizier, 156, 329
Solachlu clan, 46
Sophi, Grand, 18, in
Sophi Kings of Persia from Imam

Musa Kazim, 91
Sosares, 60
Sosarmus, 60

Spain, Moslem conquesl; of, 89
Sphserus, 59

Stade, or Stode, 265, 309, 334
St. John, Knights of, at Rhodes,

122

Sternschloss, 335

Stettin not Stode, 309, 334

Stirrups, short, 50

Strasburg, 274

Sturgeon, 241

Suanyr, 71

Sufand Sufi, 18, rn

Sufiyan (Sophian), 181

Sugurghatmish (Sagraco), 96

Sugut (Soguta), 95

Sukhona river, 333

Sulayman, Caliph (Sulayman
Haslian), 90

Sulayman, Prince, 109

Sulayman, Sultan, the Mag-
nificent, 20, 121, 124

Sulayman the Seljuk (Salamansa),
318

Sultan Ali Beg Bayat, 3, 23, 24,
158, 176, 190-193

Sultan Ali Mirza, 129

35 2

INDEX

Sultan Haydar, prince, 213

Sultan Mahmud, 213

Sultan Muafa, 129

Sultaniyah, 198

Sulzbach, Pfalzgraf of (Sultzba-

hac), 279, 336
Surius, Laurentius, 72, 316
Susiana (Sosian), 39
Susianian Library, 58, 315
Swiss Cantons and Switzerland

(Helvecia, Elvezia), 273, 274
Syplilit, or Leipzig, 5, 335
Syris, son of Abraham, 59,

3^5

Szigeth (Liquet), 126

Tabriz (Tauris), 24, 40, 42, no,
119, 124, 176, 181-184, 188-
193

Tahmasp, Prince, 24, 133, 195,

200, 211

Tahmasp I, Shah (Tahamas),- 2,
2I >4>45> 124-130,141

Taj, cap, 49

Takkeh-lu clan (Thacalu), 46

TaHm Khan the Uzbek (Telin
Can), 224, 225

Taloghli, Aga of the Janissaries
(Tailloli), r 60, 327

Tamchosro (Thamar Cosdroes),

79

Tamerlane (Tambur, Tamur Bee,
Tanburlan), 95, 96, 166, 220,
237, 240

Tangrolipix, 16, 94, 318

Tanning Wells, 248

Tartar Khan, of the Crimea, 152-
154

Tartars in Russia: Perekop Tar-
tars, 149, 247, 332; Perikorsk
Tartars, 142, 240; and tee
Uzbeks

Tassia, 114

Tekelli Qizil Bash (Techelle
Cuselras), 19, 113, 321

Terjan battle, 100, 319

Teuso, 236

Teutamus, Teutaus, 60
Teuthanes, 61, 315
Theodosius II, Emperor, 76
Theophanes, 15
Theophilus, Emperor, 93
Thonus Concolerus, 6oj
Thuringia, 267
Tiberius I, Emperor, 69 v
Tiberius II, Emperor, 79
Tifiis, 141, 143, 156, 157, 158,

163, 171
Timeus, 60

Timur Beg. See Tamerlane
Titon, 61,315
Toledo, 279, 297
Tomanis (Thomanis), 141
Toqmaq Khan Qashlu (Tocomac

Can Caxelu), 136, 145, 146,

1 60, 170, 198
Tornamira, Juan de, 76
Totma (Turmen), 260
Tower of deer skulls, 40
Tower of Turkish skulls, 42
Treves (Reucri misprint for

Treveri), 272
Triala, 143

Trinka (Trine), 272, 274, 335
Tripartite Hi&ory, 71, 315
Truxillo, 279
Tudela del Duero, 288
Tufangchi, 52
Tughril Beg (Trangolypico Moa-

caleto), 94.
TumanBey, Mamluk Sultan, 122,

123

Turavets (Turavichis), 260
Turbat-i-Haydari (Turbeth, Tur-

bhat), 1 66, 222
Turkish Ambassador at Venice,

282

Turkish Amirs, Seven, 95
Turkish Artillery, 23
Turkish Sultans, Ottoman, 95
Turkoman Chay, 137
Turkoman clan, 45

