_The ninth Siege._ Three years after that great event related above, Hárúnu-r-rashíd marched from Baghdád with an immense army, to require the blood of the faithful from the infidels of Rúm (Asia Minor and Greece), and having reached Malatiyyah, which was conquered by Ja’fer Ghází, surnamed Seyyid Battál, that hero led the vanguard of the army into Rúm; and Hárún himself brought up the rear with reinforcements. Having taken possession of the straits, they blockaded the city, cut off all its supplies, gave no quarter, slew 300,000 infidels, took 70,000 prisoners, and made an immense booty, which they sent to Haleb (Aleppo) and Iskenderún, and then returned laden with spoils to Baghdád. Yaghfúr (void of light), the king at that time, was taken prisoner and carried before Hárún, who gave him no quarter, but ordered him to be hung in the belfry of Ayá Sófiyyah (Sancta Sophia). Having been from my infancy desirous of seeing the world, and not remaining in ignorance, I learned the Greek and Latin languages of my friend Simyún (Simeon) the goldsmith, to whom I explained the Persian glossary of Sháhidí, and he gave me lessons in the Aleksanderah (Alexandra), _i.e._ the History of Alexander. He also read to me the history of Yanván, from which these extracts are taken. But after the race of the Cæsars (Kayásirah) became extinct in Kanátúr, Kostantiniyyah fell into the hands of various princes, till the house of ’Osmán arose in A.H. 699 (A.D. 1300), and, at the suggestion of ’Aláu-d-dín the Seljúkí, first turned its attention to the conquest of that city. SECTION IX. _Concerning the Sieges of Constantinople by the Ottoman Emperors._ The first portion of the descendants of Jafeth which set its foot in the country of Rúm (Asia Minor) was the house of the Seljúkians, who, in alliance with the Dánishmendian Emírs, wrested, in A.H. 476 (A.D. 1083), the provinces of Malatiyyah, Kaïsariyyah, ’Aláiyyah, Karamán, and Kóniyah from the hand of the Greek emperors (Kaïsari Rúm Yúnániyán). They first came from Máveráu-n-nehr (Transoxiana). On the extinction of the Seljúkian dynasty, A.H. 600 (A.D. 1204), Suleïmán-sháh, one of the begs (lords) of the town of Máhán in Túrán, and his son Ertoghrul, came into Rúm, to the court of Sultán ’Aláu-d-dín. The latter having been set on his feet as a man (er-toghrílúb), and made a beg by that prince, made many brilliant conquests, and, at the death of ’Aláu-d-dín, was elected sovereign in his stead, by all the great men (a’yán) of the country. He died at the town of Sukúdjuk, and was succeeded by his son ’Osmán, who was the first emperor (pádisháh) of that race. He resided at ’Osmánjik, from whence the dazzling beams of the Mohammedan faith shed their light over Anátólí, Germiyán, and Karamán. In the time of his son and successor, the victorious Órkhán, seventy-seven heroes, friends of God (evliyáu-llah, _i.e._ saints) fought under the banners of the Prophet.