Don Juan of Persia, a Shi'ah Catholic, 1560-1604

Front matter

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ANIINTEREICDNRATAA

Preface

In 1604, one year before the first edition of the First Part of Don Quixote was in print, the book of the Relaciones of Don Juan of Persia was published at Valladolid in a small 4to of 396 pages. It has never been reprinted, nor has it ever been translated from the Castilian 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 Isfahán 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 medieval history, but his description of Persia and his account of the wars waged by the Persians during the 16th 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 somewhat obscure period. Further, he succinctly describes the Safavi rule as first established, and the system of government set up in the golden prime of Shah “Abbas. Lastly, the journal of his journey through Russia, Germany and Italy to Spain is quaintly entertaining. As in the case of most of the books printed in Spain at the beginning of the 17th century, the proof-correéting of the Relaciones was not attended to with care. Proper names of persons and places are inexactly 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 Vv

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 Introduction. Here all that need be noted is that names of persons and places when recognizable are 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 authorities 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 Historia de la Literatura Española, 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 Castilian proverb referred to by Don Juan, the first 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 1 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 last, who first drew my attention to the Relaciones, which he had made use of, quoting from it, in the latest 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 Fugger News-Letters, 1568-1605, 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 1 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 first case where it is mentioned; and for later references to the work the author’s name must be sought in the Index.

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Uruch Beg, otherwise Don Fuan of Persia—T he Sherley brothers

— The Persian embassy to the courts of Europe — The ambassador and his secretaries—The Embassy sets out from Isfahdu, 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—T'he reception of the Embassy by Philip III—T he ambassador proceeds to Lisbon and returns by sea, round the Cape of Good Hope to Persia—The conversion of Don Fuan, and two other Persians who remain in Spain— The death of Don Fuan—How his book was written—Book I of the “ Relaciones” —Description of Persia—The early history of Persia—The history of Moslem times—The rise of Uzun Hasan—Shi‘ah and Sunni : the claims of the House of *Ali—T he words Sufi, Safavi and Sophi—The reign of Shah Isma‘itl—Sultan Selim the Grim : his vidory at Chaldirán—Sultan Selim invades Syria and Egypt—Sultan Sulayman and Shah Tahmásp—Isma'il II and the Princess Pari-Khán-Khánum—The blind king Muhammad Khuda Bandah—Sultan Murád III invades Georgia— The mutiny of the Turkomán tribesmen—T he Turks take Tabriz— Uruch Beg (later Don Fuan) present when his father is killed under the walls of Tabriz—The murder of Prince Hamzah—Shdah ‘Abbds becomes king—His treaty with the Turks—The arrival of the Sherleys—T he Embassy to the European powers sets out— Description Y the Valladolid fy edition of the “* Relaciones”

THE TRANSLATION

Book I Chapter One

Fuan gives thanks that he, together with two of his fellow Persian secretaries, has become a Christian—T'he reason for the composition of the following book—The works of Minadoi and Botero—The journey from Persia to Spain, and its unique

PAGES charader és : ; a . 5337

Chapter Two

Ancient Persia or Fars, Shtráz—Luristan and Susiana— Persian Iráq—Isfañán the capital of Persia—The province of Qazvin—The Hamadán, Gilán and Shirván provinces— The Astarábad and Mázxandarán provinces—K hurásán, Oandahár and Sistán—T'he city and distrid of Ganjah— Azerbayján and Tabriz city—Khoy and Salmás in Kurdistán—The Marághah and Khurramábád Distrids—

PAGES

Arabian ‘Iraq : ; > . 38-44

Chapter Three

The mode of government in Persia—The thirty-two noble families in Persia—Matters of war are direded by the Kháns—T he attendants of the King—The Ki is s Palace, and the

Palace of the Queens 5 % 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 Sháh when on campaign : his State Umbrella —The Bodyguard of Georgian Renegades—Magic: the Alcoran—Medicine and physicians—The tombs of the Sophi Kings and Saints—Customs at funerals—Marriage customs

—The Gypsies, and public women in Persia > 40-87

Chapter Six

The history of Sardanapalus, and his fall—T he rebellion of Arbaces and Belesys—Arbaces King of Persia

Chapter Seven

Cyrus the Great—Kings from Darius to Alexander the Great— The Roman Empire—Two of the three Magi, Persian Kings —Cesar and Christ Fesus—Satraps in Persia till Sassanian times ‘ : .

