History of the Ottoman Turks; from the beginning of their empire to the present time

Front matter

3 et

- s vfV

HISTORY

Preface

Having been requested to prepare a Second Edition of this work, which has long been out of print, I have made in it many correc¬ tions, and some curtailments. I have added a few pages as to events subsequent to the Crimean War; but these are written with studious brevity.

The book (as I stated when it first appeared) is chiefly founded on Von Hammer. I have also carefully sought information from Knollcs, Rycaut, Montecuculi, Roe, Han way, Manstein, D’Ohsson, Thornton, Eton, Ubicini, Porter, Marmont, Sir F. Smith, Col. Chesney, Urquhart, Moltke, Hamel, Sismondi, Ranke, Finlay, Tricoupi, Campbell, Bosworth Smith, and others. I have also availed myself of the fragmentary wealth that lies heaped up in the back numbers of our periodical literature. The indices to both the “ Quarterly ” and the “ Edinburgh ” point out several articles on Turkish subjects, from which I have repeatedly gained intelligence and warnings. I have also consulted some admirable papers entitled “ Chapters on Turkish History,” which were con¬ tributed about thirty years ago to “Blackwood” by the late Mr. Hulme, a profound Oriental scholar, and a writer of such taste and vigour, that if he had lived to complete the work, portions of which were then sketched out by him, a full, accurate, and viii

PREFACE .

brilliant History of the Turks would have ceased to be one of the desiderata in our literature.

Yon Hammer’s “History of the Ottoman Empire” will always be the standard European book on this subject. That history was the result of the labours of thirty years, during which Yon Ham¬ mer explored, in addition to the authorities which his predeces¬ sors had made use of, the numerous works of the Turkish and other Oriental writers on the Ottoman history, and other rich sources of intelligence which are to be found in the archives of Venice, Austria, and other states, that have been involved in re¬ lations of hostility or amity with the Sublime Porte. Yon Ham¬ mer’s long residence in the East, and his familiarity with the institutions and habits, as well as with the language and the literature of the Turks, give an additional attractiveness and value to his volumes. His learning is as accurate as it is varied ; his honesty and candour are unquestioned ; and his history is certainly one of the best productions of the first half of our century.

This great work has never been translated into English. Its length has probably caused it to be thus neglected, while the historical productions of other German writers, though of less merit, have been eagerly translated and extensively read in this country. The first edition of Yon Hammer (published at Pesth) consists of ten thick closely-printed volumes. The second and smaller edition occupies four. This second edition omits the notes and observations, many of which are highly instructive and

r

valuable. And Yon Hammer does not bring the Turkish history lower down than to the treaty of Kainardji, 1774. A translation of his entire work, with a continuation of equal copiousness, would make up at least twenty octavo volumes, such as are usually

PREFACE .

ix printed in this country. Both writers and publishers have evidently feared that such a work would lack readers among our busy and practical population.

I have not made a mere abridgment of Yon Hammer; but I have sought to write an independent work, for which his volumes have supplied me with the largest store of materials. In using them I have arranged, and amplified, and omitted, and added at discretion, so as to assume general responsibility for comments and opinions. Where I have adopted those of Yon Hammer, I have generally referred to him as their author. My intention was always to do so, but there may be instances where this has been omitted.

The references to the pages of Yon Hammer, in the notes, apply to the second edition of the German.

E. S. CBEASY.

Athenaeum Club,

Chapter I. Tags

HIST .appearance and exploits of the ottoman turns under er-

T0GI1RUL IN ASIA MINOR — THEIR SETTLEMENT AT SULTAN-CENI — REIGN OF OTHMAN I. — Ills DREAM — IIIS CONQUESTS— DEATH AND CHARACTER 1

CIIAPTER II.

ACCESSION OF ORCnAN — HIS TIZIER ALAEDDIN ’S LEGISLATION— THE JANIS¬ SARIES- — CAPTURE OF NICE AND NICOMEDIA — DESCENT ON EUROPE — CONQUEST OF SOLYMAN PACHA — HIS DEATH AND ORCHAN’s DEATH . 12

CIIAPTER III.