351

AA

DON JUAN OF PERSIA

Turkoman tribesmen of Tabriz,

24, 184, 194-200
Turkomans of the Black Sheep,

46> 3H

Turks in Persia, 93, 94
Turshiz (Turcis), 166
Tzar Kohkoly 332
Tzaritzyn (Zarecen), 243

Uhagon, Senor, 311

Uluch Ali, Admiral (Alyucheli),

136

Urrea, Diego de, 294
Uruch or Ulugh Beg, i, 309;

and see Don Juan of Persia
Uftad Oghlu (Uftaolago, Uftao-

slago, IMadoalu), 117, 118,

123,321
Uftajlu ckn (U&axelu, E&exelu),

45

Uslyug (Rescue), 260
Uzbek Tartars, 26, 219-226
Uzun Hasan (Ussan, Ussam
Cassano, Cassun, Cassen, Cas-
sem Bech, Azem Bee, Azem-
bre), 16, 97-100, 107, 319, 320

Vahan, 76
Vakil, 46
Valdai hills, 332
Valerian, Emperor, 74
Valiyan Mountain, 328
Falla de Jmor y 332
Valladolid, 289-293
Van Lake (Vuan), 171
Varahran I, II, and III, 74
Varahran IV, 75
Varahran V, 76 ; and see Bahram
Fecinos, or householders, 313,331
Veiga, Thome da, 310
Velada, Marquis de, 289
Venetians and Turks, 97
Venetians^ Travels of, in Persia^

16, 312, 313
Venice, 281
Verona, 281

Veys Pasha, 175

Fifioria, Magellan's ship, 37, 312

Vincenzo I, Duke of Mantua, 6,

281,336
Vladimir, town (Valla de Amor),

H9> 332

Vlaman, 124, 322
Volga (Eder, Itil), 44, 236, 238,

241-245, 259, 332, 333
Voluppo Lake, 245, 332
Vronica ForesT: (Euronica), 273

Waidhausen (Wilithaucen), 279

Walid I, Caliph (Ulit, Halid), 89

Warat, 334

Wartburg, 335

Wathiq, Caliph, 318

Weimar (Brymer), 268

Weissenburg (Bicembrec), 280

Wernberg (Ginthaoth), 279

Werra river, 268

Weser river (Wisurgo), 273

Wilfuesen, 270

William II, Duke of Bavaria, 6,

336

Windmills in Saxony, 271
Windsfeld (Bilifilith), 279
Wittenberg (Witinberg), 270
Wives, plurality of, 49

Xerxes I and II, 66

Xerxes, or Artabanus III, 70, 315

Xipric, 270

Ya'qub, Sultan (lacopo, lacob

Bech), 100, 107-110
Yaroslav (laraslap), 259
Yazdagird I, 76; III, 316
Yazid I, Caliph (lezido), 88,

1 06
Yazid II, Caliph (lezid Calid or

Gelid), 90
Yezd (Eft), 40

Yunus Pasha (lunnu Baxa), 115
Yusuf, Prince (Usuf, Guisuf),

140

354

INDEX

Yusuf Bey (Guusufay, Guzesuf),

160
Yusuf Pasha, or Cigcala Pasha,

328

Zaghen (Zagam), 142

Zahr Mar, poison snake (Zahar

que mar, Zachari mar), 106
ZaFKhan (Zalchan), 323
Zalga Fortress, 109
Zandarud river (Senderu), 39

Zaragoza, 288

Zaroes, 70

Zayn-al-'Abidin, Fourth Imam

17

Zelma, 91, 317
Zeneta Berbers, 314
Zeno, 313
Zezian city, 108
Zonaras, 14
Zuiria, 139
Zurich (Zurioz), 273

355

^

118072

is
ii