=

63-65

66-69

CHAPTER EIGHT PAGES Saint Fude and Saint Simon preach the Gospel in Persia—T he Christian martyrs—T he Story of Babek and Sasan—Ardashir Babegán, the first Sassanian—Sapor I and the Emperor Valerian—Sapor II, born a King—The bishop Saint Fames and the siege of Nisibis—Yazdagird, and the Emperor Arcadius 70-77

Chapter Nine

Chosroes Anushirván, and the Emperor Fustinian—Defeat of Chosroes and loss of the Sacred Brazier—Varahrdn or Bahram Chibin—Chosroes Parviz defeats Bahram Chúbin —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 —Vidory of Heraclius over the Persians—The return of the True Cross to Ferusalem—T he death of Chosroes—Siroes the parricide— Shahr-Barz and the last Chosroes—T he Caliph Omar invades Persia—His death at Ferusalem—Othman becomes Caliph 83-86

Chapter Eleven

The destruction of the Colossus of Rhodes—‘Alt and Mu‘éwiyah— The Coran—The Caliph Yazid—The 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 Mansir—The Caliphs Mahdi and Hárún-ar-Rashid—T'he latter’s two sons Amin and Mámún

—The foundation of Baghdad . : > 87-92

Chapter Twelve

The later Abbasid Caliphs : the rise of the Turks—Basasiri and Tughril Beg—T'he later Turkish or Tartar overlords—T he seven Turkish <Amirs in Asia 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—Fosaphat Barbaro—His Book of Travels—T he battle of Terján—Death of Sultan Muhammad the Conqueror and of Uzun Hasan 97-100

X1

Book II Chapter One Pages

Sultan Bayazid II—The year 1500, birth of the Emperor Charles V—Birth of Shah Isma‘ilin 1472—Shaykh Haydar of Ardebil, his father—T he rights of ‘Ali, son-in-law of the Prophet Mahomed, to the Caliphate—Death of Husayn, son of ‘Ali—The doctrines of the Shi‘ahs and of the Sunnis, as held by the Persians and Turks respedtively—Shaykh Haydar of Ardebil marries the daughter of Uzun Hasan—Shál Isma‘il begins to preach the doGrine of the Shi‘ah Faith— He gains possession of Tabriz—The Qizil Bash Cap of Twelve Points—As to the title of Grand Sophi 103-111

Chapter Two

Shah Isma‘il defeats Alvand and Murád Khdn—Sultan Bayazid II and the Shi‘ahs—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 Chaldirán . . : ; 112-119

Chapter Three

Sultan Selim I again invades Armenia—Shah Ismail makes a treaty with Qánsún the Mamluk Sultan of Egypt—Qdusth marches from Cairo to Aleppo—Vidory of the Turks before Aleppo, and death of Qansih—Tumdn Bey becomes Sultan of Egypt, but is defeated and put to death—Egypt becomes a province of Turkey—Deaths of Sultan Selim and of Shah Isma‘il—Shah Tahmdsp succeeds in Persia, and Sultan Sulaymán the Magnificent in Turkey—Sultan Sulayman appears before Tabriz—The Sultan goes to be crowned emperor at Baghdad—The lamentable State of Tabriz—Death of Sultan Sulayman, who is succeeded by Sultan Selim II 120-127

Chapter Four

Peace between Persians and Turks—T he death of Sultan Selim II, and of Shah Tahmásp—His son Muhammad Khudd-Bandah being blind, Isma‘il, a younger son of Tahmásp, succeeds— Pari-Khan-Khdnum persuades the nobles to proclaim Haydar, another son of Shah Tahmásp—Haydar is killed—Shah Isma‘il II and his cruelties—He is put to death by the nobles—Sultan Murad III prepares to invade Georgia— Accession of King Muhammad Khuda-Bandah—Prince Hamzah his deputy. z 128-135