*

AMURATH I. — CAPTURE OF ADRIANOPLE — RATTLE OP THE MARIZZA— CON¬ QUESTS IN EUROPE AND ASIA— VICTORY OF KOSSOVA — DEATH OF AMU¬ RATH — BAJAZET’S ACCESSION — CONQUESTS— DEPRAVITY OF MANNERS — VICTORY OF NICOPOLIS — TIMOUR — DEFEAT OF EAJAZET AT ANGORA . 22

CIIAPTER I Y.

INTERREGNUM AND CIVIL WAR— MAHOMET I. REUNITES THE EMPIRE —

HIS SUCCESSFUL REIGN — niS DEATH AND CHARACTER — ACCESSION OF AMURATH II. — SIEGE OF CONSTANTINOPLE — CIVIL WAR IN ASIA — WARS WITH THE SERVIANS, HUNGARIANS, AND OTHER NATIONS — VICTORIES OF HUNYADES — TREATY OF SZEGEDDIN— BROKEN BY THE CHRISTIANS — BATTLE OF VARNA— SCANDERBEG — SECOND BATTLE OF KOSSOVA— DEATH OF AMURATH . . . 52

CONTENTS .

xii

CHAPTER V.

REIGN AND CHARACTER OF MAHOMET II. — SIEGE AND CONQUEST OF CON¬ STANTINOPLE — FURTHER CONQUESTS IN EUROPE AND ASIA — REPULSE BEFORE BELGRADE— CONQUEST OF THE CRIMEA — UNSUCCESSFUL ATTACK ON RHODES — CAPTURE OF OTRANTO— DEATH OF MAHOMET . • .75

CHAPTER VI.

INSTITUTES OF MAHOMET II.— TURKISH GOVERNMENT — ARMIES— TENURES OF LAND — INSTITUTIONS — EDUCATION — THE ULEMA — THE RAYAS — SLAVERY — RENEGADES — TURKISH CHARACTER — TURKISH WARFARE . 93

CHAPTER VII.

BAJAZET II. — PRINCE DJEM — CIVIL WAR — ADVENTURES AND DEATH OF DJEM IN CHRISTEND DM— FIRST WAR WITH EGYPT — BAJAZET DETHRONED BY HIS SON, SELIM . . . . .114

CHAPTER VIII.

SELIM I. — HIS CHARACTER— MASSACRE OF THE SHIIS— WAR WITH PERSIA — CONQUESTS IN UPPER ASIA— WAR WITH THE MAMELUKES— CONQUEST OF SYRIA AND OF EGYPT— NAVAL PREPARATIONS— DEATH OF SELIM —

THE MUFTI DJEMALE’S INFLUENCE OVER HIM . 127

CHAPTER IX.

IMPORTANCE OF THE EPOCH OF SOLYMAN’S REIGN — HIS CHARACTER- JOY AT HIS ACCESSION — CONQUEST OF BELGRADE AND RHODES— BATTLE OF MOHACZ— SIEGE OF VIENNA— CRITICAL REPULSE OF THE TURKS . . 150

CHAPTER X.

WARS AND TREATIES WITH AUSTRIA — CONQUESTS OVER PERSIA — AUSTRIA TRIBUTARY TO TnE PORTE— EXPLOITS OF THE TURKISH ADMIRALS — BARBAROSSA — PIRI REIS — SIDI ALI — DRAGUT — PIALE — SOLYMAN’S DO¬ MESTIC TRAGEDIES — DEATHS OF PRINCE MUSTAPHA AND PRINCE BAJAZET — SIEGE OF MALTA — SIEGE OF SIGETH — DEATH OF SOLYMAN — EXTENT OF THE EMPIRE UNDER HIM — ARMY — NAVY— INTERNAL ADMINISTRA¬ TION— LAWS— COMMERCE— BUILDINGS— LITERATURE ; • , .171

CHAPTER XI.

SELIM II. — HIS DEGENERACY — PEACE WITH AUSTRIA— FIRST CONFLICT BETWEEN TURKS AND RUSSIANS — CONQUEST OF CYPRUS — BATTLE OF LEPANTO— OULOUDJ ALl’S ENERGY— DEATH OF SELIM . . . .212

CONTENTS. xiii

CHAPTER XII.

