Narrative of Travels in Europe, Asia, and Africa, in the Seventeenth Century, Vol. IEvliya Çelebi
History
Narrative of Travels in Europe, Asia, and Africa, in the Seventeenth Century, Vol. I
Evliya Çelebi
Caucasus, South -- Description and travel; Istanbul (Turkey) -- Description and travel; Turkey -- History
It was in his reign, that the holy (velí) Hájí Begtásh, who had been
in Khorasán, one of the followers of our great ancestor, that Túrk of
Túrks, Khójah Ahmed Yaseví, came over to his camp with three hundred
devout (sáhibi sejjádeh) fakírs carrying drums and standards, and, as
soon as they had met Órkhán, Brúsah was taken. From thence he proceeded
to the conquest of Constantaniyyeh. His son, Suleïmán Beg, joined by
the permission and advice of Begtásh and seventy great saints (evliyà),
with forty brave men, such as Karah Mursal, Karah Kójah, Karah Yalavà,
Karah Bíghà, Karah Síghlah, in short forty heroes (bahádur) called
_Karah_ (black), crossed over the sea on rafts, and set foot on the
soil of Rúm, shouting Bismillah, the Mohammedan cry of war. Having
laid waste the country on all sides of the city, they conquered, on a
Friday, the castle of Ip-salà (it is called Ip-salà by a blunder for
Ibtidà salà, _i.e._ the commencement prayer), and having offered up the
Fridays prayer there, they pushed on to the gates of Adrianople, taking
Gelíbólí (Galipoli), Tekir-tághí (Rodosto), and Silivrì (Selymbria) in
their way, and returned victorious, laden with spoils and captives,
after an absence of seven days, to Kapú-tághí on the Asiatic shore,
from whence they marched with their booty into Brúsah. The brain of the
whole army of Islám being thus filled with sweetness, the shores of Rúm
were many times invaded, all the neighbouring country was laid waste,
nor were the infidels (káfirs) able to make any resistance; while the
Moslim heroes found means of raising a noble progeny by being tied with
the knot of matrimony to the beautiful virgins whom they carried off.
Sultán Murád I., who succeeded Órkhán, following the advice formerly
given by Aláu-d-dín Sultán and Hájí Begtásh, made himself master of the
country round Kostantaniyyeh before he attempted the conquest of the
city itself. He therefore first took Edreneh (Adrianople), and filled
it with followers of Mohammed coming from Anátólí, while the infidels
could not advance a step beyond Islámból. However, they contrived to
assemble an army of 700,000 men in the plain of Kós-óvà (Cossova),
near the castle of Vechteren in Rúm-ílí (Romelia), where, by the
decree of the Creator of the world, they were all put to the sword by
the victorious Khudávendikár (Murád); but while walking over the dead
bodies in the field of battle, praising God, and surveying the corpses
of the infidels doomed to hell (dúzakh), he was slain by a knife
from the hand of one Velashko, who lay among the slain. The assassin
was instantly cut to pieces, and Murád’s son, Yildirim Báyazíd Khán,
mounted the throne. In order to avenge his father’s death, he fell
like a thunderbolt on Káfiristán (the land of the unbelievers), slew
multitudes of them, and began the tenth siege of Kostantaniyyeh.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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