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Chapter Five

The Turks, under Mustafá 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—Mustafá Pasha captures Tiflis—Prince

PAGES

Iskandar joins Mustafá Pasha, who marches into Shirvan 136-146

Chapter Six

The city of Eres occupied by the Turks and fortifed—Mustafá Pasha marches back to Tiflis and to Erzerim—‘ Adil Ghiray, Prince of the Crim Tartars, marches into Shirvén—Prince Hamzah surprises ‘Adil Ghiray and takes him prisoner—T he reported intrigue of ‘Adil Ghiray and the Begum : both are put to death—Othman Pasha bi Shamkhál the Georgian

Prince to death : 147-155

Chapter Seven

Qars rebuilt and fortified by the Turks—Hasan Pasha vidorions over the Persians and Georgians—Tifiis is regarrisoned— Hasan Pasha’s disaStrous retreat to Erzerim—Sindn Pasha in Tiflis: on his homeward march is defeated—The Shah offers peace terms: the Persian ambassador goes to Con- Stantinople—T he insult offered him—Georgia again invaded —Muhammad Pasha returns to Erzerám : the court-martial on Manuchihr—Manuchihr escapes the toils laid for him 156-165

Chapter Eight

The Shah marches on Herdt—'Ali Quli Khdn and Prince *4bbás —The siege of Herdt abandoned—T he conspiracy against the Vizier Mirza Salmán : his death—Farhdd Pasha sent against Eriván—T his city taken and fortified—Manuchihr and Simon, the Georgian princes, Steal the Turkish treasure— David, brother of Simon, joins the Turks, but Simon remains on the Persian side—Amir Khan, the chief of the Turkomans, rebels in Tabriz, butis taken and put to death—Farhád replaced by Othman Pasha, whom the Grand Vizier seeks to kill—How the plot failed: the disgrace of the Grand Vizier—Hasan Pasha governor of Egypt—The revolt of the Druses in Palestine suppressed by Ibrahim Pasha—Othman Pasha leaves Erzerám, marching on Tabriz—The Turkish army plunders Tabriz—Tabriz described—Othman Pasha falling sick, dies—The Persians attack the Turkish rear-guard at Shenb-Ghazón 5 ; 166-186

CONTENTS CHAPTER NINE

The Persians reoccupy the town quarters of Tabriz and lay siege to the Turkish fortress—Ineffedual attempt of the Persians to carry the fortress by Sorm—Don Fuar's Sather, Sultán ‘Ali Beg Bayát, tries to surprise the fortress, but is repulsed and slain—His memorial portrait in the dede of Haydar at Tabriz. : ; ‘ 187-193

Chapter Ten

The Turkoman tribesmen of Tabriz—Their treacherous condud to the Shah—They kidnap Prince Tahmasp—T he tribesmen occupy and plunder Qazvin—They set up Prince Tahmásp to be Shah, governing in his name—Prince Hamzah marches on Qazvin—T'he battle and the vidory of the royal army— Prince Hamzah returns to Tabriz—A Turkish army reinforces the fortress at Tabriz: in consequence the Persians abandon the siege—The Persians leave Tabriz in possession of the Turks—T he Persian headquarters removed to Ganjah —The Persian army begins its march back to Qazvín 194-202

Chapter Eleven

Esmi Khan: his conspiracy to kill Prince Hamzah—K hudd-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—* Ali Khan, the Turkoman, rebels in Káshán, and Farhdd Beg, the Georgian, in Isfahan— Prince *Abbás governor in Khurásán—T'he rivalry between “Ali Quli Khan and Murshid Quli Khán—Murshid overcomes his rival—The nobles in Qazvin call upon Prince ‘Abbas to come to Qazvin and re-establish order : his father, the blind king Muhammad Khudd-Bandah, abdicates—8háh ‘Abbds is proclaimed King of Persia . . ‘ 203-211