TAGB

AMUR IT H III.— RAPID DECLINE OE THE EMPIRE — CONQUESTS PROM PERSIA — PROGRESS OP CORRUPTION AND MILITARY INSUBORDINATION — WAR WITH AUSTRIA — MAHOMET III. — BATTLE OF CERESTES — ACHMET I. — PEACE OF SITVATOROK — UNSUCCESSFUL WARS WITH PERSIA — REVOLTS — MUSTAPHA I. DEPOSED — OTIIMAN I. — VIOLENCE OF THE TROOPS — OTH- MAN MURDERED — MUSTAPHA RESTORED AND AGAIN DEPOSED — WRETCHED STATE OF TnE EMPIRE . . * 224

CHAPTER XIII.

MISERY OF THE EMPIRE AT TnE ACCESSION OF AMURATH IV. — MILITARY REVOLTS — AMURATH TAKES POWER INTO HIS OWN HANDS AND RESTORES ORDER — HIS SEVERITY AND CRUELTY— RECONQUERS BAGDAD— HIS DEATH 24G

CHAPTER XIV.

CHARACTER OF THE LATTER PORTION OF TURKISH HISTORY — ACCESSION OF SULTAN IBRAHIM — FOLLY AND WICKEDNESS OF HIS GOVERNMENT — REVOLUTION — IBRAHIM DEPOSED AND PUT TO DEATH— FOREIGN EVENTS DURING IBRAHIM’S REIGN — WAR WITH THE COSSACKS — BEGINNING OF THE WAR OF CANDIA — MAHOMET IV., AT THE AGE OF SEVEN, RAISED TO THE THRONE — CONTINUED TUMULT AND MISERY — THE FIRST KIUPRILI MADE VIZIER . . . 258

CHAPTER XV. -

MOHAMMED KIUPRILI— RIGOUR AND SUCCESS OF HIS MINISTRY— HIS SON AHMED KIUPRILI SUCCEEDS HIM IN THE VIZrERATE — GREAT QUALITIES OF AHMED KIUPRILI — WEAKNESS OF SULTAN MAHOMET IV. — WAR WITH AUSTRIA — GREAT DEFEAT OF THE TURKS BY MONTECUCULI AT ST. G0- THARD — TRUCE WITH AUSTRIA— AHMED KIUPRILI TAKES CANDIA — WAR WITH RUSSIA AND POLAND — SOBIESKI DEFEATS THE TURKS AT KHOCZIN AND LEMBERG— PEACE OF ZURAUNA— DEATH AND CHARACTER OF AHMED KIUPRILI . 273

CHAPTER XVI.

KARA MUSTAPHA VIZIER— UNSUCCESSFUL WAR WITH RUSSIA— WAR WITH AUSTRIA— SIEGE OF VIENNA — RESCUE OF THE CITY AND COMPLETE OVERTHROW OF THE TURKS BY SOBIESKI — HEAVY LOSSES OF THE OTTOMANS — MAHOMET IV. DEPOSED — HIS CHARACTER— CHANGE OF THE JANISSARY FORCE — THE BARBARESQUE REGENCIES — THE PRETENDED MESSIAH SABBATHAI— MAHOMET IV.’S PATRONAGE OF LITERATURE . 290

XIV

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XVII.

PACK

SOLYMAN II. — INSURRECTIONS AND DEFEATS — SUCCESSES AGAINST RUSSIA — KIUPRILI-ZADE MUSTAPHA MADE GRAND YIZIER — HIS CHARACTER AND MEASURES — WISE POLICY TO THE RAYAS — SUCCESSFUL CAMPAIGN — DEATH OF SOLYMAN II. — AHMED II. SULTAN — KIUPRILI DEFEATED AND KILLED AT SALANKEMAN — DISASTROUS REIGN OF AHMED II. — MUSTAPHA II. SUCCEEDS, AND HEADS THE ARMIES — VICTORIOUS AT FIRST, BUT DE¬ FEATED BY EUGENE AT ZENTA— HOUSEIN KIUPRILI GRAND VIZIER — CON¬ QUESTS OF PETER THE GREAT OF RUSSIA OVER THE TURKS — AZOPH TAKEN — NEGOTIATIONS FOR PEACE— TREATY OF CARLO WITZ, . .301

CHAPTER XVIII.

DEATH OF KIUPRILI HOUSEIN — ABDICATION OF MUSTAPHA II. — ACCESSION OF ACHMET III. — CHARLES XII. IN TURKEY — WAR WITH RUSSIA — SUC¬ CESS OF THE TURKS AND TREATY OF THE PRUTH — WAR WITH VENICE —

THE MOREA RECOVERED — WAR WITH AUSTRIA — DISASTERS OF THE TURKS — PEACE OF PASSAROWITZ — LEAGUE WITH RUSSIA AGAINST PERSIA — DE¬ POSITION OF ACHMET III. — THE HOSPODARS— THE FANARIOTS. • . 323

CHAPTER XIX. !

MAHMOUD I. — TOTAL OSMAN — PEACE WITH PERSIA— RUSSIA AND AUSTRIA ATTACK TURKEY— RUSSIAN INVASIONS OF THE CRIMEA — SUCCESSES OF TURKS AGAINST THE AUSTRIANS — BELGRADE RECOVERED — TREATY OF BELGRADE — PACIFIC POLICY OF TURKEY — DEATH OF SULTAN MAHMOUD — SHORT PACIFIC REIGN OF OTHMAN III. ...... 350

CHAPTER XX.

RUSSIAN ATTACK ON POLAND — TURKISH REMONSTRANCE9 — WAR WITH RUSSIA — OPINIONS OF EUROPE — DEFEATS OF THE TURKISH ARMIES — RUSSIAN FLEET IN THE MEDITERRANEAN— BATTLE OF TCHESME — EX¬ PLOITS OF HASSAN OF ALGIERS — LOSS OF THE CRIMEA — NEGOTIATIONS —

WAR RENEWED— SILISTRIA AND SHUMLA DEFENDED — DEATH OF MUS¬ TAPHA III.— ABDUL HAMID SULTAN— TREATY OF KAINAEDJI . , . 3S0

CHAPTER XXI.

ATTEMPTS OF GAZI HASSAN TO RESTORE THE EMPIRE — FRESH ENCROACH¬ MENTS OF RUSSIA — CONVENTION OF 1779 — RUSSIA ANNEXES THE CRIMEA.

— VAIN ATTEMPTS OF FRANCE TO INDUCE ENGLAND TO ACT WITH HER AGAINST RUSSIA- CONVENTION OF 17S3— SCHEME3 OF AUSTRIA AND

CONTENTS .

TAGE

RUSSIA FOR THE DISMEMBERMENT OF TURKEY— WAR— RESISTANCE OF THE TURKS TO AUSTRIA— AUSTRIA MAKES PEACE— DISASTERS SUSTAINED BY THE TURKS IN THE WAR WITH RUSSIA — ACCESSION OF SULTAN SELIM III. — INTERVENTION OF ENGLAND AND PRUSSIA — TREATY OF JASSY . 415

CHAPTER XXII.

VIEW OF THE TURKISH EMPIRE BEFORE THE COMMENCEMENT OF SELIM III.’s REFORMS— TERRITORIAL DIVISIONS; EYALETS, LIVAS, KAZAS — APPOINTMENTS OF THE PACHAS— THE AYANS — EXTENT OF THE EMPIRE — ITS MISRULE AND MISERY — FEEBLENESS OF THE SULTAN’S AUTHORITY —

THE WAIIABITES, DRUSES, MAMELUKES, AND SULIOTES — REVOLTS OF THE PACHAS — ABUSES OF THE FEUDAL SYSTEM— TYRANNY OF THE FARMERS OF THE REVENUE — MILITARY WEAKNESS OF THE EMPIRE— THE JANI3- .

S ARIES AND OTHER TROOPS — THE HOUSE OF OT1IMAN AT ITS NADIR . 41G

CHAPTER XXIII.

SELIM’S REFORMS — THE NEW TROOPS — NAPOLEON ATTACKS EGYPT— WAR BETWEEN TURKEY AND FRANCE — ALLIANCE WITn RUSSIA AND ENGLAND — DEFENCE OF ACRE — FRENCH EVACUATE EGYPT— GENERAL PEACE — TROUBLES IN SERVIA — THE DAHIS — KARA GEORGE — WAR WITH RUSSIA AND ENGLAND — THE PASSAGE OF THE DARDANELLES — TRUCE WITH RUSSIA — SELIM III. — DEPOSED BY THE JANISSARIES— MUSTAPH A IV. SULTAN — DEPOSED BY MUSTAPHA BAIRACTAR — MAHMOUD II. — DEATH OF BAIRACTAR — TRIUMPH OF THE JANISSARIES, AND APPARENT END OF REFORMS — RUSSIAN WAR CONTINUED — TREATY OF BUCHAREST . 457

CHAPTER XXIV.