Chapter Twelve

Rebellion in the provinces : Shah‘ Abbds makes peace with Sultan Murdd—Khan Ahmad rebels in Gilan—Gildn subdued— The revolt in Luristan next suppressed : followed by the revolt in the Mázandarán province—Ali Beg the prince of ASstarabadd rebels—The Uzbek Tartars, and their Prince ‘Abd-Allah Khán—They invade Khurásán, take Herát and plunder Meshed—The Tartar war continues for eight years until the death of ‘Abd-Allah Khan, when the Uzbeks are finally vanquished—Death of Sultan Murád III, suc- ©

XIV

AO NSISERN DS ceeded by Sultan Muhammad III—The capital of Persia transferred from Qazvin to Isfahán—Tálim Khán the Uzbek overruns Khurdsdn—Shah ‘Abbas marches to Khurásén and defeats him—His death—The Shah returns to Qazvin—Arrival of the Sherley brothers . . 212-228

PAGES

Book III Chapter One

The embassy from the Sultan of Turkey—Sir Anthony Sherley : he, 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 Portuguese Friars—Their journey to the Caspian—The Tartars . of Manquishlégh—T he Idol —T he Volga mouth is reached— Astrakhan—T'he special Persian ambassador to Muscovy— Description of ASirakhan : : ; 231-240

Chapter Two

The journey up the Volga in galleys—The Nogay Tartars— Journey from Kazan towards Moscow : the freezing of the Volga : the journey in sledges—Nizhni-Novgorod : the custom of their bath-houses—T he Paes Tartars—V ladimir : 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 Arétic Sea—Arrival at Archangel—They embark for Embden 251-262

Chapter Four

The Laplanders, and their reindeer—V oyage past the North Cape— Arrival at Embden, and reception by the Duke of Oldenburg —Passage through Thuringia—Reception by the Landgrave at Kassel—Leipsig and the Palace of the Duke of Saxony 263-271 e CHAPTER FIVE The journey to Prague—T he reception in Prague of the Embassy by the Emperor Rudolf II—T hat winter is passed in Prague— The road to Munich . 4 : : 272-278 XV

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—T hey 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 Christian Faith of three of the Persian servants—From Rome to Genoa—By Savona the Embassy comes to Perpignan—Crossing the Pyrenees, Barcelona is reached—T he Persians come on to Tudela 279-288

Chapter Seven

Don Fuan proceeds to Valladolid and arrangements are made for the reception of the Embassy—The entrance of the Persians into Valladolid—The reception of the Persian ambassador by Philip III—The nephew of the Persian ambassador is converted to the Christian Faith—T he ambassador takes leave of the Spanish Court—The journey to Segovia—Madrid to Aranjuez and Mérida—The Persian “ Alfaqui” is killed by a fanatic—Badajos to Lishon—Don Fuan travels back to Valladolid—Going to the Fesuit House he talks with the ambassador's nephew, and is himself converted to Christianity. ‘ . a. : 289-301

CHAPTER EIGHT Don Fuan returns to the ambassador at Lisbon—Boniyat Beg, the

third secretary, declares himself to be a Christian—Boniyat

Beg is baptized under the name of Don Diego de Persia—Don

Fuan, pensioned by the King, takes up his residence in

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Dvurine 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 First Book describing his native country and its government, followed by an epitome of ancient and medieval 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 Isfahan into the countries of the West. He had left Persia in the year 1599, being one of the four secretaries to the Persian ambassador whom Shah ‘Abbas was sending to the princes of Europe under the guidance and personal conduct of Sir Anthony Sherley, and Don Juan of Persia at this period was a Shi‘ah moslem, and bore the name of Uruch Beg.