CHARACTER OF MAHMOUD IT. — MEHEMET ALI — OVERTHROW OF THE MAME¬ LUKES AND THE WAHABITES — FRESn TROUBLES IN SERVIA — MILOSCH OBRENO WITCH — GENERAL EXCITEMENT AMONG THE RAYAS — THE HE- TiERIA — THE GREEK REVOLUTION — MAHMOUD DESTROYS THE JANIS¬ SARIES — RUSSIA, UNDER NICHOLAS I., FORCES THE TREATY OF AKKERMAN ON TURKEY— FRANCE, ENGLAND, AND RUSSIA INTERFERE ON BEHALF OF THE GREEKS — BATTLE OF NAVARINO — WAR WITH RUSSIA — TREATY OF ADRIANOPLE — REVOLT OF MEHEMET ALI — BATTLE OF KONIEH — RUSSIAN TROOPS PROTECT THE SULTAN — TREATY OF UNKIAR SKELESSI — FRESH WAR WITH MEHEMET ALI — DEATH OF MAHMOUD — THE TURKS DEFEATED — SULTAN ABDUL MED J ID AIDED BY ENGLAND AGAINST MEHEMET ALI — SETTLEMENT OF DISPUTES WITH EGYPT • • « • . 492

XVI

CONTENTS .

CHAPTER XXV.

PAGE

REFORMS OF SULTANS MAHMOUD IT. AND ABDUL MEDJID — ABOLITION OF THE COURT OF CONFISCATION — FOWER OF LIFE AND DEATH TAKEN FROM THE PACHAS— THE VAKOUFS — THE TIMARS AND THE ZIAMETS ABOLISHED— THE DEREII BEYS PUT DOWN — FINANCIAL REFORMS — EDICTS IN FAVOUR OF THE RAYAS — REFORM OF THE CENTRAL AD¬ MINISTRATION-ACCESSION OF ABDUL MEDJID— ARMY REFORMS — THE TANZIMAT — RUSSIAN AGGRESSIONS — THE CRIMEAN WAR — PEACE OF PARIS — HATTI-Y-HUMAYOUN — ACCESSION OF SULTAN ABDUL-AZIZ — CRETAN WAR— ROUMANIA AND SERVIA MADE INDEPENDENT STATES — SULTAN VISITS ENGLAND— RUSSIA REPUDIATES THE TREATY OF PARIS AS TO THE BLACK SEA — TROUBLES IN HERZEGOVINA— NATIONAL IN¬ SOLVENCY — DETHRONEMENT AND DEATH OF ABDUL-AZIZ— MURAD V. MADE SULTAN, DEPOSED — AHMED HAMTD II. PRESENT SULTAN— SER¬ VIAN WAR — MENACES OF WAR WITH RUSSIA — HOPES OF PEACE NOT EXTINCT . . . 528

HISTORY

CHAPTER I.

FIRST APPEARANCE AND EXPLOITS OF THE OTTOMAN TURKS UNDER ERTOGHRUL IN ASIA MINOR — THEIR SETTLEMENT AT SULTAN-CENI — REIGN OF OTHMAN I. — HIS DREAM — HIS CON¬ QUESTS — DEATH AND CHARACTER.1

About six centuries ago, a pastoral band of four hundred Turkish families was journeying westward from the upper streams of the river Euphrates. Their armed force consisted of four hundred and forty-four horsemen ; and their leader’s name was Ertoghrul, which means “The Right-Hearted Man.” As they travelled through Asia Minor, they came in sight of a field of battle, on which two armies of unequal numbers were striving for the mastery. Without knowing who the combatants were, The Right-Hearted Man took instantly the chivalrous resolution to aid the weaker party : and charging desperately and victoriously with his warriors upon the larger host, he decided the fortune of the day. Such, according to the Oriental historian Neschri,2 is the first recorded exploit of that branch of the Turkish race, which from Ertoghrul’s son, Othman,3 has been called the nation of the Ottoman Turks.

1 See Von Hammer, books 1 and 2.

2 Neschri states this on the authority of Mewlana Ayas, who had heard the battle narrated by the stirrup-holder of Ertoghrul’s grandson Orchan, who had heard it from Ertoghrul himself, and had told it to his followers. See Von Hammer’s note to p. 62 of his first volume.