As regards the Englishman who was to conduct 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 East, where,

B landing at the mouth of the river Orontes, the party wentup 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 Isfahan, where the Englishmen found favour with Shah ‘Abbds the Great.* In the first decade of the 17th century Persia, then a great power, was enjoying a state of prosperity that had been unknown 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, Shah Isma‘il, great grandfather of Shah ‘Abbas, had made the Persians a nation by the vigour of his rule, further by proclaiming that the Shi‘ah faith, with the peculiar doctrine of the Imáms (from whom he traced his descent), was to be the one and only orthodox belief; thus branding the Turks of the Sunni sect as heretical and infidel. For a hundred years he and his successors down to Shah ‘Abbas had continually waged war against the Turkish Sultans, but with such varying success that Shah ‘Abbas had now made up his mind to seek alliances with the Christian powers of Europe, who, he trusted, would be willing to combine with him against 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 Shah’s ambassador to her Majesty and to the sovereigns of the various courts of Europe. ‘The Persians of that age were well accustomed to embassies from Christian potentates, and of Englishmen in particular in the reign of Shah Tahmásp, the grandfather of Shah *Abbás, Anthony Jenkinson, coming from Queen Elizabeth, had been received very honourably at Qazvin in the year 1562. ‘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 respectable age with grey hair, Husayn “Ali 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 First Secretary of Embassy was Uruch Beg, subsequently Don Juan of Persia, the writer of the Relaciones. Uruch Beg was at this time probably just under 40 years of age, and he was the son of the late Sultan ‘Ali Beg, who had been killed in 1585 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 *Abbás), and Sultan ‘Ali Beg, of the Bayát 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) Sultán “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 Isfahán in July 1599, Sherley and his Persian colleague travelled by slow stages to a port in Gilán (probably at or near Resht), where they embarked on the Caspian for Astrakhan. All August

DON JUAN' “OF PERSTA and September they were buffeted by contrary winds, and narrowly escaped shipwreck, but by the beginning of October 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 1t took them in boats a two months” voyage, but the distance being but little more than 1000 miles in a direct line along the river, one month at most probably was the time actually spent in travelling. At one Stage above Kazan the Volga became frozen; they then transferred themselves to sleighs and finally entered Moscow early in November. In Moscow as the guests of the Tzar the embassy spent the first winter of the outward journey, and here on a question of precedence Sherley quarrelled with his two Persian colleagues, at first declining to pay his respects to T'zar 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 first by land to Yaroslav on the upper Volga, where again they embarked on galleys, travelling up the stream to Rybinsk. In this stage 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 objeétive was Prague in Bohemia, but instead of taking the direct land route westward, they were advised, keeping at first to the galleys, to go by water vid 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 exact waterway is difficult to follow in

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 last river in fact 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 coast of Norway, reached Stode* at the mouth of the Elbe, where Parry, who acted as Secretary to Sir Anthony, disembarked, going Straight to England with despatches, while Sherley and the Persian ambassador 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 acknowledgment, from Botero) of the chief cities of Central Germany. From Hesse-Kassel the embassy passed into Saxony, where they stopped at the Duke’s residence, but did not see him, as he was out hunting, being, as Don Juan notes, a young man much addiéted to sport. From Kassel to Prague it is difficult to follow stage by stage the route on the map, by reason of the astonishing Castilian 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 Christian 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 the Saxon Switzerland, most of the places named, till we reach Bohemia, are unrecognizable on any modern or 17th century map. Passing the Saxon frontier the embassy entered the territories of the Empire, proceeding on to Prague in Bohemia, where they found the Emperor Rudolf II in residence. This was in the autumn of the year 1600, the same in which at Eastertide they had left Moscow, and at Prague they wintered, being sumptuously entertained at the Imperial Court.”

The following spring, with an Imperial Chamberlain to see them on their way, they set out from Prague for Munich (via Núremberg and Augsburg), where the Dukeof Bavaria, who hadrecently abdicated, William II, surnamed the Pious, showed them the contents of his treasury and his gardens. Our author has hitherto given every stage 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 state are noticed. From Munich, therefore, doubtless passing through Inspruck and over the Brenner to Botzen and by Trent, they entered Italy and went direct to Mantua, where the Duke Vincenzo Gonzaga gave them a noble entertainment. The ambassador had been commissioned by Shah ‘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 expedition, 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 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 proceed further together. Sherley and the ambassador were received in separate audience by Pope Clement VIII, after which Sir Anthony gave up his ambassadorial commission, in shame or disgust, and set out for Venice. While the Persians were staying in Rome incontinently the ambassador’s cook and two others of his suite announced their conversion to the Catholic faith, much to the embarrassment of their master.*