3 “ Osman” is the real Oriental name of the Eponymus hero, and the descendants of his subjects style themselves “Osmanlis.” But the cor¬ rupted forms “ Othman” and “ Ottoman” have become so fixed in our lan¬ guage and literature, that it would be pedantry to write the correct originals. I follow the same principle in retaining “Amuratli” for “Murad/1 “Bajazet” for “Bayezid,” “Spahi” for “Sipahi,” &c., &c.

OF THE OTTOMAN TURKS.

o

HISTORY OF THE OTTOMAN TURKS.

The little band of Ertoghrul was a fragment of a tribe of Oghouz Turks, which, under Ertoghrul’s father, Solyman Shah, had left their settlements in Khorassan, and sojourned for a time in Armenia. After a few years, they left this country also ; and were following the course of the Euphrates towards Syria, when their leader was accidentally drowned in that river. The greater part of the tribe then dispersed ; but a little , remnant of it fol¬ lowed two of Solyman’s sons, Ertoghrul and Dundar, "who deter¬ mined to seek a dwelling-place in Asia Minor, under the Seljukian Turk, Alaeddin, the Sultan of Iconium. It so happened, that it was Alaeddin himself who commanded the army, to which Er¬ toghrul and his warriors brought such opportune succour on the battle-field, whither their march in quest of Alaeddin had casually led them. The adversaries, from whose superior force they de¬ livered him, were a host of Mongols, the deadliest enemies of the Turkish race. Alaeddin, in gratitude for this eminent service, bestowed on Ertoghrul a principality in Asia Minor, near the frontiers of the Bithynian province of the Byzantine Emperors.

The rich plains of Saguta along the left bank of the river Sakaria, and the higher districts on the slopes of the Ermeni mountains, became now the pasture-grounds of the father of Othman. The town of Saguta, or Scegud, was his also. Here he, and the shepherd-warriors who had marched with him from Khorassan and Armenia, dwelt as denizens of the land. Ertoghrul’s force of fighting men was largely recruited by the best and bravest of the old inhabitants, who became his subjects; and, still more advantageously, by numerous volunteers of kindred origin to his own. The Turkish race1 had been extensively spread through Lower Asia long before the time of Ertoghrul. Quitting their primitive abodes on the upper steppes of the Asiatic con¬ tinent, tribe after tribe of that martial family of nations had poured down upon the rich lands and tempting wealth of the southern and western regions, when the power of the early Khalifs had decayed, like that of the Greek Emperors. One branch of the Turks, called the Seljukian, from their traditionary patriarch Seljuk Khan, had acquired and consolidated a mighty empire, more than two centuries before the name of the Ottomans was heard. The Seljukian Turks were once masters of nearly all Asia Minor, of Syria, of Mesopotamia, Armenia, part of Persia, and

1 See, for the ethnology of the Turks, Dr. Latham’s work on Taissia. According to that high authority, all the early great Asiatic conquerors from the parts north of the Oxus have been of Turkish race, except Zenghis Ivhan and his descendants, and except the Mantchoo conquerors of China.

EE T 0 GH RUL'S CONQUESTS. A.D. 1250-1288. 3

Western Turkestan : and their great Sultans, Toghrul Beg, Alp Arslan, and Melek Shah, are among the most renowned conquerors that stand forth in Oriental and in Byzantine history. But, by the middle of the thirteenth century of the Christian era, when Ertoghrul appeared on the battle-field in Asia Minor, the great fabric of Seljukian dominion had been broken up by the assaults of the conquering Mongols, aided by internal corruption and civil strife. The Seljukian Sultan Alaeddin reigned in ancient pomp at Koniah, the old Iconium ; but his effective supremacy extended over a narrow compass, compared with the ample sphere through¬ out which his predecessors had exacted obedience. The Mongols had rent away the southern and eastern acquisitions of his race. In the centre and south of Asia Minor other Seljukian chiefs ruled various territories as independent princes ; and the Greek Emperors of Constantinople had recovered a considerable portion of the old Roman provinces in the north and east of that penin¬ sula. Amid the general tumult of border warfare, and of ever-recurring peril from roving armies of Mongols, which pressed upon Alaeddin, the settlement in his dominions of a loyal chieftain and hardy clan, such as Ertoghrul and his followers, was a welcome accession of strength ; especially as the new comers were, like the Seljukian Turks, zealous adherents of the Mahometan faith. The Crescent was the device that Alaeddin bore on his banners; Ertoghrul, as Alaeddin’s vicegerent, assumed the same standard ; and it was by Ertoghrul’s race that the Crescent was made for centuries the terror of Christendom, as the sign of aggressive Islam, and as the chosen emblem of the conquering Ottoman power.

There was little peace in Ertoghrul’s days on the frontier near which he had obtained his first grants of land. Ertoghrul had speedy and frequent opportunities for augmenting his military renown, and for gratifying his followers with the spoils of suc¬ cessful forays and assaults. The boldest Turkish adventurers flocked eagerly to the banner of the new and successful chieftain of their race ; and Alaeddin gladly recognised the value of his feudatory’s services by fresh honours and marks of confidence, and by increased donations of territory.

In a battle which Ertoghrul, as Alaeddin’s lieutenant, fought against a mixed army of Greeks and Mongols, between Brusa and Yenischeer, he drew up his troops so as to throw forward upon the enemy a cloud of light cavalry, called Akindji ; thus completely masking the centre of the main army, which, as the post of honour, was termed the Sultan’s station. Ertoghrul held the centre him-

HISTORY OF THE OTTOMAN TURKS.

self, at the head of the four hundred and forty-four horsemen, who were his own original followers, and whose scimetars had won the day for Alaeddin, when they first charged unconsciously in his cause. The system now adopted by Ertoghrul of wearying the enemy by collision with a mass of irregular troops, and then pressing him with a reserve of the best soldiers, was for centuries the favourite tactic of his descendants. The battle in which he now employed it was long and obstinate ; but in the end the Turkish chief won a complete victory. Alaeddin, on being in¬ formed of this achievement of his gallant and skilful vassal, bestowed on him the additional territory of Eskischeer, and in memory of the mode in which Ertoghrul had arrayed his army, Alaeddin gave to his principality the name of Sultan-CEni, which means “ Sultan’s Front.”

The territory which received that name, and still bears it, as one of the Sanjaks, or minor governments of the Ottoman Empire, is nearly identical with the ancient Phrygia Epictetos. It was rich in pasturage, both in its alluvial meadows and along its moun¬ tain slopes. It contained also many fertile cornlands and vine¬ yards ; and the romantic beauty of every part of its thickly wooded and well-watered highlands still attracts the traveller’s admiration.1

Besides numerous villages, it contained, in ErtoghruTs time, the strongholds of Karadjahissar, Biledjik, Inseni, and others ; and the cities or towns of Eskischeer (so celebrated in the history of the crusades under its old name of Dorylseum), Seid-e-ghari, Lefke, and Ssegud, near which is the domed tomb of Ertoghrul, an object still of the deepest veneration to frequent pilgrims from all parts of the Ottoman Empire. Many of the places that have been mentioned were, at the time when Alaeddin, as their titular sovereign, made grant of them to Ertoghrul, held by chieftains, who were practically independent, and who little heeded the sovereign’s transfer of their lands and towns. It was only after long years of warfare carried on by Ertoghrul and his more re¬ nowned son, Othman, that Sultan-CEni became the settled posses¬ sion of their house.

Othman, or, according to the Oriental orthography, Osman, is regarded as the founder of the Ottoman Empire ; and it is from him that the Turks, who inhabit it, call themselves Osmanlis, the only national appellation which they recognise.2 Ertoghrul never

8 They consider that the name of Turk implies rudeness and barbarism.

professed to act save as the vassal and lieutenant of the Sultan of Iconium. But Othman, after the death of the last Alaeclclin in 1307, waged wars and accumulated dominions as an inde¬ pendent potentate. He had become chief of his race twelve years before, on Ertoghrul’s death, in 1288. Othman, at his succession, was twenty-four years of age, and was already of proved skill as a leader, and of tried prowess as a combatant. His early fortunes and exploits are favourite subjects with the Oriental writers, especially his love adventures in wooing and winning the fair Malkhatoon. These legends have probably been coloured by the poetical pens, that have recorded them in later years ; but it is less improbable that they should be founded on fact, than that no similar traditions should have been handed down by the children and followers of so renowned a chief, as the founder of the Ottoman Empire.

The Scheikh Edebali, celebrated for his piety and learning, had come, while Othman was very young, to Itbourouni, a village near Eskischeer. Othman used often to visit the holy man, out of respect for his sanctity and learning ; and the young prince’s visits became still more frequent, after he had one evening acci¬ dentally obtained a view of the Scheikh’s fair daughter, Malkha¬ toon, a name which means “ Treasure of a Woman.” Othman confessed his love ; but the old man thought that the disparity of station made a marriage imprudent, and refused his consent. Othman sought consolation for his disappointment in the society of his friends and neighbours, to whom he described with a lover’s inspiration, the beauty of Malkhatoon. He discoursed so elo¬ quently on this theme to the young chief of Eskischeer, that the listener fell in love with Malkhatoon upon hearsay ; and, going to her father, demanded her hand for himself. Edebali refused him also ; but fearing his vengeance more than that of Othman, the old man removed from the neighbourhood of Eskischeer to a dwelling close to that of Ertoghrul. The chief of Eskischeer now hated Othman as his rival. One day when Othman and his brother Goundonroulp were at the castle of their neighbour, the lord of Inseni, an armed force suddenly appeared at the gate, led by the chieftain of Eskischeer and his ally, Michael of the Peaked Beard, the Greek lord of Khirenkia, a fortified city at the foot of the Phrygian Olympus. They demanded that Othman should bo given up to them ; but the lord of Inseni refused to commit such a breach of hospitality. While the enemy lingered irresolutely round the castle wall, Othman and his brother seized an advan¬ tageous moment for a sudden sally at the head of a few companions. They chased the chief of Eskischeer off the field in disgrace, and took Michael of the Peaked Beard prisoner. The captive an- the captors became staunch friends ; and in after times, when Othman reigned as an independent prince, Michael left the Christian for the Mussulman creed to join him, and was thenceforth one of the strongest supporters of the Ottoman power.1

Othman had by this encounter at Ino?ni, triumphed over his rival, and acquired a valuable friend ; but he could not yet gain the maiden of his heart. For two more years the course of his true love ran through refusal and anxiety, until at length, old Edebali was touched by the young prince’s constancy, and he inter¬ preted a dream as a declaration of Heaven in favour of the longsought marriage.

One night, when Othman was resting at Edebali’s house (for the shelter of hospitality could never be denied even to the suitor whose addresses were rejected), the young prince, after long and melancholy musing on her whom he loved, composed his soul in that patient resignation to sorrow, which, according to the Arabs, is the key to all happiness. In this mood he fell asleep, and he dreamed a dream.

He saw himself and his host reposing near each other. From the bosom of Edebali rose the full moon (emblem of the beauteous Malkhatoon), and inclining towards the bosom of Othman, it sank upon it, and was lost to sight. Thence sprang /forth a goodly tree, which grew in beauty and in strength ever greater and greater. Still did the embracing verdure of its boughs and branches cast an ampler and an ampler shade, until they canopied the extreme horizon of the three parts of the world. Under the tree stood four mountains, which he knew to be Caucasus, Atlas, - Taurus, and Hcemus. These mountains were the four columns, that seemed to support the dome of the foliage of the sacred tree, with which the earth was now pavilioned. From the roots of the tree gushed forth four rivers, the Tigris, the Euphrates, the Danube, and the Nile. Tall ships and barks innumerable were on the waters. The fields were heavy with harvest. The moun¬ tain sides were clothed with forests. Thence in exulting and fertilising abundance sprang fountains and rivulets, that gurgled through thickets of the cypress and the rose. In the valleys glittered stately cities, with domes and cupolas, with pyramids and obelisks, with minarets and towers. The Crescent shone on

1 Von Hammer, vol. i. p. 63.

their summits : from their galleries sounded the Muezzin’s call to prayer. That sound was mingled with the sweet voices of a thousand nightingales, and with the prattling of countless parrots of every hue. Every kind of singing bird was there. The winged multitude warbled and flitted round beneath the fresh living roof ct the interlacing branches of the all-overarching tree ; and every leaf of that tree was in shape like unto a seimetar. Suddenly there arose a mighty wind, and turned the points of the sword-leaves towards the various cities of the world, but es¬ pecially towards Constantinople. That city, placed at the junction of two seas and two continents, seemed like a diamond set between two sapphires and two emeralds, to form the most precious stone in a ring of universal empire. Othman thought that he was in the ret of placing that visioned ring on his finger, when he awoke.1